Converting Super 8 Film to DVD

Kevin Hnatiuk (the Digital Dad) shows you how to convert your old Super 8 Film reels to DVD.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• dvd
• super
• 8
• film
• reel
• kevin
• hnatiuk
• digital
• dad
• my
• family
• digitize
• convert
• transfer

[Aquanaut240]

Good video. It's also important to note that you should keep the screen and camera at the same height and keep the camera and projector close together to minimize parallax (distortion).

BTW, have you compared the quality of this form of conversion with a professional job?

[khnatiuk]

@Aquanaut240 Professional job will definitely produce crisper results. But depending on your projector and the quality of the Camera you use to capture the footage, you can get pretty close.

If you're talking Theatre transfer, like what the Criterion Collection does, that's a far different story. Criterion uses special telecine equipment to scan, clean, and rebuild each frame. But this is for old and damaged 35mm Master prints, not your home movies. :)

[ron1martens]

Thank you for this information. My grandmother sent me an email asking if I could find a machine to convert super 8 rolls to dvd. So I did a search and came up with your upload. My grandmother is 95 96 in June. She used to do a lot of filming in the early days so we have a lot of movies to convert. Well they have no sound so we won't need the plug for audio. Once again much appreciated. Ronald Martens.

[khnatiuk]

@ron1martens What a great project that I have no doubt your grandmother will appreciate.

There are better transfer methods (ie. professional) but this is a way that anyone with a bit of hardware can do on their own.

The key is using the best camera you can get your hands on to record the footage off the projector/wall and locking the focus in so your camera doesn't try to auto-focus while you're capturing footage.

Best of luck. Feel free to post a clip once you're done so we can see. :)

[beatthedrum7]

agreed. and if you actually do it use a professional dv (sony pd 170 / vx2100) or hd camera (sony ex1) which are much better in low light than the small consumer cams.

anyway, disappointing video.

[N21X]

Thanks. I have a bunch of reels from the 40's of my dad as a kid. This is going to be a good project!

[sawdoctony]

Thanks for posting - great to preserve old memories which get more valuable with each passing year

[briantraylor]

Oh man, don't shoot it off a screen. You get all the blur and strobing. These films actually look amazing with a good HD transfer. You can transfer them at "HD Home Movies" where they transfer them frame by frame and then compile the still images into a moving image. No motion blur or strobing! 

[GrantC46]

@khnatiuk My camcorder records onto a small DVD disk as opposed to a film. Would I still download the disk onto my computer? I understand there is a machine that can be purchased where the super 8 movie is run through that directly onto a DVD> Do you know anything about them? Is that system better? Probably easier?

[norwester1523]

Don't forget, if you are an oldie like me, our dads in the early 60's had 8 mm (like Steven Spielburg used as a kid), NOT the super 8 that came out later (Super 8 had smaller sprocket holes and bigger image area than did 8 mm). Your process would work for either. Any old 8 mm not transferred by now is in bad shape, I'd guess. To change the subject, I hear about the old "8-track" players in cars before cassettes; but how many remember the older incompatible 4-tracks?

[DickJanthuis]

So I made​it,

a lot of work but fun

[triceramovieboy]

Impressive, how did you reduce the flicker in the final results?

[2bschipman]

Looks like your video turned out really good. I have tried to do the same but get "film flicker". I assume it is because of the difference of the frame rate vs frame rate. Your film transfer didn't look like it had any "flicker" in it. Is there some tip or trick you use to reduce or eliminate that? Or is it something on the mac? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated !!!!!!!!!!!

[kingjameswww]

Thanks ! 

[jjovereats]

@khnatiuk or just point and focus the white frame into the lens directly from another lens (the projector)