importing mini dv tapes

Hi, benjigordon,

I have not done the procedure that you are describing, but will give you what I have picked up from my readings.

 Generally you need a firewire cable for tape based cameras. I don't believe that your standard USB hub would work. However, you should be able to use the cable that came with your camera and use one or more adapters to plug directly into your Mac's USB-C (Thunderbolt 3) socket. Check your JVC's user manual to see what cable you should be using for transferring video from camera to computer and get whatever adapters you need to complete the connection to your computer. I would plug in directly and not with a hub.

iMovie works with most tape based cameras, but not necessarily all of them. So even getting the proper cable connections does not guarantee the your Mac will recognize the camera.

There are others who might chime in here who are perhaps more experienced with this than I am.

Best,

-- Rich

Have a look at this link in which I list the 3 cables required.You will need all 3 as your Mac has Thunderbolt 3 (USBc).

The post concerns FCPX but same for iMovie.

Not sure what your "dv to USB cable" is, or how you are connecting cam' to USB hub/ laptop.

I also mention that an older Mac with older OS may prove more fruitful if you can get access to one.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251304950

Yes ,they are the required cables.

However there is no guarantee that this will work as it is becoming more difficult to import DV into iMovie/FCPX with recent OSs and recent hardware and the need for extra adapters. I am not aware of the reason for this but it just happens to be the case.

Some do have success whilst others do not.

Also some have had success with importing into QuickTime Player ( see link above) where iMovie has failed.

Another factor could be the cam' itself. I believe that there have been more posts on here where Canon have failed to import than Sony.

I don't believe I have seen mention of many JVC cams on here, so don't know whether that is a good sign or not.

If you have no success then try to find access to an old Mac running an old OS.

Good luck, and yes it would be good to know how you get on.

When you say " FireWire cable and adapter" did you mean adapters?

If your Mac has USBc then you will need both of the adapters mentioned in the above link.

Good to know it worked out.

Thanks for letting us know.