Hi 8 to digital
 

What will happen if I dub some Hi 8 tape on to a digital tape. Then I edit it in a computer. Will it edit like the tape I shot with the XL1? I'm sure it will lose some of its quality. Just wondering if when tranfered to digital tape via the XL1 does the footage from the Hi 8 tape record then in digital? Or at least will I be able to edit it with the apple Powerbook. I want to shoot some video of bikers on the road. On some of the trips I'll probably take my bike.But I don't want to carry a $3700 Xl1s on my Harley!! I know what will happen. So I thought I could just take the Sony Hi 8.

I've dubbed some old Hi-8 onto minidv tape with my DV2000. Works just fine. You're essentially getting a 2nd generation tape, but the quality will be as good as the hi-8 playback (which is pretty good). You'll also now have time code so you can pull it into your editor as digital footage.

I went from hi-8 to digital 8; the D8 machine reads the tape and firewires it into my mac the same way as if it were a playing a D8 tape.

I firewire my xl1 signal into the D8 and it works great as it saves money and the more expensive machine's parts.

When transferring to MiniDV, you will always be able to edit the same as video originally shot on MiniDV. We always take anything else (hi8, VHS, ...) and transfer it to MiniDV using our MiniDV deck. The final result should look as good as the VCR or hi8 player and play it. Once on MiniDV, edit as normal. Of course you will, once again, get a generation loss when going back to VHS.