Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

I have about 16 mini Dv tapes we shot years ago and I just got my hands on a working camera, I have a USB cable connected to the camera and to my iMac. now how do I get the video into storage on my computer so I can edit it. I have i movie but don't know how to use it

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

Firewire card would help you greatly.

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

And my first instinct was to mention about the need for a firewire cable and that this is the digital data transfer mechanism that goes hand in hand with MiniDV and HDV tapes.

Andrew

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

Garage sale and look for an old computer with firewire. Then download this ScenalyzerLive Page

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

USB is, I'm told, very slow and sometimes misses the audio. Firewire capture is the only safe and sure way. A Firewire card will almost certainly have to be added to recent PCs but they are still available.

If you manage to go this route, remember that the camera end of the link is extremely fragile and the camera card must be treated like eggs. The safe procedure goes like this:

Switch everything off - no exceptions.
Connect power and Firewire cables both ends.
Boot the PC, and only when that's ready -
Switch on the cam.

If that doesn't work, then probably the cam connection was fried before you got hold of it. Good Luck!

PS My bad - just realised you are iMac. Donald's advice looks good.

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

If you're Apple you'll need iMovie (you probably have it) and need to check your cam is compatible. Would be an unusual one if it isn't.

See here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204202

Ron

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

Plus from what I remember there are two types of Firewire cable/Firewire connector.Check the socket on your cam and the socket on your iMac.
In fact you might need a Firewire to Thunderbolt adapter for your Mac.


Ron

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

I think Apple has dumped FireWire quite some time ago, so it might very well be, that you will not be able to connect the cam though FW . . .

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

Wow I found my firewire cord, it plugs into the camcorder and I discovered that I also have a firewire plug on the back of my older HP computer. I want to get all these mini DV tapes somewhere to edit them, but first they have to be in that computer. What is next step

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

I have just started a big project capturing over 200 legacy DV and HDV tapes on the Mac. If you have a newer iMac with a Thunderbolt port, Apple makes a firewire 800 adapter that works very well:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...e_adapter.html

But more likely than not, your old cable is firewire 400, so you will need another adapter such as this:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...0_Adapter.html

There are also firewire 800 cables that should plug directly into your camera if prefer, however using the adapter with your old cable should be less expensive.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...800_9_Pin.html

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

Download and install HDVSplit. This program will recognise your cam and when you order it to start working, it captures all takes as separate files.
But like somebody else already stated: only connect cam to pc when all are down otherwise you will blow the FW module of your cam of of the pc.

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

If you have video editing software, it probably has the ability to "capture" the video off the tape. If you don't have any software, then as long as you have Windows, you can download a free copy of Movie Maker.

Try this URL:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...maker-download

Movie Maker can capture DV off your camera via firewire.

Mark

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

If there's no video editor on there already, you'll need a capture (download) prog. You don't say what the OS is. Up to Windows 7 at least (possibly 8, not 10), the simplest capture program is WinDV WinDV 1.2.3 - Download . Long out of development but free and virtually bomb-proof. After that, have you any experience of capture, or do you need some guidance?

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

OK, I fired up the HP, it has windows 7 and also windows 7 upgrade

I have Corel Video Studio 12
and
Movie Maker whichever version came with windows 7

My fire wire cable is marked iEEE 1394, it is a rather heavy wire and as I recall I paid a lot of money for it.

Now my first question assuming all works now, is how do I mark each Mini DV Cassette, do I number them, title them and do I load the whole tape into the computer. I think those cassette are around 25-30 min long and once I get them in the computer and pull out whatever Parts I want can I just delete them from the computer? As I remember I have a lot of footage of me walking around with the camera hanging down and thinking it was off and stuff like that, I want to get rid of all that

FIRST, I forgot how to check remaining memory in a windows PC and about how much will I need for 16 Mini DV tapes?

I know this is a lot of questions, but please bare with me as I reactivate my foggy memory banks

Re: Mini DV tapes from camcorder to computer
 

Standard definition DV is about 13GB per hour and typical tapes hold an hour (something like 63 minutes actually) although they did make shorter and longer tapes. So if the tapes were all full, it would be approximately 200GB worth of video. If they only contain a half hour each then it's around 100GB.

Do you really want to do this on Windows? Every Mac includes iMovie, so for a $36 investment in adapters, you could be up and running on the iMac instead….