I was wondering what my options were, if any, in trying to save HD broadcast on a DVR and dumping them on the computer in a HD format. I realize this is frowned apon by some, probably making this a little harder, but I don't plan on using this material for anything more than learning to edit better with the footage. Just want to get some raw sports footage and practice making hilite clips for myself.

I've tried to do a little research but hit dead ends very quickly each time. I found cards like these:
ATI HDTV Wonder TV and HDTV Tuner PCI Card
ADS Instant HDTV PCI card
but these seemed more geared to receiving HD to watch live on your computer. I was figuring there were two possible angles to go about this. First buying a capture card with a HD input and software then play back on the DVR and capture on the computer. Or the second idea, which I think would be better but less likely, is to either remove the hard drive or dump the files some how on to the computer. My guess there would need to be some sort of conversion in files after this.

If anyone has been down this road or just simply knows the answers please share any input on the subject.

Thanks,
Joel

It would seem if you want to learn to edit sports, then broadcast material that is already cut to ribbons with replays etc. is not the place to start. You would be better off volunteering to shoot your local high school's games. That way you get your own "raw footage" and can perhaps combine them with other pals shooting different angles. The horsepower needed to edit any HD material would just get in the way of learning.

Brrr ..., It's probably cold in Philly now. Indoor basketball is good, but getting a good location is difficult, and people will always be walking in front of the camera. Gymnastics is bad, since the lighting is usually terrible. Soccer would be ideal, with the back and forth motion, but you have to wait for the spring.

In the meantime, why not go down to the docks near where you are and get some footage of boats and ships. This is good tracking and zooming exercise, and you'll have a boatload of footage (pardon the pun).

HD capture to PC's or raw media is expensive. I looked into the Aja Xena cards and the price of entry, for the amount of use I would get, seemed too high. It's someone else's footage anyway, so the motivation to edit it creatively is not there. Plus, as mentioned, it's another person's vision.

Thanks for the advise guys. Most of my free time for video is after 10 pm and not too many games going on around that time. Also looking to edit some professionally filmed video. Does anyone have any suggestions to accomplish what I am looking to do?
Thanks,
Joel

research using firewire connection on the back your dvr to pc for what you want to do :)

just to follow up my own post for anyone reads this in the future looking for the same thing, this is what I found:
http://hdjunkie.com/tutorials.html
&
http://project-tigershark.com/people/rob/blog/2007/01/14/cable-tv-mac-firewire-hd-pvr