Sony Camcorders and IM08

Question

Level 1

27 points

Sony Camcorders and IM08

According to the blurb, IM08 supports many DVD camcorders. Apple list, amongst others, the Sony DCR-DVD308. This is virtually the same camera as the 608 which I have (sold in the UK as the DVD106E)) but I cannot get IM08 to open it. Does anyone have experience with this camera please and what am I doing wrong?

iMac Intel, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Aug 10, 2007 3:00 PM

Reply

Answer 1

tilman

Level 4

1,235 points

Aug 10, 2007 3:07 PM in response to Roy Pembroke

Do you have a finalized video DVD in the camcorder? When you plug it in, does it show up as a drive in Finder? And when you look in the drive with the Finder, do you see a VIDEO_TS folder with a bunch of large files in it?

iMovie '08 doesn't really detect the camcorder directly, but rather the presence of an external DVD with video files on it. If the disk is not finalized, then the video files are not visible to the computer.

Reply

Answer 2

Aug 10, 2007 5:20 PM in response to tilman

Looks like there is already an article on this subject.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306110

Reply

Answer 3

Roy Pembroke Author

Level 1

27 points

Aug 10, 2007 11:56 PM in response to tilman

Thank you for your replies. I assumed that IM08 would open the finalized files in the camera as it does with tape drive cameras. The contents would download to the clip pane in the normal way. I can find the camera file on the desktop - that's no problem. The problem is getting the file into IM. At present this requires converting MPEG2 to a DV file in MPEG4 with Streamclip, then loading into QT, breaking up the clip into manageable chunks and then dragging them into IM. Very laborious and absolutlely no fun!

Reply

Answer 4

Aug 13, 2007 3:57 PM in response to Roy Pembroke

Wait a minute iMovie 08 can simply IMPORT the content via "Import from Camera..."

_ Using your camcorder, record at least 30 seconds of video in Normal or Video mode. (Not VR mode)

_ Finalize the video on your camcorder

_ Turn your camcorder OFF

_ Quit all your applications

_ Launch iMovie 08

_ Connect a USB cable from the camcorder to your Mac

_ Turn your camcorder ON

_ From the camcorder, select the option that allows it to mount to your desktop - usually COMPUTER or PC option.

_ Wait about 20 SECONDS for the camcorder to mount and to be detected by iMovie 08

_ Generally the Imovie 08 "IMPORT WINDOW" will open.

_ From the Import Window, I usually select the "MANUAL" import option

_ Once there the rest is easy.

Reply

Answer 5

Roy Pembroke Author

Level 1

27 points

Aug 13, 2007 4:18 PM in response to iphonejunky

Thank you for your help, iPhonejunky. I hope that someone from Apple's European HQ and the Apple Store in Brent Cross, North London, reads your post because neither knew the answer to my question.

Reply

Answer 6

dejongj

Level 1

15 points

Aug 13, 2007 11:22 PM in response to iphonejunky

Whilst that works, my experience with my DCR-DVD803E teaches me that there is no need for any specific order. You can just leave it connected and change discs whilst connect....It really works plug and play and the import screen just shows up....

Best DVD Camera support on both OSX and Windows platforms now. The imported files even acknowledge and contain the 5.1 information recorded by my camera....Although iMovie downmixes it to a stereo mix, but at least the files stored in the event have it in for a future upgrade...

Reply

Answer 7

palessi

Level 1

8 points

Aug 15, 2007 6:27 AM in response to iphonejunky

I have a Sony DCR-DVD200. I finalized the disk in camera and hooked it up to the mac using USB. The camera mounted like a DVD. I tried to import in iMovie 08 and the only source was the iSight camera. iMovie did not recognize that the camera was mounted.

What am I doing wrong?

Reply

Answer 8

Roy Pembroke Author

Level 1

27 points

Aug 15, 2007 7:12 AM in response to palessi

Try clicking the camera's desktop icon (looks like a disc) to open it. In the first pane you will see a blue folder. If you click the import button on the iM screen the film should then import. If that doesn't work try clicking the blue folder to open it. That reveals the files one of which contains the film. Then click the import button again.

I hope that it works.

Reply

Answer 9

palessi

Level 1

8 points

Aug 15, 2007 4:25 PM in response to Roy Pembroke

Once the camera mounts, it looks like a dvd on the desktop. I opened it, and as I would suspect, I can see the Video_TS folder. When I click the import button or hit command I in iMovie, the import window comes up, but the only option is the iSight camera. If I select import movie from the menu, I can't import from the mounted DVD (the camcorder) because iMovie can't import .VOB files.

Is anyone else seeing this problem??

Reply

Answer 10

Roy Pembroke Author

Level 1

27 points

Aug 16, 2007 3:21 AM in response to palessi

The key to this operation, so far as I can see, is the order you do things. I have just tried out a test; if I open iM08, then plug the camera in and select "computer" on the screen iDVD opens because the mac has detected what it thinks is a DVD. If I close that app and then attempt to import from the camera all I get is the iSight image. So - reverse the order. Plug the camera in, turn it on and select "computer". When the disc icon mounts iDVD will open. Close that and open iM08. The import pane opens and you can import film. There is no need to open the disc icon to reveal the files.

That's how it works for me. It's not as easy as DV tape but we will get used to it - I hope.

regards

Reply

Answer 11

Roy Pembroke Author

Level 1

27 points

Aug 16, 2007 5:44 AM in response to Roy Pembroke

Sorry, I wrote in the last posting that iDVD opens when you plug the camera in. I meant 'DVD Player'. If that happens you can turn off automatic opening in DVD Player prefs.

Reply

Answer 12

Aug 16, 2007 12:50 PM in response to iphonejunky

Muchas gracias, iPhoneJunky

Finalizing was the missing step for my Sony Handycan DCR-DVD300.

I can also import photos into iPhoto from a finalized dvd.

Oh, joy!

Reply

Answer 13

palessi

Level 1

8 points

Aug 19, 2007 5:24 PM in response to Roy Pembroke

That was it, thanks! Who would have ever thought that the order that you launch the app and mount your camera would matter? Hopefully they'll fix this as it is surely a bug.

Reply