method/equipment transfer video 8 cassette movie to iPhoto

what equipment and methods are simplest and cheapest to transfer old family video 8 movie cassettes to iPhoto or iMovie?
Thank you in advance

This is a hard one.. I have seen people on Fiver offering those services.. maybe you can try there

I don't know if it's the simplest or the cheapest - it may be depending on how much you have to digitize - but Kodak offers this service and, based on my own experience, they do a really good job. The cost includes the shipping both ways and you can get the transfer uploaded and a USB drive backup for a very reasonable price considering it's all service and you don't have to buy any equipment yourself. Looks like they are running a discount now. kodakdigitizing.com/collections/film-transfer-service

I would like to do it myself if at all possible. I just like to do things myself and will edit it anyway.

I need to know what video 8 player or video 8 or HI 8 camera per sony advice. Many forums have said that this old equipment may not be recognized by iMovie or be downloadable to iPhoto. Seems like there should be a way to digitize and transfer.

Thank you very much.

In addition to farming the service out as mentioned, there are many options for this depending on what hardware you currently have. iPhoto is obsolete and I am not sure if iMovie allows capturing from external video (but I expect it does). FCPX certainly does with the correct hardware (depending on Mac model). In all cases, Quicktime allows for capturing using the "New Movie recording" mode in its menu and captures good quality H.264 or ProRes 444 (overkill for Video Hi8). From there, you can simply import the saved video files into iMovie if you wish to further edit them.
If your Mac has firewire ports, there are many third party bi-directional AV converters available (mostly through eBay.) If you have Pcie slots, thunderbolt or USB-C ports on your mac, there are better options such as BlackMagic Intensity devices that accept analog and digital connections. For these devices, BlackMagic's Media Express software works very well for capturing to a variety of codecs. You'll obviously need a source playback device for the Video-8 tapes which could be either the camera with a video output or a player deck.

If you provide your specific computer specs and how you will be playing back the videos, more specific solutions can be given.

Welcome Rob to fcp.co

first of all: we talk about video8, not miniDV, right?
(cassettes look similar)

trouble is: video8 was an analogue format, demanding for digitizing before processing in a computer. Don't want to bore with tech details, but as other mentioned, I would suggest a professional transfer service too… ask for a Mac-compatible format (Quicktime or mp4).

(apologizes for deleting your other posts - no double/triple posting, please )

The old analog video 8 tapes transfer directly to Quicktime (both 7 and X) via firewire with the Sony Video Walkman GV-D800. This is what we use quite often.

My computer is a 13 inch MacBookPro late 2016 with Four Thunderbolt 3 ports.
Processor: 2.9 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5
Memory: 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Graphics: Intel Iris Graphics 550 1536MB
Software: macOS Catalina Version 10.15.1
Note my wife's computer still has the previous software, macOS High SIerra 10.13.6, because I read that Catalina is not compatible.

My FOUR adult children would like copies of our family Super 8 movies from 1972 on.

I bought an Elmo projector for the Super 8 film movies and can use my iPhone X to capture the projected images. We had sent to a commercial lab but the results were terrible from auto color correction (baby had black lips and tongue) and some were even lost in the mail. That is why I am doing it myself as well as a retirement hobby.

Instead of film we switched to magnetic tapes using Sony Video 8 movie cameras in 1984 using video 8 MP120 magnetic cassette tapes. Both cameras have quit working. Sony recommended using a Hi8 player from eBay.
It is not clear how to digitize the the tapes, what hardware and connectors to use for my computer thunderbolt 3 ports. Other forums state that are incompatibility issues with some old Hi * or Video * players/camcorders.

Apple Creative Media Dept senior advisor recommended that I try Final Cut Pro forum to find if someone has had a similar project.

Viewing: I have about 160 super 8 movies (3.5 minutes each) and about 15-20 Sony video 8 cassettes.
Each of my four adult children has a computer like mine or a more recent version. I want to send them a copy of my edited movies using dropbox or a flash drive so that they and we can watch on our laptops or Big screen TV thru Apple TV. I want to preserve for the future on our hard drives or flash drives.

Thank you so much!!

dgwvideo wrote: … via firewire with the Sony Video Walkman GV-D800. …

…wasn't aware , that a fw-connected video8 camera existed - thanks for the info!
Probably, a used one from eBay is cheaper than a service… as long as Rob has some older Mac with a fw-port… 

Karsten Schlüter wrote: …wasn't aware , that a fw-connected video8 camera existed - thanks for the info!
 

Karsten, it is not a camera. The GV-D800 is a portable Video-8/Hi-8/Digital-8 player with built in LCD screen, transport controls and a basic line TBC. It uses Sony iLink DV in/out protocol. Any older Mac with FW port recognizes it, so Quicktime captures the feed directly. It's been out of production for a long time but they can be found periodically on eBay and other online sites. It also outputs analog composite video and S-Video along with unbalanced audio signals.

For the OP:

Other ways to use it, for Macs without Firewire would be to send the analog outputs to a Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle or Decklink capture card and use either Quicktime or Blackmagic Media express to capture the footage. For better results you can send the DV output to any number of third party converters such as Canopus ADVC 110, 300 or 500 and then feed that output via component or digital to a modern day capture solution. You can do the same thing by playing the video back in a supported camera if you can find one. Most of the products needed aren't current, so you'll need to locate them online, but they can be found relatively inexpensive.

For thunderbolt solutions, check out these capture and playback products: www.blackmagicdesign.com/products

I am not on Catalina, but can confirm with Mojave the process above will work.

As for Super 8 movie reels, that is a different process from a playback perspective. Many ways to extract film but playing back with a projector and shooting with a camera is not the best. Digitally scanning each film yields the best results - but in this case I'd strongly suggest you farm that out to a company that has the correct equipment and process to do that. There are many, and businesses that provide that as their main service are typically more reasonably priced than smaller companies that do it as a side business.

I teach at a high school in NJ and we offer transfer services as an ongoing fundraiser. We can transfer all formats of video. For Digital 8 and Hi-8, I have picked up an old Sony camcorder from eBay for about $150. I don't remember the exact model, but it's capable of playing back either of those 2 formats (I can find out the model # on Monday if you're interested). I have an Elgato capture device that plugs into the camera's S-Video out it connects to my Mac via USB 2.0. I use Elgato's capture software which is pretty simple but effective. I realize that by going out the S-Video port of the camera, it may be losing some of the resolution, but no one's ever complained about quality. I then put the footage on DVD or (what I recommend) to USB thumb drive. This is the Elgato device I use:
www.amazon.com/Elgato-Video-Capture-Digitize-iPad/dp/B0029U2YSA

Jeremy, is the transfer service at your high school available to the public.? Is there a link you could publish if it is?

It is available to the public but typically we only pick up work locally. I wouldn't be able to cover costs of shipping. Here's the link to our services:
www.nhvweb.net/vhs/art/jbrandt/vhstv_productions-services/

Thanks for the link, Jeremy. Not worried about the shipping - just willing to support high school fundraisers.

I use a Canopus ADVC 110 to get the Hi-8 video into the computer. It works with the Mac. You can use FCPX or iMovie. It depends on what software you want to use to create the still images. Having said that any Fire Wire DV converter will work but you have to buy them used of ebay or Amazon.

The videos are tutorials for FCPX and I movie.

dgwvideo wrote: In addition to farming the service out as mentioned, there are many options for this depending on what hardware you currently have. iPhoto is obsolete and I am not sure if iMovie allows capturing from external video (but I expect it does). FCPX certainly does with the correct hardware (depending on Mac model). In all cases, Quicktime allows for capturing using the "New Movie recording" mode in its menu and captures good quality H.264 or ProRes 444 (overkill for Video Hi8). From there, you can simply import the saved video files into iMovie if you wish to further edit them.
If your Mac has firewire ports, there are many third party bi-directional AV converters available (mostly through eBay.) If you have Pcie slots, thunderbolt or USB-C ports on your mac, there are better options such as BlackMagic Intensity devices that accept analog and digital connections. For these devices, BlackMagic's Media Express software works very well for capturing to a variety of codecs. You'll obviously need a source playback device for the Video-8 tapes which could be either the camera with a video output or a player deck.

If you provide your specific computer specs and how you will be playing back the videos, more specific solutions can be given.

The Intensity Shuttle probably will not work without a TBC as seen in the video below. Having said that if the camcorder has a built in TBC it will work. You can also get Thunderbolt to Fire Wire adapters.

Thanks! We appreciate it!

Jeremy Brandt wrote: I have an Elgato capture device that plugs into the camera's S-Video out it connects to my Mac via USB 2.0. I use Elgato's capture software which is pretty simple but effective. I realize that by going out the S-Video port of the camera, it may be losing some of the resolution, but no one's ever complained about quality. I then put the footage on DVD or (what I recommend) to USB thumb drive. This is the Elgato device I use:
www.amazon.com/Elgato-Video-Capture-Digitize-iPad/dp/B0029U2YSA

The Elgato might work. I know a lot of the cheap USB capture devices are hit or miss. The IEEE DV converters are universal and seem to work with most NLE as well as Mac and PC computers. You would think the Intensity Shuttle would work just fine but without a TBC it is useless. Having said that I have been waiting for 3 years for Blackmagic Design design to make a 4K Intensity Shuttle Pro that uses Thunderbolt 3 and can capture VHS tape without the need for a TBC. Unfortunately that may never happen. BMD has not made any new capture cards in years. Having said that the Intensity Shuttle is good for playback.

The intensity Shuttle is more of a consumer product. BMD does have a new pro capture solution with the Ultrastudio 4K mini and 4K Extreme using Thunderbolt 3. The Ultrastudio Mini HD also uses Thunderbolt, but not sure which generation.