Hiayh Mark! Guess you've done a search on "convert 8mm"? I just did it - came back with 88 hits - yeah? . . Seema like a lot of work doing the digital camera bit .. ? Are you just after getting 8mm footage into V5? . .Must be an easier way . .IF that's what you are after ..

Grazie

Kelly :)

I have Frame advance On Me Viewer So Hopefully Frame Alignment wouldent be a Problem.. I HOPE... sO Great news Thanks Kelly I thought YOU would know when I asked the Question ! TOP Man...

Grazie :)

I know I followed a Lot of the Threads in the Past about 8mm I never recall Seeing this as A Solution though... And I dident want to sift through all those threads TO prove meself right ... Bad enough taking the Pics...

I'm not sure why you want to use a digital camera (a scanner would be easier, or using one of those projector to video converters). I'd recomendd the project to video converter (it's a little box that you project your video on one side & put your camera on the other). But, if you don't have a projector for the 8mm, then well... you choices ARE limited. :)

Good luck!

Yes I tried that method of filming the Viewer... But I want to Do something special for me Mum and also Archive The best Quality I can... Perhaps Archived as well AS a Hi defination File On my Computer...

Stephen A Scanner ? do you mean telecine ? Anyway:) Would Cost too Much... I have other Priorities Like a new Piggy Bank for the Impending stealth HDV Camera coming out from Sony... NOW theres a thought.. I could put the Project on Hold Untill xmas 2004..

Samantha Sweetheart I got me Xmas list...

Actuatly.. I mean a normal every day scanner. That way you could put about a foot of film on there, then scan it in at a really high DPI (1000?) Then, in photoshop you could cut them up.

HDV camera... :) Now I'VE got an item for my christmas list! :)

See if can locate in an Oxfam shoppe one of those olde Bell and Howell reel to reel editing setups. You get a neat screen to see the footage reeeeeeallly beautifully AND well illuminated too . . Stick you cammera in front of that and start snapping .. See you in about 12 months? Yeah?

Grazie

. .in fact the more I think about it the better it seems. Set up the XM2 p[eering at the "screen" and just turn the wheels around .. G

Some scanners have the ability to scan negatives and film, but as already mentioned, positioning sequential frames is very tricky.

My dad just used a service to convert old 8mm film to AVIs. The two companies did excellent work and it was not that expensive ($0.25/foot?). Make sure you get an AVI (DV format) and if you shop around you can find a company that won't charge to make a DVD movie first ('cause you'll be doing your own editing). This might be cheaper than buying a projector and you'll have frame-by-frame scanning of the film as compared to a video of the film projection (16fps vs 29.97fps).

Thanks for replies.... Bit of a concern the sheer Amount of Pictures needed.. Also the Alignment of Frames... Even if it has Frame Advance... My Estimation Is about 5400 Frames... Anyway My Original Question.. Of.. can Pictures be used as Footage... What is the Best format =Png Has been Answered...Thanks Guys ! ;)

Hey grazie, I have one of those! :) I'm putting all my grandma's old 8mm movies onto DVD,and she gave me the old editor my grandpa used to use. :)

Stephen When ITS done BE Great to see it at Chienworks ! Love looking at How Things were....

Mark2929,

5400 frames implies between 5 and 6 minutes of run time, roughly 100 feet of film.

You will be going to a lot of work to save very little money.

I've transferred miles of 8mm on a flicker free unit - much of it via mail order (I must have a trustworthy typing style). Email me if you would like to discuss rmorris21942@yahoo.com

I tried this once with my flatbed scanner....came out so dark it just looked like a black strip. Maybe there is a trick to doing it...but it didn't work for me.

tapeless, did your scanner have rear illumination for scanning transparencies? Film must have a light source behind it in order to be scanned. It won't reflect enough light from beneath it to be visible so it looks black without rear illuminaiton.

You mean the 8mm movies i'm transfering to DVD? There's HOUSE of them! :)

Or do you mean the editing machine?

I considered most of the methods discused here and instead bit the bullit and paid a service with a telecine machine to put my 8mm on dvd and now I'm editing the fotage in Vegas.
A telecine machine will give the best quality available.
Some points I found though.
1. Don't have it all done at once, I have 5000 ft of film at 9 cents a foot I did not want it all done at conciderable cost only to be disapointed with quality.
I had 400ft of dark and lower quality stuff done to see how it turned out. Considering frame size I was pleasanly surprised and am having the rest done. I'll do it in 400ft lots 'cause if all my precious home movies are in the lab and the lab burns down (hey stuff happens) no amount of insurance can replace my memories.
2. The 8mm frame is not 4:3 it's more like 6:5 (Super 8 is better) so some will be cut off so tell your transfer guy what you prefer to keep if possible, usually the top as non reflex viewfinders of old sometimes left a headless cast ;(
3. Clean the film before giving to lab.
4. While cleaning check for broken sprocket holes,and lumpy splices etc. the machine will otherwise copy the juddering results until a technician notices or what ever automatic system catches it. ( I got a full minute and a half of juddery results because of missing sprocket holes)
5. Some labs will copy to dvd or DV tape in whatever file format you want allowing easy post editing etc.

Mrs Smiths Lad..You could Always Upload a sample to Kellys site (Chienworks) I would like to see your results ! :)

If you pursue this route, you should be sure to find a service that provides frame-by-frame capture (as I mentioned in my previous post on this topic). Some of the telecines are just a video of the projected 16fps 8mm film.

I never checked my guy had a telecine machine he said his camera was $30,000+ so I asumed he meant telecine machine must check. Though the results are good. I will upload a sample when I get a spare moment. I was looking at the how to make the best copies of VCR tapes thread and was wondering if there is a way to use the tecnique to improve 8mm captures. I figure 2 (or more) identical media pieces merged, it might improve coulor saturation as some of my footage was over exposed somewhat. Hey I was only a boy when I shot it :)

Mark,

What you want to do is done by a machine called a "Workprinter." It is a modified projector that projects one frame at a time, and sends a signal to the computer to capture each frame, using a video camera pointed at the device. I assume you don't want to spend the money ($1,500) for this device.

However, if you have a projector that can advance one frame at a time (without burning the film), you can do the same thing manually. However, rather than capturing as still pictures, you can instead use the capture facility in any stop motion animation capture program. Scenalyzer has this capability. So does Adobe Premiere. (Vegas does not.). The neat thing about using this kind of capture is that it puts each individual capture into an AVI file. You can edit and play this back just like any other AVI file. The only thing you have to do is change the playback speed. Your 8mm silent film was probably shot at 18 fps. You will have to slow this down in Vegas by 18/25 = 0.72 (for PAL).

Using a flatbed scanner is silly. It has been discussed dozens of times on the film forums, and someone even wrote a piece of software that you can download that will "cut up" the scan of 10-20 frames, and put them into individual picture files. However, the problems with workflow (i.e., how long it takes) are horrendous, and getting each scan to match in exposure, alignment, etc. are next to impossible.

John and everbody First thanks FOR All the Brilliant Info..What I was Thinking to do is get my 8mm film onto My computer with as little loss of Defination as Possible..

I HAVE Already filmed it with a vid camera and got a lot of Strobing. Also the quality was not So good As I had hoped for.. The High Quality of Film COMPARED to DV is WAY good... So by having a File composed of Pngs or Jpegs ect I could Use Track Motion.. Steady hand perhaps.. Or Trackers In AE Maybe.. (The Film was all Hand held) Then use velocity Envelopes ( All the effects in VEGAS could be utised Widescreen ect.. Edit it.. and put it on DV with No quality Loss at all.. Hopefully looking like it was Filmed Yesterday.. Perhaps Magic Bullet for a Glossy Look ect..TheN put it on DV...

E'VOILA One Happy Mum...