Minimum specs for a Mac or PC laptop to digitize lots of family VHS, Mini-DV, and 8mm tapes and which input box and prog

[C(-)ris]

At those resolutions you can probably use just about any hardware you want. What is the plan for the machine after you are done? Might help us craft a better solution since the hardware barely matters.

[The Grim Ninja]

Yep, pretty much any Mac with Firewire can do that, even a B&W G3 300Mhz. Though it will feel painfully slow otherwise.

With the type of video you have, importing is all done 'real time' so the speed of the machine doesn't make much difference.


I'd recommend transferring the imported video to whatever your main system is for any type of editing or conversion though.

[Racer X]

.dv video is @3.5 megs a second, or about 10 gigs an hour. So take that into consideration when planning storage.

Yes, you can use a B&W G3/300, but you need better than stock drives. I worked with a G3/400 rev 1, with the stock IDE bus, and stock drives, and it dropped frames constantly. I ended up with an ATA133 PCI card, and new drives, and it worked fine.

[rz]

I've done a lot of this stuff. For old VHS tapes, I just used a standalone DVD recorder and put them, unedited, onto DVDs. If you're worried about the DVD becoming unreadable, then just copy the VIDEO_TS file from the DVD to a hard drive.

For 8mm tapes, the above mentioned recommendation to get a digital 8mm camcorder is probably best. Connect it via firewire to your Mac, import right into iMovie. Thankfully, I converted all my 8mm tapes long ago because I know it's tough to find 8mm camcorders anymore, especially the more expensive digital ones.

For Mini-DV, again you should be able to import them via Firewire. I was lucky enough to get a professional DV/Mini-DV VCR at an auction years ago for $20 (at the time, it was selling for over $900 used on eBay). I've had 2 mini-DV camcorders die in the last few years, so having a VCR will help, and is much sturdier.

On a side note, I also own a Hauppauge HD-PVR, which will digitize HD video, up to 1080i. I've used it to make copies of stuff from my DirecTV DVR. it will also handle a composite signal though, so it could be used if you can't find a way to get footage into your computer via firewire.

[Rolando]

I also used a DVD/VHS combo to record my home videos to DVD. The video_TS folder has files that are actually mpeg2 files. copy them onto your hard drive and change the extension to mpg. You can record one and rip while the 2nd is recording.

[Dennis S]

"Now sure how you would digitize 8mm tapes, I guess you mean 8 mm film, right?"

Cassettes.