Video 8 Tape Woes

ADinelt wrote on 12/3/2003, 7:20 PM
I am trying to capture some of my older (11-12 years old) Video 8 tapes to preserve on DVD, but am experiencing a lot of dropped frames. During one 2 minute capture, there were over 120 frames dropped. When viewing the tapes, there are some small glitches and a bit of dropout visually on the screen, which I am assuming is due to tape degradation, but overall they appear to play just fine.

Some of the newer tapes (4-5 years old) experience 3 dropped frames whenever the recording was stopped then started again.

I tried capturing using one frame instead of both, and the number of dropped frames went down dramatically, as did the resolution and quality.

Next, I tried capturing from the camcorder (Kyocera FInemovie 8 - approx. 12-13 years old) while it was in record mode. I did not experience any dropped frames at all so I don't believe it is the capture board, software or my computer causing the dropped frames, but the tapes themselves.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of problem and if so, what was your remedy?

I am thinking of transfering the Video 8 tape to VHS, then trying to capture from the VHS. Will probably try this on the weekend. My sister has a Samsung Hi-8 camcorder that I will see if I can borrow and try that as well.

Thanks in advance...
Al

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 12/4/2003, 5:31 AM
I strongly suspect that copying to VHS first is just going to make it worse. You'll take a hit in image quality and whever you were getting dropped frames before will probably end up with either more dropped frames or very very bad images.

What would probably help most is a TBC (Time Base Corrector). Some Digital 8 camcorders have them built in or you might be able to rent one. This device will preserve the image data as much as possible and regenerate the timing & sync data. That would be your best bet for cleaning up the older tapes.
Steve Grisetti wrote on 12/4/2003, 6:34 AM
I agree with Chienworks, although you don't have to go to very high-end equipment.

Most (but not quite all) Sony Digital8 camcorders can also play 8 mm tapes. I've used my frequently to firewire my old 8 mm tapes into the computer as AVIs for editing, and the results have been very good!
pete_h wrote on 12/4/2003, 3:30 PM
Since my old 8mm Sony Camera died, I bought the cheapest back-ward compatable camera that Sony makes (TRV-350).

When capturing the old tapes on to the computer, I also had a lot of dropped frames, but I solved most of the problem by "turning off" any back-ground programs! "Capturing" is the hardest thing to do, ANYTHING running in the backgroud that "decides to turn on" will result in dropped frames.

After that, my dropped frame count was maybe 60 - 80 in a 2 hour capture!

The stuff that did drop was erratic to begin with (the beginning of the tape, etc.) After that, it ussually cleared up.

Hope this helps

Pete
ADinelt wrote on 12/4/2003, 6:35 PM
Thanks to everyone for their help.

SInce I do not have a firewire card in my computer, I don't think I can go the digital route (unless it also puts out analog a/v).

I will see what I can beg or borrow this weekend and hopefully salvage the old tapes.

I will also let you know what I tried and if it worked or not.

Thanks again...
Al
ADinelt wrote on 12/6/2003, 8:51 PM
I borrowed my sister-in-law's Sony CCD-V4 8mm camcorder (which is just about as old as my Kyocera). The 8mm tapes played just fine through it and capture quality was great with very few frames dropped.

It looks like my old Kyocera is just about done for!!

Al
ADinelt wrote on 12/9/2003, 6:56 PM
Man, I love this stuff!! Just completed my first transfer of Video 8 to DVD.

I used Screenblast 3.0 to capture and edit the video. It was great being able to remove bad frames or unwanted audio (e.g. a toilet flushing while filming our newborn son in the hospital). I was even able to create a motion menu of a video collage of our infant son, who is now almost 13 years old.

I then used an evaluation copy of DVD-Lab to build the menus, scene selections, intro clip, etc. then burn it to DVD. Had a problem with Memorex DVD-RW and my Sony DW-U10A burner, kept getting buffer underrun errors. I have had no problems using the Maxell -R DVD media though. As soon as I get some extra money, I will definitely have to purchase DVD-Lab.

You gotta love software that works as advertised!!

I just have another 15 or 16 Video 8 tapes to go through and transfer to DVD. Hmmm, methinks this will be a winter project.

Thanks again to everyone for their help....
Al