Import DV video from camcorder tape to a single DV file?

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Import DV video from camcorder tape to a single DV file?

I've looked around quite a bit on this forum and can't find an answer to this one...

I'm importing DV videotapes from an old Sony camcorder onto my Macbook Pro using iMovie 11. I have unchecked the iMovie import dialog box that says "Split days into new Events".

When I click import in iMovie the video is indeed imported.....but upon looking at my hard disk after the whole tape was imported, iMovie split my import into about 35 separate DV file clips.

I don't want all of these individual DV clip files....I just want to do a straight import from the camera tape to hard disk and have one resulting large DV file (which for an hour of DV video will probably be around 17 gig). If iMovie is going to split my single tape into 35 separate DV files then I'm going to have to go through the extra steps to create an iMovie project, assemble the clips into a movie within that project, export to a single movie file, etc. All of that just to get a simple import done....

Is there a way to use iMovie to just do an import from the DV tape to a single DV file on my hard disk? Or, do I have to find another piece of software to do this?

Any input would be greatly appreciated because I have about twenty DV tapes sitting on my desk and I need an easy way to import all of this stuff to archive it...

Thanks,

John

Posted on Oct 4, 2013 6:36 PM

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Answer 1

JohnNY123 Author

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24 points

Oct 4, 2013 7:30 PM in response to JohnNY123

I see on the Apple website that QuickTime 7 Pro will capture DV video from a camcorder. Does anyone know if it will capture a tape to a single DV file?

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Answer 2

Oct 5, 2013 7:19 AM in response to JohnNY123

Why is it a problem to have multiple clips rather than one long clip?

What do you want to do with the imported DV clip /clips?

If you eventually want to edit your import then it is more convenient to have multiple clips rather than one long one lasting about an hour.

The number of clips you get on your import will be the number of scene breaks on the tape i.e.when you press record each time on the camcorder (but I expect you know that already).

iMovie HD 6 has the facility to select or deselect "Start a new clip at each scene break" but I don't know about

QT7 Pro.

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Answer 3

JohnNY123 Author

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24 points

Oct 5, 2013 7:34 AM in response to thesurreyfriends

All I want to do is import these tapes to archive the video for safe keeping. These camcorders are getting very old and I don't want them to break, leaving me with no way to access the video. And the tapes won't last forever either. :(

So all I want is to import and store. I have no need to edit anything....

I just spoke with Apple and they said that QuickTime Pro will import to a single DV file, so I guess spending the $30 on that is my quick and simple answer. I'll post back later this weekend when I buy it and find out for sure.

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Answer 4

Oct 5, 2013 7:47 AM in response to JohnNY123

So all I want is to import and store.

You can still import and store the multiple clips .They don't take up any more space on your hard drive.

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Answer 5

JohnNY123 Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 5, 2013 10:25 AM in response to thesurreyfriends

Understood and agreed......but storage space is not the issue. The issue is logistics.

I don't want to spend any extra time messing with these files to make them viewable/usable, which I would definitely need to do with individual DV clips. Logistically speaking, it's much easier to just import each tape to a single DV file for archiving and move on to the next tape. No projects to create, no clips to assemble, etc. Just one large file per tape.

If I needed to do any editing at all, I agree that the individual DV clips would be the better way to go.

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Answer 6

Oct 6, 2013 1:27 AM in response to JohnNY123

Hi

iMovie HD6 (and all prev. versions) can do this.

Most probably - FinalCut Pro - if set to not detect timebase breaks/drop-outs.

Yours Bengt W

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Answer 7

catspaw

Level 5

4,344 points

Oct 7, 2013 7:13 PM in response to JohnNY123

Won't QT X also capture from DV tape camera?

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Answer 8

Oct 8, 2013 9:16 AM in response to catspaw

It will, but captures it as H264.

I just tried it but couldn't see any way to alter capture to DV, unless I have missed something.

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Answer 9

JohnNY123 Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 8, 2013 10:06 AM in response to thesurreyfriends

Where would I get iMovie HD6? I have a mid-2012 MacBook that came with the current iLife versions.

With regard to QuickTime Pro, that was going to be my next try for the $30. But if 'thesurreyfriends' above is saying that it only captures DV to H264 then that's not good. I want to capture the original tape byte for byte with no loss in quality due to compression.

Does anyone know for sure that QuickTime Pro can't capture the original DV format off tape?

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Answer 10

Oct 8, 2013 10:48 AM in response to JohnNY123

JohnNY123

Sorry if I have confused you.

My remark concerning H264 was in relation to catspaw's question about QT X not QT 7 Pro .

If you want iMovie HD 6 then have a look on ebay for iLife 06.

QT7 Pro can capture your DV tape in DV format but someone else would have to give you the reassurance that you need to say that it is in the same original DV format as is on tape. I believe it is but I would not want to miss-lead you .Perhaps another reader can give you this reassurance ?

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Answer 11

JohnNY123 Author

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24 points

Oct 8, 2013 10:56 AM in response to thesurreyfriends

Thanks for clarifying surreyfriends.

Can anyone confirm that QuickTime 7 Pro can do a byte-for-byte duplicate capture of a DV file from camcorder tape to disk?

I just checked the documentation again and there's no reference to this topic in there. 😟

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Answer 12

Oct 8, 2013 11:46 AM in response to JohnNY123

I just did a test of importing from my Sony DVR-TRV22 miniDV camera.

I used both QuickTime Pro 7 and iMovie 11.

QuickTime imported from the camera into a single .mov file with the following specs:

Format:

DV, 720 × 480 (640 × 480), Millions

16-bit Integer (Little Endian), Stereo (L R), 48.000 kHz

FPS:

29.97

iMovie imported separate Events (for each start and stop of the camera) from the camera into mulitple .dv files with the exact same specs as QuickTime did.

Matt

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Answer 13

JohnNY123 Author

Level 1

24 points

Oct 8, 2013 11:59 AM in response to Matthew Morgan

Hi Matthew...Thanks for the test results!

Question: For QuickTime Pro you say that it outputted a .mov file but that file's format is DV. I thought that the DV format was/is a .dv file, no? Isn't .mov the proprietary Quicktime digital video container format?

Wow....this is getting confusing. Never in my wildest dreams did I figure that it would be so complicated to copy a digital video tape to a single exact duplicate file on disk. I think part of the problem might be terminology, i.e., what is a digital video file format versus a digital video file container? I don't know.

Any additional clarity on this would be great. Again, the core goal is just to make an exact duplicate of a Sony DV camcorder tape into a single file on disk. No conversions, no quality loss, no editing. Just an exact copy.

Thanks so much for your help so far everyone....

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Answer 14

Oct 8, 2013 12:21 PM in response to JohnNY123

Question: For QuickTime Pro you say that it outputted a .mov file but that file's format is DV. I thought that the DV format was/is a .dv file, no? Isn't .mov the proprietary Quicktime digital video container format?

The .mov file is a container (or wrapper) for the DV format content. If you want, you couold export it from QuickTime to DV and essentianlly remove the wrapper. The .dv file will also contain separate dv tracks for audio and video so your file size doubles.

If it were me, I would use iMovie '11 to import as Events and then go to your Movie>iMovie Events folder and copy the files to your archive disk. Once that's done you can delete them from iMovie. To be safe, deleting should be done within iMovie not from the Finder. It's generally not a good idea to mess around with the contents of the iMovie Evnets or Projects files from the Finder.

Before you go too far. I'd do a test with iMovie 11. I have QuckTime Pro installed which could have an effect on the way iMovie imports as .dv files. I don't think it does, but in the past I know I could do certain things with iMovie because I had QuickTime Pro that the off-the-shelf iMovie couldn't do. I don't think that's the case anymore, but it's worth a test.

Matt

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Answer 15

Oct 8, 2013 12:20 PM in response to Matthew Morgan

Matthew

Out of curiosity are the data rates the same in your test with QuickTime Pro 7 and iMovie 11?

I have also done a test and QT7 Pro is typically 30.3 Mbit/sec and iMovie 11 is showing 57.2 Mbit/sec.

I thought that DV was 25 Mbit/sec so am somewhat confused with both results.

Any thoughts to put me out of my misery?

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