importing sony Video 8 from DCR-TRV310 (DV)

The same problem exists with the Sony DCR-TRV 350. I have sent my camera into Sony three times (to two different repair facilities) with the problem that I could see video from a digital tape but not an analog tape. The last repair station said they could see the movie play on iMovie. I was using iMovie 08 and they were not specific about which version of iMovie they were using.

I decided to do some experimentation and here is what I found.

1. Quicktime will see the analog tape
2. iMovie '08 will not see the analog tape
2. iMovie HD will see the analog tape

Another feature that iMovie '08 lost.

Welcome to iMovie Discussions.

I've just tried this with my similar D-8 Sony TRV 330E.

After a bit of fiddling, it works.

At first no video is imported, perhaps because the Mac is waiting for a digital signal with timecode to come down the FireWire cable. The camera has to reset itself, too, so that it reads the signal from the tape as analogue instead of digital, and when swapping over from analogue to digital it briefly displays "D8>A/V 8" or some such on its built-in monitor.

Guessing that my old trick to force Sony camcorders to work correctly with previous versions of iMovie might do the trick (..see 'Sony camcorder special fixes' in Dan's iMovie FAQ here..) i.e:

1 - Turn your camcorder to Play mode.
2 - Press the Menu button (or relevant touch-screen button)
3 - Scroll down the Menu to the 'ETC' option, if there is one
4 - Click the 'ETC' item and choose 'VIDEO EDIT' if it's there
5 - Click 'VIDEO EDIT' and 'MARK 1 IN' may appear
6 - Click on 'MARK 1 IN' and then exit from the Menu options, by pressing the Menu button again

..I tried that, and a more promising import message came up in the import window.

It didn't quite import, so in the camcorder's menus I also chose "A/V>DV OUT" and set that to "ON", so that the camcorder knew that an analogue signal had to be converted to digital - though I suspect that didn't actually make a difference, as that's intended for changing signals which enter through the A/V IN socket so that they simultaneously travel out through the FireWire cable.

After a few more tries at importing, the camcorder displayed its "D8>A/V 8" message on its monitor again, and finally started importing the analogue signal into iMovie '08.

So I think it may be the old problem - as mentioned in Dan's FAQ - that iMovie and the camcorder aren't sure which one is "taking command" of the FireWire circuit, and by forcing the EDIT command, iMovie finally accepts input from the camcorder.

So don't give up; try various relevant settings in your camcorder's menus, and try starting the import by pressing Play on the camcorder as well as just Play or Import within iMovie.

It works for me ..Good Luck!

1. I could purchase a new playback device ..but if your existing one doesn't work - though I did get mine to work OK - what's the betting that "..a new playback device.." might also not work? I'd persevere with your existing playback device.

2. I could play back the analog through an ADC ..Mmm: Canopus or one of the others; I don't remember which one(s) people generally acknowledge to be the least troublesome: better search within discussions ..probably more references to them in iMovie HD 6 Discussions than here in iMovie '08 Discussions, though.

3. I could find another piece of sw to do the capture ..Yes; if your iMac is a PowerPC iMac, then downloading BTV Pro will do the job. If it's an Intel iMac, then you'd need to find something similar which is a 'Universal' application (i.e; runs on Intel Macs as well as PowerPC Macs).

4. Something else I haven't thought of ..Well; is your "playback device" so different from my Sony TRV330 camcorder? If it's not, then -p-e-r-s-e-v-e-r-e- and you may suddenly find the trick to making iMovie accept an import.

- Or, you may find that importing into iMovie HD 6 works, even if it won't import into iMovie '08.

- Or, if you can find a friend with a miniDV (or D-8) camcorder, you should be able to link the two cams with a 4-pin-to-4-pin FireWire cable, play the Analogue-8 tape out of yours into the other cam, and then import that newly-recorded digital tape into iMovie.

- Or, borrow an ADC (analogue-to-digital converter) before buying one, and see if that does work, before you splash the cash..

P.S: You say, above, in a previous post: "..5. In the event frame there's a <2 sec clip, mostly blank, beginning with some pink bars that I can't really make out and sometimes ending with the first few frames of the video. So it's trying to work, but quitting early for some reason.."

Perhaps the video has become corrupted. Try winding forwards to somewhere about 5 mins into the tape, play that in the camera and see if all looks OK, then try importing some of <i>that instead. Regions towards the very beginning of tapes often suffer stress from rewinding, etc, and often produce corrupt video after a while (..professionals never use the very beginning and end of tapes). It may be that corrupt pictures refuse to be recognised properly by the digital circuitry, which needs stable signals. See if importing from the middle of the tape works..

I wasn't sure if you just have this problem on imovie 08, or both 08 and imovie 6. I have not tried iMovie 08 yet, but just this past weekend I imported clips off six analog 8mm tapes into iMovie 6 using a Sony DCR-TRV310. I occasionally had your same issue. It seemed to me that I would get this problem the first time I put in a tape and clicked 'Import' button. Like the post above, I am speculating that iMovie is expecting a digital feed and when it doesn't immediately come across, it must think it is the end of tape or other problem and just send the stop command.

My solution was to click the Play triangle, then the camcorder would take 2 or 3 seconds to recognize the analog tape and switch to A->D mode, then it would start playing. Once it was playing normally, then I could click 'Import'. I might lose a second or two of footage at the beginning of the tape.

Welcome to iMovie Discussions.

"..Another feature that iMovie '08 lost.."

Nope: I beg to differ. See my previous posts at the top of this thread; after a bit of jiggling with the camera's own menus, I can import analogue-8 video into iMovie '08 from my Sony D-8 TRV-330.

iMovie has not lost that feature. It's tricky to force the camcorder+iMovie setup to send and accept analogue video, but that may be because Sony haven't implemented the FireWire controls as stringently as Apple have been enforcing them in the most recent releases of iMovie.

In every version of iMovie - from version 2 onwards - Apple appears to have interpreted, or implemented, the FireWire protocols more stringently as per the actual specification. iMovie 2 would import more or less anything; iM3 was less forgiving ..and so on till the present.

But this doesn't mean that iMovie is "to blame" for an inability for devices to work as expected; it may be a failure of the device manufacturers to adhere to the proper spec.

The FireWire circuitry seems to be unable to process the signal - at first - from the camcorder ..but that could be because it's not receiving a valid ID from the camera, or iMovie doesn't know who's supposed to be sending and who's receiving, or it could be that the camcorder sees the digital FireWire circuit plugged in, and isn't sure whether it's supposed to be dealing with digital or analogue signals.

It's not necessarily a fault within iMovie '08 ..it could be all sorts of things which are causing the problem.

But, with a bit of perseverance, I can certainly make my iMovie '08 accept, import and save incoming video which originates from an analogue-8 tape in my TRV330.

"..The last repair station said they could see the movie play on iMovie.." ..maybe they can, too.

Have you tried adjusting those camera menu items I mentioned above?..

1 - Turn your camcorder to Play mode.
2 - Press the Menu button (or relevant touch-screen button)
3 - Scroll down the Menu to the 'ETC' option, if there is one
4 - Click the 'ETC' item and choose 'VIDEO EDIT' if it's there
5 - Click 'VIDEO EDIT' and 'MARK 1 IN' may appear
6 - Click on 'MARK 1 IN' and then exit from the Menu options, by pressing the Menu button again

..then press the Play button on the camcorder, and see if anything arrives at the import window on your Mac screen..

P.S: Here's what iMovie 2 would accept from an analogue VHS tape, including 5 seconds of unstabilised picture-roll, 'dropped frames' and poor synchronising. Here's what iMovie 3 would accept from the same tape: nothing ..till a stabilised, properly synchronised picture made it through the circuitry from analogue to digital ..no 5 seconds preamble at all.

Later versions of iMovie have been even less forgiving about unstable analogue video.

Well, I did a 1-on-1 at the Apple store yesterday. Tried my TRV340 on several Macs using iM8 to no avail - same symptoms. He consulted the "video guru" in the back room who made some suggestions - nothing worked. I told him that that some folks were able to import using iMHD and export the project to iM8, but I had tried that and it didn't work for me. We tried it anyway and it worked. I was able to import to iMHD and export to iM8. The reason it didn't work for me earlier? My own dumbness. I failed to recognize that it was working - I won't get into the embarrassing details.
I asked the store guy how to get Apple to look into this - he said it would probably be viewed as a Sony problem. Maybe. There's a vague statement regarding compatibility in the Apple docs - "most tape cameras are supported".
Anyway, thanks for all the help. I'll be doing my 50-odd tapes this way. Takes a bit longer, but it's not like work.

My Sony Digital Handycam model DCR-TRV350 only has problems importing ANALOG 8mm recordings to iMovie 08. The procedure "menu, etc, video edit, tape, mark, press play on the CAMCORDER" works for me. I must press play on the camcorder, NOT from iMovie 08, for this to work.

I have a similar problem with my DCR-TRV340. Analog recordings on older 8mm tapes will not import. The camera is supposed to digitize them to the DV port. iMovie '08 controls the camera ok and attempts to import, but no video shows up and it quits after a second or so, stops and rewinds the tape. The same tape will play on the iMac screen using iMovie HD, but no capture is performed. Digital tapes work ok.

Just curious here. Has anyone tried one of the older, dedicated DV capture utilities like Vidi? Seems to me it is of about the same vintage as the 310/330/340 D8/Hi-8 Handicams and I am wondering if it might be better suited here. I.e., the utility will capture the DV and store it to your hard drive and you would, I hope, be able to simply import it at your convenience as a file. Could one of you try it and report back. If this alternative worked then it would likely prove there are still some definite bugs to be fixed in the iMovie '08 DV import/capture module. Would try it myself but both my 520 and HC3 work fine as it is and I'm not sure this would prove anything other that they still work either way.

Hi all - I have the same problem with - my Hi 8 camera trying to play then importing into imovie 8 - 2 seconds and nothing thereafter.... I tried the tape in my video walkman - a deck that is dedicated to play analog and digital hi8 - and the same problem occurs --- what I did was import the movie into imovie 06 then save as quicktime and then import into imovie 08.... - has anyone just saved in imovie 06 and directly import into imovie 08 from imovie 06 successfully ????

Capture of an analogue (8mm or Hi-8) tape through a Sony TRV 330E connected via FireWire works fine for me - as always - on a G4 PowerBook laptop, using BTV Pro (Carbonised) version 5.4.1 ..though I doubt that BTV Pro has been updated as a Universal app, so it wouldn't work on an Intel Mac.

I'm sorry you've got to do it the long way round! (..via iM06 and then to iM08.)

It still works for me directly into iM08, see previous post below (..even if I have to throw a few chicken entrails on the fire first..) after I've made a few menu changes in the camcorder to nudge the FireWire circuitry into understanding what's happening.

And the 340 and 330 aren't particularly different from each other; the 340 was just an upgrade to the previous 330, I think.

Anyway - best of luck!

Thanks for the help. I tried everything in your posting and the result is the same:
1. iMovie rewinds the camera (=> camera is connected and communicating with iMovie)
2. Camera starts playing, get the A/V->Digital (whatever) message on the camera.
3. Import begins but quits almost immediately.
4. Get a message saying that approximately 1 second of video was imported.
5. In the event frame there's a <2 sec clip, mostly blank, beginning with some pink bars that I can't really make out and sometimes ending with the first few frames of the video.
So it's trying to work, but quitting early for some reason.

OK, given that I may be facing an unsolvable problem, what are the alternatives?
1. I could purchase a new playback device that would work with iMovie'08. Any suggestions??
2. I could play back the analog through an ADC to the Mac. Any suggestions for the ADC?
3. I could find another piece of sw to do the capture. Any suggestions here?
4. Something else I haven't thought of.
Thanks in advance.

Well, I wasn't -g-i-v-i-n-g--u-p-, just looking for other ideas. I thought your camera was working with BTV Pro on your G4. Will it also work with iMovie8?
Your idea to create a digital tape using a miniDV cam is intriguing. I have a JVC GR-DVM5 which I have successfully interfaced to iMovieHD. I may investigate this approach.
BTW, I am a long term PC user, just recently found the light (6mos). I've done lots of video stuff in the pc world ... switched to Mac because it was supposed to be easier. I guess nothing comes for nothing.