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Need to Convert Mini DV to MP4

FCP may be able to import or read iMovie Libraries.

Capturing home video is labor intensive, pros have developed tricks that make the work flow efficient, but most of us amateurs have a lot of video shot before we learn the tricks.

The only way to tell you captured everything for sure is by visually comparing the last video on the tape (as shown by the camera) with what was the last video captured (as shown by the app). You may also need to spot check the imported video. You can get good confidence when the capture video length (video properties) matches the tape length. A 60 minute tape usually has about 65 minutes of video.

This is usually not something you can really sit and forget, it needs baby sitting. You may be able to let it alone for some minutes to get a coffee but if you are not spot checking (glancing at the capture screen while you watch a ball game) you may be in for some rework/redo.
 
Thanks,
But do I need to monitor the entire video or just check the end of the video on the computer and the camera to verify it is the same. Also I had LP and SD tapes, and I know how many minutes I have remaining on each tape I created a list several years ago.
 
Need to monitor is a subjective thing only you can answer. Pulling video off of DVT is typically pretty reliable once you get going. I would keep an eye on it, but that is just me. Who knows when some dirt will cause a glitch that gives you pixelation for several minutes in the middle of the tape and then clear. Is it important to catch these now or later?

You could always recapture the video later of course. If it is important to verify a quality capture now, you need to keep an eye on it. Out of 100 tapes, you may run into this once, so the need is subjective bases on missing a couple minutes out of 100 hours. What is it worth to you?
 
Well I find iMovie HD to be the solution, after import I transfer the .dv files to Final Cut Pro. I also plan on converting my photos and negatives. For photos if I scan multiple pictures in my scanner is there a software that will automatically crop them?
Thanks
 
My EPSON printer/scanner combo came with software that would detect edges and crop photos ... well give you 6 separate images if you had six photos on the screen. The HP software probably does the same.
 
What OS are you running? I had forgotten they brought most of the driver/software into the printer/scanner preferences. So, if you have mavericks, open printer preferences select scan,open scanner, in the paper size pull down you will see detect separate items. Try that, it should give you individual scans of the photos. Use preview or something more powerful, like iPhoto, if you need to crop/adjust more.
 
Hi,

I imported all of my Mini-DV Tapes using iMovie HD (2006), it seemed to be the only solution that seemed to work as Final Cut Pro and iMovie, CamLife and other softwares I tried didn't seem to work and didn't import the video clips. So, iMovie HD would save the video as a .dv file, while watching some imported video today I noticed some scenes seemed to fast forward on its own, but while importing the video played normally on the computer but as a .dv file some clips go on fast forward mode. Do you know what the issue is?

Thanks

----------

Forgot to mention, these video skimmings are found on the imported video towards the end of the tape.
 
There is an inexpensive application called LifeFlix which can import your MiniDV videos.
I used it to suck in all my videos to my server from my camera. I'm done with tapes.
 
Be careful when using a camera that isn't the same brand as your footage was shot with. If your video was recorded in LP mode it might not play back on a different brand. All SP recording seems to be standardized but not LP. I've encountered this many times where I work and the solution was to always get the camera that recorded the video in LP mode.
 
Thunderbolt to firewire adapter (female to female?)

Hi! I think I may be missing something.

I recently bought an iMac. It only has USB and thunderbolt/lightning ports on the back.

I want to get about 50 mini DV videos into a digital format for editing so, after looking around on the internet I decided I needed a FireWire cable and a Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter.

They arrived today. Both ends of the adapter are female. I thought I'd ordered the wrong thing. I can't see that a female FireWire to (male) lightening adapter even exists.

Can anyone tell me how to connect my camcorder to my iMac in order to import the mini DVs ??:confused:

EDIT:
I thought the thunderbolt end was going to look like a lightning connector. So wrongly assumed it was wayyyy too big to fit in the port. I just did a bit of gentle jiggling and it did.

Now my problem is the firewire end. I need to get another adapter for 400 to 800...

I remember now why we never converted these tapes onto the computer before..... good grief it's complicated and I haven't even started yet!
 
Last edited:
Don't buy another adapter. Instead buy a firewire cable with a male nine pin (firewire 800) and a male 4 pin (the mini firewire port on your camcorder) connector. I just looked on ebay and you can get a Belkin brand firewire cable for under $10.

As someone previously mentioned, iMovie 6HD is the best for Mini DV transfers, but it is hard to find and may not work with newer OS's. I've played around a bit with LifeFlix and it seems to work also.
 
Thanks for your reply mcpix. Yes, it would certainly be better not to have a chain of adapters! I'll look to see where I can order what I need. I live in France.

I only just got the mac and haven't had a chance to play with it much yet. I see it has iMovies - is the iMovies HD you mention something within that ?
 
kamran1998 said:
Great news!

Additionally, do you recommend and solution for digitalizing 8mm film and negatives?
Click to expand...

Do yourself (and more importantly your future generations) a favor and have it properly transferred by a lab. Here are a few to recommend:

http://www.pro8mm.com/super-8-film-home-movies-archiving.php
http://www.cinelab.com/index.html
http://www.themediapreserve.com/
http://www.colorlab.com/

Secondly, DO NOT get rid of the film. Of course any archivist would tell you to keep the tapes as backup as well since they are known to have a fairly long lifespan. Keep them in a cool, dry place if you can. That goes double if you decide to just throw up the sheet and digitize it that way. I have seen a couple of feature films recently that have used 8mm from the 60s as source footage and it held up beautifully when the final element was projected, so if done properly it does pay dividends.
 
Hi again,
Well I took mcpix's advice and got the firewire he mentioned. With that and the thunderbolt adapter and iMovies up on the screen it all copied over like a dream!!

I now have more questions about where the 40+ hours of film is stored (I would prefer it to be on my external hard drive so as not to slow the imac down).

And also how to burn the 1 hour project movie I've made onto DVD (very proud of myself - loads of film clips plus audio backing & sound effects/titles/comments etc)

... I haven't explored this forum for the answers yet though:D
 
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