Can I Capture Video From A DVD In iMovie?

[TheRick]

I have a MiniDV video camera that I've used to video various things. I have 5-10 MiniDV tapes lying around with stuff on them. Instead of buying more MiniDV tapes (those things are expensive), I want to use my Mac mini to burn them to a DVD and then reuse the tapes. I know iDVD has a "one step DVD" creation feature that makes it really easy to archive the video to a DVD.

Okay, here's my question. I eventually want to use iMovie to create some cool movies using clips from the various footage I've filmed. If I transfer all of the footage from my MiniDV tapes to DVD, will I then be able to grab clips from the DVD back into iMovie so that I can work with them? Basically, can iMovie capture video from a homemade DVD?

By the way, I've had my Mac mini for almost a week now and it's been awesome. It's the first Mac I've ever owned, so I guess that makes me a recent switcher.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

Yes and No

If you create a DVD with no copy protection you can rip back into iMovie, but not terribly easily. My recomendation would be to rip the DV tape to a DV file, and burn a data DVD back up of it. If you want to burn a Video DVD of the file, you can use a program like DVDxDV to rip the video DVD back to a DV file. However, DV tapes aren't terribly expensive so you should look into buying them and keeping them. Re-using them over and over can wear them down and you can lose video at one point.

 

[TheRick]

The thing is, a blank DVD costs about $1/disc as far as I can tell. A blank MiniDV tape costs about $3-5/tape. It would be much more economical to archive to a DVD and reuse tapes instead of buying more tapes.

However, if the quality of the tapes suffer with each reuse, then that kind of shoots down my plan.

 

[AliensAreFuzzy]

I would definately go for just buying more DV tapes. Making an archival DVD and then having to rerip it is very time comsuming, and the quality suffers. Remember, Time is money.

Another thing. With DV tapes, you can store an hour to an hour and a half of uncompressed DV. With a single layer DVD, you can store only about 20 min. So buying DV tapes ends up being cheaper.

 

[lancerx78]

SoundGuyDave is right. re-using DV tapes can cause digital artifacts to appear. I wouldn't re-use a DV tape more than once. If the footage is important, always use a fresh tape.

 

[bootedbear]

If I transfer all of the footage from my MiniDV tapes to DVD

Bear in mind that if you are talking about a video DVD, the video is going to get compressed and you're going to suffer a great deal of quality loss.

If you are talking about storing DV data onto DVD disks then your assertion that

It would be much more economical to archive to a DVD and reuse tapes instead of buying more tapes.

is flawed since you can fit a lot more onto a miniDV tape than onto a DVD.

 

[TheRick]

Thanks for the helpful advice everyone.

Have I mentioned how much I'm enjoying my Mac mini yet?

 

[bigandy]

you can fit a lot more onto a miniDV tape than onto a DVD.

you can also split it into two and dump it on two DVDs.... that's what i've done a few times...