Question About Sony Handycam Mini DVD + iMac

Hi you need to check the camera again as it should have a USB port. If so you should be able to "see" the camera in iPhoto and import footage from there.

These Mini DVD cameras don’t hook up to the computer. The idea is that you take the DVD out of the camera and play that in the computer. Hopwever *no Mac supports these mini DVDs*. Do not put on into a Mac or you’ll be off to the shop to have the disk removed. You’ll need to find an external deck that will play this disk.

Then, because DVD is a +delivery format+ and not editable, you’ll need to rip the contents from the DVD to the Mac, convert it to an edited format and then edit it.

Bluntly, the Mini DVD format is not worth the effort.

Regards

TD

MiniDV (little cassette tapes) or Mini-DVD (miniature optical disks you can stick in a set-top DVD player and playback)?

The former is the format that you would use if you intended to edit the video, and the latter is the format you'd use if you simply wanted to playback the video as it had been recorded without modification. They are not compatible formats as the physical media is different, but so is the data stored on those media.

A MiniDV camera minimally has an i.Link / mini-FireWire400 port on it for data transfer to the computer. The computer can control the camera through this port, use it either as a live camera, or operate it as a VCR and capture the video as it plays back into the computer. MiniDV video is captured real-time from the camera, meaning that if you recorded 60 minutes of video, it will take 60 minutes to transfer to the computer. The capture data will be in DV format, which is effectively uncompressed 720x480 at 29.995 frames per second (for camcorders using the US' NTSC standard video resolution anyway).

On a Mini-DVD camcorder, the camera may not have a port for connecting the camera to a computer to transfer the video. If it does, it is probably a USB or mini-USB port that allows the camera to be used by a computer as an external DVD recorder. If it is a without-connector model, transferring video would mean taking the mini-DVD out of the camera and putting it in a computer -- however Macs cannot take the mini disks and require and external DVD drive to read them. The MPEG2-encoded video on the DVD drive is highly compressed and not really suitable for editing. Manipulation of the content will necessarily degrade it, so you will lose video quality in the process of handling it, reencoding it, and reburning it.

1. Generally it's important to post the make AND model number of hardware you're asking about, if you want an informed answer.

2. If you really have a mini DVD camera with only an AV cable, your options are very limited:

a) buy a firewire-or-USB-based video capture box (e.g. Canopus or Belkin products); web search for "firewire video converter" etc. -- another version of this is to borrow a camera or deck with AV inputs and firewire output (you may have to record to Mini DV tape then capture that) (I use a Sony GV-D300 for this)

b) find a windows or linux machine that has a tray DVD drive and will play mini dvds; figure out how to rip the files from the dvd to the drive; transfer files to your mac (e.g. ethernet or portable HD); use MPEG Streamclip to convert files from MPEG2 to DV format for editing

Unfortunately, the other comments are correct, that DVD recorded video is unsuitable for editing, unless you are very determined and not fussy about quality. For the record, I have captured (ripped) and edited DVD footage on a Mac.