8mm to VHS or DVD...

[krwell]

This is for everyone here. A lot of us here have old 8mm film that older family memebers took that need to be converted to a more modern format. Anyone have any experience with doing this? Whats the best method? Any places have good prices?

 

[Nocturnal]

DVD! Do it yourself! Get a VIVO card and a DVD-+R

 

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
DVD! Do it yourself! Get a VIVO card and a DVD-+R

Ok, Mr. Wizard. How do you get 8mm FILM onto a source that can be digitally captured?

 

[snik]

Originally posted by: amnesiac

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
DVD! Do it yourself! Get a VIVO card and a DVD-+R

Ok, Mr. Wizard. How do you get 8mm FILM onto a source that can be digitally captured?

He said VIVO hahaha lol

 

[tk149]

Bump 'cuz I wanna know too.

 

[Kalvin00]

Well...you could hook the camera into the VCR, and then record the input onto a VHS tape. If you have a DVD burner/player thing, you can record it to a DVD.

 

[slackerinabox]

Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

 

[dquan97]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

Any recommendations on the bridge and firewire card?

 

[Wingznut]

My parents took their film in to a shop, and they converted it to VHS. The quality was better than I expected.

I have no idea how well the do-it-yourself setups work.

 

[Encryptic]

Originally posted by: krwell
This is for everyone here. A lot of us here have old 8mm film that older family memebers took that need to be converted to a more modern format. Anyone have any experience with doing this? Whats the best method? Any places have good prices?

Well, there was this time I saw a snuff film on 8mm....

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

This is a cheap way to do this, but it will not yield great quality. You'd basically be archiving the VHS tape onto DVD which is a ridiculous thing to do.

I would suggest finding a company to do this rather than doing it yourself. The amount you'd spend on equipment alone would probably be a lot more than if you went to a place and had it done professionally.

Link -- This place will do it for $.13 a foot. For 1200 ft of film it's about $156. If you do get it done and have a miniDV camera, I would suggest getting it transferred to that rather than DVD directly. That way you can edit it if you'd like and make your own DVDs.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: dquan97

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

Any recommendations on the bridge and firewire card?

Hey, Canopus makes a GREAT bridge.. They actually have two with slightly different specs.. Dazzle makes a crappy one.. OK, it might not be crappy but I don't trust dazzle.. At all.. Pinnacle may be decent too.. Do you just want to make some light edits and then dump it do DVD? Remember to pick up an NLE if that's the case.. I can make suggestions but this type of software gets very pricey.. Here's a list of DV bridges (and standard firewire card should work with them)

Canopus ADVC-50 - $199.. This seems to be a value bundle... The quality should be good but I'm not sure what the stripped to deliver it at this price point (it fits in an empty drive bay and connects to your firewire card).. Does not come with editing software.. That's what the catch is.. Eh, I'd pass on this (since you'd need a firwire card - apx. $30, plus software.. )

Canopus advc1394- Sounds like a VERY cool product.. Firewire card with the analog bridge built in.. Groovy! $249.00 . Includes vegas video.. a pretty cool video editor..

Dazzle - Hollywood DV bridge.. $249.. Why the hell bother.. Canopus has a proven track record in this market.. The last Dazzle product I bought fvcked up my commercial production class final because it caused my computer to crash so often..

Pinnacle has the DV500 for $399 without adobe premiere.. if you can.. ahum.. GET.. premiere elsewhere that's a great deal for a semi-real time (transitions don't need rendering, etc.) card that has DV and analog capture (real time MPEG 2 I think).. BUT it's too much card for you and I believe it's a little buggy

Canopus is a well respected leader in the PC based editing world.. Before I switched to mac I used both a canopus DV-Rex and a Matrox RT2000.. They both served me well but the canopus was a fair more elegant (crash free) setup.. Hope this helps.. Asks questions if I'm not being clear..
PEACE

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

This is a cheap way to do this, but it will not yield great quality. You'd basically be archiving the VHS tape onto DVD which is a ridiculous thing to do.

I would suggest finding a company to do this rather than doing it yourself. The amount you'd spend on equipment alone would probably be a lot more than if you went to a place and had it done professionally.

Link -- This place will do it for $.13 a foot. For 1200 ft of film it's about $156. If you do get it done and have a miniDV camera, I would suggest getting it transferred to that rather than DVD directly. That way you can edit it if you'd like and make your own DVDs.

I didn't say that my way is the BEST way.. It's just one way to do it at home without getting it done professionally.. In fact, I totally recommend getting it done by a professional..

 

[clamum]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

This is a little off-topic, but how can I get video off my Hi8 video camera onto my computer, with the highest possible quality? I have a Radeon card with VIVO so I plug the video out on the camera to the video in on the card and use ATI's Video In to capture it, but the quality isn't that great. Is it my method or just the camera's lack of resolution?

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: americangigolo

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

This is a little off-topic, but how can I get video off my Hi8 video camera onto my computer, with the highest possible quality? I have a Radeon card with VIVO so I plug the video out on the camera to the video in on the card and use ATI's Video In to capture it, but the quality isn't that great. Is it my method or just the camera's lack of resolution?

A DV bridge would help you a great deal. The DV codec will have a MUCH better quality to drive space ratio than what the VIVO is capturing at.

 

[Syringer]

Hmm, so is 8mm the projection type of film? I thought we were talking about the small camcorder tapes =/

 

[RaymondY]

I was looking at the Canopus ADVC-100 . Specs look good and reviews are excellent. However I haven't decided if I want to do the conversion myself or take the tapes to Wolf Cameras and have them convert them to DVD.

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: RaymondY
I was looking at the Canopus ADVC-100 . Specs look good and reviews are excellent. However I haven't decided if I want to do the conversion myself or take the tapes to Wolf Cameras and have them convert them to DVD.

If you were a hardcore hobbyist I'd suggest going with the canopus (advc-100 or 50.. both work fine).. If this is a one shot thing then it may be cheaper to go to a shop.. A dvd-r is an important part of this equation and that'll go for around $200.. The good thing about NLE/video editing stuff is that you can unload it prettty easily on ebay and other sites.. My dv raptor cost me $500 and I was able to see it 2 years later for $450.. $50 for 2 years of use aint bad (don't sue me if you're not that lucky though!)

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: pulse8

Originally posted by: americangigolo

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
Hey,
film geek hear.. They actually sell devices (try ebay) that convert from 8mm to vhs.. I doubt that they've updated this technology to DV since it's such a niche market.. What many people do is that they actually just video tape the projection.. The results aren't THAT bad.. If you want, you can take the film to a conversion place.. A friend of mine got that done recently and it didn't cost that much (I don't know exactly how much but she was in no way rich).. Once you get it on VHS/etc. the BEST way to get it onto your pc is to use a Analog to DV bridge plus a firewire card ($300 vs. a $500 for a dedicated analog mpeg2 capture card).. I'm talking about professional results here and not hooking up a video camera to your vi/VO video card or tv-tuner card.. This would look awesome and you can then author it onto dvd or whatever.. Ask any other questions - I'm a film student/media studies student so I know a bit on the topic

This is a little off-topic, but how can I get video off my Hi8 video camera onto my computer, with the highest possible quality? I have a Radeon card with VIVO so I plug the video out on the camera to the video in on the card and use ATI's Video In to capture it, but the quality isn't that great. Is it my method or just the camera's lack of resolution?

A DV bridge would help you a great deal. The DV codec will have a MUCH better quality to drive space ratio than what the VIVO is capturing at.

You have two options (actually three).. You could go the vi/vo route but the problems associated with it are numerous (unsynched audio, poor quality, dropped frames, etc. etc. etc.).. You can go the firewire card plus dv bridge route.. Great quality, no so expensive, etc.. OR you can get a Digital8 video camera and a firewire card.. I don't knowhow much they cost but Digital 8 allows you to shoot in the DV format and capture analog hi8 via firewire as well.. THe last option is a hardware mpeg2 capture card.. Kinda expensive so I won't go there