very basic Q about video, Mini-DV, iDVD & video format

Question

very basic Q about video, Mini-DV, iDVD & video format

Long time no see, friends!

Please bear in mind that until now I have had zero interest in video, so I'm totally ignorant on this subject.

I need to transfer violin practice sessions captured on Mini-DV tape (with an ancient JVC GR GR-DVL820 Camcorder) to a format suitable for uploading to the online teacher and, possibly to YouTube.

I don't even know how to transfer them to my Mac Pro Quad running Lion 10.7.5..

I have ordered an appropriate FireWire cable with the tiny FW connector for the camcorder, and will buy a corresponding USB cable too.

Where should I research what follows next? Here with the Lion experts? Or do I need iDVD as well? I have the iDVD application on my other computer, my PPC PowerMac G5-Quad running Tiger 10.4.11.

Thanks in advance.

feels good to be here again. :-)

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 2.66GHzQuad 2006,16GB RAM,1GB VRAM

Posted on Feb 14, 2015 1:17 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

QuickTimeKirk

Level 10

125,935 points

Feb 14, 2015 2:04 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

Connect the camera using Firewire cable (USB is for photos) and open iMovie. It should detect the camera and allow you to import from the tape.

Once imported you can edit it and then export to QuickTime formats (H.264 and AAC) for sharing.

Your very old version of iDVD may not even run on Lion but it's not needed.

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Answer 2

Feb 14, 2015 3:41 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thank you for taking the time to respond. This is a solid first step help which I duly appreciate.

The need for the FW cable makes sense, thanks. It's on its way, so I'll wait for it to arrive.

The next issue is the "iMovie" you mention. I cannot find a version at the @#*^& Apple store that will run with Lion. The currently offered one is for Yosemite only.

You may have missed that my system consists of two interconnected (Ethernet networked) machines on my desktop, sharing dual monitors and a single USB keyboard, mouse and tablet. The second one of these machines, a PPC G5-Quad PowerMac, has iMovie 6.0.3 running under Tiger 10.4.11. I was hoping I can use that one?

If not, do you know where I can get my hands on a Lion-compatible version of iMovie?

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

Feb 14, 2015 3:47 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

Connect everything to the older machine and fire up iMovie 6. Use it to convert the file to QuickTime formats.

How to use and troubleshoot FireWire target disk mode - Apple Support

Use it to move the large file between the two machines.

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Answer 4

Feb 14, 2015 4:05 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks for the reassurance about iMovie 6.x.

I won't need to transfer the video file between machines, I can do everything from the PPC G5 under Tiger. Both machines are connected to the Internet, and a second Ethernet connection interconnects them.

…but if I did, wouldn't my current Ethernet network be faster than FireWire? The machines, or their HDs, show as connected volumes already. I don't see any need to use a FW cable at all.

I move relative large files between among the 9 volumes all the time, simply by dragging.

Thank you for your help. I'm marking your post as the correct answer as you have given me what I need,

I might come back in a week or two if I get stuck with the "QuickTime formats" (?).

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Answer 5

Feb 14, 2015 4:10 AM in response to Ramón G Castañeda

If your machines are on the same network then you don't need to use target disk mode at all.

Your DV Stream files are standard definition so you don't need the HD options found in newer versions of iMovie.

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Answer 6

Feb 14, 2015 4:46 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks once more.

Not very often do I get to "award" one correct and two helpful marks to the same contributor. Well deserved!

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