Recommendation for converter from MiniDV and Hi8 to a Mac?

[la_gouyn]

Hello.

I have a Sony DCR-TRV900 Mini DV camcorder, and also a Sony CCD-TR600 Hi8 camcorder, both NTSC. I'd like to transfer my old recordings to my Mac, preserving the quality of the original tapes as best as possible.

I'm looking especially for recommendations on converter devices, and also for online resources for learning about the process.

Ultimately, I'd like to be able to edit the videos in Premiere Pro.

Thanks,

-Allan

[John T Smith]

I think it is no longer sold but you might find one on ebay - Grass Valley ADVC 110 external digital converter

[Michael Grenadier]

I think the DCR-TRV900 has a firewire output.  On the mac you can get a firewire to thunderbolt converter (if you're computer doesn't have a firewire connection) and you should be able to capture directly into premiere.   I know people have had some issues with capturing in recent releases, but worth a shot.  You haven't said what OS you're working with, but I think quicktime player has (or had) some ability to capture via firewire.  

[John V Knowles]

As previously mentioned, a Firewire to Thunderbolt converter cable (available at an Apple Store or online) should work with connecting to your Sony DCR-TRV900. However, the camera has the small Firewire port (called a 4-pin) and the Apple adapter has a square plug (8-pin or FW800), so you'll also need a converter cable; fortunately those are still available online and cheap. Once it's all plugged in, Premiere should recognize the camera when you initiate a video capture.

As for the Hi-8, I would normally recommend that you use the DV camera as the deck to pass the analog signal through –– but, after reading it on the TRV900 it sounds like it does not allow "pass through" from analog to the Firewire output. So if you can find an older analog-to-digital converter box that will work, otherwise you'll need to undertake the tedious task of recording all your Hi-8 tapes onto DV tapes (hooking the two cameras together) and then capturing from the TRV900.

*NOTE* -- I hope you are not on MacOS Catalina. Apple has removed the DV capture ability from the latest OS so your camera would not be recognized as a capture device in Premiere.

HTH,

JVK

[Ann Bens]

I think you can connect the TR600 with composite/s-video to the TRV900 (analog-in).

[la_gouyn]

Hi.

Update:

I purchased a 4 pin to 8 pin FW cable, and an FW to Thunderbolt cable, and that configuration worked well for getting video off the TRV900.

However, I read on various FAQ pages that the TRV900 cannot pass-through analog video coming from S-Video. (Apparently, subsequent generation of Sony cams can do that.)

So, I'm wondering if it would be better to 1) record from my TR600 to my TRV900 on a nice new tape and then import that new recording, or 2) get a hardware converter like the Grass Valley unit mentioned in one of the replies and get video off the TR600 directly with that.

Thoughts?

Also, does anyone have experience with the the Grass Valley 110 versus 300?

Thank you.

-Allan

[John V Knowles]

Nice work! Glad the adapters worked for you. 

Regarding the analog camera, it all depends what your pain point is. If it were me I would save the $ and not buy another device, just hook the two together and digitize the analog tapes to DV tapes. It's twice the time to do that and then digitize from the DV but it's something I could let run in the background while I do other work. 

[Ann Bens]

However, I read on various FAQ pages that the TRV900 cannot pass-through analog video coming from S-Video. (Apparently, subsequent generation of Sony cams can do that.)

Page 86 manual.

[Michael Grenadier]

I doubt very much that there'd be a noticable loss in quality dubbing the hi-8 to dv and you'll then have a source with timecode that you'd be able to recapture with frame accuracy if necessary down the road.