Mini DV camcorder to macbook HELP!

I have a new Macbook Pro and a Sony Handycam Mini DV camcorder. How do I import videos to IMovie '08? I do not have a firewire on my macbook? Is there a way to use USB, or is there something I can purchase so I can connect Firewire to my mac?

A MacBook Pro has Firewire. If your firewire cable does not fit, you might have Firewire 800. Check your /About This Mac/More Details.
If it is Firewire 800, you need a 4 pin to 9 pin firewire cable, which you can easily order online, or get locally at, say, the Apple Store or a Radio Shack.
If you have a MacBook, and not a MacBook Pro, it may not have Firewire. You may want to return it to Apple and get a MacBook Pro, or a White MacBook, both of which have Firewire.

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Connecting MacBook to Samsung Mini DV Camcorder

I have a MacBook and I would like to get my videos from a samsung mini DV camcorder. How can I do this? I don't have firewire port on MacBook. I tried buying a firewire with USB end and it does not work. Please help.

Sadly you need a MacBook that has Firewire. USB 2 camcorders exist, but all of them compress video before sending it via USB. The newest MacBook Airs and Pros are compatible with Thunderbolt which can be converted to USB 3 which doesn't have the capacity of bandwidth issue, but can interfere with WiFi. Firewire and Thunderbolt are far better standards to deal with.
And there is no way to directly convert a Firewire to USB signal or vice versa.
If your mini-DV camcorder records to media directly on the Camcorder such as mini-DV discs. http://www.macsales.com/ offers tray loading DVD drives that may be able to read those discs.

Buying a 2010 macbook...what cable do I need to transfer video from my cannon mini dv camcorder?

Hi
I'm confused as to which cable I would need if I want to transfer video from my camcorder to macbook?
Please help???

The only input plugs on the 2010 are USB. If you want FireWire you need to get a MacBook Pro.

Help me choose a mini dv camcorder

I've been trying to decide between the Kodak Zi6 and the Canon ZR900. I've never used a camcorder before but want to be able to edit frame by frame I have a brand new iMac and am enrolled in the one to one program so I will be able to learn how to use iMovie. The canon costs $100 more.
Any thoughts?

If you are looking specifically at mini-DV camcorders, you will see that individual makes / models are not listed on the "iMovie '09 Camcorder Support" page.
There is only the generic statement:
"+iMovie '09 works with most Mini DV tape-based camcorders that use a FireWire cable (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) to transfer data. iMovie works with DV (standard definition) or HDV (high definition) formats.+"
So, it sounds to me like you better get one with a Firewire port, and then take a gamble that it will work with iMovie '09. Perhaps a thorough web-search can answer the question.
I am fairly sure I will be buying iLife '09 soon. My Canon Elura 100 (mini-DV) camcorder works flawlessly with iMovie HD ('06), so I have my fingers crossed regarding '09.

What's a great, affordable Mini-DV camcorder to buy for Final Cut?

I just got a MacBook Pro and Final Cut Express. What's a great Mini-DV camcorder to buy if I was to get my feet wet with video editing? I've just graduated from film school, looking to make short films and short documentaries. Does anyone know what a good entry level camera would be and what type of equipment I'd need? Thank you so much, I'm on my own in this so any help I could get would be great!

hey there RohanRuin, welcome to Discussions!
what you get should be determined by your needs/project & your budget... if you just completed film school don't you have some idea of the features & capabilities of cameras & other tools necessary to shoot clean usable footage. anyway.... any prosumer Sony, Panasonic or Canon will be a good buy as they have manual controls as well as automatic, they also have features being left out on lo-$$ consumer cams, such as mic in, headphones out, analog to digital conversion. JVC & Canon HDV cams have interchangeable lenses.
a solid tripod that works w/ your cam(size & weight), lights & stands-will it be "guerilla" lighting that you cobble together from your local Home Depot, or will you buy Lowell instruments in a 3-5 piece kit? ....softboxes? you'll need/acquire all sorts of stuff as you progress in your career. i still have/use a few of the reflector shop lights i got when i began 25 years ago to shoot small projects 'cause that's what i could spend. also think about some sort of external mic-ing so as not to record cam noise. there's more but i think you need to assess your needs & budget first.
i use Sony mini DV & HDV cams, & depending on the project, a compact audio mixer, Shure & CAD mics. iighting instruments w/ barndoors & gels, foamcore reflectors, a couple of battery-powered on cam lights. a cheap lav that works for interviews,... get the most cam that you can (3-chip over one-chip) so you can continue to use it for a few years, a good lav mic if you'll need it or a good stick mic, boom & stand, maybe a couple of halogen shoplights are my starter suggestions.
good luck.

Connecting a Samsun Mini DV Camcorder VP-D381

Hi there. I'm trying to capture footage from a Samsung Mini DV Camcorder Model VP-D381. I'm using Premiere Pro CS3. When I go into the capture window it says capture device offline. I'm using a IEEE 1394 Firewire connection on my Desktop PC, however when I plug both ends of the cable into the camera and the PC, my system (Windows XP) does not recognize the new hardware. Are there some drivers I need for my Firewire card? My camcorder did not come with any drivers and I cannot locate any online. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

This is highly contradictory.
the camera makes a noise to let me know it's connected. It's just the windows isn't recognizing that anything is plugged in.
Is it recognized or not, that is the question. DOES WINDOWS RECOGNIZE THE CAMERA? Whatever sounds the camera makes, whether it whistles, burps, cries or whatever is not relevant.

Connecting a JVC GR-240 Mini DV camcorder to iMac

Hello,
I am completely new Mac user, having used recently decided to ditch my home Dell Pc in favour of a Mac. I have tried to connect my JVC GR-D240 mini DV camcorder to the iMac via the firewire port. Neither iMovie HD (which I downloaded) or iMovie08 seem to recognise the camera – the only source they allow is the build in iSight camera. The camcorder is placed in play mode, but nothing happens.
I can connect the camera to my old Dell PC, record to avi and then copy this to the Mac, but this is not an ideal solution as I am getting rid of the PC soon.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
PS – I have one of the new silver iMacs.

Hi Philip,
connect the cam, switch it on and start the System Profiler (About this Mac menu).
Look into Hardware/Firewire, there you will see the firewire bus and your cam should be shown.
If this is not the case, then there might be something wrong with your installation or your mac.
You could also download the Firewire SDK from http://developer.apple.com/sdk/
There you will find the AVCBrowser in the applications folder of the SDK. I don't know but it might be possible that you also have to install xcode, which you will find on your DVDs shipped with the mac. Connect the cam, start AVCBrowser and you cam should be shown. In the Browser you can check a lot of thinks on the cam.
I had only one problem with a Sony with dead fw-port, but as yours still works with the Dell it seems to be somethink on the mac side.
Try repair permissons and have a look into /var/log/system.log, if you find anything about firewire there post it.

Mini DV Camcorder to Firewire 800?

Currently I have a mini DV camcorder that feeds into the Firewire 400 port of my old iBook.
Now want to upgrade to the new Macbook Pro but it doesn't have a firewire 400 port
Can I put the Mini DV output into the Firewire 800 port on the Macbook Pro?

Not with the cable you have. You need to get a 9-pin Firewire 800 to 4-pin Firewire 400 cable. Anything on the page below should work for you. I've purchased cables from this company before, I'm really happy with their service.
http://www.firefold.com/9-Pin-to-4-Pin-C53.aspx
Cheers!

Connecting Sony Mini-DV camcorder to Mac..

I have a Sony Mini-DV camcorder that I'm trying to connect to my Mac so I can save some video i've taken. The Camcorder is about 5 years old. The only output ports it has are: a really small USB, a slightly larger square looking port that says
i DV under it, and the old yellow audio/video out. I connected the camcorder via a mini usb converter to one of the regular usb ports on the back of my mac and nothing happens. It doesn't even recognize that something has been plugged in... Is there anything I can do to connect this camcorder to my Mac???

Hi
A. As Lennart writes but there are in some cases two FW-Cables depending
on how the FW-port looks on Your Mac
either a
• 4-pi to 6-pin FireWire Cable - or -
• 4-pi to FW-800 connector FW-Cable
Some new Macs only have the FW-800 port eg MacBook-Pro
B. On some Cameras You need to look into the Camera menu and set DV-out
so the Camera port gets active.
Yours Bengt W

Sony Mini-DVD Camcorder

I recently bought a mac book pro and I have final cut express. I am trying to hook up my sony mini dvd camcorder to my computer so that I can capture my footage off of my camcorder to make movies. Any suggestion would be helpful. Thanks

"No matter how competent FC / FCE is, it is still a very small minority with respect to the numer of professionals actually using it. Adobe might be counting on gaining market share by being able to announce AVCHD support before Apple, and given that the majority of users out there do not use FC/FCE and that more an more Mac users are new users / switchers, it might not be such a bad plan if Apple is typical Apple and slow to adopt new technology (but getting it mostly right when they finally do move)."
I'm not quite sure what some of this means, and I think much of it is quite wrong. If, by the first sentence, you mean that only a small minority of professionals use Final Cut. This is quite inaccurate. It is by far the most widely used video editing software on the planet. Far exceeding Avid, Media 100, Premiere or any other available software. Avid is strongly entrenched in film production and primetime television, but that accounts for a minute proportion of all video production worldwide. I would also disagree that Apple is slow to support new technology. Apple was the first software with professional DV editing, native HDV editing, DVCPRO 50 and DVCPRO HD via FireWire, the first to support DVX 24p and 24pa, and while it might have have been the first to support IMX and XDCAM, it wasn't far behind. It was slow to support native JVC HDV 720p editing, but that's about the only area in which it was not a leader, and it only happened because Apple wanted to edit the material natively as it did Sony 1080i, coupled with the Intel issue. AVCHD is very new technology, and its use of delivery format, 15 frame GOP-based compression for acquisition presents huge issues for any editing applications. Not something that can be turned around in a couple of weeks or even months. One thing that has greatly slowed down the development of video editing application interface functionality over the last few years has been the constant stream of ever-changing formats introduced by camera manufacturers. This has meant that less and less time has been available to actually work on the software. In Apple's case this has been further complicated by the move to Intel-based hardware, and the necessity to port all its software to a new architecture. This has not slowed Apple's development and support for new formats, but it has greatly delayed feature enhancements, in my view. Personally I feel, at this stage, it would be better for the pro apps to work on core issues and enhancements rather than continue development for yet another format, particularly a problematic consumer format. Panasonic is developing a professional format AVCHD Intra that might be supported on the pro apps before the consumer version.

Can i put mini dvds into my macbook

I have a sony handycam that uses mini dvds. I just got a brand new macbook pro for christmas from santa =) and i was wondering if I could put the mini dvds into my macbook without killing it. any advice would be awesome!! =) thank you

Ok, thank you! i ordered a cable for the camcorder instead =) thanks!

AirDrop transfer between Mac mini (late 2012) and MacBook Pro (late 2008) works only one way.

AirDrop transfer between Mac mini (late 2012) and MacBook Pro (late 2008) works only one way. I see both machines on both airdrop windows. Firewalls on both machines are set exactly the same way, and with Network Browser set to allow. Can send a file from Mac mini to MacBook, but not the other way. Never get a window asking to accept on the Mac mini.
Found no useful documentation on AirDrop anywhere in the whole support site.

Maybe this will work. From an Apple support article.
You can also use the Share button to send files to your neighbors via AirDrop. In a Finder window, select the item you want to share, and then click the Share button in the toolbar. For more information about the Share button, see this help topic:

Can't import video from canon mini dvd camcorder to imovie

I'm having problems importing my videos into imovie. i have a canon mini dvd camcorder. The camera only has a usb cord to move the videos. When i connect camcorder to computer idvd opens up and i can watch videos, but i can't import to imovie. This has been very frustrating. Can anyone help me with this problem. Hopefully i won't have to buy a new camcorder.

Hi f
Very good advices from Sue ! (Hi Sue !)
Karsten has collected it like this:
Hi
A. don't put a mini DVD into Your iMac. You need a trayloaded DVD to do this.
B. Read what Karsten collected:
DVD back to iMovie:
.. and here the complete 'full 9 yards' ... :
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3822853&#3822853
DVDs are in a socalled delivery format (mpeg2), which isn't meant and
made for any processing as editing... or, as honorable forum member
QuicktimeKirk stated: I use the analogy of the old Polaroid
"instant" cameras. Push the button, wait for the print to develop and
show it off. ..
for using the iLife apps, you have to convert'em first, in
recommended order, choose one of the following tools/workarounds:
• DVDxDV (free trial, 25$, Pro: 90$)
• Apple mpeg2 plugin (19$) + Streamclip (free)
• VisualHub (23.32$)
• Cinematize >60$
• Mpeg2Works >25$ + Apple plug-in
• Toast 6/7/8 allows converting to dv/insert dvd, hit apple-k
• connect a miniDV Camcorder with analogue input to a DVD-player and transfer disk to tape/use as converter
• Drop2DV (free) a free tool claiming to convert DVDs into dv-stream...
• Use iSquint for your conversions : www.iSquint.org
from: Bobby Keene
none of these apps override copyprotection mechanisms as on commercial dvds...
http://danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6010.shtml
http://danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6018.shtml
be nice to copy rights ^-^
... and, next time, try the forum's search-feature...
from Beverly M.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42724
Yours Bengt W

Questions about a JVC mini dv camcorder

Hello, I have a JVC Mini DV Camcorder. The model # is GR-D370U. It has a firewire and USB port. I want to be able to download video onto my computer to work with in Imovie. I do not have any of the software that came with the camera. I own a USB cord for the camera. Is there a way to just use this cable and avoid the firewire? Also what program can I use to download the video because when I connect the camera with the USB cord and turn it on nothing happens. Thanks for your help.

Hi (ciao) Brackh amd welcome to the forums!
I do not have any of the software that came with the camera.
You don't need any.
I own a USB cord for the camera. Is there a way to just use this cable and avoid the firewire?
No, iMovie will only import via firewire.
Also what program can I use to download the video because when I connect the camera with the USB cord and turn it on nothing happens
That's because you are trying to use USB!
You use iMovie to import the video from the camera (via firewire!) and to edit the movie, then iDVD to make the DVD.

What mini dv camcorder?

I need some help. I have a Panasonic NV-EX3 mini dv camcorder but it is not recognised by my imovie hd 06. Does anyone know of a list of all the mini dv camcorders that are compatible with said version of imovie or can recommend a mini dv camcorder they know works. Thanks.

This is my list on the topic.
*NO CAMERA or A/D-box*
Cable
• Sure that You use the FireWire - USB will not work for miniDV tape Cameras
FireWire - Sure not using the accompany USB-Cable but bought a 4-pin to 6-pin FW one ?
• Test another FW-Cable very often the problem maker.
Camera
• Test Your Camera on another Mac so that DV-in still works OK
• Toogle in iMovie pref. Play-back via Camera (on<->off some times)
• Some Cameras has a Menu where You must select DV-out to get it to work
• Camera connected to "charger" (mains adaptor) - not just on battery
Does Your Camera work on another Mac ?
Sorry to say it is to easy to turn the 6-pin end of the FW-cable 180 deg wrong.
This is lethal to the A/D-chip in the Camera = needs an expensive repair.
(Hard to find out - else than import/export to another Mac ceased to work
everything else is OK eg recording and playback to TV)
Connections
• Daisy Chaining most often doesn’t work (some unique cases - it’s the only way that work (some Canon Cameras ?))
Try to avoid connecting Camera <--> external HD <--> Mac but import directly to the Mac then move
the Movie project to dedicated external hard disk.
• FireWire-port - Can be re-setted by - Turn off Mac and disconnecting Mac from Mains/Power for 20-30 minutes
Mac
• Free space on internal (start-up) hard disk ? Please specify the amount of free space.
(Other hard disks don't count)
I go for a minmum of 25Gb free space for 4x3 SD Video - and my guess is 5 times more for 16x9 HD ones
after material is imported and edited.
SoftWare
• Delete iMovie pref file may help sometimes. I rather start a new account, log into this and have a re-try.
• Any strange Plug-ins into QuickTime as Perian etc ? Remove and try again.
• FileVault is off ? (hopefully)
Using WHAT versions ? .
• Mac OS - X.5.4 ?
• QuickTime version ? (This is the heart in both iMovie and FinalCut)
• iMovie 8 (7.1.?) ?
• iMovie HD 6 (6.0.4/3) ?
*Other ways to import Your miniDV tape*
• Use another Camera. There where tape play-back stations from SONY
but they costed about 2-4 times a normal miniDV Camera.
• If Your Camera works on another Mac. Make an iMovie movie project here and move it
over to Your Mac via an external hard disk.
(HAS TO BE Mac OS Extended formatted - USB/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange WILL NOT DO)
(Should be a FireWire one - USB/USB2 performs badly)
from LKN 1935.
Hi Bengt W, I tried it all, but nothing worked. Your answer has been helpfull insofar as all the different trials led to the conclusion that there was something wrong with my iMovie software. I therefore threw everything away and reinstalled iMovie from the HD. After that the exportation of DV videos (there has not been any problem with HDV videos) to my Sony camcorders worked properly as it did before. Thank you. LKN 1935
from Karsten.
in addition to Bengt's excellent '9 yards of advice' ..
camera set to 'Play' , not rec/computer/etc.?
camera not on battery, but power-line?
did your Mac 'recognize' this camera before...?
a technical check.
connect camera, on, playback, fw-connected...
click on the Blue Apple, upper left of your screen ..
choose 'About../More..
under Firewire.. what do you read..?
More
• FileVault - Secure that it’s turned off
• Network storage - DOESN’T WORK
• Where did You store/capture/import Your project ?
External USB hard disk = Bad Choise / FireWire = Good
If so it has to be Mac OS Extended formatted
----> UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange is NOT Working for VIDEO !
mbolander
Thanks for all your suggestions. What I learned is that I had a software problem. I had something called "Nikon Transfer" on my Mac that was recognizing my Canon camcorder as a still camera and was preventing iMovie from working properly. After uninstalling Nikon Transfer and doing a reboot, everything worked great.
I never liked the Nikon Transfer software anyway--I guess I'll get a cheap card reader and use that to transfer photos in the future.
*No Camera or bad import*
• USB hard disk
• Network storage
• File Vault is on
jiggaman15dg wrote
if you have adobe cs3 or 4 and have the adobe bridge on close that
or no firewire will work
see if that halps
DJ1249 wrote
The problem was the external backup hard drive that is connected, you need to disconect the external drive before the mac can see the video camera.
Yours Bengt W

Mini DV camcorder to macbook HELP!

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