Re: [tlug] Mencoder conversion of files

["Lyle H Saxon" <llletters@example.com>]

On Dec 3, 2007 9:22 AM, Darren Cook <darren@example.com> wrote:
> > Indeed!  I've been working on digitizing some old analog tapes I took
> > back around 1992 (8mm Hi-8 tape) and when I tried saving one two-hour
> > tape in raw form, those two hours became just shy of 50GB!!!  (GB with
> > a "G" not an "M").  4-8GB may seem large, but not in comparison with
> > 50GB!!
>
> That is interesting - I consistently get 13GB for each hour of raw AVI I
> rip from my camera. This is standard NTSC (as far as I know). Why is
> yours exactly twice that?

I don't know, except I suspect it might be the resolution of Hi-8 over
regular 8mm tape.  Remember S-VHS? - same deal - about twice the
resolution of regular VHS tape.  All stuff for the history books very
soon as the hardware is fast disappearing!  I was able to order a
still-in-stock (but not being manufactured any longer) S-VHS deck from
Victor to play back some of the edited masters (the curse of analog
editing - every edit is a generation further down the road of damage).
 Umm... a thousand thoughts are in mind now and I'm at a loss of where
to begin... here's a simple way (maybe):

1) Tape review circa 1992 - Fuji tape far and away superior to every
other brand, with fewer dropouts, and better color... and I can attest
15 years down the road - superior longevity (the first Sony Hi-8 tape
I tried to play is nearly unplayable - with the signal so weak now
that mostly the picture just goes goes blank.

2) The editing process I used at the time was to have the original
tape in the camera (which had time code encoded on the edge) and then
I used an editing controller (Y50,000 from Sony) to control both the
camera and an S-VHS deck.  After making the S-VHS tapes, I backed some
of them up by recording back onto Hi-8 (using Fuji Hi-8 tape) from the
S-VHS (using TDK tape).
     Fifteen years later?  The third-generation Fuji tape is in better
shape than the second generation TDK VHS tape (first generation being
the raw footage in the camera).  The VHS tape has a good picture, but
the color (in some places) drifts in and out and in one place was pure
black & white for a few minutes (hello 1950's!).

3) The cost of it all - with four cameras (they burned out one after
the other), an over-priced Hi-8 editing deck, a few VHS machines, two
editing controllers, etc., I spent about Y1,000,000 over the three
years that I was taking video.  All the equipment (except the editing
controller - which I have nothing to hook it up to now) is history.
Only the tapes remain - and they are fast disintegrating it seems.

4) Lumix  DMC-LX2.  A still digital camera, but it takes much higher
resolution videos than any other digital still camera I've tried.  I
haven't tried editing the files it generates yet, but I'm hoping it
might be a viable way to take (relatively short) videos.

Lyle