Converting Mini-DV to MAC for editing

[perchfieldmbp]

Hi,

I have a Canon MV750i Camcorder which records to mini-DV, and am keen to get editing my footage.

I'm pretty new to all this so could do with advice- My camcorder only has a USB port, so I'm ultimately wondering how I turn my raw rushes from mini-dv to digital files so I can edit them. Do I need an extra piece of hardware to digitise my tapes or can I do it on my MAC using certain software?

I also have an SD Memory Card slot on the camera & AV out slot.

Any ideas on what are my best options here?

Any help would be massive for me as I'm eager to get going with this.

Thanks,

D

 

[MisterMe]

Hi,

I have a Canon MV750i Camcorder which records to mini-DV, and am keen to get editing my footage.

I'm pretty new to all this so could do with advice- My camcorder only has a USB port, so I'm ultimately wondering how I turn my raw rushes from mini-dv to digital files so I can edit them. Do I need an extra piece of hardware to digitise my tapes or can I do it on my MAC using certain software?

I also have an SD Memory Card slot on the camera & AV out slot.

Any ideas on what are my best options here?

Any help would be massive for me as I'm eager to get going with this.

Thanks,

D

First off, the DV in mini DV stands for Digital Video. It is already the very definition of digital. It is the preferred format for editing video in Apple's iMovie which has been included with every new Mac for most of this decade.

Your problem is that your camcorder does not have a FireWire port. This should not be a problem with the SD card if your Canon can mount it on the desktop. A cheap card reader can mount it even if the camera can't. It is my understanding that iMovie cannot import video over USB. Even if some versions can, most can't. You may have to find another way to get your DV file into iMovie.

 

[arjen92]

I read some information. You should be able to copy the dv material to the sd card. However it's not a format that's great for editing (and I believe it's degraded).

Connect your camera with usb to your mac, open iMovie, see if you can import. USB 2.0 is almost the same speed as firewire. So there is a change that you would be able to import. But it is advisable to have a camera with firewire, it's the standard.

 

[sushi]

I have a Canon MV750i Camcorder which records to mini-DV, and am keen to get editing my footage.

Sounds good.

My camcorder only has a USB port

According to the manual for your camcorder that you can download from the Canon site, you have what they call a DV terminal (4 pin Firewire/IEEE1394) connector on the camera.

It's located on the front of your camcorder underneath the lens area at the bottom.

 

[SteveG4Cube]

According to the manual for your camcorder that you can download from the Canon site, you have what they call a DV terminal (4 pin Firewire/IEEE1394) connector on the camera.

It's located on the front of your camcorder underneath the lens area at the bottom.

Beat me to it, I was gonna say, all Mini DV camcorders should have a mini Firewire port on them.

 

[sushi]

Beat me to it, I was gonna say, all Mini DV camcorders should have a mini Firewire port on them.

That's a pretty fair assumption. Although there have been exceptions. For example, my early JVC MiniDV recorder did not have Firewire.

For the OP, while I'm thinking about it, Firewire is not always listed as Firewire and may be called FW, IEEE1394, iLink, and DV Terminal. Probably some others out there that I missed. Point being is that if you have a camcorder that saves to MiniDV tape, it will more than likely have a Firewire 4 pin port.

 

[perchfieldmbp]

Thanks for all your responses, I've now ordered the 4-pin cable.

Purchased the camera in '04 & not used it since. Never thought to look under the lens at the port.

Thanks again, all sorted.

D

 

[cube]

What port do you have on the Mac? FW400 (6-pin) or FW800 (9-pin)?

Did you get the right adapter cable?

 

[perchfieldmbp]

This is the cable I purchased:

http://www.lindy.co.uk/shop/showPro...103DE25FD5DF911988F19B8473A?orderNumber=70398

4-pin female to 9-pin male; i have mbpro with 800mbs.

Got strong write-ups & was reasonable price.

Thanks for your help

 

[cswrighty]

I have the same problem. My MacBook is unfortunely the one with the firewire port removed . My Video camera has the dv port as normal. Does anyone have a solution to capturing the video via USB. Seems strange how Apple are always going on about how great and easy iMovie is to use, but if you can't get your video into it, what use is it!!

Please help......

Chris

 

[CaptainChunk]

Well, most consumer video cameras made today are solid state or HDD based and use USB for video transfer instead of FW. I know that doesn't help the situation for MiniDV/HDV...

But it's interesting...Apple went a few months building MacBooks without FW only to make FW standard again on everything (except for the MBA). Perhaps too many upset customers?

Anyway, your only solution would be to capture the video on a different machine that has FW and then bring the captured video into your iMovie project. USB to FW adapters don't exist, unfortunately and since the MacBook lacks an expansion slot, there's no way to add FW to it, ever.

 

[iCan2]

ADS Pyro AV link box - firewire solution to video editing!

Use a ADS Pyro AV link box that would support analogue signal capture from the miniDV camcorder. All Pyro AV boxes use firewire to digitize footage.
A very cheap alternative. I have one for sale.

 

[Courtaj]

Use a ADS Pyro AV link box that would support analogue signal capture from the miniDV camcorder. All Pyro AV boxes use firewire to digitize footage.
A very cheap alternative. I have one for sale.

Problem is, because of extra conversion steps involved, this ain't gonna give you the same quality as a direct import using firewire (although I do realise that cswrighty hasn't got firewire on his macbook).