[virginia hoel]

I have the Roxio Creator 2009 Special Edition (it includes the Roxio Capture USB). I would like to be able to convert my Super 8 movies to DVD. How can I go about this procedure? My computer is about 5 - 6 years old and an HP Media Center.

[ogdens]

I have the Roxio Creator 2009 Special Edition (it includes the Roxio Capture USB). I would like to be able to convert my Super 8 movies to DVD. How can I go about this procedure? My computer is about 5 - 6 years old and an HP Media Center.

What have you tried so far. Give us some details of how you are hooked up.

Read this http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=43928

[virginia hoel]

I have the Roxio Creator 2009 Special Edition (it includes the Roxio Capture USB). I would like to be able to convert my Super 8 movies to DVD. How can I go about this procedure? My computer is about 5 - 6 years old and an HP Media Center.

I have no idea where to start--the projector that plays the super 8 movie has none of the ports to connect to the video capture usb port. The projector is very old. Do I have to get it put on a VHS tape first? There is no audio connected to this film--just video.

[myguggi]

I have no idea where to start--the projector that plays the super 8 movie has none of the ports to connect to the video capture usb port. The projector is very old. Do I have to get it put on a VHS tape first? There is no audio connected to this film--just video.

I have never heard of any movie project having connections for a PC.
If those super 8 movies are important to you, then I would think it would be worth it to go to a professional company and have them transfer the movies to a DVD. I don't think its worthwhile trying to set up a home system to do this and get any kind of "reasonable" quality.

[ogdens]

I have no idea where to start--the projector that plays the super 8 movie has none of the ports to connect to the video capture usb port. The projector is very old. Do I have to get it put on a VHS tape first? There is no audio connected to this film--just video.

If you're really on a budget,you can do a transfer yourself by projecting the film onto a matte surface and using a DV camera lined up as closely as possible to the projector to capture the images.

You could try it, nothing to loose.

[Chris123]

Roxio's Video capture can capture analog video from Super8 Cassettes created by a camcorder via analog (RCA) connectors.

If you are trying to capture 8mm reels from a wall/screen projector, though, I don't think you'll find any analog output on it (a way to connect it to the computer). I believe professional studios actually photograph the 8mm film--one frame at a time, with specialty equipment, and then transfer to DVD.

[Jim_Hardin]

One of those things on my To Do list is to put together a brief Topic on this…

If you have a camcorder there are 2 ways to go.

Record from a projection screen:



Or record from a rear projection:



The rear projection eliminates parallax problems.

Either one work best in the darkest place you can find!( got pretty good at holding a flashlight in my teeth )

It is worth a try as commercial transfer is expensive but will yield better results. They use a high resolution automatic scanner and scan each frame.

[Billybluekeys]

There are reasonably priced units to help you out too -- here is a picture of something very similar to one I bought at Walmart for about $30. (I snipped this pic off eBay selling for about $50). It is similar to the rear project screen shown above, but is enclosed so lighting is not a problem.

You project the super 8 into one end, and focus a video camera into the other end. In my experience, make sure your camcorder has a manual focus setting, or it will do some seeking when the film goes from dark to light or vice versa... If you set this whole rig up near your PC, most camcorders have a video out that you can run straight to the computer, and you don't even need to run it to tape first. (Works great for slide projectors as well. Best results with a digital SLR that you can turn off the flash and go with a very slow shutter (on a tripod with a remote!))

You said "Super" 8 - I think that means it had sound on it? If there is no sound, you are set at this point. If there is audio on the film, does the projector have a headphone jack? You can run this to the audio plugs of your Roxio Capture. If no headphone, and you are adventurous, and somewhat tech-savvy, you might be able to get at the speaker connections in the projector. To do it right, go to Radio Shack and get a speaker-to-headphone impedance/isolation transformer. On the cheap, I have successfully taken speaker lines directly to audio-in jacks, but you have to be careful to keep the levels very low, you can "fry" things and get distortion....

Hope this all helps...

(Sorry - I couldn't figure out how to get a .jpg in here -- 'google' "Ambico video transfer" and you will find that brand of unit. I think mine is better, from the look of it, but it's up in the attic right now... If you reply back that you are interested in going this way, I'll go find it and give you the brand name of mine...)