Help with first time transfer/editing HFS10 and iMac
 

I'm ready to tackle a project that I have been ignoring for several years and need some help. I have dozens of hours of video (vacations and WWII veteran interviews) on SD cards, Mini DV, and old VCR tapes, that has never been transferred or edited. The most critical to me is the content on the hard drive of my HFS10. It is full of interviews with American, British, and French D-Day veterans taken during a trip to Normandy for the 65th Anniversary of the battle. I really fear its loss if I don't do this right.

I'll be upgrading my Core 2 Duo iMac to a Quad Core i7 iMac with 16GB of RAM very soon. Unfortunately, the more I try to educate myself on how to do the transfer and editing, the more confused I become about the process.

I was wondering if someone would be willing to walk me through the process of transferring this video from its source to my iMac (without loss of quality), how to edit and archive it, and how to finalize it for playback on the iMac, Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad. Perhaps there is a great reference book on the topic that someone could recommend?

The only software that I currently have is iMovie and I have never used it. I'm happy to spend some money on hardware and software to do this right, so all suggestions, from budget to extravagant, are welcome. I would greatly appreciate any guidance. Thanks very much.

Hi James,

I, too, do veterans interviews.
You are asking a lot of question which would require a series of separate answers here.

Send me a private email through the link associated with my name in this forum.
I can provide answers to many of your questions.