I finally have all the equipment I need to transfer my old 8mm and super8 tapes to dvd. I am using the Sony Direct DV to burn and the sony dv-g200 as the tape deck. My question involves the quality setting. HQ is the highest and only records one hour. Most of my tapes are two hours. Will there be much of a difference if I record in SP? I think that is what the original tapes were recorded in. Or will the compression definitely be noticeable? Thanks for your input.
Rhonda

You'll probably need to try it, but I'm guessing it will be noticeable.

What is/are your reason/s for transferring to DVD?

Rhonda,

As Jack mentioned, you may notice a difference - however slight. I've backed up VHS tapes to DVD in the past. I noticed a difference, though my scheme was probably different than yours.

Even though it will take more time, I'd almost recommend going with HD rather than SP. Even though your original tapes might not be of the best quality, you'll retain what's still there by going HD. SP will probably degrade it further. What's also important to consider how large of TV screen, and it's resolution, they will be viewed on - not only now but in the future. Large screens will make anomalies and artifacts more noticeable.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mike Gawet,

What if your original tapes are longer than 1 hour. Will the transfer go to another DVD and continue where it left off?

Chuck-I am transferring to watch on tv easily and to archive.
Donna- yes, the dvd will stop, I finalize the dvd, and the machine stops the tape also so I can continue where I left off.
I will continue to transfer using the highest setting. I may use some double layer dvd's also.
Thanks.
Rhonda

Rhonda: Forgive my persistent line of questioning, but what does "archive" mean to you?

Chuck--I want to transfer my tapes to dvd before they are no longer playable.

Smart girl. Consumer tape only remains playable without loss for about 10 years.

"Archival" means different things to different people. The Henry Ford defines archiving as preservation without restoration. They define conservation as archiving with restoration.

Assuming you want to archive your video, how do you know the process you're using is archival?

Chuck--
Not sure where you are going here?? I am backing up my tapes to dvd's to preserve their content. Don't have the time or inclination to do anything more than that. Webster defines archive as: " Computer Science
A long-term storage area, often on magnetic tape, for backup copies of files or for files that are no longer in active use."
I am using dvd's instead of magnetic tape.
Hope this clears things up--
Rhonda

Rhonda: Thank you for asking where I'm leading you.

To be an archival DVD, you'd better check out the technology you're using with DVDInfoPro or KProbe. Those are both Windows programs.

NinBang's response is a good place to start.

Seeing as how you could put hundreds of dollars and hundreds of hours into your project without achieving your end goal, it might be worthwhile studying the problem a little bit more. I am reasonably certain you are archiving incorrectly.