Old camcorder--DV Passthrough--No Onestep!

I have an old camcorder and would like to convert my videos to DVD. However when I use DV passthrough (using my Canon ZR200) It won't get past the insert a DVD....blah blah blah.
I was thinking about just buying Pinnacle Moviebox. Would this solve the problem? Or can I just use my Canon?

Hi brandon0104
I personally don't recommend moviebox since you may encounter video and audio that quickly gets out of sync. Some of the products they make employ USB (as opposed to firewire). You are much better off using the digital pass thru feature on your camcorder. But it does take some work to figure out how to address the proper settings on the camera itself. Make sure you are using a firewire cable (between your mac and the camcorder) and not a usb cable. Here are a few products i'd recommend over moxiebox which I have had success with:
Click Here
Keep in mind that iMovie & iDVD6 mandate a firewire or i.Link interface (not USB).
Hope this is helpful.

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a) this is the fcpX board ...
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I'm trying to import old home videos from a camcorder (from about 1991) that uses cassettes, onto my Mac. I tried searching for this here and I found this: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1943045&#1943045. But I actually don't have a newer camcorder to rerecord it on. Is there a way to get it on my computer without it?

Hello Cris,
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Newbie: Trying to import from an old camcorder DVD

Hi,
Bit of a vague question but hope someone can help.
I have been given a DVD+RW which was taken directly out of an old (>3yrs) home camcorder.
- When I put the DVD into my home DVD player (the standard gadget connected to the telly), it works fine: there are around 20 short sequences which run one after the other (there is no DVD treatment added, i.e. no menus no music no navigation) - it is just like a VERY old tape camcorder would be, with a handful of contiguous scenes.
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- From what I can tell, there are two folders in the root directory of the DVD. One is either empty, or only contains files which are not considered "compatible media" by PPro (so they don't appear for import), the other directly has a single file which is around 275Mb so I believe it contains ALL the video I have referred to above, however PPro only appears to import the first bit.
Any thoughts?
On a related but more general point, if I want to import a "normal" DVD - i.e. a film on a purchased DVD, or some corporate internal DVD films I have in the drawer - are there any special tricks, do I need any other hardware, or is it again just a case of importing from the import menu?
Thank you,
Alastair

For your own DVD from your camcorder:
1. Copy your VIDEO_TS folder to your computer;
2. Your video is stored in the VOB files, namely "...01_00.VOB, ...01_1.VOB, ...01_2.VOB" and so on; each VOB contains some video;
3. You are able to view and edit the VOB files in PrPro CS5.
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Capturing from old camcorder...

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Ah, I see...but if I wanted to give it a go without adding any hardware, how would I plug both the camera and the drive in? Would I need another different firewire cable?
One that would match the other input on this image I found?
http://img1.qq.com/digi/pics/2006/2006727.jpg
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You'll need a "DV Device." A DV Device can be a DV camcorder, DV VTR or DV Converter that has both analog and Firewire ports.
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-DH

Old camcorder

Hi
I have been given an old sanyo vm-EX25P camcorder with no USB or Firewire port
it has my sons wedding on the tape (sony 8mm tape video8)
Is it posible to get it into iMove?
if so, how? I have never used iMovie and a camcorder before.
thanks
iMac g3, iBook12, 'Minimac superdrive' Mac OS X (10.4.4) lacie 500gig Nas running XP,

Hi shaka,
video8 is an analogue-video standard as VHS, it needs some kind of digitizing... so, have a read here:
From VHS to DVD
Give New Life to Old Movies
http://www.macworld.com/2004/05/features/fromvhstodvd/
hope, that helps...

How do i import videos on a sony ccd trv11 old camcorder

how can i import videos from a sony old camcorder

Which MacBook do you have? The Late 2009 and Mid 2010 MacBooks don't have a firewire port.

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Yesterday I transferred a couple of camcorder mini dv tapes to i-movie. For each tape transferred a new "event" file was created. Where on the system can I see details of these files (format, size of file etc) . Many thanks. Angus

angusapple wrote:
... Where on the system can I see details of these files (format, size of file etc) .
.. what for?
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JVC old camcorder into FCP X

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Here is my hardware/software setup:
1. VCR: JVC HR-S7600U SUPER-VHS VCR - output via S-Video and RCA audio cables
2. CAMCORDER: JVC GR-DVL915U MiniDV Camcorder - output via Dynex Firewire 800 9-to-4 Pin Cable
3. COMPUTER: Mid-2012 MacBook Pro 15" Non-Retina - Mac OS X 10.7.4, 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
4. SOFTWARE: Final Cut Pro X version 10.0
Basically, the signal-path I have in mind looks like this:
VHS+VCR to Camcorder via S-Video and RCA audio cables
Camcorder to Computer via 9-to-4 pin Firewire cable
Import via FCP X
Please let me know if you forsee any problems with this. Assuming the signal-path works, I still need advice on how to run FCP X to perform the actual import and convert.
Thanks!

You need to post this over in the FCP-X forum:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/professional_applications/final_cut_pro_ x
This forum is for FCP-7 and earlier.
MtD

DV Camcorder as passthrough or converter box for analog import to iMovie?

Greetings,
I've read a lot of posts about doing analog to DV conversions, but would still appreciate some comparitive comments about what tends to work better in terms of preserving analog video quality when imported into iMovie.
I'm doing the conversion with a Pinnacle Movie Box (wish I'd read the posts from the Pinnacle skeptics before I bought it); the VHS, which looks decent played on a TV, seems to be suffering badly in the transfer. Also, there are vertical black bands at each side of the frame in iMovie and a horizontal band of skewed video at the bottom. Is that a ratio or scanning problem? Or???? Any way to correct?
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BnB

I wanted to let you know that I made a practice dvd today, sampling edited clips from four different sources of imported vhs video--some of it 16mm dubbed to video around 20 years ago--into iMovie. I worked in the update of 6 to see if the application had stabilized at all. I've been working only in 5.0.2 recently.
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On a roll,
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iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.3.8)

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Thanks

One thing that I have noticed is that Apples built-in camera is optimized for Face Time, so it sometimes captures at 30 frames per second, but if there is not a lot of motion in the frame, it might use 12 or 15 frames per second. So it has variable frame rates. This is great for FaceTime, but not so great if you are trying to keep the audio in sync.
The way to fix this is to use QuickTime Pro or MPEG Streamclip to save the movie out with identical specs except to specify 30 frames per second (or 25 in a PAL country).
I wonder if you are running into a similar problem in QTPlayer. If it is making a variable frame rate movie, you could fix it by dragging the movie into MPEG Streamclip and exporting as the same kind of movie, but with a fixed 30 fps frame rate. MPEG Streamclip is free and quite useful for stuff like this.
Just a thought.
Right now my QuickTime Player is hanging so I can't test to see if you could set the frame rate directly in QuickTime Player X.

How can I get imovie 11 to recognize my camcorder?

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Is there another application I could use?

Hi
This is what I collected durig the years.
NO CAMERA or A/D-box
Cable
• Are You sure that You are using the FireWire Cable - USB-Cable will not work for miniDV tape Cameras
FireWire - Sure not using the accompany USB-Cable but bought a 4-pin to 6-pin (or 9-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
• Toggle 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
• Camera set in Playback mode - NOT Recording mode
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 e.g. recording and playback to TV)
A/D-box
• Is the dip-switches set right ?
• Set to same standard as recorded/editing e.g. NTSC 29.97fps or PAL 25fps
• Try resetting it
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
External device’s (hard disk’s)
• Should be FireWire as USB/USB2 performs badly and so does Airport or Net-work connected ones too.
• MUST BE - Mac OS Extended formatted - UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange - DO NOT WORK for video due to 4Gb barrier.
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 minimum 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. No Camera or A/D-box
• GarageBands fix - Close iMovie, Open GarageBand, Play some notes, Close GB and iMove can now be OK
• Does Your Mac have a FireWire Port
• White MacBooks - don't
• MacBook-Air - don't
if not then a few Mac’s has a PCM-CIA slot and there are FW-Cards that makes a FW-port this way
else - NO SOLUTION
Only option as I get it is either
• Use another Mac to Capture material (to an external USB2 - Mac OS Extended formatted hard disk - or -
• Change to another Camera that can be used with Your Mac (no there are no miniDV tape Cameras that can)
• If Your Mac-Book has a PCM-CIA Card place - then there are FW-port-Cards and then
You can import via this - but I've not seen this on more modern Macs. My PowerBook G4
has one and this FW-Card-port works greatly.
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)
• Screen Saver - OFF
• Energy Saver - OFF
Using WHAT versions ? .
• Mac OS - X.5.4 ?
• QuickTime version ? (This is the heart in both iMovie and FinalCut)
• iMovie’08 (7.1.?), 09 or 11 ?
• 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 helpful 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 Choice / 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 un-installing 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 helps
DJ1249 wrote
The problem was the external backup hard drive that is connected, you need to disconnect the external drive before the mac can see the video camera.
MaryBoog wrote
Maybe your problems is solved in the meantime, but for all others this might help as I had the same problem, also have the Sony HDR-HC7, but the 7e (Europe, PAL). I found this link today and it works perfectly
//support.sony-europe.com/tutorials/dime/videotransfer/vtransfer.aspx site=odw_en_GB&sec=DVH&m=HDR-HC7E
What I exactly did.- put camera in play mode - open guide - choose connection guide - choose comp./printer (where to transfer movie to) - select connection.- i-link (on my camera) but equal to firewire - OK - choose HDV - choose NO for conversion of i.link.
Settings are shown then (VCR HDV/DV.- HDV and i.link-conv..- OFF), press OK, OK, END.
Switch camera off. Connect firewire cable to camera & Mac. Switch camera on, in play/edit mode.
Open i-movie, choose import from camera. On screen below the camera connection is shown.- DV (HDV). Now you can import, automatically or manually.
This worked perfectly for me. Took me 2 days to find out. Could not find any clear thread explaining what I had to do on the camera and the manual was not clear either.
Yours Bengt W

Load Mini-DV through a Camcorder S-Video Output

I have an old camcorder that only has output via S-Video connection. I have an iMac that is about 5 months old. I have iLife '09 and I want to load my old video footage from these Mini-DV tapes to my Mac. How can I do this? I have searched the web and found products such as video input adapters,
http://www.greennet.ca/video-input-adapter-ieee-1394-firewire-external-ntscpalse cam-p-339705.html?ref=3&currency=USD#Review
, is this how I need to go about doing it? I am really not sure and everywhere I look it seems to be a little pricey. Thanks for your help.

The EyeTV Hybrid will accept an S-Video connection.
The EyeTV Hybrid will bring in the clips as MPEG2, so they must be converted before editing in iMovie.
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Old camcorder--DV Passthrough--No Onestep!

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