I've been reading some posts wherein peopls say they convert their analog video to digital via a Canopus machine or using the passthrough on their camcorders. Is there any benefit to this? After all the image quality will still be only as good as the original video, yes?
Also, I have a Sony TRV250E which is supposed to be a digital camcorder but still records to hi-8 tapes. Would the tapes be considered an analog or digital source? And/or would that depend on which cable (S-, USB, or Sony iLink) I use for the transfer. Finally, for this passthrough trick, I couldn't find it in the user manual. It has the Sony iLink out, so it sounds like I just need to check for certain in ports on the camcorder, correct?
Analog to Digital Conversion - Benefits?
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Ken Berry
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You are right that you cannot improve the original quality of analogue tape. But you can at least take steps to ensure that you are capturing it digitally in the highest quality possible for it. And that way is to use either a device like the Canopus ones you mention (there are other brands too), which have a hardware chip in them which converts the incoming analogue signal to digital DV format and sends it to your computer. Using passthrough allows the same thing. And DV is the very best format you can use for this.
I personally went out and bought a Sony DCR-TRV480 Digital 8 camera (in addition to my Canon DV digital vidcam) precisely because it allows me to put my old analogue 8mm tapes into it, connect it via i-Link/Firewire, and capture in high quality DV. And I cannot tell you how good that quality is. I have difficulty telling the difference between it and DV filmed and captured on my DV camcorder.
I don't know if your precise model of Digital 8 camera will do the same thing -- not all of the Sony Digital 8 cameras do. But the manual should tell you if it does. And I have already answered your question in this regard: if it does allow you to play back analogue 8mm to your computer, you use the i-Link connection (which is only Sony-speak for Firewire/IEEE1394).
You will have to buy a firewire cable if you don't have one already. Make sure you get one with the small 4 pin firewire plug for the camera end and the larger 6 pin one for the computer end. And of course you need to have a Firewire card in your computer. But if you don't they are quite cheap these days and easy to install if you are confident enough. But believe me, it is worth the $20 or whatever it costs...
On top of all this, there are cheaper alternatives but I personally would not recommended many of them. They convert the analogue signal to DVD-ready mpeg-2. However, while you can get very good results with some of them, you have to be aware that there is a considerable debate as to how much you should edit mpeg-2, or even whether you should edit it at all. A tentative conclusion, though, is that if you keep the original capture using high quality settings, and don't do too much editing, and don't recode it much, then you should get a good final product. (You don't have the same problems if you capture to DV format, do your editing in DV format, and only convert it to mpeg-2 before you intend to burn it to DVD.)
Like the Canopus, the best mpeg-2 capture devices will have a hardware chip embedded in them which converts the analogue signal to mpeg-2, not imposing this onerous task on your computer. (Devices which don't have this embedded chip are much more demanding on the computer, and if your computer is not a powerful one, the process often causes problems.)
A good device in the mpeg-2 capture range is the Adstech DX2. I think the recommended retail price is around US$100, but you will probably find it for less.
I personally went out and bought a Sony DCR-TRV480 Digital 8 camera (in addition to my Canon DV digital vidcam) precisely because it allows me to put my old analogue 8mm tapes into it, connect it via i-Link/Firewire, and capture in high quality DV. And I cannot tell you how good that quality is. I have difficulty telling the difference between it and DV filmed and captured on my DV camcorder.
I don't know if your precise model of Digital 8 camera will do the same thing -- not all of the Sony Digital 8 cameras do. But the manual should tell you if it does. And I have already answered your question in this regard: if it does allow you to play back analogue 8mm to your computer, you use the i-Link connection (which is only Sony-speak for Firewire/IEEE1394).
You will have to buy a firewire cable if you don't have one already. Make sure you get one with the small 4 pin firewire plug for the camera end and the larger 6 pin one for the computer end. And of course you need to have a Firewire card in your computer. But if you don't they are quite cheap these days and easy to install if you are confident enough. But believe me, it is worth the $20 or whatever it costs...
On top of all this, there are cheaper alternatives but I personally would not recommended many of them. They convert the analogue signal to DVD-ready mpeg-2. However, while you can get very good results with some of them, you have to be aware that there is a considerable debate as to how much you should edit mpeg-2, or even whether you should edit it at all. A tentative conclusion, though, is that if you keep the original capture using high quality settings, and don't do too much editing, and don't recode it much, then you should get a good final product. (You don't have the same problems if you capture to DV format, do your editing in DV format, and only convert it to mpeg-2 before you intend to burn it to DVD.)
Like the Canopus, the best mpeg-2 capture devices will have a hardware chip embedded in them which converts the analogue signal to mpeg-2, not imposing this onerous task on your computer. (Devices which don't have this embedded chip are much more demanding on the computer, and if your computer is not a powerful one, the process often causes problems.)
A good device in the mpeg-2 capture range is the Adstech DX2. I think the recommended retail price is around US$100, but you will probably find it for less.
Ken Berry
The original question -- "Is there any benefit to this?" -- needs to be answered. If you have a nice collection of analog videotapes, why waste your time just converting it to digital format? You won't improve the quality, and you can already watch your old videos using the camera they were taken with or a new Hi8. So why convert?
Answer: You will prevent further deterioration.
You will find that analog videotapes fade with time. I have some older ones, kept in good condition, which at times look closer to B&W than color. Trips to the Sierras, family gatherings -- how sad it is. Everything looks washed out. Once the colors are turned into 0s and 1s, however, they won't change any further.
So you are better off moving everything to digital format, if you have the patience to wade through those hours and hours of home videos.
Answer: You will prevent further deterioration.
You will find that analog videotapes fade with time. I have some older ones, kept in good condition, which at times look closer to B&W than color. Trips to the Sierras, family gatherings -- how sad it is. Everything looks washed out. Once the colors are turned into 0s and 1s, however, they won't change any further.
So you are better off moving everything to digital format, if you have the patience to wade through those hours and hours of home videos.
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kjfrey1701
Thanks for the reply. I actually wasn't very clear in stating my question. I'm on board with getting the images digitized, I just wasn't sure of the benefit of going to the digital DV format first then down to MPEG-2 for DVD burning. It appears that if I plan to do more than a couple of edits, that I should work in the digital DV format first and then convert down to MPEG-2 for the burn.