You can not capture video from analog sources. So, unless your 8mm camcorder is a Digital8 Sony, you can not (and as far as I know you have never been able to) interface with the program from that camcorder.

Not unless you're using a Firewire-connected digitizer to connect the two. And even then, you'll be able to record but not control or interface with the camera.

Can you confirm whether you're trying to capture from an 8mm camcorder or a Digital8 connected via FireWire?

Quote I just recently installed PD 365 because the old version (12) I have wouldn't burn DVDs. The old version would detect my SOny 8mm video camera as a TV signal, but the new version doesn't. Is there a way to force it to see the camera or should i just reinstall the old version. Trying to save memories and I'm a total noob on using this!

When I did this many years ago, I was grabbing video from an old Hi8 camera.
I used a USB to S-Video connector like this one.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grabber-Capture-Convert-Digital-Converter/dp/B0772P5PNR/ref=asc_df_B0772P5PNR/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309841464204&hvpos=1o3&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2015352675639403418&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046674&hvtargid=pla-452192942791&psc=1

I'm in the UK, but they're pretty much available everywhere quite cheaply. (Works for ordinary 8mm as well.)

I used this to grab the whole tape and didn't bother about editing.
I grabbed all the video and converted into mp4 using software that came with the USB connector.

ONLY THEN, did I think about turning the now digital video files into propper 'Edited' videos using PD.
You can now correct colour casts, add titles and the like very easily.

You can then burn dvd's should you wish.

A word of caution... If you've not watched these videos for a while, you may be disappointed by the lack of quality.
They're probably not as good as you remembered them !
My Hi8 was the bees knees when I bought it just before my 1st son was born and I probably spent the best part of £2000 on my kit back in 1991...
That said, it recorded less than 440 lines, so its resolution was below dvd quality - and also 4:3 aspect ratio.
I used PowerDirector to put the image inside a coloured border and produced 16:9 dvd quality video files.

Despite the poor quality - the video I now have stored has proved entertaining to my two sons, the oldest of which has just become a father himself. We watched some of them again quite recently, his reaction to seeing himself at his son's age was great.

I honestly cannot think of a better way of converting your 8mm tapes. The sooner, the better since I noted that some of my tapes had deteriorated and become even 'Noisier' over time.

Gerry

I do analog captures all the time, via USB dongle. Maybe the fact it’s digital when it gets to PD is what you mean.
Regarding lack of quality...some of it is perception, we are quite spoilt with hidef, super hidef, superduper hi...etc, some of it is capturing in compressed codecs, then compressing again if you “fix” it. S-video connection for analog is highly recommended. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Quote "
Regarding lack of quality...some of it is perception, we are quite spoilt with hidef, super hidef, superduper hi...etc, some of it is capturing in compressed codecs, then compressing again if you “fix” it. S-video connection for analog is highly recommended.
"

I would say the lack of quality is far more than simply 'Perception'.
My 1991 Hi8 recordings were pretty good back in 1991, when I watched TV on a 28 inch set and 'SD' was what everyone watched.
Even my VHS recorder was acceptable back then.

Nowadays, I watch my recordings on a 65 inch 4K TV. (And I still want a bigger one - possibly circa 85 inch !).
It is best with a 4K video, but still pretty good with a 1920 x 1080 image. DVD starts to look slightly ropey, but the old Hi8 couldn't really be anything more than 640 x 480. 'Standard' 8mm was only rated as recording 240 lines compared to Hi8's 400.

If I'm watching today's recordings from my GoPro Hero 6 (3840 x 2160), they are massively superior to the old 'Converted' footage I captured back in 1991. My Fuji X-T3 makes even better recordings. (Yes, it's supposed to be a 'Stills' camera, but it makes a mean video camera as well.)

Mike, there's an area of caution regarding the transfer of old analogue tapes. For the time being I would avoid using the .avi format - with PD18 that is... Barry will tell you what a nightmare they may present with the brand new version of PD18 - 365.
This is a shame, all my old videos became avi files prior to being edited in earlier versions of PowerDirector.
I'm sure a work around is just around the corner, and Barry is very experienced and certainly on the case as it affects his working.
If you have PD17 - Great, this is the way to go.

Gerry

Quote You can not capture video from analog sources. So, unless your 8mm camcorder is a Digital8 Sony, you can not (and as far as I know you have never been able to) interface with the program from that camcorder.

Not unless you're using a Firewire-connected digitizer to connect the two. And even then, you'll be able to record but not control or interface with the camera.

Can you confirm whether you're trying to capture from an 8mm camcorder or a Digital8 connected via FireWire?

My camera only has an analog output, but running it through the USB dongle that came with PD 12 it was working in that program, but was detected as a TV signal. It doesn't do that in PD 365.
I guess I'll just reinstall PD 12 and try again. I only have 4 more tapes to record, so its a bummer that it's not working now.

Quote


My camera only has an analog output, but running it through the USB dongle that came with PD 12 it was working in that program, but was detected as a TV signal. It doesn't do that in PD 365.
I guess I'll just reinstall PD 12 and try again. I only have 4 more tapes to record, so its a bummer that it's not working now.

When I was using analogue systems, I always kept the two processes of getting the video onto a computer and then editing as two separate operations. I've used PowerDirector for many years - I don't think I ever had it arrive with a dongle, so perhaps you bought a package deal. Back in the day, you got a good deal having a genuine editor.

I only ever got a means of producing a digital file for an editor to play with. The good capturing programs would be so kind as to let you know how many frames had been 'missed' or failed ! This was so 'Last century' ! It didn't help that many of my tapes were already eight years old.
As for editing, the computers I had, running windows 98, took a pretty long time to knock out a 640 x 480 file and if graphics or titles added ??? - Then you waited forever !
I've never had to import with composite video (The yellow socket). My 1st camera was Hi8 and I used the S-Socket as it is vastly superior to the yellow phono method. You say your camera is 8mm, If I remember correctly, they often only had the phono output available. If you do have an 'S' socket, then you should definitely use it.

I believe PowerDirector 12 came out circa 2013, I was using firewire controlling on DV cameras long before then so I've no experience of direct import of analogue to PowerDirector.
I was initially surprised by your comment that PD12 wouldn't burn dvd's...

I've checked, PD12 Does include a facility to not only produce a dvd, but also produce a menu system with pictures and chapters for your various clips.
This is highlighted at 12:30 of this instructional video on you tube...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7h4jhrtQv4

Do you have an earlier version ?

If PD12 can capture your 8mm video, it has the facility to go through the whole process of producing your required dvd's...
I would always produce and keep a copy of the final video - backed-up to the cloud for safe keeping.

Gerry

Quote I do analog captures all the time, via USB dongle. Maybe the fact it’s digital when it gets to PD is what you mean.
Regarding lack of quality...some of it is perception, we are quite spoilt with hidef, super hidef, superduper hi...etc, some of it is capturing in compressed codecs, then compressing again if you “fix” it. S-video connection for analog is highly recommended.

Hi Barry,

And as if by some weird twist of fate....

I've just been tasked with turning a load of old Hi8 tapes into 'Modern' digital files... !

I loaded my old dongle, to find that it won't work with Windows 10. I spent too many hours searching for correct drivers before realising that buying a new one for £20 would be the better option.
I bought a new dongle and heh presto it works really well !

Now it came with some awful ancient software to 'Grab' the video - But it could only produce some nasty codec mpg very lossy looking images. I've played around with alternatives and started getting better results.

However - this is your thing... Could I ask what software is YOUR choice for grabbing Hi8 ??

I still have PD15 installed as a stand alone, so avi files should not be an issue.

Once 'Edited' I will then produce a dvd from the clips. (Requested)

Many thanks,

Gerry

Quote

I've just been tasked with turning a load of old Hi8 tapes into 'Modern' digital files... !

Doesn't your Digital8 camera have a "pass-trough" option? That takes the analog input and sends it to the fireware digital output.
Best digital video conversion IMO, because the DV format is so un-compressed. Sure, takes 13GB/hour, but you can do some good modern encoding after that.
Heck, my Digital8 DCR-TRV480 camera could even read Hi8 tapes and output that digitally!
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/285514-Sony-Digital8-cameras-with-pass-through-and-read-Hi8-ability

PS: Hmmm... I have read somwhere that Digital8 cameras sold in EU have that pass-trough function disabled for tax reasons. Is that the case?

Analog video is best captured as lossless AVI, preferably Huffyuv, MagicYUV, Lagareth, even UTvideo.
I capture using Huffyuv within VirtualDub, then for streaming I deinterlace with QTGMC within Hybrid. Then I use PD for color, titles, and audio.
At this time PD18 is not working with lossless, and no 64bit PD can capture lossless AVI, no PD can capture AVI at the preferred 720x480.
There is a VirtualDub learning curve but the end result is so much better it’s remarkable.
If the camera is Digital8, NTSC DV is lossy, PAL is less lossy. If I had a digital8 camera that also had s-video I would use the s-video and VirtualDub to get 4:2:2 color video. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

With all due respect, Barry, we're capturing video from 8mm analog. That's not even standard 720x480 resolution. (It's more like 400x300 px.) I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble of capturing lossless AVI.

An MP4 will give him resolution and picture quality that's at least as good as the original with a much more manageable and easily editable file.

Quote With all due respect, Barry, we're capturing video from 8mm analog. That's not even standard 720x480 resolution. (It's more like 400x300 px.) I'm not sure it would be worth the trouble of capturing lossless AVI.

With all due respect, Steven, I'm not capturing from 'Standard' 8mm analogue, but Hi8mm... 'Standard' 8mm was probably lower than 400 x 300 - Hi8 was around 400 horizontal. I used to capture it using 640 x 480 avi.

Quote An MP4 will give him resolution and picture quality that's at least as good as the original with a much more manageable and easily editable file.

I've yet to see copy of anything that was "at least as good as the original" ? !

I reckon I'll take your advice Barry, I'll investigate Virtualdub - Now is that the same as Virtualdub2 ??
I'm running the latest Windows 10. I have a USB capture dongle that has the correct drivers and runs correctly, so as long as the software can play nicely with it, I'll be good to go.

I don't have a 'Digital 8' Camera - Never had one of those - Back in the day, one of my ancient PC's did have a firewire socket that I used when capturing from my DV camera. I loved controlling the camera from within the software. I no longer have a firewire socket.
These tapes hark back to a time before then.
Early 1990's - in the EU, there was indeed a levy of circa £50 on any equipment capable of recording a video signal - Hence in the UK we had cameras with neither a 'video-in' facility, nor even 'line-audio-in' facility.
Later on... Some 'Digital 8' cameras were capable of playing Hi8 tapes, though by no means anything like as many as claim this ability on the UK Ebay ! (Which is all of them - they're often wrong !) The DCR-TRV480 was indeed camera capable of this feat, (Even in the UK).

In fact, I'm about to plunge into the Ebay pool looking for a replacement player for these tapes.
My 1991 Hi8mm player is audibly failing and now fails to recognise a tape has been inserted unless 'Tapped heavily'... It has twice now ejected tapes with a couple of feet of tape being 'Out of the cassette'... It's had it.
Looks like the cheapest option is an old Hi8 camera from an posting that looks the most honest ! The old failed player had facilities and capabilities no longer required in today's PC editing world.
Seems they're around £70 - we'll see.

Gerry

Quote
With all due respect, Steven, I'm not capturing from 'Standard' 8mm analogue, but Hi8mm... 'Standard' 8mm was probably lower than 400 x 300 - Hi8 was around 400 horizontal. I used to capture it using 640 x 480 avi.

I've yet to see copy of anything that was "at least as good as the original" ? !

Gerry

For VHS, the recommended capture size is 720x480, even for 4:3. I will not question the world's leading experts.
I am applying that workflow to 8mm tape also. Yes, it's a little overkill, but to capture lower, and capture compressed, is to do an "underkill".
The lossless workflow, you WILL get a capture at least as good as what's actually on the tape. And you can make it better.
With lossless you can do a host of alterations and still basically have the same file. Using compressed MPG or MP4 and following that with fixes of color, sound, stabilize, and then rerendering gives you a double-compressed file. It gets blurry and fuzzy and messy.
VirtualDub 1.9.11 is preferred for capture.
Multiple compressions is thy enemy. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

There are different levels of compression and different results. Starting from a limited bandwidth analog signal, IMO there is little to loose when working at highest quality compressed workflow. But that's just me.

The video input ADC device will limit a lot of the bandwidth and have a lot to say about the dynamic range of the video signal (color is amplitude modulated).
Firstly not capturing from S-Video it will apply the comb filter and kill a lot of Luma bandwidth.
Secondly not alll the video ADC are created equal, personally I found that the ADC in a Digital8 camera (S-Video input) is very good.

Note that the chroma signal is recorded with the same reduced bandwidth in both 8mm and Hi8 formats (only the luminance FM modulation was increased from 1.2 to 2.0MHz). Chroma AM modulation results in a resolution (for both formats) of only around 30 lines horizontally. Compare with about 400-420 lines on luminance channel for Hi8.
So the 4:1:1 NTSC rates aplied by DV format are more than double of what Hi8/8 can provide and more than appropiate for capture.
PS: The 4:2:0 by PAL is a bad compromise solution IMO... like always in PAL the regulators tried to screw consumers and provide sub-par video recording compared to their over-taxed "pro" market.

Hi SoNic67 - Naturally, I've only ever captured Hi8 with the use of high quality 'S' cables. I still have these, and they appear to be working far better than the player !

As for PAL, I had always believed that it had been developed later than NTSC and was a little superior as a broadcast standard (Higher resolution) - with SECAM being almost the same. (SECAM had never become a dvd standard though)...
All long since resigned to history as we've entered the digital domain. That is of course until idiots like me try to dig up old tapes and drag them (Or perhaps more correctly, the memories they contain) into this century.

Just a slight extra I'm looking at - I know it must have been discussed at great length on these pages somewhere - but is there a difinitive 'Best Way' of getting the 4:3 image and placing it in the middle of a 16:9 image frame, such that when a 16:9 dvd is produced, you have the 4:3 signal in the middle of picture, seen as well produced as possible ?
I don't normally produce dvd's. When I play a 4:3 file on my TV it just bangs it down the middle exactly as it should.
Perhaps a link to the best forum posting that answered this... ?
Has anyone played successfully with replacing 'Black' as the border ?
(I was thinking about some form of shadings sympathetic to the pallet of the playing 4:3 video).
Or is this a practice to be avoided?

Gerry

Just a slight extra I'm looking at - I know it must have been discussed at great length on these pages somewhere - but is there a difinitive 'Best Way' of getting the 4:3 image and placing it in the middle of a 16:9 image frame, such that when a 16:9 dvd is produced, you have the 4:3 signal in the middle of picture, seen as well produced as possible ?
I don't normally produce dvd's. When I play a 4:3 file on my TV it just bangs it down the middle exactly as it should.
Perhaps a link to the best forum posting that answered this... ?
Has anyone played successfully with replacing 'Black' as the border ?
(I was thinking about some form of shadings sympathetic to the pallet of the playing 4:3 video).
Or is this a practice to be avoided?
The disc player and/tv should deal with that, make the DVD 4:3.Also, often VHS has rough noisy edges hidden by TV overscan. Not such a common issue with other tapes.
Never resize the video frame in editing, never. Always mask the edges if it's a problem. As stated, for DVDs edges are hidden, but the same file as an mp4 or other "normal" video file the rough edges can be distracting. Mask, period. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Cheers Barry,
Great advice as ever.
I've 'Edited' for years, but very rarely produced a dvd from my videos. (Methinks never from a 4:3 file !)
Gerry

Quote Cheers Barry,
Great advice as ever.
I've 'Edited' for years, but very rarely produced a dvd from my videos. (Methinks never from a 4:3 file !)
Gerry

Rewritable DVD for testing is your friend. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

The DVD format is native 16:9. Nonsquare pixels are used for 4:3 format.

Quote The DVD format is native 16:9. Nonsquare pixels are used for 4:3 format.

16:9=1.78 for square pixels.

720/480=1.5
720/576=1.25

yep. this is correct.