Importing hi-8 tapes to iMovie '08

I just updated to Leopard and iMovie '08 which finally allows me to import from my AVCHD-based Sony HDR-UX1 mini DVD camcorder. I'm enjoying being back in the game and plan to get up to speed with Final Cut Express real soon.
On to my next issue. I have about 60 hours of footage on hi-8 tapes shot with my old Sony. I no longer have the camera (it busted). What's my best option to import this footage, keeping in mind I want best possible quality? Is it possible to get old-style formats into a Mac (out of curiosity, VHS tapes). The footage is important enough to me that I'd be willing to buy a hi-8 camera just for the task -- any recommendations, I'm a little gun shy about compatibility after having to wait 11 months for the high end camera I bought last Christmas to jive with my Mac. Or are there any play-only devices that would allow me to import (are they any cheaper than a used hi-8)?

Ya,I meant TRV. As a playback machine (and for the pass thru as well), if you can get it for cheap, it sure beats the price of other solutions.
Does it include a battery and AC adapter to charge it? Off hand I don't recall if you need the battery to play back or if you can just run off the AC adapter without a battery installed (never tried it).
And a Firewire cable never came with that model to begin with (which seems to be standard practice for all digital camcorders, which makes no sense). It came with a USB cable which was only used to transfer photos off the (included) Sony Memory Stick flash memory if you used the camcorder to take still photos. I never did, so never used that "feature" since my Digital Camera took much better photos.
I think it came with a remote and a couple AA batteries for it. I think both (included the batteries) are still stored away somewhere unused.
Anyway, if the price stays under $100, it is a great deal. If it goes over $100, then I guess it is up to you what it is worth to you, but as you said, with a lot of valuable (to you) tapes to transfer, it is probably worth spending $200+ on something to be able to play and digitize them. I was watching one auction a week or two ago for a broken one sold as is which was listed as "partially working" with a problem with the tape door. Originally it was listed for like $12 with another $13 in shipping. I figured if I could get it for that price it might still be cheap to use simply as a pass through A-to-D converter (and/or as a parts machine for mine if needed). Final auction price was (with shipping) $95.11. So I figure someone thought they could fix it or just deal with the door (duct tape!) if it worked otherwise. In the case of the one you found, it may stay cheap since it can not even take decent video and, unless optically fixable, is only good for a playback machine.
Again, I want to point out that while I know it works great with iMovie 4 and OS 10.4 (Tiger) from my own use, I don't have iMovie '08, which is a pretty different beast from the previous ones, so I can not vouch for how well it will work (if at all) with that version. Apple does allow a free download of iMovie 6 for '08 owners, so you can always try that as well, but again, no first hand experience there either.
Best of luck,
Patrick

Similar Messages

Can i turn off the Timecode, when importing a DV Tape into iMovie?

Hi,
I have just cut a film on a Pc and exported in on a DV tape. When i tried to import this tape into imovie the film is cut into pieces again. I want to import the Movie in one piece and only add some gimmicks to it.
As i am new with I-movie, does anyone has an idea, how i can do this??
Thanks

Open iTunes. Go to Edit>Preferences>Advanced and change the setting "On CD Insert" in the drop down menu from Import Songs to Show Songs.

Will FCE 4 Import Analog 8mm Tapes (unlike iMovie '08)

Hello--
I've had a heck of a time importing my older analog 8mm tapes onto my MacBook and was wondering if dropping bigger bucks on FCE 4 will help.
Since iMovie '08 for some reason won't import analog 8mm tapes from my Sony TRV-330 Digital8 camcorder, I've had to import the tapes using iMovie HD. The problem is then I have to save the iMovie HD project before I can import the video into iMovie '08 where I want to tag and edit it...and this takes a lot of extra time (hours per tape).
On other discussion boards, people have suggested using other video importing applications such as Vidi, iDive, and QuickTime Pro. The first two didn't seem to work out for me, so I just spent $30+ to get QT Pro...that was a mistake because the video and audio quickly got out of synch which was completely unacceptable (some of my older tapes have periodic video and audio dropouts due a problematic camcorder at the time, which I understand can cause that problem...but it didn't seem to be a problem for iMovie HD).
So, since I've read on these FCE discussion threads that FCE uses QuickTime it makes me wonder if I'd have the same video/audio synch problems in FCE (if it even would import analog 8mm video at all).
BOTTOM LINE: Has anyone successfully imported analog 8mm videotapes from a digital camcorder into FCE 4? I'd really like to be able to catalog, tag, and edit ALL my tapes (analog 8mm and Digital8) in iMovie '08 (but am willing to try to do it in FCE 4 if that's a better comprehensive solution). When will Apple fix iMovie '08 to make the lives of those of us who want to transfer old analog 8mm tapes easier??

Thanks for the response, M.R. I didn't know QuickTime was also the import engine for iMovie HD...if that's the case, I don't know why iMovie HD would import my analog 8mm tapes while iMovie '08 doesn't (assuming iMovie '08 also uses QuickTime as the import engine).
I haven't really considered a converter box since the Sony TRV-330 camcorder does the analog to digital conversion...seems like it'd be unnecessary. Do you think there's the possibility that the output from a converter box would look different than the output from my digital camcorder to iMovie '08?
--Bill

Importing edited miniDV tapes into iMovie 11

I have a "file" tape of edited products on a miniDV tape, but now, as I try to digitally store it by dumping it into iMovie 11, there is a snafu.
The import process is flawless BUT, then- iMovie restructures the sequence of shots, I'm assuming by date. Not helpful.
Is there anyway I can dump the edited products as finished pieces, and have them stay whole, in the original (intended) order?

If you can load them back in the application where they were created, you can export them as a QuickTime Movie (.mov) with the DV codec.

Overly Huge Files when Importing from DVC tape to IMovie

When importing from my Canon ZR 600 60 minutes of tape equals 16.1 Gigs
I am looking for what I am doing wrong I have 10 hours of Disney I would like to turn into 5 dvd set not 15 dvd set. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Gregory
About 13-14 Gb per hour miniDV tape movie is as iMovie (QT) works. When
it is stored down to a DVD disk it will be converted into a working format for
DVD disks and that will mean that 1 hour will take up a DVD disk in max
quality and 2 hours in slightly less quality. iDVD doesn't care about how
many Gb Your movie takes up in iMovie or FinalCut JUST the amount of minutes
this includes the DVD menues that also need spaces.
55 min movie and 5 min for menues is OK in max qual.
115 min + 5 for slightly less.
You also need to think about how much free space there is on Your hard disk.
After Your 115 min movie is ready to go to iDVD there should be about 20Gb
free space left or iDVD will run into problems.
Yours Bengt W

Why Is There A loss In Quality When I impoer a Minidv tape into Imovie 08

I have the latest version of Imovie and this is my first Mac.
I am using SD MiniDV camcorder (NTSC). I import the entire tape into iMovie. Then I export it to a large h.264 m4v file. I am somewhat disappointed about the picture quality of the m4v file.
When I play the tape through my camcorder connected to the TV through svideo things it looks pretty good.
When I play the m4v file on MacbookPro connected to a TV via svdeo or using the TV (DVI to HDMI) as second monitor the picture quality isn't as crisp.
Any idea what I am doing wrong. My goal is to move all my Minidv home moves onto a hard drive at the best possible quality. My tapes are getting old and this seems like the best way of preserving them.
Thanks,
Dan

sorry for 'overwhelming' you with info
yes, all apps copy the dv-encoded material from miniDV devices 'natively' = lossless import..
but only iM08 then adds some 'loss' .. nobody knows exactly, what & how.. but you are not able to EXport lossless from within iM08 ..
example: import dv, export dv = adds blurr and 'magnifies' somehow the same file .. ( ! )
using iMHD≤6, FCE/P allows you, to export lossless = highest quality possible (except the parts of your project, which need renderning, e.g. titles, transitions...)
example: import dv, export dv = same quality ...
so, if _pic quality_ is your major concern, avoid iM08 ..
if you want fast results and export quality doesn't matter: iM08
if you want a Library off all imports ever and full integration into AppleTV/, YT.. = iM08
if you want other codecs than dv and simple use = iM08
if you want all imports for any future project and high dv quality = FCE/P
if you want easy to use and high dv quality = iMHD≤6 ..
if you want other codecs than dv and Hollywood quality = FCP

Import edited DV-movies to iMovie

How can I import edited DV movies, with transitions and music, to iMovie in a proper way? It seems to mess up the import. I have a lot of edited movies on DV cassettes which I want to organize on my iMac with all my other unedited movies:)
Thanks

Hi Carl,
I'm not familiar with other programs (hint: Adobe Premiere Elements 11 may be worth a try). But I'm about to import two minDV tapes to iMovie HD 6 (rather than using iMovie '11). The two recordings are edited masters that I archived back to miniDV tape 11 years ago from iMovie version 2. They comprise a wedding video that I've been asked to put onto DVDs (previously recorded back to VHS tape).
I'm hoping that, when imported to iMovie HD 6, all media, transitions, titles, music and so forth will play in the correct sequence - unlike what we are seeing in iMovie '11 (I'm keen to add chapter markers and then use a nice theme in iDVD). Otherwise, I will probably record direct from my old miniDV camcorder to my ancient Pioneer DVD Recorder (which has a Firewire 400 input/ouput jack).
I will let you know how this works out. If it is successful, at least we have one solution. But it won't help you, of course, unless you can get hold of a copy of iMovie HD 6. This version is no longer available, nor supported by Apple, but I understand can be purchased on eBay or Amazon (look for iLife '06). But first things first - let's see if this works with iMovie HD 6.
I'll get back to you Carl, but it may be in a few days - if you can wait that long!
John
PS I'm also intending to copy the final exported movie to USB flash drives, so that the recipients have both a DVD and USB stick (another reason to use iMovie).
Message was edited by: John Cogdell - added PS plus minor corrections.

Best method for importing mini DV tape movies directly to an external seagate hard drive for later import to iMovies ??

Best method for importing mini DV tape movies directly to an Seagate external hard drive,for later import to imovie event???

The simplest and cheapest option is LifeFlix. They have more info at www.lifeflix.com or on the Mac app store at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lifeflix/id630212114?ls=1&mt=12

Best Way to Import VCR tapes to iMovie

Hello, all.
I have a small problem that I hope somebody can help me with: I currently have an ADS Pyro A/V unit. I was told my the local Apple dealer that would be the best way to import VHS tapes into iMovie. It has worked for a few tapes, but now does nothing except give me a static-greenish-loud-high pitch sound when I try to import a tape.
I have given up on this unit!!!!!!
Can anybody recommend a decent way to import my old VHS movies to my MacBook and into iMovie??
Thanks for your time & input!

I have the same situation as the original poster (VHS tapes I want to edit and store on DVD).
However I don't have a CamCorder.
What I do have is a PVR that I have used to capture the video and I can write that to a DVD. That gives me the base video that I can work on.
However, the files on the DVD have a .VOB file type. I have tried StreamClip but it provides me with a number of options as to the format I can import it into.
Ultimately I want to bring the image into iMovie, edit it and then burn it back onto a DVD. I don't really care if the intermediate files are large, but I am a little concerned about loosing picture quality (which is not great to start with - the original images were on recorded on Super-8 movie film, then 'projected' and recorded onto the VHS tape of which I have a copy. However it is all I have!!!)
What is the best format (and if necessary, tool) to copy the .VOB files to - something that iMovie can use without conversion preferrable - and then write back to a DVD.
Thanks
Susan
(PS in case you haven't gathered, I'm new to all this side of things, but I have time and a strong desire to learn!)

Importing VHS tape to imovie

Hi there im geting a new macbookpro but i will need to transfer my video wedding video which is on vhs, so I can import it in to imovie or quicktime. Please please if you have any idea on what i can use to do it please help.
PowerBook G4 1.5 15, 80Gb 5400rp128mb grahics Mac OS X (10.4.3)

As you will have read in Sue's link, you need to connect your VCR player to an analogue to digital converter (like, for example, a Canopus ADVC110), and the converter to your Mac by firewire in order to import the digital signal into iMovie.

Unable to import video from camcorder into iMovie HD

I am using a Mac mini PowerPC G4 (1.5). I recently bought a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD 106E camcorder that uses DVD discs. The camcorder has no Firewire (iLink) output so I have inserted the DVD into my external DVD writer/player. I can play the footage via the Mac Mini's DVD player software but I cannot import the video clips into iMovie HD.
The icons on the DVD appear to be PC files and are not compatible. Does anyone know how I can take off the footage I have shot and get it into iMovie HD, please?
My secondary thought is that maybe I need to be able to convert the footage clips into Quicktime files, maybe, but I don't know how to go about this, if, indeed, that is the solution.
Please, please help
regards, Huguenot

Your camcorder is incompatible with iMovie 5, which is designed to use DV streams from tape, imported via firewire.
If your camcorder uses DVD disks it likely produces files in mpeg2 format, which is the standard, compressed, final delivery format of a DVD and is not intended for further editing, and cannot be imported into iMovie 5.
I am a bit puzzled as to why you chose that camcorder!
Ideally you should take it back and exchange it for a camcorder that records onto mini DV tape and which has a firewire output.
As it is, firstly you cannot import the footage due to lack of firewire. Secondly, in order to use iMovie at all you will have to convert the mpeg2 files into a DV files which is what iMovie uses.
For that you need mpegStreamclip:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
which is free, but you must also have the Apple mpeg2 plugin :
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
which is a mere $20.
Another possibility is to use DVDxDV:
http://www.dvdxdv.com/NewFolderLookSite/Products/DVDxDV.overview.htm
which costs $25.
But any way you do it, there will be penalty in terms of quality.

Problems transferring my mini DV tapes to Imovie. Slow and not working correctly

I have an older Mac Book (early 2008) and I am transferring my mini DV tapes to Imovie. I borrowed a camcorder from my brother and have been importing the videos over the course of a few days. Although I have plenty of storage, every command I made would take 5-10 minutes. When the downloads were complete, I noticed the video either didn't come out (1 second clips) or they didn't come out well at all (screeching sounds, skipping, etc.) even though when I played the tapes on the camcorder, they worked fine.
I am in the process of improving my RAM from 2 GB to 4 but it's not fixing the problems I'm having with the transferring of the video tapes.
I want to manipulate these videos in Imovie (of my kids when they were babies) so i can create a mini-movie out of them.

Scene detection normally works, so there must be something going on with you old camera.
I have a bunch of old analog 8MM tapes that I imported through a DV 8MM Digital camera. These all came in as 1 long clip.
It is true you can delete a frame and then use iMovie to split the events. However, I have found a much quicker way that is non-destructive and allows you to enter the date metadata.
1) Download and install MPEG Streamclip from Squared 5. You can google it.
2) Drag your long clip into MPEG Streamclip. (If you don't know where it is, Right-click on the clip in the imovie event and select "Reveal in FInder".
3) Think if dividing your long clip into Events (everything you shot on a single day, for example) - and Scenes (clips) - an individual unit of footage within the Event.
4) Move the MPEG Streamclip playhead to the beginning of the 1st scene and press I for in point. Movie the Playhead to the last frame of the scene and press O for out point.
5) Now, FILE/EXPORT TO DV. Save it to a location you can easily find, like a folder on your desktop. Give it name in the following format: clip-yyyy-mm-dd hh;mm;ss.dv This will preserve the time metadata for later when you are editing. You may want to have your camera handy so you can easily see this data.
6) Repeat this process until you have all clips done. You should find that the playhead is still at the out point. You can simply type I and you have set the in point for a totally nondestructive capture of the next clip.
7) Finally, open iMovie and use FILE/IMPORT/MOVIES... and navigate to the place where you saved all these clips. iMovie will import and sort into Events (you may have to check "split days into new events". Let it generate thumbnails and you are done.

8MM Tape into iMovie

Been transferring 8mm tapes into iMovie via my Sony TRV350 camcorder and firewire cable. Goal is to convert all of these to DVD via iDVD. 2 questions-
1) Should the "Automatic DV Pillarboxing & Letterboxing" box be checked?
2) On my camera settings, it has a A/V--->DV OUT option, which can be turned ON or OFF in the menu VCR settings. According to the manual, when it is OFF, it is "to output digital images and sound in analog format using your camcorder." When it is ON, it is "to output analog images and sound in digital format using your camcorder." I have tried importing with both settings (ON and OFF), and it imports fine both ways, and I haven't really noticed any difference. Do you think this actually matters? The 8mm tapes are analog and I want to convert them to digital format (DV), but it appears it's doing that with either setting.
Any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

My iMovie version 4 doesn't have those options, but I am guessing they are for 16:9 and other widescreen formats. Your old 8mm video is likely standard 4:3 ration, so you probably don't need those checkboxes.
I think the DV Out only matters if you need the video to be present on the analog output jack on the camcorder (looks like a headphone jack like on an iPod). My thinks that that you always get video output present at the Firewire port but the analog port is probably off when you have DV Out set to ON. So as you found, if you are not using the analog port, it doesn't really matter.
Enjoy,
Patrick
p.s. after several years, I am finally up to analog tape #12 with two more after than to finally finish my analog to digital conversion using my old Sony TRV330 Digital8 camcorder.

Transferring VCR tapes to imovie

I want to transfer some old VCR tapes to imovie using my miniDV camcorder, but the size of the files seem very large. I imported about 5 minutes of a VCR tape and it was 1.3 GB. I'd like to preserve as much of the quality as I can from my VCR tapes, but I don't want to use so much hard drive space. Does anyone know what the minimum quality settings are for a VCR tape?
I believe my miniDV camcorder has high def capabilities (720p, etc) but my VCR tape is probably only analog TV quality (less than 480 i?). Or is there another way to import the video in a compressed manner?
Thanks!

I'd like to preserve as much of the quality as I can from my VCR tapes
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 08/09, why?
iMovie 08/09 uses 'single field processing' meaning every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage. iMovie 06 uses ALL of the image to form the video.
If your primary workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited. Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels aspect ratio, and original quality. If you share your movie from iMovie '08 / 09, it gets re-rendered at 640x480 or less, and then iDVD upscales it back to 720x480. The end result is obviously not as good.
iMovie 06 and iDVD 08/09 is a "lossless" combination.
Or is there another way to import the video in a compressed manner?
After I transfer a tape to iMovie I make a DVD. I then test the DVD and keep only the image file (small) created by iDVD I do not keep the original iMovie file (large).
Hard Drives are dirt cheap, consider an external firewire hard drive to store your movies.
For the very best quality 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 08/09 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 09).
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

Importing from Hi8 tape on Digital 8 Camera

I'm running into problems importing a tape previously recorded on a Hi8 camera.
imovie establishes communication with the camera, attempts to import and stops after 2 seconds without capturing video.
My hunch is that the problem is due to the fact that the tape wasn't recorded on this camera.
Is their any way to get around this problem without locating the camera it was filmed on?
The tape plays on the Digital8 camera no problem, just won't import to imovie. Both old and new cameras were Sony

I had the same problem when I first started to import video that I taped on a non-digital 8 camera and then tried to transfer the video to iMovie using my Sony digital 8 camera and I found a solution that doesn't make sense but it worked for me.
I hooked up my VCR thru the A/V input on the camera and played the VCR and it transfered to iMovie without problem. I then stopped the VCR and hit play on the camera with the non-digital 8 tape and iMovie for some reason recognized the signal and I was able to capture the whole tape....the more that I did this process the easier it was for iMovie to recognize the signal to the point where I didn't have to run the VCR signal anymore to prime the capture process and now I just load in the non-digital 8 tape into my digital 8 camera and hit play and start capturing.
Make sure also to check that the A/V to DIGITAL OUT button is activated on the camrea too.
good luck.

Importing hi-8 tapes to iMovie '08

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for