How do I import video from digital8/hi8 to imovie?

I had no luck importing my analog Hi8 tapes through my DV cam into FCP or iMovie even though the images turned up in the import window and seemed to be being imported. Turns out my software versions (FCP and iMovie) is to new. I searched the internet and nothing seem to help. Not LifeFlix or any other app.
However I had done this before on an older version so I searched how to get an older version of iMovie and turns out it is still in my application folder. I opened that older version and everything is working like a charm.

Hope this helps someone.

Here is a link to find the older version of iMovie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyc8PnLNs2A

I know the post is four months old but thought I would share my experience. Am also trying to capture Sony 8mm / Hi8 video via firewire from a Sony GV-D800 8 / Hi8 VCR and having the same problem. I can control the VCR deck and I can see the preview in the import window but when I attempt to import / capture, I get "no data from device" and nothing is recorded. Have tried in both Final Cut Pro X (import and archive modes) and iMovie 11.

It would appear that FCPX and iMovie are both expecting timecode from the VCR and since there is none, no video is captured. I WAS able to successfully capture video with the same hardware setup using QuickTime Pro 7. I have not tried earlier versions of FCP or iMovie but if memory serves, the workaround used to be to select 'non-controllable device' in preferences to sort of dumb down the import. Haven't looked too hard but I don't see any menu options to this effect in FCPX or iMovie 11. Unless I find a better way, my plan is to use QT Pro 7 to import my 8mm / Hi8 tapes. Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Chris

I am in the same situation. I have Hi8 and digital 8 tapes and a DCR-TRV520. I know this used to work fine, but I can't find a way to do it now. It would appear my camera is no longer 'supported'. I'll try other methods and report back here with a definitive way of doing it.

I have imovie 10.0.4

That's your problem..

I have moved a lot of video from Hi8 and VCR videotapes. There's a tad bit of work involved but once you acquire all the pieces you will get excellent results.

Moreover, your final result should be a DVD. That way you will have something you can watch for the next 30 years. You can certainly save the video in other ways too, but I would also see it through to a DVD.

I use iMovie HD 06 with iDVD 09.

Your workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited. Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels, aspect ratio, and original quality.

iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11 is a 100% "lossless" combination and my DVD's look like they came from Hollywood!

You will also need a A/D coverter. (Like the Grassvalley ADVC300)

I've played around with countless other conversion systems, ranging in price from $79 to $399. Short verison, this is the ONLY unit to own. No dropped frames at all, even with questionable quality tapes, no jitter, great color, excellent sound quality. Zero setup with iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11.

This is a prosumer deck. The time code function is alone worth the price if you have old analog footage. Absolutely NO "Out Of Sync" audio.

ADVC300 is for anyone who wants to do editing and is concerned about quality of color and speed, for the novice it is an incredible gizmo that will restore VHS tapes to a state close to the original fixing midtones, highlights and shadows on the fly. Not only can you simply convert analog to digital you can actually manipulate the signal going in (if you want to).

Use Mac OS 10.6.8 if you can. (Newer OSs will work also but you will have to control the ADVC300 manually.)

A bit pricey but it WORKS.

The ADVC300 has been discontinued by the manufacturer. The included software (which is not really necessary but does enhance performance) is not compatible with OS 10.7 or newer. You can still find the ADVC300 for sale in a few outlets as well as eBay. It will sell between 50% and 100% ABOVE its retail price. Yes, it's that good.

If you can’t find the ADVC300, use the Grassvalley ADVC110.

Why use iMovie HD 06 ? iMovie 09, 10, and 11 uses 'single field processing' meaning every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage. iMovie HD 06 uses ALL of the image to form the video.

For maximum quality here is my procedure: ADVC300 > iMovie 06 > iDVD 09/11.

This may seem like more trouble than you want to go through. However, I find the superior quality to be well worth it.

As noted above, I have a DCR-TRV520, but this is basically a problem for most old firewire camcorders.

First, I bought a copy of Rovio Toast 11. I have loved this program in the past. Basically, it does an excellent job of importing the Hi8 video, but can only produce DVDs, blu-rays, or a few other proscribed outputs. Since I have many Hi8 tapes that have chopped up videos, and some with only a small amount of content, I really would like to be able to do more editing, combining, etc.

Second, I bought a copy of Apple QuickTime 7 Pro for $29. Although the user interface is a bit wonky, it easily allowed me to record the videos from my camcorder. I can then import the .mov clips into Final Cut Pro X (I'll bet iMovie would work just as well) and edit them as I wish. I don't seem to lose much if any video quality when I output the videos.

I'm sure there are other perhaps better ways of accomplishing this, but I think that for the price of Quicktime Pro 7 ($29) and iMovie, this gets it done.

For those reading this post with a similar problem, I found that El Capitan's free QuickTime Player allows import from a Video8 / Hi8 / Digital8 camera with no issues - so no need to buy QuickTime Pro. None of the fuss of iMovie either, which completely failed to import anything (the usual 'NO DATA' issue). Quality seems very good too.

Richard

Further to the above, QuickTime Player does import very nicely, BUT if there are unrecorded gaps in a recording then it may not store anything after those gaps.

So a recording of A - gap - B might only record A if the gap was long enough (more than a few seconds, I'd say). I think the encoder has trouble knowing what to do with the gap (lack of video) and so gives up.

So far I've found this applies to Video8 & Hi8, from a Sony camcorder, via Firewire. It's really annoying as I'm importing a lot of tapes and have to manually re-record the missing parts and tack everything back together :-(

I doubt if there's a fix, but I hope this helps others who may wonder what's going on.

Richard

I've having the same problem in FCP X. Analog Hi-8 tapes have no timecode so FCP won't import anything. This is frustrating because FCP X used to be able to do it until recently. The current workaround is older versions of Final Cut (I have FCP 5) using the "Non-controllable device" setting. I tried Quicktime Player X but it only exports bad-quality single-field footage (30p instead of 60i). If you don't have an older version of Final Cut, you might be out of luck. I hope Apple fixes this.

I'm now using LifeFlix from the App Store. Works a treat and doesn't appear to affect the image quality, nor does it have the same lip-sync problems that QT does. Also doesn't miss out any sections of Video8/Hi8 tape. Converts to a simple .mov file in H264 format (which you'll find stored under the Movies folder).

Hope that helps someone.

Does it preserve interlacing and does it have an option to export to ProRes (provided the codec is already installed)?

No. The output form a PAL tape was 720x540 at 25fps. Good enough for me but not interlaced.

Actually, checking the LifeFlix website says you CAN output the DV file directly. See here:

http://www.lifeflix.com/pages/compressed-vs-no-compression

Thanks, I think I'll pick it up because Final Cut 5 is a pain to use.

Any more updates on this? I'm having the exact same problem, but LifeFlix seems to be a solution.

I have a Sony DCR-TRV480E which I'll use to playback my old Video8's.

Which frame rates do you get on analog video from the DV-camera in LifeFlix?

LifeFlix solved all my problems!