TRV14 on Mac OSX?

[dublin6th]

Ok so whos gonna help me?... I bought a Sony DCR-TRV14 MiniDV Digital Handycam a few months ago ... sure i can connect it straight to my VCR but wheres the fun in that?. The software that comes with it ,Imagemixer, doesnt support OSX I've tried imovie but nothing seems to see the Camera when i connect it. Any ideas?
Mark - Dublin, Ireland

[galactica]

what sort of connections does this camera have?

USB? FireWire? Got anything like an analog-to-DV passthru?

[Direwolf]

Although Apple doesn't list the TRV-14 as a compatible dv cam (http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/camcorders.html), that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't. Most, if not all, Sony dv cams have good compatibility with iMovie. I've been using my TRV-18 flawlessly for the past year.

Are you hooking the camera up via its firewire port? If not, make sure you do.

[dublin6th]

I am connecting via USB ... i am a complete newbie ... so sorry if i seem a little slow. Neither Mac nor Sony list the TRV14 as mac compatible. But i am suure there has to be a way. I am looking at trying it true Virtual PC... if any one has any tips...great!.
Mark

[AntnyMD]

I thought all MiniDV cameras came with Firewire.

[Direwolf]

I am connecting via USB ... i am a complete newbie ... so sorry if i seem a little slow. Neither Mac nor Sony list the TRV14 as mac compatible. But i am suure there has to be a way. I am looking at trying it true Virtual PC... if any one has any tips...great!.
Mark

Go buy a firewire cable to hook up your cam to your mac. The Sony's USB connection is only used for photo transfers from your cam to your mac.

I bought a Belkin cable and iMovie has had no problems "seeing" the cam. You need a "4-pin to 6-pin" firewire cable:

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=1976&pcount...oduct_Id=62357

This SHOULD work. But, if you're still not sure if this will work, then I suggest you buy the cable from a store with an open-package return policy.

Then...

1. Hook up your cam by firewire.
2. Turn on your cam and set it to VCR mode.
3. Launch iMovie.
4. In iMovie, switch to camera mode (a switch below the main video window).
5. Start importing your video clips and enjoy editing fun.

Do NOT try Virtual PC for video editing. Performance will be poor.

[dublin6th]

Thanks alot guys ... will run out and buy a firewire cable tomorrow! hope it works. I have another questions but i should start a new tread for it its about burning DVDs on a mac ... i've managed it ... but only with films under 4.7Gb.
Thanks Again
Mark

[galactica]

it has been pretty heavily covered.......
rather than starting a new one just ask your ? in here real quick.

[Direwolf]

it has been pretty heavily covered.......
rather than starting a new one just ask your ? in here real quick.

Yup.

dublin6th, just check out Galactica's website which has the best info for DVD burning.

Let us know if if the firewire cable works or not.

[dublin6th]

Cheers direwolf, that worked perfect ... picked up a belkin fire cable an hour ago and iMovie is perfect ... so other than iMovie what else is good for editing?
Mark

[Direwolf]

... so other than iMovie what else is good for editing?

Well, iMovie is the easiest to learn. It's also the cheapest (i.e. free), unless you buy iLife '04, but even that package is very cheap ... just make sure your mac is fast enough if you want to be able to use the iDVD4 part of it.

You can also try Final Cut Express which has a steeper learning curve and more $.

Then there's Final Cut Pro which is very expensive but very thorough in features and much more $$$.

But if you have enough time (to learn) and money to spend on FCP, then I suggest you pick up a thorough teaching guide like:
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/item.asp?N=35&R=1161076&act=A03&Item=978032118649&Sectio...DF04470CD52512

My friend read this book from cover to cover and taught himself FCP.

But, if all you're going to be editing is home movies, stick with iMovie. Its interface is quite easy to learn and it won't take up as much of your time trying to learn how to use it.

Have fun editing. I hope you have enough hard drive space. Imported DV footage takes up about 13GB per hour.

[MacDSL]

I agree with the Final Cut Pro Book. I have it myself, and it's excellent...

I also like DVcreators.net Those are some really helpful turorials.... and the 2-CD package is great, but was created back in Final Cut Pro 2. but the concepts work just fine for the basics in FCP4