8 mm video format

how to convert Hi-8 video tape to digital for editing

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• published: 09 Jun 2013
• views: 73327

Thank you for that great tutorial. Please let us show you a slightly different version that may apply better to you. Welcome to sloganmedia.net's How-To blog, where we show you how to get professional results yourself, while saving a ton of money. At Slogan Media we make high-quality, entertaining videos that sell your products online & on-air. This week we'll be showing you "how to convert Hi-8 video tape to digital for editing" A client recently asked us to digitize some rare footage shot on Hi8. It's really hard to find obsolete hardware that still works. If you have some old tapes in the vaults, chances are the footage is valuable to your business. Here's how you can convert them to digital files yourself very inexpensively. The first thing is to get a camcorder that will play your old tapes. A quick google search turns up multiple cameras on ebay & amazon. The second thing you'll need is a way to connect this old camera to your computer. If your computer has a video card with the matching inputs to the camcorder, you're good. The most common connection is the yellow/ red & white composite cable. That's what we'll be using today. Almost every camcorder or deck offers this option. Other options include the svhs, and firewire connections. If you don't have inputs on your computer to connect to your camcorder, you can go through another deck or camcorder like I am. I'm using the old Panasonic DVX-100A as a deck to receive the Hi-8 signal through the composite cable, and then pass it along to my computer through a firewire 400 cable. Another way to get the signal into your computer is through USB. It just depends on your camera and computer. Next open your editing software. Today we're using Final Cut. You'll need to play with your capture settings until the signal comes though the preview window. Be sure to tell your editing software what kind of digital file you want it to capture in. Finally, begin capturing in your editing software, and press play on your source camcorder like so. It will record in real time, so check back when the tape is done and stop capturing. Afterward, you will have a digitized file of the video on the tape. We know not everyone can afford to hire a video production company to bring in new business right away. But if you like us on FB & LinkedIn, and subscribe to us on YouTube, you'll get a new how-to every week so you can start your own video marketing immediately. When your success makes it impossible to do-it-yourself, turn to us for a free consultation. We'll blow you away by fitting amazing innovation into your budget. Thank you for watching SloganMedia.Net!