How to capture MiniDV Tapes to a Macbook Pro with Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Ports
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- Опубліковано 20 лис 2020
- In 1993 I began recording inline skating on a malfunctioning VHS-C camera that captured video with a blue tint and then edited the footage together with two VCRs to create very rough sections. That is why the first skate video I made with VCRs was called No Budget, Lo-Fi. The following year I purchased a Hi-8 camera and invested in video editing hardware and software for my computer. This equipment brought me into a new world of production and gave my videos a professional appearance. In 1997 I transitioned away from the High-8 format and began recording with a MiniDV camera. I traveled the world to document inline skating until 2009, producing nearly a dozen videos during that time using the MiniDV format. After 12 years of recording, I accumulated a sizeable collection of MiniDV tapes. External hard drives were expensive and did not have enough storage space to archive even a fraction of my collection. Regrettably, to save money, I recorded over a quarter of my tapes, erasing irreplaceable skating history.
When New Technology Conflicts With Old Technology
Today, external hard drives are affordable and have more than enough storage capacity to archive all of the tapes I have. While organizing my office a couple of months back, I came across boxes of MiniDV tapes. I've been moving these tapes around for almost two decades from city to city and shelf to shelf. It was at that moment I decided it was time to transfer them to my Macbook Pro and then archive them onto an external hard drive. The dilemma I immediately faced was, how do I capture footage from a MiniDV Camera with a FireWire 4-pin port to a Macbook Pro with only Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports.
In the past, all my hardware was either FireWire 800 or FireWire 400 compatible, which made capturing footage a breeze. Now I was at a loss of how to make it work, so I reached out to some friends for suggestions. One friend told me to buy a USB-C hub with a FireWire 800 port that cost several hundred dollars, while another friend recommended I send my tapes to a company that would digitize them for over $20 each. Neither one of these options was affordable or appealing to me. My goal was to find a way to capture my tapes without spending too much money.
Is This Even Going to be Possible?
After much research, I figured out what I needed to do to capture MiniDV footage onto my MacBook Pro. The only way to make this work, without spending an arm and a leg, was to buy multiple adapters made by Apple and piecing them together to connect the camera to the computer. Further down, I've posted links to purchase all the adapters and cables you need to make this work.
Check out the full article related to this video on the Big Wheel Blading website.
bigwheelblading.com/how-to-ca...
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What You Need:
Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - amzn.to/35LPjKu
Thunderbolt to Firewire Adapter - amzn.to/3nIvNoi
FireWire 800 to MiniDV Cable - amzn.to/332hGCu
FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 Adapter - amzn.to/3kN1ZFh
FireWire 400 to 4-Pin MiniDV Cable - amzn.to/2ULTNur
Suggested Items:
MiniDV Head Cleaner - amzn.to/3lRAThH
Lacie 4TB USB-C External Hard Drive - amzn.to/3lOYHCX
The Gear I Used for this Video:
GoPro Hero 9 Black Starter Bundle - amzn.to/35OrhOZ
Neewer 18" LED Ring Light - amzn.to/3kNWUg1
Recommended Software:
LifeFlix - www.lifeflix.com/
Davinchi Resolve - www.blackmagicdesign.com/prod...
Links:
Website: www.bigwheelblading.com
Instagram: / bigwheelblading
Facebook: / bigwheelblading - Спорт
Legend! Thank you so much for posting this. Showing all the cables types, connections and software recommendations has really helped me unlock some precious DV tape memories.
THANK YOU! I was skeptical due to the age of my equipment, but it worked! I just blindly bought the adapters you linked to and it works. I’m reviving a tape from 1988. Holy shit. You rule, dude 🤘💀
Heck yea. I'm glad it worked out for you!
Dude!!!!!! I simply cannot thank you enough!!! It worked! I’ve got dozens of boxes of stuff to retrieve now. Amazing video in simple terms and you solved my problem in 5 min of instruction and $150.00 in parts. Thanks again!!!!
Thank you for the accurate description of the adapters and cables required to connect IEE 1934 4 pin to USB - C on MacBook Pro. The free iMovie soft can also be used for converting these tapes to .MOV or .MPEG 4 format.
I’ve been looking for such a wonderful video for a long time. Now I think an MacMini is okay for me to buy to extract my old mini DV tapes. 😀 Thank you so much.
thanks for this- my wife has been bugging me for years to transfer our box of mini dv tapes...finally decided it was time. This was super helpful.
You saved me from buying a bunch of crap that wouldn’t work. Then getting discouraged and abandoning what I was going to do. Thanks!
Hello and THANK YOUUUUU!!! so very much. I was tasked with transferring minidv to computer for a family member. Your video inspired me to take on this project myself, and each step of the way, I did what you suggested and it worked perfectly! Now, our long lost videos can be shared with the entire family. We sooooo appreciate this video!! Keep up the great work and keep posting to help others.
OMG!!!!!!!!! I am soooooo grateful to you for making this video!!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! I'm going to get the set up all together and give it a whirl. You are awesome!!!
JAN. YOU ARE THE GUY I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR !!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its 2023 and i bought a Canon XM1 for some cool car clips but i was lost af on how to connect it with my laptop! Thank you for this video i finally bought all the needed adapters and i can start doing the stuff i want
Thank you for making this video! finally a that explains this simply how to do it from beginning to end... very needed! :)
Very well explained with detail , best video I saw af all …. Enough for me! Thanks
Thank you for your simple and eloquent solution. I too had fallen for the too-good-to-be-true 4-pin Firewire>USB-B cable. Starting from a Firewire 400/4pin, using the three adaptors and Lifeflix, I'm digitizing both miniDV from a DV camcorder and old Video 8 footage from my early '90s art school days with the Sony DVMC DA-2 Media Converter. Someone in the comments was having trouble with that device but it will work and all with a very new MacBook Pro running Mac OS Monterey, 12.4. One note to pass along; the chain of connectors ending in USB-C has to be plugged directly and solely into the MacBook's USB-C socket and not into a shared adaptor. I have an Apple 3-way USB-B/HDMI/USB-C adaptor which is in turn connected to other devices and with the DV input sharing the socket, the software (LifeFlix and iMovie anyway) won't recognize the camera/input box.
This is because all of the items in the "chain of connectors ending in USB-C" are Firewire backwards-compatible (Firewire and Thunderbolt are basically just iterations of the original IEEE 1394 protocol). The Apple 3-way adapters do not support this protocol. It should also work when NOT plugged solely into a Macbook, so long as the interface is Thunderbolt (such as on a Thunderbolt dock).
Exactly what I needed to know, same problem but for live local shows during that period
Thanks for taking the time to make this very helpfull video... I just ordered cables and adapters as you recommend. Happy new year to you !
Did it work for you?
It works on my 2012 ok fcpx but not on my m1 max latest updates.
Thanks!
@@pabsgabs I bought the equipment but haven't got around to try it yet, so I cant tell...
Just what I was looking for. Thanks very much.
Thanks so much! That was just the information I needed.
Thanks!!!
U are the Man!!!!
Blessings!
Happy 2022!
Crews
Very helpful. Thank you for making this video!
Great video. Helped me a lot to figure out which of these countless adapter variations i have to use. Thanks! Impressive beard - btw 🙂
Hey Jan, used to watch your videos back in my rollerblading days. Been feeling nostalgic lately and decided to pull out my old box of miniDV tapes. So wild how I can get the camcorders I dreamed of owning when I was younger for dirt cheap now. And I personally still love the quality. Got myself a PD150 for pennies. But now I've run into the issue of capturing on a 2015 MacBook Pro. Thanks so much for the guide. Unfortunately now, that Apple FirewireThunderbolt adapter is quite $$$. It'll all be worth it in the end when I take a trip down memory lane with hours and hours of old footage, though!
This is great. I recently dug out some mini dv tapes from when I was in high school/college and I found a working camera on eBay for $30. I also recently picked up a 2006 Mac Pro that was being thrown out - so now I’m trying to decide between ripping the tapes on the og Mac, or doing dongle shenanigans with my 2021 MacBook Pro.
Thank you! Very helpful and I appreciate you including the links.
I was stoked to find your video. I thought it would be the answer I needed. Unfortunately, I use Premiere Pro and I just updated to PP 2022 and also updated my Mac to Monterey (12.0.1) and my old method of transferring my miniDV and VHS via the Sony DVMC-DA2 no longer works. The method you suggested also does not work. I due value innovation by the computer software and hardware people. But I also wish they'd have some awareness of some of the older formats that still exist. Anyway, I hope your year-long digitizing effort was a success!
Hey quasiguy, I also have the Sony DVMC-DA2 and it works using the same string of connectors he recommends and with Mac OS Monterey 12.4. Apple responded to the DV-digitizing issue and fixed subsequent versions of Monterey. I'm digitizing old Video 8 and will moving on the VHS after that. Maybe you've figured it out since but for anyone with that box, don't be sad-its still usable.
AforPep Thanks for the important informatuon. I was unaware of the update. I’ll have to give it another try. Thanks again!
Great tutorial! Nice work.
Thank you !! Worked really well. I Was afraid i could never get the Movies of my Sony DV Cam onto my Mac Mini after trying it a lot of ways, but this worked.
Dude. LEGEND. Thanks so much, worked immediately.
Thanks so much, I have the first adapter in the chain and was wondering if this would work. Glad to know it does!
CLUTCHHHHHHHHH I NEEDED THIS
thats the longest chain of adapters I have ever seen 😂
It is a bit silly, but it's the only way I could get it to work.
miss the minidv era.....nice!
Thank you. That was very helpful.
Thank you very much! Worked like a charm!
ur the best only one in the internet to help this thank you so much brother
amazing videos you did ❤❤❤🙌
Another thanks for explanation very helpful.
Thank you for this Jan!
Thank you so much, this was very useful, and the SF Apple store had the cables. Thanks for a very understandable video!
Did it work for you?
It works on my 2012 ok fcpx but not on my m1 max latest updates.
Thanks!
my premiere pro doesn't have a capture feature? Its the new 2022 version and It's not in the file dropdown menu. Did they remove it?
Yes and they don't even allow you to open Premiere using Rosetta anymore. Found another video that offers a workaround using Quicktime to capture. I'm trying to convert mini dv from a canon GL1, haven't gotten a chance to try it and at this point I don't even know if it's worth the money and effort lol.
Thank you for the information! I did exactly instructed, even swapped out the cables and connectors to make sure none were defective. Camera Sony TRV20 not recognized by computer (Mac and Windows). DV Out is enabled on camera. Many thanks in advance
Thank You bro.that was awesome info.
Thank you, Thank you. I did exactly what you showed also downloaded iMovie app and it works great. Transfering old VHS/CVHS to miniDV then to iMac. Fantastic, again all the best.
Did it work for you?
It works on my 2012 ok fcpx but not on my m1 max latest updates.
Thanks!
It doesn't work anymore on Mac OS Monterey. It stopped working in 12.3. :-( I hope they fix it soon.
@@MrTrickyBuzz What are the chances that they would fix this? I guess is not many of us still doing this?
@@pabsgabs Not sure. Very annoyed as I JUST got these adaptors. Works fine on Big Sir, but stopped at Monterey. You can still see it just fine in System info, but nothing sees them anymore. UA-cam kills any links I post, but search for "Monterey 12.3 Broke The Mini-DV Connection" to see the thread on apple discussions about it. Now I am stuck using my old Mac Pro for video work vs my M1.
@@MrTrickyBuzz Yes, it will show on the system. I also just bought the adaptors. So which is the las Mac OS that works?
Thank you so much! This worked!!!! We used imovie to import our footage!!
Great video! I am curious what mini DV camera you used because I have not been able to get my Canon Optura 300 to be recognized by my Mac?
Wow big help, thank you!
Dude. Thanks a lot for this. You're saving people a lot of research time. I really appreciate it. My sister found her old Nuclear Death videos on VHS, and I thought I could pass my Sony analog to digital converter through an old hard drive that has a firewire port, but it isn't seen by FCP. I think your solution will work. I hope. Anyway, yeah--THANKS!
Thank you, I've been looking at all kind of adaptors from BlackMagic Design, but hadn't thought about just cable adaptors.
I just ordered the cables you advised, if all goes well I'll be able to capture video from my old camera :-)
Another option is if you have a HDV camera with HDMI out port, you can play out any DV or HDV tapes. You then just need a single cheap HDMI to USB C capture card/ adaptor and of course a standard HDMI cable. I have the Panasonic HV20 and it works great for all my captures.
You lose quality this way though
Hi thanks for the info . My mac book is the 2000 modle( pretty old) I don’t think it has the fire wire port in front like the one you show in this video. Now days nobody looks for these kinds of cables but i am trying to save some of my very old videos on my mac. I will look for the confections you mentioned on here. Do you know what kind of wires i would need to transfer from old fire wire port to mac book 2000?
Cheers
That’s cool. I still today use XL1 cam to videograph
Thank you very much 😊. Good stuff !!! 😄
Thanks for this video. iMovie in conjunction with the following
adapters works for camera control and capture: TB3 to TB2, TB2 to FW800,
FW800 to FW400, FW400 to Mini-DV. So excited to be able to retrieve all
the videos of the kids growing up into a usable and current format.
Really appreciate you taking the time to get this info out there!
YES!! all working for me as well with same connections on Mac M1 air.
@@leeroyle2381 do I need to buy the FW400 cable to make it work? or I can just simply get a FW800 to MiniDV cable and it will work.
Excellent video, was wondering if this can be used to capture the live camera footage? If it can be recognized by a cell phone as well....
Great video.
Thanks for making this vid. I recently got an A/V out to USB 2 cable on Amazon for $12 and using Quicktime to capture because Premiere isn't seeing it. BUT...It seems to be capturing at 480 and not in HD. Is this because of the cables or the camera I got on eBay to digitize with?? I'll get the other cables if it gets me the higher res that I know it was originally shot in.
Bravo! Thank you!
Thanks for the video man!
I have a firewire 800 on my macbook. Do you know if it would work with a Firewire 800 to Mini Dv firewire directly?
Hi, thanks for making the video - can I clarify if you were referring to the current FCP or the previous version of Final Cut Pro....thanks...
You are a GENIUS
Hey. Thank you for the great instructions. Do you have any idea if this will work with the iPad Pro 2021 that also has a USB C Thunderbolt port
i don't know where to start, mostly maybe the fact that you filmed Chris Haffey...anyway, thanks for the tip of using Lifeflix as i am going down the miniDV road for a new camcorder. On that subject, do you have any favorites?
This is a great help. Thank you! I also have an older Canon video camera (8mm tapes) with only RCA cable ports. How would I go from RCA to thunderbolt?
bought a 2012 mac mini Catalina for $100 last year of firewire plugged it in loaded life flix and everything worked perfectly no extra cables or work around
Hello, great info. I am wonder if you can just use the firewire to thunderbolt 2 adapter if you have a thunderbolt port? I have tried this on my MacBook and it doesn't recognize my camera at all. I have a desktop mac that has the usb-c but don't want to buy the thunderbolt 2 to usb-c adapter if it won't make a difference. Thanks
I was wondering if this is would actually work. Thanks for posting.
Ur amazing bro ❤️
Perfect!
Thanks for the explanation. I'm using Sony DCR HC90 camera but my macbook don't recognize the camera. Is there a setting on the camera I need to do? I have tried so much and my next step will be to find another camera.
This is great! I'm struggling to get my family videos to digital. I have an old Macbook Pro with a firewire connection. I have a TB to FW. Can I just get a FW to MiniDV and connect? I have a Sony DCR PC 101E. Please and thank you.
Thank you so much! Do you think this same setup may work with a DSR-1800P DVCAM Studio Editing player from Sony? I have some old tapes from work that I need to archive and looking for a way to get it into my 2016 iMac. :)
Used this setup/adapters and works well with my Sony DSR-11 deck.
There's other ports on your camera you can use like the s cable and av with a Roxio adapter. But I'm wondering if the quality of the video and sound better using the firwire connection better?
Firewire is superior to those other connections.
IHi! Thank you so much for this vid. I have a couple of doubts I’d be very happy if you could help me solve. Would it work the same if I use a 400 to 800 firewire cable from the camera port instead of using the adapter? I have a Digital8 camera. And, by using Premiere, in which codecs were you able to use? Is this way able to save the videos in a better quality than using the RCA/AV or S-Video outputs that usually only export videos in H.264 or Mp4?
Thank you so much!
I'd say you have to get the Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 (4-pin), then the Thunderbolt to Firewire 800, and then Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 if you're using a Mac with Thunderbolt 3 ports. I don't use Premiere, but I'd set the timeline settings to DV and export as DV or H.264. The method shown in the video is much better than RCA/AV or S-Video since those ports are analog, whereas Firewire/Thunderbolt is digital.
It would be nice to see someone show the difference in quality of video and sound using firewirw versus rca/av or s-video. I bought the roxio adapter and wondering is it really worth it to buy the additional adapters to use the firewire port
Hello! Thanks for the youtube video. but how do you convert avi files though? Ive been trying some softwares(include adobe) to convert avi to mp4 or mov, it fails :/
thanks, I'll give this a try
Have you ever had the issue of FCPX breaking a long clip into one second or shorter clips and dropping frames between the clips? If so how did you resolve it? thanks, Kris
i saw you have a canon gl2 - same cam ive just bought but not in my hands yet. how does it work with canon gl2? would a firewire 800 cable work on gl2? thank you!!
thanks so much! I've got the same camera.
You video is the best!! So you can use the firewire 800 cable directly to the camcorder then to the apple adapter. I don't need the 400 to 800 adapter if I have a 800 cable?
Just found my VHS of United Front the other day.. shame I've got nothing to play it on though.
Been trying this set up but can’t get audio? Image is well sharp though, any ideas?
very helpful thank you
Hey I got a canon gl2 and I was wondering if I need to get all 3 wires and the adapter in order to capture my footage.
question...my MacBook Pro does not have the "Lightning Bolt" connection. Only 2 smaller ones. I have very little knowledge of the computer jargon concerning ports.....I was with you until you plugged it into the Mac. Thats where mine is fifferent fom the one you show. Another adapter needed?? and what kind...thanks in advance ...P.S. it's a 2018 MacBook
I Have an HP laptop (ENVY) with 2 thunderbolt 3. I have the recomended cables, but get an error telling me that the cionnection is no good. I Use av Sony digoital camere with tape. Anything I miss?
So lifeflix has good log and capture settings like older premiere does? I’ve struggled with this for years no one seems to have an elegant solution. I have hundreds of tapes, (I shoot and edit for a living.) the actual “DV” format is dead and can’t really even be played back in a modern OS even though it’s technically the least compressed. Do you thing a conversion to a modern h264/ mp4 looks ok? And can lifeflix go straight to a modern format like that from capture? I’m curious because logging everything will take forever, and I only want to do it once. It’d be nice to not have to convert after the fact. Thank you! Helped so much to know that a kooky daisy chain like that actually works.
Most direct firewire support has been removed from windows 10. And using a firewire 8 pin, or thunderbolt 2 directly from the old ports have problems on the new osx. The best bet is a thunderbolt 3(usb-c) with the daisychain adapters , firewire and thunderbolt. Or settling with low quality and using the usb to av cable capture devices. Then upconverting the files with the handbrake software. Or try iMovie if u get it going before paying for software
Would this work for HDV mini tapes...? HDV wasn't so widely adopted as regular mini DV. I'm on Catalina, imovie 10.2.5
i tried to look for knock off adapters but i couldn't find any so i bought the ones you suggested from apple and i'm ready to start converting my dv mini to digital media on imovie i'm pretty sure it will work, so thanks for you advice
How did you get on with imovie, did it work ???
(Obviously its built into Macs so no additional software needed then if it works)
hi! fellow tape enthusiast here- I was wondering what version of premiere you used to capture your footage? I have miniDV tapes and the latest version of premiere took away the DV capture setting....help
I was using CS6; however, since then, I have switched to LifeFlix
Thanks for sharing but i need help a Thunderbolt 2 to Mini DV as have a Late 2015 iMac will i be able to use iMovie to capture my footage and Edit if i can get the correct Adopters.
When I connect my Canon Optura 300 to my MacBook Pro (15" 2016) running MacOS 12.0.1 and using LifeFlix DV Importer 3.5.2 using the cable and adapter arrangement you show, the display on the Canon shows flashing "DV IN", suggesting that the Canon recognizes that it is connected to a digital device but is expecting that I want to transfer data from the MacBook to the Canon instead of from the Canon to the MacBook. I can't figure out how to get it to understand that I want the video to flow from the Canon to the MackBook. Can you help? Thanks very much! Really enjoyed your video.
same issue wiht my Sony Digital Handycam (miniDV)
What is your version of Adobe Premiere i have the 2018 one and it seems it has no option for capture!? (My version of my Mac is MacOS Sierra 10.12.6
thank you so much!!
Hi, i bought firewire (4 pins)to the Camera --> to USB 2.0. Later I took adapter to USB-c. But don´t work. FCPX doesn´t recognize the camera when I push Import. Any advice? Thank you very much in advance.
Incredibly helpful and bought all the cables. However, when I tried to attach the DV cables, none of them would fit. One cable I bought (by mistake) was a DV to DV, and one end fits, the other doesn't - but all the cables I bought to add together, including adaptors and two thunderbolt cables can't be attached to the camera because the DV end doesn't fit. I bought both a 9 pin to 4 pin male to male and a a Firewire 1394 cable 4 pin to 6 pin. The only DV cable that works is one end of a 4 pin to 4 pin cable (but only one end). Is there some good reason for this? I thought I had bought every combination possible! Thank you!
Hi. This is great. I have a ,2019 MacBook Pro. Struggling to get it to work. All connections aok. Mac recognises camera. But when importing tape finishes it seems to carry on processing indefinitely. I thought one worked ok but I'm not sure where to find it. I'm trying to import through I movies. Thanks for any consideration
I assume iMovie would detect the end of a video tape and stop. Weird. The software he mentioned (LifeFlix) has a free version you can try.
very useful
I haven't been able to get this to work with a Canon GL2 to the cable chain to iMovie or Final Cut. I have been able to record to Quicktime but every time there is a timecode break QT stops recording. Anyone have any suggestion?
my imac only has thunderbolt 3 so this is good option instead of cards - thanks