A long time ago I had a HI-8 camera. Now I would like to create home movies I can share digitally. Does anyone know a simple an hopefully inexpensive way to transfer these tapes to my computer?
1 Answer
"HI-8" is an analog format. You will need a hi-8 player or camera with outputs and an analog to digital converter. Consumer grade devices are typically finicky -you get what you pay for. I've used several of the 60-$80 level in the past and had various issues. Such as: not detecting the source, poorly written drivers, very buggy software, low quality capture. Here's a list of comon some common devices to help your research:
http://vhs-to-dvd-converters-review.toptenreviews.com/
Mostly these come with a software to allow capture and create a digital file. Some also allow you to burn to a DVD / blu-ray.
A better quality box might be something like this (I haven't tried this unit): http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/349146-REG/Grass_Valley_602029_ADVC_110_Bidirectional_Media_Converter.html
You will need to get software sperately. Most editing software Premiere Pro, etc. Allows you do capture from a source. You will need to have some knowledge of what codec / wrappers, video aspect; to get a good result.
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1The OP will also need an Hi8 player. An alternative is to find a company in the neighborhood that offers such digitization service. Feb 11, 2016 at 20:54
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