Getting Video Into My Mac

[MrAndersen]

Hey there, I'm looking to transfer some older home videos into my mac dual 2.3 G5 and then burn them to DVD but I'm not sure the best way to do this. The camcorder does not have firewire.

I'm thinking the best way to do this would be to play the home movies on my VCR and then send that into my mac via an ADC (Analog/Digital Converter). Anyone have any ideas on how good this will work or if there may be any better ways to achieve this desired result. Also can I just find an ADC at like a circuit city or someplace like that?

Thanks all!

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

MrAndersen? (there's a well known mod here named Mr. Anderson)

You would probably just have to call your Circuit City, no way to tell you if they carry it in that store.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Many newer digital camcorders have a 'digital passthrough' feature, which does the A-D conversion for you, in effect. So, you would plug the appropriate cable from your VCR into the camera, then firewire to the Mac. You should be able to then capture video using your program of choice.

Edit: sorry, I skipped over the part in the original post where you mentioned not having firewire. In that case, a separate A-D converter will likely be necessary. As to which one....

 

[mintlivedotcom]

I have been using this for the past year with no problems:
http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php

It's easy and fits nicely on top of my G5. I have imported audio-only and audio/video to iMovie and then burned to DVD with iDVD quite a few projects.

 

[MrAndersen]

I have been using this for the past year with no problems:
http://www.canopus.com/products/ADVC110/index.php

It's easy and fits nicely on top of my G5. I have imported audio-only and audio/video to iMovie and then burned to DVD with iDVD quite a few projects.

Damn that costs more then I expected.

 

[~Kat~]

I'm also contemplating buying it but it's very expensive. I want to transfer some VHS tapes to my iMac, edit them and then burn onto DVD for teaching a class.

 

[Texas04]

If i were yall, I would upgrade your cameras to a MiniDv camera with passthrough feature. Many Canons have this. Instead of buying a piece of hardware soley for that...
Thats what I have done and it works beautifully.

A camera maybe a ZR300 or so from Canon is around $300. US
Makes for a good gift to yourself and a converter .