Whilst some people find Pinnacle OK, personally I have found it unreliable and certainly not user friendly.
Try Video Studio (I think current version is 11.5). I bought version 10 and that's one of the applications I used in making a couple of the previous BVWS dvds. I've found it very intuitive and certainly way more stable than Pinnacle, my only real gripe is it doesn't handle NTSC->Pal reliably but I don't think you'll find that a problem.
Also recommend you visit
doom9.org/; a few sections will be relevent to what you are doing but there are also a number useful FAQ's there ranging from beginners to uber-anoraks.
You'd be amazed at just what free software alternatives there are and just how much old video can be improved, but of course there is a learning curve to go with it. If you just want to get the job done ASAP then I'd recommend the Video Studio route, but if you have any interest in the undelying video processing then have a trawl around Doom 9.
I tend to stick to Verbatim and Imation discs and these seem to write reliably and last the distance, not to say that others aren't as good but these work for me. But whatever you do, once you've transferred them store the tapes away in a safe place.
TTFN,
Jon
I tend to stick to Verbatim and Imation discs and these seem to write reliably and last the distance.