Thanks.
I've had a look at that Canopus card. It seems to be what I need, except for 2 points:
- There is no analog output, so I can't transfer the final edit to VHS or Hi8. How can I do that without a DV recorder ?
- Specifications don't mention Windows 98SE. Does it work ?

Take a look at the external Canopus ADVC-100. This connects to your computer through a firewire port and contains both analog input and output.

Good point, I'd failed to take into consideration that you need to print to VHS. Chienworks is right, the ADVC100 is the best call, with a firewire card. Then you've got analog in/analog out.

If I'm only using the firewire, not analog - is the Canopus ADVC 1394 still the best card to use? Again, for firewire, how does it compare to using the firewire porrt on the Audigy 2?

If all you need is a firewire port then any cheap OHCI compliant card will work. I believe several have reported success using the port on the Audigy card. I spent about $20 on a no-name firewire card and it works perfectly. However, you'll be limited to firewire capture, which means a DV camcorder/deck. You won't be able to do analog capture without some sort of analog->DV converter.

I have a Canon GL2 camcorder, which is MiniDV. I hooked it up to my old analogue camcorder and digitized those tapes. At this point, what uses would I have for non-firewire? As a newbie to editing, I realize I may be missing something here.

I had gathered from some of the comments on this and other forums that some people experience dropped frames with some cards, including some that are OHCI compliant. That is what led me to look at the Canopus ADVC1394.

I have a Canopus ADVC-100 and would sooner give up my first born child than part with this device. I swear I've tried almost every analog capture gadget known to man, and none of them even comes close to the Canopus. Mind you, you must have a 1394 card already installed before you can use it.

Does it mean that I need the ADVC-1394 internal card AND the external ADVC-100 connected together ? Or another internal card ?
Sure it will work with Windows98SE ?

The card, if TRUE OHCI compliant, won't have anything to do with dropped frames. No 'video' is passing, it's just data. Like USB, Serial, Parallel, SCSI. It's a protocol. Problem is in set up of computer, not brand of card if card is compliant.
Highly recommended and thoroughly tested:
ADS Pyro
SIIG
Unibrain
Canopus ADVC 1394

Anything else from my perspective is shooting ducks in the dark. you might be fine, you might not.

Djipy, all you need is an OHCI firewire port in your computer in order to use the ADVC-100. If you already have one then it may work fine. If not, don't pay more than $20 to $40 for one. You do not need both the ADVC-100 and the ADVC-1394.

Spot,

Do you recommend any one over the other three?

This should be an interesting weekend - got Vegas 4.0 + DVD, already have the NVIDIA FX 5200 Dual Monitor card running a pair of flat panels. Adding NVIDIA's Personal Cinema, to turn an extra hard drive into a PVR along with all the other things I'm now using the PC for.

The Personal Cinema card has a breakout box with analog in/out (I have firewire seperately on the mobo). Should be an interesting experiment to see how that works out, since the PVR system supposedly allows analog capture... though I'm not sure if I'll be able to get Vegas to "see" that input... *spits hayseed in the corner and grins* yeehaw.