Hi8 to digital conversion more demanding than Video8?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

I am in the process of trying to find a good solution for converting my
old Hi8 tapes to DVD. In this process of finding equipment I try to add
the wish to be able to do some editing in the process (and maybe also
add a tv-tuner capability).
I have heard that Hi8 uses a broader bandwidth (like 7 Mhz?) than
Video 8. Does this mean that conversion puts more demand on the
equipment that I use for conversion to the extent that I need to think
about this when buying the equipment, or is the difference so small
that what is said to work well for video8 would work well for Hi8
as well?
I would hate to see the additional quality of my old Hi8 films be
wasted because I buy too cheap equipment to do the conversion.

Any suggestions on equipment would also be appreciated!

Børge

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

"B H" <otxjmhcyswdvqs@mailinator.com> wrote in message
newsBGjd.5928$rh1.169059@news2.e.nsc.no...
> I am in the process of trying to find a good solution for converting my
> old Hi8 tapes to DVD. In this process of finding equipment I try to add
> the wish to be able to do some editing in the process (and maybe also
> add a tv-tuner capability).
> I have heard that Hi8 uses a broader bandwidth (like 7 Mhz?) than
> Video 8. Does this mean that conversion puts more demand on the
> equipment that I use for conversion to the extent that I need to think
> about this when buying the equipment, or is the difference so small
> that what is said to work well for video8 would work well for Hi8
> as well?
> I would hate to see the additional quality of my old Hi8 films be
> wasted because I buy too cheap equipment to do the conversion.
>
> Any suggestions on equipment would also be appreciated!
>
> Børge
>
Hi8 does have broader bandwidth.
However, modern converters are good enough to work.
Unlike DV input, which is a digital connection, A/D converters for video do
vary in quality.
Both Canopus and Datavideo make good consumer level converters that are
adequate for this work. These converters output a DV format digital stream,
and are connected to the computer by Firewire. DV is the standard prosumer
video format of the moment.

Avoid mpg converters, many of which are packaged as USB devices. MPEG
compression causes more loss of quality than DV compression, and is hard to
edit.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

Pick up a TRV-120 from Ebay and connect it to a Firewire port and transfer
all your videos that way, the quality will be the best you can get.

"B H" <otxjmhcyswdvqs@mailinator.com> wrote in message
newsBGjd.5928$rh1.169059@news2.e.nsc.no...
>I am in the process of trying to find a good solution for converting my
> old Hi8 tapes to DVD. In this process of finding equipment I try to add
> the wish to be able to do some editing in the process (and maybe also
> add a tv-tuner capability).
> I have heard that Hi8 uses a broader bandwidth (like 7 Mhz?) than
> Video 8. Does this mean that conversion puts more demand on the
> equipment that I use for conversion to the extent that I need to think
> about this when buying the equipment, or is the difference so small
> that what is said to work well for video8 would work well for Hi8
> as well?
> I would hate to see the additional quality of my old Hi8 films be
> wasted because I buy too cheap equipment to do the conversion.
>
> Any suggestions on equipment would also be appreciated!
>
> Børge
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

"Robert Morein" <nowhere@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:MuSdnWxOb9YZ3BLcRVn-iA@comcast.com...
> Hi8 does have broader bandwidth.
> However, modern converters are good enough to work.
> Unlike DV input, which is a digital connection, A/D converters for video
do
> vary in quality.
> Both Canopus and Datavideo make good consumer level converters that are
> adequate for this work. These converters output a DV format digital
stream,
> and are connected to the computer by Firewire. DV is the standard prosumer
> video format of the moment.
>
> Avoid mpg converters, many of which are packaged as USB devices. MPEG
> compression causes more loss of quality than DV compression, and is hard
to
> edit.
>
>

This means that you can recommend a product like Pinnacle Studio MovieBox DV
(see link below) since it seems to produce DV output (?)...

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=1884&Langue_ID=2

....but that products like Hauppage WinTV-PVR-USB2 is not recommended....

http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.asp

Have I understood correctly?

Seems like i need 2 solutions....1 for converting my hi8 tapes, and one for
tv-tuner on me PC to watch and record tv-shows(?).

Børge

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

"Pete D" <no@email.com> wrote in message
news:vyIjd.27145$K7.14348@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> Pick up a TRV-120 from Ebay and connect it to a Firewire port and transfer
> all your videos that way, the quality will be the best you can get.

What is the name of the manufacturer? Are you talking about the Sony
camcorder
and using AV/DV camcorder passtrough option?

Børge

 

[Dave]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

"B H" <otxjmhcyswdvqs@mailinator.com> wrote in message
news:5JIjd.6084$Km6.157732@news4.e.nsc.no...
> "Pete D" <no@email.com> wrote in message
> news:vyIjd.27145$K7.14348@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> > Pick up a TRV-120 from Ebay and connect it to a Firewire port and
transfer
> > all your videos that way, the quality will be the best you can get.
>
> What is the name of the manufacturer? Are you talking about the Sony
> camcorder
> and using AV/DV camcorder passtrough option?
>
> Børge
>
>

From the model number I would guess that is the case that it is the Sony
Camcorder. And yes use the pass through option.

I myself have a Sony D8 and that is great for transferring my Video8 tapes
and use the passthrough for VHS tapes.

DaveB
UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

"Dave" <dave.barwickns@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:8bSdnUb7LuQRwRLcSa8jmw@karoo.co.uk...
> From the model number I would guess that is the case that it is the Sony
> Camcorder. And yes use the pass through option.
>
> I myself have a Sony D8 and that is great for transferring my Video8 tapes
> and use the passthrough for VHS tapes.

Is this AV/DV passthrough feature a common thing in camcorders now.
I have a Canon MV6iMC and am curious if I might have this option
in this camcorder.

The specifications for this cam on the net says:

DV - Yes out/in*
Analog-in - Yes
AV - Yes
S-video - Yes
Analog/Digital konverter - Yes

Hmmm...guess it's time to reread that instruction manual. Maybe I already
have the equipment I need.

Børge

 

[Dave]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

"B H" <otxjmhcyswdvqs@mailinator.com> wrote in message
news:hDJjd.6102$Km6.157455@news4.e.nsc.no...
> "Dave" <dave.barwickns@virgin.net> wrote in message
> news:8bSdnUb7LuQRwRLcSa8jmw@karoo.co.uk...
> > From the model number I would guess that is the case that it is the Sony
> > Camcorder. And yes use the pass through option.
> >
> > I myself have a Sony D8 and that is great for transferring my Video8
tapes
> > and use the passthrough for VHS tapes.
>
> Is this AV/DV passthrough feature a common thing in camcorders now.
> I have a Canon MV6iMC and am curious if I might have this option
> in this camcorder.
>
> The specifications for this cam on the net says:
>
> DV - Yes out/in*
> Analog-in - Yes
> AV - Yes
> S-video - Yes
> Analog/Digital konverter - Yes
>
> Hmmm...guess it's time to reread that instruction manual. Maybe I already
> have the equipment I need.
>
> Børge
>
>

Cannot comment on ALL camcorders but it certainly appears to be with a lot
of the Sony ones upuntil quite recently.

Some were factory setup to pass the signal through and convert others were
adaptable by using a "dongle" to enable DV in and as a byproduct of that
enabled pass through/convert.

As more recently the ability to enable DV in has disappeared then this may
no longer be the case. If it is enabled by the factory though there is a
chance that it is a viable option.

From the information you have supplied I would think that as it has analogue
in and digital in/out and analogue/digital converter - that there appears to
be no reason why you cannot connect the Hi8 player to the analogue in on the
Canon then the digital out to the PC. You just need to know the correct
buttons to press to do this.

Failing that - although some image quality drop may happen would be to
connect the Hi8 player to the analogue in on the Canon then record this
signal to the Canon then as a separate run put out DV to PC.

Have fun

DaveB
UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

> I am in the process of trying to find a good solution for converting my
> old Hi8 tapes to DVD. In this process of finding equipment I try to add

No problems. The 8mm or Hi8 to DV conversion goes w/o reducing the
quality (noticably). Will work fine, so don't worry about this step.

Two ways that work for most people here:
1) Any Digital8 Camcorder. Just stick in your old tapes, hook DV
output from camcorder to DV input in PC, and away you go! Simplest,
easiest, and you can play all of your older 8mm format tapes. Sony makes
them.

2) Hook up current camcorder analog output to any camcorder that has
analog to DV passthrough, or any analog to DV converter such as the
Canopus ADVC-100, ADVC-110, etc., then hook up the converter to the PC.

This may introduce some signal loss due to the cabling in between
your current camcorder and the converter box vs. #1 above.

Then, almost all retail DVD packages include some sort of program
like Ahead Nero, Roxio EZCD, or Sonic MYDVD that will do the basics of
editing and burning/converting to DVD.

Step up from that and you'll be looking at mid-priced editors like
Ulead DVD Workshop, then high-end editing packages like Sony Vegas
Video+DVD or Adobe whatever.

(If you've got a Mac with Superdrive, then this is far easier -- use
iDVD + iMovie [free with Macs nowadays] or Final Cut Pro + DVD Studio Pro.)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

> This means that you can recommend a product like Pinnacle Studio MovieBox
> DV
> (see link below) since it seems to produce DV output (?)...
>
> http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=1884&Langue_ID=2

Yes - but the Canopus etc is also to be considered.

>
> ...but that products like Hauppage WinTV-PVR-USB2 is not recommended....
>
> http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.asp
>
> Have I understood correctly?
>
> Seems like i need 2 solutions....1 for converting my hi8 tapes, and one
> for
> tv-tuner on me PC to watch and record tv-shows(?).

Why use a TV Tuner on the PC? Use an external Video recorder as the TV
Tuner, you can even get a Scart Splitter that outputs and inputs via the
correct pins on the Scart lead - so to pass an external Composite signal to
the PC you select AV on the Video and the relevant channel for TV Recording.

And before the rest of you say - Composite - USE S-Video, if the Hi8 player
has S-Video plug that in and the Video Via composite in, then do the
selection on the PC......

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

B H <otxjmhcyswdvqs@mailinator.com> wrote:
: I am in the process of trying to find a good solution for converting my
: old Hi8 tapes to DVD. In this process of finding equipment I try to add
: the wish to be able to do some editing in the process (and maybe also
: add a tv-tuner capability).
: I have heard that Hi8 uses a broader bandwidth (like 7 Mhz?) than
: Video 8. Does this mean that conversion puts more demand on the
: equipment that I use for conversion to the extent that I need to think
: about this when buying the equipment, or is the difference so small
: that what is said to work well for video8 would work well for Hi8
: as well?
: I would hate to see the additional quality of my old Hi8 films be
: wasted because I buy too cheap equipment to do the conversion.

: Any suggestions on equipment would also be appreciated!


It all depends how much $$$ you want to spend and how much time you want
to spend for every hour of the video.

I guess Canopus ADVC-300 would be one of the best and fastest solution. I have
a TV Tuner card FlyVideo 3000FM which gives probably the best results at the
end. However, it is very time consuming.

--Leonid

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

"B H" <otxjmhcyswdvqs@mailinator.com> wrote in message
news:IjIjd.6060$Km6.157610@news4.e.nsc.no...
> "Robert Morein" <nowhere@nowhere.com> wrote in message
> news:MuSdnWxOb9YZ3BLcRVn-iA@comcast.com...
> > Hi8 does have broader bandwidth.
> > However, modern converters are good enough to work.
> > Unlike DV input, which is a digital connection, A/D converters for video
> do
> > vary in quality.
> > Both Canopus and Datavideo make good consumer level converters that are
> > adequate for this work. These converters output a DV format digital
> stream,
> > and are connected to the computer by Firewire. DV is the standard
prosumer
> > video format of the moment.
> >
> > Avoid mpg converters, many of which are packaged as USB devices. MPEG
> > compression causes more loss of quality than DV compression, and is hard
> to
> > edit.
> >
> >
>
> This means that you can recommend a product like Pinnacle Studio MovieBox
DV
> (see link below) since it seems to produce DV output (?)...
>
> http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage_n.asp?Product_ID=1884&Langue_ID=2
>
> ...but that products like Hauppage WinTV-PVR-USB2 is not recommended....
>
> http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.asp
>
> Have I understood correctly?
>
> Seems like i need 2 solutions....1 for converting my hi8 tapes, and one
for
> tv-tuner on me PC to watch and record tv-shows(?).
>
> Børge
>
I'm assuming you want archival quality. For that purpose, DV is better. If
you accept this premise, then, yes, you need "two solutions."

 

[Smarty]

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop,alt.video.dvd.authoring (More info?)

Set-top DVD recorders are especially good for taking older analog video tape
formats like Hi8 and creating DVDs. They apply a variety of color and synch
correction methods which result in about as good a DVD result as you will be
able to get using very high quality computer based equipment for capture and
authoring. They are also very inexpensive, now well below $300 for a settop
DVD recorder. And for speed, they cannot be beaten since they take 1 hr of
recording time per 1 hr of tape to get a finished DVD. Computer methods are
typically much longer.

Therefore, a number of us on this newsgroup have taken to capturing home
videos (and other videos) to set-top recorders. Then, if additional editing
and menuing is desired, we have brought the DVD into a computer for further
work. This later step is quite optional, and the DVD coming the recorder for
many people is totally sufficient.

We can provide more details of this approach if you are interested.

Smarty



"David Chien" <chiendh@uci.edu> wrote in message
news:cmp7vs$g7m$1@news.service.uci.edu...
>> I am in the process of trying to find a good solution for converting my
>> old Hi8 tapes to DVD. In this process of finding equipment I try to add
>
> No problems. The 8mm or Hi8 to DV conversion goes w/o reducing the
> quality (noticably). Will work fine, so don't worry about this step.
>
> Two ways that work for most people here:
> 1) Any Digital8 Camcorder. Just stick in your old tapes, hook DV output
> from camcorder to DV input in PC, and away you go! Simplest, easiest, and
> you can play all of your older 8mm format tapes. Sony makes them.
>
> 2) Hook up current camcorder analog output to any camcorder that has
> analog to DV passthrough, or any analog to DV converter such as the
> Canopus ADVC-100, ADVC-110, etc., then hook up the converter to the PC.
>
> This may introduce some signal loss due to the cabling in between
> your current camcorder and the converter box vs. #1 above.
>
> Then, almost all retail DVD packages include some sort of program like
> Ahead Nero, Roxio EZCD, or Sonic MYDVD that will do the basics of editing
> and burning/converting to DVD.
>
> Step up from that and you'll be looking at mid-priced editors like Ulead
> DVD Workshop, then high-end editing packages like Sony Vegas Video+DVD or
> Adobe whatever.
>
> (If you've got a Mac with Superdrive, then this is far easier -- use
> iDVD + iMovie [free with Macs nowadays] or Final Cut Pro + DVD Studio
> Pro.)
>