Need interface to digitize analog video

[James Massara]

Hey, everyone,

Long time, no see!

I have a G5, and I recently acquired a 6-year old Sony camcorder. I'd like to digitize the video so I can edit it in iMovie HD. What do I need to do, and what kind of hardware should I acquire?

Jim Massara

[Chris Waldrip]

I'm going to guess that your 6-year old Sony video camera doesn't feature a 4-pin or even a 6-pin firewire port. Probably not even a USB port.

If that's the case then you'll need an analog-to-DV converter. The first one that comes to my mind is the Canopus ADVC55, but it runs between $175 and $250. With this, or a similar device, you'll simply set iMovie to start recording the incoming Firewire video. You won't be able to control the video through software, you'll have to have one hand on the Sony when you need to stop or pause.

[James Massara]

Thanks for the info, Chris. You're right about my camcorder -- no Firewire or USB port.

BTW, is it my imagination, or is this place less active than the old First Class system?

Jim M.

[Chris Waldrip]

Yep. Cost of moving forward is some folks not wanting to learn new tricks. Things are picking up though.

It doesn't help that there was some less than honorable deeds by some at the time of the transfer. But the board discussed and agreed on this path. Things could have gone smoother, and we'd probably be in a better place, but some people at the time didn't want to talk or listen.

Nothing to do but just move forward and put the past behind us.

[Michael Martin]

If you have a Sony 8MM video camera (analog style which captures either "8" or "Hi-8" signals), then you might want to invest in a used Sony Digital-8 (D-8) camera.  These have been out for several years, and you should be able to pick one up very cheaply as others upgrade their equipment. (Hint: Check atlanta.craigslist.org for people either trying to get rid of one, or ask for someone who might want to give one away -- yes, on occasion, it does work).

The D-8 cameras do have firewire in them and WILL read / play video through the firewire port to the Mac from all 3 formats of Sony 8MM video tape (8, Hi-8, Digi-8).  TRV-340 (I think) is the model that I have and it seems to work .. umm .. ok .. and I have a LOT of 8MM analog tapes that I need to go back and do the iMovie / iDVD trick with sometime soon.  Having a more recent model of camera may give you some better results.

And either way you go, the initial digitization of the video from tape to computer data (uncompressed) will take up A LOT of hard disk storage.  An External FW drive that is used for video capture and source for edits would be a good investment (and they're getting cheaper by the day).

Let me know how it goes.


Mike