Problems importing VHS video via Canopus ADVC110

OK, I can't figure out how best to do this. I picked up a Canopus ADVC110 converter box to aid in digitizing a stack of VHS tapes. Yesterday I performed a short (1 minute) trial run and was unsatisfied with the results.
I imported the footage into iMovie '08, then tried burning a DVD of the clip iDVD. The result looked noticeably worse than the original tape. I'd settle for near quality, but this showed heavy compression, darker and grainier image, etc. I tried burning both "medium" and "large" versions that were sent to the Media Browser. Same result. I even tried exporting the project as a Quicktime DV stream and burning a DVD using Toast Titanium 9. No difference.
Now, the video preview inside iMovie seems to look OK, but then again it's hard to compare what I'm seeing there with the finished DVD video that I watch on my 13" television. I'm thinking that something is going haywire in the export and DVD-burning phase, though I may be way off on that one.
In any case, I'd love to hear from anyone who is attempting to do similar transfers and how they achieved the best-looking results. I'm merely trying to whittle down my collection of VHS tapes, but if the transfer quality can't be improved I'm kind of stuck...
Oh, I also own FCP Express 4, and am wondering if that might produce a better import? I have no idea.
Any advice or comments from past experience would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
David

I imported the footage into iMovie '08, then tried burning a DVD
Use iMovie 06 not iMovie 08.
For interlaced video such as DV and 1080i HDV, iMovie 08 now uses single-field processing. This means every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage.
If your primary workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited. Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels aspect ratio, and original quality. If you share your movie from iMovie '08, it gets re-rendered at 640x480 or less, and then iDVD upscales it back to 720x480. The end result is obviously not as good.
iMovie 06 and iDVD 08 is the best combination. Use Professional Quality in iDVD 08.
When I use iMovie 06 and iDVD 08 I get excellent results.
I use the Canopus ADVC300 because it comes with a nice Macintosh application that works flawlessly with iMovie 06. The program that comes with the ADVC300 has some nice filters that can improve video and audio of the source material.
The Web site below has a good comparison of Apple video products.
http://www.geethree.com/slick/imovie8.html
iMovie 06 is a free download to iLife 08 owners. (THEY WANT YOU TO HAVE IT!)
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html

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When you Import video if there is a glitch in the video tape playback the imovie import stops. So if you have a an older video tape and it drops out the import stops. Is there anyway to for the import to stay running without the input affecting it?
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Hi
in iMovie HD 6 - I set it to not import as individual clips.
• there are non in analog import
• turning it off makes iMovie less sencitive to drop outs
Cheque Your Canopus ADVC-300 manual. Think I set it so that it's not so
sencitive to drop-outs. But may be I'm wrong in this.
Yours Bengt W

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I have been trying import VHS video into iMovie via a Hollywood Dazzle bridge. I have been successful doing this in the past, but now it is not working. I have a mac book pro, 10.9.1, (mavericks), iMovie 10.0.2. Everything in iMovie looks like it is working. It reads "recording" in the upper left hand corner of the pane while the video is playing. When I stop the process to check on my clip it says that the file is empty. The only thing that has changed since I did it successfully is that I upgraded to mavericks from whatever I had previously. My system is about one year old. Any suggestions?

Hey, Clinton,
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+MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core Duo, 4GB memory, OS X 10.5.8 & FCE 3.5.1+
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VHS Tape Deck is on (it does work)
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Hello, and welcome to the Forum.
It appears you have the Canopus connected properly.
Exactly what model MacBook Pro do you have; and is the FireWire connection FW400 or FW800? What kind of cable are you using to connect your MBP to the Canopus box? (eg. 6-pin FW400 to 6-pin FW400, or 9-pin FW800 to 6-pin FW400, or something else? Is is a cable alone, or are you using some kind of FW400/800 adapter?) Do you have ANY other FireWire devices connected?
You should use the DV NTSC - DV Converter easy setup. When you use this easy setup you will only be able to use 'Capture Now'. Note: you do have to manually start your VCR playback.
Try shutting off everything, then power on your VHS deck & Canopus box. Then start your Mac. Then start FCE. At this point, does FCE 'see' your video in the Capture Now window?

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Hi John
Wounder what kind of project You started ? (HD ?)
Mac OS ?, iMovie 5.0.2 ?? and QT ???
I would:
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- start a normal DV project in iMovie (NTSC if You like)
- only work on the internal hard disk (no ext. PC-formatted device)
What will 9 min end up as ?
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Problems importing VHS video via Canopus ADVC110

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