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

Firewire card would help you greatly.

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

Garage sale and look for an old computer with firewire. Then download this ScenalyzerLive Page (http://www.scenalyzer.com)

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.

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

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

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 . . .

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

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/product/1173741-REG/apple_md464ll_a_thunderbolt_to_firewire_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/product/798879-REG/Newer_Technology_NWTFIR1369AD_FireWire_800_400_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/product/899911-REG/Tether_Tools_fwbi49blk_TetherPro_FireWire_800_9_Pin.html

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

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.

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

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/help/14220/windows-movie-maker-download

Movie Maker can capture DV off your camera via firewire.

Mark

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

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 (http://www.videohelp.com/software/WinDV) . Long out of development but free and virtually bomb-proof. After that, have you any experience of capture, or do you need some guidance?

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

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….

I have around 450GB remaining memory on my HP and about 7.5 GB remaining on my iMac.

All my tapes are MiniDV and are approx 30 min in length

As far as what I want to do is just cut out all the mistakes and shorten long sequences, I get bored watching some of them, that I thought were very good when I shot them, I can probably cut every 30 min tape down to 10 minutes of decent watchable footage

This adapter you mentioned, exactly which one is it that will allow to record directly on my mac from my camcorder?

I am probably over thinking all of this, and I do have a lot of memory on my HP

Here's the adapter you need: https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Thunderbolt-to-Firewire-Adapter/dp/B00SQ2CJUS

Here's the cable you need: https://www.amazon.com/Male-Clear-Firewire-Cable-devices/dp/B00695BFKE/ref=pd_lpo_147_tr_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=F2HRZ7SFZMKJQV74F5NB

If you only have 7.5GB of storage space left on your iMac, it's time to invest in an external hard drive.

Your first decision is Mac/PC. I can only offer help with PC and I'm a recent convert to HD, hence still handling MiniDV tapes now and then.

AVI's are big files. As Boyd says, a standard tape holds an hour's worth - around 13GB - commonly a few minutes more, though there are/were LP's that I never used (I've never met half-hour tapes, but why not?). They download ('capture') in realtime, i.e. about an hour each. Label each tape for identification. WinDV (as above) detects scene change and automatically identifies each clip with the tape number (or whatever you wish) plus an origination date/timestamp. Other progs use different systems, some don't even separate the clips.

Once in the PC, they are handled separately. Reviewed with Windows Media Player (or whatever), each can be deleted out-of-hand or retained for later use. To trim the clip down to remove the boring bits I'm currently using Pavtube Media Magician ? Manage/backup/lossless join/convert/edit camcorder AVCHD MTS/M2TS/MXF and upload to YouTube. (http://www.pavtube.com/media-magician/) (currently showing at $23, I think, but there's a free trial version).

If you've done it before, it will come back to you. Good luck!

This adapter you mentioned, exactly which one is it that will allow to record directly on my mac from my camcorder?

I posted links for the adapters earlier in this thread, and Edward's are also good. However, you really haven't given us enough information to ensure that these recommendations are correct.

Exactly which iMac do you have? Does it have a thunderbolt port? And there are different kinds of firewire cables and ports too. Before buying anything, confirm that you are getting the right connectors. Google Images should be able to help with this.

I agree with Brian - you need to decide what platform to use (Mac or PC) before proceeding. You can add an external drive to the Mac if needed, but then you need to determine if your Mac supports USB 3.0 because 2.0 will be too slow. And not all USB 3.0 drives are created equal, you want a fast one. Generally speaking, these will be the larger desktop drives that have their own power adapters.

I think I will go with the PC setup, for several reasons,
I have much more memory available there
I have the firewire plug on the back of the computer and the correct cable and I am pretty sure I have tried to use it once before
I guess I need to decide which of the two editing programs to use, I am looking for easy to use

This one is easy to use and will get the job done for your HDV footage.

HDVSplit 0.77 beta - Download (http://www.videohelp.com/software/HDVSplit)

Andrew

Andrew, help me to understand, this program you suggest to download is just to assist me in getting my video from my camera to my computer and it is not an editing program. Is that correct??

Yes, it's small and only gets the data off the tape and on to your computer. You can then edit in your software of choice.

Andrew

easier said then done, I went to that site and tried to download and something called HowtoSimplified came up when I clicked the download button it just went back to my search page again tried again and got in and got sent from place to [lace and then they want me to agree to all sorts of things and update drivers and they want my full name and email address, so no way for that one.

Oh by the way I tried to load one tape with the Corel video studio using their movie wizard, I clicked on the capture button and started the tape, it played on the computer screen, these tapes are 1 hour long.

When it was done I could not find it anywhere

this is why I am here seeking help, 10 years ago there was a very simple program for windows called ULead Video Studio, but now nothing supports it, is always some issue when I try to make a movie or download my tapes into the computer

I downloaded a copy and have attached the zip file to this post.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

Alternatively, why not download a trial of Vegas Pro or even Vegas Movie Studio, - now both available from Magix. Capturing DV (or HDV) is very easy with the Vegas programs,
I'm not sure but in the latter days of Sony ownership, I think the trial versions imprinted renders with a notice that they were trials, but the captured footage is left clean. The trial is for 30 days so probably long enough to organise the capture exercise.

I posted links for the adapters earlier in this thread, and Edward's are also good. However, you really haven't given us enough information to ensure that these recommendations are correct.

Exactly which iMac do you have? Does it have a thunderbolt port? And there are different kinds of firewire cables and ports too. Before buying anything, confirm that you are getting the right connectors. Google Images should be able to help with this.

I agree with Brian - you need to decide what platform to use (Mac or PC) before proceeding. You can add an external drive to the Mac if needed, but then you need to determine if your Mac supports USB 3.0 because 2.0 will be too slow. And not all USB 3.0 drives are created equal, you want a fast one. Generally speaking, these will be the larger desktop drives that have their own power adapters.

Actually , USB 2.0 works just fine : I use it all the time with my older MaBookPro , which only has USB 2.0 , to capture HDV / DV / DVCAM footage onto an external G Technologies 1Tb external drive . My camcorders connect to the MBP via FireWire 400 but the external drive is set as the scratch disk .

In fact , for standard DV footage , USB 1.0 works just fine - back in the days when I shot on my DCR VX-1000 , I used to edit either on my PowerBook G4 or PowerMac G5 using USB 1.0 external drives as scratch disks .

Capturing/editing is done in FCP7 , although I do have an earlier version of iMovie for very simple jobs , and if just dumping to DVD , Roxio Toast will ingest and burn in one operation .

Very interesting Derek. I had problems with USB 2.0 and know that others did too on the Mac (although evidently it worked fine on Windows). Perhaps it is related to what other USB peripherals were in use?

I believe standard definition DV is 25 MB/sec and the USB 2.0 drives I've tested clock in the 30 to 35 MB/sec range. Firewire 400 supported 50 MB/sec, that is what I always used "back in the day", and the slower drives could still be problematic.

I don't use USB 2.0 today, my inexpensive USB 3.0 drives have speeds around 180MB/sec. If nothing else, it makes copying and backing up a lot faster!

...I believe standard definition DV is 25 MB/sec...
Nope. DV is 25Mbps - meaning 25 megabits per second. The other numbers are correct, at MBps, megabytes per second. Bits to bytes, divide by 8... The USB2 bus speed was always fast enough by a factor of 10 or more for DV capture, but the drives themselves varied widely. Some drives really didn't like the sustained load of video capture.

How Macs v. PCs fared back in the day? It really depended on what external drive was being used, and USB2 overlapped significantly with ancient ATA drive tech. It was when the later SATA tech completely displaced ATA drives that faster speeds became the norm. Which may have been a slower change in the Apple ecosystem.

If I recall... It was another eon by internet time.

Nope. DV is 25Mbps - meaning 25 megabits per second

Haha, my bad. Have been away from this stuff for too long!

It has been a while for DV and HDV, hasn't it? I'm looking at this HDV deck sitting on my editing desk, and realizing it's probably been over 12 months since I shoved a tape in it. Maybe a lot longer...

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.

Just seen this well-intended warning. It's true that the shielding on Firewire connectors is inadequate by modern standards but it isn't necessary to be so drastic in precautions. My practice has always been:

with the PC running or not:

1) connect the firewire cable to the port on the computer first, (mine is normally permanently there)
2) with the camera switched off and NOT connected to anything else especially a charger/PU, connect the firewire cable (4-pin end)
3) connect the PU to the camera and switch on

The risk with firewire connectors (both 4 & 6-pin) is that the data contacts are not recessed so they can be the first contact when mating. Now most desktop computers are connected to ac supply ground through their 3-pole IEC connectors. Most camera charger/PUs as travel-friendly devices are however double insulated so don't have a ground connection. This means that when ac connected, the camera 'ground' (i.e. firewire socket shield) will normally have a low-current floating ac voltage caused by leakage currents in the PU circuits. Whilst perfectly safe for human use, this current can damage the driver/receiver circuits in the interface if it is presented when the shield is still unconnected between the two devices. Once connected though the interface is as robust as is needed and connecting the camera power supply will allow the two device grounds to be clamped together via the shield. The DC port for the PU is of course quite robust as it passes through power regulators before reaching any sensitive circuits.

I'm concerned about 7.5 gigs being all that is left on the Mac. How big is that drive in total. My rule of thumb is ANY drive is full at 80% capacity. I know some guys will go to 90% but I don't like it that high, especially if is is an OS drive. It sounds like some drive maintenance may be needed if you want that Mac to continue to perform well.

Kind Regards,

Steve

...The risk with firewire connectors (both 4 & 6-pin) is that the data contacts are not recessed so they can be the first contact when mating...
The other risk is that 6-pin firewire connections carry power. Which is why the most conservative approach is to power down the host computer, particularly important in multi-user environments.

The other risk is that 6-pin firewire connections carry power. Which is why the most conservative approach is to power down the host computer, particularly important in multi-user environments.

Every DV/HDV camera that I've ever seen has a four-pin firewire connector, so even if the PC interface card has a six-pin socket, only the send and receive data connections can actually connect to the camera.
You will see that I suggested connecting the PC end of the cable first before the camera. Any fumbled temporary mismating wouldn't harm anything as the cable would be open circuit at the camera end.
I don't see how a multi-user environment would increase the risk to cameras providing anybody using the workstation was familiar with the correct sequence for connecting up.
Presuming that the OP has 120vac equipment, the floating voltage on double insulated unearthed equipment is about half that in the UK. In 18 years of connecting cameras up to firewire using the above method, I've never had a single damage of the interface issue. I accept that the interface isn't up to current ESD protection standards, but it isn't that fragile otherwise it would fail with any handling, powered or not.

Well, I can certainly respect that you've gone 18 years without a blown firewire port. Me too, though I've taken an approach in my own work closer to yours in most cases - if there's no power on the 4-pin side, why worry about it?

That's going back to the early years of firewire - maybe more like 16 years for me.

But, don't underestimate how smart human beings can screw things up in groups! On the human factors side, there's good reason to create SOPs that include powering down all the devices. Not every camera *is* 4-pin, for one. Was it JVC's HDV cams with 6-pin? Not every firewire hookup is *to* a camera. *People forget!* Duh, which end first?

So, make it simple! I'm sure glad we're mostly done with firewire... I think the college where I teach got away with one blown port in a playback deck in about 10 or 12 years of firewire. That's not bad across hundreds of students using 6 cameras and 4 decks over those years. People can be a problem; you have to account for that in your procedures and plans!

... But, don't underestimate how smart human beings can screw things up in groups! On the human factors side, there's good reason to create SOPs that include powering down all the devices. Not every camera *is* 4-pin, for one. Was it JVC's HDV cams with 6-pin? Not every firewire hookup is *to* a camera. *People forget!* Duh, which end first?

So, make it simple! I'm sure glad we're mostly done with firewire... I think the college where I teach got away with one blown port in a playback deck in about 10 or 12 years of firewire. That's not bad across hundreds of students using 6 cameras and 4 decks over those years. People can be a problem; you have to account for that in your procedures and plans!

OK, so multi-user was in the context of a group effort rather than a network (as in Ethernet) setup. I see your point and I suppose there are those with two left hands, hopefully though, not intelligent enough to ask a sensible question on this board. It's better than the complaints that the firewire to USB cable they bought from Ebay doesn't seem to work! :)
When powering down an edit station, that in itself can give a few issues, especially with external data drives connected.

Every DV/HDV camera that I've ever seen has a four-pin firewire connector, so even if the PC interface card has a six-pin socket, only the send and receive data connections can actually connect to the camera.
You will see that I suggested connecting the PC end of the cable first before the camera. Any fumbled temporary mismating wouldn't harm anything as the cable would be open circuit at the camera end.
I don't see how a multi-user environment would increase the risk to cameras providing anybody using the workstation was familiar with the correct sequence for connecting up.
Presuming that the OP has 120vac equipment, the floating voltage on double insulated unearthed equipment is about half that in the UK. In 18 years of connecting cameras up to firewire using the above method, I've never had a single damage of the interface issue. I accept that the interface isn't up to current ESD protection standards, but it isn't that fragile otherwise it would fail with any handling, powered or not.

My DSR500 has a six pin FireWire socket , as does the PDW350 at work , and I'm sure lots of other ENG type camcorders do too .

Well, I can certainly respect that you've gone 18 years without a blown firewire port. Me too, though I've taken an approach in my own work closer to yours in most cases - if there's no power on the 4-pin side, why worry about it?

That's going back to the early years of firewire - maybe more like 16 years for me.

But, don't underestimate how smart human beings can screw things up in groups! On the human factors side, there's good reason to create SOPs that include powering down all the devices. Not every camera *is* 4-pin, for one. Was it JVC's HDV cams with 6-pin? Not every firewire hookup is *to* a camera. *People forget!* Duh, which end first?

So, make it simple! I'm sure glad we're mostly done with firewire... I think the college where I teach got away with one blown port in a playback deck in about 10 or 12 years of firewire. That's not bad across hundreds of students using 6 cameras and 4 decks over those years. People can be a problem; you have to account for that in your procedures and plans!

My first DV camera was my DCR-VX1000 ( great bit of kit back in its day ) bought along with one of the first G3 iMac DV . Back then , FireWire was stated to be 'hot-swappable' and I happily plugged in/out without worrying - never had a problem .

Later on , I read about people blowing ports , and it seemed only sensible to at least turn the camera off before connecting . I have a DSR 11 deck permanently plugged into my computer to capture DVCAM footage from , and keep meaning to get an HDV deck , so never need to connect my bigger camcorder at home ( still plugging
in my V1e though ), but may rarely connect it to my MacBookPro if I need to do a quick edit away somewhere - in that case I plug in to the laptop end first , both powered off , and plugging into the camera I take care to ground the outside of the plug before plugging in
.

I just recently acquired three Firestore FS-4 devices , which also connect via FireWire , and have observed the same precautions when connecting them ( also 6pin to 6pin on the DSR or to the computer , but 6pin to
4 pin with my HVR V1e ) .

The way I see it is , chances are no harm will be done , but it costs nothing to take a little care - so why risk trouble ?

Just seen this well-intended warning. It's true that the shielding on Firewire connectors is inadequate by modern standards but it isn't necessary to be so drastic in precautions. My practice has always been:...
etc


Thanks for the tech information about the principle - I've never seen an explanation before. No doubt you're quite right

Nevertheless, you don't get a second chance and I'd rather start off with a dead system than finish up with one.

My first DV camera was my DCR-VX1000 ( great bit of kit back in its day ) bought along with one of the first G3 iMac DV

I have a DSR 11 deck permanently plugged into my computer to capture DVCAM footage from , and keep meaning to get an HDV deck

Boy that brings back some memories! :) My first serious camera was a VX-2000. Had a bunch of the "fruity colored" iMacs at work, one at home, and gave my daughter a red iMac DV when she went away to college in 2000. For my "serious" work I had the first PowerMac G3 at home, the ugly turquoise one, along with that monster CRT based 19" Cinema Display that weighed about a ton. Had to send it back to Apple under warranty and when it returned, I had to help the female UPS driver get it out of the truck, haha. On the repair work order, Apple called it a "Moby Monitor".

Never blew a firewire port, but I totally fried my Titanium PowerBook G4 in 2003 connecting it to a "big iron" 12,000 Lumen Barco DLP projector with a DVI cable. The projector was connected directly to a breaker panel in the booth and the electrician didn't ground it. That was a real panic, as we were in the middle of technical rehearsals for this opera at the time: Il Trovatore (2003) – boydostroff.com (http://www.boydostroff.com/il-trovatore-2003/)

Went right out to CompUSA and got a new PowerBook G4, but the Titanium had just been discontinued so I ended up with the first aluminum version. Only time I ever bought a new Mac immediately after release, fortunately I had a good backup to restore though. Was still running System 9 at the time and didn't switch to OSX until later that year.

I recently got a Sony HVR-M15U and am in the process of capturing all my legacy DV/DVCAM/HDV tapes which number in the hundreds. It was the only thing I could find for under $1000 and works well for capturing, although there are some other oddities. The manual stresses to always power down both the deck and computer when plugging/unplugging the i.Link cable.