VHSC tapes to MAC

[missmatched]

Hi there,

I am trying to transfer my mum and dads VHSC tapes to my mac to then edit and burn onto dvd. I have the camcorder still however the only outputs in the camera are edit, audio (white), RF DC OUT, and Video (yellow). I do also have the video adapter where you put the VHSC tapes into and play it in a VHS player. However the tv/video combo I have only has one scart and aerial output and is the vhs player I have. I do also have a mini DV camcorder with the DV output to firewire cable. Is there anyway I can hook any of these devices with another tv or straight to laptop without spending anymore money please, as I am a student and cant avoid anymore equipment. Any help and guidance appreciated, if you need anymore info please let me know.

Amy

 

[alph45]

If your miniDV has RCA inputs(red/yellow/white), plug VHCS player in, make miniDV dups and transfer to computer via firewire. If your miniDV doesn't have RCA inputs your out of luck without buying more equipment.

This is assuming your using a MAC, some PC laptops have RCA in.

 

[bearcatrp]

Sounds like your dv camcorder is your only option, provided iMovie recognizes it. Do a quick clip, then see if you can import.
Since the camcorder doesn't have record in, about the only thing you can do is play the movie in a quiet room and record it with the camcorder. Won't be the best quality, but you will be able to get it on the Mac, provided iMovie recognizes it. What kind of camcorder is it? Another option is find someone with a camcorder that has the ability to record in. My Sony SR100 does this, buts the quality isn't the greatest.

 

[notjustjay]

What model is the miniDV camcorder? Many (most?) of them have AV inputs, but most of them require a special cable that breaks out the RCA jacks. For example, my Sony cable looks like this.

Assuming you do have an AV input, and cable, then you can connect the VHSC output directly to the AV input from the miniDV camcorder. Then connect a Firewire cable from your camcorder to the Mac, and fire up iMovie (the older version, iMovie HD, is actually preferable, but you can capture with the newer versions too).

What you do next depends on the model of miniDV camcorder you have and whether it has "AV to DV pass through" capability (note: sometimes this is a setting that you have to turn on in the camcorder menus). If it does, then just start playing the VHSC tape, and you'll see the playback in iMovie and you can begin capturing right away.

If you don't have the passthrough capability, then you'll need to dub the VHSC tape to a miniDV tape, then rewind and playback the miniDV tape to get the output into iMovie.

If your DV camcorder doesn't do AV inputs, then you might also consider getting a USB video capture device that accepts input directly from RCA jacks. There are plenty of them around (like this one) but I don't know what the quality is like.

 

[Soura2112]

Similar way

This will be a lot longer way to do it, though you may not need to buy anything extra.

Do you have a the VHS enclosure you put your VHSC tapes in so you can play them on a regular VCR? if so then put the VHSC in the VHS tape (forget what their called, about $20.00). Then use the Red, white, and yellow cables from the VCR to the MiniDV, press play on the VCR and record on The MiniDV cam and you should now have a digital version of your movies. Then just hook the miniDV cam to your Mac via FireWire and you can import with ease. This is the way I did it years ago and worked great with FC and iMovie. granted it takes longer but it will be done without loosing quality. I always just start to copy the VHSC movie and come back in 2 hours, so your not sitting there wasting time.

 

[walterwhite]

The VCR's from the late 80's like the AG-1960, 1970, 1980 are all very affordable and are the professional decks... they are like $75 on ebay(used to sell for $1500+). Then get an older miniDV that has passthrough (about 60-100$). There is a list of them around on the internet... this also gives you the ability to pull data off of miniDV tapes, if you have them. if you dont have MiniDV tapes... get a analog to digital converter.. about $150 from elgato or others.