Convert 8mm Video to Digital

Before all of the small digital video and HD cameras came onto the market, analog cameras existed that used 8mm video tapes. These tapes are far smaller than the standard VHS tapes and come close to the size of a standard audio cassette tape. Due to the video format being analog, every time you copy the video content it is going to degrade and lose quality. However, it is possible to transfer the analog content of the 8MM tape to a digital format. Once the content is on a digital format you no longer lose the quality when the footage is copied.

Insert the 8MM video tape into the camera you used to record the content (or any other camera that uses 8MM tapes).

Connect either a Firewire cable or USB cable to the 8MM camera. The camera, most likely, is going to use a USB cable, however newer 8MM cameras may have a Firewire port. Firewire provides faster data transfers and better image quality. Check your computer for a Firewire port. The port looks similar to a USB port (roughly half an inch long an a quarter of an inch tall), however one side is curved. A "Y" looking logo appears next to the port. When connecting via USB cable you can use any USB port on your computer. Most newer computers have a variety of different USB ports installed on the system.

Launch the editing program you have on your computer. You can purchase a wide variety of different video editing programs to use on your computer (both in store or over the Internet), however both Windows and Mac computers have free editing programs that come preinstalled on the system. Windows provides Windows Movie Maker and Mac computers come preinstalled with iMovie.

Power on the camera you have the 8MM tape in and set the camera to "VCR."

Select the "Capture" option in the video editor and click the "Record" button in the capture tool. This is going to record the content from the 8MM tape into the video editing software.

Select the video you imported from the tape. You may need to drag it down into a timeline (depending on the video editing software you are using).

Click "Export" in the video editor. The location of this option is going to vary depending on the video editor (usually it is under "File," "Export"). This is going to export the video the computer as a digital format.