Sweet video, confirming this chain of adapters has been working without troubles on my PC under latest OS’s both to connect Firewire devices to my computer and to capture MiniDV tapes. Feel really lucky this knowledge has been transmitted among valiant youtubers through the years :)
@@yaellehaab7598 well, I am not aware of any direct, all-in-one-cable adapter from Firewire (of any type) to USB (of any type) that'd allow you to capture DV footage. I may not know all the existent options, but it is generally believed there isn't one like that. However, as long as the USB port you refer to in your question is USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), you can make a daisy chain of adapters that Mark shows in his video and that will allow you to capture DV footage (going from the camera to the camputer): 1. Unless your camera has a Firewire 800 port, you'll need an adapter from Firewire 400 (either Firewire 400 6-pin or Firewire 400 4-pin, depending on the type of the Firewire connector on your camera) to Firewire 800, 2. then one from Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt, 3. then one from Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt 3. Note that I, personnally, am using genuine Apple adapters for No. 2 and No. 3 and it lets me capture DV but I cannot tell you whether an adapter from a different manufacturer for No. 2 and No. 3 will or will not allow capturing DV. Hope this helps.
Thank you for making the best and easiest to follow video for converting miniDV to digital. Everyone else blabs and blabs and talks without saying anything.
Holy relevant. lol Been wanting to digitize my skate videos from an old Sony HandyCam and realized it somehow got thrown away, so I’m hoping to borrow my buddy’s PD-170. I’m more excited about the MiniDV camera than I am for my a7S III. lol
😂 imma big fan of doing this and have with my VHS and H8 but only recently figured out the best way for DV that didn’t involve adapters or some third party software bundle.
Mark without this video I wouldn't have known where to begin or what to do - you've helped me convert tapes from over 20 years ago! I now have those memories in a modern day format :') THANK YOU!
Clutch! Trying to digitize some tapes for my grandma and this is exactly what I needed. Turns out it’s a pretty chill process once you figure out the adaptors and how to record in QuickTime. Thanks!
The main bit for me, was when it just showed me sitting at my desk on the FaceTime camera. Was the little extra bit of info about switching and then my video opened. Thought I was going to have to get one of the old Macs out of the cupboard. Now to fine tapes of the Grandson 18 years ago. Best Dave
Works great. One thing I discovered is that you may have to disable screen save on Mac. My tapes kept stopping after about 20 minutes and I did a search and found this work around. Thanks for sharing this.
This is the UA-cam content we want and need. Thanks, just picked up an old XL1 for cheap to make music videos. Not knowing at all what to do, and diving in head first. This was the first step needed.
I'm out here trying to Google Firewire 400 capture cards. Didn't even think to just adapter all the way to USB-C. This is great info, glad to see this works!
Hell yeah! I just re-bought a DVX100 and had no idea how to digitize it. Somehow I still had my old FW400 to 800 and a series of adaptors from hard drives over the years...and got it all into my Mac Studio. Worked flawlessly. Thanks so much!
I normally don’t post but I just converted my old mini dv tapes (home videos from when I was young) into HD videos with amazing sound to my MacBook. I took a chance, bought all the adapters and it worked!! My QuickTime player is a bit annoying and I had to break up my recordings but it’s incredibly worth it if you want to save your old tapes. Also it was SO much easier than I thought it was going to be. Thank you so much for sharing this video - actually a life changer. 🙌🏻
How do you not have 100k+ followers. Your channel's quality is so, so very good. Your lighting in all videos is also amazing! And following what you're saying is easy with what, and how you say things.
Gonna try this with a straight up USB version of this (I'm using an early 00s samsung mini dv cam) but thanks for showing me that modern mac OS can actually read old video hardware. Really handy guide!
@@rosen9847 just got one Firewire 1394 to USB and it didn't work on my Macbook :( And I can't seem to find any Firewire to Thunderbolt anywhere anymore!! Need help
Wow I looked up the price of the FireWire 800 to Thunderbolt adapters, and they're about £150 😬 guess what, I had that adapter for YEARS, and after getting an M1 MacBook Pro I sold it in 2021 for just £24! Who'd have thought they'd become so rare. Luckily I still have all my FW400/FW800 cables, I think it'd be cheaper for me to just buy an old Mac with a FW800 port than to buy the adapters.
you're not wrong, I guess the price is up simply on availability. I don't think they're making them anymore. It's weird cause there is a demand, kind of hope some third party picks up on the trend and can support the growing demand. As we move farther away from the relevancy of this tech, the more people want look back on what they shot. It's like 8mm film projector scanners, options exist to watch 50-60 year old footage. Lots of options exist for analogue VHS/High 8 transfers, but the firewire train is hyper limited.
I bought a DV cable for 10$ and I bought an old laptop with firewire and windows xp for 35$ and i am able to trasfer all the videos. Not need all this shit thunderbolt and others..
Sent all my dv tapes to a guy on ebay who uploaded them on Dropbox for very little. He even sent the tapes back. Great time saver and it cost less than all the adapters.
@@MarkHoltze yes it was around $45 for 35 tapes and shipping as media mail came to the rescue. My camera was acting up in replaying the tapes. The guy who did it was on disability and this was a way for him to supplement his income so it was a win win.
Ya that’s not a price offered anywhere round here that’s good, but might br very specific. Also some aren’t comfortable sending their tapes off for whatever reason. Still great you found that price. 👍
Great video - if one has an Apple. Good video- if one has a Windows machine. This video shows how to use adapters for current ports since the IEEE 1394 is rarely (if ever?) included with current PC builds. Digitizing DV and HDV tapes isn't usually too much of an issue. IMHO, digitizing VHS, S-VHS, Hi8 tapes( or any vintage analog tapes) is much more of a challenge.
Yes there are other options for analog formats I’ve used and made videos on. Needed to complete the trilogy with this method as it’s the best I’ve come across in 11 years since IEEE went 🦤
Hi there, was very excited about this video. I have a mini dv SONY super steady shot handycam, and all necessary adapter cables mentioned. Only thing is QuickTime is not recognizing my camera. any troubleshooting advice here? not seeing any comments on this.
Hi, not sure if you'll see this but what camera do you have there? I tried one method that didn't work as quicktime only showed a black screen when everything was hooked up, so I don't want to go through the process of paying for more adapters for the same thing to happen, if the issue is with the camera I'm using. Thanks
Man this was a blast from the past. I remember when I’d plug my FireWire directly into my desktop and then Sony Vegas had that interface where you could play the tape or rewind it on the desktop. I wonder if there are old versions of that program floating around on the internet that you can download. Made the workflow for mini dv and DVC editing so much easier before digital video files took over.
Was that firewire to usb? I’m wondering if those cables work I’m thinking of buying one. I know most of the old cables didn’t go to USB but i’m just wondering :/
@@trevorhare3171 old computers used to have FireWire ports in them. Best alternative now is a FireWire to HDMI input or FireWire to Thunderbolt input. You can also convert FireWire footage to an SD card though third party devices that handle the conversion of the codec. A straight conversion cable won’t work though you NEED a conversion device between the computer and the footage that digitizes analog footagez
@@trevorhare3171 I'm late to respond but no those were DV to Firewire cables. Desktops and Macs back then all had firewire ports native. USB ports were sort of the newer luxury at that time, but a different codec not built for video. At that time cameras switched from film to digital video files and basically became computers with lenses on them so there was less bandwidth needed to import video since you were basically copying files from the hard drive on your camera to the hard drive on your computer, and thus the USB port was enough and the firewire port was replaced with the thunderbolt. I would not trust any firewire to USB cable to work because no USB port can handle the necessary read/write speeds of a firewire cable. You'd need a thunderbolt adapter somewhere in that mix.
THANK YOU!!! Dude, you're a genius. I've spent hours messing around trying to make things work with Sony's lousy software, trying different laptops. Your video is the only one that made sense, and it worked instantly. It was clear and to the point. Thank you!!!!
Any work around for the Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter? looks to be discontuned everywhere. for reverence I have a macbook m1 max. Thanks for the video mark!!
Yes! It's impossible to find it, tried everywhere on the web, I even bought a straight Firewire 1394 to USB wishing it could magically work, but it didn't. Let me know if you ever find it again
👏🏻 Thank you *so* much for the great video. I am trying to do a transfer using an older Mac (all FireWire 1 to FW2) and having problems. I am going to try using my newer Mac with all the adapters you shower so hoping it solve things. Thanks again!
You might want to warn people if they have a lot of tapes to do not to mix different brands of tapes in the camera/player. Sony and Panasonic tapes had a different coating on them and sometimes reacted badly when you swapped between tapes. So it's safer to play all of one brand of tape, clean the heads and then play the next brand.
Weird, years of shooting mini dv and editing I never ever had that issue. This is the first I’ve heard of it. A head cleaner is always recommended just wear and tear for sure.
Yeah, my XL1 was picky and I had all sorts of problems until my tape reseller told me about this issue. Once I started shooting on ONLY higher end Sony tapes, I had very little digital dropout issues.
@@MarkHoltze We used to have major dropout issues. In the end when I was working for ITV in the UK there was a list of tape brands we were allowed to use in the cameras. They actually had a separate player just for any Panasonic type tapes that came in. Then we moved to all Panasonic and we were not allowed to put Sony or Maxwell tapes in our cameras.
Nice video, I considered it. As fun as daisy chaining apple adaptors is, I'd have to purchase them. I think I might have a old firewire computer around here somewher. A firewire 400 PCIe card is like 15$.
I have an old G5 tower that does it while running fcp so I can even log it. Didn’t think that was a circumstance easily duplicated. I think they have some usbc to FireWire direct cables now. I should look into it.
This is a great video Mark! I followed your instructions to the letter and was getting really excited and the I got an error message saying 'Cannot record' What a drag
Oh man that’s sucks! Not sure why I can’t reproduce any errors, it just works. Wonder if it’s the camera itself. I have 3 and they’re all detected. XL1, DVX100a and my Sony Handycam
Yeah thanks for replying. Your vid was the best on the web! I tried iMovie, Premiere Pro and QuickTime for DV import but none work. I can get the video through iMovie but with no audio and when you export it says ‘Export failed’. Premiere Pro can’t find the path to the camera and as you know from my previous note QT imports the video but you can’t record. It’s very frustrating as I have about 30 hours of video that I can never concert
This video was super helpful but I have one question, I am using my Canon G2 Camera - The connection works and Quicktime recognizes that the Microphone is from the Camera also and I can see the audio levels bouncing when I am recording through quicktime but when I go to playback the video I just recorded theres no audio at all? Any help answer to fix this?
I'm digitizing almost 40 yrs of VHS, VHS-C, and Mini DV tapes using my M1 Pro MacBook Pro. VHS has been no problem. I had to order a new VHS-C adapter since my old one doesn't work, and when I tried capturing those, I realized my current VCR does not support SLP playback speed of some of my VHS-C tapes, so I'm in the process of borrowing a VHS-C camcorder. Then I also remembered that I have Mini DV tapes as well. Luckily, I still have the Mini DV camcorder. Also, my MBP is docked to a 27" Thunderbolt Display, so I lucked out too because that has FireWire 800, so I only need a FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 4 pin cable and I can capture that footage digitally.
Is this the highest quality we can capture from the old mini DV Tapes? Or would it be better to capture with other software like final cut/premier. Lastly does the quality lower from using the adapters or would be better if I used my old computer with a firewire port?
Hi! One question, do you think that using analog to digital video conversion its kind of similar to actually recording on a cassette, I recently bought a Panasonic MX500DV (second hand) and SD mode looks really bad but i don't want to spend lots of money on dvs. Do you recomment buying an analog to digital conversion device like video capture ION Audio Video 2 SD conversor or something like that? Or actually spending the money on cassettes and recording them.
I captured in Quicktime because Premiere pro cc refuses to do it. how do you deinterlace the footage in premiere? also, I noticed some huge sync problem with the sound on long captures... what would you recommend ? the video file is good with the sound but when I import it in premiere it goes out of sync .
Hi Mathieu. Hmmm, I didn't have a sync issue when I captured the 20 mins of on camera at all. It captured at 29.97 frames per second (NTSC model). How long are your clips before the sync slips? Are you editing in a timeline that matches the frame rate of the captured video? Start a new project, drag the file into the timeline and allow premiere to auto gen the timeline settings based on the captured DV clip. I'll see if I can't re-create this issue. I had the same issue with a previous capture device if my frame rate wasn't matched to the camera (59.97) (hi-8, not mini dv in this case) Premiere should have a de-interlace video filer, if that doesn't after effects does. I had some issues with the Premiere one again with my older device and hi-8. I would apply it and it wouldn't do anything. I actually didn't apply any de-interlacing to the footage captured with this, maybe there wasn't enough movement, but even on my not shown whip pan and crash zooms, interlacing didn't appear to be an issue. I'll see if I can again re-create some of this in the next little bit, I've got a project being shot on mini DV so will run some tests.
Do more videos about this specific camera, it doesn't get enough recognition on YT. But it did get a lot of recognition on TV since this specific camera was used to film many shows (And some found footage movies), and it's amazing
Can I ask how the quality of the video & sound differs compared to having it done professionally? I had sent my tapes off to be converted about a year ago but they found they were unable to convert the sound properly so it is very choppy, and a couple have no sound at all. We still have the original video camera so I played back the tapes to check the sound and it’s perfect for every single one, so I’m unsure what happened. Because of this experience, I wanted to convert them myself, but I was wondering if the quality would be less good than if it were done professionally. Thank you so much!
If they're MiniDV, Digital8 or other digital tapes, it's a raw copy over firewire so there's no difference - it's identical data to what is on the tape. They may have been converting from analog tapes like VHS-C, Hi8 etc though. It definitely doesn't sound like the company you paid lived up to their 'professional' status though unfortunately.
Please help! I was so excited I'd be able to do this but my camera is nnot showing up as an option in the Quicktime menu as shown in the video! Why is this happening?
@@MarkHoltze Thanks! I actually ended up using iMovie instead of Quicktime as it recorded continuously even when the camcorder would "glitch". (QT kept thinking the tape stopped when my camcorder glitched, and would stop recording which was problematic for me). Perhaps you could make tutorial for iMovie users in 2022 as well... has a very easy "import from camera" function that works really well... exporting will be another challenge though lol. Cheers mate!!!
Hi Mark, your videos have been immensely helpful 🙏🏼 I am going to capture the next DV tape with your method, but wanted to ask if my Canon HV20 plays my old DV tapes with good audio but the file that is recorded from my AGPtek HD recorder has annoying audio “static” type of sounds what do you think could be causing that? I’ve tried using different HDMI cables, different jump drives, etc. I ordered another HD recorder to see if the recorder was the issue but not sure if it is possible for the DV camcorder to play the audio fine but what is output via HDMI to have the static noise? Will try with quick time but wanted to know if you ever encountered this issue
Hello! I bought all the cables you suggested and it was working fine for a little while! Now my camera won’t pop up on QuickTime player when I plug everything in, is this something to do with the cables?
I wish I could say for sure but unfortunately I can’t test it. I have windows running through boot camp and it works, but given the setup I’m not 100% convinced it will work for dedicated windows users. It’s not even working for some Mac users depending on the camera as it turns out. I have 3 mini dv cameras, all from the big three (Sony, canon and Panasonic) all their top tier/most popular professsinal ones and I have no issues. But for some of the smaller and lesser known brands people have reported the system not detecting the camera. I really wish there was a dedicated straight forward way to do this. Capturing analogue is supported with loads of devices but FireWire is just not supported anymore by third parties. Crazy cause there is a huge market there to cap on.
@@MarkHoltze Well, my camera is not the most professional, but it is from Samsung, as is my notebook. Could it be that since they are both from the same brand, there is a greater chance of it working? Anyway, thanks for clearing up my doubt, I think I'll take a chance on Windows.
Its almost exactly like it used to be with iMovieHD back on osx Leopard. I used to plug my camera straight into my MacBook with a firewire cable and record live straight into iMovieHD. I didnt even know that you could record on a camera in a different way.
Hi ! Thank you for your video, you make each step pretty clear ! I just have a question, looking for cables i found the firewire 800 to thunderbolt, but wjen looking for thunderbolt to thunderbolt 3, i only find thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3? Are thunderbolt and thunderbolt 2 the same ? Seems weird
Thanks for the excellent tutorial! I wonder why you choose to export the video from Quicktime instead of saving it. Saving produces a much bigger file. I wonder if the quality is better than the compressed export. Do you have an idea?
Hi! Im trying to digitize from my Canon GL2. I found the firewire cable that fits into my camera to a usb port and then used a usb to thunderbolt adapter into my MacBook but it wont recognize that the camera is plugged in. Do you know how i could fix this?
sorry but i searched everywhere and bought everything. but my macbook pro won't find my camera. When I plug in all the cables and plug in, my computer still can't find it. can anyone help me.
It’s so weird this problem I guess happens with some cameras. I can’t replicate it unfortunately so I can’t seem to attempt to resolve the problem. I need to look into a more universal method. I have three mini dv cameras and they’re all detected. XL1, XHA1 and the DVX100A.
Hello Mark , i have a Panasonic NV GS 400 Mini dv camcoder back from 2005. As the video capture resolution is 720 × 576 SD, can we upscale it to 720 or 1080 P HD after capturing?
He transferred Mini DV which is 720p and the saved file was in 480p. If there’s a way to do it lossless it’s preferable. I’d like to know if this is the only option?
Just got a dvx100b and was wondering if this is a better option for quality sake than purchasing a clearclick 2.0. Also, is it perfectly safe to play the tapes back on the camera as you’ve shown here or would it be wiser to get a tape deck?
Does the clearclick 2.0 do FireWire? I have the earlier version and it’s great just no FireWire. I should look it up. It’s safe ya, yoy might want to buy a tape head cleaner though
Very helpful video. thanks. One question though. Does this re-encode the video and audio, or is it a direct bit for bit transfer of the digital video that is stored on the mini DV tape?
It re-encodes it. Once you were able to capture digital video you always had the option to select the encoding type depending what you wanted to prioritize. Even early days of FCP pro capture you always got to select a codec.
Hello Mark. I have 6 mini dv tapes I need to transfer to either my 10 year old Mac or Dell laptop or Lenovo laptop. I think I have 6 hours of footage. If I were to transfer to Dell or Lenovo with USB ports and one HDMI port, could you please tell me what type of cables I should? How much space do you think I will need? Thank you.
My daughter wanted to use my old Panasonic camera for a retro look and we were at a dead end for how to digitize the footage. Until Now!! Thanks so much. The ~$80 we spent on the cable and adapters are well worth it. BTW, why a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter should cost $49 from Apple is beyond me :)
Ya it’s bizarre. Let me know if it works for you. Been getting some comments saying it’s not been working with certain cameras. I can’t test them all unfortunately, but curious to know.
@@MarkHoltze It worked just as shown in the video, although I was also given the choice of 720p during export. BTW, my camera is a Panasonic PV-GS39. It is at least 15 years old but works great.
So happy to hear that! So must be some camera brands. Some just don’t get detected apparently. Glad it’s worked for you. Be worse to get those adapters and not have it work. ✊
@@Banlman That's weird, that must be the software converting it(or offering to), as normally it would just be directly copying the data from the tape(which is often preferable, as there's no quality loss). A variety of different software should work with it anyway though.
From what I looked up, even though Thunderbolt 3 is described in the specs as vaguely 'compatible' with Thunderbolt 2 it seems it's really not. From pictures of the circuit board & component info it seems these converters have both a Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 2 controller inside - one demuxes the signal back to PCIE and Displayport signals then the other controller re-muxes it in the other Thunderbolt standard. There's also some other more minor circuitry in there, so while they're still bound to be making a good profit, it's a lot more than just a cable adaptor. The few non-Apple converters are even more expensive, but might have more features? I guess it's possible there is some kind of backwards Thunderbolt compatibility without using this method, but if so it seems it can't be perfect or Apple(& others) wouldn't have bothered with the more expensive method. Certainly not like standard USB for backwards compatibility, albeit USB3 & 4 are a mess with 'optional' current features. I think the Thunderbolt 2 to firewire converter is almost certainly using a PCIE to firewire controller, as it would be the same as used on common firewire PCIE cards. Apple could surely make Thunderbolt 3 to firewire converters that wouldn't cost any more than the old ones, but I doubt they will. It's also rather more profitable to sell 2 devices rather than 1 I guess.. The Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 converters are also useful for other things, but there must be quite a few people buying both only to use firewire.
HI Mark thank you for all this information. I have purchased the cables however the camera is not coming up as an option for input. Any suggestions at all please ?
Thank you for this! I've followed your instructions and everything works, EXCEPT the audio doesn't transfer. I can hear the audio with earphones plugged into the camera, so I know it's part of the footage. I'm doing it from a Canon XL1s. Could there be some setting on the camera or in Quicktime that I might be overlooking? Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Hmmmm, it’s weird it should just work if it’s FireWire because it’s both video and audio. It’s hard to trouble shoot when I can’t replicate the problem. Let me take a look when I get back home to see if I can see any other options.
Mark, great video. I'm trying this connection process on a Canon GL2. I'm able to get the video to record on my Mac, but no audio is being recorded. When I play back on my Mac, I'm getting none of the sound. What did I miss? Thanks!!!
This is my understanding too but not mentioned in the video. I have anamorphic shot video but at least that was converted ok but the quality is debatable. However I need to investigate the Maximum setting Mark mentions. May be that makes a difference? One things for sure I don’t want a squashed widescreen anamorphic picture! Ideally I want the same capture as that which I could achieve with Premiere Pro until Adobe/Apple broke it.
Hello 2 questions: Do you know whether QT can be setup up to capture this in Pro Res?. Do you see any advantage to this for future editing access (since DV is gone) and or quality of capture?
Thank you for the information. I bought the recommened cables but the Firewire High Speed Premium DV to Firewire Cable 800 seem to fit my camcorder. It's a Cannon ZR 45. I can't seem to find the right cord. It looks like it is a 5 pin. Any suggestions?
Try hitting play on the camera, THEN loading up QUICKTIME. See if that makes a difference. The software may need the camera rolling sending signal to detect it. MIGHT not, but it's something.
Hi Mark really great video thanks so much ...question ..how do I know if my apple molly and claire book pro has the software already installed ? its a 20201 MacBook will this be good to go ?
Hi Mark I had a question below ...if you wouldn't mind telling me how do I know my laptop has the right software ion the quicktime ...its a 2021 laptop
This process should work for PC as well. I don't have a PC and can't test it first hand, but it should work. Enjoy reliving the past!
Sweet video, confirming this chain of adapters has been working without troubles on my PC under latest OS’s both to connect Firewire devices to my computer and to capture MiniDV tapes.
Feel really lucky this knowledge has been transmitted among valiant youtubers through the years :)
Glad to hear it works, I figured it absolutely should since we’re all on the usb-c/thunderbolt comparability. 🙌
Is it possible to capture the footage if I transfer it from firewire to usb?
@@yaellehaab7598 well, I am not aware of any direct, all-in-one-cable adapter from Firewire (of any type) to USB (of any type) that'd allow you to capture DV footage. I may not know all the existent options, but it is generally believed there isn't one like that.
However, as long as the USB port you refer to in your question is USB-C (Thunderbolt 3), you can make a daisy chain of adapters that Mark shows in his video and that will allow you to capture DV footage (going from the camera to the camputer):
1. Unless your camera has a Firewire 800 port, you'll need an adapter from Firewire 400 (either Firewire 400 6-pin or Firewire 400 4-pin, depending on the type of the Firewire connector on your camera) to Firewire 800,
2. then one from Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt,
3. then one from Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt 3.
Note that I, personnally, am using genuine Apple adapters for No. 2 and No. 3 and it lets me capture DV but I cannot tell you whether an adapter from a different manufacturer for No. 2 and No. 3 will or will not allow capturing DV.
Hope this helps.
You need a PC.. Go get one and show us how. LOL
Thank you for making the best and easiest to follow video for converting miniDV to digital. Everyone else blabs and blabs and talks without saying anything.
Holy relevant. lol Been wanting to digitize my skate videos from an old Sony HandyCam and realized it somehow got thrown away, so I’m hoping to borrow my buddy’s PD-170. I’m more excited about the MiniDV camera than I am for my a7S III. lol
😂 imma big fan of doing this and have with my VHS and H8 but only recently figured out the best way for DV that didn’t involve adapters or some third party software bundle.
Please reply me also sir@@MarkHoltze
Mark without this video I wouldn't have known where to begin or what to do - you've helped me convert tapes from over 20 years ago! I now have those memories in a modern day format :') THANK YOU!
Hope it worked out for you!!! ✊
Legend has it, Mark is still adding adapters to his cable chain.
Adapt or die 😂 hopefully there are more direct routes now
@@MarkHoltze Even you laugh in the overdubs at 1:58 😹 Thanks for the video, helpful nonetheless and glad I stumbled on it! ✌
@ModernEraPirate nice catch! ✊ hope you have a great weekend mate!
Clutch! Trying to digitize some tapes for my grandma and this is exactly what I needed. Turns out it’s a pretty chill process once you figure out the adaptors and how to record in QuickTime. Thanks!
Best of luck mate!
The main bit for me, was when it just showed me sitting at my desk on the FaceTime camera. Was the little extra bit of info about switching and then my video opened. Thought I was going to have to get one of the old Macs out of the cupboard. Now to fine tapes of the Grandson 18 years ago. Best Dave
Works great. One thing I discovered is that you may have to disable screen save on Mac. My tapes kept stopping after about 20 minutes and I did a search and found this work around. Thanks for sharing this.
Great tip!!! Thanks! I always capture one short bite and it’s got a 20 mins saver so…brilliant mate!
Ur the only youtuber tech expert that actual explained things quickly & perfectly ! THANK YOU!!!!
This is the UA-cam content we want and need. Thanks, just picked up an old XL1 for cheap to make music videos. Not knowing at all what to do, and diving in head first.
This was the first step needed.
I'm out here trying to Google Firewire 400 capture cards. Didn't even think to just adapter all the way to USB-C. This is great info, glad to see this works!
Hell yeah! I just re-bought a DVX100 and had no idea how to digitize it. Somehow I still had my old FW400 to 800 and a series of adaptors from hard drives over the years...and got it all into my Mac Studio.
Worked flawlessly. Thanks so much!
Awesome, so glad it’s working! Seems the process isn’t so smooth for everyone. Trying to find a more robust solution.
I normally don’t post but I just converted my old mini dv tapes (home videos from when I was young) into HD videos with amazing sound to my MacBook. I took a chance, bought all the adapters and it worked!! My QuickTime player is a bit annoying and I had to break up my recordings but it’s incredibly worth it if you want to save your old tapes. Also it was SO much easier than I thought it was going to be. Thank you so much for sharing this video - actually a life changer. 🙌🏻
content over quality always wins...thanks for explaining this to anyone who actually needed to hear this.
How do you not have 100k+ followers. Your channel's quality is so, so very good. Your lighting in all videos is also amazing! And following what you're saying is easy with what, and how you say things.
Kind words, i guess the platform doesn’t like me or something 😆 that’s okay.
Gonna try this with a straight up USB version of this (I'm using an early 00s samsung mini dv cam) but thanks for showing me that modern mac OS can actually read old video hardware. Really handy guide!
How did it go for you with USB ?
yeah will it work with firewire to usb?
@@rosen9847 just got one Firewire 1394 to USB and it didn't work on my Macbook :(
And I can't seem to find any Firewire to Thunderbolt anywhere anymore!!
Need help
Did this work? I’m thinking of trying this, Firewire to USB, but I’ve heard that it doesn’t work. Any updates?
FireWire to usb does not exist it doesn’t work like that sadly all products like that are scams
Wow I looked up the price of the FireWire 800 to Thunderbolt adapters, and they're about £150 😬 guess what, I had that adapter for YEARS, and after getting an M1 MacBook Pro I sold it in 2021 for just £24! Who'd have thought they'd become so rare. Luckily I still have all my FW400/FW800 cables, I think it'd be cheaper for me to just buy an old Mac with a FW800 port than to buy the adapters.
you're not wrong, I guess the price is up simply on availability. I don't think they're making them anymore. It's weird cause there is a demand, kind of hope some third party picks up on the trend and can support the growing demand. As we move farther away from the relevancy of this tech, the more people want look back on what they shot. It's like 8mm film projector scanners, options exist to watch 50-60 year old footage. Lots of options exist for analogue VHS/High 8 transfers, but the firewire train is hyper limited.
I bought a DV cable for 10$ and I bought an old laptop with firewire and windows xp for 35$ and i am able to trasfer all the videos. Not need all this shit thunderbolt and others..
Yup, you can get a Mac mini late 2012 for £50.
Sent all my dv tapes to a guy on ebay who uploaded them on Dropbox for very little. He even sent the tapes back. Great time saver and it cost less than all the adapters.
It cost you less than $70?!?! Wow!
@@MarkHoltze yes it was around $45 for 35 tapes and shipping as media mail came to the rescue. My camera was acting up in replaying the tapes. The guy who did it was on disability and this was a way for him to supplement his income so it was a win win.
Ya that’s not a price offered anywhere round here that’s good, but might br very specific. Also some aren’t comfortable sending their tapes off for whatever reason. Still great you found that price. 👍
@@barryobrien1890 so you paid a disbled guy $1.25 a tape ......wrong one way or the other
@@barryobrien1890 Do you have a contact number. thank you.
Great video - if one has an Apple. Good video- if one has a Windows machine. This video shows how to use adapters for current ports since the IEEE 1394 is rarely (if ever?) included with current PC builds. Digitizing DV and HDV tapes isn't usually too much of an issue. IMHO, digitizing VHS, S-VHS, Hi8 tapes( or any vintage analog tapes) is much more of a challenge.
Yes there are other options for analog formats I’ve used and made videos on. Needed to complete the trilogy with this method as it’s the best I’ve come across in 11 years since IEEE went 🦤
The price for the thunderbolt to firewire cable is unbelievably high at the moment😢
Hi there, was very excited about this video. I have a mini dv SONY super steady shot handycam, and all necessary adapter cables mentioned. Only thing is QuickTime is not recognizing my camera. any troubleshooting advice here? not seeing any comments on this.
same
Hi, not sure if you'll see this but what camera do you have there? I tried one method that didn't work as quicktime only showed a black screen when everything was hooked up, so I don't want to go through the process of paying for more adapters for the same thing to happen, if the issue is with the camera I'm using.
Thanks
Man this was a blast from the past. I remember when I’d plug my FireWire directly into my desktop and then Sony Vegas had that interface where you could play the tape or rewind it on the desktop. I wonder if there are old versions of that program floating around on the internet that you can download. Made the workflow for mini dv and DVC editing so much easier before digital video files took over.
Was that firewire to usb? I’m wondering if those cables work I’m thinking of buying one. I know most of the old cables didn’t go to USB but i’m just wondering :/
@@trevorhare3171 old computers used to have FireWire ports in them. Best alternative now is a FireWire to HDMI input or FireWire to Thunderbolt input.
You can also convert FireWire footage to an SD card though third party devices that handle the conversion of the codec. A straight conversion cable won’t work though you NEED a conversion device between the computer and the footage that digitizes analog footagez
@@trevorhare3171 I'm late to respond but no those were DV to Firewire cables. Desktops and Macs back then all had firewire ports native. USB ports were sort of the newer luxury at that time, but a different codec not built for video. At that time cameras switched from film to digital video files and basically became computers with lenses on them so there was less bandwidth needed to import video since you were basically copying files from the hard drive on your camera to the hard drive on your computer, and thus the USB port was enough and the firewire port was replaced with the thunderbolt.
I would not trust any firewire to USB cable to work because no USB port can handle the necessary read/write speeds of a firewire cable. You'd need a thunderbolt adapter somewhere in that mix.
THANK YOU!!! Dude, you're a genius. I've spent hours messing around trying to make things work with Sony's lousy software, trying different laptops. Your video is the only one that made sense, and it worked instantly. It was clear and to the point. Thank you!!!!
You're very welcome!
Any work around for the Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter? looks to be discontuned everywhere. for reverence I have a macbook m1 max. Thanks for the video mark!!
Yes! It's impossible to find it, tried everywhere on the web, I even bought a straight Firewire 1394 to USB wishing it could magically work, but it didn't.
Let me know if you ever find it again
👏🏻 Thank you *so* much for the great video. I am trying to do a transfer using an older Mac (all FireWire 1 to FW2) and having problems. I am going to try using my newer Mac with all the adapters you shower so hoping it solve things. Thanks again!
You might want to warn people if they have a lot of tapes to do not to mix different brands of tapes in the camera/player. Sony and Panasonic tapes had a different coating on them and sometimes reacted badly when you swapped between tapes. So it's safer to play all of one brand of tape, clean the heads and then play the next brand.
Weird, years of shooting mini dv and editing I never ever had that issue. This is the first I’ve heard of it. A head cleaner is always recommended just wear and tear for sure.
Yeah, my XL1 was picky and I had all sorts of problems until my tape reseller told me about this issue. Once I started shooting on ONLY higher end Sony tapes, I had very little digital dropout issues.
@@MarkHoltze We used to have major dropout issues. In the end when I was working for ITV in the UK there was a list of tape brands we were allowed to use in the cameras. They actually had a separate player just for any Panasonic type tapes that came in. Then we moved to all Panasonic and we were not allowed to put Sony or Maxwell tapes in our cameras.
Well that’s fascinating. Will def keep that in mind. Thanks Stephen! ✊
@@MarkHoltze No worries... I love the work you do here so thanks :)
Nice video, I considered it. As fun as daisy chaining apple adaptors is, I'd have to purchase them.
I think I might have a old firewire computer around here somewher. A firewire 400 PCIe card is like 15$.
I have an old G5 tower that does it while running fcp so I can even log it. Didn’t think that was a circumstance easily duplicated. I think they have some usbc to FireWire direct cables now. I should look into it.
Thanks!
This is a great video Mark! I followed your instructions to the letter and was getting really excited and the I got an error message saying 'Cannot record' What a drag
Oh man that’s sucks! Not sure why I can’t reproduce any errors, it just works. Wonder if it’s the camera itself. I have 3 and they’re all detected. XL1, DVX100a and my Sony Handycam
Yeah thanks for replying. Your vid was the best on the web! I tried iMovie, Premiere Pro and QuickTime for DV import but none work. I can get the video through iMovie but with no audio and when you export it says ‘Export failed’. Premiere Pro can’t find the path to the camera and as you know from my previous note QT imports the video but you can’t record. It’s very frustrating as I have about 30 hours of video that I can never concert
By the way I am using a Canon X2 and running Mac OS High Sierra. I give up
@@guydwellyim in the same boat rn nd dont know what to do🤦🏽♂️
Thanks Mark! I couldn't figure out in latest version of Premiere how to capture DV Tapes....been a while 😆
This video was super helpful but I have one question, I am using my Canon G2 Camera - The connection works and Quicktime recognizes that the Microphone is from the Camera also and I can see the audio levels bouncing when I am recording through quicktime but when I go to playback the video I just recorded theres no audio at all? Any help answer to fix this?
Dang, i got all the wires and adaptors but my quicktime isn't recognising my camera any tips? thanks for the video
That’s so weird honestly it still works for my camera. I wonder if it’s just the camera? Going to try a few things to see if there are alts
did you figured it out ? i have the same problem...
idk if those adapters only exist in the US but here in Europe (Austria) I can't find the adapters on amazon or anywhere else
I'm digitizing almost 40 yrs of VHS, VHS-C, and Mini DV tapes using my M1 Pro MacBook Pro. VHS has been no problem. I had to order a new VHS-C adapter since my old one doesn't work, and when I tried capturing those, I realized my current VCR does not support SLP playback speed of some of my VHS-C tapes, so I'm in the process of borrowing a VHS-C camcorder. Then I also remembered that I have Mini DV tapes as well. Luckily, I still have the Mini DV camcorder. Also, my MBP is docked to a 27" Thunderbolt Display, so I lucked out too because that has FireWire 800, so I only need a FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 4 pin cable and I can capture that footage digitally.
Is this the highest quality we can capture from the old mini DV Tapes? Or would it be better to capture with other software like final cut/premier. Lastly does the quality lower from using the adapters or would be better if I used my old computer with a firewire port?
You just saved me a tone of money. I can do this all myself. Love it!
Good luck! ✊
This was so hugely helpful, thank you!
✊
Hi! One question, do you think that using analog to digital video conversion its kind of similar to actually recording on a cassette, I recently bought a Panasonic MX500DV (second hand) and SD mode looks really bad but i don't want to spend lots of money on dvs. Do you recomment buying an analog to digital conversion device like video capture ION Audio Video 2 SD conversor or something like that? Or actually spending the money on cassettes and recording them.
I captured in Quicktime because Premiere pro cc refuses to do it. how do you deinterlace the footage in premiere?
also, I noticed some huge sync problem with the sound on long captures... what would you recommend ? the video file is good with the sound but when I import it in premiere it goes out of sync .
Hi Mathieu. Hmmm, I didn't have a sync issue when I captured the 20 mins of on camera at all. It captured at 29.97 frames per second (NTSC model). How long are your clips before the sync slips? Are you editing in a timeline that matches the frame rate of the captured video? Start a new project, drag the file into the timeline and allow premiere to auto gen the timeline settings based on the captured DV clip.
I'll see if I can't re-create this issue. I had the same issue with a previous capture device if my frame rate wasn't matched to the camera (59.97) (hi-8, not mini dv in this case)
Premiere should have a de-interlace video filer, if that doesn't after effects does. I had some issues with the Premiere one again with my older device and hi-8. I would apply it and it wouldn't do anything. I actually didn't apply any de-interlacing to the footage captured with this, maybe there wasn't enough movement, but even on my not shown whip pan and crash zooms, interlacing didn't appear to be an issue.
I'll see if I can again re-create some of this in the next little bit, I've got a project being shot on mini DV so will run some tests.
Thanks for the video - just ordered all the cables from your links. Time to get the kids videos to a digital format!
Good luck! They’ll love seeing it
Do more videos about this specific camera, it doesn't get enough recognition on YT. But it did get a lot of recognition on TV since this specific camera was used to film many shows (And some found footage movies), and it's amazing
Oh man your giving me flashback to my Canon XL1 and college. I actually have a pile of tapes i need to digitise. To PC. Wish me luck
Good luck Shane! I’m doing that as well. Piles! 😆
@@MarkHoltze i recorded my sisters wedding on mini dv 16 years ago. I've been promising them I'll do a nice edit ever since. Nows the time I guess 😂
Wow Mark, such an amazing video! Hope i get this quality level when i start recording my videos. Keep uppp.
Can you also connect with a DV to USB Typ A? I dont know if I have those other Things at my Computer
Update me if it works saw a guy doing it on yt!!
great video Mark, thanks so much for the details!
Pleasure. Good luck!
Can I ask how the quality of the video & sound differs compared to having it done professionally? I had sent my tapes off to be converted about a year ago but they found they were unable to convert the sound properly so it is very choppy, and a couple have no sound at all. We still have the original video camera so I played back the tapes to check the sound and it’s perfect for every single one, so I’m unsure what happened. Because of this experience, I wanted to convert them myself, but I was wondering if the quality would be less good than if it were done professionally. Thank you so much!
This is my worry too!
@@destyniiskywalker there is no difference! I have a media business in the Cincinnati area and transfer tapes all of the time.
There is no difference! I do this for a living.
If they're MiniDV, Digital8 or other digital tapes, it's a raw copy over firewire so there's no difference - it's identical data to what is on the tape.
They may have been converting from analog tapes like VHS-C, Hi8 etc though. It definitely doesn't sound like the company you paid lived up to their 'professional' status though unfortunately.
God bless you!!!!! I struggled for over a year
Hopefully it works for you! Best of luck!
Oh man! Been searching for this for years! Have an Canon XH-A1 camera I would love to be able to capture from. Thanks for sharing this.
I wish I never sold my XHA1….
Fantastic video, works exactly as you show. Only QuickTime stops every time after 2 minutes of recording, I tried everything but can't get it fixed.
Happened to me too. You need to turn screensave off (through apple menu>system preference>Desktop & screen save>never)
Awesome, simple, clear vid...gonna save me loads, now to dust off my old camera!!
Ya it’s a great little device. Love that I don’t have to book it up the computer as well. Just make a cozy screening corner and have at it ;)
why do you have to connect to the mac's thunderbolt port instead of its USB port?
Please help! I was so excited I'd be able to do this but my camera is nnot showing up as an option in the Quicktime menu as shown in the video! Why is this happening?
I have the same problem as well
same problem
Thanks for so useful links!
The firewire to thunderbolt is expensive now on ebay because it's discontinued. Great.
Hmmm they might have USB C to fire wire. I need to look into new options
Make sure you have the camera turned OFF before plugging anyway firewire cables in to prevent the port blowing or worse 😬 great video Mark!
✊
Perfect - just the info I needed. Thank you!
Best of luck mate!
@@MarkHoltze Thanks! I actually ended up using iMovie instead of Quicktime as it recorded continuously even when the camcorder would "glitch". (QT kept thinking the tape stopped when my camcorder glitched, and would stop recording which was problematic for me). Perhaps you could make tutorial for iMovie users in 2022 as well... has a very easy "import from camera" function that works really well... exporting will be another challenge though lol. Cheers mate!!!
Perfect. Thanks, Mark.
Hi Mark, can you say what version of Quicktime player you were using in this demo. Cheers
does it have to be the apple thunderbolt adapters? or would it work with any Usbc to firewire?
Thanks for this info. Wondering if I can simply use a DV to USB cable? From my Canon mini DV camera to my mac desktop. Thanks for your help!
Nope... I just tried that today and it does not work. My laptop would not recognize the device. I am on a PC though
Hi Mark, your videos have been immensely helpful 🙏🏼 I am going to capture the next DV tape with your method, but wanted to ask if my Canon HV20 plays my old DV tapes with good audio but the file that is recorded from my AGPtek HD recorder has annoying audio “static” type of sounds what do you think could be causing that? I’ve tried using different HDMI cables, different jump drives, etc. I ordered another HD recorder to see if the recorder was the issue but not sure if it is possible for the DV camcorder to play the audio fine but what is output via HDMI to have the static noise? Will try with quick time but wanted to know if you ever encountered this issue
I cant find a thunderbolt to firewire 800 adapter ugh... any suggestions
Hello! I bought all the cables you suggested and it was working fine for a little while! Now my camera won’t pop up on QuickTime player when I plug everything in, is this something to do with the cables?
i don't have a vcr button on my camera...how do I do it then?
Very useful video, thank you! But I have a question, can I adapt the cables to inputs on Windows notebooks or simply any non-Mac notebooks?
I wish I could say for sure but unfortunately I can’t test it. I have windows running through boot camp and it works, but given the setup I’m not 100% convinced it will work for dedicated windows users. It’s not even working for some Mac users depending on the camera as it turns out. I have 3 mini dv cameras, all from the big three (Sony, canon and Panasonic) all their top tier/most popular professsinal ones and I have no issues. But for some of the smaller and lesser known brands people have reported the system not detecting the camera.
I really wish there was a dedicated straight forward way to do this. Capturing analogue is supported with loads of devices but FireWire is just not supported anymore by third parties. Crazy cause there is a huge market there to cap on.
@@MarkHoltze Well, my camera is not the most professional, but it is from Samsung, as is my notebook. Could it be that since they are both from the same brand, there is a greater chance of it working? Anyway, thanks for clearing up my doubt, I think I'll take a chance on Windows.
amazing! i had no idea!
Screen recording and DV capturing at the same time 😆 was trying to get premier and resolve to work but found out QT does it by accident.
@@MarkHoltze amazing!!
Its almost exactly like it used to be with iMovieHD back on osx Leopard. I used to plug my camera straight into my MacBook with a firewire cable and record live straight into iMovieHD. I didnt even know that you could record on a camera in a different way.
I'm saving up to get an HDV (or HD MiniDV) camcorder soon. Would the same process apply to that format as it does with regular DV?
I followed all of your steps, but my Mac is not recognizing the camera as a source.. advice please?
Hmmm, not sure: I can’t reproduce the issue so it’s hard to solve. Really not sure why the camera isn’t being recognized. What camera is it?
it's a cannon. - probably 2001 @@MarkHoltze
Hi ! Thank you for your video, you make each step pretty clear ! I just have a question, looking for cables i found the firewire 800 to thunderbolt, but wjen looking for thunderbolt to thunderbolt 3, i only find thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3? Are thunderbolt and thunderbolt 2 the same ? Seems weird
Thanks for the excellent tutorial! I wonder why you choose to export the video from Quicktime instead of saving it. Saving produces a much bigger file. I wonder if the quality is better than the compressed export. Do you have an idea?
Hmmm I’ll try the save option and see what it does.
Hi! Im trying to digitize from my Canon GL2. I found the firewire cable that fits into my camera to a usb port and then used a usb to thunderbolt adapter into my MacBook but it wont recognize that the camera is plugged in. Do you know how i could fix this?
worked for me with a canon ZR950 + MacBook Pro! thanks!
Hi I just bought all three cables and the camera is not popping up as an option. Do you have any trouble shooting options?
What camera? What OS? And version of QuickTime?
@@MarkHoltze Canon NTSC ZR80, MacOS Monterey 12.3, Quicktime version 10.5
If I used a mini dv camera that recorded in 720 but I only have a mini dv camera now that is 480 would that lessen the quality when transferring?
Would it still work if my fire wire has a usb at the end?? Or would I have to get one similar to your?
sorry but i searched everywhere and bought everything. but my macbook pro won't find my camera. When I plug in all the cables and plug in, my computer still can't find it. can anyone help me.
I’m having the same issue. let me know if u found a solution :(
Have any of you been able to figure out this issue since?
It’s so weird this problem I guess happens with some cameras. I can’t replicate it unfortunately so I can’t seem to attempt to resolve the problem. I need to look into a more universal method. I have three mini dv cameras and they’re all detected. XL1, XHA1 and the DVX100A.
@@MarkHoltze My iMac detects the camera right away but my MacBook Pro doesn't see it anywhere. Can't figure out why.
So weird. Both same operating systems and versions? I wonder if it’s a QuickTime version delta?
what about if i susing dvcam casette player to my pc can be connected to pc by cable firewire
Hello Mark , i have a Panasonic NV GS 400 Mini dv camcoder back from 2005. As the video capture resolution is 720 × 576 SD, can we upscale it to 720 or 1080 P HD after capturing?
He transferred Mini DV which is 720p and the saved file was in 480p. If there’s a way to do it lossless it’s preferable. I’d like to know if this is the only option?
Just got a dvx100b and was wondering if this is a better option for quality sake than purchasing a clearclick 2.0. Also, is it perfectly safe to play the tapes back on the camera as you’ve shown here or would it be wiser to get a tape deck?
Does the clearclick 2.0 do FireWire? I have the earlier version and it’s great just no FireWire. I should look it up. It’s safe ya, yoy might want to buy a tape head cleaner though
Friggin love it 😍
Are you embarrassed easily? I am, and no better way to do that than resurrect old video from the 💀
Very helpful video. thanks. One question though. Does this re-encode the video and audio, or is it a direct bit for bit transfer of the digital video that is stored on the mini DV tape?
It re-encodes it. Once you were able to capture digital video you always had the option to select the encoding type depending what you wanted to prioritize. Even early days of FCP pro capture you always got to select a codec.
Hello Mark. I have 6 mini dv tapes I need to transfer to either my 10 year old Mac or Dell laptop or Lenovo laptop. I think I have 6 hours of footage. If I were to transfer to Dell or Lenovo with USB ports and one HDMI port, could you please tell me what type of cables I should? How much space do you think I will need? Thank you.
DId this on my windows pc with video dvr usb but cannot get audio to record. Can you help advise on the settings?
My daughter wanted to use my old Panasonic camera for a retro look and we were at a dead end for how to digitize the footage. Until Now!! Thanks so much. The ~$80 we spent on the cable and adapters are well worth it. BTW, why a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter should cost $49 from Apple is beyond me :)
Ya it’s bizarre. Let me know if it works for you. Been getting some comments saying it’s not been working with certain cameras. I can’t test them all unfortunately, but curious to know.
@@MarkHoltze It worked just as shown in the video, although I was also given the choice of 720p during export. BTW, my camera is a Panasonic PV-GS39. It is at least 15 years old but works great.
So happy to hear that! So must be some camera brands. Some just don’t get detected apparently. Glad it’s worked for you. Be worse to get those adapters and not have it work. ✊
@@Banlman That's weird, that must be the software converting it(or offering to), as normally it would just be directly copying the data from the tape(which is often preferable, as there's no quality loss).
A variety of different software should work with it anyway though.
From what I looked up, even though Thunderbolt 3 is described in the specs as vaguely 'compatible' with Thunderbolt 2 it seems it's really not.
From pictures of the circuit board & component info it seems these converters have both a Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 2 controller inside - one demuxes the signal back to PCIE and Displayport signals then the other controller re-muxes it in the other Thunderbolt standard. There's also some other more minor circuitry in there, so while they're still bound to be making a good profit, it's a lot more than just a cable adaptor. The few non-Apple converters are even more expensive, but might have more features?
I guess it's possible there is some kind of backwards Thunderbolt compatibility without using this method, but if so it seems it can't be perfect or Apple(& others) wouldn't have bothered with the more expensive method. Certainly not like standard USB for backwards compatibility, albeit USB3 & 4 are a mess with 'optional' current features.
I think the Thunderbolt 2 to firewire converter is almost certainly using a PCIE to firewire controller, as it would be the same as used on common firewire PCIE cards.
Apple could surely make Thunderbolt 3 to firewire converters that wouldn't cost any more than the old ones, but I doubt they will. It's also rather more profitable to sell 2 devices rather than 1 I guess..
The Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 converters are also useful for other things, but there must be quite a few people buying both only to use firewire.
HI Mark thank you for all this information. I have purchased the cables however the camera is not coming up as an option for input. Any suggestions at all please ?
Hmmm not sure why that is. I have three cameras and they all get detected. What camera are you using by chance?
Thank you for this! I've followed your instructions and everything works, EXCEPT the audio doesn't transfer. I can hear the audio with earphones plugged into the camera, so I know it's part of the footage. I'm doing it from a Canon XL1s. Could there be some setting on the camera or in Quicktime that I might be overlooking? Any suggestions would be most welcome.
Hmmmm, it’s weird it should just work if it’s FireWire because it’s both video and audio. It’s hard to trouble shoot when I can’t replicate the problem. Let me take a look when I get back home to see if I can see any other options.
Is there a program in RESOLVE to upgrade footage to HD 1080, or an AI program???
Life saver. I thought I would have to buy a $100 software.
Some people are saying this isn’t working for them after an update. It still works fine for me. Just a heads up mate.
Legendary, thank you
Mark, great video. I'm trying this connection process on a Canon GL2. I'm able to get the video to record on my Mac, but no audio is being recorded. When I play back on my Mac, I'm getting none of the sound. What did I miss? Thanks!!!
Hmmm you should be able to go to the audio input settings and select the camera as well.
I got the "Panasonic PV-DV203D MiniDV" but it doesn't show up when I connect it.
Don’t understand why it can only be exported out in 480. Is that a limitation of QuickTime?
This is my understanding too but not mentioned in the video. I have anamorphic shot video but at least that was converted ok but the quality is debatable. However I need to investigate the Maximum setting Mark mentions. May be that makes a difference? One things for sure I don’t want a squashed widescreen anamorphic picture! Ideally I want the same capture as that which I could achieve with Premiere Pro until Adobe/Apple broke it.
Can anyone recommend somewhere to purchase a Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter? I can't seem to find it anywhere
im lost in the sauce as well. been looking for it forever
Will this work for Sony U1V camcorder it looks similar
Hello 2 questions: Do you know whether QT can be setup up to capture this in Pro Res?. Do you see any advantage to this for future editing access (since DV is gone) and or quality of capture?
Thank you for the information. I bought the recommened cables but the Firewire High Speed Premium DV to Firewire Cable 800 seem to fit my camcorder. It's a Cannon ZR 45. I can't seem to find the right cord. It looks like it is a 5 pin. Any suggestions?
Try hitting play on the camera, THEN loading up QUICKTIME. See if that makes a difference. The software may need the camera rolling sending signal to detect it. MIGHT not, but it's something.
i connected the cables, but the Mac won't recognize the Mini Dv Cam. Is there a Drive that I need to download first?
Hi Mark really great video thanks so much ...question ..how do I know if my apple molly and claire book pro has the software already installed ? its a 20201 MacBook will this be good to go ?
It should be good! I don't see why not!
Is not possible to capture the digital stream? The video is digital and better res than 480p.
Hi Mark I had a question below ...if you wouldn't mind telling me how do I know my laptop has the right software ion the quicktime ...its a 2021 laptop