video capture from Sony DCR-TRV50

Question

Level 1

5 points

video capture from Sony DCR-TRV50

I have a 6 yr. old camcorder. I also have 3 1/2 dual G5, running OS 10.3.9 and have never used iMovie 4.0

I have over 50 digital tapes that i want to convert into my computer but am having difficulty getting one in. I have been following Sony, Apple Forum, Apple, B&H photo, etc. advice to no avail. My computer does not recognize the input on the 4 x 6 firewire. i am paranoid enough to think my firewire ports (front and back) are not working.

So - are there any tricks i am missing? I'm told i need to convert Mpeg 1 to Mpeg2 or vica versa since Sony camcorders work in one of these systems. So i downloaded MPEG streamclip but i can't get this to work.

How can i check if the firewire port is or isn't working? i don't have another firewire device nor a 6x6pin cable.

I plan to upgrade to leopard in a few months and to iLife 08, but i want to get a small movie clip out to my mom-in-law and that would score me some points, if you know what i mean!

Help!! please

dual 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5, Mac OS X (10.3.x), iMovie 4.0

Posted on Jan 25, 2008 10:09 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 25, 2008 11:26 PM in response to David Forte

iMovie: Cannot See or Control Camera
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43000

See the Sony tips here:
http://www.danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/usage/5020.shtml

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Answer 2

J Keller

Level 4

2,750 points

Jan 25, 2008 11:39 PM in response to David Forte

It looks like your camcorder can record to a Memory Stick in mpeg format, or to miniDV tape in a format that imports into iMovie. So if your video is on tape, it's in the correct format and you don't need an mpeg converter like MPEG Streamclip.

Your camcorder also appears to have USB connectors. These won't work with iMovie 4, and you must use Firewire to import with your camcorder set to VCR/playback mode. It doesn't seem likely that both Firewire ports aren't working.

It may be worthwhile to work through some tutorials for iMovie and/or books like David Pogue's "Missing Manual" or Erica Sadun's "iMovie 3 Solutions." This will help make sure the basics are squared away.
John

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Answer 3

Feb 15, 2008 8:58 AM in response to David Forte

I've just spent 2 days trying to figure out why iMovie 4 isn't connecting to my Sony DCR-TRV520. My firewire port sees the camera, and iMovie sees the camera (the pull down list on the little "camera/scissors" toggle), but it still says "Camera Not Connected". But I FINALLY got it connected in the weirdest way! With the iMovie open, the camera on and connected to my iBook, I decided to put in a different tape. Well, when I ejected the tape, all of a sudden the program sees the camera and says "Tape Ejecting". Put the tape back in, and it's ready to import! Viola! I don't know why the heck this works, but I thought I'd pass it on to all the other frustrated users.

Good luck!

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Answer 4

Feb 18, 2008 7:09 AM in response to babysnakes

Great

One more pice in the puzzle. Thanx

Yours Bengt W

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