Lost newbee

[visch1]

I’m at the age that much is forgotten, like what I had for supper last night. I’ve been away from this forum and don’t remember what most of the abbreviations mean along with many often used terms. Basically what I’d like to do in simple English is convert some of my Hi 8 video, weddings, vacations etc. to DVD or CDs. Can someone explain in simple English what I need for equipment and applications? I think I’d want to edit the tape as opposed to a straight copy. Do I make any sense to anyone? If so TYIA BE WELL

[CrayonEater]

Not sure what you have in terms of equipment, but the simplest thing is probably to do something like a VHS transfer: hook up the audio and video cables from your Hi-8 unit to a DVD recorder (use the S-video outputs if you have them and an appropriate cable). Depending on your $$$ situation, try to use a Time Base Corrector like one of the DataVideo jobs. A lot of recorders (and even some higher-end VCRs) have built-in TBCs that may suffice, so try that before laying down money for a TBC. Oh, and make sure to retension your tapes by fully fast-forwarding and rewinding before copying. It should (well, in theory) reduce errors.

[edDV]

Some options depending on budget and interest,

1. Direct copy camcorder to DVD Recorder. A more expensive DVD Recorder will record to a hard disk. Then you can edit (simple cuts) what goes on the DVDR. You can also take the DVDR to the computer for editing but this is much more envolved.

2. Get a new MiniDV or Digital 8 camcorder (look for one with Anolog Pass Through modes). with this you can

2a - Edit old camcorder to new camcorder

2b - Transfer Hi8 or regular 8mm to the computer over IEEE-1394 by playing the tape from the new camcorder (Digital8 only) then edit (DV format) on the computer.

2c - Transfer Hi8 or regular 8mm to the computer over IEEE-1394 by playing the old camcorder through the new camcoder (analog pass through mode). Then edit (DV format) on the computer.

3. Capture to the computer trough a capture device. There are many options for this. There are several ways

3a - Capture using a cheap "tuner card" - You will find many geekish tutorials on this site and will be difficult to do with quality.

3b - Capture with a MPeg2 hardware encoding card (e.g. Hauppauge PVR series) then edit the MPeg2 with Womble VCR or similar. This gives you basic cuts editing.

3c - Capture with a DV format hardware encoding device (e.g. Canopus ADVC or ADS Pyro lines) then edit as DV format for more sophisticated editing (with simple up to Premier or Vegas with high end features).

3d - Capture with a newer MPeg4 capture device. This gets you smaller files but these will not be easy to edit and quality will generally be far less than DV or MPeg2 using the current generation hardware.

[visch1]

Thanks for the memory refresh. A couple years ago I purchased Premiere 6.5 for a project I never started, guess that would be a canditate to explore. I have a video card with s-video and some cables, many Gs of drive space and the camera. Any other other needed items? Another question: I have a Sony hi 8 video cam and some analog tapes. Can these be used with Premiere or must they be converted to digital, or what would be easier? All this with the aim to making them into DVDs. THANK YOU

[FulciLives]

You need to convert your analog Hi8 tapes to a digital format. For that purpose I suggest the Canopus ADVC-110.

This is an external "box" with video and audio inputs. You can plug any analog video unit into the Canoopus ADVC-110 such as a Hi8 camcorder, VHS VCR, LaserDisc player, etc. The "box" then connects to the computer using the IEEE 1394 port (sometimes called a "DV" or "i.link" port).

The "box" turns the analog video/audio into digital and sends it to the computer.

The Canopus ADVC-110 is very nearly "fool proof" and is proven to work well unlike many other devices that "do the same thing" but do so "very poorly".

The only "gotcha" here is that the Canopus ADVC-110 is around $250 - $275 US Dollars ... maybe a bit more even. Also not all computers have the required IEEE 1394 port so that is another $15 - $30 to spend if you need that.

But it probably really is the best way to convert your analog video footage to a digital format. In fact it converts to the DV AVI format which is the consumer/prosumer standard in digital video editing (and will work great with Premiere).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[visch1]

Thanks all for your guidence, it's given me a memory refresh and I feel I'm nearing the end of the hazy tunnel. BE WELL