Hi8 to DV conversion using a DCR-TRV480E

Reppy wrote on 9/5/2005, 5:03 PM
I have a Sony PC100E camcorder that I've used for the last four years. I'm about to upgrade it, most likely to the HDR-HC1E.

However, I have a lot of VHS, 8mm and Hi8 footage that I want/need to get into DV format. I've recently purchased a brand new DCR-TRV480E (cheaply) due to its ability to play 8mm/Hi8 tapes. I have no plans to use it for anything other than for analogue to DV conversion, and will give it to my father when I'm done.

I've already transferred a Hi8 tape (originally recorded on a Canon camcorder), but I'm not convinced by the inital results. I obviously expected some grain due to the analogue source material, but the resulting footage is considerably grainier than I expected. More importantly though, is the "overexposed" (?) bright areas that have lost all details and look unatural. For example, bright areas on a face (highlights) are too bright and the surrounding areas are artifically pink and graduated (not blended smoothly). The rest of the footage looks fine to me, albeit a little dark. I could post example images, but I'm not sure if it's possible with this forum.

Is there anything I can do to fix this (especially the bright areas problem)? Is there something I need to do in the TRV480E? Could the Vegas DV codec be to blame?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Comments

RalphM wrote on 9/5/2005, 5:27 PM
I have the 460 which seems to do a reasonable job as an A/D converter.

How old are your analog tapes?. How do your VHS tapes look when played from a VHS machine direct to a TV? Same question for 8mm if you still have a working analog camcorder?

My oldest VHS tapes (19 years) have begun to take on a "posterized" look with loss of detail in bright areas.
johnmeyer wrote on 9/6/2005, 12:06 AM
The Vegas DV codec is irrelevant. When you capture via Firewire, the bits are simply copied to the hard disk. There is no coding/decoding (codec) involved.

Blown out highlights can be caused by all sorts of things. What monitor are you using to view the captured video? If you have a blank Hi-8 tape, or one that has some blank space, record 30 seconds of new video to that tape. Capture that video to your disk. Then, immediately print that video right back to the same tape, just after the video you captured. Thus, you'll end up with the original video, followed by the video that has been captured and then transferred back to tape. Plug your camera into a TV and watch the original, followed by the copy. If everything is working right, you'll see some differences, but they shouldn't be overwhelming.

The purpose of this exercise is to eliminate any problems with the original video; with the tracking problems that come from playing back video that was recorded on different equipment (although 8mm is supposed to be less prone to these things, and I guess doesn't actually have tracking issues in the same way that VHS does). It also eliminates any issues with the external A/V hookup into the camera. Thus, we've eliminated as many variables as possible so you can begin to figure out where the problem lies.
farss wrote on 9/6/2005, 1:26 AM
Over the last two days we transferred around 20 hours of standard 8mm video tape, it's horrible stuff. We played it out of a variety of devices and monitored just the analogue signal coming out of the decks and cameras. It's extremely noisy, half the tapes have bad banding / flicker and there's something wierd happening with the color at times. I guess we just never realise how bad old technology was until we get used to the new.
Bob.
RalphM wrote on 9/6/2005, 10:26 AM
On the other hand...

I've transferred many hours of 8mm/Hi8 and most of it has been excellent.

It's a generation of video that I personally bypassed, having gone straight from VHS to mini DV, but I've generally been impressed with the quality of 8mm analog.

Bob makes a good point however, in that we've become accustomed to very good quality consumer video, and when something from the past comes in suffering from either a bad original recording or poor care, it really stands out.

Manys the time I've had to transplant tapes to new shells to get the stuff to play in a transport - much of it having been stepped on or dropped (or chewed by a bad VCR).