I have a PVW-2800. I want to digitze my Beta SP tapes into Premiere Pro on my iMac desktop computer. I
have a Nikon D5500. Can I input to it? I see the output, but not the input. Also, I have a Panasonic DVD player/recorder (DMR-ES25) with a DV camcorder in, a video/audio in and out, S-video in and out, and HDMI out. Will that work? If that will work, what connector do I need to get into my iMac? Thanks!
How good of quality are you looking for? Betacam SP is analog and will need to be converted to digital before it can be imported into your Mac.
I don’t believe your current equipment, either Nikon or Panasonic, will transcode your tapes. Ideally you’d use a transcoder that includes a Time Base Corrector (TBC) to reduce errors induced during the transfer.
Depending on the number of tapes you need to digitize, you may be better off looking into commercial video transfer services.
You need a converter such as this one:
https://vhsconverters.com/advc-55-review/
I did a lot of transfers with one of these: it will take S-video and a stereo audio feed. Unfortunately it's apparently now unavailable (there might be second-hand ones): I don't know whether Canopus themselves make anything or what else there may be, but that's the sort of thing to look at. But as suggested above you should also cost out getting a professional transfer - it might be cheaper depending on how much you have to do.
Jeff Donald wrote:
That won’t work. The audio out is balanced audio. No connector for RCA audio. It also does no time base correction, so audio and video will probably be out of sync.
He could probably just connect one leg of the audio to the earth lead to unbalanceit, if he can solder up cables or get someone to do it. As to sync, I made a lot of DVDs from beta and VHS tapes straight into iMove and the sync was fine. But I don't know what sort of gear is available now. The Canopus was reasonably priced, and so were the audio interfaces I use for just audio work, but as far as I can see the prices of audio converters have skyrocketed so video converters have probably done the same.
That won’t work. The audio out is balanced audio. No connector for RCA audio. It also does no time base correction, so audio and video will probably be out of sync.
The PVW-2800 is a professional Betacam machine. It’s basic outputs are component 1, 2, and S-VHS. Audio is separate from the video and will need to be mixed/married to the video. This is an additional reason to use a TBC so that audio and video stay in sync. Here’s what the back of the machine looks like.
Thanks to both of you for the replies. I'd like to keep as much of the original quality as possible. I know some converter boxes compress the video so much it's not worth it. Good for VHS, but not for broadcast quality. I've looked into commercial houses. They charge anywhere from $25 to $50 per tape plus the cost of formatting to DVD or digital file and the cost of a flash drive. Plus shipping and the off chance the package may get lost. Another solution is to transfer to the Panasonic DVD and then rip the DVD to get the digital files as the second person (den?) suggested. I'm not sure how much quality I'll lose doing that. I had forgotten about the need for a TBC to keep things in sync. My how far we've come. I'm going to try a few tests. I'm also looking into some other converters and capture cards. If I find anything that works, I will post it here. Thanks again.
I know. I used to have a Canopus box and gave it away. I'm kicking myself now.
I'm going to try the straight dub to DVD using the S-video connector and see what happens.
It was a long drawn out process, but a few years ago I burned a dozen old camcorder tapes to DVDs using a TruTech DVD recorder and then imported the DVDs into my Mac.
I’m not sure, but like Jeff say’s that may not work with your current DVD recorder.
If not, then I also suggest taking or sending the tapes out to a professional service, instead of spending any money or time to do it yourself.
Digitizing Beta SP Tapes
