How to import mini dv tape as one clip?

Oh ok well last question then.

How do I convert to a smaller codec? I'm completely unfamiliar with H.264

thanks for your time.

Posedion wrote:

How do I convert to a smaller codec?

If you have Compressor, that would be the best way. Another good software would be MPEG Streamclip.

Otherwise, you can just open the movie file in QuickTime Player, and select: File > Save As…, then choose HD 480p.

Hi,

I just imported about 20 minidv tapes using iMovie 6 HD based on recommendations of others. This version of iMovie is by far the best to import the tapes. Each imported tape imported as one single clip.

From within iMovie I would split the video into smaller clips based on content which worked perfectly before exporting.

I kept most of my clips to less then an hour to reduce file size. I noticed the largest clips would crash my Mac when transferring the file from an external drive to the hard drive. Smaller files were not a problem.

Each imported clip was exported in the highest quality and then imported into FCPx without any problems.

Great to know thanks Kevin.

I've got that iMovie HD 6 and will try that.

Thanks Les!

I just downloaded MPEG Streamclip.

Huge help.

Posedion wrote:

It appears that each clip has the label of what day it was shot and what time. The Master video however has clips arranged completely out of chronological order and so there lies the problem.

Nate, all seems fine to me - I make a camera archive from the tape and they appear in the order they were shot.

Am I right in saying that the clips from your archived tape have retained their original timecode and so appear jumbled up, rather then in the order they were on the archive tape?

How did you get Vidi to work? I can't make any sense of it at all!

What is the spec of the Vidi output? (Open a file in QuickTime and press Cmd+i to open the inspector, then tell me what it says. It sounds like ProRes 422 - which is ideal for editing but very large files.

Andy

Hi Andy,

Thanks for following-up. I think I'm still doing a poor job describing my original dilemma. It's not a problem with them being uploaded in the order they were shot in history, it's that they aren't being uploaded in the order that they were edited.

If you took your dog training video and copied it to Master Mini DV tape and then later tried to upload it as a new project, FCPX and iMovie would both take that edited version of your video and take it out of sequence and instead put it in order of when they occured in history. You would then have to go back through and re build your finalized project. If you have any mini DV tapes with finalized projects on them (versus just raw footage) and you upload it into FCPX or iMovie you can see this problem occur. I understand why it is happening but I also think there should be an easy option to just have it uploaded as it plays off the tape and not be reorganized back to it's original timecode. Perhaps that's another way of putting it. It would be great if when you exported a finalized project back to a Master Mini DV tape if there was an option that let you erase all time codes and instead consider it as one, long, finalized clip. Because this is essentially what we create in the end, one finalized movie that we'd like to have considered as such in the future. I don't want to have to manipulate a finalized project that I've backed up to a mini DV tape ever again. Just upload and go.

iMovie HD 6 does this and I have it so my problem is solved.

Vidi is incredibly easy to use as it's very simple interface with little options. When opened it asks you to hook up your firewire camera. The second you do that a window is ready to import the tape (as it plays off the tape. no re-organizing of files, no time coding) and when you are finished importing there is a .dv file on your desktop ready to be imported into any other program. Perhaps it doesn't work for you due to differences in NTSC vs. PAL? Not sure about that but just a guess.

Nate

Poseidon,

I know it's been a while since you posted this question...but I have the same dilemma (a fully edited, completely finished, home movie from about 10 yrs ago, that is on Mini DV. When I try to import it to FCPX it comes in as lots of random clips.)
When you imported into iMovie HD (v6), did you then import it into FCP X or just archive it and make DVD's from the iMovie copy?

I'm just nervous about the life of the Mini DV tape, so wanted to make a digital copy that I could burn DVD's for various relatives who use DVD's to watch family movies (and think a cloud is something in the sky!).....

Thanks for any help,

Alan.

Capturing with QuickTime X should do the job.

Al

Alchroma,

I think you're missing the question (see the previous posts).

Alan.

This issue of trying to capture ONE DV tape has been raised before:

Re: Import a DV tape without splitting

Al

I had the same problem last year and my only solution was to capture with Final Cut Express or legacy FCP.

The early version, iMovie 6, still works on Mavericks and will do the job.

Thanks,

So after some experimenting, I can import my Mini DV film / tape to an old version of iMovie 6 HD as "one clip"....then save with Quicktime in dv format and import that to FCP.

Is there any loss in quality saving with Quicktime?,

Alan.

Thanks

No, none that you would notice.

Thanks Ian,

And, ahem, do you mean I would not notice the difference... whereas a more discerning eye would? Or there's really no difference?

Thanks again, appreciate all the help!

Alan.

😀