How to Transfer 8mm Tape to DVD
Not only does converting your old 8mm tapes to DVD make them easy to watch in any standard DVD player, it's a fairly simple process. Once they're made, DVDs are much easier to copy than videotapes, and are much less prone to degradation over time.
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Things You'll Need
- 8mm camera or 8mm videotape player
- Capture device
- Video-capture software
- Video-editing software (optional)
- DVD-burning software
- DVD burner
Instructions
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Connecting the Capture Device and Initiating the Capture
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Connect the video cable from your camera or video player to the capture device. A capture device could be a capture box connected to your computer's USB port or a video card with both audio and video inputs. Generally, the yellow RCA connector plugs in to the "Video In" on the capture device and the red and white RCA connectors go to the "Audio In."
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Start your capture software. This software may have come with your capture device. If you are using a video card that didn't come with capture software, third-party software may be needed.
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Configure your capture device. The location of the configuration settings will vary depending on the software you are using. DVDs can store very high-quality video, so it is best to set the quality to the highest your software supports and capture to the MPEG-2 format. If you are unsure of where to find the configuration settings, doing a search in your software's Help system for "configuration" may help.
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Once your capture software is configured, start the capture. In most cases, it is best to start the capture process a few seconds before pressing "Play" on the 8mm camera or recorder. This will compensate for any delay in the start of the capture.
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Know that the tape is captured in real time. If there is 40 minutes of footage on the tape, it will take 40 minutes to capture the footage. If you can stop the capture at the exact moment the tape ends, it will make editing easier, and maybe even unnecessary. When the end of the footage is reached, stop the capture process. In some cases, the capture software will take quite a long time to finalize the capture. How much time will depend on the capture software in use.
Editing the Captured File and Burning the DVD
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Understand that, once the digital file is captured, there may be blank space at the beginning and end of the file. To remove this space, open the file in a video-editing package.
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Select and delete any blank video at the beginning and end of the capture. Different editors will work differently, but in general, you will have to define the start point of the area to be deleted, then the end point. "Delete" is often, but not always, found under the "Edit" menu. In some packages, there will be a "Delete" button below the editing screen.
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If you have the footage open in the editor, you can do additional editing. One element that is often a good idea to edit out consists of sections that are unintended or uninteresting. A good example would be a section in which the camera was being moved into position to record the subject, such as moving the camera into position at a zoo to film the penguins.
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Save an edited file. It is a good idea to save that file with a file name that is different from the original capture. By doing this, you will have the original capture in case there is a problem with the edit.
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Open the edited MPEG-2 file in your DVD-burning software. In most cases, the "Open" command will be under the "File" menu. If you aren't sure, refer to the "Help" file of your DVD-burning software.
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Know that some DVD-burning software will allow you to break the captured video file into chapters for easy DVD navigation. If your software supports this, split the captured video into appropriate chapters. This is often accomplished by selecting a section and right-clicking to define the chapter. Each system will be different, and consulting your software's "Help" file is a good idea.
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Put a blank DVD in your DVD burner and burn the DVD as instructed by your DVD-burning software.
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Tips & Warnings
Make sure you have sufficient space on your hard drive; video capture and editing requires a great deal of hard-disk space. Your captured video will only be as good as the original tape; if the tape has quality issues, the final DVD will also have these issues. If you decide not to edit the video, preview the video on your computer before burning to make sure it works.
