| Answer provided by admin on 25 Sep 2008 at 10:32 PM Lee,
You say you want to "convert Hi8mm analog video to digital 8mm video for use in iMovie" without buying a camera. If I understand your question correctly, you aren't interested in converting to digital 8mm tape (that would require a Digital8 camcorder). Rather, you just want to get your Hi8 footage into your computer for editing purposes (that can be done WITHOUT a digital camcorder).
If I've gotten the question wrong, let me know.
In order to transfer to the PC from your analog camcorder, you need an ANALOG capture device. These are sometimes priced under US$100 (can frequently be found on sale for under US$50) and range from high-quality internal PC cards (which add the familiar red/white/yellow RCA jacks to the back of your computer) to slower external capture devices which use your USB connection. A popular card is the Pinnacle Studio AV. A popular external device is the Dazzle Video Editor.
I highly recommend getting an internal device, because the speed and quality are usually better, and installation is extremely simple (The reason is that the data rate for USB (external) devices can limit your resolution to 320 X 240 instead of full size video 640 X 480. The USB resolution limitation is really only OK if ALL you want to produce are smaller size images for web sites or e-mailing). If you insist on an external device, make sure it's at least high-speed USB 2.0.
Most devices come with software to help you capture the video onto your PC and do things like editing or adding transitions, voiceovers, music, titles, grabbing still images, or creating output files in a variety of formats such as MPEG, AVI, WMV, Real Video, etc. FWIW, the software that comes with many of these packages is much better than iMovie. In my opinion, the Pinnacle Studio software is the easiest to use.
There's a pretty comprehensive list of capture card brands at www.dvdrhelp.com/capturecards.
One caveat: You shouldn't try this if your computer is more than a couple of years old. You need a relatively fast processor and plenty of hard drive space.
Lee, I hope this helps get you started. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions. |
