Know of anything to convert 8mm camcorder video to my cpu?

Question

I bought a nice 8mm (Hi8) camcorder a few years ago, and I would like to convert my movies to my hard drive, and then burn them onto a DVD. Any suggestions as to how I could do this? Im running Xp SP2, My graphics card is 512mb so it can handle anything. Soundblaster audio card. My CPU could handle pretty much anything, Got a brand new DVD burner from Santa Claus...all I need now is some suggestions on what I would need to capture the audio and video from the camcorder. THanks.

Answer 1

You need a capture card, which works along side your graphics card. When you get into video editing, you will quickly learn that most of the processing is done on the CPU (not your video card). The only time the opposite is true, is when you purchase a professional video card, such as the Matrox rt.x100. Cards like that have special hardware to encode special effects in "real time". Without one, you have to wait usually long periods of time to see the results of your special effects. But again, this is relating to a video card, and I doubt you want to replace yours.

For the capture card, I heavily recommend you look into the brand called "Hauppauge". There is a PVR-250 model that you should be able to find for around $100 or so. It has several different inputs (S-video, Composite Video, and Coax) to give you flexibility. The quality is among the best in its category for the price.

The best part is the software, in my opinion. Right out of the box, the programs it comes bundled with are easy to use and give you many options to control video quality. You want to save in MPEG-2 DVD format, of course, and you have options within this format to help you control how much you can fit onto one DVD.

If you can't tell, I have one! For basic video editing, it comes with a standard version of VideoStudio which will help you create DVD menus. You may want to upgrade to a more advanced program, however, if you plan on doing quite a bit of editing.

Answer 2

You need a video capture program and card...if your video card has a video input, then you would need the capture program. I've done this several times transferring the hi8 tapes to the pc hard drive.

Answer 3

You need to purchase a analog to digital capture device. An inexpensive one is the Dazzle DVD recorder. It captures video from and device that out puts with s-video or RCA cables. It connects to your computer through one of your USB ports. It runs around 50 dollars Here's a link. http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Dazzle/Dazzle+Video+Archiving/Dazzle+DVD+Recorder+Documents/Technical+Specifications/TecSpecs+for+Dazzle+DVD+Recorder+US.htm

Answer 4

You need to hook the camera into a tv-tuner card and svae the video to yourhard drive. Then burn it to DVD