Mini-DV Camcorder V. DVD Camcorder?!

I want to buy a camcorder but I'm not sure if it should be a Mini-DV Camcorder or a DVD Camcorder. What would be most compatible with iLife 04 and my computer in general, (statistics below).
I have two in mind: Sony Mini-DV DCRHC24E and the Sony DVD105.

iMovie likes to take take video from the device via iLink (Sony speak) or Firewire (Apple speak). The DCR-DVD105 doesn't have iLink/Firewire so to use that you'd have to insert the DVD in to the iMac and then import to iMovie (you may have to perform some conversion too depending on the format Sony are using).
Should you move up to a new iMac with a slot-loading disk drive the camcorder would become useless as you can't put an 8cm disk in the new iMacs.
Of course the disadvantages of the DCR-HC24E MiniDV version is that tapes of course need re-winding etc. Note that the MiniDV version doesn't have DV in which means you can't archive projects back to tape. I'd advise looking for a model with DVin and DVOut.
You might wish to post in the iMovie forum too as the users there may have further experience.
regards
mrtotes

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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.

Imovie and mini DVD camcorder

My students made a movie on a DV camcorder when the camera quit working. I was able to import the partial video into Imovie, but we finished the movie on my Canon mini DVD camcorder. Is there any way to somehow get the second half of the movie (on two mini dvds) into Imovie so I can edit it all together? At this point, I burned the portion in Imovie and am trying to figure out how to combine them all on my pc. However, I really love Imovie and would like to use it. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks

I have an external hard drive. So, I guess I could just save my imovie files in the portable hard drive and then move them to my pc or vice versa? However, aren't the formats different? When I tried to use Quick Time Pro, it didn't recognize the formats (Video_TS.BUP and Video_TS.VOB)
Could I move those files into my mac using my external hard drive and then import into imovie? I should say I'm a very new Mac user, and not very experienced with editing - have only begun.
Thanks for all your help

Looking for a GREAT mini DVD Camcorder that is compatible with my MAC! :-)

Ok. Here it is: I have a Sony DCR-TRV350 Camcorder, which I LOVE. However, the DVI port on the camera is screwed up. I bought a new DVI firewire, alas, to no avail. I cannot get the information from the camera to my Mac. So, making my fun, goofy movies is being inhibited by a fix, that will cost nearly as much as a new camera. I am looking for a new camera, that takes advantage of the firewire port on the Mac. Any suggestions? I would prefer a Sony. I am looking for advice from someone who knows, better then I, (that should be easy) of a good camcorder (miniDVD?) that works well with a Mac. I just want to have fun, bringing in footage to iMovie HD, editing, and posting them to Metacafe. Any and all input is, of course greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!!
~ George

"..I wish Apple would tell me "why" a standard MiniDVD camcorder would not be compatible with I-Movie, because I can not think of a single logical reason.."
iMovie was designed to work with "DV" digital camcorders. These were, and are, camcorders which record video in a particular method onto DV, or miniDV, tape. iMovie wasn't designed to import or edit analogue 8mm or Hi-8 recordings, so it won't. iMovie can't handle an incoming analogue (non-digital) signal. (..But if you put one of those 8mm or Hi-8 analogue tapes in a Digital-8 camcorder such as the Sony DCR-TRV350, mentioned in the very first post, above, you can then import it as a digital signal through the camcorder's FireWire connection..)
Various other digital recording methods came and went, and Apple have supported some, but not others: there was the short-lived Sony "microMV" tape format which Apple didn't support, although you can handle that with MPEG Streamclip. Then there was HDV, which Apple does support ..but they did that by creating an Apple Intermediate Codec, into which the MPEG-2 video format of HDV tape gets converted during import.
Then there were various MPEG-2 DVD video formats, and the various movie formats used by solid-state memory-chip camcorders. Now there's AVCHD format, for memory chips, hard drives and DVDs.
These methods of recording video just keep multiplying - because the camcorder manufacturers want to offer "Look! Ours-does-it-better!" claims. But just because they produce a camcorder which records video, that doesn't mean that Apple (which doesn't make camcorders) has to provide a means to edit all these weird formats which keep springing up. Surely, the camcorder manufacturers should be providing Mac-compatible, or iMovie-compatible, editing methods for their devices, shouldn't they?
As Thomas mentions, there's a list of some compatible camcorders (see above) ..but that's a list of camcorders which are compatible with the latest iMovie '08 (..which can deal with some DVD camcorders, but not those which record DVDs in AVCHD format..) and AVCHD format can be handled only by Intel-based Macs, anyway.
So for an MPEG-2-based mini-DVD camcorder and iMovie HD 6, copy the files into your Mac, and then use MPEG Streamclip to convert them to iMovie HD 6 compatibility.
For iMovie '08, some miniDVD camcorders are compatible (those using MPEG-2 recording). For DVD camcorders using AVCHD recording, you may have to copy the recordings onto your Mac, and then download and use "Voltaic" to convert the recordings into iMovie-editable format.
"..I can not think of a single logical reason.." ..the reason is that manufacturers just want you to buy these cameras. But they don't give a hoot that you can't edit the material they record, and so it's left to Apple, and other software developers, to try to devise some way to "unravel" the compressed recordings for you, and make them editable.

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

Firewire and mini-dvd camcorder

If I purchase a mini-dvd camcorder that does have firewire, can I play [and capture] the movie from the camcorder into quicktime pro?

No.
Your file is MPEG-2 and QuickTime Pro can't extract audio (during any conversion) from muxed formats.
QuickTime Pro (Mac only version) can record from many cameras and can convert to MPEG-4 (good), H.264 (better) and device native (best).
Firewire is required to move the data from the camera to the machine.
You could import and convert using a DV tape camera with Firewire using QuickTime Pro but I don't think a DVD camcorder has any "pass through" features. If it does then the source may be able to be captured (bypassing recording to MPEG-2).

Help on purchasing a dvd camcorder to work with imovie

hello out there...was wondering which camcorder that has a dvd burner works best with imovie and osx...i want a sony, but i thought the small dvd's did not work on osx. presently, i have a digital8 and use a firewire connection to ingest video for editing with imovie. thanks for any help...

... boxes that holds DVD and hard drive recorders:
These files are intended for "one time" captures.
The file format is not intended for editing.
I totally agree with your recommendation: try to avoid DVD and harddisk camcorders at this point if you plan to edit on a Mac. Not only is software support seriously lacking, those Mini-DVDs don't even work with slot-loading drives that are common on Mac's.
But... there is nothing wrong with the MPEG-2 compression used on DVDs. Just look at HDV: It uses the same MPEG-2 compression to fit the the HD video into the space of a SD MiniDV tape. iMovie converts HDV video streams during capture into a format that is easier for editing - that's why the files on your harddisk are 4 times as big as the data on the tape. The quality of video captured by most consumer camcorders is more limited by the optics and the video sensor (in particular indoors, with less than perfect lighting), than the recording format and media. And yes, you can edit MPEG-2 just fine, it is just more challenging to get it working right.
I used to tell all my friends to stay away from DVD camcorders, too, but then broke down and very reluctantly bought a DVD camcorder recently. It's mainly used for recording music lessons, with instant and repeated replay. It took me some tinkering to work out a good workflow for editing with iMove. I did some side-by-side comparisons with a similarly priced MiniDV camcorder (Canon DC50 vs. Sony TRV-33). Overall, the video clips were almost identical from either camcorder, with the DVD camcorder producing slightly better video in some situations. But as I said in the beginning, that is probably mostly a result of the better video sensor and the optical image stabilization in this particular model.
So how does my workflow go:
- Use DVD-RWs, formatted in Video-VR mode, and prefinalized. This allows
you to pop out the DVD from the camcorder at any time and immediately
use it in your DVD player or computer without another time-consuming
finalization step.
- Find a Windows PC to copy the video files from the DVD to my Mac.
Mac OSX cannot read the filesystem used by Video-VR discs without
additional software like Roxio's Toast (which I don't have). Besides, all
my Macs are slot loading.
- Convert the clip with the Quicktime MPEG-2 plugin and MPEG Streamclip
to DV format.
- Finally, import the clips into iMovie.
Workable yes, but neither convenient nor esay. Stick with MiniDV.

Capturing DVD video shot with a DVD Camcorder

I have a Panasonic DVD camcorder. It records on mini DVD's.
With FCE, how do I capture what I've shot. The camera has a USB output but not a fire wire.
Can I go directly from my digital camcorder to the capture tool? Or can I use the internal DVD player in my MacBook?
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.9)

this is the usual reply in the iMovie section of this board, when it comes to converting DVDs into 'dv' (=for editing in iM/FCE):
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 (= and FCE...) , 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
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

Transferring a movie from a dvd camcorder

I have purchased an analog converter called ADVC110 to try and burn a copy of my home movies which were recorded on my Sony DVD camcorder but the process seems to take forever and is using up all the memory on my i-mac, surely this cannot be right ? I am trying to do this via i-movie HD, each recording on my dvd camcorder is taking about 1 hr 12 mins and there are about 70 of them , can anyone help to make this quicker and easier ?

The ADVC 110 is an analogue to digital converter. The way it works is for your camcorder to play the DVD in real time just like you were watching it. The camcorder outputs an AV signal that the ADVC converts to DV on the fly.
Therefore it is hardly surprising that a DVD containing about 1hr 12mins of real time recording takes exactly that time to download to the computer by this method. The DV format produced by the ADVC is the same as that used by tape digital camcorders - either digital 8 or minidv. This takes a lot of memory - about 17 gig per hr.
Another way would be to copy the DVD contents direct to your hard drive from a DVD player. The size of these DVD movies will be a lot less than if in DV format but they cannot be utilised directly by imovie. They can, however be played by various other means. These can be converted by your computer to DV using various third party programs. The process is not easy and probably takes as long as your real time conversion using the ADVC. You will still be stuck with the large file size.
Do you need to edit all of your movies using the full features of imovie or do you just want to cut/crop? If so there are alternatives to imovie. Look on Versiontracker
Maybe it would be better to cut/crop your DVD (mpeg 2) footage before imovie conversion.

DVD camcorder to Mac ?

Hoping someone can help. DVD camcorder, want to put film onto mac to edit. No USB or firewire connection only AV. Records onto 8cm discs not compatible with imac G5, any ideas?? The camera is a samsung DC172W. Thanks

I would recommend that you get an inexpensive USB DVD reader/burner that sits flat with a sliding tray. You definitely do not want to put a miniDVD into a vertical iMac drive (unless you have a high tolerance for rattles.)
Once you have it, you need to find a way to convert the contents of your DVD to an editable format. First check your manual to see if you need to finalize the DVD.
Then take your 8cm DVD to your new USB burner and drag the contents into your Mac using the finder.
Most, but not all, DVD camcorders record onto MPEG2, which is not editable in iMovie. So first you have to convert it to an editable format.
There are several tools that will do this conversion. MPEG Streamclip combined with the MPEG2 Playback Component for Quicktime will do it. Visual Hub will do it. Many other options as well.
Convert your MPEG2 to DV or h.264 or AIC. Then it can be edited in iMovie, Final Cut Pro, or Final Cut Express.
If your camcorder does not use MPEG2, post back with what codec it is using and we can suggest other workarounds.

Trying to import mini dv clip from Sony camcorder - how???

Trying to import mini dv clip from Sony camcorder (which I could do on my v.old copy of Premiere Elements - lost somewhere in the loft!) just discovered that this is no longer supported on v.13!!! Trying to find a work-around but the one explained isn't clear - please could you email an 'idiots guide' step-by-step how to import DV into v.13

reshs
The Adobe document for workarounds for DV or HDV data capture firewire in Premiere Elements 13/13.1 is found
Removed features and unsupported file formats | Adobe Premiere Elements 13
If you have problems with the Adobe suggested workarounds, you might consider
Windows
Movie Maker
Mac
iMovie
HDVSplit HDVSplit 0.77 beta
Please review and consider, and then let us know if any of the above worked for you. The last version of Premiere Elements that has the DV or HDV data capture firewire is 12/12.1.
ATR

DVD Camcorder, anyone sucessfully able to import into to IDVD, I

purchased the Panasonic VDR D220 and while an excellent camera in everything a camera should do it would not let me drag and drop to IDVD. Panasonic tech told me I needed "video arranger" but she had no idea where it was or even if it was a download. The camera did not have a firewire port, just USB.

Welcome to iMovie Discussions! ..but perhaps what you really need is iDVD Discussions..
iDVD is meant for turning movies, which have been created in iMovie in .DV or .mov (QuickTime) format, into the MPEG-2 format which is used for burning DVDs.
Your DVD camcorder has already recorded your movie(s) in MPEG-2 format, so iDVD wouldn't know what to do with those: iDVD is a program which converts other formats into MPEG-2.
You don't say what you want to do with your movies: iDVD isn't an editor ..it isn't for re-arranging scenes into a different order, and adding sound effects and fades, etc. That's what iMovie does.
But because iMovie can't accept (..or the current iMovie HD 6 can't accept, anyway..) anything which is already in MPEG-2 format, what you'll have to do is (..fairly simply..)
(1) Connect your camcorder to your iMac with a USB cable, and drag (copy) the video files from the camcorder into your Mac. (..If your iMac has a horizontal tray-loading DVD drive, you could try dropping the little camcorder disc into the DVD tray, and copying from that, but NEVER try that with a slot-loading DVD drive - and I wouldn't try it with a vertical-loading DVD drive - or the teeny disc will get lost and trapped inside your Mac, and it'll have to be taken apart to get the disc out!..)
(2) Use the doanloadable MPEG Streamclip software to convert the MPEG footage of your video(s) into .DV, which iMovie can edit.
(3) After editing, send your edited movie to iDVD for burning onto a normal-sized DVD, adding menus, etc, as you wish.

My Mac mini isn't reading my camcorder. Says no device found.

My Mac mini isn't reading my camcorder. Says no device found. I'm trying to upload my Christmas video to iMovie but it says no device connected.

Since nothing connects, try resetting the SMC.
I am not trying to be funny, but be sure the Mac Bluetooth is turned on...
Barry

Canon DC-10 DVD Camcorder and iMovie (VR/Video DVD) *complicated*

Hi Guys,
I have a complicate issue and I have no idea how to do it.
The Problem: I like to cut and edit my short movies which I have recorded with the Canon DC-10 DVD Camcorder.
Because the Camcorder only writes small sized DVDs I have to copy it onto a standalone HDD/DVD recorder which is connected to my TV and than from its HDD back to a standard sized DVD. I can record this DVD in VR and Video mode but my MacBook Pro can only read the DVD which was recorded in Video mode. Therefore I cannot copy the movie files to my HDD. I think ripping might be a possibility but I don't know. Does anybody have an idea how to get my movie clips into iMovie HD?
Which movie file format does iMovie HD use?
By the way connecting the Camcorder to the Mac directly is currently not supported by Canon and Apple. I have to use the small DVD to normal size DVD way (because of the slot in drive in the MacBook Pro).
Thanks.

as Michael told you: iM does not support these DVDcorders...
your workflow is absolutely correct: to avoid damage to the slot-in, first create a standard-shaped/sized dvd-r; it has to be finalized and in "video mode"....
then, your options to import DVD content are:
* DVDxDV (free trial, 25$, Pro: 90$)
* Apple mpeg2 plugin (20$) + Streamclip (free)
* Cinematize >60$
* Mpeg2Works >25$ + Apple plug-in
* Toast6/7 allows converting to dv/insert dvd, hit apple-k
* connect a miniDV Camcorder with analogue input to a DVD-player and disk to tape/use as converter
... and as Micheal told you: DVD are end-of-the-road, a delivery format, not meant for further processing as editing, all these conversion could mean a loss of pic quality (and are very inconvenient, for sure)... if you are seriously interested in movie-making AND want to use the iApps, you should consider to buy a miniDV....

How do I get video to IMovie from my dvd camcorder?

How do I get video from my Canon DVD camcorder to Imovie?

The second half of this file discusses moving files from an iPod to a computer:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
Videos are presumably in the "Video" rather than "iTunes" directory; you should be able to just navigate around in that directory for the file you want rather than replacing the entire directory as that article suggests (in which case you'd want to omit the "moving the directory to the desktop" steps, and so forth).
Patrick Alexander

Mini-DV Camcorder V. DVD Camcorder?!

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