40yr old 8mm to dvd

[ACLUguy]

Hi guys/gals (sorry this may be a little off topic, but i can't imagine a better group of people to ask),
A family member sent me 80+ 25ft reels of old 8mm without sound from his childhood. I've been researching the conversion process and short of paying 800$ USDs for "real" professional capture, it seems most people are doing it with a minidv camcorder.

It seems like it would be cheaper for me to do it myself with a video camera than pay the premium of an extra 100$, 9$ a dvd (rip offffff) and having to edit it myself anyhow.

If anyone has suggestions or can present another choice, that would be great.

I just want to elate any fears and ask the experts here are videohelp to make sure that my idea of capturing, editing and cleaning it up myself is the best way to go. (If you have links that would be great as well.)

Thank you so much in advance,
ACLUguy

[scustalow]

I would think if you have the 8mm projector ..run it an record the picture with a video camera..wouldn't hardly cost anything like that and convert the recording into dvd media..

[ACLUguy]

Yep, have the projector. Just need a better camcorder and they are running far less than the cost of having someone else capture it.

Thanks a ton scustalow.

[Marvingj]

Anyone can record a 8mm film from the wall, but thats not all the goes into recording & capturing 8mm film. Check out some of the older replies concerning 8mm film conversion.....

[scustalow]

I have a hi 8 camera that does real well in transfering to my dvd recorder..let me know if I can help..

Yep, have the projector. Just need a better camcorder and they are running far less than the cost of having someone else capture it.

Thanks a ton scustalow.

[ACLUguy]

Searched through the forum and could only find a couple threads about it. The only problem i saw with it was fps. However, the guy who does it locally would be using the same method which would also have the fps problem.

As for cleanup and editing, the guy isn't going to do any of that unless i pay another 400$. I would still have to cleanup and edit it all together on my own.

I really couldn't find too many threads that dealt with recording and capturing 8mm film here. I did find a couple short explanations on websites that discussed things like technique (smaller projection [closer] gives better quality, etc.)

If you can point to another thread that has more depth that would be spectacular.

Thanks for your help Marvingj.

[ACLUguy]

Scustalow, thanks. Once i make a decision about logistics i may contact you.

[The old guy]

goto Woodland Film Transfer

12 cents a foot to dvd and 10 cents a foot to dvtape. And they do an excellent job.

Scotty

[DB83]

Let me explain how I did this. Apart from the projector and camera, one other piece of kit which you can pick up on ebay - look under 'telecine'. Basically it is a mirror system. You project the film on to a screen and film through a lens on the side of the box.

Now I did not even use video film. I used the camera 'live' and fed the picture into the PC and captured it there.

You will have some flicker to contend with and this can be removed in virtualdub with a deflicker filter.

Fully professional conversion will scan each frame and is very labour intensive. I honestly do not think you can get that for $5 a reel. They are probably using similar equipment that I describe.

[classfour]

I just finished transferring over 3,000 feet of 8mm to DVD (3 discs). Used an old Bell & Howell projector, Ambico Telecine box, captured with a Hitachi DVDCam feeding a DataVideo TBC100 and final Panny DMRES15. The absolute worst part of it was getting the angles correct on the telecine box - and correcting the edges of the captured video. Yes, the telecine box method was far better than using either a blank wall or screen - and eliminated lighting problems associated with that method. I did look into building a telecine system (plans are on the web), but lack the desire or technical savvy to go full boat. I did wish that I had a proper film cleaner, but most of the film was actually in good shape.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I used the telecine process using a projector and camcorder,the results were ok considering the films were in bad shape.
If I had to do over again I would of had it done professionally,family films are priceless.

[ACLUguy]

Wow, thank you everyone. Your advice has been nothing short of spectacular. I'm just about to order a telecine box and looking at getting a new video camera tomorrow. (I need a new camera anyhow.)

I really appreciate everyones advice, it has helped me a great deal!

In appreciation,
ACLUguy

[cyflyer]

Recently, I did a bunch of standard 8mm (there is standard 8mm and super 8mm film) recently by wall projection and camcorder method, and the result ain't too bad. First problem is finding a decent enough quality projector that actually works and projects without chewing up your film. There ain't too many of them about, and getting even rarer. Setting up the projector and the camcorder (mine's direct to mini dvd) carefully so that camcorder is on a steady tripod, and as close as possible to the projector so that their angle of veiw is as near as possible, and frame the projection very carefully. The result is a permanent record on dvd, better than nothing, remember you cannot pass those old films too many times through the projector.

[2Bdecided]

The work printer / frame by fame methods (google for them) are better than anything else, e.g.

http://www.dvdhomevideoeditor.com/
(from google - not a recommendatino)

If you're going to do further work, there is something to be said for getting the output in DV format (either in a file, or on miniDV tape) instead of standard DVD, to save re-encoding MPEG-2 when you make your own DVD. VideoReDo and Womble let you edit MPEG-2 without loss, but if you want to be more creative, you should work from DV or better.

Cheers,
David.

[2Bdecided]

This is the workprinter...
http://www.moviestuff.tv/wp_xp.html

Here are samples...
http://www.moviestuff.tv/samples.html
(note the video file you can download to see actual footage)

Here are more samples...
http://www.foreverondvd.com/gallery.html

Here are some comparisons...
http://www.foreverondvd.com/comparison.html

I think the most important thing is that pointing a camera at a screen or telecine box doesn't match one frame of film to one frame of video. You end up with a blended interlaced image which is sub-optimal for DVD watched on a normal TV, and can be laughably bad when watched on a PC, HDTV etc.

I have seen even better examples from people who have built their own homebrew transfer systems, but the time taken is substantial!

If these are your memories, I think it's worth paying someone with a workprinter based transfer system to do the job properly.

It's not worth paying someone to project your films at a wall and point a camera at it!

Cheers,
David.