I agree with the above assessment. I would aim at keeping as much of your production digital as possible. Perhaps take the money you plan ending on a new HD and put it towards an under $1000 DV, or Digital 8 camera. If your acquisition footage looks good, it will help with the generaiton loss you're going to suffer anyway editing on an all Hi8 system. But I wouldn't wait until you have all the right stuff in place. Make it with what you can get your hands on. There probably isn't theatrical distribution in the cards for this production, but film festivals and such are well within reason. They're a wonderful way to get your name out there, and if you tell good stories, someone just may pick you up to tell their story, and you won't have to worryabout a dime. Check out my site. I made each of these films for under $3000. Hope this helps.(posted 8925 days ago)http://home.earthlink.net/~kaimei/index.html