How to convert MPV to DVD question for Dickson?

Question about digitizing old home videos?

• We have a Sony Handycam camcorder that uses Hi-8 tapes. For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they're 8mm analog tapes - somewhat like a miniature VHS, but not quite. (There *was* a format called VHS-C that essentially was VHS) My dad got a digital camcorder a few years ago, to keep up with the times, the kind that records straight to a memory card and can be burned to DVD easily. But we have about 15 years of memories stored on the Hi-8 tapes and literally have entire boxes full of these. I'm trying to figure out the best way to convert them into digital format (DVD, most likely, as I doubt anything better makes sense). I am fairly well versed in digital technology, I've made my own DVDs, and even Blu-Ray discs, so please don't try to sell me software, I know what I'm doing. What I'd like to know is: A. What sort of quality do "Digital8" camera give when playing analog Hi-8 tapes in them? B. Is it better/worse/the same as DVD? Currently, I have a Panasonic DVD recorder, that in "one hour mode", will record 480i (DVD standard) video from any standard-definition input source. Our Handycam (which still works fine) can use S-Video output and has the audio jacks, so what I've done for a few of the more important tapes was plug the camera into the recorder using S-Video and audio, then record it to a DVD. The problem, of course, is that it's fairly tedious and for anything longer than an hour, I have to split it up on two discs. Using "2-hour mode" on the recorder lowers quality by quite a lot, and it's better to leave it at highest settings and use software to compress later. That, and it's interlaced, and often has tracking artifacts due to the age of the camera. I have seen some of these Digital8 cameras for sale that can supposedly take Hi-8 tapes and automatically digitize them, and you can connect them to a computer using either FireWire or USB (both of which I can utilize), without needing to manually record each. But I have never done this, and it means paying for more equipment. Can anybody tell me what sort of quality can be expected using that method? Is it at least 480i at 30 frames per second like a DVD? If it were actually progressive (480p), that would be even nicer. So given what I've said - that I already have a DVD recorder, what makes the most sense to convert a bunch of Hi-8 tapes to digital? They do not need to be DVDs. I usually end up just converting the DVDs into de-interlaced video files on my computer anyway. I'm not too familiar with the "DV" standard, but supposedly it's better quality than DVD? My question just concerns what resolution/framerate it uses and if it would look any better (or possibly worse!) than what I'm doing already. PS - I was looking at buying one of these: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000087BV9/ It's one of the cheapest Digital8 cameras I can find... does anybody know if that model can convert the tapes to digital or do I need more expensive one? Specific experience would be appreciated. Thanks.

• Answer:

  Your are going down the right path in trying to find a Digital 8 camcorder to playback your Hi8 tapes to digitize your video content for editing on your computer. However, the camcorder you selected is not the right answer, as it does not playback Hi8 or Regular8mm videotape like it's more expensive predecessors. Also, it sounds like your first priority is to ultimately having digital files on your computer for editing. If this is the case you do NOT want to first go to DVD - you want to go direct to digital files. Ripping/converting your DVDs to digital files involves a transcoding process of already compressed MPEG2 video, and you will end up with an inferior video quality as compared to going directly to digital files from tape. You could purchase a used Digital8 camcorder that can play your Hi8 tapes and convert them via Firewire, but a better option may be to use an Analog to Digital converter like the one offered by Dazzle (see link in the "source" area). It costs ~ $90-100, but would allow you to use your existing Hi8 Camcorder to plug into the Dazzle device via S-Video (A higher quality video input than composite). The Dazzle then plugs into your USB 2.0+ port on your computer, and is able to record your video in a number of different High-quality digital file formats, as well as export the video to mobile formats for playback on your ipod/ipad. In terms of video quality, the industry standard DVD length is typically 2 hours of video to still maintain a high-quality video on playback. And you should be able to achieve this with either a high-quality video capture device, or by using an outsourced DVD transfer house. The consumer grade VHS to DVD recorders are typically not very high-quality, which is why you are seeing such a difference in quality with the one hour setting (at 9 mbps video rate) vs. the two hour setting (at ~ 4.5 mbps video rate). Another option is to bypass doing the transfer process yourself and use a conversion service, where you can typically find a service online for ~ $9-10/tape to convert to DVD, or $14-16/tape to convert to digital files. Local providers will be a bit more expensive (usually $20-30/tape for DVD transfer), but you don't need to ship your tape to the transfer house.