Keeping memories with your family is important. We don’t want to forget memorable events that happened in our lives and even as the years pass, we’re still able to have the best memories saved in a permanent carrier.
Camcorder was used to record videos in most homes back in the day, and it uses 8mm tapes to store data from the camcorder.
Sadly, 8mm tapes are now outdated, and before you know it, the video stored in those may deteriorate. And of course, we don’t want that to happen. One suitable solution I recommend preserving those videos by converting them to DVD.
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Why Would I Want to Convert My 8mm Video to DVD
There are lots of advantages in converting your 8mm videos to DVD, here are some of them:
- It can play on TV using a DVD player.
- It lasts longer than 8mm tapes.
- It’s more compact and easy to store.
- It’s cheap.
- It has more storage.
Preparation Before Burning 8mm Video
Convert 8mm Tape Video to Digital Video
Before burning your 8mm videos into DVD, digitize or import your 8mm tape video so that it can play on your computer.
Things you’ll need in importing 8mm videos to your computer:
- A USB cord or A/V cable.
- If your camcorder has a mini A/V output jack, use an A/V cable with a mini connection on one end.
- If your camcorder has a standard or mini S-Video output connection, use the appropriate S-video and composite audio connection.
- Your 8mm tape.
- Easycap D60. (A USB capture card that converts analog data from AV cable into digital data that the computer can read. You can purchase this on Amazon and eBay.)
- Camcorder.
- PC or laptop installed with OBS. (An open-source cross-platform streaming and recording program. Download OBS here.)
How to Convert 8mm to Digital Video
Step 1 Insert 8mm tape into the camcorder and put the camcorder in VTR/VCR mode.
Step 2 Plugin the AV cord, connect the AV cord to Easycap, and plug it into your laptop or computer’s USB port.
Step 3 Install Easycap Driver software.
- Put the mini disc that came with the Easycap you purchased into the disc tray of your computer. (The disc contains the Easycap Driver software. EasyCap needs this software to function properly.)
- Run the software on your computer. Click No, not this time, then select Next, and then tick Install Software Automatically and then click Next again.
- Select Continue Anyway if it shows on the screen, and then tick Finish when the installing process is over.
- Click the Install button in the splash screen if there is no splash screen, double-click on your DVD drive in the My Computer window to launch the auto-run dialog box, and click Install Video Studio.
Step 4 Install and launch OBS (An open-source software suite for recording and live streaming.)
Step 5 On OBS, Tick Add New Source, and select Video Capture Device. Click camera, and select OEM Device.
Step 6 Select Configure Video and select between NTSC or PAL, depending on your location. (NTSC is the standard in North America, Central America, and parts of South America. While PAL is standard in Europe, Australia, parts of Asia, parts of Africa, and parts of South America.)
Step 7 Configure Crossbar to Video Composite. After this, you should be able to see your camera on the computer screen. Set resolution to 720×480. And set Frame Rate to the Highest rate per second. Then go to settings, tick Output. Select Output Encoder to X264.
Step 8 Click the Recording Tab and set the video format to MP4. Go to Video and set the resolution to 720×480. And set the Frame Rate to 60, then click Transform then Fit Screen.
Step 9 Tick Recording. And press Play on your camera. The tape should start playing on your computer screen. The video should play throughout the conversion process. When the conversion finishes, click Stop Recording on OBS.
Step 10 On your camera press stop and rewind your tape to the beginning. After that, you can see your video on your computer with a filename on the date you recorded your video.
Now that your video is digitized, you may now start burning to DVD.
How Do I Burn My 8mm Videos
You can convert your 8mm videos to a DVD by using a computer that’s installed with a suitable DVD converter program.
Good thing there’s a program that lets you transfer/convert your 8mm video to DVD; it helps you convert with ease, with its user-friendly interface and amazing features. And that is echoshare DVD Creator.
echoshare DVD Creator is a multi-functional DVD creator that enables users to burn videos and audio to DVD. With DVD Creator, you can:
Burn any video and audio format to DVD
DVD Creator supports all video and audio formats and even converts your files into an ISO file. echoshare DVD Creator also produces high-quality videos.
Edit videos
DVD Creator has a lot of nifty editing features like trim, crop, and merge different video clips. Adjust video filters, and add video effects, and a lot more.
Create a customized disc menu
DVD Creator gives its users a wide variety of menu templates, changes background images, adds background music, and adds an opening film. Users can also add subtitles for a movie-quality video.
Click here to create perfect DVD videos at the comfort of your home.
Steps to burn 8mm video to DVD
Step 1 Launch echoshare DVD Creator.
Step 2 Select Add Media Files or Add Media Folder to import the video from your computer or drag your file into the DVD Creator interface.
Step 3 Select your Disc Type, Aspect Ratio, and Video Quality on the lower part of the screen. When you’re done, click Next.
Step 4 DVD Creator lets you personalize your disc menu by:
- Choose from a wide variety of in-app menu templates with different themes.
- Create your disc menu by, adding Background Photos, Music, and Opening Film
- Tick No Menu option, if you prefer not to have a menu on your video. When you’re done click Burn.
Step 5 Select Burn to Disc.
Step 6 Set TV Standard (NTSC for North and South America, PAL for European and Asian countries.) When you’re done tick Burn. (This may take several minutes, depending on the length of your video.)
Step 7 Wait for the conversion process to finish (this might take several minutes depending on the length of your video.)
Now that your 8mm video is now on a DVD, you can now play it on any DVD player and reminisce about the good old days.
Final Thoughts
It’s always good to remember our old memories. That is why we do everything to preserve it and watch it in the years to come. It’s good to know that there are programs and tools that we can use that help us keep those memories. echoshare DVD Creator gives you an uncomplicated way of burning your video to DVD, with its amazing and easy access features, converting videos will now be simple. So what are you waiting for? Try it now!