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How do I transfer a MiniDV tape to a computer?

Question about MiniDV camcorders and video transfer?

  • I was wondering how MiniDV camcorders work when it comes to transferring footage to PC.. how long does it take? does it transfer a lot faster then the play time? Iike how long does it take per minute does it run the tape in like a FF to transfer or what? Also.. how do the clips go in does it separate each clip into it's own file somehow or is it all one big video so u have to cut all the videos on the computer or what? I've only used SD and HDD I've never used MiniDV so Idk how they work.. I was looking at professional camcorders but they're all MiniDV! like the Canon XH-A1 HD & Canon XL2.. how do they do it? I would think they'd all want hard disk and what would be the advantage of using tapes? plz help thx!

  • Answer:

    Mini dv is still the best format (my opinion) It transfers to you pc at real time 10 Min's = 10 Min's. most people I know also use tapes to archive there footage, (back it up), say you have a 10 min piece of video and you capture it onto you computer edit it and put it back onto a tape, then you use the edited video again from your archive tape and edit it again then put it back on your tape, do this 10 times you will loose a little quality but not much. one good reason for mini dv. yes the files are big 5 min's about 1 gb of disk space, i normally divide the footage into 10 gb files a little easier to handle, then add it to my editing package as and when needed (premiere) but sure if you want to you can have it as one big file but 50+ gb is a real lump to have. Have used both xl1 and xl2 even now i think they will beat most SD, HDD camcorders. If the worst does happen and you damage your tape you can recover most of it. I also use my laptop to capture directly from the camera saves time, but only on pretty static locations. as you said "I was looking at professional camcorders but they're all MiniDV!" there must be a reason for that. good luck RR

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Other answers

MiniDV will give you the best quality. But when you want to transfer to PC, It's really a pain. First it's real time transfer. Example: If you record 1 hour-12minutes and 45 seconds, it will take the same amount of time to transfer to PC. It can't have difference files like hard-drive camcorder. The advantage of using tapes is the quality. There is no compression on the tape so it will give you the best quality. Good luck and have fun I hope this info will help you.

Jason

MiniDV transfers in real time, but you don't need to transfer everything on the tape - about 90% of what you (and everyone else) shoot is useless! How the video is organised will depend on the capture app you use - you can capture everything as one big file, start a new file at predefined intervals or use scene detection. MiniDV is only lightly compressed (but it IS compressed) so it keeps the quality as high as possible without using insane amounts of disk space. It still uses a lot, though! Tapes hold a lot of data, they're robust and you can use them as an archive medium. The way the video's stored on a MiniDV tape means that any problems only cost you a frame or two rather than the half second plus with hard drive and memory card.

Iridflare

Minidv downloads in real time so 30 mins =30 mins. Everytime you stop recording a new chaper is made. With minidv tapes you always have a back up copy, unless you tape over them and the quality is better than other types of camcorders. If you have a mini dv (cassette) camcorder…. Your dv camcorder needs a firewire connection (ieee 1394) in order to download video, your PC probably did not come with a firewire port, so you will have to buy one and install it, since most computers (except possibly brand new) don't come with a firewire port, your camcorder did not come with a firewire cord so you have to purchase a cord too. Your camcorder did come with a USB cord and that is used for downloading stills from your camcorder. Make sure your camera is in playback mode. The fine print in your manual makes reference to firewire (ieee 1394) connection.

snowwillow20

Transferring miniDV takes the same amount of time as playback. This is the case with any tape type. For example a full 60 min miniDV tape takes 60 min. I recommend using StashSpace.Com to import all of your video as one big piece and then use their video editing software to break that video into scenes. Another option is to send your tapes to StashSpace.Com and they will convert your tapes to digital and add them to your online account or send you back a DVD or portable hard drive. It costs $7 tape for the transfer. The advantage of using tapes is that you are not limited by hard drive space and you can easily send the tapes to others such as StashSpace.Com.

Video Man

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