Hi-8 Analog best conversion

Wyatt-Boatright wrote on 4/29/2023, 11:55 AM

I've been out of the game a number of years and now back in. Using V20 what would be the most recommended video file output to use if rendering a digitized Hi-8 or any anolog camcorder video file? I know Hi-8 had slightly better horizontal resolution than 8mm. I imported the video using an Elgato and the lowest res available using that which I saw was 720p. Obviously I want it to be the best quality possible while also being not too huge in file size because I want to give them to a friend on a flash drive! Any experience with anything related to these things out there? Thanks!

Comments

Dexcon wrote on 4/30/2023, 8:32 AM

The original Hi-8 or 8mm image is what it is - little is going to improve it very much. My understanding is that Hi-8 had an analogue resolution of around 400 lines - which would have been interlaced in analogue days. Looking at an unprocessed transfer to digital versus the 720p transfer, do you see an appreciable difference in the image quality? That alone is going to help you make the decision about what project/rendering settings to use in Vegas Pro

I saw this YouTube video recently about a program that claims to upscale VHS to 4K - - you can form your own opinion about how successful this program is with upscaling.

In Vegas Pro, try using it's Upscale FX to see if that improves the image in any way. Just going bigger on the project/rendering size beyond the point of diminished returns in image quality is just going to create unnecessary megabytes in the render. Why not do some comparison trialing with different project/rendering settings in Vegas Pro so that you can come to your own conclusion with your specific video. In these cases, a bigger file size does not equate to better video quality.

BTW, you may see on YouTube heaps of videos from the late 19th century / early 20th century that have been stabilised / colorised / etc - but film in those days was 35mm (albeit likely nitrate film and many are damaged / decayed). But 35mm gives a hugely better base image to work with in the digital world than does the 8mm and home video technologies of the last 50 or so years.

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mark-y wrote on 4/30/2023, 10:18 AM

The original Hi-8 or 8mm image is what it is - little is going to improve it very much.

This is the truth. I've had reasonable succes with Smart Deinterlace and Upscale in Vegas for Youtube, but don't expect to discover a "best conversion" option, they will all be mediocre.

crown2020 wrote on 7/1/2023, 11:39 PM

@Wyatt-Boatright, How are you dealing with your interlaced issue? Have you tried Happy Otter Scripts (HOS)?HOS is a GAME CHANGER. Often, open source works better than "box or can" software, especially where deinterlacing is concerned. You can get a FREE trial here: https://tools4vegas.com/home/

Be sure to check out his demos. I see none for deinterlacing, BUT, they may help you with other issues down the road. The Help File / Manual does deal with deinterlacing. QTGMC (an option of Render Plus within HOS), help can be found here, (as noted in the HOS manual) : http://avisynth.nl/index.php/QTGMC