Hi8 to digital

[rkeith]

I am a novice at movie making, but I have about 15 - Hi8 2 hour tapes that I want to edit into a movie. I am now retired and I thought this would be an interesting hobby/project. The first thing I did was send one of my Hi8 tapes out to have made into a DVD. Then I made an appointment with my local Apple Store for one-on-one training. I was disapointed when told by my trainer that Apple had no application for converting the DVD to iMovie. It was suggested that I purchase an ADVCmini and convert from Sony Hi8 camcorder to my iMac. I followed this advice and was able to convert a tape however the quality of the conversion is very poor (the picture is warped at the top of the frame and the sound doesn't sync). I used the S Video connection. I am looking for the most user friendly solution (not the lowest cost), I don't plan on shooting anymore with my Hi8, I just want to save what I have and work with it in iMovie. I presently have iMovie 08 7.1.4. I appreciate any help.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

If you already have the footage on DVD and can spend 20 USD, then look at these two short videos:
1. Ripping a video DVD (copying a video DVD's content to your HDD)
2. Transcoding the ripped video DVD to a format iMovie recognises


MRoogle is a good tool to search these fora for already existing threads about questions you have. It might be able to answer you quicker than waiting for an answer.

There is MacTheRipper, RipIt and Fairmount to rip (copy the DVD to your HDD while removing the copyright protection) the video DVD to your HDD. Then there is Handbrake to convert the ripped DVD to a file like .mkv, .mp4 and .avi with MPEG-4 codecs like Xvid and H264, which are not meant for editing though, as they don't store every frame of the video (video DVDs use MPEG-2 as a codec, which also only stores every 15th frame and the frames in between are approximations). After that you can use MPEG-Streamclip to convert the compressed video file to a .mov file encoded with the DV codec (or AIC - Apple Intermediate Codec), a codec iMovie can read and is meant for editing, as it stores every frame and takes up approx. 220MB/min. You can also skip Handbrake and use MPEG-Streamclip for converting directly to a DV/AIC encoded .mov file from the ripped video DVD, but you need the QuickTime MPEG-2 component (19USD) to be able to access the MPEG-2 encoded video DVD footage via MPEG-Streamclip.But it would save one encoding process.

OR

In order for you to edit your videos stored on the video DVD, you need to rip it via MacTheRipper/RipIt/Fairmount,if the video DVD is copy protected (all commercial video DVDs are). If it is not copy protected, you might be just able to copy the Video_TS folder onto your HDD. Now there are two ways to convert the MPEG-2 compressed footage.

1. Get Handbrake and convert the footage to an .mp4/.m4v file with the H264 codec. Further reading on Handbrake on transcodding video for iMovie.
Then use MPEG Streamclip to convert/export the .avi or .mp4/.m4v file to a QuickTime (.mov - CMD+E) file encoded with the DV codec (if PAL) or the Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) or to a DV file (CMD+OPTION/ALT+E).
Both, .mov and .dv, can be read by iMovie.

2. Get the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component from the Apple Online Store for 20 USD, open MPEG Streamclip, in there go to File > Open DVD and select your Video_TS folder on your HDD. Then either export it as QuickTime with the DV codec or AIC or as DV file as explained in step 1. This saves you one encoding process, therefore time and image quality loss.​

Screenshots:

MPEG Streamclip export options​

Handbrake export as .mp4 - example

 

[Alucardx03]

I am a novice at movie making, but I have about 15 - Hi8 2 hour tapes that I want to edit into a movie. I am now retired and I thought this would be an interesting hobby/project. The first thing I did was send one of my Hi8 tapes out to have made into a DVD. Then I made an appointment with my local Apple Store for one-on-one training. I was disapointed when told by my trainer that Apple had no application for converting the DVD to iMovie. It was suggested that I purchase an ADVCmini and convert from Sony Hi8 camcorder to my iMac. I followed this advice and was able to convert a tape however the quality of the conversion is very poor (the picture is warped at the top of the frame and the sound doesn't sync). I used the S Video connection. I am looking for the most user friendly solution (not the lowest cost), I don't plan on shooting anymore with my Hi8, I just want to save what I have and work with it in iMovie. I presently have iMovie 08 7.1.4. I appreciate any help.

Ingesting the tapes directly into your iMac is ALWAYS going to be a better solution than ripping DVDs.

Think about it this way-- the tapes are ingested and compressed to fit on DVDs, which degrades video quality substantially. Then, you're ripping that degraded video and compressing/encoding it again. Whereas, if you ingest it natively, you can save it at it's full quality.

What kind of ADVC device do you have? I've had excellent luck with my ADVC300. I've also used a 110 with great success.

I would suggest not using iMovie '08. Try downloading iMovie HD or upgrading to the latest version of iMovie.

If possible, try using a different S-Video cable (maybe even try composite just to see if it's still producing out-of-sync audio and warped video).

Also, are you using an external hard drive? It's possible the HDD is too slow.

 

[SidBala]

Best solution is to find a Sony Digital-8 Camcorder. These were essentially using the DV format, but took in hi8 tapes.

Most models could play back hi8 analog tapes and also pass through the video to firewire. This means that you can basically use any software that captures DV over firewire to digitize your video. iMovie will work nicely for this.

The quality is probably the best you can achieve from any method.

Try to find a Digital 8 camcorder off craigslist or ebay (usually sell for ~$100) that plays back analog hi8.

http://www.videohelp.com/dvanalog

Use this page for reference.

 

[rkeith]

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. I am using an ADVC mini. I have read in other posts that the ADVC 300 has built in TBC which may improve quality. I am using my internal hard drive. I will try suggestions on a different S Video cable and/or the composite connection and upgrading to iMovie '09.