SmallTime - 6:15 am on Dec 29, 2002 (gmt 0)

I have done a little of this, making TV commercials, web video, etc. I use Cinestream (formerly EditDv), After Effects, and some Flash video (going both ways, Flash to video, and video to Flash). After Effects is the most fun. Flash MX has better video support than previous versions.

Do a Google search for "uncompress Divx", you will find some articles that may be helpful. (and suggested programs for stripping out the sound track).

File size, usually you will want to work with uncompressed avi or mov, or dv. if you are going to import into flash, or play around in after effects, etc. 700 - 900mb sounds small for an 8 min uncompressed video, about right for dv stream. Big fast hard drives, a fast processor or two, and 500mb+ ram are helpful to work with video. A firewire card and a DV camcorder is also nice, but gather that you are on a budget :)

I would suggest doing a short (say 20 second) test all the way through the process, and when that works, look at the whole thing.