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Sony Handycam USB Connection on Mac?

A

aznspyder

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 24, 2005
47
0
California and Bangkok
Hey guys!

I tried to plug in my Sony Handycam via USB and it's not being recognized at all in my Mac. iMovie didn't turn up anything either. Anyone have any ideas besides buying the firewire cable for it?
 
Nope

Video software from Apple only recognizes camcorders with fw connections.
Why?

Firewire is MUCH better at sustaining data transfer, so the possibility of dropped frames is reduced considerably.
 
aznspyder said:
Hey guys!

I tried to plug in my Sony Handycam via USB and it's not being recognized at all in my Mac. iMovie didn't turn up anything either. Anyone have any ideas besides buying the firewire cable for it?
Click to expand...

As has been said, you need a FireWire cable.

On the Sonys, the USB only lets you transfer still pictures or low-quality MPEG videos off the memory stick, even on a PC, it won't let you transfer DV video over USB. (Depending on the model of Handicam, it might support 'live USB streaming' where it will act as a webcam, but Apple supports that over FireWire so you don't actually lose that.)
 
And there is so much more you can do (speedwise) with firewire, - transferring pics is faster, etc.

Secondly, if you have one of the previous iPods, they came with a 6pin to 4pin firewire adapter. If you have one of these you can just use (or buy) a regular 6to6 pin firewire cable which you can later use for networking two macs together, or an external firewire drive, etc. and then just use the adapter for your camera.

Voila!
 
My sony handycam DVD803 only has USB, need help!

I have a sony handycam model dvd803, it only has a usb II port no firewire or dv out. how can i connect it to my mac? anyone know?
 
godfather911 said:
I have a sony handycam model dvd803, it only has a usb II port no firewire or dv out. how can i connect it to my mac? anyone know?
Click to expand...
I think your screwed :eek:
 
If it's the one that records to the Mini DVD's then there isn't any other way to connect it to iMovie than getting an RCA --> Firewire box. I used a Miglia Directors Cut II to get video from one into iMovie.
 
ITASOR said:
If it's the one that records to the Mini DVD's then there isn't any other way to connect it to iMovie than getting an RCA --> Firewire box. I used a Miglia Directors Cut II to get video from one into iMovie.
Click to expand...
...or that ;) :D
 
godfather911 said:
I have a sony handycam model dvd803, it only has a usb II port no firewire or dv out. how can i connect it to my mac? anyone know?
Click to expand...

DVD camcorders are HORRIBLE if you want to edit your video. If you just want to burn to DVD, and be done with it, they're great. But if you ever want to do any editing, you're in trouble.

First, I hope you don't have a slot-load DVD drive on your Mac. If you do, then you'll need an external DVD drive to read the disc.

Then, you'll need to put the mini-DVD into your tray-load DVD drive, and use a program like Handbrake to import it into your computer. I'd recommend having it transcode to DV, as that's the format iMovie is most friendly with. (It's also the largest, as it's pure uncompressed video.)
 
didn't want to start a new thread, please don't flame for bringing up an old post. I recieved a handycam dvd recorder and i was wandering if i do get the RCA firwire box will i still be able to import into imovie and edit the same as with a camera that uses tapes? I hope i'm not screwed with this camera.
 
SaleenS351 said:
didn't want to start a new thread, please don't flame for bringing up an old post. I recieved a handycam dvd recorder and i was wandering if i do get the RCA firwire box will i still be able to import into imovie and edit the same as with a camera that uses tapes? I hope i'm not screwed with this camera.
Click to expand...

Correct, if you use an RCA-to-FireWire converter, then it doesn't matter what the original format is. You can use one of those to convert an old Betamax video tape. As long as your device has standard RCA out jacks. (Or can with a supplied cable, as most Sony camcorders use.)

So you're just a little screwed. :)

In general, DVD camcorders are great if you don't want to edit; you just take out the disc, and pop it in grandpa's DVD player. But they suck when you want to edit. MiniDV camcorders are great when you want to edit, but you have to send them through the computer if you want to play them on a TV. (Unless you want to always use the TV-Out on the camcorder.)
 
firewire for handycam

i have a sony handycam dcr-hc32 and realize that i must use a firewire cable to transfer video to my mac. i bought a 6-4 pin firewire cable but don't know where to hook it up. i cant figure out where to plug it in, can anyone help?
 
kevindosi said:
i have a sony handycam dcr-hc32 and realize that i must use a firewire cable to transfer video to my mac. i bought a 6-4 pin firewire cable but don't know where to hook it up. i cant figure out where to plug it in, can anyone help?
Click to expand...

From what I understand it's on the clear plastic doc that came with the camera. Can't seem to find out much more from there, though.

Andrew Beard
 
kevindosi said:
i have a sony handycam dcr-hc32 and realize that i must use a firewire cable to transfer video to my mac. i bought a 6-4 pin firewire cable but don't know where to hook it up. i cant figure out where to plug it in, can anyone help?
Click to expand...

bearda's right. That model only has the FireWire connector on the dock. Sony calls it an 'i.Link' port.
 
I am just guessing here but since DVD camcorders record MPEG-2, maybe Apple's MPEG-2 Playback QuickTime component will do the trick? Import MPEG-2 video from the DVD, export to DV or MPEG-4, and finally, import it into iMovie?
 
MPEG Streamclip + Quicktime MPEG-2 Component

I've had pretty good success using MPEG Streamclip + Quicktime MPEG-2 Component ($20 from Apple store) to extract video from DVDs from my Sony DVD92 camcorder.

I use a tray loading firewire DVD drive to copy the VIDEO_TS folder to the desktop from the mini DVD. In the Streamclip preferences check "fix streams with data breaks" to maintain the audio synchronization. Then, open all the VOB files in the VIDEO_TS folder and "fix time code breaks", command-F, to merge all the files. Finally, export to DV, MPEG-4, etc.

I'm pretty pleased with the results except for some accelerated video in the transition between some files which lasts for a second or two.
 
Help

I have a problem i don't know how to connect my Sony Handy Cam CCD-TRV57 to iMovie HD on my minimac. I dont know what type of cable i should buy fo it since all it has on the camera is an audio and video plugs (Yellow and Black Hole). It won't recognize my camera at all. Please help immediatly for a college project.


Thank YOu
 
Yetra said:
I have a problem i don't know how to connect my Sony Handy Cam CCD-TRV57 to iMovie HD on my minimac. I dont know what type of cable i should buy fo it since all it has on the camera is an audio and video plugs (Yellow and Black Hole). It won't recognize my camera at all. Please help immediatly for a college project.


Thank YOu
Click to expand...

You're using an 'analog' camcorder, one that stores its video much the same way as an old cassette tapes store audio. Current Macs don't have any built-in way to import analog video. You would need a device that plugs in to your computer to let it import analog video. Many 'TV tuner' devices (like EyeTV) work for this, as do dedicated 'RCA to FireWire' boxes. (Which tend to cost more.)

The yellow and black plugs you're talking about are called 'RCA plugs', the yellow one carries video, the black one carries (mono/1-channel) audio. You would get an 'RCA video' cable which would have yellow, red, and white connections on each end, and plug the yellow into yellow, and the white plug into the black hole on your camcorder. Then you'd plug the other end into the same colors on your video input box (wether it's FireWire or USB-based.) If it's a FireWire converter box, iMovie will natively know what to do with it (it will think it's a video camera,) if it's USB (or even a FireWire TV tuner,) you'll have to use the supplied software.

By comparison, newer 'DV' camcorders store their video as digital data, which can be copied to the computer as direct digital data over the FireWire port. It's similar in concept to a CD (although if you're familiar with 'DAT', that would be a better analogy,) in that it's just on/off bits stored on the tape (or disc for CD,) not a varying magnetic field.
 
Yetra said:
I dont understand how eyeTV would work? Thank you for the help.
Click to expand...
You need eyeTV or something similar to convert the analog video signals from your camcorder to digital so that iMovie can process the video.

Anything that translates from composite video (yellow, red and white RCA) to DV/FireWire/iLink/IEEE1394 would do the job.

EDIT: Another option I keep bringing up is that you can use most DV camcorders as an analog/DV brige, even those that are otherwise broken. You can get good deals on eBay.

B
 
balamw said:
You need eyeTV or something similar to convert the analog video signals from your camcorder to digital so that iMovie can process the video.

Anything that translates from composite video (yellow, red and white RCA) to DV/FireWire/iLink/IEEE1394 would do the job.

EDIT: Another option I keep bringing up is that you can use most DV camcorders as an analog/DV brige, even those that are otherwise broken. You can get good deals on eBay.

B
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, older Sonys can NOT act as an analog/DV bridge. (Such as mine, a DCR-PC100.)
 
ehurtley said:
Unfortunately, older Sonys can NOT act as an analog/DV bridge. (Such as mine, a DCR-PC100.)
Click to expand...
Define older. ;) Mine, a DCR-TRV11 from 2001 can. You could always record to DV first and play from that.

B
 
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