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Randy
Guest
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 Posted:
Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:55 am Post subject:
Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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Need help from some of you ol pro's out there.
I have a number of 8 mm tapes (home movies) from my old Sony camcorder that
I want to backup. I've been thinking about what would be the best way to do
that, with a bias toward a method that would preserve video quality. Here
is what I come up with;
* hard drives - would need to buy and install a number of hard drives.
Doesn't seem feasible or cost effective. Also a lot of extra work
installing those drives and power supplies
* DVDs - since I would want to save in DV-AVI format and at 12GB per hour
I'd have to break a 2 hour 8mm tape into 6 files spread over 6 DVDs. Yuck.
The other option would be to create a DVD MPEG 2 movie, but this is a lossy
compression technique, right?
* Mini DV tapes - seems like the best way to go and preserves as much of
the quality of the video as possible. I have the Panasonic GS120 camcorder
So, what do you all think?
TIA
Randy
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Paul Rubin
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:16 am Post subject:
Re: Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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"Randy" <rlaw73@charter.net> writes:
| Quote: | * hard drives - would need to buy and install a number of hard drives.
Doesn't seem feasible or cost effective. Also a lot of extra work
installing those drives and power supplies
|
How many tapes are you talking about? In DV-AVI format you need about
12 GB/hour as you say. You can buy a 400 GB USB2 external drive for $300
or so. That would hold about 33 hours of video. Is that enough?
| Quote: | * DVDs - since I would want to save in DV-AVI format and at 12GB per hour
I'd have to break a 2 hour 8mm tape into 6 files spread over 6 DVDs. Yuck.
The other option would be to create a DVD MPEG 2 movie, but this is a lossy
compression technique, right?
|
DV-AVI is also lossy, just less so than MPEG-2.
| Quote: | * Mini DV tapes - seems like the best way to go and preserves as much of
the quality of the video as possible. I have the Panasonic GS120 camcorder
|
This approach is reasonable, though the tapes are somewhat more
expensive per GB these days than DVD media ($4 or so for 12 GB). They
are almost as expensive per GB as hard drives. Plus, the tapes hold
just 1 hour so you'd need two of them per 2-hour 8mm tape.
If you're talking about consumer 8mm or hi-8 video, I'd just use a
set-top dvd recorder and mpeg-2. That lets you transfer your 2-hour
hi-8 tapes to a 2-hour dvd disk on a convenient 1-to-1 basis. You
won't be losing much quality from the compression since there's not
that much quality to begin with. If you're not in a hurry and if you
sit tight for a while, DVD-DL (8.5 GB/disc) media will get cheaper and
set-top recorders will start being able to use it, so that would let
you use lower compression factors. |
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Dimitrios Tzortzakakis
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:09 pm Post subject:
Re: Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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<there's not
<that much quality to begin with.
8 mm XR (eXtra Resolution) is one of the more fidelious formats I have tried
Unfortunately, none is for ever;hard disks go kaputt maybe after 6-7 years,
dvd disks in a couple of years heavy usage have more scratches than the
atoms of the universe, and dv tapes suffer from everything that the original
8 mm tapes suffer.I strongly suggest you make multiple copies in ordinary,
good old VHS.I rent ~25 year old videotapes and they play as new.VHS is
actually one of the most robust and acceptable quality analogue format.
--
Tzortzakakis Dimitri?s
major in electrical engineering, freelance electrician
FH von Iraklion-Kreta, freiberuflicher Elektriker
dimtzort AT otenet DOT gr
? "Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> ?????? ??? ??????
news:7xu0qgz6hb.fsf@ruckus.brouhaha.com...
| Quote: | "Randy" <rlaw73@charter.net> writes:
* hard drives - would need to buy and install a number of hard drives.
Doesn't seem feasible or cost effective. Also a lot of extra work
installing those drives and power supplies
How many tapes are you talking about? In DV-AVI format you need about
12 GB/hour as you say. You can buy a 400 GB USB2 external drive for $300
or so. That would hold about 33 hours of video. Is that enough?
* DVDs - since I would want to save in DV-AVI format and at 12GB per
hour
I'd have to break a 2 hour 8mm tape into 6 files spread over 6 DVDs.
Yuck.
The other option would be to create a DVD MPEG 2 movie, but this is a
lossy
compression technique, right?
DV-AVI is also lossy, just less so than MPEG-2.
* Mini DV tapes - seems like the best way to go and preserves as much
of
the quality of the video as possible. I have the Panasonic GS120
camcorder
This approach is reasonable, though the tapes are somewhat more
expensive per GB these days than DVD media ($4 or so for 12 GB). They
are almost as expensive per GB as hard drives. Plus, the tapes hold
just 1 hour so you'd need two of them per 2-hour 8mm tape.
If you're talking about consumer 8mm or hi-8 video, I'd just use a
set-top dvd recorder and mpeg-2. That lets you transfer your 2-hour
hi-8 tapes to a 2-hour dvd disk on a convenient 1-to-1 basis. You
won't be losing much quality from the compression since there's not
that much quality to begin with. If you're not in a hurry and if you
sit tight for a while, DVD-DL (8.5 GB/disc) media will get cheaper and
set-top recorders will start being able to use it, so that would let
you use lower compression factors. |
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Andys cam
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:45 pm Post subject:
Re: Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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| Quote: | and dv tapes suffer from everything that the original
8 mm tapes suffer.I strongly suggest you make multiple copies in ordinary,
good old VHS.I rent ~25 year old videotapes and they play as new.VHS is
actually one of the most robust and acceptable quality analogue format.
--
Tzortzakakis Dimitri?s
major in electrical engineering, freelance electrician
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More drivel from the village idiot! |
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Paul Rubin
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:28 am Post subject:
Re: Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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"Mark" <nospam@nospam.com> writes:
| Quote: | I had no idea that -DL was even out yet?
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Yes, DL is out and most new DVD burners support it. The blank discs
are still expensive ($8 each if you shop around) and hard to find. |
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Mark
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:28 am Post subject:
Re: Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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"Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> wrote in message . If
you're not in a hurry and if you
: sit tight for a while, DVD-DL (8.5 GB/disc) media will get cheaper and
set-top recorders will start being able to use it, so that would let
you use lower compression factors.
I had no idea that -DL was even out yet? |
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Dimitrios Tzortzakakis
Guest
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| Posted:
Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:07 pm Post subject:
Re: Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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you can get here a new dvd burner that supports dual layer disks for less
than 150 euro
--
Tzortzakakis Dimitri?s
major in electrical engineering, freelance electrician
FH von Iraklion-Kreta, freiberuflicher Elektriker
dimtzort AT otenet DOT gr
? "Paul Rubin" <http://phr.cx@NOSPAM.invalid> ?????? ??? ??????
news:7x1xdhy2k7.fsf@ruckus.brouhaha.com...
| Quote: | "Mark" <nospam@nospam.com> writes:
I had no idea that -DL was even out yet?
Yes, DL is out and most new DVD burners support it. The blank discs
are still expensive ($8 each if you shop around) and hard to find. |
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WEBPA
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Dec 25, 2004 4:06 am Post subject:
Re: Backing up old Camcorder Tapes |
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That's nice. What was the question?
| Quote: | you can get here a new dvd burner that supports dual layer disks for less
than 150 euro
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webpa |
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