Macworld: Message List - What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

owlshead — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:48:53 GMT

This is a long shot, but if any of your friends have a Digital 8 unit from Sony, either a camera or the much rarer VCR, and it has Firewire (aka IEE 13whateverthehellitis), you can borrow it for a weekend, pop in your cassettes, and, because it's backwards compatible, bring the content right into your Mac. The signal is automatically converted to digital.

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

JLomba1 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:17:22 GMT

If you can, try both the Canopus and a VCR/DVDR. See if you can
detect any differences in the product.

I'm hoping the Macworld folks are reading this thread and using it as an idea for a future article in the magazine.

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

Heyoka_Happiness — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:33:28 GMT

I'm not clear as to what you're suggestion to rent. Is the Conopus available to rent?

Yes you can sometimes find a Canopus or something similar to rent. Sony discontinued there analog to digital converter. You have to make some phone calls and look in the phone book if you live in a big city your chances are greater in finding something to rent. I live near Toronto so I can almost find anything to rent.

I am not trying to sell you on the canopus I just have had good results using it. The best way I have found to convert old tapes was going from analog directly to digital (.DV on computer).
With every conversion you will lose some quality. I sent tapes out before and was not happy with the results and paid an arm and leg.

Going from analog to DVD is not what I would recommend just for the fact you are compressing you footage further. MPEG-2 and your audio would be AC3 then ripping them off the DVD and converting them yet again to something you are going to edit.
If you don't plan on editing your footage then thats not a bad idea. A DVD/VHS recorder.

But it also depends on the quality of your tapes the canopus and other analog converts are not miracle workers. There is only so much they can clean up.

I have not had a problem with the canopus products. Meaning have never had my audio out of sync or lost a single frame of video. And it cleaned it up nicely.

If you don't want to put out the dough for the ADVC-300 then there is a similar cheaper yet just as good ADVC-110.

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

albloom — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:39:37 GMT

Jim, I was thinking about Canopus and its cousins for a while, but
I never made the jump. I haven't felt the need.

The consumer recorders are pretty much the same if you stay with
brands you've heard of. It is a button-push to copy a VHS tape to
recordable DVD. For an external source,my Sharp has a set of S-Video
and RCA inputs in the front (addressed as line-2 in channel selection).
Press "record" on the DVD side and stop or pause when you've
run through a hi-8 tape.

Once you've filled a disc (and you can select compression levels --
from none (1hr) to ridiculous (I prefer 2hr, but most movies force me
into 4hr), you can edit the name(s) of the file(s) you copied. Then
you MUST "finalize" the DVD. Otherwise no Mac will read it.

If you can, try both the Canopus and a VCR/DVDR. See if you can
detect any differences in the product.

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

JLomba1 — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:56:02 GMT

Al,

I'm leaning that way, so maybe my post was biased towards option 2. I'm hesitant to pick either option 2 or 3 as I don't know anyone who has actually done a side-by-side comparison. It would be great if someone did, or if anyone can point me to that info.

My assumption is that the Canopus method would produce the best results, but by how much? Are the finished products too similar to notice any difference, or is the difference so great that its worth the extra cost of the Canopus? Is using the (VCR/DVD recoredr/software conversion) method so cumbersome that its worth the extra cost of the Canopus, or are they both pretty easy? Lastly, which VCR/DVD recorder, as well as which Canopus, produces the best to use? I'm sure there are some very good and some terrible VCR/DVD recorders. And do the three Canopus models produce similar results? I know the more costly models have added features, but is there any difference in the basic audio/video conversion? Or maybe I should just pick one and not analyze the issue to death?! lol

Best regards,

Jim

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

albloom — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:36:34 GMT

J, I think you just sold yourself on a combo VCR/DVD recorder. Lots cheaper than
a Canopus and way more flexible. The "con" you mention will crop up whenever you
convert from one format to another. So keep conversions to a minimum.

But the combo unit probably does not have "the abiliity to convert any old VHS tapes
to DVD." Mine honors copy protected commercial tapes and won't even try to copy
them. I'd have been better off buying separate VCR and DVD components (with a
Digital Video Stabilizer inserted between them for copy protected tapes) instead of
giving those commercial tapes to our cleaning lady.

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

JLomba1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:28:07 GMT

Folks,

I'm in as similar situation and have been wondering which solution is the best. I have a Sony Hi8 analog camcorder (not the digital 8). As I see it, there are three options, and I'm hoping the forum experts may offer some advice:

1. Send the videos to a business that will convert them, then use something like Streamclip (Is this the best program for this? Are there others?) to then import the DVD into iMovie to edit. The downside is that if there are more than a couple tapes (I have about a dozen) then the cost far outweighs the other options. And I'm not sure if the software will degrade the DVD's content.

2. Buy a VCR/DVD recorder since I have an analog camcorder. Plug the camcorder into the DVD recorder using the RCA jacks, play the camcorder's tape while burning it to the DVD recorder. Then use something like Streamclip to import the DVD into iMovie to edit. The benefits of this are:

the unedited tapes are now on DVD which can be played over and over without degrading the original tapes
the ability to record TV shows directly to DVD for personal use only
the abiliity to convert any old VHS tapes to DVD

The con, as stated above, if there is a con, is any degradation the software may introduce, as well as the conversion performance of the VCR/DVD recorder.

3. Buy a Canopus converter and go directly from the analog Hi8 camcorder to iMovie. This seems to be the way to go for convering analog sources. Cheaper than a professional service for many tapes. And I'm assuming that using a dedicated hardware system will result in a better conversion than using software to convert the files from a DVD. Which converter? The ADVC-55 is about $220, the ADVC-110 about $250, and the ADVC-300 about $520. Is there that much difference in conversion quality between the three models? I know the ADVC-300 adds bi-directional capability (something I don't need).

Is this a pretty good summary, or am I missing something?

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

JLomba1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:17:03 GMT

Heyoka,
I'm not clear as to what you're suggestion to rent. Is the Conopus available to rent?

What might want to look into is you local video store/rental. If this is a one time operation for you and you don't want to put out 200$ to use a piece of equipment one time then have it sit on your shelve this would be a better alternative. You can most likely rent on for 50$ a day.

Thanks,

Jim

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

albloom — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:58:37 GMT

Anna, what outputs does your Hi-8 player have? If they are standard
RCA jacks (1 video and 2 audio), you can plug it into a DVD recorder
from WallyWorld (or wherever) inexpensively.

Getting the output DVD into a Mac for editing is a job MPEG Streamclip
does nicely.

Re: What is easiest way to transfer Hi-8 video to DVD using IMac

Heyoka_Happiness — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:23:33 GMT

Hi- Welcome to Macworld.

AnnaC wrote:
After reading many posts here I know I'll need a Hi-8 video player, which I do own. I will need a converter, here is where I'm confused. Do I have to buy one (Canopus?) or can I use my digital camcorder?

No you don't have to buy the Conopus converter you can use your digital camcorder. The only reason to use the Conopus ADVC-300 or something similar is to clean up you video before it gets to your computer. Meaning:
It is better to attempt the clean up while the video is analog rather in post; doing the color correction in real time as it is captured while cleaning some of the grain at the same time; the AGC (auto gain corrector) for video and audio. As scenes change it does a decent job making adjustments. (Sometimes the changes are too abrupt, so it depends on the footage)

Do I need an external HD to place all raw film?

An external hard drive would be a good idea to store you video. For two reasons the converted media will .DV files which will most likely be big files sizes and fill up your hard drive pretty fast. Second video has a high data rate you don't want your source material on your systems hard drive if your external hard drive crashes all you lose if your video but if your system hard drive crashes well then you'll lose everything.

What might want to look into is you local video store/rental. If this is a one time operation for you and you don't want to put out 200$ to use a piece of equipment one time then have it sit on your shelve this would be a better alternative. You can most likely rent on for 50$ a day.

If you plan on editing your video you will need to convert it to .DV whether its with the conopus or your video camera.

I copied most of this from a previous post of mine. this was the post Re: I need HELP getting analog video into the Mac