old 8mm camcorder issue. Recover clips.

forgotmyname

I have some old 8mm camcorder tapes with clips i would like to recover and share with the kids now they have grown up. 1st steps and xmas when they were little etc.

But the camcorder failed long ago and went in the bin. I picked up a cheap one today and it works...

Slight issue though is that my old camcorder had a feature that extended the recording time on each tape. The new one doesnt so a lot of the clips are like the ending credits to the Benny Hill show.

If i import them to my PC what will i need to slow them down again? is it possible?

Thanks.

forgotmyname

nobody have any idea's?

sickparrot

I would imagine that playing an LP recording at normal speed you're only getting every other frame, so slowing it down to half speed (which any decent video editing software should be able to do) once it's been captured would only give you 12fps video, and look like bad animation.

How many tapes have you got? if it's only a few I think I would be tempted to send them off to be digitised professionally. If it's a lot, I'm afraid, buy another camcorder with LP.

Strider590

If you play them into a TV card capable of recording analogue to digital, then crank up the recording frame rate to say 60fps, you could then run the resulting video file through an editor and simply reduce the frame rate to suit..... The audio might not be so simple.

The other option is to play the video tapes on an old VHS recorder/player (using a mini VHS adaptor or VHS-C adaptor) and record to a DVD recorder/player. Then rip the DVD video onto your PC to retrieve the video. The VHS player might even have LP, if not you'll have to edit the frame rate as above.

gjchester

Strider590 wrote: »

If you play them into a TV card capable of recording analogue to digital, then crank up the recording frame rate to say 60fps, you could then run the resulting video file through an editor and simply reduce the frame rate to suit..... The audio might not be so simple.

Depends on the source, if the source is dropping frames, then its still only outputting 25 or 30 frames per second so you;'d get a pair of the same frame all the time, possibly makeing it worse. Won;t work like that as they won;t exactly sync up.

Strider590 wrote: »

The other option is to play the video tapes on an old VHS recorder/player (using a mini VHS adaptor or VHS-C adaptor)e.

The OP said 8MM not VHS-C.

8mm camcorders are cheap enough I'd suggest Sickparrots solution of buying another may be the best if it's only a few tapes, or get someone to do it if it's a lot. A professional service may also include some processing, as magnetic tape can go south big time after a few years storage, and you may need to clean it up.

akkers

Actually if you recorded the footage in LP and the new camcorder does not have LP feature then it should not play it at all, IMO. The fact that it plays it slowly means that it could be faulty.
Best bet would be to advertise locally to borrow a 8mm camcorder. Or if you dont have that many tapes then you may be able to find someone who will copy the tapes onto DVD or a computer file.

forgotmyname

It plays on the new (used) camcorder, But its speeded up video and sound.

I did look into purchasing another 8mm camcorder the same make but they wanted £100+ at the time.

Now i forgot what the actual brand was and will another brand with LP be able to play it properly? I magine even a slight variation will see the video not playing properly.

There are a few tapes, But its bits and pieces on each of them. So probably a bit labour intensive.

Another thought, It plays the clips but you get tracking lines which will end up being transferred also.

Damn. back to the drawing board i think. Unless i can find a way of slowing the playback speed down.

sickparrot

forgotmyname wrote: »

Another thought, It plays the clips but you get tracking lines which will end up being transferred also.

That sounds about right, in LP mode the picture track is recorded at a different angle across the tape, so playing it back at normal speed the head will only hit the centre of the track part of the way across and the rest will be fuzzy or even picking up adjacent frames.

All camcorders with LP mode should be able to play each others tapes. Ask around your freinds someones bound to have one kicking around in the loft.

forgotmyname

Will have to keep my eyes open for one with LP.

[Deleted User]

How about a VHS player and a cassette adapter?

If you connect the VHS player to a TV card in your computer, which has RGB connections (or S-Video), it might be possible to transfer direct from the camcorder tapes, to the computer.

Of course, the ideal option would be to get a camcorder, and transfer via Firewire.

gjchester

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

How about a VHS player and a cassette adapter?

The OP stated 8MM not VHS-C, they are not compatible.