how can I capture mpeg 2 from a hi8 camcorder

[fawnmodel]

In past, I have always used my dazzle usb to cap from the hi-8 camcorder, as I was only making VCD's and the higest res settings it can cap at are standard vcd res.

Now, I have just purchased a DVD-r/rw and have a few questions about how this res will affect my DVD's

1) capturing as an mpeg 1 ( the only option on this dazzle analog), and converting to mpeg 2, will this result in pixelzation or shoddy res on DVD? Is it worth making DVD's with this res? Is it the same/comparible to VCD?

2) is there a way, or any other type of capture device that can capture the hi8 from a hi8 cam at a higher res/mpeg2?

thanks so much, I appreciate your help once again.

[fawnmodel]

Any replies? Any info appreciated, I am going shopping today so I would like to be armed with some information...

Otherwise, what would you recommend is the easiest, least messy way to capture Hi8 from the Hi8 cam corder/tapes to output to DVD? What type of card etc are people using for this?

I can't afford to simply buy a Digital 8 cam to transfer these tapes to the computer, so any help in dealing with analog to DVD in this manner is greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much...I know you guys are well versed in all this, surely someone can provide some insight for a total newcomer like myself

[fawnmodel]

Okay, went unarmed and uninformed (lol) to the computer store today...

I ended up with Pinnacle AV studio 8...it has svideo input as well as mpeg 2 realtime capping.

I have not installed it to my newly upgraded system yet, which is an amd 1.3ghz with 319ram, 30gig hd. My DVD-r/rw is Pioneer external 2.0 usb.

Is there anything else I should upgrade before attempting? I am very used to videowave5 for my editing purposes I hve used videowave/pinnacle other progs for several years editing mpeg1's for vcd. What my intended use is for is to cap approx 25 min segments of hi8 at mpeg2 format. I intend to use videowave for my editing as I am really used to their formats, this time produce to mpeg2 vids for burning to DVD. I plan to put say 6 separately edited mpeg2 files/chapters of 10-25 min each onto DVD via Nerovision. sorto fo a compilation. I don't plan to keep the competed files on the drive after I have decent masters.

Any feedback with regard to this appreciated, I have read really all that I have been able to gather for anything remotely close to this setup on the forums and the site. Your help/advice/criticism is appreciated. As I said, I am really not fluent in anythign much more technical (lol) than I have stated here.

Also: After making about 15 master DVD's mainly the purpose of the unit will be to duplicate/copy the same masters.

[ZippyP.]

Converting mpeg1 to mpeg2, as in your original post, is definitely not recommended. Lower res. to higher res. results in major blockiness artifact because you cannot "create" more resolution. The program will try, but it's not going to be any good. The opposite, however, is fine. Looks like your purchase was sound.

As for capturing: I don't do any myself (planning to) and I only know what I have read here at DVDRhelp. It seems everyone recommends a separate, dedicated, really large hard drive on which to place captures. Your OS should not be on the drive and it should be clean and defragmented. This should result in less dropped frames. Good luck.

[BKL]

I use a Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge to convert analog input to DV and am quite pleased with the result. Dazzle products can be troublesome at times, but I ave been happy with the DV Bridge. Canopus and ADS Thecnologies make a similar converter.
If you want to continue with the VCD capture and can handle the quality, Ulead DVDMovieFactory2 will convert the audio to DVD 48KHz w/o reencoding the video.

[solarfox]

I, too, would recommend that you install a second, dedicated hard drive for video capturing. You're much less likely to have problems with dropped frames if the capture software isn't constantly having to jump around the drive looking for free space, and it'll save you from constantly defragging your primary HD every time you want to do a capture.

It can also speed up your encoding/authoring times somewhat when the software is able to read your captured video from one drive and write the DVD image to the other, since the hard-drive heads will have to do much less back-and-forth seeking than they would if you only have a single drive.

Other than that, your system looks adequate for the task. More memory won't really help; a faster CPU might, but the relationship isn't 1:1 -- i.e. a 2GHz CPU doesn't necessarily render twice as fast as a 1GHz -- so you'll have to decide for yourself if the speed increase is worth the $$ after you've done a few projects. (My experience, going from a 1GHz Duron to an Athlon XP2000+, was about a 60% speed increase in rendering.)

[widemouth]

Using Studio 8 AV you wont be capturing directly to MPEG2. You will be capturing to MJPEG AVI files and then you will need to convert these to MPEG2 for SVCD. This can be done using the Make Disk function in the Studio software.

Try and capture at a highest resolution and bitrate that your Hardware can handle. Your PC is similiar to mine and I capture at 720x576 (PAL) 4700 kbps quite easily.

Then use the Studio softwares "Make Disk" or use another encoder and burner to make your SVCD.

Important tip: Make sure you download the latest updates from the pinnacle web site for Studio 8 as the original version has so many bugs that it simply doesn't work properly.