How to Watch MiniDV Tapes On Your TV or Computer
If your camcorder doesn’t have a USB port and and you don’t fave the facility to use a Firewire connection, then you’ve the option of an external USB connection. At Costco you’ll pay $20 for up to 2 hours of VHS content. At Walgreens the cost is $35 for one tape-to-DVD conversion. (Blu-rays are more expensive.) You can start your order online, then take your tapes to a local store. The process takes about three weeks, and you get your original tapes back as well as the files on DVD. Digital files are included at Costco, but Walgreens charges an extra fee for them.
Difficulties in Watching MiniDV Tapes
Plug your camcorder into the computer by connecting the HDV/DV jack or DV jack on your camcorder to the i.LINK input of the computer with a suitable cable. To avoid static shocks damaging your camcorder, plug the cable into the computer first. Find out how to import from tape-based cameras with iMovie . We recommend storing them with all your other data files and sync them with a cloud service like Dropbox or OneDrive.
Digitization Services for the Win
“There is another way, but it’s a bit of a project,” says Elias Arias, Consumer Reports’ project leader for audio/video testing. You’ll need a film-reel projector, a digital video camera, and a clean white wall or a projector screen.
Borrowing or purchasing an inexpensive used Hi8 camcorder is another option. Or, take the tapes to a video duplicator to have them digitized professionally—though this can get expensive. To use a camcorder as a webcam, the camcorder will need audio and video output ports such as HDMI or USB.
Have the service make a DVD copy of one or two of your tapes. If the DVD is playable on your DVD or Blu-ray Disc player , it might be worth having the service make copies of all your tapes. Plug the camcorder’s audio/video cables from its AV outputs to the AV inputs on the front or back of the VCR or DVD recorder.
Legacy Box offers complimentary splicing if a tape’s film is broken. If you are short on time or want to leave it to the pros, there are a number of mail-in services that will digitize your VHS tapes for you. These are some companies that we recommend for the service. Most converters come with downloadable software to process the transfer. Before you begin the process you will want to make sure that you’ve installed that on your computer. Once the software is installed in your computer you are ready to begin.
In the mid range is the DIGITNOW USB Video Capture Card Device Converter ($21.99) which, in addition to RCA connectors, also has an S-Video connector. It’s compatible with both Mac and PCs, captures video in H.264, AVI, MPEG2, MPEG4 and MP3, and comes with its own capture software. From time to time Windows 7 may switch back to the original 1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller driver. If you notice that the IEEE 1394 device is transferring slowly and/or is not recognised anymore repeat the above steps and re-install the driver.
After the last step, the video should appear, playing inside the capture window of your software. I find that having a file this size allows me to fit two cassettes onto one DVD. Once completed access the file directory that the software saves the file onto your computer. Also the post I wrote What is The Best Way To Transfer VHS To DVD? Will give you ideas on different capture cards and DVD/VCR combo drives. This post explains what capture card and software I use.
Read more about minidv camcorder tapes to digital here.
However, you can only use it capture still images and MPEG-quality video from the camcorder. If you have a tape-based camcorder, there’s a way to transfer video from your camcorder to your computer as will be explained below.
These movies were popularly used as inflight entertainment. First-class passengers were given 8mm Video Walkman units and allowed to choose selected movie titles. Such masterpieces as 12 Angry Men, Godfather, and Annie Hall, among others, were released on Video8 tapes, just as they were on VHS. Most camcorders come with almost flat, small, sunken buttons to go with their compact designs.