Thanks so much to Marc, Barry, Jennifer, Stuart and Erick for your very kind and helpful suggestions. Since I'm a technical vacuum, I think Stuart's idea of getting hold of a Sony Digital 8 video camera sounds like something I can possibly arrange.
I don't know the technical jargon, but it's definitely something to do with the capture process as when I play the captured video directly from the 'timeline' of the project, - if I put it on full screen display, the crappy quality is clearly visible there on the pc screen. So it's definitely not anything to do with the process of putting it onto dvd.
I'll see what I can manage with the Sony Digital 8 option, and report back. Thanks so much to all who have taken the trouble to offer suggestions.
Best wishes
