Converting 8mm film to a digital format

morrissey40

Hi! Does anyone know where I can get old 8mm films into a digital format/DVD?

These films are of massive sentimental value and so I want someone very good to look after my precious film!

thanks

uteotw

I've done it several time but it's quite time consuming overall.
I did it because my parents had such film and they paid some 'company' to transfer one film, eventhough they were happy with the result I was wondering how they did it. So I tried myself and the result was better and mostly brighter.

I used the normal 8mm and Super8 projectors aimed at a white sheet of A4 paper. I think that's what makes the brightness difference.

I aligned my DV camera just under the projector lense.
(I'm looking for a pic of the setup)

Switched off the lights and recorded. You might have to speed up or slowdown the film a bit to avoid flickering when recorded by the DV camera. it might be slightly different for each roll of film.

Also, most DV camera will record at 25fps interlaced and you roll might play at 12 or 18 fps,or something else, progressive. Other more recent cameras might record at 24fps or 30fps, might be progressive and might be HD too.

Not to worry, this can all be fixed later with software.

Once it's recorded on the DV camera, transfer to your PC. It can take quite a lot of space depending on how long.

Then you need software to edit/cut the videos, software to compress to MPEG2 if you want to make DVDs, or MPEG4 if you want to output videos to watch on PC. You also need software to master the DVD. They can be separate software, or all in one. Commercial or non-commercial.

uteotw

Here are some pictures of the setup.

From a software point of view I don't like all in one solutions.

- VirtualDub for the linear editing, cutting the bits I don't want and stitching videos together - http://www.virtualdub.com

- AviSynth 2.58 to change the frame rate and apply some denoising filter - http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Main_Page (see attached .txt file, to be renamed to .avs).

- To encode to MPEG4 being Xvid or H264 I use MeGui http://sourceforge.net/projects/megui/ , if encoding Xvid to be played on compatible DVD players the I recommend encoding using settings 'Constant Quantizer 2 HD (no Qpel)'.

- To encode to MPEG2 I use TMPEGEnc 2.5, it's old but I like the quality. I recomend encoding at the highest CBR bitrate allowed. Usually 8000 or 9000.

- To author the Video DVD you can use http://www.dvdflick.net/

1. edit videos with VirtualDub, and save new DV quality avi files.
2. create avs script to correct frame rate and apply required filters.
3. encode video by loading the avs file.
4. if encoding mpeg2, then author DVD and then burn to blank disc.

Gleisweiler

UTEDTW hit it right on the button and it is great to hear from someone who knows what he is talking about, has done it and knows the pitfalls. His explanation and advice is excellent. I had to convert footage I shot in the 50's to 60's. The deterioration of the colour (corrected in post editing) and sproket holes was a problem as were the splicing breaks that occured with the cemented joints. It is a long winded process but with a little care the results are well worth the effort. The IAC in the UK advises the same procedure. My way is must the same as UTEDTW but I use different software and place the projecter next to the DV camcorder. Just a slight alteration but I'm certain the results are comparable.

jimw1988

http://www.super8ireland.com/