Panasonic MiniDV - how best to get digital into Mac/PC via DV-out?

[Wills]

Hi all,

I have a Panasonic NV-GS320 from the mid-noughties (MiniDV tapes), and many many tapes of family videos.
I want to transfer them all onto my home NAS and start to go through them.

It has a DV out - can anyone tell me the best way to get the digital out into a Mac or PC please?
And after that, editing options?

Specifically, my questions would be:

1. Clearly I need a cable with one end that's DV (it has a USB Mini‑B socket too, but without question, surely DV is better for this purpose?).

What should the other end be? Is the data stream fast enough that USB C would be better, given its far faster bandwidth?
Or is USB A still sufficient - can it handle the bandwidth?

2. Clearly the cheapest cables are not worth it, but what sort of money should I be spending on this cable?
One that's of a good enough quality not to drip bits, but without paying a silly amount of money = £ ?

3. What's the best option to capture the data? I have both Mac and PC.

4. Which software? Would iVideo be sufficient to capture the full data stream? Or something else?

Once I have all the data on my home NAS, I will get a PremierePro sub and use that for editing, but is it necessary for the digi-transfer part?
(I had a Pinnacle PC client 10/12 years ago, which I remember could control the camera through the DV cable, but that PC died years ago.)

5. Is GigabitLAN fast enough for editing, for this kind of higher-end enthusiastic-amateur editing, if I'm using source data on a NAS ?

(To clarify - clearly each tape should be ripped to the local device, and then moved to the NAS - NAS source for later editing only)

Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to answer any one of my questions! Appreciate it!

(Capture/Editing noob, but an IT professional, so I should be able to figure the next part.....)

[Alwyn]

You may just be lucky with the 320: DV over USB. Read my guide here.

DV to USB cables do not work and anything that purports to do so is a big fat porky pie liar.

There is a combination of Firewire 400>FW800>Thunderbolt 2>Thunderbolt 3 (I think that's how it goes) for import of DV into a Thunderbolt port but I've read mixed reports. Check Youtube.

DV editing is a dream/easy for any NLE.

Editing over a LAN? Give it a go. I don't.

[Wills]

Thanks Alwyn.

Appreciate the info and link.
The port on my video-camera is miniDV, I think.

[Attachment 86292 - Click to enlarge]
I seem to remember I used to transfer it via a miniDV - FW400 cable via my Windows Desktop Pinnacle PCI card, long disposed of.

[Attachment 86293 - Click to enlarge]

Perhaps my best option would be a DV transfer device, perhaps via USB C or Thunderbolt, if that even exists?

Thanks in advance!

[The_Doman]

Thanks Alwyn.
Perhaps my best option would be a DV transfer device, perhaps via USB C or Thunderbolt, if that even exists?

Your camcorder supports DV over USB (USB Motion DV option), so the easiest option is to try that first?
You only need a mini USB cable.
Scenalyzerlive should work capturing over USB.

Capturing via DV passthrough or with S-video capture card?

Indeed. Nice to have both firewire and USB options. I had always assumed it wasn't possible via USB. The file appears similar to firewire capture and no dropped frames. Simply great.

As I said I will try again on Win 10 PC tomorrow, I may have misstepped earlier. I'll check out that link, thanks.

[Alwyn]

Perhaps my best option would be a DV transfer device, perhaps via USB C or Thunderbolt, if that even exists?

Your camcorder supports DV over USB (USB Motion DV option), so the easiest option is to try that first?

@Wills, definitely try that USB socket with a USB cable (full size USB-A on one end, USB Mini B on the other), as The Doman suggests. If that doesn't work, there are other, less-friendly options.

[Wills]

Thanks to you both, @The_doman and @Alwyn.
I'll give that a go.

[Wills]

@The_doman and @Alwyn thank you both so much!

Scenalyzerlive works perfectly over USB and it makes ripping complete DV tapes onto the PC an absolute breeze.

One question I do have - with all the default settings left as they for direct DV import, am I getting the best res I can?
The default (which I've been using) is "Type2DV-avi (default)"

I'm finding 60 mins of DV tape averaging around 13gb on my PC.
Sound about right?

Again, thank you!

[Alwyn]

I'm finding 60 mins of DV tape averaging around 13gb on my PC.

Bang on, Wills. That's pure DV. Oh how I love DV...

Re type 1 and 2, my understanding is that the only difference is the way the audio is handled in the file; the video part is not modified.

[Wills]

Many thanks Alwyn, appreciate the help and info.

[Alwyn]

My pleasure.