How Can I Import 8mm tapes onto a MacBook Pro?

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Level 1

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How Can I Import 8mm tapes onto a MacBook Pro?

I have old 8mm camcorder tapes, and a camcorder, which two very nice AV plugs (yellow and white) -- and I have found plenty of Windows gadgets to help me port over my home movies to my computer... but I really want to use my new MacBookPro, because I really like iMovie's ease of use compared to Windows Movie Maker.

Is there a way for me to do this with a Mac?

My camera is about 10 years old. I haven't used it in a very long time - but it works just fine.

It's a Sharp VL-E685 Viewcam Model# VL-E685U

Please any help would be fantastic 🙂

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2.4ghz 4gm Ram 160gb HD

Posted on Jan 5, 2008 8:40 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Brian Vinci

Level 1

35 points

Jan 6, 2008 12:24 PM in response to runecaster

I have a device I use for this purpose, it a Canopus AVDC,, converts the signal and accepts the RCA inputs and then outputs with firewire.

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Answer 2

Bob Cohen

Level 2

346 points

Jan 6, 2008 12:52 PM in response to runecaster

Why not just buy a mini DV camcorder with pass through capability. You can then use the Camcorder to digitize the old video and either pass it through to the Mac, or you can record it in digital form on mini DV cassettes and throw out the old 8 mm tapes. By the way it will also record new video. The prices have come down to about a hundred dollars more than just an analog to digital converter.

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Answer 3

Jan 6, 2008 12:56 PM in response to Bob Cohen

Thats a good idea

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Answer 4

dringkor

Level 1

55 points

Jan 6, 2008 12:57 PM in response to Bob Cohen

Buy a cheap used Sony Digital8 camcorder (or borrow one from a friend like I did). This format records DV onto a regular 8mm tape, and will play back analog 8mm recordings and convert them to DV out. It works well with iMovie, with the one exception being that since your original signal is analog, iMovie can't tell when a new scene begins when importing, so you'll have to split your footage into separate clips manually.

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Answer 5

runecaster Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 6, 2008 1:41 PM in response to dringkor

I'm sorry excuse my ignorance but what is a MiniDV? 🙂 I really don't know!

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Answer 6

Jan 6, 2008 2:37 PM in response to runecaster

MiniDV is a cassette tape based camcorder that provides a high quality recording,, there are some High Definition models available now. The tape is small and last about an hour, they are different from previous tape based recording formats like 8mm or vhs-c.

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