Transferring 8 mm tape to FCE

Hello,
I have a Sony 8MM camcorder. I have tried to transfer those video to FCE. I have a USB Dazzler cable . I have tried a couple of he DV converter option on the set up but it still will not capture the images. I thought I could try imprting it to imovie but couldn't get that to work. Any sugesions?

If you just want to get it on your computer quickly you could try iMovie, but it may be at a loss of quality. i have a digital8 sony camera with firewire and it can import into imovie no problem but with no timecode and at lower video quality or it is a more timely process than usual in FCExpress sony makes this:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=1055 1&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11028832
if you have a lot of tapes and you think its worth it or an A/D converter like the canopus advc100 or the other ones fellow users mentioned

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Transferring VHS tapes

I am transferring some of my VHS tapes to my iMac and iMovie (using a hones tech converter) with the plan to make them into DVD's. I have transferred a tape, made the edit, but the only thing I see is to just "burn a dvd". This could only be played on a mac computer. Is there any way to change the format so the dvd can be played on a dvd player?
Also, when I have the new dvd, how do I delete that entire import in iMovie. It just keeps appearing.
Thanks

So, I need a converter and a DVD recorder?
No, just one or the other. If you plan to edit the files and own a DV camcorder, I would check the manual to see it it has a passthrough option than can be used as a converter. (E.g., both my Mini-DV HDR-HC3 and older Hi-8/Digital-8 TRV-DCR520 will do this.) If you need a fixed conversion station, then a DAC or EyeTV device might be better. (E.g., I keep a Canopus ADVC300 connected to my entertainment system for capturing TV/Sat programs by a very old 400 MHz Ti Powerbook.
In the past I have made DVDs that I can't play anywhere except on the TV that the recorder is connected to. I know other people who have the same problem,but I have also spoken to some who can play their recorded DVDs on anything. I have tried several different DVDs, but that didn't work either. My recorder is about 2 years old.
Once recoded to DVD, the DVDs can be played back on your computer using the Apple DVD player, the VIDEO_TS files can be copied to your computer hard drive and played back by either the DVD Player or Front Row. In addition, applications like MPEG Streamclip or VLC can play the VOB files. It is also possible to Convert the VOB files to other compression formats for editing but the quality may not be as good as converting directly from your VHS tapes to DV (or other compression format). It is all just a matter of having the right applications/components installed on your system.
So, if I purchase a DVD recorder with new technology, will this solve my problem?
It probably is not necessary to purchase a new DVD recorder -- merely having the correct software to process the DVD encoded data. Appleman's sample video demonstrates what you can expect going through MPEG-2 whether using an EyeTV device or a DVD recorder. And depending on the VHS source quality, a DAC like the ADVC300 going directly to DV might be marginally better.

Transferring NTSC tapes?

Hello,
I am trying to transfer a lot of old Videio8 analogue tape material to DVD.
I have had two different camcorders in the past. One was PAL, and the other NTSC. Both of them are now dead, but I had already transferred their tapes to VHS, which I am now using for transfer.
To get them into DV format for importing into iMovie(and ultimately to iDVD and disk) I have been transferring the VHS PAL tapes to my current PAL digital recorder and then processing them back to iMovie>iDVD. So far, so good.
But here's the problem: the material originally shot on NTSC. It won't transfer into the PAL DV camera. It's black and white and awful. I've explored workarounds, but to no avail.
Does this mean I have to buy an NTSC DV camcorder to do this process?
Thanks for the advice, in advance.
Clarke
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) 1GB RAM

simple answer:
yes
or a digitizer, which handles both standards....
can you rent anywhere some NTSC-machine...?

Transfering VHS-C tapes to FCE

I am transfering home movies from VHS-C tapes (the small tapes that are fatter than miniDV, that you have to place into a VHS tape adapter) into FCE 4.0. I have to use a VCR and am running that through a DV converter which runs into my external HD by means of firewire. I have easy setup set to DV converter box, but when I am done capturing, I get the error message that the audio might be out of synch due to inproper settings, that's not verbatim but the jests of the message. Since there is only one DV box setting, how do I get the correct setting?

The DV-NTSC DV Converter easy setup expects 48KHz audio. I suspect your converter box may be set for 32KHz audio - you should check it. BTW, what make/model is it?
First check Item Properties for one of the clip(s) you captured - what does it say for Aud rate?
If your clips really are 32KHz audio, you could try creating a new sequence, then before doing anything with it, click on the +sequence name+ in the FCE browser, select Settings, then click +Load Sequence Presets+ and select +DV-NTSC 32Khz.+ Then go ahead with your editing.
One other thing, you really should have the converter box connected directly to your Mac, no other Firewire device connected at the same time. With a daisychained setup, you may run into capture problems, and actually the audio sync message you got may have been caused by the daisychained devices.

Question about making a "highlight tape" in FCE & and trying to save HDspac

All, I am transfering all of my old home videos to DVD. As I am doing this I was going to make a "highlight" tape of each one of my kids. I am half way through capturing all the video but I am running out of space on my (2) Hard drives. I noticed If I made a DVD of a few clips and then deleted the captured & rendered files, as well as the "DV" file (to make more room) that my clips in the seperate SEQUENCE do not work. What is the best way I could do this, since I have to go through all the film before I can export my "highlight" sequence? Thanks.
mc

Personally, I'd buy another hard drive or two. 320GB Lacie d2 Extreme HDs have been going for ~$145 on newegg.com for a few months now. I think you will find editing down your highlights will be much easier if you only have to work in a single FCE project from your original captured clips.
If/when you export a self-contained QT DV movie you get the same quality as the input files (captured clips) - however - if your intent is continued editing with the exported movie, keep in mind that 1) when you export you lose the benefit of the FCE project file and you will have to treat the exported movie as an imported clip in a new FCE project, 2) the movie is flattened in the sense that any effects, filters or adjustments you applied in the FCE project will be permanently embedded in the resulting movie, 3) you expose your video multiple times to the risks attendant with exporting - for example, dropped frames and other possible gremlins and 4) the exported file will itself take up ~13GB per hour of movie.

Unable to properly capture HD video from miniDV tape in FCE

unable to capture HD video from miniDV tape
When I connect my Sony HDR-HC3 miniDV HDV camcorder to my iMac via firewire cable and use Final Cut Express to capture the video from the tape, I do not get a Capture window that allows me to specify in and out points, I just get a playback window that immediately starts capturing and the only option I have in this window is hit ESC to stop capturing. If I let this capture window continue to capture the video from the camera with miniDV HD tape, then the entire tape would be captured as one massive single video clip.
QUESTION: Is there something I change or do to make the proper capture window appear where I can specify in and out points to capture from tape for each clip?
NOTE: using same camera and tape with iMovie with automatic capture enabled, all the clips get captured properly. I also tried to use the manual setting in iMovie and it worked too.
More details(read only if you want more information)
I have a several miniDV tapes containing HD video created on a Sony Sony HDR-HC5 and Sony HDR-HC7. Unfortunately, both these camera were stolen, and I have since moved to a camera that uses flash memory, not tape. However, I need to get the video footage off these tapes, so I bought a used Sony HDR-HC3, it plays the HD miniDV tapes just fine and iMovie reads the video from this camera just fine, but Final Cut Express does not.
When I setup Final Cut Express, I used the Easy Setup and specified:
Format: HD
Rate: 29.97 fps
Use: HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60
These setting match those of the camera and recorded tape. If I use any other settings but these, then Final Cut Express never sees the camera and never opens any capture window at all. Using Quicktime 10 movie inspector on the clips captured by iMovie from same camera, all the clips match this setting too.
Final Cut Express version 4.0.1
iMovie 09 Version 8.0.2 (821)
iMac 2.93 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3 running
Mac OS X Version 10.6.4
My Final Cut Express scratch disk is a Seagate 2TB external USB 2.0 Hard Drive that has been formatted to be Mac OS Extended (Journaled). This external disk is also where iMovie successfully captured all the video from the same camera.

Thanks for the answer. It makes me sad. I thought using Final Cut Express would be an upgrade to a more robust editing system from iMovie, yet iMovie does a superior job of logging and capturing video from HDV video on miniDV tape in comparison to FCE. Not only does iMovie capture each clip on the tape into it's own video file automatically, it also includes timestamp information in the filename indicating when the clip was originally recorded, which appears to be something that is missing from Final Cut Express. Now I realize that HDV miniDV cameras had a relatively short life span in the consumer marketplace and have since all been replaced by flash and hard drive based AVCHD cameras, but from circa 2004 to 2007, miniDV HDV camcorders were very popular and I am sure there are lots of consumers that must be super frustrated by Final Cut Express limited ability to log and capture clips properly from these cameras.
Assuming I do not want to make a rough cut of video in iMovie and prefer to begin my editing project in Final Cut Express (not doing XML export of iMovie project), I need to determine the best way to get clips captured via iMovie into Final Cut Express and determine if there is anything inferior in the iMovie captured clips that I need to be aware of. So far it appears that both iMovie and Final Cut Express reduce the 5.1 surround sound captured on the HDV miniDV tapes to stereo sound, which is not a big lose given the 5.1 sound was recorded from camera's built-in microphone, but it makes me wonder if the video is reduced in any way by the iMovie import process, examining the video in quicktime's inspector window the video appears to be the same in both iMovie and FCE, but I'll research the answers to these questions elsewhere on this forum and post additional questions if I do not find the information I need.

Trouble capturing tape into FCE 4.0

I am a beginning FCE 4.0 user, who is extremely frustrated. The manual has not helped me at all.
I had been using iMovie HD 06 for some time with acceptable results. I have a tape with a lot of overexposed scenes that I was not able to fix in iMovie 06. I do not care for iMovie 8, since it is a step down from version 6, and is a much more limited program. So I thought I’d give FCE a try, since it has superior tools for color correction, brightness and contrast, etc.
Now I can’t even capture my tape the way I did in iMovie 06. If I understand it correctly, I either have to set in and out points on every clip on the tape I want to capture, to get individual clips as in iMovie. This is extremely tedious, and will take me many hours, if not weeks, since I have well over 150 clips on that particular tape. Or I have to capture the tape “now”, which will result in just one continuous clip, with a length of 1 hour. I can then run the command “Mark/DV Start/Stop Detect”, which will divide the clip into segments, but this still leaves me with just one clip in the browser. I can then cut the clip on the timeline into individual clips, and drag these to the browser one by one. This again is very tedious. I have a feeling I am doing something wrong, and that it must be possible to capture the individual clips to FCE. If anyone can tell me how, please do.
I also tried to open two previous iMovie 06 projects into FCE. Unexpectedly, this gave me two very different results.
The first one seemed to open into FCE just fine. All the individual clips were in the browser, and the movie was on the time line. The clips are neatly “Arranged by Name” in the browser window, in the correct order. However, when I played back the movie in the Canvas window, there was no sound, only beeps. So I rendered the movie. Now I am not able to add any effects to the movie in the timeline. I cannot drag any transitions in between clips, nor can I add any color correction and/or any other effects.
The second movie did not open correctly. After opening the project, the sort order of the clips in the browser is in icon view and is wrong. It starts with Clip 169 through Clip 202, and then continues with Clip 01 through Clip 168. Why?
However, when I choose “List View”, the arrange order is correct. When I then choose any of the icon views, and “Arrange by Name” I get the following screwed up sort order:
Clip 01 through 10, Clip 100 – 109, Clip 11, Clip 110 – 119, Clip 12, Clip 120 – 129, Clip 13, Clip 130 – 139, Clip 14, …… Clip 190 –199, Clip 20, Clip 200 – 202, Clip 21 – 99. Why is FCE opening one iMovie project seemingly correctly, but the second one incorrectly?
Again, no sound but beeps, so I have to render. And again, I am not able to add any transitions or effects anywhere.
So far, this is as far as I have gotten with FCE, which is to say, I have accomplished nothing of what I wanted to accomplish. What should I do?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi(Bonjour)!
+I can then run the command “Mark/DV Start/Stop Detect”, which will divide the clip into segments, but this still leaves me with just one clip in the browser. I can then cut the clip on the timeline into individual clips, and drag these to the browser one by one.+
Capture the entire tape is my preferred way to go. I use Mark/DV start/stop detect to break the long clip in segment AND make all those segments independent with the COMMAND-U shortcut (after selecting all segments in browser). Collapse the original clip toggle switch and work with your new clips.
+However, when I played back the movie in the Canvas window, there was no sound, only beeps.+
IMovie and final cut express captured material don't support the same audio container as iMovie works with DV stream and FCE with DVCPRO. The rendering for audio from clips captured in iMovie is normal.
+Now I am not able to add any effects to the movie in the timeline. I cannot drag any transitions in between clips, nor can I add any color correction and/or any other effects.+
IMovie doesn't need "handles" in front and end of clip to add transitions. FCE need extra material to compose the transition (that's the way professionnal video editing software work) and keep the sequence's lenght constant.
I dont understand why you cannot add filters. Please do a test. Import any still image from your user directory images folder into a sequence. Add a color correction filter, and see if it works.
+After opening the project, the sort order of the clips in the browser is in icon view and is wrong. It starts with Clip 169 through Clip 202, and then continues with Clip 01 through Clip 168. Why?+
All versions of FCE have this sorting bug when list view-arrange by name is selected. If you capture from tape and use a 3 digits numbers convention for your clip, you should bypass this behavior.
+So far, this is as far as I have gotten with FCE, which is to say, I have accomplished nothing of what I wanted to accomplish. What should I do?+
FCE is designed mainly to capture material and edit it. Processing a iMovie project is not the ideal workflow. Can you consider to start your projects from scratch within FCE ?
Michl Boissonneault

Problems recording back to tape from FCE

I can't figure this out. For some reason when I go to record my video back to tape, either throught print to video or directly recording off the timeline, the video breaks up, gets digitized, and sometimes the sound freezes.
My set up is a 15" iMac running FCE HD 3.0 with two daisy-chained external hard drives (one for video and one for music). I have a firewire connection to a Panasonic gs-500.
Everything is rendered, the audio is mixed down and I have even tried shutting everything down and then restarting fresh with camcorder on and plugged in.
Any ideas?

Hi(Bonjour)!
With my iMac G4 1 Go ram, I had this kind of problem, ruining my print to video operation.
So, I develop a simple"protocol" to avoid this:
Do a cold start of your mac, turn on your camcorder,plug it. Start FCE, open just one project, and just the sequence to be exported, select all clips in timeline, render it, do an audio mixdown and... (here's the magic) scroll the playhead from beginning to the end of the sequence, with some playing .(it's seem that this process load the cache memory, at least in my own experience)
This procedure always works for me...
If there is a song bought on iTune Music Store, you can't use this track.
Try a test version with just one minute of movie. (set in and out point in timeline and do the print to tape operation).
Does your hard drives are fragmented or full at more than 80% level?
As said earlier, Firewire ports on G4 iMac are connected together and the handling of two HDs plus a camcorder may drive you into problems.
Try a new project with just one drive, or simply the internal one.
Michel Boissonneault

DVCAM tapes to FCE setup required

I need to transfer DV footage from 4 DVCAM tapes onto my G5 for editing in FCE. I'm waiting to receive my copy of FCE HD and I have located a place where I can rent a Sony DSR-11 DVCAM deck. But I am totally unsure on how to connect the DSR-11 to my G5. The DSR-11 shows (I look at brochures) a DV IN/OUT which uses a 4pin iLink DV in-out cable which appears different from the firewire connections in th G5, even if the sales rep at the rental outfit told me there is Firewire out on the deck. Can it be connected directly to my Mac using a Firewire 800 cable or do I need a capture card with the DV IN?. Will Final Cut Express see the DSR as a camcorder/deck? Incidentally I also just received a Director's Cut Take 2 Media box which I could use with the S-Video inputs and DSR S-Video outputs, but it would mean a double conversion, wouldn't it?
Any insight greatly appreciated before I commit money to the rental of the deck. Thank you

You need a four-pin to six-pin FireWire cable. Use the rear FW 400 port on the computer. Yes, FCE will see it. Make sure the deck and FEC are set to work in PAL.

Transferring IMovie clips into FCE

I have imported video clips using a CanonGL2 camera into IMovie6 and would like to drag some of the clips from the IMovie6 DV project into a FCE HDV project.
Is it that simple just to add and drop, or do I have to do any conversions? Or should I reimport the video clips into the FCE project over, I am trying to avoid having to reimport the video again, but not sure if I will lose any quality.

In FCE use File>Import>Files and navigate to the iMovie clips and import them.
You will have to render them to make them work properly.
Here is the manual's info:-
To open an iMovie project:
1 In Final Cut Express, choose File > Open.
2 In the dialog that appears, select the iMovie project you want to open.
The iMovie project opens in the Browser and contains the sequence and the clips as
they appeared in the iMovie Clips pane.
Important: Final Cut Express does not import iMovie sound effects, audio levels, or
transitions. All other applied effects are imported.
3 Double-click the sequence to open the iMovie project in the Timeline.
4 Render the sequence.
The imported clips are linked to the original media files captured in iMovie (found in
the iMovie project’s Media folder). These files are iMovie DV Stream files and are
encoded differently than the QuickTime files Final Cut Express captures. Keep the
following in mind: DV Stream files do not have timecode tracks, so media imported from iMovie
project files cannot be recaptured. All imported source media must be backed up
for future reediting.
Imported iMovie DV files might not play back or print to tape in real time without
being rendered first.
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

Converting analog hi8 tapes into FCE using canopus

I am trying to convert some old home movies (HI8) using a canopus converter (ADVC110). When I play the move clip back in FCE - the image is very blurred/distorted. Am I doing something wrong, or is this to be expected given the tape format and converter I'm using?

Welcome to the forum.
Here are some things to check. The video should not be "very blurred/distorted".
Does the video look sharp when you connect your Hi8 camera directly to your TV? (Check this because the problem could be degraded tapes.)
Are you using good quality cables that are in good condition? Both from your camera to the ADVC and the ADVC to your Mac.
What are the exact DIP switch settings on your ADVC? In North America, all the DIP switches should be OFF (except #2 which could be on if you want the ADVC to default to Analog-IN when you power up.) Note: only change the DIP switches when the ADVC is disconnected from power. And don't connect or disconnect the firewire cable unless both your ADVC and your Mac are disconnected from power (not just shut down).
What FCE Easy Setup are you using?
Have you used the ADVC before with good results? Or is this the first time you are using the ADVC? If so, did you get it new or used?

Transferring VHS tape to DVD

What is required to transfer VHS tapes from a VCR to DVD? Special cable to go from VCR to my Mac?
Thanks for any advice.
Brian

The easiest way to do it is to bypass the computer altogether and get yourself a DVD recorder. Then you just hook up the two units and do a machine to machine dubb
If you don't want to go that route (mind you, DVD recorders are getting pretty cheap) you will have to find a way to bring your analog (VHS) sources into the digital world
One way: A DV converter like the Canopus. Will allow you to do a Capture Now from your VCR thru the Canopus into the puter. You could also use a DV cam as a pass thru device; analog from the VCR to the cam, Firewire from the cam to the puter.
Once you have the tapes in the puter you have to get them into MPEG2 (DVD) format. You can do that by Exporting as Quicktime Movie and dropping the resulting file into iDVD and making a DVD there
This is more steps and more time than using a DVD Recorder but it gives you mo options; like cleaning up the analog signal a little (the newest Canopus converters have TBCs) and using FC/iDVD to create chapters, menus, etc

Transferring audio tape to CD

Can I play an audio tape and record it to iMovie? I would like to increase the volume of one speaker on the tape. Then, I would save it to a CD. Is this possible? If so, what kind of cable would I need to buy?Thanks, Miriam

You basically need a cable that has that same plug for the earphone on both ends.
I have one but I can't remember where I got it.
You plug it in to the Audio In port on your Mac. This is usually next to your headphone jack.
I also have a Tape Deck that has the regular stereo red and white RCA plugs out.
I have a cable that has the red and white plugs on one end and the iPod-sized
Earphone jack on the other end. This works great with Garageband.
I think I got the cable at the Apple Store, but you might also find one at Radio Shack or monoprice.com.

Help Transferring Audio Tapes into Logic

I am using the headphone out jack of my tape player which I then connect to the input of my MAudio 410 which connects to my computer. In order to hear both channels of the tape, should the setting on the Logic track be Stereo or Mono? I made a transfer and one the speakers did not play any sound, so I'm wondering if it can be contributed to an improper setting.
Thanks.

No - Use a lead that splits a stereo headphone jack to two mono jacks and connect both mono jacks to two separate inputs on your interface. Use a stereo track on logic. A mono track will only record one channel, in mono, hence the name...
You can get a splitter lead from a hi-fi or electronics shop.

Transfering 8mm tape recordings to iMovie or iDVD.

Hi, I am new to video recording / editing and have a number of 8mm & VHS tapes that I would like to put together for a DVD to give as gifts to my children. The camera is about 15 years old so the only output is through a 3 wire video and stereo cable. Do I need another type of cable or is there an 3rd party application or piece of equipment that I need?
Thanks,
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.8)

You can do both 8 mm as well as VHS > iMovie > iDVD but you will need some way to import the video footage into the computer via firewire or iLink.
The least expensive approach is to purchase a minidv camcorder with analog to digital pass thru features. This will allow you to connect your existing camera to the minidv camera which will act as the interface to the computer allowing you to import your VHS or 8mm tapes.
Another approach is to use a sony DA1 or DA2 media converter box but these units often run as much or more than mini dv camcorder. Canopus also makes such devices.
Hope this answers your question and good luck.
btw, I highly recommend using firewire over any USB device/s to convert you footage simply because iMovie and iDVD6 are made to interface well with i/Link or FW and not as well thru USB.

Transferring 8 mm tape to FCE

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