Has anyone successfully imported Hi8 videotape into a Thunderbolt 3 Mac?

[Patrick Donegan]

Which “digital converter” is it?

Maybe a differnt one will work.

Or maybe you can find some old Mac someway somehow …

and do it that way …. using “Image Capture” App.

Please tell me because I have some Hi8 tapes also that I was just thinking about 2 days ago.

[Phil Hyson]

The digital converter is a Canopus ADVc-110.

Haven’t thought of trying Image Capture. I’ll try that.

I do have an older Mac with Firewire 2, which does work, but wanted to use the newer Mac.

After watching a Youtube video from a guy that said he bought the Thunderbolt 2 to 3 converter, I assumed it would work for me too. I bought one from BestBuy and it didn’t work so returned it and tried another one – still nothing.

[Phil Hyson]

Tried Image Capture, however it will not recognize the capture device (ADVC-110).

Tried Quick Time Player, which worked but offered no control thereafter.

Final Cut Pro X does work with the Thunderbolt 2 Mac.

…But my newer Thunderbolt 3 Mac does not work.

Has ANYONE had any luck with capturing to a Thunderbolt 3 Mac.

[Craig Seeman]

This Magewell USB Capture AIO looks promising. Having tried it but it can handle S Video, component, composite.

http://www.magewell.com/products/usb-capture-aio

Not exactly inexpensive at $619

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1336232-REG/magewell_32110_usb_capture_aio.html

[Mark Smith]

If you get something working, you might want to consider the “archive camera volume” option that appears in the lower right of the import window. If you choose this, you’ll get a FCPX friendly file that will allow you grab clips from within an hour long recording which I have found really useful when I get around to using those files.

[Phil Hyson]

Thanks Mark. The lower left of my FCPX 10.4.7 import window reads “create archive…” Maybe you have a newer version – same thing?

I have it working with TB2; just won’t work with my TB3.

[Phil Hyson]

Thanks Craig,

I will look into it, although quite expensive.

[Mark Smith]

Create Archive is what you want. Going this route might seem like a bit of a detour but once you want to start tapping content on those tape files, it turns out to be worth the problem . Andreas Kiel who frequents this forum had a small app called virtual cam card a while ago that would allow you to take a QT file digitized from tape and package it in a way that FCPX would recognize as a camera card volume . I used that app for a few projects and it worked ok for me but it doesn’t seem to work anymore . Create Archive will do the right thing for you. I would suggest that you first create a tape archive and test it through import in X and then decide whether you want proceed down that path.

[Andy Liebman]

Hi Phil,

I just went through this exercise myself — converting Video8, Hi8, VHS, SVHS, and DV25 tapes to QuickTime files. I won’t take credit for this idea. It was Wilson Chao’s (if you know who he is).

After trying many different capture devices and having difficulty with video image stability — including trying some very expensive Thunderbolt and USB analog capture devices — I went on Ebay and purchased a Digital8 camcorder that was capable of playing back Video8 and Hi8 analog tapes as well. As Digital 8 used the DV25 CODEC, when you use the camcorder to capture non-Digital8 tapes over Firewire they get converted to DV25. A key feature of these camcorders is that they include a Faroudja TBC that will stabilize all your old tapes! Also, if you loop SVideo or composite signals through the camcorder (say, from old VHS or SVHS tapes), you get both TBC stabilization plus DV25 encoding.

At first, I didn’t like the idea of converting everything to DV25, but honestly I ended up with flawless captures and no hassle.

I did my captures with Adobe Premiere Pro running on macOS 10.14.x (Mojave). Apparently, Adobe ended DV25 firewire support in macOS 10.15 (Catalina), although HDV support is still there. Windows would probably be easier given the firewire issues on macOS. I also tested capturing with FCPX as well as with the QuickTime application and both worked as well. There are pros and cons to each (including whether you have them)!

Please note that NOT ALL Digital8 camcorders can play back non-Digital8 formats. Below is a list of those that do, and do not. Also, I’m not sure whether every model that plays analog tapes includes the TBC as well as the loop-through capabilities for external decks. The model I used was the DCR-TRV350.

Hope this helps!

— Andy Liebman

The models of Sony Digital8 camcorder that are capable of both digital and analog playback include these models: Additionally, all models released by Hitachi offer analog playback.

DCR-TR720 (1999, PAL)DCR-TR7000 (1999, NTSC)DCR-TRV103 (1998, NTSC)DCR-TRV107 (1998, Latin America)DCR-TRV110 (1998, NTSC)DCR-TRV120 (2000, NTSC)DCR-TRV203 (1999, NTSC Canada)DCR-TRV210 (1999, NTSC)DCR-TRV220 (2000, Asia Pacific)DCR-TRV230 (2001, NTSC)DCR-TRV238E (2002, PAL)DCR-TRV239E (2002, PAL)DCR-TRV240 (2002, NTSC)DCR-TRV310 (1999, NTSC)DCR-TRV315 (1999, NTSC)DCR-TRV320 (2000, NTSC)DCR-TRV330 (2001, NTSC)DCR-TRV340 (2002, NTSC)DCR-TRV345E (2003, PAL)DCR-TRV350 (2003, NTSC)DCR-TRV351 (2003, NTSC Latin America)DCR-TRV355E (2003, PAL)DCR-TRV356E (2003, PAL Export/China)DCR-TRV410E (1999, PAL)DCR-TRV420E (2000, PAL)DCR-TRV460 (2004, NTSC)DCR-TRV460E (2004, PAL)DCR-TRV461E (2004, PAL Export)DCR-TRV480 (2005, NTSC)DCR-TRV480E (2005, PAL)DCR-TRV510 (1999, NTSC)DCR-TRV520 (2000, NTSC)DCR-TRV525 (2000, NTSC)DCR-TRV530 (2001, NTSC)DCR-TRV620E (2000, PAL)DCR-TRV720 (2000, NTSC)DCR-TRV730 (2001, NTSC)DCR-TRV740 (2002, NTSC)DCR-TRV820 (2000, NTSC)DCR-TRV828 (2001, NTSC Latin America)DCR-TRV830 (2001, NTSC)DCR-TRV840 (2002, NTSC)

The models of Digital8 camcorders released by Sony that are not capable of analog Video8/Hi8 playback (usually the lower-end models) include the following:

DCR-TRV130 (2001, NTSC)DCR-TRV140 (2002, NTSC)DCR-TRV145 (2003, PAL)DCR-TRV147 (2003, PAL)DCR-TRV150 (2003, NTSC)DCR-TRV245 (2003, PAL)DCR-TRV250 (2003, NTSC)DCR-TRV255E (2004, PAL)DCR-TRV260 (2004, NTSC)DCR-TRV265 (2004, NTSC Export)DCR-TRV265E (2004, PAL)DCR-TRV270E (2005, PAL)DCR-TRV280 (2005-2007, NTSC)DCR-TRV285E (2005-2007, PAL)DCR-TRV360 (2004, NTSC)DCR-TRV361 (2004, NTSC Export)DCR-TRV380 (2005, NTSC Export)

[Paul Garmon]

If you plan to do this more than once, I agree with Andy Liebman (and Wilson Chao, who may remember me from Flamingo Graphics, Avid and Bola32 days!) that some Digital-8 camcorders are a good purchase for this use. My DCR-TRV840 accepts 8mm, Hi-8, and Digital-8 tapes and plays any of them with simultaneous output on i.Link (a.k.a. Firewire). I used to use the AVCVideoCapture app, but I guess others have since replaced that. Not only that, but the TRV840 (and maybe others) will also transcode from its analog inputs to Firewire, which makes it a better converter than most! Possible you could find one (hopefully not at usurious prices) on ebay or CraigsList, or put out a “Wanted” post(er). ? [Camcorder being self-powered, removes one obstacle from the course!]