VHS tape to iMovie

Have VCR connected to Canopus ADVC (set for analog)
connected via firewire to MacPro.
iMovie acts like it is reading in, number are moving
on Clip 01 but nothing is showing. The little clip
screen is blue.
Any ideas what i am doing wrong?
Hi Lisette:
Try a long shot. If you have a digital camcorder, hook it up between your computer and VCR. Most digital camcorders will convert the analog to digital
which iMovie should recognize. If iMovie picks it up then there is something wrong with canopus.
Good luck!
Tom L
15'' PowerPC G4,1.67 GHz, 80 GB HD Mac OS X (10.4.8) iMac

Similar Messages

Foortage from vhs tape to iMovie??

how can i get home movies that are on a vhs tape to iMovie? do i have to buy a vhs/dvd burner? please help!

have a read… :
From VHS to DVD
Give New Life to Old Movies
http://www.macworld.com/2004/05/features/fromvhstodvd/

Importing VHS tapes into iMovie

I have several VHS movies that I am importing into iMovie from a VCR to a Pinnacle Movie Box DV which is hooked up to my computer. The box is a few years old and I am having a problem. I cant simply start the import and walk away because without fail every so often the video screen in iMovie goes blue and while the tape is still playing, nothing is being imported. I have to stop the tape rewind it to where it stopped being imported, and start again. This is VERY frustrating!!! Is it my box, or iMovie???

Hi
My Guess. There might be drop outs on Your VHS tapes and Your A/D-box stops
importing then.
I payed up for a more costly way. Canopus ADVC-300. But this costs.
Alt. I used was to connect my miniDV tape Camera and download 1 hour at a time
to tape and use this. The tape has been pre-recorded with eg a wall so that I get
an unbroken time-code on it.
one hour passes are better than constantly supervicing.
iMovie is more accepting to drop-outs than FinalCut Express or pro (my experience)
Setting iMovie to import without breaking up in individual clips works better
for me. (Material from VHS/VCRs doesn't carry the information that can divide
into separat clips anyhow)
Yours Bengt W

Importing VHS tape into iMovie.

I am importing VHS tapes into either imovie 09 or 06. When I play back in the program, it has good quality. But when I save it, no matter what format: mp4, .avi, .mov, etc. The quality is very poor when played back on DVD player.
Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong?

I am importing VHS tapes into either imovie 09 or 06.
Use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09.
iMovie 09 and 11 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.
Your workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, so 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 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 09 is a "lossless" combination.

Is there a way to convert VHS tapes to iMovie?

Need to convert many tapes into iMovie? What do I need to set this up? Software?

I have recently been investigating this very subject.
The Elgato device you mention comes recommended by many in this forum (as least as many as respond on this particualr subject). It is compatible with BOTH Windows and Mac. Amzon reviews (for what what reviews are worth) put Elgato at 250+ of 330 reviews at positive, while the Roxio reviews have most at either end and a clean split between the numbers at best and worst.
I found Elgato on Amazon too late to get one (until they come back into stock), and $30 of gas for the round trip is my only way to get one in-hand within a day, while the Roxio is in-stock intown.

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.

Using iMovie for VHS Tape copy

I am trying to transfer some media from a VHS tape to burn to DVD. I have copied the VHS tape into iMovie successfully but find that the files are much too large to burn to a dvd. I used a DAC 100 to convert and did them in 16 bit. Is there a way to keep quality and transfer about 1 hour and 20 minutes of VHS tape to a regular 4.7 gig dvd?
Thanks

Hi Jerry and welcome!
DV in iMovie runs at 13GB per hour, hence the large file sizes.
iDVD is only concerned with length (max 2 hours as stated, including menus, themes, transitions etc), and will compress that to fit a standard 4.7 GB DVD.
So no worries - 1 hr 20 mins will work perfectly!

IMovie quits importing with gaps in VHS tape

I'm using a Canopus ADVC110 to import old family VHS tapes into iMovie, and the import will quit whenever there are gaps in the VHS tape. Unfortunately there are many gaps, because it was our habit to separate clips that way. Is there an iMovie setting to prevent the import from quitting? I currently have to sit with every tape I'm importing to identify where it quits, and the start a new import, repeatedly, and it's frustrating. I'd rather edit clips once the whole tape has imported. Thanks for advice!

I'm using a Canopus ADVC110 to import old family VHS tapes
The Grassvalley ADVC300 will fix this.
The Grassvalley ADVC300 will "fill in" any missing time codes from tape.
This is a prosumer deck. The time code function is alone worth the price if you have old analog footage. Absolutely NO "Out Of Sync" audio.
I've played around with countless other conversion systems, ranging in price from $79 to $399. Short verison, this is the ONLY unit to own. No dropped frames at all, even with questionable quality tapes, no jitter, great color, excellent sound quality. Zero setup with iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11. ( iMovie HD 06 is the best to import VHS tapes. )
ADVC300 is for anyone who wants to do editing and is concerned about quality of color and speed, for the novice it is an incredible gizmo that will restore VHS tapes to a state close to the original fixing midtones, highlights and shadows on the fly. Not only can you simply convert analog to digital you can actually manipulate the signal going in (if you want to).
A bit pricey but it WORKS.
The ADVC300 has been discontinued by the manufacturer. The included software (which is not really necessary but does enhance performance) is not compatible with OS 10.7 or newer. You can still find the ADVC300 for sale in a few outlets as well as eBay. It will sell between 50% and 100% ABOVE its retail price. Yes, it's that good.
For sale on Amazon and eBay.

Converting old VHS tapes through camcorder to IMovie???

HELP! Have set up VHS and video with output cable to camcorder (Samsung Mini DV). Then firewire from camcorder to IMac and STILL NO LUCK with converting video! Thought I could convert old VHS tapes into IMovie this way, without having to use a Pinnacle Box, etc.....?
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. This has been an ongoing family "project" I have taken upon myself and refuse to take tape to a professional when I know my Mac and IMovie can do a BETTER job!

Sue, that was not my point per se. I am not rich enough to own two video cameras. For others in my position a tried and tested analogue to digital converter seems a simpler answer, and a lot less work.

Importing VHS tape from VCR into iMovie

I'm trying to find out if it is possible to connect a VCR to my iMac and import the content from a VHS tape into iMovie in a similar way to connecting a camcorder to the iMac.
Thanks in advance.

Welcome to Apple discussions!!
I have done lots of this.
To get your VHS video into iMovie, look at the Grassvally 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 09/11 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 09 also).
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.grassvalley.com/products/advc300
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09/11, why?
iMovie 09/11 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 09/11, 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 09 is a "lossless" combination.

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!)

VHS tapes drop-out while importing

Im importing VHS tapes to iMovie and without fail, every so many minutes they drop-out and the screen goes blue, though the tape hasnt stopped playing. Is there some way to stop this? Do I just need a new box? I have a Pinnacle Movie Box DV from a few years ago, and Id prefer not to spend a fortune!

Sometimes it is just the poor quality of the original VHS tapes, especially if the tape was recorded at extremely long play. I think the code was EP rather than SP or LP.
I have recorded ALL my VHS tapes to miniDV so that I would not cause further degradation as I tried to import VHS footage. Probably around 100 hours of miniDV tapes. Most of the tapes were ok with occasional blips of dropped frames.
However, one of my son's baseball games was recorded by someone who made copies of his original tape and gave all the team members copies. It is about 14 years old, and had become absolutely terrible with multiple video drop-outs. I copied the entire game to minDV, and then imported that into iMovie.
I spent a lot of time editing out the bad video drop-outs. Most of them were ok to lose, but some had important audio in the midst of the blue screen. It was tedious editing, and my iMovie quickly bloated up to 100 GB of space. Yes, that is correct......100 GB. Fortunately, I was making the movie on an external drive and had enough space.
I did the final version by sharing the iMovie as Full-Quality QuickTime movie and making a new iMovie with the quicktime one--which ended up being only 8GB!!!
So, you will have to decide if it is worth it to edit those sections on a nearly frame-by-frame basis. Is it worth the time and effort and large size of the movie, or can creatively put some good video clips over the bad to preserve the good audio segments?

Coverted old vhs tapes and downloaded to computer using Roxio. The audio and video don't sync.

I converted some vhs tapes to imovie with Roxie. Every project I created has video and audio that don't sync. What am I missing?

Thanks all-
This question was answered in [another thread|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1966084&tstart=0].

Import VHS Tapes to DVD and iMovie

I have many old VHS tapes I want to finally digitize so I don't lose them. Most are old football games, generally between 1-2 hours per tape. I am working off of a new iMac - 27inch 3.1gHz 1TB hard drive.
I want to do 2 things:
1 - Backup each tape to a high quality DVD for backup purposes - to be played in a DVD player
2 - Store lower quality versions on my iMac hard drive to be viewed/ edited/ possibly uploaded to YouTube or other web based video sites
I have iMovie, and would like the ability to edit if possible - nothing major, ading scores, dates, etc...and possibly manipulating video (cropping of scenes, etc...) but not much.
I have researched and found a few different options. Most threads I have read seem to indicate the need for one of the following:
Canopus ADVC300
Canopus ADVC55
Elgato Eye TV Hybrid
I am willing to spend $100 - $200, but this I'd rather not go crazy. At a certain point it would just be easier to sed them away to be professionally archived to DVD.
Any advice?

I have many old VHS tapes I want to finally digitize so I don't lose them.
I have done lots of that.
To get your VHS video into iMovie, use the Grassvalley ADVC300. With the 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 09/11 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 11).
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 (VCR, Tivo, Satellite Receiver) and convert it to FireWire (iMovie will treat it like a camera).
http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc300
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09/11, why?
iMovie 09/11 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 09/11, 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 11 is a "lossless" combination.

Best way to convert home movie VHS tapes so they can be edited in iMovie HD

Please help! I'm sorry this question is going to be long, but I'm a novice at this.
My goal is to get my VHS home movies (I have about 30 of them) into iMovie so I can do two things.
First I want to burn DVD's so I'll have a copy of the VHS tapes before they go bad.
Secondly, I want to be able to extract small clips from all of the tapes and combine them in a new iMovie project.
Here's what I've done so far:
I purchased a Canopus ADVC110 and got someof my VHS tapes converted digitally but the file sizes were HUGE and eating up my hard drive space. I was down to 6 GB of space left on my hard drive and almost crashed my Mac.
I deleted all these huge files and got my Mac back up to having 111 gigs of space left. Whew!
This week I purchased a Pinnacle converter and started all over. I took a VHS tape, and it was compressed into a nice small Mpeg-4 file and went to iTunes.
Then I tried to drag and drop it from itunes to imovie. That didn't work. I then dragged the movie to my desktop and then dragged it to imovie..... looks like this was going to take a long time to get into imovie. I'm thinking this is too many steps.
Now I am importing the file into iMovie by importing directly from itunes. The file size is 1.04 GB and it is 1 hour and 54 minutes long. It is taking a loooong time to import this movie....like 100 minutes.
I am afraid I am doing this the hard way.
Plus, after reading all the discussion boards and all the problems people are having... I don't even know if I'll be able to successfully edit this movie once it's imported. Plus, after I've edited it (if I can) will I be able to transfer the clips to another iMovie project?
I'm happy with the file size that the Pinnacle converter is giving me. I'm happy with the way the movie appears in itunes.
Because I have **so many VHS tapes** to convert, I'm asking you all if there is an easier way for me to complete this task!
Thanks in advance for any advise. Keep in mind that I'm not tech-sophisticated..... just a middle aged Grandma trying to preserve memories of my family!

_Share" the highlight as suggested_
Thanks Lennart..... I'm not sure I know what you meant by the above.
Do you mean that I share the little clips I want to use in the 'best of project'?
I read the MacWorld article.... it's great thanks!
I want to keep all these converted movies on my hard drive because down the road I want to extract other clips from them so I can make a 'best of' movie for my other family members. I may want to do that next year.... or whatever..... so I want to have the imovies available for me when that time comes.
In order to do this am I going to have to buy a lot..... and I mean ALOT of extra hard drive space? That darn Canopus was really making files for me that were like 60-80GB's per one half hour movie!!
Hey, I really appreciate all the time you are spending with me on this topic. Making these imovie memories are so very important to me.

VHS tape to iMovie

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for