8mm movie transfer to DVD

dan-hedrick wrote on 7/21/2008, 12:34 PM

I've been experimenting transferring 8mm (and Super 8mm) movies on to DVD....by projecting the 8mm movies onto a white poster board and video recording it with a mini DV camera (Panasonic model PV GS31). I've had a mixture of successes....some are very dark, but the biggest problem is the flickering. I know that the frame rates are different for the projected 8mm (18 - 24 fps) and 30 fps for the mini DV recorder. Is there a way to improve the flicker rate with software or with hardware or even with camera adjustments. My projector does not have variable speed control. I want to avoid spending too much money. (I really don't want to use an outside service to do the transferring).

I believe I have all the necessary software and hardware to get started. I am using VMS Ver 6.0. (I also have Roxio EMC7 and 8).

Thank you in advance.

lcdrdan

Comments

fishbelt wrote on 7/21/2008, 11:25 PM

I ran into the same problem awhile back. I ended up useing a friend of mine old VCR recorder, then transfered to my computer by my video camera. It worked OK. Realy had a much better picture when I took it to wal-mart and also Wal-greens. The cost was not to bad depending on many you have to. But you may want to have it copied to VCR tape. I tried a copy to disk once and that really was poor quality. I guess Vegas did not mix well with their software.
Other wise the camera or projecter has to have adjustable film speed. There are some post on this in search.

Chienworks wrote on 7/22/2008, 3:53 AM

Set your camera to the slowest shutter speed possible. Lots of cameras have settings such as 1/60th, 1/80th, 1/120th. Choosing 1/60th will let the camera capture the projected image for a longer period of time, averaging out the light during the frame and dark between frames. This will reduce the flicker significantly. It won't get rid of it; you do need a variable speed projector for that. It will help a lot though.

cmcdonald wrote on 7/22/2008, 11:12 AM

Even with a variable speed projector you will have a difficult time getting rid of the flicker. If you want to try a variable speed projector, they can often be found on eBay relatively cheaply.

If you have a lot of film to transfer, and you can afford to spend some money, I would highly recommend that you take a look at the units available at www.moviestuff.tv

I purchased on of their WorkPrinter units a couple of years ago and it works great. Because it transferrs frame-by-frame, there is absolutely zero flicker. The design of the system also eliminates the hot spots you often get from transferring directly from a normal projector.

I'm sure Roger at MovieStuff would be happy to answer any questions that you could not get off of their website. They have been very helpful to me and I have been very happy with the results I have gotten from their equipment.

Terry Esslinger wrote on 7/23/2008, 10:57 AM

I would second the recommendation of the Workprinter from Roger. Once you get it set up and adjustetd it works great. Roger is really good about service also. One problem may be that it usually takes 3-4 months to get the unit once it is ordered as they build them as they are ordered and they always seem to be backlogged.

dan-hedrick wrote on 7/23/2008, 3:08 PM

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond to my "little problem." I really do appreciate the comments.

lcdrdan