Transfer Mini DV footage

I did a quick test with Sony TRV320E to 4-9 pin FW cable to TB-FW adapter to TB2-TB3 adapter to Mac mini 2018 USB-C port, macOS 14.2.1.

System Information > FireWire and Thunderbolt/USB4 show the camcorder.

Initially QuickTime Player of Final Cut Pro 10.7 did not show the camcorder but after this they do:

If you can't use your camera or video output device after updating to macOS Sonoma 14.1 - Apple Support

Final Cut Pro 10.7 records DV_PCM_720x576 as interlaced from that PAL camcorder. I'd recommend that for best original quality although that must be deinterlaceds for computer playback.

QuickTime "High" records AVC_AAC_585x480 and "Maximum" ProRes_PCM_702x576 as progressive.

brarn wrote:

Hello and thank you for trying to help with my DV footage issue.

I have now purchased all three adapters as advised. I have gone through the exact procedure shown above but Finder Locations/Disk Utility still does not show my camcorder MV530i.

Do you have any ideas what might be causing this problem?

The DV camcorder will not be "seen" in the Finder, in DU or on your Desktop. It has always been that way with DV camcorders on Macs. Always.

Connect the camera, open iMovie and select the Import window. If your cable connections are correct you should be able to import video from your camcorder.

Also, be aware that Firewire support was removed in macOS Ventura, so if you're using Ventura or Sonoma you're out of luck. Although ... Apple seems to have made a workaround available for Sonoma 14.1: If you can't use your camera or video output device after updating to macOS Sonoma 14.1 - Apple Support

> Finder Locations/Disk Utility still does not show my camcorder MV530

In the past DV camcorders did not show as disks but they appeared in iMovie v1-6 user interface. So look for it in the QuickTime Player (or Final Cut Pro etc). You might need to put the camcorder to playback mode and maybe also play a tape (it has been a while the last time I used those). Final Cut Pro forum has folks that have imported DV with QuickTime Player with current systems.

> Mini B to USB-C which I can connect straight into my Mac mini. Will this work?

No. USB-port is just a gimmick to copy low-res images from a memory card.

You need to use the Firewire FW a.k.a. iLink a.k.a. DV port to copy .dv video.

I bought those adapters to connect my old Firewire HDDs. The Firewire drives worked perfectly and I could also boot from them. But occasionally and very randomly the LG UltraFine 4K 23.7" Thunderbolt display went black for a few seconds, sometimes a few times during a few minutes which was very annoying. Sometimes me or somebody else just moving nearby (without moving the desk or the cables) seemed to trigger the error and I suspect automatical display brightness might have played a role there.

Those two adapters were clumsy so I decided to move forward and bought OWC Drive Dock USB-C Dual Drive Bay Solution, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (OWCTCDRVDCK) which works perfectly. With the new OWC Thunderbolt drive dock there are no more screen blackouts. Maybe the extra Thunderbolt adapters caused them?

I also very briefly tried my old D8 (essentially the same as miniDV except it uses Hi8 tapes instead miniDV tapes) Sony TRV320E (unnEUtered to allow analog-in and analog-to-DV passthrough so I could use it to digitize all old VHS footage as well) and it worked quite OK in Mojave although occasionally I had to reconnect the cable to make it work. I have an old Mac mini late 2009 and also PowerBook G4 2004 for officially supported DV work but I have essentially retired the DV gear by now.

As I said, newer hardware and macOS might be flaky with DV camcorders. AFAIR some Monterey (?) point version did not support DV import, for example. So success is not guaranteed.

Other folks have used QuickTime Player for the import.

I used the old iMovie in Mojave: iLife 06 installer doesn't run on OS X 10.7 or later because it is a PowerPC application. iMovie HD 6.0 can be installed via Pacifist ($20): Open the iLife 06.mpkg installer with Pacifist, select the whole iMovie package and let Pacifist install all components to their correct places. iMovie HD 6.0.2 Combo Update and iMovie HD 6.0.3 Update can the be installed normally. iDVD 6.0.4 doesn't run on OS X 10.8. OS X 10.9 is the last where iMovie HD 6.0.3 officially runs, or in macOS 10.10-10.14: Right click to show package contents. Open contents. Open info.plist in Text Editor. Scroll down close to the bottom and locate line:

<key>CFBundleVersion</key>

<string>6.0.3<string>

Change the 6.0.3 to 6.0.5.

What do you mean by "no longer supported"? My old Sony TRV320E D8 camcorder could export .dv to iMovie 6.0.3 HD to Mac mini 2018 running Mojave with some FW-Thunderbolt adapters. I guess any old miniDV camcorder is the same and also QuickTime Player could be used for the import.

That said, FW support might be flaky in such new Macs and new macOS. Another approach would be to get some old FW-native Mac to import .dv files. Or get some 3rd party device or service to do the job.

I have perdonally used a third party for these tasks with my miniDV, called Lifeflix - with firewire adapters and been succesful in transferring about 3 dozens miniDV.

i can’t recommand, but just sharing the idea.

https://lifeflix.myshopify.com/

I don’t believe that a MiniDV or Digital8 camcorder will show up as a drive in the Finder. You would use iMovie to import the digital video.

You need these (clumsy) adapters if the Mac has no native FW ports:

brarn wrote:

Thanks Martin, this is interesting. So I have an upgrade available for Sonoma 14.2.1 do you think this would do?

Sorry, I can't help on that point. I have no way to know if it would work or not.