Transfer old 8mm movies to DVD for easy playback and storage.
The counterpart of camcorders of the digital age, 8mm film was widely used by previous generations to shoot both amateur and professionally made low-budget films.
To make 8mm films available for accessible playback and archiving, you can either hire professional companies to transfer them to video format or shoot them on your own using an 8mm film projector and a video camera. After transferring the video to the computer, you can easily make DVD or file copies of the video for playback in multimedia programs, iPods and other gadgets.
Instructions
1. Prepare a suitable room where you can project the 8mm film on a white wall or cloth. Set up your projection screen on a wall in the room. Make sure all light sources are blocked just like in a regular movie theater. If you need to, use thick cloths or boards to completely block the light coming from the windows.
2. Load the 8mm film on the film projector. Make sure the projector has a fitting distance with the projection wall or cloth.
3. Set up the video camera to record the projected film. Place it on a tripod and maintain the correct distance and angle from its location to the projected image. Use its zoom and focus features to acquire the best quality of footage from the film. Prepare the tape, P2 card, memory card, DVD or camera hard drive to be used for storing the video. Instead of using the camera battery, plug the camera to an outlet so you have a continuous power source while recording.
4. Connect the audio output of the projector to the audio input of the video camera. If your projector doesn't have an audio output, make a dedicated recording for the sound of the film separate from the video. Ideally, you will place the camera beside the film projector to capture the best quality video the way the projector showcases the footage on screen. However, the noise coming from the projector won't allow you to record quality sound. After recording the video, place the camera on a suitable location away from the projector and use its sound recording as your audio track once you transfer all elements to the computer. This way, you will avoid capturing the noise coming from the projector for your final digital copy of the movie.
5. Confirm the setup of your film projector and video camera by making a test playback and recording of the movie. Make the necessary adjustments, if any. You may have to fix the zoom, focus, exposure, white balance and camera-to-wall distance to acquire the best footage.
6. Begin the actual video recording of the 8mm film footage projected on the screen by first pressing the "Record" button on your video camera, then the "Play" button on your projector. Make a real-time recording of everything. It is possible that you will need to rerecord all or parts of the film in order to acquire the best-quality footage for the entire film.
7. Connect the camera to the computer via a USB or FireWire cable and open the video-editing program in your computer. Transfer the video footage from the camera to the computer.
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