Hi8 to digital

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:40 pm

I have a lot of Hi8 tapes that I want to convert to digital so that it can be edited and put on DVD's.

I have connected the Hi8 camera to my digital and copied the video onto the DV tape in the digital camera. (Panasonic NV-GS11) After I had captured the video with MSPro8, the files seem to be corrupt. I cannot change the names or play them with media player or open them in MSPro8.
The scenes do not capture individually, and I expected that, but the capture files are limited to 4095megs so an hour of video is broken into three files of 4.1gigs and one smaller file.

I am wasting huge amounts of time using the "trial and error" method so I wonder of anyone can give me some guidance on this process or even offer a suggestion of another method of getting the Hi8 video onto my hard drive in avi files?

Thanks!

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 10:30 pm

It sounds like your GS 11 does not convert correctly to DV or there is something wrong with your connection/settings. How did you connect the High8 to the GS 11?

Can you capture footage taken with the GS 11 directly?

Because High8, AFAIK, is an analog format, there is no way for the GS to recognise scene changes because of the non present time code. The capture module will cut your captured clips at the 4 GB mark by default because FAT 32 file systems cannot handle clips longer than that. BTW, when I capture analog through my GS 400, I let the capture module cut the clip into 1 GB chunks because they are easier to handle. It's a matter of preference.

We don't know what your file system is but you can change the duration/file size for captured clips in the Settings menu of the capture module.

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:48 pm

heinz-oz wrote:It sounds like your GS 11 does not convert correctly to DV or there is something wrong with your connection/settings. How did you connect the High8 to the GS 11?

Can you capture footage taken with the GS 11 directly?

I have connected the two cameras via S-Video cable and the red composite cable for sound. I use the composite cable supplied with the GS11 that has a single plug that plugs into the GS11 and the other end has white, red and yellow plugs.

Yes footage capture perfectly well with the GS11.

If I covert a small amount of video onto the GS 11 and then capture it, everything seems to be OK.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:27 am

I'm not quite sure about your connections. Do you connect the GS 11 to the PC with RCA cables? That would mean analog capture. You could mostlikely do that straight from your high8 cam.

I have tried to find out more about your camera on the internet but was unable to locate a GS 11. Does your camera have an iLink/IEEE1394 port? Do you have an IEEE1394 fire wire port on your PC? If yes, get yourself the relevant fire wire cable and connect the GS 11 via this connection.

From your description I feel that your PC is a bit low in power to handle the conversion to mpeg on the fly. That's why you may have problems with longer clips but short ones work.

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 12:54 am

Heinz-oz,

I could only copy the video from the old camera to the DV tape in the GS 11, then capture the video from the DV tape with MSPro8 capture.

I don't think it is possible to pass the video through the GS 11 to the computer. It seems that it is a two step procedure.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:16 am

Ormond Williams wrote:Heinz-oz,

I could only copy the video from the old camera to the DV tape in the GS 11, then capture the video from the DV tape with MSPro8 capture.

I don't think it is possible to pass the video through the GS 11 to the computer. It seems that it is a two step procedure.

Exactly my thoughts. But how do you connect the GS 11 to the PC though? RCA cables (Yellow, Red and White or Black plugs) or with a fire wire cable?

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:21 am

I use firewire! Always have done it this way for capturing video, since purchasing the camera in 2004. This is the second step in the procedure. I can't figure why a small segment captures OK but when I capture the entire DV tape, I have the problem!

bsuratt · Post by **bsuratt** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:33 am

If you can borrow a Digital8 camcorder most will play your Hi8 tapes and do the conversion to digital and output directly to the firewire. Very clean! I have done this extensively with an old Sony TRV 103 camcorder with no problem. (they're cheap on E-Bay too!)

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 2:43 am

Ormond Williams wrote:I use firewire! Always have done it this way for capturing video, since purchasing the camera in 2004. This is the second step in the procedure. I can't figure why a small segment captures OK but when I capture the entire DV tape, I have the problem!

Ok, now we are clear. Sorry to have been a pain but your previous posts did not state your method of connection clearly.

Having said that, we are nowhere nearer to a solution to your problem. Have you tried a different tape? Can you play the captured DV clip on the GS 11? Even though you cannot pass through the GS 11, it still needs to convert the analog signal to digital. What are the camera settings? Are you using long play by any chance? If yes, that could be the culprit. Try one at normal speed for the tape in the GS 11.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:21 am

When you record to tape, do you record as one long session, or are there gaps between recordings (white snow)

George

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:23 am

Always at normal speed. I have never used the long play.

The video is definitely on the DV tape. It captures OK if I just do a minute or so. I might try capturing 10 minute segments and see how that goes.

Thanks for you interest. I will do some more testing at home tonight and report back.

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:26 am

GeorgeW,

One long session on the one I tried yesterday. Only one patch of white snow. I'm not concerned about scenes as I can do that with MSPro8 when required.

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:28 am

bsuratt,

I had read that somewhere, but at this time I don't know anyone with a Digital8 camera to borrow and I would be concerned about buying one off ebay in case it was faulty.
I will keep asking people about a digital 8 camera to borrow.

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:41 am

I would try capturing the DV signal from the DV camera set up as pass-through, rather than recording it to tape.

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:56 am

Devil,
I did try to do it that way, but once I had connected the two cameras successfully, (the way the manual stated), I plugged in the firewire cable and only could capture what the GS 11 saw.

I am a raw beginner at this and have tried numerous things, but not having any luck yet. I may not have lucked onto the correct settings.

I can get the video onto a tape in the GS11, but when I try to capture with MSPro8, after a minute or so the capture window closes and MSPro8 locks up completely now. When I first copied the video to the GS11, I captured the entire hour onto the hard drive in several files as I stated in a previous post. These files would not play in Win Media player. In fact when I clicked on some of them to try to delete them, I got a message that said that said that windows explorer needed to close now.

I think I will have to try to find someone who has a digital8 camera to borrow.

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