Where should I begin, Video8/Hi8 to digital transfers?
 

As I noted in other threads I have had a lack of success with using transfer services.
All I want is to:

1) Transfer 14 Video8 and Hi8 tapes into a digital medium both for viewing purposes and so the digital copy can become the new master tape for when the analog becomes unusable. I want to keep them so my great grandkids someday can ideally be able to watch them

2) I want a noncompressed digital file that holds as much info as on the tapes as possible.

3) I want a medium that can be used to export tapes to other mediums like Blu Ray etc.

4) I want to try to restore any lower quality video on the tapes and also give better lighting to sequences shot in low light conditions.

Where do I begin?

This is an easy ask.

1. You really need lossless master files, with tapes played in good hardware (in a good workflow with TBC/etc), to retain every bit of quality possible. Then you can use those files to restore, process DVDs/BDs, process streaming copies, etc.

2. You need lossless, and Huffyuv is the go-to for capture formats.

3. You can restore/process the lossless master to whatever you want. It can only get worse from a lossless, in terms of compression. Quality can get better from restoration, and lossless is desired and required for processing it. Compression can compound errors, restore (by accident, ie grain removal) in a bad way.

4. Restoration is as simple as Avisynth and VirtualDub. Those programs are not simple, of course, but the basic tools are easy to acquire, install and use once you've read the docs, read posts on this site, and probably had some Q&A on the forums.

For DIY, it's a matters of buying the hardware (good VCR with internal TBC and/or good cameras, external TBC, capture cards). Then get it setup, get to capturing.

But since you're looking at using a service, another ideal option for many, and for using us specifically, I'll PM you back and get the conversation moved to email. You'll use the Contact Us form at the top of the site, and away we go! With only 14 tapes, it's far more ideal to let somebody else handle it.

And that's your next step here. :)