iMovie/miniDVD question

[cdessi]

Recently family members chipped in to buy my fiancé and a new Sony camera that uses mini dvd's. I've been trying to edit my most recent home movies in imovieHD, and it isn't even detecting the camera when I connect with the fire wire Sony provided. I've been reading other message boards that state that these Sony mini DVD's cannot be edited. I am curious if anyone knows of any software I can purchase to aid in this process? I think it would be a nice short cut instead of having to return a camera that I've already shot on? Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks!

[dixonbm]

Take it back to the store and exchange it for a DV Camera or sell it on Ebay and buy a DV camera.

Sorry, but I think that's your only choice for now.

[cdessi]

thanks for the note...seems to be the concensus...what a scam..

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by cdessi

.... I've been reading other message boards that state that these Sony mini DVD's cannot be edited. ...

I urge everyone to stay as far away from miniDVD camcorders unless you absolutely positively certain that you will never ever want to edit your video. The thing to remember is that miniDVDs are DVDs. DVDs are the end product of the video editing process, not the source material. That's the bad news. The good news is that you should be able to edit miniDVD content just as you edit that Brokeback Mountain DVD. Try Handbrake or some other DVD ripping utility. Of course, you will need a tray-loading optical drive. If you have a slot-loading drive, you are SOL.

[Jrod]

Sorry it's so late. But better late then never!

I have had luck using toast 7 for converting my MiniDVD to DV format. Open toast the click on the VIDEO tab, then open the submenu to the left and click on media, There your dvd should show up. Drag the dvd from that menu into the main toast window (drag video file or pictures into this area). once this has finished, click on the export button & choose dv format. This is the video that will open on IMOVIE, IDVD. Hope this helps!

[John Thomas]

I bought a Sony Handycam DVD403 when my Canon ZR-20 bit the dust (problem: wouldn't rewind tapes-- sound familiar?). I tried the above solutions. I thought I had it solved when Toast was able to successfully convert smallish VOB files to a QuickTime dv file for imovie. Later I tried a full miniDVD and Toast wouldn't handle it, though I forget what it did instead-- maybe it hung on me.

There's an app that sells for $US25 that seems to work perfectly reliably: DVDxDV. You can download a trial version to get an idea of the quality of the output. Don't kid yourself-- quality is going to be the issue here. Dv camcorders like the Canon firewire/Mac-compatible ones feed raw, unprocessed, full-quality video into imovie. What you'll be getting with my solution has been compressed by the handycam and further processed by DVDxDV. The key, I think is to try to get a Sony that's touted as having very good video. So do your homework; read reviews. Don't jump in unaware.

That said, I think the DVD403 is a great value and the miniDVDs are easily more convenient than dv tapes.

[worthingtc]

Ok, so as I read this, and I hope I am wrong, I have a Canon DC22 miniDV camera that is absolutely NO good to me because it is not compatible with the Mac and iMovie or iPhoto.

Is this correct? If it is, I was sold a bill of goods. Mac compatible, to me, means I can use it like my JVC or two other Canon digital cameras.

If I am wrong, and I can use it, can someone help? I cannot get iMovie to recognize that I even have a camera attached and I think by finalizing the two DVDs that we did have done, I have prevented us from ever putting them in a movie--with decent quality.

Thanks.

Jeff

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by worthingtc

Ok, so as I read this, and I hope I am wrong, I have a Canon DC22 miniDV camera that is absolutely NO good to me because it is not compatible with the Mac and iMovie or iPhoto.

miniDV and miniDVD are two entirely different media. miniDV is digital video tape. It is the format for editable consumer and low-end professional video. miniDVD is a small DVD that is intended to be popped out of your camcorder and into your tray-loading DVD player.

Originally Posted by worthingtc

... If it is, I was sold a bill of goods. Mac compatible, to me, means I can use it like my JVC or two other Canon digital cameras.

Get over yourself. The formats supported by iMovie have been well-advertised since the product was introduced. Your have a responsibility as a consumer to spend your money on the products that fit your needs.

That said, iMovie 08 has expanded its list of supported formats to include MPEG-2, the format used to record DVDs and miniDVDs. Despite the fact that iMovie 08 can edit miniDVD, it is not a good choice for users who want to edit their video.

Originally Posted by worthingtc

If I am wrong, and I can use it, can someone help? I cannot get iMovie to recognize that I even have a camera attached and I think by finalizing the two DVDs that we did have done, I have prevented us from ever putting them in a movie--with decent quality. ...

Take the miniDVD out of your camcorder and insert it into your tray-loading optical drive.