Hi8 tape onto iDvD?

I am looking to transfer Hi8 tape onto iDVD. I am not sure if it can be done without having to convert tape to HD digital format. Basically all I wanted to do is to save the tape onto DVD and play them backward and forward. There is roughly about 2 hours of tape and wonder if this will all go on one DVD . Please advise me.

There are several things to think about.
First, iDVD is an assembly application that puts your videos, photos and music onto a project that can be burned. You would first need to import the video footage into iMovie and then drag the iMovie into your iDVD project. You should be able to connect a Hi-8 digital camcorder into your computer to do this, or you can use a converter. Having an iMovie of your Hi8 tape would let you do editing of the video.
If you do not want to do any editing of the video, you might want to look into directly recording onto a DVD disk using a DVD recorder. You will need to be sure that you can connect your Hi-8 camcorder to it.
You may also want to consider using a copying service if this is a one-time thing. It would probably be less expensive than purchasing a DVD recorder or a digital converter.

Similar Messages

Hi everybody, we have some hi8 tapes that we wish to put onto our apple. however the hi8 camcorder no longer works! is there a machine that takes the hi8 tapes and plugs into the apple. help!cheers

hi everybody,
we have some hi8 tapes that we would like to put onto our computer. however the camcorder no longer works. Does anyone know if there is a machine that takes hi8 tapes which we can plug into our apple? or if there is a way of getting around this problem?
cheers

Why not just purchase a used camcorder on eBay? Another option would be to use a Hi8 to DVD Transfer service such as http://www.memoryhub.com/convert/hi8-to-dvd

2 1/2 hours onto iDVD?

I am using Final Cut Pro 4 and have a 2 1/2 hour movie that I need to fit onto iDVD. I tried compressing the file with Compresor, but iDVD dosn't recognize compressed files. What can I do to fit this movie onto iDVD? Is there a specific export setting I can use that will reduce the file size and still retain fairly good sound and image quality?
Please Respond!
- Dsprate In Low Buget Land

Things are heating up a bit too much, so this will be my last post to this thread.
Rob,
As stated, they are just options to possibly solve
the OP's dilemma ... not necessarily addressing his
specific question. Since he has been trying to fit a
2.5 hour program on DVD-5 media using a tool (iDVD)
that has a 2 hour limit on program length, I felt
that offering other options was in order.
Nothing personal David, it's all appreciated. Offering options is of course valuable, especially when the options are viable.
1) I don't have or use iDVD so I cannot say whether
or not is supports dual layer discs.
Fair enough.
2) Using DVD-SP is a valid option - sure you have to
buy it, but since the OP stated he is using FCP 4, he
should qualify for the $199.00 up/crossgrade to Final
Cut Studio. I don't think you could find a better
deal anywhere for software of that caliber unless
someone was giving it away. And there's certainly no
need to buy a post-production facility just to burn a
DVD. But then, with a decent Mac and Final Cut
Studio you'd be well on your way to doing just that.
Are you telling me that in the whole mac world, the only piece of software that's accessible to the OP and that'll give him decent quality output is DVDSP for which he has to shell out $200? Like I said, there are millions of programs for DVD authoring for Windows (try the google experiment I suggested earlier), and I refuse to believe that the mac world can only answer with DVDSP for $200 (or indeed $1200 for FCS, in case someone is just coming to the world of mac for editing purposes, lol! "Be warned, that if you want to actually output your work, you must buy into the entire FCS as there are no other options... that's $1200, thank you!").
3) What if you want to do it on one disc? Heck, I'd
like to be able to cram 14 raided SATA drives inside
my G5, but what we want isn't always the best option.
I've listed other one-disc options anyway. A 2 disc
set IS a very valid option that the OP may have not
considered. It would allow the bit rate to be set
higher resulting in better quality as well.
The obvious answer is to do it on a DL disc. So what's all the drama about cramming 150 minutes into a SL disc? Nobody suggested that. ONE disc does not mean SINGLE layer disc. There's also DL. No need to split up the output to two discs. Since iDVD can't do over 2 hours, the natural thing is to suggest software that can (hopefully AGAIN, DVDSP is not the ONLY software that can do i!!!).
4) Yes, I have stated on several occasions that I
feel the encoding quality of Toast is lacking (when
compared to other encoding apps). But trying to fit
150 minutes onto a single layer DVD is going to mean
a quality hit no matter what you do.
No, the 150 minutes is not the issue. Again, why the focus on SL discs? Who's suggesting that? ONE disc is not only SL. After all you can use a DL disc, so why do you keep talking about "trying to fit 150 minutes onto a single layer DVD"? Who said he's limited to SL? Didn't you yourself suggest DL? That's a red herring. The problem is not the quality of SL stuff burned with Toast, the problem is the compression engine used by Toast, whether SL, DL or whatever. That doesn't make it viable, unless the OP doesn't care about that level of quality. Again: is DVDSP the ONLY software in the mac world that will give you decent quality output? Don't you see that this is what you seem to keep suggesting over and over and over again? If you are right, then I'd suggest there is a very serious problem for mac users. The entire point of my posting in this thread, however, is to say that I find that suggestion hard to believe, and I hope against hope that SOMEONE has actually used another piece of software (for less than $200!) that can give good quality output... so far we have suggestions to the effect "try this, it might work, I've never done it myself"... not exactly a vote of confidence.
5) A standalone DVD recorder does its own encoding
from the video signal being fed in to it. No need to
convert file types, just connect A/V cables to the
inputs. The one I have (Pioneer DVR-533H-S) does
have a Firewire input and when connected to my Mac,
FCP recognizes it as a DV device. I simply playback
from the Timeline or do a Print-to-Tape. It records
to disc in RT, plus about 3 minutes afterward for
disc finalization. The user can set the record time
in 15 minute increments up to 6 hours (I cannot
attest to the quality of long recording times).
Again, what I would hope is testimony from someone who CAN attest to the quality. Not faulting you, merely saying that this question never seems to get a satisfactory answer on the board. Answer would be short and sweet: "Yes, of course in the mac world we have several software options to do what you want to do - f.ex. program X, at $50 will output very good quality DVDs of 150 minutes on a DL DVD - that's just one among many such apps". That's it! Instead we get: "DVDSP the one and only, and anything else, has either poor quality (Toast 7), or is untried, and maybe will work, maybe not, and oh yeah, we actually don't have another software solution, so how about a hardware solution, cause I'm sure you need another hunking piece of metal to add to your collection... and even so, I'm not sure about the quality of the result."
6) As far as my re-editing suggestion; that too is a
very valid option. It was not at all intended to be
sarcasm. How you took it that way is beyond me.
Sorry David, here I must disagree. Do you imagine for 1 second that someone who has 150 minute film is unaware of the option of editing things down? If they are at 150, it is presumably because that's what they find to be optimal. It is insulting to suggest that it may not have occured to him/her to edit it down. Not to mention the laziest kind of advice. "I'm thirsty, where can I get something to drink around here?" "Have you considered not quenching your thirst?" "My car is not working, where can I get it fixed" "Have you considered not fixing it?". This is so silly, I'm shocked you'd actually suggest this in answer to a technical question of how to output a 150 minute DVD "make it less than 120". If he wanted to do a 120 minute project, he wouldn't be doing a 150 minute one. You CANNOT be serious. I'd suggest you NOT to give this particular piece of "advice", as it's highly insulting.
In fact, it would seem that you've taken exception to
just about all of the options I listed. Hopefully
you'll re-read them in a more objective light.
-DH
I have only taken exception to what your wrote, based on my own experience - I had an almost identical question (134 minute long project), and I saw the answers I got. I'm here to tell you, these kinds of answers DO NOT help. What would help is: "DVDSP is not the sole solitary unique and only option in the whole wide world of Apple computers if you want good quality output to a DL disc of material over 120 minutes long. For example Softare X, one among many, will do exactly that, and this has been widely confirmed." That's it! Are you suggesting that apart from the holy DVDSP there IS NOT ONE such software solution that has been CONFIRMED to give good quality output to a DL disc? Either that's true, in which case it's incredibly sad and depressing for mac owners, or it's not true... and if not true, then we need to find what that Software X is - so far, you don't seem to have the answer. Mabye somebody does.

Best way to archive a bunch of DV / Digital Hi8 tapes?

I have a bunch of MiniDV / Digital Hi8 tapes (and the associated cameras) that I have not gotten around to cleaning up and put on DVD.
I am looking at a Flip MinoHD as a replacement for both. I live the quality / features of our Sony MiniDV but it's size and tape requirements result in it being left home most of the time.
So I am looking to get the video off the tapes and onto a HD or DVD for future use (and sell the cameras). Is there an easy way to take a DV tape and export to a MPEG4 / H.234 file etc. that I can drag and drop directly into iMovie '08 / iMovie HD6?

In short, no. The math will never change: the larger the file size the better the quality. In the case of H.264 or MP4 content, this is highly compressed and iMovie won't edit it in it's native form, it is converted to AIC which again has a file size much closer to that of DV material if not larger actually. Any flavor of MPEG compression (including the camera linked to) is throwing away frames. What you want to know is can you compress DV to MPEG and then Uncompress it later. Sure... but you will take a quality hit on the compression and again when uncompressed. As example, DV material is 30-frames per second, when compressed it to MPEG 2 it is now 2-frames per second with the encoder "remembering" the motion difference. When de-compressed again, the application will attempt to restore the 28 missing frames. Google MPEG 2 compression for more of an explanation.
It might help to think of it this way: you have a beautiful 16x20 wall print that you want to store for future use. If you store the 16x20 it's going to take up the appropriate space. To save on space, you could store a wallet size image. Then when you wanted the 16x20, you could scan the wallet and uprez it to 16x20. Won't be the same- but you saved some space. Again, the math doesn't change.
You can compress your DV movie to a DVD (MPEG2). And hopefully the quality is visually the same- but that is NOT archiving source material by any means.
Mike

Suggestions for acquiring Hi8 tapes?

Hi All,
My Hi8 camera forgotten in a drawer for too long passed away when I tried to power it on. I wish I could acquire my tapes on the Mac, something it could not do anyway. I think I could have plugged it into the DVD recorder that plays on my TV, but having now to buy again, I have seen some Digital8 cameras for sale. They came out in the analog to digital transition period and are said to output digital from a Hi8 tape. Would you agree that this would be a sound choice for my transfers?
Thanks, and a happy new year!

I've just checked my TRV950. Digital pass-through works fine ..with iMovie '08.
With the previous iMovie HD 6 the camcorder/FireWire link needed a bit of a "kick" to get iMHD6 to accept the incoming video, as iMHD6 showed onscreen "Camera No Tape".
To set the camera to pass-through, turn the camcorder's main thumb-switch to the 'VCR' setting. Then in the camera's menus, select the second item down (shown by a 'V' in the viewfinder/monitor window) and choose 'A/V>DV OUT' and set that to 'ON'.
Now whatever analogue signal comes in - via the yellow-ringed 'AUDIO/VIDEO' analogue-in socket, just to the left of the headphone socket, in the 'socket bay' at the front of the camera's right-hand side - will simultaneously travel out via the digital FireWire cable.
Surprisingly, iM'08 very happily accepts this, whereas iMHD6 quibbles about what's happening: it expects a tape to be playing in the camcorder, and doesn't - at first - latch onto the pass-through signal instead.
So the way to do it in iMHD6 is, after all - despite my previous message! - to put a tape in the TRV950 and play that back, while the incoming analogue cable is also connected to the camera, and the external analogue source is playing.
Click on "Import" in iMovie HD 6, and iMHD6 will start the tape rolling in the camera, and will start importing from the tape. Then press the Stop button on the side of the camera, and the tape's video will stop showing, but the incoming video from the external analogue source should then appear in iMovie instead. Just click on "Import" again to start importing the pass-through signal from the external source.
Works for me ..I hope it works for you!

Get VHS tapes onto Macbook then edit on IMovie

I was wondering how I can get my VHS tapes onto my Macbook. I have a Sony camcorder (model number=DCR-HC30) I read something about using the camcorder as a converter, but I am not sure if it will work. Any suggestions? I want to connect the VCR>CamCorder>Macbook...What would I need? My macbook does NOT have a firewire connection? And can i use Imovie to edit/burn?

T-MuNeY wrote:
.. Sony DCR-HC30.. as a converter, but I am not sure if it will work.
the infos on the net are a bit vague, but it seems your devices lacks an AV-IN port you would need for such a purpose.. but, read the device' manual, wether the av-port is out-only..
.. What would I need?
some kind of converter..
a nice one is an EyeTV stick, which is mainly a TV-receiver, but some models allow analogue-in => a converter for ~80$ + a TV/recorder..

Rip old VHS tapes onto Computer (possible?)

I wanted to know if it is possible to take old home movies, say from the 80's and somehow get this VHS footage onto my computer. Is there a firewire/usb device I could buy just for this function?
I don't have a video camera.

Seeing as my parents have a horrible DVD player, couldn't I just buy a decent DVD recorder/player (I can find some for about $100) and just record my vhs tapes onto DVD and then rip the DVD content onto my computer? It would involve a purchase of the recorder but I could justify it as a xmas gift to my parents.
I would call that a Hattrick!
I do own such a device, some Pioneer HD/DVDstandalone corder... excellent! it offers some basic editing, even import via firewire (camcorders); ok, the DVDmenus look horrible! ("design" is a cultural determined thing...); and I do record my TVprogram for a week and watch later, no ads... or, I use excessively that time-shift feature: my favorite show (CSI) starts exactly, when it's nighty-nighty time for my son... so, daddy watches 20min later
as often said here: imports from DVD are lossy, a process of high computation (=time), less convenient... but.. for a "private" project? and a new, state-of-the-art dvd player as a gift? perfect!
here's my list of apps for converting DVDs >> dv (iMovie)
DVDxDV (free trial, 25$, Pro: 90$)
* Apple mpeg2 plugin (20$) + Streamclip (free)
* Cinematize >60$
* Mpeg2Works >25$ + Apple plug-in
* Toast6/7 allows converting to dv/insert dvd, hit apple-k

Capturing HI8 tapes: Date/Time

Hi all,
I recently started to capture my HI8 tape collections from an old HI8 Video Cam via Fire Wire into Premiere Pro CC 2014.
The data/time when the footage was taken is visible for around 3 to 5 seconds in the Camcorder display at the beginning of each tape
but it's not visible anymore if the media is imported into Premiere. Is there any chance to make the date/time stamp visible? Is there
a setting that I may have overseen or any chance to add it manually?
Thanks a lot

No version of Premiere (Pro or Elements) will work with ANY device that does not connect to a Firewire port
EXCEPT... you may buy a card (I think Blackmagic is one) and then use the device driver supplied by the vendor to "link" the card to Premiere (I did this back in 2002 with a Pinnacle DV500 card)
Premiere will NOT work with a USB device... as I said above... you may use a TI chip for adding a firewire card http://forums.adobe.com/thread/940242 to then use something like a Grass Valley product

I recorded VCR tape onto DVD-R but will not play on my MacBook Pro. I have already recorded multiple DVDs. How can I get it to play on my Mac?

I recorded VCR tape onto DVD-R but will not play on my MacBook Pro. I have already recorded multiple DVDs. How can I get it to play on my Mac?

"I recorded VCR tape onto DVD-R"
How? Using what equipment/software?
"The DVD plays on the device on which it was recorded."
Just a guess: You're using a VCR-DVD combo recorder. DVDs produced in this way will play on the device that made them, but won't play on anything else until they're "finalized." In fact, Macs will recognize unfinalized DVDs as blank discs until the discs are finalized. Check the manual that came with the recording device for instructions.

I'm going to save my old Hi8 tapes on a hard disk using final cut pro x, to save it for the future. But how shall I export it, and in what will be the best quality to save it in?

I'm going to save my old Hi8 tapes on a hard disk using final cut pro x, to save it for the future. But how shall I export it, and in what will be the best quality to save it in?

Hi Carsten...good luck with your project.. I had just about as many Video8 & Hi8 tapes as
you that I digitized and eventually brought into FCPX..took me many months not weeks
to do so,BTW, as each tape was 60-90 minutes in lenght...and many hundreds of
gigab ytes of storage ( uncompressed AVI files)..it's tedious work unless you plan to farm
it out to a processing house...also regarding eventual storage format...remember
Hi8 is 400 lines or about 540X480 in todays resoultion metrics..you can't make hi-def out
of source that starts out as 400 lines...in my case I rewrapped the avi files into .mov
containers and imported the mov files into FCPX where I got rid of the hundreds of
minutes of Colorado mountain landscapes to get to that one minute shot of the kids
on horseback ( late 80's for most of my archives)..so its a job..scouring thru 30X90 min
of source to not miss those precious memories takes diligence and hard work but its worth
it; eventually I encode the uncompressed video I want to save in H.264 format Staandard
Def not HiDef

I cannot burn my movie onto IDVD.

I cannot burn my movie onto IDVD. Says multiplexing error. Tried rerendering it as suggested on error code. Apple wants to charge me $29 to look into it and says the money is non refundable. Suggested I come here. Can anyone help me? Please...

I went to the TROUBLESHOOTING desk yesterday at our APPLE store. I got 15 minutes free. They told me that IDVD is no longer supported by APPLE and my Mac Mini is 5 years old, therefore, I'm out of luck. They told me to download new software and I thought the technician said the software is called IM DVD, but of course, I get home and I can't find it. Now what?

Converting 8mm and Hi8 tapes...

Hi,
I've been meaning to get around to converting some old family 8mm and Hi8 tapes to my MacBook Pro for simple editing, archiving, and burning to DVD. I've read around on the process quite a bit and thought I had an answer in terms of getting my hands on a Digital8 camera that could handle analog conversion, but now I'm learning that some Digital8 models aren't compatible with iMovie and OS 10.5 ...
The basics, as I understand them, are this:
To transfer analog 8mm and Hi8 tapes, first you need something that's going to play them. Yeah, so I have a Canon Vixia HV30, but being a MiniDV camcorder, these are apples and oranges here, and that's not going to help. I don't have access to the original 8mm or Hi8 cameras, and even if I did, they wouldn't be giving me digital outputs. So what I want is a Digital8 camcorder, as they have digital outputs and are backwards compatible with 8mm and Hi8. As I've learned, however, as Digital8 started to become obsolete, the mid-range models got weaker and now half of the used Digital8 camcorders on the (used) market apparently don't do analog-digital conversion.
So the question is thus: does anyone know of a Digital 8 camcorder that will do 8mm/Hi8 analog playback/digital output, that iMovie HD on my MacBook Pro will be able to understand?
Are there any details I'm missing here? Is there different software I could use? I'm willing to spend 200 or 300 bucks, but given I'll probably already have to take a chance on the purchase via eBay or Craiglist, it would be nice not to have to spend more.

I am probably th LEAST knowledgeable person on this forum, but ...... I own a wonderful Sony DCR TRV 103. It is dying. It worked fine with imovie and my imac. I actually called and sony will still repair it for about $250. which I may still do, even though I bought a canon HV30. You can sometimes get the Sony that I have on ebay. Sony also sells a high8 player, but that is around $500. About 10 years ago, I wanted to transfer my parents 8mm tapes and what I ended up doing was to sit down with my mom (89 years old) in the dark basement, play the old tapes with the projected and I set up my camcorder next to mom so I could get her recollections on the tape but I also got the click, click, click of the projector.
I know most wouldn't want the sound of the projector, but it's ok... I am so thrilled to have mom's voice explaining who is who in the video. However, I do understand I could use soundsoap to delete that sound.... I don't know.
So,that is my input. That Sony DCR TRV 103 worked great with my imac.

Importing Hi8 tapes to iMovie

What is the best method for taking Hi8 tapes and importing them to iMovie on m new MacBook?

I own one of the "hybrids" you speak of it is a sony trv520 digital8. our family had an old hi8, then we moved to this, to be able to still playback our old tapes. Sony only made the full analog/digital features in these models around 2000-2002 then it started disappearing. You can record in either Hi8 or D8 mode and the D8 systems encodes as DV codec with trouble free importing to things like final cut that i use. for Hi8 footage i have to use iMovie to import or a special setting in final cut as Hi8 does not have a timecode. sony still sells a digital8/hi8 vcr with firewire link and they just dropped the price:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=1055 1&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11028832
otherwise people have used something like a canopus advc100 analog/digital converter, ive seen them on the net and at apple stores. or the dub method like forestman mentioned

Capturing from old Hi8 tapes

1. What do I need to capture from old Hi8 tapes?
2. I have a few old Hi8 cameras. Is there any value to these things? Can they be used for anything -- a web cam? Or are they pretty much just a waste of space?
Thanks

You need some way to capture - DV deck, DV converter, capture card, etc... The Digital Hi8 cameras/decks allowed capture from Hi8 tapes. If you have a capture card/deck, you can play back the Hi8 thru it and capture the analog signal that way...
Patrick

How would I import a micro cassette audio tape onto a MacBook Pro?

How would I import a micro cassette audio tape onto a MacBook Pro?

If you can connect your recorder to the audio input port of your MBP, enter 'digitize tape mac' in the Google entry field and you will generate a plethora sites that will explain the details.
Ciao.

Hi8 tape onto iDvD?

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