Video Tape transfer to Digital File via Thunderbolt / Firewire / iLink connector for Video8, Digital8, Hi8, VHS, miniDV, etc.

[rajs]

UPDATED: Feb 19 2023: GUI based options and misc edits for clarity.

A method for converting old videos on tapes (Video8, Digital8, Hi8, VHS, etc..) if you have a old device (camcorder, VCP, VCR, Playback Deck, etc..) that has an IEEE 1394 / Firewire / iLink connector built into it such as my Sony DCR-TRV103 Camcorder does. Many Sony Camcorders of that era have an "iLink" interface (Firewire). Also many S-VHS decks also have a Firewire interface.

Successfully transferred from a Sony camcorder ( DCR-TRV103 ) Video8 tapes over Firewire (Thunderbolt / USB-C) to digital DV files the full RAW tape.

Have done this using FFmpeg (command line) on various Mac's [Intel and Apple Silicon] over multiple macOS versions (10.14, 10.15, 11.x, 12.x, 13.x)
- MacBook Pro 14 2021 model (Apple Silicon - M1 Pro)
- Mac mini (Apple Silicon - M1)
- iMac 27 (Intel - i7, i5)

Have done this using OBS App (GUI) on a MacBook Pro 14 2021 model (Apple Silicon) with macOS 13.2.1

Firewire Connection vs RCA or S-Video Cable connection:
Firewire enables the MAXIMUM quality transfer of the video / audio as compared to an analog S-Video or RCA connector connections.

Using Firewire you can do the initial (or final) transcode & capture which takes the the max quality video/audio from the tape and saves it as a file that is lossless (or can be lossy) to your Mac. A "digital original" [.DV file]

Once the above is done, if you want to, you can using the tool(s) that you prefer edit the "digital original" to make adjustments [color, stabilize, brighten, darken, etc..] as well as split up the "digital original". Then you can save [transcode again] those edits and splits as a new video file(s) in a compressed lossy format that provides significant storage space savings while providing similar visual clarity as "digital original" [.MP4 video file]

Wiring:
Old Firewire 800 cable I had lying around or something like ( Bizlander Firewire High Speed Premium DV to Firewire Cable 800 1394B 800-400 IEEE 9 Pin Male to 4 Pin Male Cable 6FT for Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, iMac PC,Digital Cameras, SLR )
|
V
Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter
|
V
Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
|
V
USB-C / Thunderbolt port on a Mac Computer

macOS Ventura and upwards - make sure Firewire connected device is permission to be accessible:
The first time you connect via firewire cabling into the Thunderbolt port on your Mac with the tape device you should be asked if you want to allow the device to be accessible. In case that doesn't appear follow these steps:

macOS System Settings App > Privacy & Security > Allow Accessories to Connect --> ALWAYS

Make this change temporarily to make sure everything works and your camcorder is accessible if you didn't get a pop up above when first connecting or the Check to See If It Works steps further below don't work. After everything below is working you can change this setting to what it was before or something else that you are happy with. Recommend at least minimally setting it back to Ask for New Accesories.

Software:
Install Homebrew: Directions at: https://brew.sh
Install ffmpeg (at least version 5.0.1_2): via terminal app issue the following command:

brew install ffmpeg

Check To See If It Works and is Connected Properly:
Wire up the tape playback device as per above to the Mac and make sure the camcorder is ON and the switch on it is set to PLAY / VTR mode (not record mode) if you have a switch.

Issue the following command from the Terminal app on your Mac -

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -list_devices true -i ""

You should see output similar to the picture below with the name of your tape playback device (camcorder, etc.) model. In my case: DCR-TRV103.

Copy the EXACT spelling and spacing that is shown in output. If your tape playback device is listed that means your Mac and tape player are communicating just fine via your firewire connection. If it's not listed something is wrong. Please check all connections and permissions from prior steps as well as make sure you've installed ffmpeg.

Result of command issued above:

Save Video Tape from Playback Device as a "Digital Original" file on your Mac:
You are ready to now capture the entire tape over to your Mac as a raw Digital Video (.DV) "digital original" file. Once this is done you can at a later point edit, adjust, split, transcode, save and share as appropriate.

The original capture will be BIG (~ 20 GB / hr of taped video) if you want a full digital original (you can do a lossy capture [i.e. MP4] instead and it'll be smaller but you will be losing video data [potentially visible and potentially totally no visible] and you'll have to pull out the tape again if you ever want a higher quality potentially).

If you have space, recommend you capture as losslessly (.DV) as possible so you can do edits, color correction, etc.. with the best quality material possible - which is in this case the .DV file.

Post capture, at your leisure you'll be able to do edits, color correction, frame rate changes, resolution upscaling, stabilization, etc. etc.. and transcode the .DV file over to another format (MP4, etc..) that you prefer that will provide space saving. At that point you can decide if you want to archive the "original" file if you ever want to do further edits or you are happy with your final MP4 files and want to save space and delete the huge originals for space savings.

Make sure the tape playback device (camcorder) is ON and the switch is set to PLAY / VTR mode (not record mode).

Insert your first tape, rewind it fully.

Decide on which capture method you want to use - Command Line (A) or GUI (B)

(A) Command Line Method Using ffmpeg to Capture "Digital Original"
Issue the command below in the terminal app and hit PLAY on the Camcorder immediately.

NOTE: Please replace "DCR-TRV103" with the actual name your tape playback device you copied in prior step. NOTE: you can change name of output DV file to what ever you want in command below.

Command to be issued from Terminal on your Mac:

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -i "DCR-TRV103" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo aa_tape_1_capture_video.dv

In the above command (https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-devices.html#avfoundation):

• -i "DCR-TVR103" selects the input device
• -c copy tells the ffmpeg program to NOT re-encode the file into some lossy format but instead keep it full quality
• -map 0 parameter tells ffmpeg to save all streams of data (video and audio) as is coming off the camcorder
• -f rawvideo tells ffmpeg program that the video stream is raw data
• aa_tape_1_capture_video.dv is the OUTPUT file name of your "Digital Original" it will be saved as (feel free to use use a file name that you find appropriate with .dv as the file name extension ending)

This will take a long time - i.e as long as the tape is in minutes. So a 60 min tape will take 60 mins, etc.. as it is playing the tape in real time.

Results of capture command issued:

(B) GUI Method Using Open Broadcaster Software to Capture "Digital Original"
A GUI based option for capturing your "Digital Original" file instead of using the ffmpeg via the Terminal App's command line.

You would need to download Open Broadcaster Software from https://obsproject.com or you can install it via Home Brew by issuing the following command from the terminal:

brew install --cask obs

A well done quick intro to the OBS app is at this link in my opinion -

Instead of selecting video source that the YouTube video in link above shows you'd select your firewire connected tape playback devices name which you'd noted down in Check To See If It Works and is Connected Properly section above.

Post Capture:
Now you've captured one or more of your tapes over to your Mac as "Digital Originals" you can decide how you want to edit / correct / split into segments or join various portions, stabilize, color correct, etc. and what compressed format you want to save your corrected video clip(s) as.

You can use Final Cut, iMovie, Davinci Resolve, or a multitude of other applications.

Or some of the open source apps below:

• Shutter Encoder [ GUI App using FFmpeg to edit, adjust, split, and re-encode video files. Also great tool to learn FFmpeg as what ever you select in the GUI you can actually see the full FFmpeg command line that results from those selections. ] - https://www.shutterencoder.com/en/
• ShotCut [ Full blown video editor ] - https://www.shotcut.org
• Lossless Cut [ GUI based lossless trimming and cutting of video and audio files ] - https://mifi.github.io/lossless-cut/
• MPV [ Video Player ] - https://mpv.io

Additional Info:
Below is my quick workflow:
1. Do above to capture all tapes into DV format on Mac - I've used the ffmpeg command line option (A)

2. Skim through a tape's DV file and note down in a spreadsheet the start and end time for every segment I want to split out into separate videos (new file). Also note down any notes on the people in the video segment, a small description of the segment and if I want to do something regarding how bright/dim, under / over saturated the video is and if I want any other edits such as stabilization, etc..

Now, in 2023, instead of doing anything further below including the skimming through above -- I'd do all of it inside Shutter Encoder or Shortcut App. For Shutter Encoder, I'd go into the Editing mode (check off Edit Media Content) and start adjusting using the UI the various Image Adjustment sliders and the Correction Sliders and also select my start and end points for each segment I wanted to create a finished video file for. I'd let ShutterEncoder App do the work and if I was curious I'd look at the Job Queue, double click on the job itself and you can see the full FFmpeg command that has been generated and will be run when you start the job queue off. (good way to learn the various FFmpeg parameters as this is a UI that is generating those parameters for you.

(OLD Way) You can adjust many other parameters besides above ones and can actually even pass Adobe Photoshop Curves values or a photoshop ACV file. You can, extract a video frame from a video file as a PNG image file to use in Photoshop where you can make adjustments via curves to that video frame and then you can save those adjustments to a ACV file and apply it against and entire segment of video (from time index X to Y).

i.e. to extract an image (PNG) that you will adjust in Photoshop from a video at the 16 second point into the video file issue the following command:

ffmpeg -ss 0:00:16 -i tape_1_video.dv -frames:v 1 output.png

(OLD Way) Then:

• Open in Photoshop the PNG file from above - output.png and adjust the CURVES and save the curves adjustment to a curves preference file - that ends in ACV
• Pass the acv curves file to adjust entire video segment to that
• curves= setting for ffmpeg to use in the -filter: parameter. i.e. curves=psfile=tape_1_video_at_16_second_mark_curves_file_from_Photoshop.acv
• Google above for more help if you want to use it in step 4 below.

(OLD Way) Another way to do curves adjustments is directly by specifying the adjustments individually in ffmpeg filter command like above but not referencing a file but instead the individual curve adjustments.

Shutter Encoder App or Shotcut App above may make it easier to view and see the various curve adjustments values for ffmpeg [see above in red ink as to why these apps are easier as compared to using Photoshop imo]

3. (OLD way - See Shutter Encoder app comment above) I used MPV Player to view the original DV file with a script to fire it up to jump directly to the start of each video segment based on values I recorded in a spreadsheet with commands mapped into the keyboard so I could increase/decrease the GAMMA (brightness adjustments) and the Saturation settings to see how it would look. Based on adjustments made I would note down in my spreadsheet the gamma and saturation settings I settled on for each segment.

4. (OLD way - See Shutter Encoder app comment above) Then I ran a script that issued ffmpeg command to create corrected / edited / etc.. H264 MP4 encoded video segment files from the original DV file(s). The ffmpeg command for each segment was something similar to below:

ffmpeg -loglevel error -stats \
-ss 0:49:24 -to 0:51:14 \
-i tape_1_capture_video.dv \
-map 0:0 \
-filter:v eq=saturation=1.1:gamma=1.6,bwdif,scale=w=-2:h=720 \
-c:v h264_videotoolbox -b:v 5000k \
-color_primaries:v bt709 -color_trc:v bt709 -colorspace:v bt709 \
-aspect 4:3 \
-map 0:1 -c:a:0 aac_at -aac_at_mode:a:0 cvbr -ar:a:0 48000 \
-sn \
-movflags disable_chpl \
-movflags +faststart \
-metadata title='Title of the Video Segment' \
-metadata description='A verbose desription of the video segment - i.e. the people and what was happening etc.' \
REENCODED_CORRECTED_SEGMENT_OUTPUTFILENAME.mp4

In the above command:
-ss gives the start to end time of the video segment I want to extract and re-encode into H264
-i the input file name of the original DV file
-map 0:0 - video stream from DV file
- filter line - bumping saturation to 1.1 and brightening via changing the gamma to 1.6. bwdif is to de-interlace the video and extrapolate upscale to 720p res [ many other options - https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#Video-Filters ]
-c:v is directing ffmpeg to use the (not that great but it is faster while using more space) video toolbox h264 encoder and the hardware capabilities of the M1 chipsets instructions to speed up the process
-b:v 5000 is for a higher bit rate for improving the quality of the lossy encode (prob too high but I am fine with it). Make it a smaller number and you'll get a smaller file and might not be as good quality -- you can experiment.
-aspect command to ensure it maintains original ratio (might not be needed but I kept it in)
-map 0:1 and associated parameters are to re-encode the DV files audio data stream to AAC at 48K
REENCODED_CORRECTED_SEGMENT_OUTPUTFILENAME.mp4 - The filename to save the re-encode to.

 

[joevt]

I wonder if the same tools can be used with FireWire from cable set-top boxes. There's some law in some countries that requires or required cable boxes to have something like FireWire to get video from. There were some apps (part of Apple's FireWire SDK 26 from 2009) that worked with my cable boxes but I haven't tried them recently.
Here's some info related to that:
https://www.cuttingcords.com/home/2015/4/20/recording-full-hd-from-a-cable-box-using-a-mac

 

[dandeco]

On any Thunderbolt-enabled Mac (this includes virtually all models made since 2012, except for the super-thin 12" MacBook), you can use the FireWire-to-Thunderbolt adapter, and on any Mac made since 2016 with Thunderbolt 3 ports or higher, you can daisy-chain said adapter to the Thunderbolt 2-to-3 adapter, and it does indeed work.

Regarding software, you can also capture the DV footage on a modern Mac using iMovie, Final Cut Pro, or even QuickTime Player. Just be sure to start playback on the DV device before opening the capture window, to ensure that sound goes through. Adobe Premiere Pro, the Intel version, can also capture DV and HDV footage, but the M1 version cannot. DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Elements and Cyberlink PowerDirector also lack DV/HDV capture, so in those cases you'd need iMovie or QuickTime Player to do the job, or some of the other applications already discussed.

 

[dmr727]

Funny that you mention this - I was just about to post a thread about how happy I was that my M1 MacBook Air could still happily digitize my old 8mm tapes. Firewire -> Mini DisplayPort -> USB-C somehow still works great.

So for those of you that are smarter than me - I've been grabbing video through Quicktime Player, then making changes to saturation, etc later. Coming off the camera, the data is the data, right? Is there a quality advantage to me using a different tool like ffmpeg to grab the source video? Quicktime Player is easy and seems to do a good job.

 

[rajs]

… Coming off the camera, the data is the data, right? Is there a quality advantage to me using a different tool like ffmpeg to grab the source video? Quicktime Player is easy and seems to do a good job …

Update: 2-21-2023 - All references to FFmpeg-DL, please use the current version of FFmpeg as per 1st post in this thread. [ The -DL version is/was a special version that was specifically complied to also include support for additional hardware such as BlackMagic's Decklink series devices. ]

The data is the data when coming off the camera via FireWire. The app running on the MacBook should be saving it as a raw file into a DV or MOV container file.

QT / iNovie / ffmpeg-dl / vrecord - all should be fine.

I switched to ffmpeg-dl simply because it has the best level of tolerance (in my experience) to continue capturing the data even when there may be issues coming off the tape. It won’t crash out or worse continue saving while displaying the video playback but the raw file on the MacBook ends up with segments that are all like old TV static or black. Saw it happen a few times when I initially started process of archiving my families old tapes using QT and iMovie as the initial capture app(s). Most likely because the data coming off the tape may have some issue(s). Re-running those tapes again with FFmpeg-DL it would just power through and I'd get everything the tape had to offer without me worrying was I going to have to rewind a particular tape later on and redo it because a segment or two went all static / black / blank / etc..

EDIT (fix a spelling mistake and added some clarity as to why a preference for FFmpeg-DL over iMovie / QT for capture - though all three will produce same quality if everything is good re: tape).

 

[dmr727]

I switched to ffmpeg-dl simply because it has the best level of tolerance (in my experience) to continue capturing the data even when there may be issues coming off the tape. It won’t crash out or worse continue saving while displaying the video playback but the raw file on the MacBook ends up with segments that are all like old TV static or black. That I saw happen legen using QT and also iMovie occasionally because the data coming off the tape may have some issue(s). Ffmpeg-dl never had issue on those tapes. 1 playback to capture and done every time for me.

That's great to know - thank you. It's pretty cool to be able to grab data from tapes that are almost 35 years old!

EDIT: For those curious about digitizing from 8mm, I'm using a DCR-TRV480

 

[cosmichobo]

Thanks for creating this thread.

I'm currently using an old Canon DV camera, connected to a firewire external enclosure/hub with FW400, then into my MacPro5,1's FY800 port.

I am however looking at moving to a non Firewire Mac, so - was getting a bit worried about how I'd continue to capture. (Or worse - be committed to capturing the last 20-odd tapes I still want to capture from faster than my normal speed...)

Good to know there's still options open.

 

[pickle3782]

Thank you for this informative post!

I have run into some issues and was wondering if you would have some advice.

Hardware
MacBook Pro 2020 M1 Monterey
Sony DCR-TRV340
4-pin firewire to firewire 800 cable > firewire 800 to thunderbolt 2 adapter > thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter

I installed homebrew with the terminal command found on their website.
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Installed ffmpeg with the command you provided
brew install ffmpeg

Plugged in camera and ran command provided to list devices
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -list_devices true -i ""

Output is as follows...

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -list_devices true -i ""
ffmpeg version 5.1.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2022 the FFmpeg developers
built with Apple clang version 14.0.0 (clang-1400.0.29.202)
configuration: --prefix=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ffmpeg/5.1.2_4 --enable-shared --enable-pthreads --enable-version3 --cc=clang --host-cflags= --host-ldflags= --enable-ffplay --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-libaom --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-librav1e --enable-librist --enable-librubberband --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsrt --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtesseract --enable-libtheora --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-lzma --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-frei0r --enable-libass --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libspeex --enable-libsoxr --enable-libzmq --enable-libzimg --disable-libjack --disable-indev=jack --enable-videotoolbox --enable-neon
libavutil 57. 28.100 / 57. 28.100
libavcodec 59. 37.100 / 59. 37.100
libavformat 59. 27.100 / 59. 27.100
libavdevice 59. 7.100 / 59. 7.100
libavfilter 8. 44.100 / 8. 44.100
libswscale 6. 7.100 / 6. 7.100
libswresample 4. 7.100 / 4. 7.100
libpostproc 56. 6.100 / 56. 6.100
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14f605cd0] AVFoundation video devices:
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14f605cd0] [0] FaceTime HD Camera
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14f605cd0] [1] DV-VCR
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14f605cd0] [2] Capture screen 0
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14f605cd0] AVFoundation audio devices:
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14f605cd0] [0] MacBook Pro Microphone
: Input/output error


It seems possible that "DV-VCR" is the model camcorder i'm looking for to use in the next step...

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -I "DV-VCR" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo tape_1_capture_video.dv

Command outputs the following...

ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -I "DV-VCR" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo tape_1_capture_video.dv

ffmpeg version 5.1.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2022 the FFmpeg developers
built with Apple clang version 14.0.0 (clang-1400.0.29.202)
configuration: --prefix=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ffmpeg/5.1.2_4 --enable-shared --enable-pthreads --enable-version3 --cc=clang --host-cflags= --host-ldflags= --enable-ffplay --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-libaom --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-librav1e --enable-librist --enable-librubberband --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsrt --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtesseract --enable-libtheora --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-lzma --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-frei0r --enable-libass --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libspeex --enable-libsoxr --enable-libzmq --enable-libzimg --disable-libjack --disable-indev=jack --enable-videotoolbox --enable-neon
libavutil 57. 28.100 / 57. 28.100
libavcodec 59. 37.100 / 59. 37.100
libavformat 59. 27.100 / 59. 27.100
libavdevice 59. 7.100 / 59. 7.100
libavfilter 8. 44.100 / 8. 44.100
libswscale 6. 7.100 / 6. 7.100
libswresample 4. 7.100 / 4. 7.100
libpostproc 56. 6.100 / 56. 6.100
Unrecognized option 'I'.
Error splitting the argument list: Option not found


Would you have any advice? Am I doing something wrong here?
Thanks for this great write up!

Edit: Import using Quicktime player works but seems to import at lower quality. A 1 hour 30 minute import video is only 3GB. That does not sound right?

 

[rajs]

@pickle3782 The parameter needs to be lower case i vs uppercase.
The updated command you should issue is: (https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Capture/Desktop)
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -i "DV-VCR" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo tape_1_capture_video.dv

I must've made an error when editing my original post at some point. The explanation section has it as lower case -i. The picture also has it as lowercase. I somehow in the code quote had it as uppercase. My apologies!

File size if capturing full raw lossless as a DV file should be ~ 20gb/hr. If you are telling quicktime or some other app to save your capture as an MP4 (lossy) that would explain the smaller size (I prefer max quality from these old tapes and then I edit / correct them as I can and save that to a lossy format that is appropraite for my needs when sharing with others ... i.e. mp4).

 

[pickle3782]

@pickle3782 The parameter needs to be lower case i vs uppercase.
The updated command you should issue is: (https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Capture/Desktop)
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -i "DV-VCR" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo tape_1_capture_video.dv

I must've made an error when editing my original post at some point. The explanation section has it as lower case -i. The picture also has it as lowercase. I somehow in the code quote had it as uppercase. My apologies!

File size if capturing full raw lossless as a DV file should be ~ 20gb/hr. If you are telling quicktime or some other app to save your capture as an MP4 (lossy) that would explain the smaller size (I prefer max quality from these old tapes and then I edit / correct them as I can and save that to a lossy format that is appropraite for my needs when sharing with others ... i.e. mp4).

That seemed to do the trick! Only thing now is I get some errors during capture of some of my tapes. The errors start then just keep coming. If I let the capture finish, it seems to get all the footage with not issues. Any idea what the below error message means?



[rawvideo @ 0x14ef32170] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 111598 >= 36346

The error seems to come up between the normal output...

[rawvideo @ 0x14ef32170] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 111598 >= 36346
frame=147947 fps= 30 q=-1.0 size=17337344kB time=01:02:03.68 bitrate=38141.6kbit
[rawvideo @ 0x14ef32170] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 111598 >= 36347

Thanks!

 

[rajs]

If the files play fine you don't have to worry about it imo. Believe it means that in the input tape he timestamps associated are not increasing monotonically. That shouldn't be the case, but I think that ffmpeg will usually correct these problems on its own and the resultant output file should be fine.

My best guess in cases where I saw this was where -- the old tape had stop / start / pauses in the original recording and the timestamp / date wasn't correct. i.e. started recording on a new tape and the time date was set correctly. Recorded 15 mins on that tape. Stopped. Put camcorder away for 5 months and then used same tape again from same point where prior recording stopped ... BUT the battery remembering the date / time on camcorder didn't hold charge that long and the system "reset" to a baseline time date. Thus that days record 5 months later actually in the camcorders mind Is earlier date from the prior recording.

Just my guess. If the digital file playback properly ... I suggest not worrying about it.

[ To re-iterate: above is my ignorant guess at what might be happening. I've encountered similiar messages. ]

 

[UnLuckyVet1775]

I have my grandfather's Sony Handycam DCR-TRV17 that I'm getting ready to do this with my 2021 16" M1 MAX MacBook Pro. Where is the file saved on your system and can you specify where the file should be saved?

I'm working and digitizing all his mini dv tapes of our family and scanning all the family photos to try and put on a M-Disk Blu-ray DVD so my grandmother can watch them.

I bought a SanDisk Professional - G-Drive 6tb External USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 HDD to keep all the raw.dv files and raw photos than still trying to figure out a plan for editing them software wize because I also have a windows 11 pro pc running a i9-13900k/RTX 3090 TI/32GB 3600hz RAM with NVME SSD drives 4x4.

Also I'm confused about the mini dv resolution, aspect ratio,etc and whether I can up scale them so they look right on a 16:9 tv. Any help is appreciated!

 

[rajs]

... Where is the file saved on your system and can you specify where the file should be saved?

Yes you can save it to where ever you wish. When you run the command below from the Terminal App:
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -i "DCR-TRV103" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo tape_1_capture_video.dv

The location (directory) you are in at that time when you issue the command above is where it will save a file called tape_1_capture_video.dv (the bolded portion above). You can and should change the name of the file in the command above to what ever you wish it to be and can also include a path to a different directory.


Another option you may want to consider instead of using the Terminal App and command line to capture the video from the MiniDV tapes is: https://obsproject.com.

It's a GUI based option.

I'd recommend you still follow the steps in the 1st post to validate your Mac sees the DCR-TRV17. Once you've validated that, you can shift over to the OBS app instead. A well done quick intro to the app is at this link imo -

Instead of selecting video source that YouTube video shows you'd select the DCR-TRV17 which is connected via Firewire (Thunderbolt).

 

[pickle3782]

If the files play fine you don't have to worry about it imo. Believe it means that in the input tape he timestamps associated are not increasing monotonically. That shouldn't be the case, but I think that ffmpeg will usually correct these problems on its own and the resultant output file should be fine.

My best guess in cases where I saw this was where -- the old tape had stop / start / pauses in the original recording and the timestamp / date wasn't correct. i.e. started recording on a new tape and the time date was set correctly. Recorded 15 mins on that tape. Stopped. Put camcorder away for 5 months and then used same tape again from same point where prior recording stopped ... BUT the battery remembering the date / time on camcorder didn't hold charge that long and the system "reset" to a baseline time date. Thus that days record 5 months later actually in the camcorders mind Is earlier date from the prior recording.

Just my guess. If the digital file playback properly ... I suggest not worrying about it.

[ To re-iterate: above is my ignorant guess at what might be happening. I've encountered similiar messages. ]

I think you are definitely correct. It appears the tapes that give me this error are ones that have multiple recording start/stops from different dates and at some points are even re-recorded over.

 

[pickle3782]

Where is the file saved on your system and can you specify where the file should be saved?

Before you run the capture command in terminal, type "pwd" without the quotes. That will Print Working Directory and show you where the file will be saved. If you know how to navigate the file system in the command line, you can change to any directory you would like to save the files before you run the capture command.

 

[UnLuckyVet1775]

Yes you can save it to where ever you wish. When you run the command below from the Terminal App:
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -i "DCR-TRV103" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo tape_1_capture_video.dv

The location (directory) you are in at that time when you issue the command above is where it will save a file called tape_1_capture_video.dv (the bolded portion above). You can and should change the name of the file in the command above to what ever you wish it to be and can also include a path to a different directory.


Another option you may want to consider instead of using the Terminal App and command line to capture the video from the MiniDV tapes is: https://obsproject.com.

It's a GUI based option.

I'd recommend you still follow the steps in the 1st post to validate your Mac sees the DCR-TRV17. Once you've validated that, you can shift over to the OBS app instead. A well done quick intro to the app is at this link imo -

Instead of selecting video source that YouTube video shows you'd select the DCR-TRV17 which is connected via Firewire (Thunderbolt).

Thanks I’ll give that a try this week. Have everything pulled apart upgrading my pc parts.

 

[UnLuckyVet1775]

Before you run the capture command in terminal, type "pwd" without the quotes. That will Print Working Directory and show you where the file will be saved. If you know how to navigate the file system in the command line, you can change to any directory you would like to save the files before you run the capture command.

I’ve been on windows for the last 7 years but just recently brought a 16” M1 Pro Max MacBook all spec out for video editing but I started on Linux back in the 90’s. Definitely a bit rusty but it’s coming back.

 

[rajs]

I’ve been on windows for the last 7 years but just recently brought a 16” M1 Pro Max MacBook all spec out for video editing but I started on Linux back in the 90’s. Definitely a bit rusty but it’s coming back.

Recommend you re-read the 1st post in this thread. I updated a lot of it earlier today and hopefully you might find using OBS instead of the command line FFmpeg easier. Either way best wishes !

 

[ace8cjc]

rajs, thank you for the detailed write-up.

I see you mention both ffmpeg and ffmpeg-dl here. I’m unsure of the difference, but which do you recommend using in 2023?

 

[rajs]

rajs, thank you for the detailed write-up.

I see you mention both ffmpeg and ffmpeg-dl here. I’m unsure of the difference, but which do you recommend using in 2023?

FFmpeg at this juncture. All the features needed are built into the main code base.

 

[ace8cjc]

Thanks rajs, it looks like you’ve thought about this process a lot. I’m curious - have you researched DV Rescue at all?

Like ffmpeg, it seems like their tools might be a good option for DV capture as well.

I haven’t compared to two much yet, but I’m wondering if you have and if you have any thoughts to share?

 

[ColdCase]

Commercially available products are actually GUI over ffmpeg, not that its bad or with no value added. They won't do anything more than ffmpeg but they make it easier to configure ffmpeg to do what you want without thinking about the details. Some provide more access to details than others.

 

[rajs]

... have you researched DV Rescue at all? Like ffmpeg, it seems like their tools might be a good option for DV capture as well. I haven’t compared to two much yet, but I’m wondering if you have and if you have any thoughts to share?

Actually have used it. Couple things to note.

• I believe as of Feb 2023 it still requires Rosetta to run on Apple Silicon. It's Intel complied still [Haven't looked into seeing if I could compile everything to run native on Apple Silicon as when I investigated this in past it was prior to Apple Silicon being released]
• Behind the scenes its VRECORD uses FFmpeg for capture. [ see - page 5 in document that shows FFMpeg output: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FaEWZIf9boTq80uTvKT0nK9MQ69V79aztMv7aUIGYFM/edit ]
• it's a package of tools that also has a UI to it, including one for the capture portion to control the "deck" [your tape device] and also analyze the data stream coming over the firewire connection.
  • The control portion presents a UI to start, stop, pause and play via your compute instead of having to do it on the tape deck device itself
  • Whilst in playback mode and having told it to save video to a file it also keeps an eye for any errors and if there is an error on a frame(s) it will rewind and retry 3 times automatically.

Personally, I preferred manually hitting play on my camcorder and issuing the FFMpeg capture command as sometimes I found the DV Rescue deck UI wouldn't communicate with the camcorder and I'd have to exit the app and reload it again. Also you are potentially dependent on an older version of FFmpeg (which ever one the DV Rescue install wants)

 

[rajs]

Commercially available products are actually GUI over ffmpeg, not that its bad or with no value added. They won't do anything more than ffmpeg but they make it easier to configure ffmpeg to do what you want without thinking about the details. Some provide more access to details than others.

Many open source tools also use FFMpeg behind the scenes - i.e. HandBrake, Plex, etc..

GUI wrappers around FFMpeg one could look at the following (not for recording tapes to DV files BUT for video file manipulation / edit / transform / etc.):

Open Source:
Shutter Encoder: GUI App using FFmpeg to edit, adjust, split, and re-encode video files. Also allows you to see the actual complete FFmpeg command line that will be run based on your GUI selections - https://www.shutterencoder.com/en/

Commercial:
ff·Works 3 GUI wrapper for FFmpeg - http://www.ffworks.net/index.html

 

[Arnoscopy]

Thanks for this...
I have successfully digitized Hi-8 and DVCAM thru firewire into thunderbolt and let FCPX do the importing.
It has worked well for DVCAM but for some unexplained reason the Hi-8 audio drifts. When I digitize using
Elgato, to create an mp4, this problem does not occur. It is a firewire issue, or a clocking issue, or ??
Is the way you mapped out here the preferred way to digitize HI-8 tapes at their maximum quality?

UPDATED: Feb 19 2023: GUI based options and misc edits for clarity.

A method for converting old videos on tapes (Video8, Digital8, Hi8, VHS, etc..) if you have a old device (camcorder, VCP, VCR, Playback Deck, etc..) that has an IEEE 1394 / Firewire / iLink connector built into it such as my Sony DCR-TRV103 Camcorder does. Many Sony Camcorders of that era have an "iLink" interface (Firewire). Also many S-VHS decks also have a Firewire interface.

Successfully transferred from a Sony camcorder ( DCR-TRV103 ) Video8 tapes over Firewire (Thunderbolt / USB-C) to digital DV files the full RAW tape.