Follow these six steps...
 

Step 1

Put the cassette containing the source video into your analog camcorder or VCR.  
 

Step 2

If you're using a Digital8 camcorder and your analog video is on an 8mm or Hi8 cassette, or if your digital camcorder supports "pass-through" conversion, you can skip to step five. Check your camcorder documentation if necessary.
 
 

Step 3

Connect the analog source to your DV camcorder with an S-Video or composite cable. S-Video will result in better image quality, so use that if you have the option.  
 

Step 4

Locate the analog-to-digital conversion controls on the camcorder. In general, you'll need to put your DV camcorder into VCR or playback mode to use this feature. Once you've turned on your devices and selected the appropriate modes and settings, press the Record button on the DV camcorder and the Play button on the analog source to record the video segment you wish to digitize.  
 

Step 5

Connect your DV camcorder to your computer with a FireWire cable. If you're using pass-through conversion, the video will be transferred directly to your computer from your analog devices via the DV camcorder linking them. Once you've connected all the devices and turned them on, you'll need to select analog-to-digital conversion in the DV camcorder's VCR or playback mode and press Play on the analog camcorder.
 
 

Step 6

Follow the instructions in your video-editing software to capture or import video. If you don't have pass-through, you'll be capturing the video from the DV cassette you created in step four. As with many aspects of digital video, your mileage may vary when it comes to pass-through conversion. Some video-editing software packages provide better support for this feature than others. If your software fails to capture the video properly, go back to the beginning and follow the instructions for nonpass-through conversion.