With alternatives dwindling, the best way to preserve old camcorder videos, exclusive of having it done professionally, is enlisting the aid of your PC. The upload quality depends on how much RAM is on your PC, the processor, and the hard drive speed. Also, think of the convenience of having an 8mm cassette viewer. You get to directly play your 8mm tapes to TV just like you would with a VHS VCR. Get this player if you have a mix of Video8, Hi8 and Digital8 8mm video cassettes. Feel free to read the reviews before committing to an 8mm video cassette player purchase.
After the transfer, you can now export the data into different digital formats. Some of the digital formats you can export include MP4, MOV, WMV, AVI, AVCHD, WebM, etc.
Photo Scanning
So, before you go out and buy a Firewire-to-USB adapter check with your camcorder manual if such a connection is permitted. In a dark room, set the projector and video camera up next to each other. Project the film evenly onto the wall or screen, then adjust the viewfinder in your digital camera so that the image being projected fills the whole view. Then press Play on the projector and Record on the camera to capture your footage.
Like the others, the Elgato package includes software that lets you save video from VHS to DVD or your hard drive. Aside from the ability to trim the beginning and end of the video, though, there are no editing capabilities here. You also get all the cables you need—both USB and RCA analog audio. (If you want to use the slightly higher-quality S-video connection, you’ll need your own S-video cable, though).
SONY EV-A50 ( EV-C3 ) Video8 VCR 8mm Tape Player
For the sake of your videotapes and other media, it’s highly recommended to use professional digitizing services. Professional services have specialized equipment and experienced staff who can ensure a high-quality and safe transfer process. When tapes arrive in the facility, they will inform you. After that, you can follow the process of converting tapes to digital form. During the process, your tapes may receive repairs, and enhancements, which affect better video quality.
How to Transfer 8mm and Hi8 Video Tapes to DVD or VHS
Read more about mini dv tapes to digital here.
If you’re interested, check out Walmart Photo and Costco Photo Center. Both of these accept tapes in formats including VHS, S-VHS, Betamax, VHS-C, Hi-8, MiniDV and more. The best way to convert 8mm tapes to DVD is by playing them back from your Video8 orHi-8 camcorder with a video capture device connected to a computer. Sending your MiniDV tapes to a digitization service will take the burden of editing off your shoulders.
Tapes that have been digitized on a thumb drive or as a digital download from the cloud are saved as MPEG-4 files. Legacy Box offers complimentary splicing if a tape’s film is broken. If you are short on time or want to leave it to the pros, there are a number of mail-in services that will digitize your VHS tapes for you. These are some companies that we recommend for the service. Most converters come with downloadable software to process the transfer. Before you begin the process you will want to make sure that you’ve installed that on your computer. Once the software is installed in your computer you are ready to begin.
After the played footage ends, press stop on both the camcorder and capturing device. The simplest way to transfer your miniDV to digital form is onto a DVD via DVD recorder without any software. Your computer needs at least one free USB-A port and software to capture played footage from the camcorder. During the research, we found one free software that may help you, VirtualDub.
Remember, you should probably try this process with a test tape first, ensuring you don’t lose anything in the event that your equipment malfunctions. Connect the USB output of the video capture device to a USB port on the PC. The type of camcorder, the connections it has, and the supporting software on the PC determine how videos can be uploaded and saved.