Importing digital 8 video into PE 2020

[James5FBE]

Hello, I'm a bit of a novice working with video files.  I just purchased PE 2020 and I'm looking for a way to import video from Sony Digital 8 tapes into PE 2020 for editing and storage on my Windows 10 PC.  I still have the camera to play the tapes, but I have no firewire port in my PC, nor an open expansion slot to install a firewire card.  I tried using the camera's USB cable, but the Sony USB drivers apparently won't install on Windows 10.  I was hoping someone might be able to relay another method of doing this.  Thanks in advance. 

[Steve Grisetti · Accepted solution]

Digital 8, like miniDV, was captured to your computer only via an IEEE-1394 FireWire connection. But Premiere Elements hasn't included a tool for capturing digital tape-based video since version 12.

Do you have a FireWire connection on your computer? If so, you can still capture the video with a program like WinDV and edit it in Premiere Elements.

If not, you'll need to use a USB-based digitizer like the Diamond VC500.

[James5FBE]

No, no Firewire connection, and I don't have an empty slot to put a card in.  If I go with the USB based digitizer, would there be any measurable loss of quality when I transfer the video from the tapes to the PC?  

[Bill Sprague]

It can be a sensitive subject....  Now that we are all used to HD and even 4K, anything left over from the days of DVD and tube TVs can be dissapointing.   The processing shouldn't make it worse, but it won't be up to the standards we expect now.

[Steve Grisetti]

I agree. If you use the settings I recommend in the tutorial you'll get virtually-as-good-as-the-original.

[Ann Bens]

The processing shouldn't make it worse,

I am not all to fond of capturing it as mp4. Still need to be processed.

but it won't be up to the standards we expect now.

That is beside the point if its old footage with personal value.

I recently captured about 10 D8 tapes from 20 years ago.

5 of them being a trip to the usa: cross country from NY to SF.

The other 5 tapes a trip to Vietnam: cross country from south to north.

Quality is not great but fun to watch a trip down memory lane.

[Ann Bens]

I have watched your video but PAL_M is for Brazil and PAL_N is for neighbouring countries. Europe will need to be set to PAL_BDHIG

NTSC_M is the 'standard' flavour of NTSC used in the US.
NTSC_M_J is the japanese version of NTSC.

Setting it to MJ might be the reason you are not getting audio.

Or tapes have been set to LP instead of SP.

[James5FBE]

Thanks to all for your input.  Since the cost of the USB based digitizers aren't that much, I think I'll go that route for now.  I think my daughter has one of my old computers that no one is using, so I think I'll check if that has a Firewire port, or put one in.  That should work better for the long run.