1st post, can better equipment/workflow provide that much of an difference?
 

I found this site years ago and in searching for any online comments on Pinnacle Systems Studio 18 bumped into your site again. Kind of surreal to be back here after all this time.

So I am at work and will have to update the hardware/software specifics later this evening but I have a Sony 8mm camcorder that I have made about 15 tapes of the kids from birth to about age 6. Then a Canon HV-20 Hi-8 from then until as recent as 2013 and maybe another 15 tapes.

I recently decided to dig them up and do something about it. This is what I'm currently using;

Home built PC (more than fast enough) - Win 7 Pro 64 bit
Pinnacle Systems...forget the name, Moviebox Plus maybe? It was their very last internal card offered (this one included the break out box or video editing box.
Pinnacle Systems Studio 12
Adobe Elements 13

Work flow (again sorry I'm a bit premature here, I'll clean this up tonight) went something like this.

Captured video in Pinnacle Studio 12 as AVI. This placed the video and separate audio track in a working folder. I then used Adobe Elements 13 to import the video / audio tracks, cleaned them up if needed. This process never improved video quality but made it easier to see some detail. No point if a scene is too dark. I then saved it in an iPad format (I'll update tonight with specifics) and I thought it came out very well.

We are an Apple family (small devices only) and it's just easy to share via iPad and AirPlay (Grandparents also have I-devices and Apple TV for AirPlay).

The Sony video quality isn't very good but the Canon HV-20 has great video. I'm curious if it is possible to get better results than I have been with the 8mm tapes. I don't really have a complaint with what came out of the HV-20. The only real way to know is if I sent a tape to someone and then compared the result. The only other alternative is to pay for someone else to do it (I don't mind, only 15 tapes). If I could get advice on better hardware, software, workflow around the same line as I am doing now but providing a solid 20-30% improvement I'd go for it. I enjoy capturing, and someday editing, the video. Final goal is to have all video in a similar easy to work with format (yea, I'm close to clueless) so I can make a video collage of all the tapes. I'd like to sit family down to an hour or so of video that encompasses all 30 tapes (ok, maybe that ends up to be 4, 2 hour videos-whatever).

Bottom line is I'm a hobbyist and looking for the best equipment I can get to get the best from Hi-8 (still have plenty of life left and will continue to use the HV-20) but for less than maybe $3-400max.

Thanks,

Drew

2nd post and see that once posted there are no edits. Why is that? So instead of a nice tidy clean up I have to pollute the thread with another post. Sorry, but all should have an option to edit their own posts.

So I realized that my HV20 is MiniDV and the Sony was Hi-8. It's been a long while since dusting them off (are camcorders selling anymore?). So might it be possible to pass the hi-8 through the MiniDV? Still reading online to find out or if it's worth trying.

Ah ha...found the Edit button. So it disappears after a time? I don't have the option on my first post.