Converting analog home movies to Digital

Hopeing to find someone else who has already solved this problem...After slacking off for twenty years or so, I'm, finally converting my ancient, stone-tablet home movies to DVD. I have a Sony DCR-TRV460 Camcorder doing the heavy lifting. It's supposed to convert Analog tapes to digital signals on the fly. I have a stack of old 8 mm tapes, that a Sony DCR TRV130 recorded for me from even older VCR video tapes. Unfortunately, the TRV130 is frozen and inoperative, maybe I'll have to have it repaired....All the tapes play fine on the TRV460's screen, but Imovie only recognizes the newest ones, actually recorded on the 460, the ones "converted" from the 130 just show a blue screen, probably some analog-to-digiital error. I'm useing a Firewire cable, the usb cable apparently isnt fully supported. I remember reading long ago that the 460 doesent fully support on-the-fly conversion. anyone been able to make this work? do I need a differernt camcorder? Maybe I just have the av-DVsettings wrong? Any clues fom by Buddies out in the Ether will be appreciated! Useing a "Early 2008" Mac Pro Tower.
Jim

I did this a few years ago with a Sony TRV-230.
It was very fussy. Sometimes it would drop out and give me the blue screen and I would have to try several times before I got it all. It helps to fully fast forward and rewind the 8mm tapes so if they are sagging to one side of the cassette, they are back to the center so they don't drag on the sides of the cassette enclosure. I generally had to use the manual mode and watch it all the time.

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How can I convert a home movie on dvd(vob file) to edit on imovie?

I had home movies converted to a dvd- the files are vob. Now I want to edit the movies in imovie.
I am having a difficult time converting from vob straight to mov files.
I purchased Quick Time Pro thinking that could do it, but I haven't been able to.
Also, it just says QuickTime Player Version 7.6.4 (518.35) on my computer.
Is it supposed to say QuickTIme Pro?
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

The "Pro" option just unlocks a lot of features in QuickTime Player. If you look at the registration info, it will show if you have Pro installed.
For converting DVD's you have two options; hardware or software.
The hardware option involves connecting a DVD player's analog outputs to a qualified "DV device" (DV camcorder, VTR or converter) then connecting the DV device's Firewire port to your Mac to capture the footage.
The software option involves using an application like DVDxDV or MPEG Streamclip to convert the DVD's VOB files into an editable format that works natively with your chosen NLE.
-DH

Advice on converting analog Hi8mm tapes to digital

Hi,
I am looking for advice on converting some Hi8mm analog video tapes to digital. They are not my tapes but I would still prefer to obtain a good quality transfer. I may do some editing on a few of them in PRE and would like to maintain the ability to edit them in the future.
At present, I've bought a Roxio easyVHStoDVD USB converter which states it can capture in DV-AVI format but doesn't actually appear able to do so. Results so far at capturing have been finicky at best but I'm still working on it but am wary because the format captured is not DV-AVI.
I've read several people here suggesting using an ADS Pyro A/D Firewire converter. Would that be a better, less troublesome route to go? And what other tips does anyone have in doing an A/D conversion?
Thanks,
Paul

The workflow that you outline is good for archiving the material, but not so good for later editing that material. As Paul_LS states, a DVD-video will use MPEG-2 encoding. Material and quality will be forever lost. These DVD's are good for doing a backup of the material on tape, but the best quality will result from editing the Captured DV-AVI Type II material. Get an external HDD, instead, and copy those files over to it for later editing.
If you need to do much correction to the Captured material, especially color and exposure work, you might want to look into the Canopus 300, which allows one to do more at the Caputre stage with regards to color and density. The 100 will do a great job of straight Capture, but all corrections will need to be done in PE later.
For a similar Project, with 34 VHS tapes (all sorts of film rates, EP, LP and SP, I did a quick archival copy to DVD (I used my Panasonic VHS-DVD deck for this), and then did a Capture to DV-AVI Type II for all tapes, logging each with details and notes on what each scene was and where it was located, via Timecode. This was all done, while the Capture was being made, and these notes were invaluable, when it came time to actually do the edits.
Using the DV-AVI Type II files (stored on about 4 2TB external (FireWire 800) hard discs, I then Imported just what I needed to create 17 finished DVD's from the tapes. During the edit, I archived each Project to another set of external HDD's, because I will need to do extensive editing for a finished set of DVD's for the two subjects, whose lives were recorded on those 34 tapes. Again, I kept notes on these files, so I know exactly where every scene is located. I can still go back to the Captures, but as I have doine the color grading, and density correction on the next phase of files, those would be the ones that I'd want to use.
In this Project, the biggest help was my "shot sheet," that contained all details of every shot. It saved me countless hours of searching, just to locate a particular scene. If you need a "shot sheet," let me know, and I'll share a PDF of the one that worked for me.
Good luck,
Hunt

Need Help Converting AVI Home Movies to Mpeg without audio and Video Delay.

I have lots of home movies of my new baby i want to take with me while in Navy training and need help. I have tried 7 movie conversion software programs and it have cost me a lot, but none of them work. Any suggestions please? I leave soon and would like to know as soon as possible please. Thank you so much
Converting AVI to MPEG on Windows XP OS

YOu need to learn how to use FCP. Sorry, no offense needed, and I know it sounds harsh. But from reading that I can tell you have no idea about how to properly import tapeless media into FCP...and don't know what formats FCP works with...nor know what formats the cameras record. This is all basic stuff you need to know before you edit. Editing isn't only creative, but lately highly technical as well...you need to know what your software is capable of doing, and how to get the footage into it properly.
You cannot do what you did...directly drag from the cameras into FCP. No...it needs to be imported, typically with LOG AND TRANSFER...and converted from the shooting format, which typically isn't natively editable in FCP (want native, use Adobe Premiere...). It needs to be converted to ProRes. And yes, the file sizes of ProRes are a LOT bigger than the camera originals. 4-5 times larger. That's how FCP works.
Here's a quick tutorial to get you started. But then I suggest getting to know the editing system better.
http://library.creativecow.net/ross_shane/tapeless-workflow_fcp-7/1

Converting old Home Movies made in iDVD to be able to play on Apple TV

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I just got my ATV yesterday now the UK has movies and TV to rent/buy.
I would suggest using VLC for conversion . I am in mid conversion at the moment !
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How to convert VHS home movies to DVD?

How do I get best quality converting VHS to DVD. I will need to use iMovie as some need heavy editing. I know I can get them into iMovie via firewire using the D/A converter on my newer Canon camcorder. My Question (s)? is /are: What settings & format should I use to import into iMovie8 and to export to iDVD for best possible quality when played on a large screen (50inch). Several of the tapes were in such poor shape that the D/A converter on the canon wouldn't play them and I had to digitize them by playing through Eye-Tv(not the best solution but the only one I could come up with). Thanks in advance for any guidance you can give.
Dave

How do I get best quality converting VHS to DVD.
Use iMovie 06 instead.
iMovie 08 now uses single-field processing. This means every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage.
I find I get the best quality using iMovie 06 and iDVD 08 (use Professional Quality encoding in iDVD 08).
iMovie 06 is a free download to iLife 08 owners. (THEY WANT YOU TO HAVE IT!)
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieHD6.html
To get your VHS video into iMovie, look at the Canopus ADVC300. Audio and Video go in, FireWire comes out. It also comes with a nice Macintosh application that works flawlessly with iMovie 06 and iDVD 08 (not sure about iMovie 08).
The program that comes with the ADVC300 has some nice filters that can improve video and audio of the source material. The ADVC300 will take Audio and Video from any source and convert it to FireWire (iMovie will treat it like a camera).
http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC300/index.php
You will need to use a "Real" Mac, (with a Firewire input).

Converted home movies play in iphone without sound?

I have converted several home movies that will play the video portion but no sound. any suggestions?

Try using Videora or MPEG Streamclip to convert the videos; more information on this issue is available in this article.
(24506)

Burning home movies for use on a regular DVD player

Can anyone recommend software, preferably free, I can use to convert avi home movies to be able to be viewed on a standard DVD player? I have dvd-r disks, just not sure on what settings or software to use in order to burn them.
Thank you.

Yes, but iDVD originally came with your Mac if you've purchased it in the past five years or so; that version should still work, but if it's missing you would need to reinstall it from the Software Restore disc that originally shipped with your Mac, not a Mac OS X install disc.

How do I get a home movie onto my ipad?

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Fire up I photo on the Mac. Plug the pad in. ( make sure you are not automatically syncing to I tunes. ). On the left pane in I photo the pad will show up as a device. Click on it and it should show all new pictures on the pad. Select your video and at the top, click import selected.

Home movies freezing and pausing

Up until a month ago, our Apple TV worked well. Before the invention of apple TV's, we collected quite an extensive DVD collection, and decided to purchase the ATV, convert our home movies to apple TV compatible movie files, and store them in the apple TV movie library for easy and convenient access. We also have all of our home movies stored there too, and watch them regularly. This worked a dream, up until a month ago...
Now, any home movie, or movie that we copied and stored ourselves pauses, skips and freezes throughout the movie. Movies we downloaded from iTunes work flawlessly. All of our software is up to date. We have reset the apple TV, turned off the TV, reset iTunes, but now don't know what to do.
Help!!! If we can't fix this, the AppleTV is useless to us!

Hi. Sorry to hear about your problem. Our family also loves watching home movies on it. We easily have over 60 or 70 hours.
1. Are your home movies on a different hard drive than the downloaded movies? If so, you may have a drive going bad. Do these videos skip in iTunes as well or no? If this is the case, back up your movies and get a new hard drive.
2. If you sync the home movies to your Apple TV, do you still have the problem? If not, maybe it is a network issue. Try disconnecting your ATV from the network then reconnecting to it.

Trying to import home movie to iMovie

I am not overly computer literate but here goes, I'm trying to convert a home movie that I copied from VHS to a DVD-RW disk. When I look at the DVD in my Devices I see the following:
VIDEO_RM
     SONATA_DEBUG.IFO
     SONATA.IFO
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VIDEO_TS
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     VTS_01_0.BUP
     VTS_01_0.IFO
     VTS_01_1.VOB
     VTS_01_2.VOB
     VTS_01_3.VOB
     VTS_01_4.VOB
     VTS_01_5.VOB
     VTS_02_0.BUP
     VTS_02_0.IFO
I've tried Handbrake and a couple of other free softwares to convert the files.   None of these softwares recognize anything. I've tried just one of the VOB files, but even that doesn't help. I have no idea what this stuff means or what to do with it. Not one of the softwares reads any of the above.
My goal is to edit out a section of the video of my Aunt that died 10 years ago and make a special video for my mom for Christmas. I'm so frustrated.
ANY asssistance would be helful.
Thanks in advance.
Donna

Hi
I use
• DV-PAL or DV-NTSC - or -
• AIC
Yours Bengt W

Best way to convert home movie VHS tapes so they can be edited in iMovie HD

Please help! I'm sorry this question is going to be long, but I'm a novice at this.
My goal is to get my VHS home movies (I have about 30 of them) into iMovie so I can do two things.
First I want to burn DVD's so I'll have a copy of the VHS tapes before they go bad.
Secondly, I want to be able to extract small clips from all of the tapes and combine them in a new iMovie project.
Here's what I've done so far:
I purchased a Canopus ADVC110 and got someof my VHS tapes converted digitally but the file sizes were HUGE and eating up my hard drive space. I was down to 6 GB of space left on my hard drive and almost crashed my Mac.
I deleted all these huge files and got my Mac back up to having 111 gigs of space left. Whew!
This week I purchased a Pinnacle converter and started all over. I took a VHS tape, and it was compressed into a nice small Mpeg-4 file and went to iTunes.
Then I tried to drag and drop it from itunes to imovie. That didn't work. I then dragged the movie to my desktop and then dragged it to imovie..... looks like this was going to take a long time to get into imovie. I'm thinking this is too many steps.
Now I am importing the file into iMovie by importing directly from itunes. The file size is 1.04 GB and it is 1 hour and 54 minutes long. It is taking a loooong time to import this movie....like 100 minutes.
I am afraid I am doing this the hard way.
Plus, after reading all the discussion boards and all the problems people are having... I don't even know if I'll be able to successfully edit this movie once it's imported. Plus, after I've edited it (if I can) will I be able to transfer the clips to another iMovie project?
I'm happy with the file size that the Pinnacle converter is giving me. I'm happy with the way the movie appears in itunes.
Because I have **so many VHS tapes** to convert, I'm asking you all if there is an easier way for me to complete this task!
Thanks in advance for any advise. Keep in mind that I'm not tech-sophisticated..... just a middle aged Grandma trying to preserve memories of my family!

_Share" the highlight as suggested_
Thanks Lennart..... I'm not sure I know what you meant by the above.
Do you mean that I share the little clips I want to use in the 'best of project'?
I read the MacWorld article.... it's great thanks!
I want to keep all these converted movies on my hard drive because down the road I want to extract other clips from them so I can make a 'best of' movie for my other family members. I may want to do that next year.... or whatever..... so I want to have the imovies available for me when that time comes.
In order to do this am I going to have to buy a lot..... and I mean ALOT of extra hard drive space? That darn Canopus was really making files for me that were like 60-80GB's per one half hour movie!!
Hey, I really appreciate all the time you are spending with me on this topic. Making these imovie memories are so very important to me.

Need converter - analog to digital via firewire

I'm looking to buy a converter to convert analog (VHS home movies) directly into iMovie via firewire. What are you using and have you had any problems? Thank you for your suggestions.

My Analog to DV passthrough settings memo:
1. Take the tape out of the camcorder
2. Connect the analog device's audio and video to the camcorder's minijack, use the S-Video jack for video if the output device supports S-Video
3. Put the camcorder into VTR-mode
4. Select A/V->DV out: ON, in VTR mode's menu choices
5. Disable the info display on the the camcorder by toggling its DISPLAY button
6. Put iMovie (or other DV application) to the Camera Mode
The analog image should now appear on the camcorder's screen as well as on the iMovie's screen.
Note that if you have a tape in the camcorder, you have to put the camcorder's VTR into REC mode (you may pause the tape) but this is not advisable because it produces wear to the tape.
* Note that the SCART which comes with the European nEUtered TRV320E camcorder is Out-only.
Is it possible to install iMovie 4 on an Intel iMac
I believe iMovie 4 works only on PPC Macs.

Small thin line at the bottom when converting analog to digital

I encounter a small line at the bottom of my videos (this is also on the DVD that I burn) when I try to convert my Sony Hi8 to Digital while using iMovie HD6. When I try this at home on my Sony Viao PC with the built in Giga Pocket Converter there is no line. I thought that it might be my DV converter a datvideo DAC-200 so I got a PyroA/V Link converter and the result was the same. When I use my Sony DV Camcorder every thing is great. I talked to apple support and they said that it was probably the tape. I told them that I had tried several HI8 tapes and the result was the same. (they were no help) Does anyone have these issues BB
MacBook Pro2,2 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Intel Croe 2 Duo 2.33 GHZ

See also:
http://lipas.uwasa.fi/~f76998/video/conversion/#faq
4. Frequently Argued Questions
4.1 Isn't 720 the real width of a 4:3 image? If not, then why are 720 pixels sampled instead of 711 or 702 (or whatever)?
720 pixels are sampled to allow for little deviation from the ideal timing values for blanking and active line lenght in analog signal. In practice, analog video signal - especially if coming from a wobbly home video tape recorder - can never be that precise in timing. It is useful to have a little headroom for digitizing all of the signal even if it is of a bit shoddy quality or otherwise non-standard.
720 pixels are also sampled to make it sure that the signal-to-be-digitized has had the time to slope back to blanking level at the both ends. (This is to avoid nasty overshooting or ringing effects, comparable to the clicks and pops you can hear at the start and end of an audio sample.)
Last but not least, 720 pixels are sampled because a common sampling rate (13.5 MHz) and amount of samples per line (720) makes it easier for the hardware manufactures to design multi-standard digital video equipment.

Converting Home Movies to IPOD

Why is it that I can upload a home movie from my digital camera to my computer with sound and get it just that way into the Library but when I convert it into the IPOD there is no sound? The orginal file with the sound in the library reads MPG movie file (Quicktime, although plays in media player) and when it converts reads movie file. It is enfuriating!

Thanks Brian, I hadn't realized the only way to get them to play correctly was to upgrade & buy Quicktime Pro. This also helps with MySpace and posting home movies on there as well. So thanks again for the information.

Converting analog home movies to Digital

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