transfering 8mm to dvd

[Doug Graham]

First of all, let’s clarify whether you are talking about 8mm videotape, or Super8 movie film.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Ralph Hajik]

Hi All,

That’s a good question. How do you take super 8 silent movie tape and convert or apply it to DVD. I’m using Vegas 6 and DVD3 if that helps. What tape decks or equipment do you need for that?

Thanks,
Ralph

[Doug Graham]

You gotta have a projector. If you can find one with variable speed, all the better. It’s nice if your camcorder has a “clear scan” shutter tweak setting, too.

Both these items are used to reduce the strobing effect that you can get when 24 fps film is recorded by a 29.97 fps camera. (You might try 24 fps if your camcorder supports it; I haven’t heard from anyone who’s tried this, though).

The simplest setup is to have the camcorder and projector side by side. Project the film image on a clean white sheet of paper (letter size is fine; you don’t need to blow the picture up big).

A much better way involves the use of a telecine. Hollywood’s are VERY expensive, but there’s a fellow in Texas who makes a series of affordable ones: try https://www.moviestuff.tv/8mm_telecine.html

Once the film’s been transferred to DV tape (or dumped straight to disk using your camera’s pass-through feature), you can edit, enhance, add music and narration, and author to DVD just like any other video.

Regards,
Doug Graham