MiniDV Converting

[iggy35]

A family member in america has sent me a minidv tape through the post.
I tried putting it in my camera to capture to Adobe Premiere but it wont play.
Im assuming its because I'm in the UK and its different formats.
Is there any way to get it onto my computer without paying for expensive equipment or paying for an expert to do it for me?

IGGY

[guns1inger]

Not unless you know someone with an NTSC mini-DV camera or can rent one for a day

[iggy35]

Ok, that seems to be the case.
I done a hunt for video converting companys and found these guys.
www.transfervideo.co.uk
Anyone know if they are any good, and if they can do what i require?
£5 per hour of footage seems pretty good to me.

IGGY35

[12Quidkidinnit]

That sounds pretty good. Certainly cheaper than buying an NTSC camera just for capturing it.

Although if you couldn't do it any other way, you could probably find a faulty NTSC camcorder on ebay. (JVC with lens cap fault will usually still play and capture an already recorded tape but not record video, they sell for cheap prices, like £15 or something)

Ideally it needs capturing and then exporting back to tape in PAL so that Premiere can import it as AVI, rather than in DVD format, which may be more complicated.

[thecoalman]

I'd suggest just have them transfer the DV-AVI that's on the tape to a few DVD's, you can reassemble the full length in Premeire yourself. This way you don't have to leave any screw ups by them to chance. The only thing you really need is the file that's on the tape. Create a NTSC format DVD, from my understanding nearly every PAL DVD player will play a NTSC DVD. No conversion necessary.

[SingSing]

In U.S., many DVD players play both NTSC and PAL DVDs when they are not region code. DVD holds digital pixels, and not video signal.

Maybe you want to try a miniDV to NTSC DVD transfer, using your tools, or TMPGenc, and see does whether it plays on your DVD player.

I received PAL video footage from in-laws, and converted them to PAL DVD, and watch it on my projection TV, without any problem.

[guns1inger]

The problem is playing back the miniDV tape in the first place, not converting it. NTSC miniDV won't play in a PAL only camcorder.

[iggy35]

Ok,..I've been offered another 2 jobs since that one.
And they have minidv tapes too, so I'm considering buying a converter.
Anyone suggest one that would work in the situation that im in?
Im in the UK, and have a PAL only digital camcorder.
And I need to get NTSC MiniDV tape onto my computer.
I've had a look around but I don't wanna get a converter for watching Region 1 dvds by mistake.

IGGY35

[thecoalman]

..............

The problem is playing back the miniDV tape in the first place, not converting it. NTSC miniDV won't play in a PAL only camcorder.

You need a NTSC compatible camcorder or deck to play the tape....period, from there its easy. Transfer to your computer and author a NTSC DVD. Region coding only deals with commercial DVD's and is irrelevant.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Some PAL MiniDV camcorders will play back NTSC even though it isn't documented.

In such cases, often the video isn't visible on the camcorder's display etc but the DV data are sent via FireWire.

If you hook up your camcorder to your PC, put your NTSC tape in, start it playing (or play-pause) and only then launch Premiere's capture tool, you may see the video.

Having the tape playing *before* launching the capture tool is very important. If it isn't, Premiere will think it is attached to a PAL camcorder. With the tape playing, it gets the video format from the video stream - i.e., NTSC.

The above has worked for a number of people (I do it all the time). It only takes a minute or two to test....

[iggy35]

nope, didn't work

IGGY35

[thecoalman]

Some PAL MiniDV camcorders will play back NTSC even though it isn't documented.

I wouldn't doubt every NTSC/PAL cam is capable of doing that except there's no "switch". It certainly would be cheaper to manufacture a single product for the same model and then enable whatever format it is.