Importing Sony Handycam Video 8 movies into iMovie

[jimidan]

I want to convert all of my old analogue NTSC 8mm tapes to iMovie to edit and make DVD's out of them. The outputs on the Handycam consist of two RCA plugs. How do I connect this to my Mac G5? Then how do I get iMovie to see this old style camera once connected. I assume that I will have to get it to download in real time...which is OK.

In the meantime, although I would prefer to download these videos directly into the Mac, I recorded a few of the video tapes to my Sanyo DVD recorder and tried to get iMovie to import the DVD signal...I could not figure out how to do this. There were no instructions in iMovie "Help" on how to do this for this old style camcorder. The DVD's would automatically play only in iDVD. HELP.

 

[wackymacky]

need more hardware

You'll need a seperate device to convert your analouge to digital.

I've used a eyetv before.

http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/250plus/product1.en.html

Though I'm sure there are loads of other devices on the market.

This has both composite (i.e one yellow video) RCA port which it soulds like you have (plus one for sound?) as well as s-video which presubably your camera also has.

ONCE yo've imported the video onto your hard disk you may want to import it from MPEG-2 into a different format such as Quick Time or AVI (which is easy to use in iDVD and iMovie, once again there are a whole of programs heap avaliable, I've used MPEG Streem clip by squard5.com for free, though there are others.

Use google to find progams and tutorals.


For the ones you've copied onyo your Sony HD camera you will find if you imprt them into iMove/iDVD you'll lose sound.

Sony uses it's unique way of making MPEG-2, (bless them), with which iDVD will loss the sound when it imports them. (The QuickTime MPEG-2 Play Back Component sold by Apple Inc. on the Apple website WILL NOT FIX THIS PROMLEM so do't by it.)

The program I mentioned (plus others of course) MPEG-Streamclip will convert Sony HD MPEG's so you can use them on iDVD (its to do with the audio/video interlacing that the files use).

See

http://web.me.com/jrwalker4/QuickNotes/MPEG_Streamclip/Entries/2008/5/22_Tutorial_020.html

for a tutorial. (THIS IS A VERY GOOD TUTORIAL IF YOU WANT INSTRUCTIONS WITH OUT NEEDING TO KNOW A HEAP ABOUT VIDEO FORMATS).

 

[jimidan]

Thanks...you ain't so whacky after all! ;-)