Convert those old 8mm films to digital yourself.
Before the advent of DV cameras and digital moviemaking, there was 8mm film. First introduced in the 1920s, 8mm film was simply a split piece of 16mm film with sprockets on one side. Eventually 8mm gave way to Super 8mm film and then video followed. But you can take advantage of this digital revolution by converting your 8mm film to digital yourself. Today's computer systems are more than capable of handling the needs of video capturing and editing. Digitizing these old movies is as easy as pressing a button.
Instructions
1. Locate a dark room in your house or office. The darker, the better. An interior room without any windows works best for this. Leave the lights on while you set up your transfer equipment in the next few steps.
2. Set up the screen on one side of the room. If you don't have a screen, you can tape a piece of white posterboard to the wall.
3. Position the 8mm projector in front of the screen. Thread up the 8mm film you want to transfer in the projector. Run the film and project it onto the screen. Adjust the focus as needed. Rewind the film.
4. Set up your DV camera in parallel next to the projector, pointed at the screen. Run the film again. Zoom your DV camera so that the projected image fills the screen. Focus as needed. When you are satisfied, rewind the film. Insert a blank tape into the DV camera.
5. Turn off the lights in the room. Press record on the DV camera. Project the film. Press stop on the DV camera when finished.
6. Attach your DV camera to your computer with a Firewire or USB connection, as appropriate.
7. Start up your video capturing program. Both Macs and PCs come with built-in video capture software (see Resources). In the capture program, press "Record" or "Capture." The camera will rewind and your 8mm film will be digitized by the computer.
Tags: your camera, digital yourself, video capturing, your film