Save precious memories BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! | Mini DV and 8mm Archive Guide! [Everything you need]

Today's video is a big one, and one I've sat on for way too long. This is the COMPLETE GUIDE on how to digitize and archive your 8mm, Hi8, Video8 and MiniDV video tapes to preserve your lost family memories and keep them viable for the future. You want to do this before they degrade too heavily and are lost forever.
What do you think? Should I open my own digitization service???? Comment Below!
Some channels will recommend this capture device w/ a screen - geni.us/g5KKW - but my method gets FAR higher quality results. (Amazon affiliate link.)
eBay Affiliate Links for camcorders:
8mm - rover.ebay.com...
MiniDV - rover.ebay.com...
Canon HV20 - rover.ebay.com...
Firewire PCIe Expansion card - geni.us/QISN
Mini DV Head Cleaning Tape - geni.us/ZVBPtGP
8mm Head Cleaning Tape - geni.us/ApbB
(These are Amazon aff links)
SOFTWARE:
WinDV - windv.mourek.cz/
DVDate - paulglagla.com...
AVIDemux - avidemux.source...
StaxRIP - github.com/sta...
Handbrake - handbrake.fr/
LifeFlix (First 11 users get 100% discount!) - www.lifeflix.c...
Media player (MPC-HC) - github.com/cls...
► Backup Rules - • I lost all my data. Yo...
TIMECODES:
00:00 Prologue Notes
01:13 Intro & What's In This Guide
03:13 Don't Freak Out!
04:52 Tape Types
05:39 DV Format
06:38 Different 8mm Formats
07:50 Hardware Needed
09:49 8mm Camera Precautions
10:51 Professional DV Tape Decks?
11:32 Hardware Needed Cont'd
13:29 Software Needed
14:59 Camera Setup
17:29 Capturing In Premiere Pro
20:40 Capturing in WinDV
25:50 Capturing in LifeFlix (Mac)
28:25 Linux Capture Options
29:16 Capturing Composite, S-Video & HDMI
32:12 File Organization & Date Codes
35:03 Splitting & Combining
39:42 Paid Digitization Services
42:17 Cleaning Camera Heads
42:56 Storing Files
44:41 Notes on Compressed vs Uncompressed Storage
46:04 Sharing with Others
46:49 Compressing w/ AVIDemux
47:50 Compressing w/ Handbrake
48:55 Compressing w/ StaxRip
49:51 Editing These Files
51:43 Conclusion
RELATED ARTICLES:
www.digitizatio...
forum.doom9.or...
/ 1068239585015197696
docs.google.co...
videotransferbo...
www.lifewire.c...
www.mediacolle...
avisynth.nl/ind...
www.mediacolle...
www.adamwilt.c...
Thanks for watching!
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EposVox is a channel dedicated to making technology more accessible for anyone via product reviews, tutorials, guides, how-to videos and more!
Any links to products or services may be affiliate links that give me a small kickback at no cost to you, with no influence on the content. #8mm #streamprofessor #minidv

[@TVperson1]

Epos, Remember to warn people *NOT* to hot plug firewire ports. You could damage your deck or camcorder's ability to output via the Firewire port.

[@EposVox]

I had never heard of this but turns out it is a rare occurance. That's crazy. Pinning for others to see www.sounddevices.com/firewire-hot-plugging-precaution/

[@gizmogibson2987]

Win dv is still cutting videos in to multiple clips even with setting on1000000. Any help on how to change that??

[@boyblunder8889]

@@gizmogibson2987 that happened to me today , I found you also have to set the ‘discontinuity threshold’ to 0 and then the max frames to 1000000. I know this is an old reply , might help someone who comes across this excellent video. I’m using the latest windows 10 with WinDV.

[@Boudi-xy9by]

@@gizmogibson2987 you have to set the time gap to 0 instead of 1, then it will store all seperate clips into one file. If you are on the home page where you downlaod the software, you can hover with the mouse over the pictures on the feature you don't understand, and it will explain what it the action is if you use it.

[@shanefrank3281]

@@Boudi-xy9by Where is time gap. I only see "discontinuity threshold", "MAX Avi Size, and "Every Nth Frame"

[@boyblunder8889]

This is just what I needed, all the information in one place ! Super exceptional advice. I’ve got 48 hours worth of Digital8 tapes to capture using my original camera Sony TRV355E , still working ! . I made a massive mistake and bought a Pinnacle Dazzle USB capture box , it’s dreadful, anyone reading please avoid . I’ve got a FireWire card arriving tomorrow and will use WinDV and compare results. I used FireWire years ago for my original editing (2005) and couldn’t understand why the Dazzle box was so bad … now I know , this video confirmed it for me. Learnt tons from this video , big thanks for wading through all the info and delivering it with such clarity!! Thank you good sir 👍👍

[@mpxz999]

As someone whos ENTIRE childhood is on VHS tapes recorded from cameras PRE-FIREWIRE, I am really happy to see that you touched on this too. I was getting worried for the first half!

[@jsanch40]

🙏🙏🙏THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!! I’ve spent at least 20 hrs researching this topic over several weeks and I finally feel educated and confident in undertaking this project, thanks to your video. You are helping so many people here!!! There are so many opinions out on the internet…some good and some not so good…but your info is solid and very comprehensive. I really appreciate that all of the info from setting up, transferring, editing, etc. is all on one video. Thank you again sincerely for doing this video!!…I know it must have been a lot of work for you but you are helping so many people here and we are very grateful for your knowledge and the time you spent putting this whole thing together. Thanks again and take care my friend!👍

[@fc1133]

Great video, thanks for posting. I love how two years ago those Digital 8 cleaning tapes were around 30-35 bucks. Now they are more like 100. : )

[@gurshair]

Last week I began digitizing all my content and stumbled on this channel, I've gotten to my family VHS tapes a few days ago and man is that a nightmare. Then comes this video, there goes my luck for the week.

[@EposVox]

Working on VHS specific video too! Coming ASAP

[@gurshair]

@@EposVox Thanks a bunch. Would it be on floatplane now? (where I found the channel).

[@EposVox]

Not yet, still working on it :) But it will be there first!

[@joshymcdaniel9233]

Lmao vhs /vhs-c is cake’ it’s analog when u get to digital that’s when it gets hard if u can’t do vhs no offense but stop now let someone else handle it

[@xHadesStamps]

"The process is identical." That is true, indeed. The only difference between the two of them is the player you need.

[@SabreXT]

Looking forward to the VHS video, even if it's a short addendum. I have VHS tapes I want to archive, and most (if not all) discussions tend to be one of two extremes. Using a cheap EasyCap card or spend a fortune on professional equipment.

[@TimothyFrancisco]

Eagerly awaiting a follow up for analog video capture methods - VHS and Hi8. I need to redo many of my previous transfers due to data loss. I recently tested and compared an analog capture using the new cheap HDMI USB 2.0 and a Low cost S-Video to HDMI converter. I recorded it on OBS and it came out much better than a AVDC-110 Firewire capture! The firewire recordings with no-loss .AVI files had poor color quality. The OBS capture process had equal details and much superior color quality even with H.264 compression. I am testing with a S-Video master tape on a Panasonic Super VHS AG-1980 deck. I need to research OBS record settings to see what the optimum should be before I start again. I have twenty Hi8 and a dozen VHS tapes to re-record.

[@moritz22]

Thanks for making this video, I used my old win XP laptop with FireWire and worked like a charm. WinDV saved each individual scene and I used DVdate to change the date of the files according to the metadata. These software programs are wonderful for doing this.

[@dorinxtg]

1 word: A M A Z I N G!

[@PuzzoMolto]

I'm shooting to MiniDV in 2021 and this guide was super helpful! I've been using a super old macbook and LifeFlix to import until now, I'm switching to Premiere on my main machine to save some headache.

[@GavinReeves]

I'm reviving my Panasonic's MiniDv too and think it's an awesome format. I have an old Mac Pro with FireWire to transfer the recordings.

[@nogovannut9386]

Thank you for this wonderful tutorial! Working through a bunch of MiniDV tapes over the next few days.

[@VCMTube]

Wow. Amazing video from a video editor. This is a TREMENDOUS amount of work. I will be sure to not send out my tapes 😂 for transfer as I value quality and prefer lossless duplication. You're incredibly smart and resourceful. I thoroughly enjoyed the nerding out of this explainer video. Keep up the great work.

[@SandBoxSession]

Wow, this was an amazing video! It covers almost everything. I have a box of Mini Dv tapes and a 2008 Mac Pro with firewire sitting stagnant. Time to put it to use. Thanks for putting together such a thorough and complete guide. PS the retro vibe was perfect.

[@CathyDenovan]

Great video EposVox - so helpful! I've got about 100 miniDV tapes starting from when my son was born in 2001. You've sorted out a lot of the confusion for me on how to digitize and archive them. Thank you!

[@EposVox]

Heck yeah! Glad to help

[@irltrent]

EXTREMELY APPRECIATE THE FREQUENT WARGREYMON CAMEOS IN THIS VERY INFORMATIVE VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!

[@EposVox]

Yus

[@TheVillageRuse]

Excellent job man! Looking forward to the VHS joint.

[@MarcoRiemer]

Che video fantastico!!! non ho parole per ringraziarti per questo video e per come mi ha aiutato. Grazie! grazie! grazie!

[@elecxonica]

Thanks for the guide. It's inspired me to finally start trying to digitise my old tapes.

[@WillCarterTech]

Im on my 6th tape! 🤩 woo! Had a little audio glitch in avidemux on the first tape. But now i have figured out a work flow and rhythm. Im having more fun that i thought i would. Davinci Resolve’s de-interlace tool looks really good to my eyes.

[@haleypotter417]

You mentioned a VHS guide similar to this, if your still working on it it might be beneficial to split it into parts, so then footage can be injected and not worried about being lost to time

[@minidv7596]

miss the minidv era. nice to see this video.

[@PeterPerez.]

Does LifeFlix DV Importer do the exact thing as adobe premier pro technique? I don't really want to spend $100 unless it's more convenient

[@AskJoe]

Awesome advice. Retro hardware like FireWire is definitely key to making it work. I moved a ton of Hi8 to digital about 10 years ago by getting a couple of used Digital8 recorders to transfer the non-digital Hi8 via FireWire to an old MacBook... meanwhile I still have a ton of DV tapes and mini DVDs to move. The number of decisions in each step were daunting to say the least. Finding the right mix of hardware, software, resolution, compression, interlace, ratios, etc. drove me nuts.

[@TVperson1]

But make sure you choose a Digital8 model that can play analog tapes. Not all models can, some only play digital cassettes.

[@AskJoe]

@@TVperson1 I had to do a lot of research before I did, and then I found one that actually exported my analog recordings via FireWire.

[@MadMonk67]

Thanks for this fantastic video! I've recently re-discovered some old Hi8 tapes that I want to convert to .mp4 (eventually). This has been very helpful.

[@YolandaBlonda]

You the man!! Thank you so much for making this video. You are helping so many families capture and save their memories!! One quick note, Premiere Pro for some reason does not have the capture feature and I am wondering besides using WinDV (which worked for me) if there is any other way we can capture videos from Premiere Pro, Davinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro?

[@WillCarterTech]

This video is such a life saver. Thank you Adam

[@WillCarterTech]

I just started capturing. I'll let you know how it goes.

[@user-mn1dn8gc1u]

Thank you SO VERY MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@AnayranPinheirodeAzevedo]

God, what an plesant video to watch and learn about! Thank you a lot, A LOT for share this to us, man! One more subscriber here for sure!

[@EposVox]

Thanks for subscribing!!

[@AnayranPinheirodeAzevedo]

@@EposVox you're welcome! Today I just spent all the afternoon watching other videos, and for sure your review about that 15$ video capture card was the trigger to start follow you, even if I don't stream, have this knowledge today is essencial to spread the word or just entertain other people! Thank you, thank you, thank you a lot! =DDD

[@ciaduck]

I ditched Handbrake and AVIDemux for ffmpeg a while ago. Definitely a steep learning curve, but by far the best tool for converting videos. I don't know if ffmpeg can do capture too (I think it can).

[@EposVox]

I mean they're all just front ends for ffmpeg + avisynth

[@JavierRamosUY]

Hi! I am in the process of capturing my digital 8 tapes. I was wondering why the Data Rate in the captured file is different depending of the software used to dump the tape (Premiere vs WinDV vs Scenalyzer). If it is a data transfer it is not supposed to be all the same (there is no transcoding so I dont understand why there is a slightly difference) Thanks in advance for your help!

[@pogidiez]

Thank you so much for this video. So helpful.

[@zx8346]

i've tried the firewire approach but the exported quality is choppy with lots of dropouts through either imovie, QuickTime player, Premier, FCP on Mac. The tape might have deteriorated somewhat but it's still quite fluid when connected to TV via A/V cable. Should I just use the AV-USB cable to export to MAC for less dropouts and pauses ? Thank you so much

[@draketheman75]

Thank you for this video you took the pain out of figuring all this out so we don't have to. :)

[@petescalzitti]

AMAZING VIDEO. FireWire question… Can I adapt FireWire to USB C in order to capture on my non-FireWire port equipped desktop? Curious if Premiere would recognize the camera… also wonder if there’s any quality loss in the conversion?

[@gpop9878]

Great video. I'm having to research again after buying a win11 pro 12th gen PC. Which is useless for importing AVI files due to incompatibility of 12th gen CPU's no one told me and trusted the builder. So it appears I need to buy a windows 10 pc with thunderbird port plus apple adaptor cables i.e. Thunderbolt to firewire adapter & thunderbolt 3 (usb-c) to thunderbolt 2 bypassing the need for a firewire card. WINDV would not work with legacy driver not recognised. TI chipset firewire card never worked. etc So I need a windows 10 PC it appears WITHOUT 12TH GEN. I have many DV tapes with old cine film digitised at a great cost. Plus hundreds of Hi-8 and HDV tapes. Shot with Sony Hi-8 and Canon HDV40.Both cams have dedicated DV ports. I also have many VHS TAPES but not not so important. I bought the Apple adaptors above but they wont work with 12th gen cpu. as i only have usb-c not thunderbolt. In short after several months I've concluded with many online adverse comments I cannot use my expensive new Win 11 Pro PC for AVI FILE IMPORT only for actual editing the files once files are on the hard drives. using pinnacle 18 up to V25 non worked..Rubbish help form Pinnacle I could not get WINDV to work with only basic instructions plus is not WINDV only for dv. not HDV ? HDV SPLIT FOR THAT. . Ive even tried Edius pro 9 and Vegas/magix but no avi impot ? due to the 12th gen cpui I'm keen to just import AVI Lossless files for now to archive before tape degrade. Editing once done. I know the editing will have some compression ? mp4 best. If the answer is to get another PC ? (win 10 and not with 12th gen cpu ) what or other is best way to secure these precious memories ( without loss of quality) have tried the cheap devices and agree are useless cutting down quality andt why would I use S--Video if there is a DV port on the Sony cam for example., etc..I've

[@formerlycringe]

I know this video is a bit old, but for older macs, you can open iMovie and convert the video in there! For newer Macs (unsure if it applies to M1), you'll have to change some settings within iMovie itself apparently.

[@rocphill]

Thanks for all your help and guidance. I gave HOME MOVIES THAT REQUIRE transferring to DVD. I'm an electronic technician by trade and a gadget guru by age !! I have , a total of three DVD recorders. Two of which are Panasonic machines, I'm thinking of simply, branching the Sony high 8 camera recorder, to the 8mm recorder and transferring like that. ....BUT.... to tansfer my family's 8mm camera recordings from the the 1950's and beyond, is a challenge ! What do you suggest ? Ron..

[@sholshol100]

Hi @EposVox thank you for the video its great and super explanatory Do you have a cideo like this for digitsing VHS tapes ?

[@ronm2099]

Thank you for this. Very helpful.

[@NevilleStyke]

And don't forget that all those tape types could also be recorded in the NTSC, PAL or SECAM formats, so you need the correct camcorder type to transfer your videos.

[@TimothyFrancisco]

I mention to my in-laws that I am capturing tapes, and they sent me over 100! I went from using my older Macbook, to buying a 6 year old PC dedicated to this project. Hopefully making it easy to pop in a tape, put in the file name and press play. Only bummer is my GV-D200 Hi-8/Digital8 deck is having issues. I'll start with the MiniDV tapes.

[@EposVox]

Enjoy the process! It can be a lot of fun if you don't view it as too much of a chore!

[@TimothyFrancisco]

@@EposVox I am over 100 tapes into the DV Tape transfer project. I cannot thank you enough for summarizing all the tools. It really helped me. My biggest thorn is WinDV is sensitive to any sound encoding changes like 12 to 16 bit. I am using a handy app called Allway sync to transfer the files as I create them to my main PC and my backup drive. I lost many Hi8 tape transfers due to a failed hard disk many years ago when storage cost more than it does now. Now I make sure I have three copies. My In-laws visited last weekend and they wanted to see the transfers so I fired up Plex for the first time and in five minutes I was streaming the videos to the TV and my phone. We watched videos from twenty years ago they had never watched.

[@cscooper2000]

I have a few Mini DV tapes that don't play when put into a tape deck. Somebody long ago told me that Sony tapes are lubricated, while others brands were not; More of a dry powder. So mixing the two in the same tape deck creates a type of cement. Is that accurate ? I'm not sure that's what happened with these particular tapes of mine, but they won't play. What do you do to fix that? Can your service repair them?

[@liaminwales]

on mac you can just use imovie to import video for free, import as DV do not re encode unless you need to save space. did this a few years back and kind of like the interlaced look mpeg streamclip is a relay good app to mac/windows, used to use it to export proxy's think QuickTime X in osx will let you import too (or QuickTime 7 pro) ps love the DV glitches they look amazing!

[@szpon8]

Hi there, what should i do if the Shuttle is no longer on the market and i dont want to use cheap 10$ chinese adapters? Whats the best way to capture my VHS now? Thanks.

[@JimLeonard]

While I'm glad you mentioned qtgmc, it's unfortunate that you promote 30p deinterlaced output for interlaced sources. All NTSC interlaced sources have 60 images per second contained in both fields, so 60p output is not only possible, it should be the only output made from them. Outputting at 30p throws away half the temporal information and it no longer looks like the smooth videotape it came from. A quick way to fix this in handbrake is to pick the yadifx2 double-rate deinterlacer before encoding. And in staxrip, qtgmc as you already mentioned. Both of these should output 60p from 30i input.

[@EposVox]

I feel like this isn't a universal rule. 60 fields per second is not the same as 60 frames per second. That HDV camcorder I showed would do 30, 60 or even 24 teleclined fps

[@JimLeonard]

@@EposVox That is a special case for hdv and was not at all common. All analog videotape records 60 different images per second to tape, and most DV does the same. Some people can't tell the difference between 30p output and 60p output, but I definitely know you can :-) so try some experiments the next time you transfer analog videotape and it should be immediately obvious.

[@william_mazza]

Firewire caputure is a lot easier than composite. It would be great a guide on composite capiture for VHS digitization, software, sync problems, color regulation ecc... That is hard to get right

[@EposVox]

In the works ;)

[@william_mazza]

@@EposVox good! Great video btw

[@Stallzyx]

Hi Epos, hope you don't mind me asking but how come you found the original HD PVR messy on windows 10? For windows 7 I had to find a different drive or capture software because it would randomly blue screen on me all the time back in the day when I swapped from a vista laptop in 2011. Fortunately for me I still have both of them if I can't use my windows 10 machine. However maybe it's possible to use a composite to HDMI converter with the Elgato HD60 Pro? Or I could check old family laptops or my own one for a firewire port or add a pci card in myself. Bought a digital8 camcorder just for this very option but will also serve as another solid tape camcorder

[@reel_images]

AMAZING in-depth video on digitizing footage. Almost everything is covered, I have a Panasonic DVX100-b MiniDV camera, I can use this to capture DV-25 footage or as passthrough from a VHS-C S-Video camera. However I was confused around your discussion if capturing composite or S-Video footage from say a VHS-C camera. Were you saying that passing though a MiniDv camera via firewire to a program like WinDV would not produce the best result and to instead capture in VirtualDub2 or AmaRecTV via a firewire camera? It sounded like you were saying if you must capture VHS footage to use other programs like VirtualDub or AmaRecTV due to the lossless codecs? I'm trying to capture VHS and VHS-C footage via an S-Video output. Will also be using Deinterlacing with AVISynth and QTGMC after I capture, at this point I'm looking for a workflow before I execute this massive project.

[@14880]

While capturing your Digital 8 video tapes, how did you get around th issue with the audio going out of sync in the captured avi files? If I capture a whole 90 minute D8 tape to one avi file by the end of the video the audio and video is out of sync. Also what avi version should I use avi type 1 or avi type 2?

[@JokerzWildmuse]

Little tiny exodia is my favorite

[@boyblunder8889]

I’m just updating an earlier comment I made with regards to USB capture products for old Hi8 or Digital8 tapes , don’t do it .. use FireWire, I made a comparison today with the same footage , the results are very different, FireWire wins no contest. If you’re concerned about getting a FireWire card to work on the your PC , don’t be , I got mine up and running in a few minutes after installing it. It can have problems because Microsoft no longer support it, but I followed a guide online that includes updated legacy drivers that you will need. I won’t post a link , but Google the term “Fixing FireWire (IEEE 1394) Problems With Windows 10” and find the site Studio1productions , follow that guide and it’s all good. When you choose a card , make sure it has a VIA chipset , not TI and also check your PC for either a spare PCI or PCI express slot. It’s worth using FireWire, and cheaper as well , cards can be found for under $20 / £20 that includes the cable. I used WinDV as shown in this excellent video , zero problems and much superior quality. 👍

[@EposVox]

FireWire is the way to go!

[@bcbenoitcote]

Having digitized miniDV footage on my Mac with FinalCut Pro thru FireWire. Everything go well but I'm confused with one thing: Is it possible to find/view that DV original time and date from the tape? It seems that FCP strip this information when capturing .mov file. Can't open .mov on my PC with the DVDate app (Only avi)... Exiftools only show my the date I captured. I'm doing it this way because I don't have firewire on PC but this would be usefull to have this metadata!

[@TRP2706]

Sir, Videos are wonderful. I have sony DCR HC 46 CAMCORDER. Please guide what are procedures to follow and software requirements to buy. i have windows 11

[@monizfilms]

Good video, actually you have enough to break it up into various tutorials. When quick question, on your final edits are you keeping the aspect ratio of the mini DV tape 720 x 480 or are you going to upscale to a 1920 x 1080P timeline?

[@anewbeginningquinn]

If the rewind button doesn't work, is it because the tape are in safe mode ?

[@sapiringo18]

Thanks for all the explaining, very pro. Do you know any other alternaties to the Canon HV20 that have the same capability on multiple tape types? Thanks for your answer.

[@goatmen7996]

i have a sony dcr - pc110 from the year 2000 and i use it for my youtube videos now

[@linusmcmanus3278]

Thanks for making such a detailed video. I am trying to go from a Sony digital 8 camcorder to my laptop, but the laptop doesn't have a fire wire port. I know you don't recommend going in through the USB port. Can you tell me if there is an adapter I can buy? The quality of the video transferred that way is horrible.

[@noemikrkoskova8732]

Do you keep all files in AVI format or do you also convert the files to other formats like MP4 or MOV? My biggest fear is that AVI will become obsolete.

[@breal5280]

I really enjoyed this. We have 8mm tapes and a Sony Digital 8 camcorder that plays them. The camcorder has a firewire port. Our laptops do not. I was going to just purchase a capture device that connects the 3.5mm camcorder port to the composite cords to the capture device which has a USB connection that would work with our computers. Will this be significantly worse than firewire and if so, how do we connect the camcorder to the computers which are 1st gen Surface Books?

[@kp-ti1xv]

WinDV doesn't recognize my camcorder anymore, even though it shows up in the device manager. It worked one time and after that it didn't anymore. Has anyone had a similar problem and got a solution to that?

[@brandona5112]

Thanks for making for making this video! I am using Adobe premiere pro. When I use a digital 8 camera as a capture device for my home vhs, I noticed the audio is out of sync with the video when reviewing the capture. Any ideas on how to tackle that?

[@JayBoyModz]

have you ever used one of the USB to Firewire cables? I have a laptop and am looking for a firewire solution for my vx1000

[@Pasi123]

From what I've heard those usually don't work. If your laptop is a relatively new higher end model it might have Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter, though they are usually FireWire 800 so you'd also need a FireWire 800 to 400 adapter

[@JayBoyModz]

Pasi123 oh awesome thanks yeah it does have thunderbolt so I’ll look into that I appreciate it 👍🏽

[@menepapa7310]

Great job thank you!!

[@justinberken]

Hey Epos, Just finished watching your guide to backing up Digital8 cassettes. Thanks for putting all your work into this, it was very helpful. I have one quick question. Do you have any recommendations on a decent VCR for VHS transfer. The VCR I have seems to have an issue with frames jumping up and down to the point that the footage is unwatchable. What brand/model VCR do you have? Thanks so much!!

[@LaserFur]

I have some video on AMPEX 1 inch tape. but the 1 inch version is rare.

[@EposVox]

:O

[@Henkibojj]

Great video, I will make sure to use it in my coming endeavours. What I was hoping to do was to import each 60 minute miniDV tape to a continuous avi file, then do the same with the next tape, and then burn them both to a bluray disc capable of exactly 23,866 megabytes. I got this from various sources claiming their miniDV files were "between 11 and 13 gigabytes", meaning two files should always fit provided they end up on the low spectrum. What are your thoughts on this? I think it's a good plan but what if I overshoot by just 150 megabytes or so - I'm not really keen on splitting the second avi to leave a stump at the beginning of the next disc as this would make the entire 2:1 tape to disc system askew. Can I compress one of the files to "95% original quality" to still be able to say I've copied my library somewhat 1:1? What would you recommend? (I intend to use bluray for a number of reasons (which would be a threat in itself): cloud is limited in size and very expensive over time (decades or so), hard drives are prone to failure or physical abuse/drop, USB sticks are small in capacity and physical size and can be misplaced, and even more so for memory cards. Plus, all these mediums have write rights, meaning vulnerability to virus or unintentional deletion. The only option left is bluray discs for their physical properties making them excellent for permanent archiving and storage capacity of

[@Slon104]

Dude this video is so awesome from my point of view as I did google all of this some time earlier But yeah I think it is going to be hard to watch for peple that are just searching for easy salution Was going to make video... jus captur then deinterlace with that adwance tool and you are done :) as this video is not on internet but yeah you have evrithing in :)

[@WillJauregui]

So, I have a bunch of 8mm tapes that were recorded on a Sony CCD-FX630, and that only has a yellow video and a black audio composite output. Would I be able to capture any better quality using a newer 8mm camcorder with S-Video or firewire output, or will that not make a noticeable difference since it was recorded on an older camera anyway?

[@nuni1128]

I got a dvx100 and got a dv cable and 2 adapters to transfer the footage to my macbook using quicktime. I instantly noticed that the recording on my camera was running at 60fps and compared it to my laptop which for some reason loses a lot of frames, as if it was shot at 30 or 24 fps. Is there a reason for this or maybe a way to fix it without purchasing an extra camera to record the footage?

[@SkipMcDonald-ln2dp]

Is there any way to REMOVE Mini DV in-camera effects? I have the original CR70 MiniDv...or a software that "un-balls" the fisheye? Thanks to all for any leads! :) :) :)

[@EposVox]

Most video editors (like Premiere, Resolve, Final Cut, probably iMovie) have lens correction effects that can un-do fisheye. Most of the other kind of overlay effects are going to be baked into the video, so not much you can do there

[@sting64az]

I have 2 Canon Camcorders.. One is the ZR-50 and other is the ZR-65... What is the mini USB port for only? Only photos exporting? not video and is the AV port the only way to export video either by computer or DVD deck recorder... I have Windows 10 and no video capture.. I can export via AV to DVD deck?.. Thanks for any help and assistance..

[@DezorianGuy]

My 8 camcorder does only have these yellow/black (yellow/red) plugs. There is no firewire on it. How do I digitize the 8 cassettes?

[@PauloParreira]

This was awesome 👏 I’ll have to review all the video bit by bit. I use Roxio and Obs but quality is poor. I only have a vcr player and Roxio.

[@myronachtman4304]

Roxio is a pathetic capture device. You will never get a good looking capture with Roxio. There are so many better USB capture devices such as Elgato and Hauppauge and AverMedia. These devices cost more than the Roxio piece of crap, but at least you'll get nice quality captures.

[@ryanvanasse]

I appreciated the mention of editing, but I don't think that my dumped DV avi files are editable in Resolve. Would you recommend transcoding to DNxHR in this case? Or would it be better to use not-my-usual editor?

[@BoJackub]

Great video, did you release a video about VHS tape? How to capture it?

[@ReddRubble]

Hey, would you be able to run a tutorial on DV date? I am trying to inlay the timecode into the video (only for each day), but it just wont seem to listen to the settings I am giving it! (EG I edit the Inlay settings, apply, and it is just default) I recorded my Digital8 tapes splitting each new scene into a new file with scene detect, as you have done. So I've got some tapes with 150 files for each scene. This seemed to be the only way to get the tape, and keep the date information? Now Im wanting to convert these to MP4s, Ive been using shutter encoder, however, when I use shutter encoder, the datecode is lost, so I would like to embed the datecode into the video, but similar to that of Hi8 tapes, where it displays the datecode only for each new day, for 7 seconds. But i can't for the life of me figure out how this program works, there doesnt even seem to be documentation on the website! So Im just clicking around trying to figure out how to use it.

[@TimothyFrancisco]

Transferring tapes is an ongoing project of mine for years and you had several useful tips I have not heard before. The Handbrake alternative for better de-interlacing is something I need to check out. What are standard naming conventions for creating a family digital archive? There is a ton of metadata I would like to attach to these files but not sure how to do it.

[@TimothyFrancisco]

I am naming my files YYYY-MM-DD Family Name Subject Event.AVI It seems to be working well. I keep event names short and standard so they can be searched on. Xmas, Bday, Easter, soccer, Hawaii Cruise etc.

[@Buttafingaz]

Thank You So much for this

[@MistaGrant]

This is great!

[@myj5792]

Any solution pls When i use easycap with obx then all are ok and obx show handycam movie but when i conect with FIREWIRE so just black screen show and no movie show in obx pls ask me what i do for capture movie via FIREWIRE If you guys no another simple capturing software who can easily capture movie via FIREEIRE so ths will b helpfull I use pc core i5

[@Skatecate]

Does anyone knows why appears something that it does not detect the camera? Im using WinDv. Thanks!

[@noemikrkoskova8732]

I was wondering why in the word doc it say 1 hr uncompressed is = 100 GB but in the video you say 2 hrs = 25 GB???? Is it because it is already compressed interlaced???

[@SyncroScales]

Music used?

[@InkDrop.]

i run an itx system so an expansion card is not an option, cant i use firewire to usb? EDIT: Nvm, impossible since they're 2 different things

[@guitaristtom]

:o Finally!

[@mac4758]

I'm using WinDv.exe to capture Mini DVCAM tapes set the 1,000,000 in configuration BUT it still chops up the file 20/ 30 files over 40 minutes some a few seconds long,looks like every time the camera was paused WinDv created a new file..🤔🤔🤔🤨🤨

[@gizmogibson2987]

Having the same problems!! Did you ever figure out how to fix the problem??

[@inovefutys]

@@gizmogibson2987 In the screen after he presses Config in WinDV (around 23:07) you should set "Discontinuity Threshold" = 0 (disabled). By setting to 1 it will split each recording into separate files. I do not remember where I saw this.

[@lynna6985]

​@@inovefutys thank you for this reply

[@pokepress]

There probably are better outfits for transferring footage, but they’re targeted at things like local TV stations, museums, etc..

[@preverthevamp]

Hey, maybe I missed this, but what do we do about actually cleaning the tape itself, if it was stored in less than ideal conditions?

[@rupert6478]

I don't think you can if you're referring to the literal videotape

[@abvmoose87]

I dont get it though, does the miniDV tape have digital video or not? If it is digital then why are we using capturing software? Why are we not simply transfering the digital file?

[@EposVox]

We are.. transferring it over firewire (a digital connection) to a container on your PC. It's digital, but tapes are still tapes and data is stored linearly, so it has to be pulled off in real-time, versus a file copy like a flash storage device. Much how LTO archive tape requires similar methods

[@minecraftpc3036]

Even though I was born into the SD card camera age I still daily drive a canon hv 20 to family gathering for its unique appearance and reliability, only the tapes have failed due to age not the camera.

[@vasopel]

thanks..I needed the laugh... :-)

[@minecraftpc3036]

@@vasopel Laugh about how my camera survived more falls than my friend's smartphones

[@vasopel]

@@minecraftpc3036 hahaha that's funny too! :-)

[@NeptuneSega]

I see you saw Potato Jet’s video

[@EposVox]

Yes I saw his video from last week back in January of 2019 when I started making this

[@Slon104]

I was trying to capture my miniDV on ubuntu and it was all in 4:2:0 format... :( and doing .dv files If I do windows... Can I capture the 4:2:2 from miniDV? is video on miniDV stored in 4:2:2 or 4:2:0? How do I know if I have an 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 recordin on miniDV caset?

[@TVperson1]

miniDV is 4:1:1 for NTSC and 4:2:0 for PAL. HDV (HD on mini DV tape) is 4:2:0 regardless.

[@shuaibali5118]

I didn't get, you suggested to use panasonic dmr es10 and es15 between capture card and comcorder to stable the video signal or you criticised this?

[@EposVox]

It’s something that can help if you’re doing composite/s-video capture

[@shuaibali5118]

@@EposVox yup thank you

[@guillermojackson6102]

Anybody have advice / experience with Pinnacle Systems Studio MovieBox Plus the "510-USB "

[@sting64az]

I'm having issues finding a firewire cable that has an mini-usb end and a DV 1394 end that my Panasonic DVD recorder uses and my Canon ZR-50 uses a mini-usb connection...

[@ryanvanasse]

There are no Firewire cables with a mini-usb end, though some digital camcorders could also record pictures to small memory cards and offload those photos via mini USB. What you're probably looking for is a 4-pin Firewire (IEEE 1394) to 6-pin cable. Good luck!

[@sting64az]

@@ryanvanasse Only alternative is to look into this Dazzle HD which I don't want to do but rather transfer digital video via "firewire" just need the right one... A video capture software is no issue... I wanted to do it directly to my Panasonic DVD recorder that has the 1394 port as I done before with a JVC DV camcorder... But I have 2 Canons DV camcorders that have a mini-usb port... I have a manual coming in that I got off eBay cheap.. Just want to verify what the "yellow" port is... It shows a headphone icon above it... The "red: port is for an external mic and this mini-usb port...

[@ryanvanasse]

@@sting64az You can check the ZR-50 manual here: pdisp01.c-wss.com/gdl/WWUFORedirectTarget.do?id=MDkwMDAwMDY5NzAx&cmp=ABR&lang=EN It shows (page 12) that the Firewire port is located under a panel at the very front of the camera. The "chin" if you will.

[@Airlim]

I have a firewire cable used it to do this years ago, had to buy a Firewire adaptor to usb to use it again, i'm finding that when i connect the camera the USB comes up as it can't be recognised or something like that, Is there a way around as it does connect, but nothing is there, Tried to used Prem Pro but it doesn't detect it which i'm guessing as the USB doesn't get recognised etc. Wondering if anyone can help

[@Will-pd6vj]

FireWire to USB cables are a scam, it doesn’t work. You need to get a PCIE card for your desktop so that your computer can accept a direct FireWire to FireWire connection.

[@Airlim]

@@Will-pd6vj I've kind of noticed it recently, I don't think i could get a PCIE card but i might look into it and ask a friend to put one in their machine

[@djSpinege]

i have a whole shoebox full of hi8 from 2000-2010 i need to archive but can't find a old camera to do so :(

[@EposVox]

*sets up digitization service more quickly *