Digitizing VHS-C and Video8/Hi8 as found footage?

[Hobbs1]

Hi, new here I was directed here from the DataHoarding subreddit.

I'm basically trying to transfer footage into the digital domain for NLE.

Source capture devices are as follows...

PV-A207 for VHS-C
CCD-TR6 for Video8
CCD-TRV67 for Hi8

These were used for an intentionally lo-fi aesthetic. So I'd like the transfer to be as transparent as possible without much "correction"

I don't have a capture device and not sure if my PC is up to spec. I'm willing to upgrade my gear as long as I don't have to take out a second mortgage to do so....

I have an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U and 32GB RAM and over 30 TB of storage.

[Gary34]

What is your project? If you are currently recording you can go tapeless.

[Hobbs1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary34

What is your project? If you are currently recording you can go tapeless.

Hi Gary,

Not sure I understand your question. My project is creating content for music production tutorials. And also, just random inspirational stuff. Trying for different flavors of "found footage". "faking it, if you will"

I want to hit the tape though for the analog artifacts.

[vwestlife]

An analog-capable Digital8 camcorder from 2000 or newer can do all three: play your Video8 and Hi8 tapes, and digitize the output of your VHS-C camcorder (or any other analog video source, via passthrough), and output it to a computer via FireWire.

Wikipedia has a list of which models have analog playback and passthrough modes:
Digital8 - Wikipedia

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwestlife

An analog-capable Digital8 camcorder from 2000 or newer can do all three: play your Video8 and Hi8 tapes, and digitize the output of your VHS-C camcorder (or any other analog video source, via passthrough), and output it to a computer via FireWire.[/URL]

Well, that's definitely a low-end method -- though arguably lower than Lo-Fi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hobbs1

Hi, new here I was directed here from the DataHoarding subreddit.

Welcome.

Quote:

So I'd like the transfer to be as transparent as possible without much "correction"

Most transfers are not "correcting" anything, but rather "not making it worse". Tapes are not as awful as low-quality transfer methods would show.

Any tape conversion requires 3 basic ingredients:
- quality camera/VCR
- some form of TBC -- be it low-end passthrough DVD recorders (certain models only), or actual TBCs
- quality capture card

Quote:

I don't have a capture device and not sure if my PC is up to spec. I'm willing to upgrade my gear as long as I don't have to take out a second mortgage to do so....

I've started to make some budget workflows, I'll PM you.

Few simple rules:
- Avoid anything "new" seen on eBay/Amazon, it's all junk.
- Don't try to use a VHS-C camera, but instead a quality JVC/Panasonic type motorized VHS-C adapter, into a quality VCR

Quote:

I have an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U and 32GB RAM and over 30 TB of storage.

CPU/RAM doesn't matter (almost anything from '10s-20s works fine), but space is important