Hi8 to AVI

[mario83]

Hi! I have a Sony CCD-TR101 Video Camera and a few Hi8 tapes.
In the past i captured the videos in Mpeg2 format, using MediaCruise (by Canopus).
Now i need these videos in high quality format so i need to re-capture them in uncompressed AVI format but MediaCruise doesn't allow me to capture in this format (just Mpeg1 or Mpeg2).
So, my questions are: how can I get an uncompressed Avi from my Hi8 tapes (without using a digital camera)? I've seen that I can use VirtualDubMOD, is it good? Are there other similar (free) programs?

In case I want to capture the videos in DV format (instead of uncompressed AVI), how can I do (what program can I use)?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[JohnnyMalaria]

For DV capture, you already have the software in the form of Windows Movie Maker.

If you need a different program then WinDV is the most widely recommended.

We have our own, too, but for basic capturing with no frills, WinDV is the simplest option.

[mario83]

Thanks for you reply but unfortunately I don't have any digital camera so, I guess, WinDV won't work if I don't connect the camera via firewire. Right?

[JohnnyMalaria]

Oh - I misunderstood.

You are looking for a way to connect your Hi8 player to the PC and capture the video, right?

To do that, you need something similar to MediaCruise but that captures to AVI format. There are many such devices and it really comes down to your budget. You can also get analog-to-DV converter boxes (e.g., from Canopus) that will convert to DV and you then capture that via FireWire.

Some graphics cards have video capture capability, too. Do you know what card you have?

[mario83]

yes, I just want to digitize the hi8 tapes in uncompressed AVI or DV-AVI without using a firewire port.

I know there are program like virtualdubMOD that can capture my videos and save it in uncompressed (? I'm not sure about that. Anyone can confirm?) AVI. I'm looking for other similar free programs and for programs that allow me to save in DV-Avi format (no via firewire).

I don't know what graphic card I have but I guess it supports video capture since I captured the video (in Mpeg2) with MediaCruise.

[Ollie6431]

... I just want to digitize the hi8 tapes in uncompressed AVI or DV-AVI without using a firewire port.

...

That would be difficult to do. The easiest way to digitize Hi8 tapes to DV with preservation of video quality is using a Digital8 cam as a pass-through. The cost of Digital8 cam is very low these days (if you can find one) but I am not sure whether you want to buy one to digitize just a few Hi8 tapes.

Since Hi8 tape video is around 400 (equivalent ) pixel in resolution, DV video from this source would not be better than the MPG2 video that you already have.

DV is good enough (13 Gb /hr). I am not sure if you can get uncompressed AVI. The size of the file would be huge!

[thecoalman]

Wahtdevice are you using for capture now? Mediacruise comes up as software.

Could you expand I why you need a uncompressed AVI or DV-AVI? Assuming the Canopus card is good MPEG encoder you're going to get very little benefit if any unless you intend on doing doing filtering and/or editing.

AS mentioned if you wanted to get a DV-AVI you'd need a DV-AVI harware encoder, e.g canopus 110 or digital camcorder with passthrough. For uncompressed you'd need a regular capture card but these are usually cheap and come with lot of issues. I'm not aware of one that is high-end, you're also going to produce enormous files. Something like 30GB per hour using Huffy.