How to digitize Hi8 video

The rapid advance of technology means that the quality of home video recordings has grown systematically in recent years, and today can still compete with the quality of streaming video. What this means, however, is that you can have a box of treasured home movies that you are no longer able to play. There are professionals that offer scanning services, but if you still have your Hi8 video camera or player and a newer digital video camera, you can convert your analog to digital for free.

You will need to:

Hi8 camcorder or player
Digital camcorder with PC connection cable and video editing software
S-Video or composite cable

Steps to follow:

one

Check if your camera has an S-Video or composite connection for video transfer. You can determine this by locating the AV input / output ports in both cameras. A composite connection is the same size as a headphone jack and usually yellow in color. An S-Video connection is larger, round, and has five small holes in it.

two

Put the Hi8 tape in the analog video camera or Hi8 player.

3

Connect the S-Video or composite cable to the Hi8 camcorder or player. There will be a space for this brand AV input / output or AV output of the machine. Connect the other end of the cable to the digital video camera in the slot marked AV input / output or AV input

4

Press the recording button of the digital camcorder. Press the play button on the Hi8 player or camcorder. Leave the recording in operation until it is finished, and when it is, press the "stop" first on the Hi8 machine, and then on the digital video camera. The analog recording has been digitized in the digital video camera. All that remains is that you can transfer it to the computer.

5

Plug the USB or FireWire cable into the corresponding socket on the digital video camera, and plug the other end into the computer. What follows is exactly the same process as the transfer of digital video from your new camcorder to the computer.

6

Open the video transfer and editing software that comes with your digital video camera. This will probably open automatically once the camera cable has been connected to the computer.