View Full Version : Hi-8 capturing: standalone or via PC/Vdub?
nalooti
15th October 2006, 19:08
Hi
I have many Hi-8 analog cassettes to convert but didn't find the perfect DVD recorder yet. So while waiting i wonder if it's worth to buy a capture device (e.g. Plextor ConvertX PX-M402U).
Converting cassettes to mpeg2 is straightforward with standalone dvd recorders. I'd then compress them to Divx in my PC.
However if there are serious valid arguments to do it by ca
many thanks
nalooti
15th October 2006, 19:19
Hi
I have many Hi-8 analog cassettes to convert but didn't find the perfect DVD recorder yet. So while waiting i wonder if it's worth to buy a capture device (e.g. Plextor ConvertX PX-M402U).
Converting cassettes to mpeg2 is straightforward with standalone dvd recorders. I'd then compress them to Divx in my PC.
However if there are serious valid arguments to do it by ca
many thanks
Sorry the text wasn't complete:
I have many Hi-8 analog cassettes to convert but didn't find the perfect DVD recorder yet. So while waiting i wonder if it's worth to buy a capture device (e.g. Plextor ConvertX PX-M402U).
Converting cassettes to mpeg2 is straightforward with standalone dvd recorders. I'd then compress them to Divx in my PC.
However if there are serious valid arguments to do it by capture cards/devices (a hardware card plus vdub for example), i'll be glad to know them. My criteria are
1/ quality and then
2/ ease of operations
3/ speed
Has anyone compared a capture by a standalone dvd recorder and a capture by PC via card+vdub for example ?
many thanks
nalooti
17th October 2006, 12:49
I just converted 10 full digital-8 cassettes to dvd. If you have a good dvd writer, a firewire card and a copy of Nero (mine came with my HP writer), then you capture to mpg with Nero and just write it to DVD using Nero also.
i suppose the signal enters the PC via Firewire which means already digitized by your camcorder (pass-thru) or already in digital format.
As i said i have analog hi-8 cassettes and i forgot to say that my camcorder is also analog so i need a way to digitize (capture) the signal after which i can compress it in whatever format.
I don't understand why you'd want to compress to divX. There may be something in what you are tying to do that I'm missing?
Divx conversion is to reduce the size and i don't know any disadvantage to it as long as i get the same quality as in mpeg2(DVD) and i can watch them on TV via my standalone player which can also read Divx movies (they're lots of these players now)
bb
18th October 2006, 06:09
Although your camcorder is analog: you may want to consider renting a Digital8 camcorder which is capable of reading Hi8, too. I did that once I had to convert Hi8 tapes, and I got superb quality. The Digital8 camcorder converts the analog Hi8 to DV internally, so that you can capture the video via firewire like with any DV camcorder.
You may then edit your video with one of the many NLE software out there, or you may simply open the DV file in VirtualDub and convert to DivX (or XviD, which I would prefer over DivX).
Regarding quality you'll probably find that MPEG-2 is better suited for the interlaced source you have (I guess I may assume that your Hi8 is interlaced - don't know whether progressive Hi8 exists). Using DVD compliant MPEG-2 you can create standard DVDs that play in every standalone, not only in DivX capable ones. And you can create menus, which is convenient, especially if you plan to put more than one clip on a DVD. You'll need more bitrate for the same quality, though. Using an DivX / XviD you can put (at least) twice as much video into the same space.
bb
nalooti
18th October 2006, 13:06
...
You may then edit your video with one of the many NLE software out there, or you may simply open the DV file in VirtualDub and convert to DivX (or XviD, which I would prefer over DivX).
bb
I don't know the format of DV files but do you confirm that i can use vdub with the produced file to convert it to Divx/Xvid ? and what about the audio format ?
Regarding quality you'll probably find that MPEG-2 is better suited for the interlaced source you have (I guess I may assume that your Hi8 is interlaced - don't know whether progressive Hi8 exists)...
bb
This is a question i always wonder without geting yet a clear answer.
My hi-8 source is interlaced. My TV is interlaced (at least for now).
I want to be able to watch them in my PC too which is progressive. So i presume i must de-interlace the original, right?
More, if tomorrow i buy an LCD TV which is progressive i'll want to watch all my digitized videos on that screen too. So even if i may lose some quality in the interlace-progressive transformation, i think it's worth, am i right?
bb
19th October 2006, 06:47
I don't know the format of DV files but do you confirm that i can use vdub with the produced file to convert it to Divx/Xvid ? and what about the audio format ?
Yes, you can use VirtualDub; the latest versions support type-1, too (for earlier versions only type-2 was supported). Audio in DV is PCM uncompressed; you can convert it to whatever you like in VirtualDub (in conjunction with AVI files and standalone support you'll probably prefer MP3).
This is a question i always wonder without geting yet a clear answer.
My hi-8 source is interlaced. My TV is interlaced (at least for now).
I want to be able to watch them in my PC too which is progressive. So i presume i must de-interlace the original, right?
I'd keep it interlaced to preserve motion fluidity. You're right, in order to display interlaced video on a progressive device, the video must be deinterlaced, else you see those ugly combing artefacts. You can deinterlace during encoding (which means to create progressive video) or during playback. Let's say you encode to MPEG-2, then play the file (or the DVD created) with a software DVD player like PowerDVD. The video will be deinterlaced during playback - it may look a little blurrier than progressive video, but you should get a good picture.
Recent MPEG-4 codecs support interlaced encoding, too. Examples are DivX and XviD. I'd still prefer MPEG-2 for the purpose, but if your focus is on filesize, you'll prefer MPEG-4.
More, if tomorrow i buy an LCD TV which is progressive i'll want to watch all my digitized videos on that screen too. So even if i may lose some quality in the interlace-progressive transformation, i think it's worth, am i right?
Correct, LCD TVs are progressive displays. But they have deinterlacers integrated (some are better, some are worse), else you would not want to buy it, because many TV shows are interlaced. You should be safe here.
bb
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