Capturing 8mm tapes and having image problems...

[lagtastic]

Hi! I posted at afterdawn and they directed me here.

I'm archiving old digital 8 and hi 8 tapes from a digital 8 camera to a black magic intensity pro. All my VHS went through more or less fine, but most of my 8mm tapes are either dirty or just ruined because they look like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnkGYRB3Vv0

I use a brand new tape head cleaner on the camera after every tape and it has not fixed this problem. I'm sure there are other threads about this but I figured I'd show you my exact problem. Has anyone else had this issue and been able to fix it?

[smrpix]

Those artifacts can be introduced at the playback stage, but it's also possible they happened while recording and the data simply doesn't exist. If cleaning the heads doesn't clear it up, it's probably the latter unfortunately. Do try a different camera or deck.

[SixFiftyThree]

Why are you capturing Digital8 tapes with an Intensity Pro? Digital8 is native DV that should be transferred directly via FireWire.

Regarding the tape errors, if you have cleaned the heads and the problems persist, there is not much you can do other than to try a different camcorder. Alternatively, you could send the tape to a transfer service with pro DV decks that might do a better job of resolving the errors.