[super61]

Hi all,

This is both an observation and a question. Firstly, after several frustrating months of on/off tinkering , I finally figured out how to get my 8mm tapes uploaded to Roxio EMC 8 Suite. Unfortunately, I had to use the Dazzle 90 USB capture device (DVC) from Pinnacle with EMC 8. I initially purchased Pinnacle's software, however it was way too buggy, which forced me to get EMC 8 in the first place. I should note when I bought my computer, firewire and USB connections were standard, however, I failed to remember to get a PCI card with RCA video/audio hookups which led me to this problem in the first place.

Anyway, just for the newbs (which I consider myself), some of Sony's camcorders have 1 video and 1 audio out RCA-size jack. Connecting the camcorder video out to the DVC video in jack was a cinch. However, getting audio was a challenge. The workaround was to get a Y-splitter and connect the male end to the audio out of the camcorder. With the two free female ends, I connected 2 RCA jacks from a spare I had laying around and connected the other ends to the right/left audio in the DVC device. I now have both my video and audio. It's not the best hookup, nor the most cost effective (2 pieces of software, a capture device, time, etc.) but you can't put a price on cherished memories, and it got me what I needed. So, I just thought I would provide this info in case someone runs into this problem with an older Sony camcorder product. However, I would like to hear your thoughts or suggestions/workarounds others have used to overcome this issue.

My question however, is simple. These 8mm tapes hold 2 hours of video. Is it best to make2 one-hour videos? If so, why?

Regards,

JCR
Dell Dimension P4 (3GHz), Windows XP Home
140 GB, 24 bit Soundblaster
1 GB Dual Channel DDR-SDRAM

[malatekid]

super61, on Sep 23 2006, 12:04 AM, said:

Hi all,

This is both an observation and a question. Firstly, after several frustrating months of on/off tinkering , I finally figured out how to get my 8mm tapes uploaded to Roxio EMC 8 Suite. Unfortunately, I had to use the Dazzle 90 USB capture device (DVC) from Pinnacle with EMC 8. I initially purchased Pinnacle's software, however it was way too buggy, which forced me to get EMC 8 in the first place. I should note when I bought my computer, firewire and USB connections were standard, however, I failed to remember to get a PCI card with RCA video/audio hookups which led me to this problem in the first place.

Anyway, just for the newbs (which I consider myself), some of Sony's camcorders have 1 video and 1 audio out RCA-size jack. Connecting the camcorder video out to the DVC video in jack was a cinch. However, getting audio was a challenge. The workaround was to get a Y-splitter and connect the male end to the audio out of the camcorder. With the two free female ends, I connected 2 RCA jacks from a spare I had laying around and connected the other ends to the right/left audio in the DVC device. I now have both my video and audio. It's not the best hookup, nor the most cost effective (2 pieces of software, a capture device, time, etc.) but you can't put a price on cherished memories, and it got me what I needed. So, I just thought I would provide this info in case someone runs into this problem with an older Sony camcorder product. However, I would like to hear your thoughts or suggestions/workarounds others have used to overcome this issue.

My question however, is simple. These 8mm tapes hold 2 hours of video. Is it best to make2 one-hour videos? If so, why?

Regards,

JCR
Dell Dimension P4 (3GHz), Windows XP Home
140 GB, 24 bit Soundblaster
1 GB Dual Channel DDR-SDRAM

In my opinion:

Since the captured video from 8mm is not the best video quality, fitting a 2-hour video onto one disc will further degrade the quality as it needs to be re-rendered and transcoded to fit to the disc. So in this case, it is better to make two one-hour videos.