Converting your 8mm films to CD isn't as hard as you think. Chances are, if you have a bunch of 8mm film, you've probably got the projector as well. Using this projector and any standard DV camera, you can convert 8mm film to CD yourself. This can save you money, as well as the time it takes for shipping the films off, waiting for the transfer and waiting for them to ship them back. Best of all, by capturing the films on your computer, you can add titles and effects to keep your treasured 8mm memories looking even better than before.
Instructions
Capturing Your Own 8mm Film
1. Choose a dark room for capturing the film---the darker, the better.
2. Tape white poster board on the wall.
3. Set a 8mm projector up facing the poster board. Run the projector and ensure the image is contained on the poster board and doesn't bleed over the edges. Focus as necessary.
4. Set the DV camera up next to the projector, pointing at the white poster board.
5. Run the projector. 8mm film is projected at 18 frames per second. You need something closer to 24 frames per second for a good video capture. If your projector has variable projection speed, change this to 20 frames per second. Set it to 24 if your projector has this setting.
6. Turn the DV camera on and zoom in on the image projected on the poster board so that it fills the entire viewfinder. Focus as necessary.
7. Capture the completed film. Turn off the lights. Start your DV camcorder recording and then start the projector.
Converting Film to CD
8. Plug your camcorder into your computer. In most cases, this will be a Firewire connection, but some DV cameras can output through USB as well.
9. Start your favorite editing software and capture the footage from the DV camera. In "Windows Movie Maker," for example, hit the "Import" button to begin capturing the footage.
10. Edit and add any titles necessary to your footage with the editing software.
11. Output the final result to CD when finished. To use the Windows Movie Maker example, hit "Export" and then select the "Data CD" option. Insert a blank CD and the program will write the file out to the disk.
Tags: poster board, frames second, board projector, editing software, Focus necessary