camcorder to imac

[Aldyn]

okay, i couldn't find anything in the search, so i'll post this and hope i'm not duplicating threads.

i have an old camcorder from the 90s (i believe its a sony trv37 hi8) and i was wondering what would be the cheapest way transfer the videos to my intel imac to edit in imovie.

thanks!

 

[Super Macho Man]

For editing in iMovie you will want a device that will convert the video into DV format, which is iMovie's format. This might not be the cheapest way (*) to get analog video into your computer, but any other way would be FAR less convenient and lower quality since you would have to convert the video to get it into iMovie... very time-consuming.

* I think you can do it for under $75 if you are willing to put a little extra effort into it. Here is what I would do. Go to eBay and search for "minidv broken" or "minidv repair". You wouldn't believe how many camcorders are on eBay that have a malfunctioning lens or tape mechanism - neither of which you need, and both of which greatly reduce the camcorder's value. Make sure the model you find supports "AV-DV passthrough" - many Canons and Sonys do. You will connect the s-video & audio outputs of your TRV37 to the inputs on the DV cam, and connect the DV cam to the Mac with a firewire cable. The DV cam acts as a conversion device - that's why it doesn't matter if the lens/drive is broken. You would simply record the video straight into iMovie and that's that.

You might find a working tape mechanism useful for archival purposes, though - keep in mind that DV runs 13GB/hour and a 1-hour cassette costs only about $3, which is a better $-per-GB ratio than hard drives. And much more reliable too.

 

[dextertangocci]

Or you could get an analog to digital converter...

BTW, I think it's time for you to upgrade

 

[Aldyn]

BTW, I think it's time for you to upgrade

ohhh, how i'd love too. but i'm not in the situation to blow a few hundred, and i don't even do heavy filming so i don't know how necessary it would be =/

 

[j26]

If you or a friend has a dvd recorder you should be able to find a way to hook it up to record the output of the camcorder.
Then rip the dvd, Handbrake it and import into iMovie

Its convoluted, but should work.

 

[DigitalJeff]

camcorder to imac

This way works:
If you can find someone with a Digital8 camera with i-link (firewire), this camera will do the job for you, it's compatible with (analog) Hi8 : this camera really converts the Hi8 (analog) content to the DV-format (digital).
Put the Hi8 tape in the Digital8 camera and connect the Digital8 camera with the i-link cable to your iMac. Imovie or even Toast Titanium will recognize this camera and you will be able to import your tapes to your hard drive (with Toast Titanium also possible: directly convert entire tape to DVD)
You might need a big hard drive: 10 minutes of DV content is about 2 Gb!

Good luck!

 

[Aldyn]

This way works:
If you can find someone with a Digital8 camera with i-link (firewire), this camera will do the job for you, it's compatible with (analog) Hi8 : this camera really converts the Hi8 (analog) content to the DV-format (digital).
Put the Hi8 tape in the Digital8 camera and connect the Digital8 camera with the i-link cable to your iMac. Imovie or even Toast Titanium will recognize this camera and you will be able to import your tapes to your hard drive (with Toast Titanium also possible: directly convert entire tape to DVD)
You might need a big hard drive: 10 minutes of DV content is about 2 Gb!

Good luck!

wow, what a simple answer, i didn't even think of it! and if i recall, one of my housemates has a d8 videocamera that he has transferred stuff to pc with!

i'll just jam my tape in his cam! thanks alot. and i have a 500gig hd sooo i should be good (for now haaa)