PAL to NTSC Help needed!!

[helloagain]

I have an old Hi8 PAL camcorder and I want to burn the video as VCD or SVCD. Any suggestion on how to convert the PAL signal into NTSC signal and get that into my computer. I know my PAL camcorder is dying as I cannot record anymore and can only play. I want to convert all my tapes to VCD defore it is too late.

I have tried to get the output from the PAL camcorder into my Mini DV recorder and then connect to the computer using firewire but all I can see is a black screen and sound.

Thanks a lot and Merry Christmas.