miniDV to AppleTV

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Level 1

9 points

miniDV to AppleTV

Any thoughts on the best workflow where the end result is that I can watch a whole MiniDV sourced tape on AppleTV (unedited) at best possible quality AND be able to edit it if I feel like it in a few years. I have about 30 tapes that once were archived with FCPX, but I never bought FCPX (could do so if it will save me time or enhance quality), but prefer to work in iMovie or Quicktime 7 Pro so I am not committed to paying for FCP down the road. I also have the camcorder and tapes still and I'd be willing to reimport if needed, but it would be great if I could use the archived "tapes".

Can I import the FCPX archives into iMovie 10 or do I need to re-import the tapes into iMovie 10? Then I'd have to create a project for every 'tape' and share to iTunes to view on AppleTV.

Are there any quality benefits from using FCPX vs iMovie for this purpose?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Apr 24, 2015 7:33 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,082 points

Apr 24, 2015 8:35 AM in response to anderskam

You can't open the archive in iMovie. You can either download the trial version of FCPX, which might be a good idea so you can assess the application for yourself and whether you need it, or you can open the camera archive. You can either open the archive with the trial version, or you can right-click on it and use Show Package Contents and root out the archived DV files.

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Answer 2

anderskam Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 24, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thanks for confirming I cannot open/process the archives in iMovie.

I already used my free trial of FCPX so next step will be to either buy FCPX or figure out how to use iMovie going forward.

If I buy FCPX I assume it's pretty straightforward to import from the FCPX archives (.mov files) rather than getting the camcorder and tapes out again. I assume I need to do it per archived tape though and there is no batch process, correct?

If I go down that route, I'd also need to create a project for every tape to be able to ultimately watch it as one long video (per tape) on the AppleTV. Is that the way to go about it and I'll be able to view that on AppleTV in the best possible quality by sharing to iTunes? If so, how straightforward is that for someone not used to FCPX? Do I need to use custom settings to maximize the viewing quality on AppleTV since this content is interlaced or will FCPX and sharing to iTunes take care of that automatically?

Thanks in advance!

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Answer 3

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,082 points

Apr 24, 2015 8:51 AM in response to anderskam

IF you really just want to process the video for AppleTV I would suggest getting Handbrake and running the clips through that.

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Answer 4

anderskam Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 24, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Thanks again. I assume that means I'd need to recapture the tapes if I want to use Handbrake.

Let's assume I decide to buy FCPX. Is there an easy way to 'import' the FCPX archives I already did, or do I need to import them one 'tape' at a time from the archive?

Once I do the import and have all these tapes in FCPX and put them all into projects are there any settings I need to change when exporting to iTunes to maximize quality on the AppleTV given the interlaced source?

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,082 points

Apr 24, 2015 9:43 AM in response to anderskam

NO need to recapture for the archived material. Hack the archive as I described above. Copy out the files and run then through Handbrake.

REally easy to import archives into FCPX. They're designed for the application. There is an AppleTV export function from FCP.

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Answer 6

anderskam Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 24, 2015 10:01 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

you said:l REally easy to import archives into FCPX. They're designed for the application.

-- Since I have about 30 FCPX archived tapes - do I need to import them one by one or can I 'move' all of them over to FCPX and start working with them?

you said: There is an AppleTV export function from FCP

-- And that maximizes quality even for interlaced DV sourced content? Just import, create project, export to AppleTV without any other settings or intermediate steps due to the interlaced content?

Thanks again.

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Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,082 points

Apr 24, 2015 11:13 AM in response to anderskam

You can move all of them into FCP without leaving the import window. Obviously you can't move that much media instantly, but you can being working with the media as soon as you've told it to import the archives. It's like importing from an SD card or a hard drive.

The AppleTV export function in FCP and Handbrake will deinterlace the media.

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