I only want to copy movies from my Hi-8 Camcorder to DVD disks with a minimum of degradation of quality of the image with no editing, just copying. Would appreciate recommendations as to hardware to accomlish this at minimum cost. My existing equipment is: Sony Vaio Desktop 800 Mhz Duron CPU USB 2.0 and Firewire IEEE 1394 Ports Bus Speed 100 Mhz Motherboard ASUSTeK A7S-AV RAM Memory 512Mb Sound SiS 7018 Wave Video NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 LiteOn LDW-411 DVD Burner Windows 98SE OS 70 GB Hard Drive
Well First you are going to have to get a Capture Card of some sort to Transfer the analoge signal from your Hi8 Camcorder to your PC..Another thing is that your PC is actually a little too slow to effectively do this...I actually do not think that it is going to be Possible with the system you have right now, well not unless you get a Capture device that has hardware encodeing... There are Basicly a 3 ways you can Transfer the Analogue Video to your PC in digital format... One is to use a Simple TV card or analogue Capture Card to transfer the Video to your PC, and you basicly have 2 Choices as to what Format the Video will be when it is on your PC one is an AVI format which takes up Huge ammounts of Disk space at it"s Highest quality so you will need about 30gb per hour of Video and preferably on a seperate drive as the one your OS is Installed on... The Other Option would be to Compress the Video signal use Software and capture directly to the Mpeg2 Format that you need to Makeing DVD"s ,This Option takes Up Much Less disk space and the Quality can be Quite good ... Neither of these Options will work in your Case though because you do not have the Disk space on a seperate drive to capture to a high Quality low Compression AVI format and since you are useing Win98se you have a 4gb File size Limit which makes things very Difficult, and as for captureing to a Compressed format Like Mpeg2 you do not have a Fast enough CPU to capture to DVD resolution Mpeg2 as you need about a 2Ghz CPU to compress in real time to Mpeg2.... The Only real option you have with the System you have is to Get a capture Device that uses Hardware Compression to either DV AVI or Mpeg2 format but these Devices Cost Quite a Lot for one that will Produce any sort of Quality ,For an Analoge Digital Converter that will convert the Video to Digital DV AVI format would cost about $200 ,and a High quality Mpeg2 Capture Device can run you $150 for a really quite low quality one to about $400 for a Good Quality one.... I would actually suggest you go an buy a standalone DVD Recorder and use it to transfer all of your Hi8 tapes to DVD with it and then take it back for a refund and that way you don"t have to really spend anything in the end accept for the Blank DVD"s.... Well good Luck ,and if you really want to get in to a Lot of Video capture You should really upgrade your system to a at least 2ghz and get 2 seperate drives with one just for Video capture....Cheers
Minion - VERY useful info. I am looking the exact same solution - and am wondering if I need a new system also. PIII 733MHZ Win 2000 394 MB RAM 2 HD: 160 GB (has OS on it) 40 GB Also have an external 80 GB USB I want to convert Hi 8 to DVD I bought an Avermedia capture card - but it did not work. Thanks much!
Well A fast CPU is going to be needed if you are going to be doing any sort of Mpeg compression which you will have to do if Createing DVD"s and at 733mhz you are not going to be able to compress In Real time to Mpeg2 for DVD, and you should thing about putting your OS on your 40gb and useing your 160GB as your Capture Drive because you should allways capture to a drive that is seperate from the Drive your OS and Programs are installed on.... If you wanted to upgrade your Motherboard and CPU to about 2.0 to 2.5ghz you could do it for about $100-$125, I have bought Intel 2.5ghz CPU"s with Elete Motherboards for about $125, and you can get an Athlon XP 2400+ CPU and Motherboard for about the same Price, then you wouldn"t have to worry about haveing a slow PC and these Types of Upgrades can easilly be done By yourself,.. And then if you want a real High Quality Capture Device that is specificly made for Transfering Hi8 and VHS Tapes to High Quality Digital DV Format then something like the "Canopus ACEDVio" would work perfect for you and can be found for as low as $169... I do all of my Computer Parts Shopping on either E-Bay or Tigerdirect and save a Fortune in money over retail stores....I can Build a whole 2.5ghz System for about $350 US and I sell them for about $750 Canadian..... Well anyways if you decide on doing an Upgrade then let me Know and I will try to find you a Good deal on e-bay as I know some of the better sellers with the best prices and if you Like in North America the shipping will be next to nothing.....Cheers
Thanks again. I am very new to this - is email address exchanging allowed? I would very much appreciate help info on upgrading the motherboard/processor. Will I also need to upgrade the power supply? What about my RAM (I assume I will have to)? I now have PC100 MHZ RAM. I have a Dell Optiplex GX110 - itis a mid sized tower. How can I move the OS to the 40GB drive? I would hate to have to reinstall all my apps, etc. Lastly - what do you think my motherboard/RAM would go for on EBay? Also - what if I bought a DVD camcorder, and fed the Hi8 thru that - and then just bought a firewire card? Thanks again Minion - much appreciated!
Well instead of a DVD CamCorder to just get a Plain Set Top DVD fecorder and that will record your Hi8 Derectly to DVD but you will not be able to edit or add any transitions or effects uleass you rip the DVD You recorded to your PC and then edited it and made the Final DVD...The problem with DVD Camcorders is they use a Smaller DVD format which I think holds 1.4gb and I believe a DV Camcorder would Produce better results..... If you Plan on Doing an Upgrade you will most likely have to get a New Power Supply and you will need some DDR Ram...I just Picked up a 520w Dual Fan Power supply on e-bay for $12 with another $10 for Shipping, You can also pick up a 512mb Stich of DDR PC2100 or PC2700 for less than $60..... So for a New ATX Motherboard with a Athlon XP 2400+ or an Intel 2.5ghz CPU for about $125-$150, then add say $25 for a 520w PSU, and then anouter $75 Max for 512mb DDR Ram, so for under $200 you would have a fully up to date Fast PC up to 4 times faster than the one you presently have..... Installing a New Motherboard and CPU is not very Difficulat as I did my first one just by following the directions that come with the Motherboard and useing a Little Common sence..... When Installing a New Motherboard it is best to re-install your OS and do a Full Re-Format of your HD"s which is How you will Put your OS on your 40GB and then after that do a Re-format of the 160gb to clean off all of the Old data....You might also consider Upgradeing to XP but that isn"t very important this second as Long as your Drives are formated to NTFS... Yes you can exchange e-mail addresses here you Just do it by sending me a PM with your address.....If you need help with your Upgrade and finding the best possible prices on e-bay from reputible sellers then I can also help you in this area......So if you need me you can Just PM me with your e-mail address and I"ll get back to you....Cheers
Hey, Minion, Do you know if there is any Capture device (hardware or software) for a laptop? how much are they? Thanks for you help. Jack
Well for a Laptop you generally have to get an external capture device which uses a USB or Firewire Interface and unless you got the Money to spend on a High quality device you will end up getting a cheap device that does not produce the quality you Might want...I allways recomend Canopus Devices because they Make the Best quality and Most cost effective Capture devices on the Market, They are a Lot more expensive than your Consumer Capture devices that Produce Low Quality Captures but I guess you get what you pay for.... If you want Quality you are going to have to spend a few Bucks, You should Check out these Devices... Canopus ADVC-100 http://www.canopus.us/US/products/ADVC-100/pm_advc-100.asp Canopus ADVC-55 http://www.canopus.us/US/products/ADVC55/pt_advc55.asp Canopus ADVC-300 http://www.canopus.us/US/products/ADVC300/pm_advc300.asp Canopus MpegPRO_EMR http://www.canopus.us/US/products/MPEGPRO_EMR/pm_MPEGPRO_EMR.asp Canopus MpegPRO_MVR http://www.canopus.us/US/products/MPEGPRO_MVR/pm_MPEGPRO_MVR.asp Any one of these Devices will produce top quality Captures from any Analogue Source from Hi8 to VHS to TV and Satalite signals, The top devices are Analogue/Digital converters that capture to DV AVI format useing Hardware DV Compression and they use a Firewire Interface and the Bottom 2 devices are Very High quality Mpeg1/2 Hardware encoders that use a USB 2.0 interface, both types of devices will produce very high quality captures without the Problems that you have to deal with when useing Cheaper Lower quality devices ....You can find these devices On E-bay for a Lot cheaper than they sell for on the Canopus Web site so if you are considering one of these devices that a Look there first to find good deals, You will probably save up to 40% off e-bay.... Cheers
I have been converting 8mm to DVD, and have had good results with the following. AMD XP2000 on Asus A7VN board (266 FSB) 1 Gig DDR RAM GeForce4 Ti4600 KWorld MPEG TV Station PCI tuner card Integrated audio with a $3.00 RCA-1/8" converter 120 GB 7200rpm HDD 80 GB 7200rpm HDD (dedicated to video editing) Sonic MvDVD The only thing I am not very happy with is my tuner card, but for the price, it does pretty good until I get a better one. My questions-- Will I be happier if I convert with a VBR encoder like CCE? Any other suggestions for a good VBR encoder? How about good software to burn with after encoding? Also, any reccomendations for a better tuner/capture device? Thanks, and Shine on...
The simplest (and cheapest) way to digitize your Hi-8 tapes is to play them via any Sony Digital-8 camcorder (or deck) with pass-though capability, connected to your PC with firewire cable. I had a problem several years ago when my Sony Hi-8 camcorder broke down. I decided to go digital and bought then a new Sony DCR-TRV120, which was backward compatible with Hi-8 (can play back but not record), so I could transfer all my old tapes to my PC as .avi files on the fly (I had at that time Win98SE). You could, probably, borrow such camcorder from someone (or rent it), just not to spend money for one time thing, unless you want to buy it and use it as a digital camcorder (I use it as a 2nd one)... If you plan to upgrade your PC anyway, I'd recommend to buy Canopus AceDVio card for analog-to-digital conversions (needs Win2K or XP OS) - I am using it now.
Good suggestion, and I'll certainly look into it, but I am wanting a PC solution that is actually hardware or software, and not a peripheral device. The Canopus solution looks good from what I have seen on their website. Other than that, can anyone recommend a good VBR encoder? Shine on...
You mean a VBR Mpeg2 encoder??? Well in My Book there are only 4 encoders on the Market that are worth useing and they are: "Tmpgenc 2.5"(Good Quality,Lots of Features,But very Slow) "MainConcept Encoder 1.42"(Good Quality,Lots of features,and Very fast) Canopus Procoder 1.5 (Very Good Quality, Lots of features, but a Little Slow) CinemaCraft Encoder SP 2.67(Awesome Quality, But short on Basic Features so a Frameserver is usually used to get the best results, and Extremely Fast, and the Only encoder that supports up to 9-Pass VBR encodeing) Pretty Much any other encoder will produce sub standard results when compared to these encoders... Cheers
Yes CCE 2.50 is OK but like all versions of CCE you have to know how to frameserve useing AVISynth or Virtual dub to use it Properly because CCE doesn"t have a Resize filter so if your Source file doesn"t have the exact DVD Resolution you will have to Frameserve...So it should only be used by someone who knows what they are doing because although it is the best quality and fastest encoder arround it is also the most difficult to use....Cheers
