Too much loss of quality?

[fastartcee]

I'm trying to capture/edit about twenty 8mm analog tapes, using this procedure:

- capture 2 hr tape to 2 hr DVD-R (Samsung DVD-R130, set to 'standard quality mode')
(this is intended as 'permanent' storage of the original videos; I've completed this task)

- rip the DVD to hard drive using VOB2MPG
(to prepare for editing; I've only ripped one DVD so far)

- edit using Studio 8 (I might have to convert the mpeg file first to get compatible audio!)
(I could use Nero 6, instead; I've got both.)

- create a movie

- burn to DVD (for distribution to family members)

My questions:

First:
I'm starting with only 8mm quality/resolution. so am I just complicating things by recording to DVDs first, thereby ending up with mpeg2 files that are much much larger than they need to be, and take more time to rip, edit, recode and burn?

Second:
Am I converting & recoding too much, losing quality/resolution along the way?

(BTW, I am willing to start all over and capture from the 8mm tapes in a different way, if that would be advisable.)

Thanks for any advice!

[edDV]

...

My questions:

First:
I'm starting with only 8mm quality/resolution. so am I just complicating things by recording to DVDs first, thereby ending up with mpeg2 files that are much much larger than they need to be, and take more time to rip, edit, recode and burn?

Your process will work but requires generation loss (i.e. MPeg2->RGB for edit->MPeg2 for final DVD). Don't compress any more in your initial capture pass.

Second:
Am I converting & recoding too much, losing quality/resolution along the way?

(BTW, I am willing to start all over and capture from the 8mm tapes in a different way, if that would be advisable.)

Thanks for any advice!

Alternative methods may reduce losses in the first MPeg2 pass but for 8mm the hassle may be more than the benefit. If the source was quality Hi8, I'd use one of the following.

Alt1: Capture uncompressed (huffyuv) or DV format directly to the computer. Edit uncompressed or DV then encode to DVD MPeg2.

Alt2: Use a native MPeg2 editor like Womble products to minimize MPeg2 generation loss. Then use a DVD authoring program to create the final DVD.

[Soopafresh]

Depends on the quality of the source, ultimately. Check out avisynth to restore the brightness and colors or 8mm. Pictures on this page are a good example:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=93571&page=8