HELP !! Hi8 to dvd transfer problems

[Paul Higgins]

Can anyone help with this one, I have been given a Hi8 wedding video that needs to be put onto dvd no editing needed.
The equipment I have is
Computer - DELL INSPIRON 5160, 2.8GHZ 2GB RAM, s-video, firewirem usb
Camcorder - Canon XM2 AVI, firewire,usb
Hi8 Camcorder - SONY TRV408E, AVI, s-video
can someone please tell me the best way to put it on my laptop to convert to dvd the only leads I have are firewire cable, avi 3.5mm with yellow and white video,audio.
What I have tried so far is connect the sony to my video player with the avi into the camera and the video,audio into the video,audio in connections on the vcr, now when i see the video played through to the tv the picture and sound are great, however when i press the record button on my vcr the playback recorded footage on the vcr is very disstored, any ideas

[Jean-Francois Robichaud]

Recording the video on a VHS tape first is going to degrade the picture horribly, so don't do that! There are better solutions available to you:

1) The really best thing you could do would be to play the tapes in a Digital8 camcorder and capture through Firewire (Sony Hi8 to D8 camcorder analog, D8 Firewire to laptop). D8 camcorders can play analog 8mm tapes, and I'm sure they can also play Hi8. I've captured a lot of my old analog 8mm tapes through my D8 camcorder, but I've never tried Hi8 tapes. BUT: note that some of the cheapest D8 camcorders can't analog 8mm tapes at all, so beware.

2) If you can't put your hands on a D8 camcorder, then your best bet is to connect the Sony Hi8 camcorder to the XM2 through the analog A/V connection, and then the XM2 to your laptop through firewire. You don't even have to record the video on a DV tape on the XM2, you can capture directly on the laptop, but it's a good idea to do it anyway for archival purposes. Obviously, if you use the XM2 as a pass-through device, then you won't have playback controls from your laptop: you'll need to press play on the Sony Hi8, and then record in your laptop's capture software. And there won't be any timecode.

Connecting the Sony Hi8 to the XM2: because each camcorder uses some kind of mini-jack as it's A/V input/output, you can't connect them using regular 3-wire RCA cables. But you can patch the original camcorder cables with female to female RCA adapters. You could potentially use your VCR as an adapter for the image to go through, but I'm not sure if it would degrade the image (Hi-8 camcorder to the the VCR A/V IN, VCR A/V out to XM2).

3) Another solution is to get a A/V to Firewire converter. You could connect the Sony Hi8's analog output to the converter, and the converter's Firewire to the laptop.

[Paul Higgins]

Many thanks looks like option 3 could be the best idea but does the pc need to recognise the cam through firewire.
Paul

[Doug Boze]

I second JFR's suggestion of using a Sony D8 camcorder to play the tapes.

I've done this with my old Hi8's and not only is it ridiculously easy, there is another benefit: the D8 camcorder has a built-in time-base correcter (TBC) which will essentially eliminate the dropouts and glitches common to old Hi8 tapes.

Of course, your mileage may vary, but I've been astounded to see tapes that had repeatable dropouts when played back on the original camcorder play flawlessly on the D8 unit.

Your software will recognize the D8 camcorder, or else you can select the model from a list in DV controls.

Now, if I can find as easy a solution to archiving my pro-Hi8 tapes with PCM audio... (sigh).

[Jean-Francois Robichaud]

Paul, if you go for the analog-to-DV converter, then here is one example of such a device:
http://www.firewire-1394.com/pyro-av-link-basic.htm

I've never used one, but I assume the computer would recognize the converter itself as a generic DV device through the firewire. The computer would not see the camcorder itself. You need to control the playback on the camcorder itself and manually start the recording on the computer.

The D8 solution is the only one that would give you remote camcorder control, but the lack of timecode makes it impossible to log then batch capture.

[Chris Barcellos]

I third he Digital 8. I still have mine for that purpose. Use to be a big argument about Digital 8 not being as good as MiniDV, but I think they recorded the same DV format. And Digital 8 was cheaper tape... but thats another forum.

[Jean-Francois Robichaud]

Chris, indeed D8 camcorders use the same DV format as regular DV camcorders. A D8 camcorder is as good as any DV camcorder with equivalent lens and CCD.

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Jean-Francois Robichaud

Chris, indeed D8 camcorders use the same DV format as regular DV camcorders. A D8 camcorder is as good as any DV camcorder with equivalent lens and CCD.

Jean-Francois

I had some arguments with people on that issue. You think if I listed my TRV-720 as part of my professional equipment inventory it would get a chuckle out there ? :)

Chris

[John Marion]

I guess I'm not the only one out there doing something like this! I just broke out my Sony Hi8 last week to capture some footage. I'm not happy with the results but I guess it's as good as the original Hi8 tape really is, being 11 years old.

On top of that, my Sony Hi8 is a PAL camera so I had to run the signal through my old AIWA converter. I didn't think I would ever use this equipment again, but here I am with it set up right now. I might go ahead and just archive the most importan Hi8 footage I have, either on DV tapes or on the hard drive.

[Randy Rogers]

Definitely go with the D8 cam. As you only have the one tape, it wouldn't be worth your while buying one - so hopefully you can borrow one.

Actually... D8 cams are becoming kind of scarce anymore in the electronic shops.

Randy