Best way to transfer from Hi-8 to DVD Recorder?
fsda
tapes range from an age of 8-15 years. I'm getting a DVD-recorder to allow
transferring these tapes to DVD. Since many of the tapes (not all) are
120minutes, I'll be getting a DVD-recorder that supports DVD+R/DL to ensure
maximum quality. Due to cost concerns, the DVD-Recorder will likely be a
dual DVD/VHS recorder (i.e. not a model with a hard disc).
I'd like to maximize the quality of the transfers. What is the best way to
connect a Digital-8 camcorder to transfer analog Hi-8 tapes (which were
recorder on an old Hi-8 camcorder) to the DVD-recorder?
Initially I figured that using i.Link would be the ideal way, but not I'm
not so sure.
My questions refer to:
A) QUALITY. If I use i.Link, the camcorder converts the analog Hi-8 signal
to DV, then transfers through the digital cable to the DVD-recorder, which
converts to MPEG2 and records on disc. Alternatively, I could connect the
camcorder to the DVD-recorder with a S-video and RCA audio cables, in which
the camcorder would send the analog Hi-8 signal through the analog cables
to the DVD-recorder, which would do a direct conversion from analog to
MPEG2. Which way will best maintain the image quality? I like the idea of
the lossless i.Link connection, but this results in two conversion, and the
DVD-Recorder might to a better job with direct analog-to-MPEG2 conversion
than the combination of analog-to-DV in the camcorder followed by DV-to-
MPEG2 in the DVD-recorder...
B) EASE OF USE. This is not a huge deal, but I have this question
regarding using analog Hi-8 tapes in a Digital8 camcorder. Can a DVD-
recorder control a Digital8 camcorder through i.Link while dubbing from a
Hi-8 tape, as it would be able to do with a Digital8 tape? (I know that
Hi-8 does not record digital timecode on the tapes, but I had read a post
somewhere from somebody who was able to get Adobe Premiere Elements to
control his Digital8 camcoder (with analog Hi8 material) and do batch
capture just as if it were a true DV camcorder....)
Thanks everyone for the help.
Larry Johnson
news:Xns96F1688B67...@66.75.164.120...
> My folks have a library of 20+ Hi-8 tapes taken with a home camcorder.
> The
> tapes range from an age of 8-15 years. I'm getting a DVD-recorder to
> allow
> transferring these tapes to DVD. Since many of the tapes (not all) are
> 120minutes, I'll be getting a DVD-recorder that supports DVD+R/DL to
> ensure
> maximum quality. Due to cost concerns, the DVD-Recorder will likely be a
> dual DVD/VHS recorder (i.e. not a model with a hard disc).
>
To date I have not seen any standalone DVD recorder which supports dual
layer discs. If you know of a model then enlighten me. If you are confusing
an internal DVD DL drive for the computer with a standalone recorder you
won't be recording directly to disc, but rather capturing to hard drive,
encoding to MPEG-2 then authoring to disc.
> I'd like to maximize the quality of the transfers. What is the best way
> to
> connect a Digital-8 camcorder to transfer analog Hi-8 tapes (which were
> recorder on an old Hi-8 camcorder) to the DVD-recorder?
>
> Initially I figured that using i.Link would be the ideal way, but not I'm
> not so sure.
>
> My questions refer to:
>
> A) QUALITY. If I use i.Link, the camcorder converts the analog Hi-8
> signal
> to DV, then transfers through the digital cable to the DVD-recorder, which
> converts to MPEG2 and records on disc. Alternatively, I could connect the
> camcorder to the DVD-recorder with a S-video and RCA audio cables, in
> which
> the camcorder would send the analog Hi-8 signal through the analog cables
> to the DVD-recorder, which would do a direct conversion from analog to
> MPEG2. Which way will best maintain the image quality? I like the idea
> of
> the lossless i.Link connection, but this results in two conversion, and
> the
> DVD-Recorder might to a better job with direct analog-to-MPEG2 conversion
> than the combination of analog-to-DV in the camcorder followed by DV-to-
> MPEG2 in the DVD-recorder...
>
If you have the option to use a 1394 link you image will be just as good, if
not better, than using S-Video. But, not all Digital8 camcorders will
playback Hi8 tapes. Sony makes several models and only a few will playback
the Hi8 analog tapes.
> B) EASE OF USE. This is not a huge deal, but I have this question
> regarding using analog Hi-8 tapes in a Digital8 camcorder. Can a DVD-
> recorder control a Digital8 camcorder through i.Link while dubbing from a
> Hi-8 tape, as it would be able to do with a Digital8 tape? (I know that
> Hi-8 does not record digital timecode on the tapes, but I had read a post
> somewhere from somebody who was able to get Adobe Premiere Elements to
> control his Digital8 camcoder (with analog Hi8 material) and do batch
> capture just as if it were a true DV camcorder....)
>
With any option whether it is in the computer, or with a standalone recorder
the higher the bitrate the better the end result video. Capture to DV
quality to hard drive yields a file with the data rate of about
3.62Megabytes/sec which is roughly 25 megabits per second video. DVD
recorders like VCR's offer a range of video quality with 2HRS being SP just
like the old VCR. A standalone will offer a higher quality of only 1HR per
disc which is going to be closer to your original, but not as good as DV
25mb/sec. The 1HR XP disc mode may be somewhere around 8mb/sec video quality
while SP is most likely 6-7, and SLP at 4. Standalone recorders sometimes
offer up to 10HRS to a disc which again lowers the quality just like EP on a
VCR at 6HRS to 10HRS per tape depending on the tape used, i.e. T120, T160
and T180 respectively, only when cramming 10HRS on a single disc there is no
more space as there is with the various lengths of VHS 160 & 180's.
If you want higher quality from any form of DVD video you should invest in
an encoder which allows multi-pass encoding. Adobe Encore gives a very good
quality when using it's high quality 4mbps 2-pass method. Canopus ProCoder
also gives you 2-pass options. DVD standalones encode on the fly.
I have several models of DVD standalone recorders - Philips, Panasonic,
Emerson, RCA and Sylvania. All do one-tough dubbing from VHS to DVD and I
have found the quality at 2HR to be quite good. I would recommend you
purchase one of these. I recently purchased the Sylvania SRDV495 at Sears
for only $199.99. What I like about it above the others is the main menu you
end up with. Before finalizing the disc you can go into a menu and name the
recordings you ahve done. When you finalize the disc it gives you a very
nice menu list with entries numbered from 1 to however many you have on the
disc with the title you gave it. The other models allow you to name the disc
itself but not the individual recordings.
What you get with the Panasonic is a nice page with thumbnails of your
video. Next to the thumbnail is a description noting the input you used, the
time of day and the date you recorded it. So, you end up with a disc which
has a name at the top of the screen and several thumbnails with things like,
IN1, 9:40am, 10.14/05 or IN2, 12:30pm, 09/30/05 which I find rather
unpleasing at best. The same is true of the Philips recorders. Forget
purchasing the Emerson or the RCA models.
Walmart has the Panasonic for $289 or $298 I believe and Sears has the
Sylvania for $199.99. Hope this hands-on has helped you make the right
decision.
--
Larry Johnson
Digital Video Solutions
webm...@digitalvideosolutions.com
http://www.digitalvideosolutions.com
877-227-6281 Toll Free Sales Assistance
386-672-1941 Customer Service
386-672-1907 Technical Support
386-676-1515 Fax
Alpha
"Larry Johnson" <sup...@digitalvideosolutions.com> wrote in message
news:Jpw4f.192410$p_1....@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
> "fsda" <S...@fdafd.fds> wrote in message
> news:Xns96F1688B67...@66.75.164.120...
>> My folks have a library of 20+ Hi-8 tapes taken with a home camcorder.
>> The
>> tapes range from an age of 8-15 years. I'm getting a DVD-recorder to
>> allow
>> transferring these tapes to DVD. Since many of the tapes (not all) are
>> 120minutes, I'll be getting a DVD-recorder that supports DVD+R/DL to
>> ensure
>> maximum quality. Due to cost concerns, the DVD-Recorder will likely be a
>> dual DVD/VHS recorder (i.e. not a model with a hard disc).
>>
>
> To date I have not seen any standalone DVD recorder which supports dual
> layer discs. If you know of a model then enlighten me.
http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/5262
This is a possibility .. buy.com has it for $179
I would not touch dual layer. The media are unreliable and many players
will not handle them, particularly at the layer change and towards the
outter edge of the disc.
fsda
DVD+R Dual Layer. I will go with one of these, as I've used these types
of discs for over a year now on my computer and various players
(including my ancient Sony DVD home player) with lots of success.
Given the use of Dual-Layer, I can transfer a 120min Hi-8 with
essentially no quality loss.
I'm still not convinced that the use of i.Link in this case is clearly
superior. The camcorder will do one lossy conversion to DV, then the
recorder will convert from DV to MPEG2 (another lossy step). It's
possible that the analog-to-MPEG2 converter in the DVD Recorder can do a
better job if just given the signal through S-Video. But, I'm not
certain, and I'm sure it will depend on the specific equipment. The
conversion of color space through DV and then to MPEG2 will certainly
lose some info, for example...
BTW, I should have noted that I'm thoroughly fluent in NLE video on the
computer (in fact, I've lately moved from DV to HDV).
But, I have little experience with the use of Hi-8 tapes in Digital8
camcorders _in practice_ (where true practice usually deviates somewhat
from the theory!).
Thanks for the detailed info on the DVD-Recorders. Given my insistence
on Dual-Layer DVD+R support, that basically limits me to Sony, though,
despite it's more limited menu editing support. Quality is my main
concern at this point (i.e. space on the disc).
Is there a way to _very easily_ handle recording from a Hi-8 tape to a
DVD+R (single layer) with a Digital8 camcorder, and having it very
automated in terms of handling the split? I.e. recording the first hour
of a 120 minute tape on one disc, and then the second hour of the tape
on a second disc? I don't have to do manual searching of the tape and
disc to see where to start capturing the second hour. This should be
essentially automatic, ideally. (Again, I know how to handle this -
it's just that I'm trying to make this idiotproof as it won't be me
doing it...)
"Larry Johnson" <sup...@digitalvideosolutions.com> wrote in
news:Jpw4f.192410$p_1....@tornado.tampabay.rr.com:
fsda
news:11l5bbt...@corp.supernews.com:
Yes, the new Sony units are what I have been looking at.
My personal experience with Dual Layer has been extremely good, using my
Plextor drive and discs on the compatibility list. The discs play on
several friends' players, as well as on my 5+ year old mid-range Sony home
player.
Standard DVD+R may be more universal and I'll still utilize that format,
but I won't buy DVD-Recorder that doesn't support DVD+R Dual Layer.
Dan Wenz
>
> If you want higher quality from any form of DVD video you should invest in
> an encoder which allows multi-pass encoding. Adobe Encore gives a very good
> quality when using it's high quality 4mbps 2-pass method. Canopus ProCoder
> also gives you 2-pass options. DVD standalones encode on the fly.
>
I'm not familiar with that operation. I'm a relative beginner in the use
of DV camcorders, and will be moving many s-vhs-c and Hi-8 video tapes
to DV tape and DVD's over the coming months, using Pinnacle Studio
9.4.3. Pinnacle's "guide", and the 2 other books I bought for reference
don't mention multi-pass encoding, as far as I can tell from their
indices! I'll be "Googling" for more information, but wonder why it
seems to be a secret, even though a Pinnacle Forum discussion mentions
that P.9 can do the operation (How'd they find out??). I guess I better
also spend more time snooping through Pinnacle's menus to see what other
goodies they forgot to mention.
Markeau
plus it will interface with a PC:
fsda
news:Kc2dnZl1V-l...@giganews.com:
Looks good to me. But, I'm not sure of the best way to connect to a Hi-8
camcorder. Firewire or S-video...