How Do I Transfer Hi8 Tapes to Digital Format

Transferring (aka converting, aka digitizing) videotape to digital format has three basic considerations:

Which devices need to play the converted video.
What is the best format for those devices.
Who else will watch the videos and where reside.

Mp4 is usually the best choice to satisfy all three criteria. (See Wikipedia for details)

Which Devices Play Digitized Hi8 Tapes?

Digitized videotape, including converted Hi8 tapes, are played on smart TVs, smart phones, tablets, laptops, and more. In order to play on multiple devices, it is critical that the chosen conversion format is compatible with all desired devices.

If DVD is chosen, this format cannot be played on a smartphone. Most smart TVs do not play mov videos directly without additional hardware and software.

Videotape Conversion Formats

Having identified which device(s) for playing digitized video, the format choice is simple. Mp4 is, by far, the most widely supported format. Mp4 can be played almost universally on the most popular devices and uploaded to most social media sites. Mp4 is also supported by most editing software.

In addition to mp4, mov is chosen, usually for professional video production. The file size for mp4 files is much smaller than mov files of equivalent quality.

Of course, all of the less known formats are available as well if needed.

Sharing Converted Hi8 Tapes

One of the greatest benefits of converting videotape to digital format is that the video can be shared through the internet wherever internet is available. Additional conversion effort is required to transfer and/or play DVD video and is not recommended as a viable format for sharing.

The best way to share video also has the added benefit of creating a backup in the process while also synchronizing with your local internal or external hard drive. The key is a cloud-based file storage system that:

Backs up video files.
1. Synchronizes in real time with local hard drive(s).
1. Has the ability to create links to share via email.

There are several good options in today’s market depending on your needs, including YouTube, Microsoft Onedrive, Dropbox, etc.

Steps to Convert Hi8 Tapes to Digital

The actual steps to convert Hi8 tapes to digital are:

“Pack” the tape. Fast forward all the way to the end and rewind.
Play the tape through a quality Hi8 Player.
Direct the output through a digital converter.
Direct the converted output to a computer with appropriate capture software.
Edit the captured software as needed.
Convert the edited, captured, video to the desired format.

Video 8, Hi8, and Digital 8 Conversion

Hi8 seems to be the generic name used for all three options and includes Video 8 (first generation), Hi8 (2^nd generation) and Digital 8 (3^rd generation). Video8 uses an analog format for both audio and video recording on magnetic tape. Hi 8 adds digital audio and Digital 8 records both audio and video digitally on magnetic tape.

Most players are backwards compatible, meaning that Hi8 players can play Video8 tapes as well and Digital 8 players can play all 3.

How to Create the Best Videotape Conversion Quality

Quality videotape conversion depends on:

The quality and condition of the player being used.
The condition of the tape.
Tape preparation.
Quality editing.

Videotapes by definition are old, sometimes decades old, and they deteriorate just like everything else just by getting older. Tapes wear out a little bit each time they are played, so the more times a tape is played, the more it is physically worn out. Finally, if a tape is played partway through and then rewound, the tape tension loosens up with each play. If the tension is not corrected through ‘packing’, the tape may play poorly or not at all. (Hi8 tapes are particularly vulnerable to the tension problem.)

Many conversion companies skip the last step – quality editing. They simply deliver the captured video. The problem is that the capture digitizes the entire frame for every frame on the tape. Most cameras, however do not capture cleanly clear up to the border. Typically, 3% – 5% must be edited out somehow so that the result is a clean video from border to border.

How do I store Digital Video?

Once prepared, captured, edited, and converted, what does the end product look like?

Small conversion jobs are normally saved on a USB, which can be sized depending on the amount of video converted. Alternately, an external hard drive (preferably SSD), can be used for larger projects.

Digitized Hi8 tapes can also be delivered through cloud services as appropriate. Time, size, and internet bandwidth all have to be considered. Smaller files can be generated for faster transfer and sharing, but the tradeoff is the resolution (quality) and size (picture size) of the video.