Canon ZR50 as an analog-digital converter

[zelopes]

I'm a newbie and I apologize if I unwittingly break any established protocol. This may not eben be the most appropriate thread. If that's the case, I'm sorry.
I know... It's been some time since I bought it! Be it as it may, this old horse has served me well to the point I still did not feel the urge to retire it...
I wonder if someone could provide me with some guidance on this:
I am trying to convert my old VHS videos to DVD format. These videos were taped during the eighties and nineties, and they contain a good chunk of my family memories, when the kids were growing up, family reunions and trips... Being aware of the relatively short life span of VHS tapes, I set up this project of copying them to DVD.
One of the methods of doing it, as I read, is to use a digital camcorder as a pass-through. The manual for my ZR50 says this:
"Turning the analog-digital coverter on: To turn the analog-digital coverter on, open the menu and select VCR SET UP. Then select AV => DV OUT, set it to ON and close the menu."
Not much of a great guidance, but it is enough to conclude that my camcorder does have this "analog-digital" conversion capability. Unfortunately, I cannot make it happen.
When I connected the camcorder to my computer (using Windows 7) the system promptly aknowledged the connection and downloaded the required drives automatically.
My connections between the VHS VCR machine and the computer are:
An S-Video cable between the VHS VCR and the camcorder and a DV cable between the camcorder and the computer.
The capture software is Corel's VideoStudio 12.
Any bit of help on this process will be greatly appreciated.

[jim.holder]

I did a fair amount of VHS to DVD via my canon Video camera converter function and using adobe premiere as the capture/edit application.

That was then. There are now some very very cheap purpose built av/dv converter cables on the market most coming with dumbo editing capability. These are so easy to use (USB 2 instead of firewire for instance).

A swift google should bring up several suppliers (Roxio comes to mind?). Also take a look at the Corel user forums. This particular forum is not your best source of info fow what you want to do.

Good Luck.

[zelopes]

I did a fair amount of VHS to DVD via my canon Video camera converter function and using adobe premiere as the capture/edit application.

That was then. There are now some very very cheap purpose built av/dv converter cables on the market most coming with dumbo editing capability. These are so easy to use (USB 2 instead of firewire for instance).

A swift google should bring up several suppliers (Roxio comes to mind?). Also take a look at the Corel user forums. This particular forum is not your best source of info fow what you want to do.

Good Luck.

Thanks, Jim, for your reply. You're right, Corel user forums should be the proper forums to discuss these issues and the fact is, that't where I started and I have received several good replies and some valuable information about my problem. But a solid solution is still to come...
For your info, believe it or not, one thing I already learned from Corel's forums is that the most recent versions of VideoStudio DO NOT capture analog video, no matter what the claims may be to the contrary!
Always learning!
However, it seems that if you go back to VideoStudio 10 you may be lucky. The version I have been working with is VS Pro X2 (version 12). But since I still keep my version 10, I may be trying to reinstall it and see for myself, if there's no other simpler, leaner solution.
As for those cables you're mentioning, that is were I started... I bought StarTech's analog to video converter cables, which come with software that together -- supposedly -- would capture ANY video from any source, specifically including from VHS tapes!!!
I'm not prepared to say they don't. But I can peremptorily state that, in my case, they did NOT work.
In view of all this, I'm still open and will be very grateful for any hints that may help me save my cherished old VSH videos. My OS is Windows 7 Home Premium.

Thanks again.