I am new to this, but from my research so far I believe there are at least 2 basic ways to convert 8mm videotape (analog) to digital: (1) use a digital8 camcorder (my existing camcorder is the older non-digital); (2) use a AV / DV converter like Canopus 110 or DAC-200. I think there is a 3rd way, using a PCI video card or TV tuner with composite (RCA) inputs. Does that alone work? I want to bring in digital avi files so can edit. Ultimately burn to DVDs.
Q1: are these the 3 ways?
Q2: what is the best way as far as the quality of the conversion. I am dealing with 10-20yr old tapes of kids, etc. Want to get best result possible. Any and all help / direction appreciated. Thanks.
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I have used the advc 100 with EXCELLENT results. Simple, easy..what more could you want.
'Do I look absolutely divine and regal, and yet at the same time very pretty and rather accessible?' - Queenie -
I had a DAC-100 with nothing to compare it to. Once I ran off my analog tapes in a digital8, I could compare. The little camera did about a 20% cleaner job of converting to digital than the DAC-100.
The best possible would probably be a deck.
Food for thought... -
I used the Hauppauge 250PVR capture card, analog to mpeg2 at the same quality that they currently have. From there you can pretty much so what you want with them. ConvertX to DVD will do a good job to burn to DVDs. If you want to author with menus, there are several free programs listed here that will do that. I used Pinnacle Studio to do that with all my family archives, but members here can recommend free programs.
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I used a Digital8 camcorder back in the day and it did a great job, if you can find one I recommend this route. Another option is have a professional transfer it to DVD then you could edit it on your PC, check the yellow pages for "video transfer". It's not cheap($20USD per tape) but you don't have to search for a used Canopus or camcorder.
Last edited by MOVIEGEEK; 27th Nov 2011 at 23:54.
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Thanks for the replies. So far seems that a video camera sounds better than the DAC converter. With regard to the capture card, are there any that will bring DV in as avi fole vs mpeg2 (compressed)? And are they as good as camcorder option? I ask as the video card expense could also be used for other purposes after videos are uploaded. Camcorders have some ability to "clean" the video as it is transferred. Are there video cards that can do that too? Digital noise reduction/image stabilization, etc. The higher end Canpopus 300 ($400+ cost) says has this.
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your options were 1. Digital 8 camcorder 2. External capture device like ADVC-100, etc 3. Internal computer capture card. I would think 1 or 2 (depending on quality of 2) are fine. Stay away from capture cards
'Do I look absolutely divine and regal, and yet at the same time very pretty and rather accessible?' - Queenie -
The ADVC line takes analog in and outputs DV format. This connects Firewire to the PC. WinDV is good capture software and will cap the DV stream to a DV-AVI file. I use my ADVC-100 for many uses and is generally connected to my cable box for quick SD capture.
A Digital8 camcorder will output Firewire directly but not all Digital8 camcorders play analog tapes, only the older models or higher priced later models.
Quality will be improved with a TBC added, or use a camcorder with internal TBC for playback.
Alts to DV capture...
1. Uncompressed to Huffyuv
2. MPeg2 encoding card like Hauppauge PVR/HVR
3. DVD recorder to DVD Media (MPeg2)
The ADVC-300 is a bit overkill and the internal TBC is just line based, but you can buy one used on eBay and then sell it when done.
A pro level dub house can use an expensive frame sync for best results. You usually pay extra for "color correction".Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
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