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Transfer Hi-8 to PC...need assistance.

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aman74

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Hi all. I'm trying to help out a buddy here. He's got a Hi-8 camera that he wants to use to transfer video's to his PC. He was looking at Pinnacle's Dazzle and I told him I thought there should be a cheaper way since he doesn't need much in the way of editing or ins and outs on the dongle.

He just needs an RCA to USB cable which I'm assuming we could get at Monoprice and then we would just need some software. In the audio world I know there's plenty of free software for converting file's and I assume the same is true for video?

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
RCA to USB??? RCA is analog, USB is digital. Good luck finding one. ;-)

One option may be Sony DVD burner. VRDMC5

It takes multiple inputs (RCA, DV, S-video, handycam) and burns direct to DVD

Otherwise you need a hardware converter of some sort.

Greg
 
Gregory King said:
RCA to USB??? RCA is analog, USB is digital. Good luck finding one.
;-)

One option may be Sony DVD burner. VRDMC5

It takes multiple inputs (RCA, DV, S-video, handycam) and burns
direct to DVD

Otherwise you need a hardware converter of some sort.

Greg
Click to expand...
Ok, I gotcha. So I guess some kind of capture card is needed then. He has a modern laptop running Vista, but I'm assuming that wouldn't have video in, so he'll need some sort of dongle.

Thanks for the Sony suggestion, but he's looking to spend less than the Pinnacle unit.

So if some sort of converter is needed does anyone have any suggestions on that? Is the Pinnacle worth 90 bucks or are there cheaper alternatives? I see a Linxcel on Monoprice for about 30 bucks, but I have no idea how that would be.

Thanks
 
I just talke to him and he said he has S-Video in on his laptop. I'm not too up on video card's, but does that sound like his card can handle the job without an outside device?

Maybe there's a cable to go from RCA to S-Video since both are analog.
 
The laptop S-video is likely to be output only. If it's Hi8, you sure theres no DV output on the cam? If not, have you got a DVD recorder? I mean the type for recording TV. If so, use the S-vid lead to record on to DVD then use the DVD in the computer.
--
spolky

 
Hmm 8 years ago they did have DV but maybe not on all ... if it has S-video then I believe - but I may be wrong - you can buy a PC card adapter for a few $$$. That's the limit of my knowledge!
--
spolky

 
spolky said:
Hmm 8 years ago they did have DV but maybe not on all ... if it has
S-video then I believe - but I may be wrong - you can buy a PC card
adapter for a few $$$. That's the limit of my knowledge!
--
spolky

Click to expand...
PC card adapter? Not sure if you mean a PCI card or what, if so, the problem is this is going into a laptop.
 
No I mean PC card - as found on most laptops. But you may need more than one component ... like a TV card and a S-vid adapter.
--
spolky

 
spolky said:
No I mean PC card - as found on most laptops. But you may need more
than one component ... like a TV card and a S-vid adapter.
--
spolky

Click to expand...
Isn't that what I said? You are referring to the video card inside of the laptop right? That's a PCI card no?

Sorry, I'm just not understanding you. If you are referring to putting a new video card in the laptop or what.
 
It's the hole in the side of the laptop that you push various adapter cards into! They are called PC slots and PC cards - I assumed that was common knowledge!

I tried to find an illustration - this is the best I can do, it will look something like the larger part of this hole:



--
spolky

 
spolky said:
It's the hole in the side of the laptop that you push various adapter
cards into! They are called PC slots and PC cards - I assumed that
was common knowledge!

I tried to find an illustration - this is the best I can do, it will
look something like the larger part of this hole:



--
spolky

Click to expand...
No pic, but I know what you mean now. Sorry, last time I built a PC we just had PCI cards and I've never owned a laptop and I'm looking at Macs where it's just express34 or USB or Firewire.

I'll try and see if there's something I can find for this for a PC card slot.

Now the pic is up cool and thanks!
 
Mac notebooks have them too, exactly the same as laptops. I know cos I have one and I use it to transfer files via CF from my PC to the Mac.
--
spolky

 
spolky said:
If it's Hi8, you sure theres no DV output on the cam?
Click to expand...
Hi8 is a high-resolution (for NTSC) analog format. It would be rather strange to find a DV output on a Hi8 camcorder.

There was a format called Digital8 -- it used Hi8 tape to store DV data. Some -- not all -- of the Digital8 camcorders could read 8mm and Hi8mm tapes. But even if Sony still made those, the price for one with backwards compatibility would be higher than the original poster is willing to pay.
 
aman74 said:
I never see it on the I/O specs for macs. Just USB, Firewired, and
Express34 on the high end units.
Click to expand...
Apple has always reserved notebook card slots for their Professional line. I believe that in the PowerPC days, PowerBooks had PC Card slots ... with the transition to x86 processors, Apple switched to the ExpressCard slots.
 
Tom_N said:
spolky said:
If it's Hi8, you sure theres no DV output on the cam?
Click to expand...
Hi8 is a high-resolution (for NTSC) analog format. It would be
rather strange to find a DV output on a Hi8 camcorder.

There was a format called Digital8 -- it used Hi8 tape to store DV
data. Some -- not all -- of the Digital8 camcorders could read 8mm
and Hi8mm tapes. But even if Sony still made those, the price for
one with backwards compatibility would be higher than the original
poster is willing to pay.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm just trying to help him use what he has to get these tapes into his PC.
 
Ok thanks, I didn't think I was dreaming that, but Spolky said they didn't have them so I assumed he was right as I'm not up on this stuff like I used to be.

Anyways, does anyone have any thought's on the OP and what brand of converter and software to use?
Tom_N said:
aman74 said:
I never see it on the I/O specs for macs. Just USB, Firewired, and
Express34 on the high end units.
Click to expand...
Apple has always reserved notebook card slots for their Professional
line. I believe that in the PowerPC days, PowerBooks had PC Card
slots ... with the transition to x86 processors, Apple switched to
the ExpressCard slots.
Click to expand...
 
If he's hoping to transfer his video to a standard laptop with minimal harware and software outlay in a short time with little learning and grief and acceptable results he's going to be bitterly disappointed, frustrated, and will eventually give up. Been there.

If he wants to do it the relatively easy, quick way with excellent results then tell him to get a hard drive/dvd recorder (the sort which you have next to your tv to record programs on). Connect camera to recorder. Transfer tape to hard drive. You said he doesn't want to do much in the way of editing so cutting out the cr*p will suffice, which is about all you can do on these. You can divide lengthy recordings in to segments and re-arrange their play order. Create menu, chapters, thumbnails etc. Then transfer to dvd.

Much simpler. Not that much difference in hardware/software costs. No frustration and grief. And he can use it to record and archive tv programs to dvd too.
 
Mike J Evans said:
If he's hoping to transfer his video to a standard laptop with
minimal harware and software outlay in a short time with little
learning and grief and acceptable results he's going to be bitterly
disappointed, frustrated, and will eventually give up. Been there.

If he wants to do it the relatively easy, quick way with excellent
results then tell him to get a hard drive/dvd recorder (the sort
which you have next to your tv to record programs on). Connect camera
to recorder. Transfer tape to hard drive. You said he doesn't want to
do much in the way of editing so cutting out the cr*p will suffice,
which is about all you can do on these. You can divide lengthy
recordings in to segments and re-arrange their play order. Create
menu, chapters, thumbnails etc. Then transfer to dvd.

Much simpler. Not that much difference in hardware/software costs. No
frustration and grief. And he can use it to record and archive tv
programs to dvd too.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your thoughts. I'll have him price those units out, but I was looking at them myself and they are a dieing breed since the cable company dvr has killed them off. Unit's with a HD run about 250 so that's considerably more outlay since there's almost no competition in that marketplace. Only 2 units widely available and recommended. I only know a bit about them because I was looking at them instead of Tivo or a DVR so I wouldn't have to pay a subscription.

I wonder what it is about the PC that makes this difficult, since the process you described is basically the same thing we are trying to accomplish with his PC. Go from camera to HD to DVD, same thing really.
 
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