USP Sony DVD Camcorder Importing problem

Reading your messages, makes me feel that I should go out and get myself a HD Camcorder.
Right now however I have a USB version and I just cannot get it to handshake with Movie HD 6.
I appear to be following all the rules, but I cannot get passed the system thinking its DVD Play that I am after.
DVD Player takes the whole screen, plays the Camcorder DVD perfectly, but because the software takes the whole screen I am locked out from getting to any functions.
Is there another version of iMovie that I should be using?
Thanks for any response.
John

iMovie is a video edit app meant to work with firewire connected miniDV/D8 camcorders
no support via usb, no support of DVDcorders... sorry to say.. :-/
Reading your messages, makes me feel that I should go out and get myself a HD Camcorder.
if you want to use the iApps, as they are intended for, you should buy a miniDV camcorder, standard or Hidef (=which needs a powerful Mac...)...
besides:
the DVDplayer app is a ... ehm, player app, no converter for DVD content to iM... and making the screen smaller: while the dvd plays, hit -1 or -0 to make the player window smaller...

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Sony DVD Camcorder to iMac

I've been trying to figure out a way to import video from my Sony DVD camcorder. I've searched these forums and so far much of the advice is not to buy Sony DVD camcorders. While I understand the good intentions of this advice, I like all the other advantages which the Sony DVD camcorders offer.
That being said, I have two questions which will help me decide whether I really should return the Sony DCR-DVD 205 and/or use a Sony DCR-DVD 305 instead:
1) Some others have suggested exporting the A/V out from the DVD camcorder and feeding it into the analog port of a DV camcorder. I happen to have a DV camcorder (broken lens but fine for this purpose) which can record the analog input onto a DV tape. This allows me to use the firewire out from the DV camcorder to the iMac just fine. I have tried this technique and while it is a hassle it appears to work well. Here's my question: Am I losing a significant amount of quality or resolution by converting DVD to analog to DV to iMac? The picture quality seems OK so far but I'm wondering if I am missing something.
2) So my next question is thiis: Is it worth getting the 305 model instead? Unlike the 205, the 305 has a USB 2.0 port. But from everything I have seen, USB 2.0 ports are far from ideal when it comes to transferring digital quality video.
Thanks in advance. I am going a bit crazy trying to figure out what to do about this.
iMac g5

welcome TeamIguana to the  board ...
you've done your research on this board about DVDcorders, so you do know, the iApps don't support such devices ... you miss the convenience of simply plug-in/hit import/done... and some others...
you have two options:
convert from dvd (please use the forum search for that popular issue), or, as you wrote, a playback-analoge-digital conversion...
the loss in pic quality happens while playback a dvd...- you record in a codec called mpeg2, which is a very, very effective compressor...- a standard iM project of 2h=~26GB gets compressed with mpeg2 to fit onto a 4.7Gb single-layer dvd-r...
to be so effective, mpeg uses different "tricks", e.g. it doesn't store every frame of the 30fps a video contains... dv (as on miniDV, or iM's native internal codec) does so... as you probably know: mpeg2 is a delivery format, no edit format...
so answer to 1): due to mpeg standards, you have a loss of pic quality. any miniDV would be ... better.- but it has to fullfill your tastes and standards, if it is ok to you.. just do it
ad 2) iMovie doesn't support the import via usb2.- when you're lucky, you get some Sony-made app with that device which allows to remotely control the corder via usb2 to force it to playback/stream the video to the Mac.. HardDrivecorders behave like some ordinary harddrive, easy to drag'n drop file from them to the Mac.. but a DVDcorder? even, when you hit manually "play"... how should your Mac know what to do with that stream of data coming via usb??
you guess it allready; I'm not convinced by DVDcorders
so, just to feed my personal curiosity:
I like all the other advantages which the Sony DVD camcorders offer.
... which one?

HELP!!!! Sony DVD camcorder, i need to edit the video on iMovie

hi, im using my friends Sony DVD camcorder for a project and i need to somehow edit the video on my mac using iMovie, but the video files arent opening with quicktime or iMovie. the tag on the icon is .VOB
can anyone help me figure this out??

im using my friends Sony DVD camcorder for a project and i need to somehow edit the video on my mac using iMovie, but the video files arent opening with quicktime or iMovie. the tag on the icon is .VOB
VOB files are "muxed" MPEG and as such are not compatible with QT. Even if you have the QT MPEG-2 Playback component ($20) installed, QT is not "natively" compatible with AC3 audio. Basically you have to options:
1) Get iMovie '08 to do a "Camera Import" which will convert the AC3 audio to Linear PCM and stor it in an MOV file container and then modify the MPWG-2 content effectively turning it into a Motion-JPEG and merge the modified video to the same MOV file container with start and/or end offsets to minimize drifet between the two.
2) The other option is t copy the non-zero VOB title sets to your hard drive and then use an MPEG-based, third party converter like iSquint (free), MPEG Streamclip (free) with the QT MPEG-2 Playback component ($20), FFmpegX (donation-ware), Visual Hub (pay-ware), etc. to converte the VOB files to an "edit" compatible iMovie '08 (or eariier version) compression format.

Sony DVD camcorder series to miniDV camcorder to iMovie?

I have read many posts about the inability to import these into iMovie. I have a friend who bought one and wants to know if I can put his video on the web. Is it possible to run the AV outputs from his camcorder into the AV inouts of my miniDV camcorder, and then use the Firewire out to iMovie? i do this with old VHS tapes, and the miniDV camcorder acts as an A/D converter.
Thanks,
Ken

I have a Sony minidv camcorder DCR-TRV20, and although I have never done it, it has the ability to accept input from a Sony Hi-8 camcorder and pass it on to Imovie. If I recall corectly, this step is necessary to translate the Hi-8 analog signal to digital.
should that fail, you could purchase a Canopus ADVC-100 and use it to upload vcr videos,hi-8 videos, and minidv videos into Imovie. This is what is use and it works just fine. My unit cost me about $120 three years ago. I do not know whether or not there are new models.

Sony DVD camcorder to iMovie?

I can't seem to get my Sony camcorder DVD-403 to import into iMovie 08. So I have these really nice family movies that I would like to edit. They are now all on small, finalized DVDs. I have an external DVD drive hooked up to my computer. (Since I can't fit the mini-dvds in the slot drive.) What program should I use to rip that data off the DVD? Do I need a program to convert the data? I am technically challenged though. So what kind of data do I have? What do I need to convert it to for iMovie? Any help would be most appreciated. I'm looking for easy here and am willing to spend a little money on a program that simplifies things.
Much thanks!

What program should I use to rip that data off the DVD? Do I need a program to convert the data?
No need to literally "rip" the content since your files are not copy protected. All you really need to do is copy the "muxed" MPEG-2 (usually VOB title set) files to your hard drive and then convert them to a format compatible with iMovie '08. I prefer MPEG Streamclip (free) together with the QT MPEG-2 Playback component ($20) as it allows you to convert your content to any iMovie '08 acceptable compression format (i.e., DV, AIC, M-JPEG, Photo-JPEG, MPEG-4, or H.264), as well as, crop/scale and adjust brightness, saturation, contrast, and/or volume as part of the process. iSquint (free) will convert to MPEG-4 or H.264. FFmpegX (donation-ware) and Visual Hub (pay-ware) will also convert the files to multiple iMovie '08 compatible formats.

Sony DCR-HC96 import problems

I'm having problem trying to import my movies to iMovie 08 from my Sony DCR-HC96.
I connect the camcorder to its dock, connect the power cable and the Firewire cable (i-link), switch on and fired up iMovie 08. I press the import button but it just tells me that no camera is connected.
I have replaced the Firewire cable but it still does not help.
Can anyone suggest any further action?
Interestingly it has become harder and harder to import my movies from the camcorder and at one point I had to hold the cable in a certain way to get an import option - which leads me to beleive that the dock is at fault...but at £70 for a replacement from Honk Kong I think I'd be better off buying a new camcorder!
Any suggestions what maybe wrong/new camcorder that will work with a Mac!
Message was edited by: davekirwin

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Sony HDR-FX7 import problem

I just got a new Sony HDR-FX7 and when I tyy to import it tells me there is no camera attached. I have been on the phone with Sony for over two hours and they have no idea. I have tried in FCP and imovie with no luck in either program. Everything works fine with my other cameras and other devices. Anybody have this problem or any suggestions on what to do.
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Hey Photos341,
I am having problems with FX7. I got it a few days ago and I can't capture footage from the tape. I'm able to see the tape BUT I can't capture in HD. Here is my thread, I have not received any solid advice from anyone as to how to solve this. I was at the apple store today and was told that sony was not quite compatable with FCP, but there is a work around and some sort of plug-in is required to get it going.
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=4655824#4655824

Camcorder Import Problems

I am using a Sony Handycam DCR-DVD301 and since it uses the mini dvd discs, I am unable to directly import the video from the discs. I bought a USB cable to try and import it that way but I'm not quite sure how to do that. I intend to get the video and work with it in iMovie for a school project. Is there any way to get the video onto my hardrive? Thank you for the help.

Hi Abraham:
How do I do that?
By converting the DVD files to something iMovie can use...
Using Mpeg (DVD) footage
http://danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6010.shtml
some helpful tools:
MPEG StreamClip:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
Apple MPEG2 PlayBack Component:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
DVDxDV
http://www.dvdxdv.com/
Come back with questions!
Sue

Another camcorder import problem

When I try to import video from an HF20 Canon HD camcorder, iMovie 9 always pops up the iSight window with my puzzled looking face staring back at me. Under the window is the "Camera: Built-in iSight" pop up window that would let me import video from my built-in iSight camera. Unfortunately, there is no entry for the HF20. The camcorder is one of those allegedly supported by iMovie 9. It is a memory based camcorder, having both built-in memory and a slot to accept a supplemental memory card (SDHC). The built-in memory is 32 GB, the SDHC is 16 GB.
I've gone through all the troubleshooting tips I can find on this forum, and elsewhere. The camera does show up in System Profiler as "Video Camera" on one of the USB High-Speed Bus entries under the USB Device Tree category. I've plugged, unplugged, powered down, powered up the USB and power cables at various times. I've reset the PRAM, I've rebooted the machine, I've unplugged all other USB and Firewire devices, except for the keyboard.
Fortunately for me, this camcorder is owned by a friend, and I'm not out the $700+ bucks on it ... but I can't see why it won't work. I've used Macs since 1988, and I've made many movies with them. I have successfully imported lots of footage into iMovie HD (iMovie 6) using a FireWire camcorder and a G5 PowerMac.
The only thing I can think of is that when I migrated from my old G5 mac to this new iMac a couple of weeks ago is that I reinstalled iMovie 6 from my original iLife disk. I know the two versions of iMovie are supposed to coexist peacefully, but I have suspicions that I have some type of extraneous preference file that's sabotaging me.
Any ideas or comments from people in similar circumstances?
Thank you.
Eddie

This is weird! As far as I know when I originally imported the videos to my iMac I used the DV default setting. The imported movies have now been transferred from my iMac to my Lacie external drive. When I open a movie from the Lacie drive no black bars appear which I understand is usually an indication that a widescreen setting has been selected. However when I drag and drop a clip to a new movie, again with DV selected, the black bars appear. I am just a tad confused!
Sorry to be a pain.
David

Sony DCR-HC37E Import Problems

I'm trying to import an hours' worth of footage from my Sony DCR-HC27E into iMovie 6.0.3. However, when I try to import iMovie will only capture 2:02 minute clips meaning I can't leave it to import.
The only reason I can think of why this is happening is that I'm importing all files to an 80GB USB1.1 external which can't be written to at the same speed as the video which is coming in from Firewire.
I'm having exactly the same issue with FCE3.5 HD too.
Any help?

iMovie 7 not iMovie 8

Importing and Using Video from Sony DVD Camcorders

I have a Sony DVD Camcorder (DCR-DVD 92) and I have recently shot a lot of footage which is now on my computer. The file extensions are .BUP, .IFO, and .VOB. I am able to import some of the files into final cut but they are shortened to only a few seconds each when in reality, they were shot for several minutes. Is there a way to make these work or to convert the files so they can be edited in Final Cut Pro 5?

mrescobar 1 1,
You should find that GreatVideo! v1.7 for Mac OS X - 10.4', by Software Architects, Inc., solves your problem. Converts from Sony to Mac readable format.
Come back if you have questions.
LM

My Sony Dvd recorder is not recognized

Since I downloaded iMovie 09 I can get it to read my videos off of my Sony dvd camcorder. iMovie 08 worked well with the Sony but now I can't upload videos. Am I doing something wrong or is iMovie 09
not compatable

I have similar problem with Sony dvd 505E, Imovie09 will not import files, says they are not readable,however Iphoto is able to read from same Handycam the still pictures stored on the memory stick. This Sony handycam, using same USB connection, has no problem importing movies into Windows PC but i would like to edit in Imovie09.

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.

Sony DVD403E camcorder?

The sony dvd camcorder, doesn't have firewire, it has USB. The format it
stores data on the 'dvd' isn't dvd format. So I have to use the dumb sony
application 'Picture Package' to get the files off the camera. It stores these
as 'mpg' files, but they dont play on the mac! Sony have probably installed
their own codec. I'm pulling my hair out!
All I want to do is edit some video with iMovie, any ideas what i can do?
all sorts Mac OS X (10.4.9) and a broken ibook screen outside of the repair program...grrrrr.
iMac 20'' Mac OS X (10.4.9) and a broken ibook screen outside of the repair program...grrrrr.

Return the camera and exchange it for one that records to DV tape and includes a Firewire connection.
You'll keep you hair and your sanity.

Quick Time PRO + DVD camcorder

I have a Sony DVD camcorder which recordes in MPEG2 format. Provided editing software is very basic and output is not compatible with my I-Pod Video. Considering QT7 PRO, but unsure if I also need to purchase QT MPEG2 Playback - Wimdows?

The MPEG-2 Playback Component will be required to view your DVD files using QuickTime Player.
It will not export audio from this format.
You'll need the help of third party software (hundreds of options) to rip your DVD formats to either edit in QuickTime Pro or export to the iPod settings,

USP Sony DVD Camcorder Importing problem

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