Sony Hi8 capture and conversion to digital format.

[RJPiekos]

First, my apologies because I assume this question has been ask multiple times but I always have more questions.

I have a Sony Hi8 camera and about 30 tapes that i want to convert to a digital format. The camera works and it can replay a video through the view finder. I need to know what i need to purchase to get this project done. Here is my setup:

PC:
Windows 10 Professional
Intel i7 6700k CPU @ 4.00 GHz
32 GB Ram
2 TB storage (with additional external drives)
USB 3.0
No fire wire

I do have access to a Windows 7 PC as well.

CAMERA:
Sony HSA-V500
Yellow, Red, White output
Video S Out
No fire wire

After researching this I assume I need:
1. A connection cable that accepts the Red/White and Video S in and has USB 2.0 out (3.0 would be better)
2. Some software to read the video in and convert it to a digital format - the most popular formats are all i need.
3. I do want the ability to edit the digitized video at some later date therefore the output format needs to be "popular"
4. I assume editing software will be required although i do use Photoshop CC which has some basic video edit functions
5. Burning to DVD at some later time will be required for backup.

Does anyone recommend purchasing a Dazzle, Pinnacle or Elgato product to accomplish this? It seems that all of the good solutions on this site don't mention these products. Even when doing research on these products the comments were mixed especially in the areas of stability and Windows 10 compatibility. I also see references to Hauppauge USB-Live 2 capture device, but i am not sure what gets me over the bundled packages mentioned above. I don't want to spend too much money on this and i don't want to make a career of it.

I have read some reports on Virtual Dube and Screnalyzer, they appear to be old but well liked. I assume i still need the special cable as mentioned above.

Thanks for any advice you would like to share.

[KarMa]

The better option would be to capture your tapes in YUY2 lossless. Many capture cards and capture USB dongles will pass on the YUY2 video to programs like Virtualdub, even if the card/dongle comes with a MPEG2 encoder. This is how my Hauppauge 1250 acts, with the provided software you can use lower quality MPEG2 chip. Outside of the provided WinTV software it's uncompressed YUY2, which Virtualdub can losslessly compress using HuffYUV, Lagarith, FFV1, and so on. As far as bundled software provided by the venders you listed, I don't have much confidence in those but also I've never used much of it.

Will the Hauppauge USB-Live 2 pass on raw YUY2 video to programs like Virtualdub, probably but I don't know. USB2 can certainly handle YUY2. With my Hauppauge it does. Also you certainly want to use the S-Video out on your camera to the S-Video input on any card you buy.

[SameSelf]

If you looking to spend less money, I can rec the I-o Data GV-USB2. I have one that I can confirm works under Win10 along with AmarecTV. Perfect for Hi8 tapes using the S-Video to a lossless format for whichever codec you choose e.g. Lagarith.

[RMW0101]

question for KarMa:
I am very new to video editing and i have the same issue as the original thread. I do not know anything about VirtualDub or what a codec;s is. I tried to use VirtualDub to convert my Hi8 tape but the program seems to be very complicated and i did not get any output. I plugged my camera's red/white/s Video cables into a Elgato device and plugged the Elgato's USB into my PC, started up VDub and could not figure out where to go next.

I cannot find good basic step by step instructions for this type of process.

I finally downloaded the elgato software and was able to convert my tapes. But that leads to my next obstacle - every converted tape file (MP4) is now at least 1GB and some are over 2GB if its a 120 minute tape. What video editing software would handle that size file? Or, am approaching this whole project incorrectly.

This forum is great if you have some knowledge of video conversion and editing, but for a newbie it's difficult just trying to understand the acronyms.

Frustrated!

[dellsam34]

question for KarMa:
I am very new to video editing and i have the same issue as the original thread. I do not know anything about VirtualDub or what a codec;s is. I tried to use VirtualDub to convert my Hi8 tape but the program seems to be very complicated and i did not get any output. I plugged my camera's red/white/s Video cables into a Elgato device and plugged the Elgato's USB into my PC, started up VDub and could not figure out where to go next.

I cannot find good basic step by step instructions for this type of process.

I finally downloaded the elgato software and was able to convert my tapes. But that leads to my next obstacle - every converted tape file (MP4) is now at least 1GB and some are over 2GB if its a 120 minute tape. What video editing software would handle that size file? Or, am approaching this whole project incorrectly.

This forum is great if you have some knowledge of video conversion and editing, but for a newbie it's difficult just trying to understand the acronyms.

Frustrated!

Why you are hijacking a thread, can't you start your own?