Kino Tutorial
I use Kino just for capturing and export. Kino can do editing too, but I have never tried to use it for this.
Starting Kino
I find I need to start Kino as root for the IEEE 1394 interface to work properly. To check it is working, start Kino and choose Preferences from the File menu. If you see a dialog box that says, "The IEEE 1394 subsystem is not loaded; all IEEE 1394 options are disabled." then either you do not have the modules loaded (see the Drivers section) or you need to run Kino as root. (Hint: Try typing "su", entering your root password, then typing "kino&").
Configuration
Select Preferences from the File menu. In the Capture tab, select Raw DV - this will save your video files as DV without encapsulating them inside an AVI file. You can also select Auto Split Files depending on whether or not you want to save one big video file for the whole capture, or split it so that each scene (each time you press the record button on the camcorder) goes into a seperate file.
In the IEEE 1394 tab, set the video device to "/dev/video1394/0". This is the device that will be used for exporting back to tape. If this doesn't work, type "ls /dev/video1394/". You should see what video devices you have available. Try each one until it works. If there is no /dev/video1394/ directory, you probably don't have the video1394 module loaded, so see the section on drivers.
One other option you may want to change is the DV decode quality slider on the Display tab. Switching this to the highest quality allows you to view .dv files as they truly appear. A lower setting makes the video look awful, which can be quite worrying if you don't know what's going on!
Capturing
In the main Kino window, select the Capture tab. Click on the AV/C button to activate the controls that allow you to wind the tape, play and pause. Type the base filename in the filename box. Index numbers and the .dv extension are automatically added to the filename. With your camera in VCR or Play mode, hit the capture button to start capturing and the stop button to stop. It really is that simple!
Converting to .mov Format
To edit your files in Cinelerra you will need to convert them to a Quicktime format. I use the dv2mov program for this. (See the applications section). Simply type, "dv2mov inputfile.dv outputfile.mov" (replacing the filenames with real ones) and wait.
Converting edited files back to .dv format
Use the dvmov2dv program. The format is slightly different this time: "dvmov2dv inputfile.mov > outputfile.dv".
Exporting Edited Files Back to DV Tape
Open up Kino and load in your file using Open from the File menu. You should be able to view it using the controls on the Edit tab. Switch to the Export tab. The IEEE 1394 tab inside that should already be selected. With your camera in VCR or Play mode, press the Export button and you should see your masterpeice appear on your camera's screen.
If the video appears to be dropping frames, you may need to tweak the Timing Increment, Timing Threshold or SYT Offset settings. This is likely to be trial and error. Start with the SYT Offset setting, as this is the setting I have read most discussion about. I was lucky, my Sony TRV 240 worked with the default setting of 19000.
If no video at all appears, you may want to question whether your camera has a DV input. Many European models do not, as there is an extra import tax for cameras with inputs. There are tools available that will enable a DV port for input on some camcorders, try doing a Google search for them.
Quirks
Kino sometimes distorts the audio on playback. It sounds very much like the distortion caused by clipping when you digitally mix two tracks together that are too loud. I got very worried when I made my audio quieter and quieter and still the clipping sound could be heard. Thankfully, there was no sign of the distortion once I put the result onto a DV tape - the distortion is just a bug in Kino's playback.