FLASH

you need a computer thats set up for movie making - ie. tv out, separate HD for saving raw video, etc. there's a website out there with info for people making movies with 3d engines. i'll be damned if i can remember the site's name or address. sorry (i think it starts with an 'm', if that helps). basically theyre a bunch o'guys who make feature-length movies using quake 2, unreal, and other 3d engines.

they do have tons of articles about loads of stuff including your question.

maybe someone else can remember the address?

It's Machinima. Their movies still are in Unreal/Quake 2/<whatever engine else they decided to use> format since Machinima is a way of making scripted sequences that are very much like movies using a 3D engine, but not exporting them to MPEG or AVI movies. If you do have a TV output, you can record those with your VCR and then rip them back from the tape onto your hard drive again. That way, you'll only get the video signals, so you should record the sound separately.