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VHS tapes to MAC

A

angel129116

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 19, 2007
11
0
I have browsed the forum and noticed a post before on this but it didn't answer my question.

Im trying to tape some old VHS stuff to my MacBook but I'm not having any luck.
Ive got a JVC video camera (GR_D70EK) and I've connected the VHS player to the camera avi ok. When I've chosen play on the camcorder and set the AV to In i can see the video tape playing ok.
Ive connected the Firewaire cable to the mac and the iDV on the camera but this is where i get a problem.
I've loaded iMovie but it doesn't show the video. It recognizes that the camera is connected but all it shows is a blue screen saying there is no tape. When i put a tape in the JVC camera & press play i get 1 frame of the VHS tape that is playing but then nothing else happens.

Can anyone help me?
craig
 
well i'm not too familiar with imovie and this may not be what you want but i have some experience with this. i use final cut pro and though its not the same this transfer probably is. when i need video from a vhs tape i usually put the tape into a VCR and connect a camera (that uses mini dv tapes and has a firewire connection) up to the back of the vcr through the a/v inputs. so instead of the vcr being plugged into a tv its plugged into the camera where i then record the video onto a mini dv. the mini dv camera will need to be in the play/edit mode not the record mode. from there upload the video as you normally do via firewire. if thats not exactly what your problem is or you have questions about that process please let me know and i may be able to offer further advice
 
I don't know how to use it with your method, but i just use my elgato eye tv hybrid. It's easy, and the software is pretty rich in features.
 
I've connected the video player to the camcorder via AV lead and i can see the video playing on the Camera's LCD screen. I have tried recording to DV tape but it comes up that it is Prohibited.
 
Plymouthbreezer said:
Try clicking "Make Magic Movie" and sometimes it works for that.

I encountered the same issue a few weeks ago, and this fixed it.

Here's the thread.
Click to expand...

"Make Magic Movie" is a setting in iMovie???

I have an Analog-DV bridge connected to my VCR. The input to the intel iMac is USB. I believe it has been suggested that iMovie cannont see input from USB, but isn't the elgato eye tv a USB input (that's what it looks like on the apple store page)

I'm confused. I don't want to buy a new bridge devise is I can make USB work.
 
jshbckr said:
Try to find a Canopus firewire Analog-Digital bridge.

Might be spendy, but they are fantastic.
Click to expand...

I can find other options on ebay, but would prefer not to make another purchase to replace a piece of hardware I have, if it works with the iMac. Obviously, if there is NO WAY that a USB connection will work, I will need to purchase something else. (this is hardware I have had from before, not a new purchase that I'm trying to make work)
 
FireWire, IEEE1394, iLink?

You mentioned that camcorder is connected to the Mac via USB. This is most likely the problem. The camera should be connected via FireWire to act as a proper pass-through device. In other words, USB won't work. Use FireWire. This is how the Canopus boxes work too.

This may explain the single frame captured, as USB is typically used for photo transfer from camcorders. FireWire is the standard for transferring dv. The camcorder probably did not include a FireWire cable, so you might need to purchase a 4-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable.
 
I have used a firewire cable to connect from the video camera to the mac but still nothing!
 
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