[newportnews]

My father recently gave me his old video camera. It is a pretty big, clunky thing that holds a full sized videotape and lets you shoot video.

I am getting my Titanium Powerbook G4 (500 Mhz G4, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB HD) in approx. 10 days (or 25 depending on what Apple Store rep. I speak with) and want to get into some serious DV editing with iMovie 2 ( I don't know how many times I've put together that dog/kids video at Circuit City-- I'm just enamored with the whole process).

Back to the Point.

What is the best (and cheapest) way to get the analog video from the camcorder, turn it into digital format and import it via my FireWire cable.

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[Kozmik]

I'm sorry to be a bit condescending (I really am, too. Don't take it as anything personal), but "serious DV editing" and "iMovie 2" do not work well in the same sentence. To do "serious DV editing" you first of all need a camera that shoots in a digital format (DV = digital video, and anything that holds "full-sized" videotape (I assume you're reffering to VHS) is not a digital format). There are some things that will let you transfer footage you've shot onto your PowerBook, including the Sony Media Converter (I think that's what it's called anyway), but it is very overpriced and does little. I think your best bet would be the Formac Studio. You can see specs for it at www.formac.com and see why it's a good deal for its price. Also, you'll need an editing program that "serious DV editors" don't laugh at when they hear its name. 2 such programs would be Adobe Premiere (which is kind of borderline on the laughing thing) and Final Cut Pro. FCP is a wonderful, amazing program. Though it has a high price, you'll never regret purchasing it.

[tooki]

Umm, to be honest, I wouldn't bother. For the price of a analog<->DV converter, you've already bought half of a brand new beginners' DV camera.

Save your $, wait and buy a DV camera. The difference in image quality is HUGE (consumer DV cameras are only a hair worse than $15,000 professional cameras; VHS is lousy by ANY standard).

If you are deadset on editing VHS video, get an XLR8 InterView USB input ($90, includes Strata VideoShop, which supports any kind of QuickTime video), and use your PB's Video Out to output the video back to tape. VHS is so crappy you won't see the difference.

tooki

I just got a Canon Elura 2....not 2MC....importing VHS to the Elura to the G4 is not a problem...a bit time consuming but so what......imovie is a cinch to use.

[tjcrebs]

If you want to digitize 8mm analog videos then just buy, rent, borrow, or steal a Digital-8 (with Firewire) camcorder. I bought the Sony TRV-310, a two year old model, now, for less than $500 almost a year ago. Check eBay for even better deals.

Put the old analog 8-millimeter into the Digital-8 Firewire-camcorder, plug it into your Powerbook, and voila it digitizes your old analog 8mm videos on the fly to iMovie. I have lots of old analog 8mm videos, and this digitizing technique is easy.

I find iMovie-2 works great. I also recommend David Pogue's iMovie books for all iMovie newbies--the book has lots of tips (get a tripod and external microphone) and FAQs to make your iMovie videos look SERIOUS. You can order Pogue's book at:
http://www.oreilly.com

Good Luck, T.

I have no clue how the quality of this product is.. but for 299 (not 399, as with the formac), you can get an analog >> digital converter from dazzle multimedia. the product is called Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge.
Check out http://www.dazzle.com

Good luck.

[tooki]

As I said, it's not worth investing that much money, in all likelihood. That's nearly half the price of a low-end MiniDV or Digital-8 camera, which has many advantages (particularly timecode support, which is worth its weight in gold for serious editing).

tooki

[jeromep]

I think the question is being avoided and hasn't been sufficiently answered. Yes, you can turn analog, VHS input (or any analog input for that matter) into a DV stream that the computer can use. It will require the $500 Sony DVMCA-2 (I think) unit. It is a dimunitive box that houses a full digital/analog codec. It is probably the best on the market. The Formac product probably comes in second best. You want a simple device and this is very simple to use. I have deployed this device in 3 labs running both iMovie and Final Cut. Matched up with this box is a high quality SVHS vcr, an external TV monitor, and a Sony Digital-8 camcorder. We have provided the SVHS format because SVHS is a broadcast quality format and some of our customers require both SVHS input and output. Likewise it allows customers that have older tapes to come in and digitally edit them and then output them to an analog format. As you can see we are providing all of this hardware for flexibility.

Part of the bennifit of being able to make movies on a simple Mac is the ability to output them to an analog format that you can take anyplace and play on any VCR. After you are done inputing and editing the video with the little box, then the process is reversed. The box will take the DV stream coming out of the computer and turn it into an analog stream that can be recorded onto standard VHS, or any other analog format. True, full portability.

As for cameras, sure it is fine that you have an old shoulder cam, but you would be better served getting a Sony Digital-8 camcorder. I'm not too fond of miniDV because the cameras are usually smaller than an average 35mm still, and therefor are hard to balance and stabilize than say the classic and proven design of 8mm.

[xMetal]

Uh, jeromep, you don't need a fancy box to output to VHS if you just had the DV cam in the first place.

(shoot video) DV cam -> mac -> DV cam -> VCR

easy peasy, and even the cheapest DV cam can do this, with quality that far surpasses anything you can squeeze out of consumer analog. Even my little Canon, which costs less than $800 now gives excellent results. Oh, it has a tripod mount too.

(Now if you had a stock of dozens of VHS tapes that you wanted to edit, then by all means get the box, but no sense investing all that money right now when you can get the DV cam instead)

[This message has been edited by xMetal (edited 02-05-2001).]

[tooki]

My point exactly. It makes no sense investing money in old analog equipment. Put the money towards a digital camcorder instead. You can then use the digital camcorder to convert to and from analog if you need to.

tooki