Quality capturing with FCP & an analog converter?

i am making VHS(PAL) -> DVD transfers using a Canopus ADVC110 analog converter with iBook G4 with Tiger. previously i was using iMovie HD in capturing which worked fine and gave me good quality DV files, but since i needed more editing possibilities i turned to FCP. i was surprised to find out that it looks like i cannot maintain the quality nowhere near where i've used to since FCP (i have FCP 4 only unfortuntely) only produces me small-sized Quicktime Movie files with mediocre quality compared to the huge but good-looking DV files i got with iMovie. the quality of these is simply way too low for me. and i cannot use iMovie HD for capturing and then import the files to FCP because FCP 4 doesn't understand iMovie HD projects. now am i just being stupid and missing something with the FCP settings here? or is updating my FCP a solution?
i don't need to work with DV cameras, just with VHS->converter->iBook combination.
i'd be very grateful for quick tips/solutions.

A few points: [cliff notes version: get a monitor]
1. Without a TV (aka NTSC/PAL Video Monitor) to see your footage sent out via Firewire, you have no way of know what your footage looks like. QT may do a better job of representing DV stream files, but it in no way means they are of higher quality.
2. Capturing in Final Cut Pro IS computationally intensive. Here's why. DV stream, (the stuff iMovie uses) is a direct write out of the muxed (mixed audio & video) as it is written on the tape by your camera. FCP (or more accurately Quicktime) takes that Muxed stream and separates the audio and video into individual streams IN REAL TIME. If the computer can not keep up, dropped frames or corrupted files are the result.
3. This demuxing does not change the QUALITY of the video. The file started as ones and zeros and remains as ones and zeros. There is nothing to convert at this point - it still is a direct digital transfer - just pulling apart the strings.
4. Playing these more complex Quicktime files places greater demands on your system than iMovie's DV stream.
5. The people who wrote FCP recognized that displaying a high data rate file on a limited computing platform may overwhelm that platform. So, in response, they designed FCP to create a low resolution proxy for the display.
6. Why do this? Now listen closely .... because FCP is designed as a Professional application and professionals (or serious dilettantes) will invest in the proper equipment to monitor the audio and video components of their work This is how a SOFTWARE based editing solution can compete with very, very expensive hardware based systems. FCP is quite scalable. It will run on the minimum configurations but really works much better with more horsepower.
Now, the limited ram, video speed, hard drive capacity and frontside bus speed of your computer is being tested by this process and is not holding up well. A second hard drive to be a dedicated media drive will help. More RAM will help. A faster CPU will help. A machine that is configured from the beginning to run these kind of applications will help.
I'm not trying to be mean here, just trying to explain the complexity of the situation. I really do hold the Apple marketing people responsible for over selling the program. It is NOT rocket science, but does demand a much greater understanding of technology than most people I know to able to actually grasp.
good luck,
x
[cliff notes version redoux: get a monitor]

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