Forums | MacLife

I think this should go in balloon help. However, does you're hi 8 camera have a firewire port or iLink or 1394b on it somewhere?

I'm sorry for not providing more information.

The camcorder has two connectors (video & audio) that look like this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/imag … to14_F.jpg

I believe they are called S-video cable composite connectors.

Yes...that looks like and RCA connection...specifically the Left audio channel (Red being the right and Yellow being video).

What you are going to need is an analogue to digital converter or DV bridge.  I highly recommend the Canopus ADVC-100 wich costs approx $265 (Other have had success with the Dazzle DV bridge, but many have not).  This woll take your S-video and composite (RCA) connections and convert it to a digitla signal routed thru a Firewire connection.  Then you use iMovie to capture the material and edit, then output for iDVD to make the DVDs.

Or, you can borrow or buy a miniDV camera and either route your signal thru it or dub the tapes and capture that way.  Either way, you need to have anotehr peice of equipment that converts the signal into something the mac can take in.

If it's a Sony Digital8, then it has a firewire on it (I'm 99% sure.).  But if it's just a Hi8 it will not have a digital connection.  It's hard to believe that the Hi-8 has a USB 2.0 for video... perhaps a USB for still images... but I can't be 100% certain.

In order to bring video in from the camera, you will need a digitizer.  I had a Hollywood DV Bridge, and, quite frankly, it sucked total ba lls.  I purchased a Canon MiniDV camera that works much better as a bridge.  Any digitial video camera (Sony Mini DV or Digital 8 for instance) would work for this purpose. 

You would plug your camera into that camera and then that camera into your computer.  Let me know what model your camera is.

Good luck.

Forget USB.  It's not a fast enough conduit.  You need something with a firewire port.

If by G5 (the part in the thread title) you mean a tower and not an iMac you could slap this bad boy in an empty PCI slot. It is a lot cheaper then an external box and might be all that you need. Since I do not have a G5 anything I can not speak to how well it works for capturing video for iMovie. Does anyone else have one and would like to share your experiences with this card?