Best file format for 8mm home movie conversion

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Level 1

9 points

Best file format for 8mm home movie conversion

Hi there,

I'm about to get some old 'standard' 8mm home movies from the 60s & 70s converted to DVD as a Christmas gift for my mum.

The transfer company will also supply the footage as files to view/edit on my mac at a later date. I'm a complete iMovie novice so my question is, which file format should I choose?

They're offering AVI, MPEG 4, WMV, .MOV or Pro Res files.

Many thanks in advance for your help...

Jon Howard

PS I'm running iMovie '08 (7.1.4) & OS X 10.6.8 on an intel 13" macbook in the UK (PAL area).

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Dec 14, 2011 9:27 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 14, 2011 10:30 AM in response to jonhoward

Pro Res in potentially the best, but you would need Final Cut Pro, not iMovie, to edit it.

It is difficult to advise you without knowing the technology they are using. Are they capturing in High Definition progressive or Standard Definition interlaced?

I found a US company that would scan the 8MM at 1080P. They provided the files in Motion JPEG format. This proved to work great in iMovie.

If they are doing Standard Definition, I would say go for DV if they can. MOV is generally good, but MOV is a container, not a codec, so it depends on what is inside it.

Here is a post where I discussed the results.

Here is a link to the company that did it. http://www.mymovietransfer.com/

Here is a sample of the results. Watch in full screen if you can.

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Answer 2

jonhoward Author

Level 1

9 points

Dec 15, 2011 4:35 AM in response to AppleMan1958

Hi, thanks for your reply.

The transfer is standard definition interlaced, PAL 50i I would guess as I'm in the UK.

I've just noticed that "DV file" is also an option, so I guess I'll go for that...

Thanks again.

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