Videocassette is a medium that used to be very popular, but today it is gradually giving way to new digital technologies. Information on a videotape is not stored for so long, about 15 years, then it becomes dull and faded, and after that it completely ceases to be reproduced. Information slowly "dies" due to demagnetization of the film. Therefore, owners of film camcorders want to know how to digitize video from mini-DV cassettes.
Why Mini-DV
Although the film is no longer in vogue and fades into the background, it still has fans. All the disadvantages are compensated for by a fairly high image quality. This is especially true for high-definition home video cameras. Having accumulated a sufficient number of mini-DV cassettes, people think about digitizing them and then storing them on flash drives, DVDs and hard drives. If the information is very important, it is duplicated on all possible media at once. The digitization process is not that difficult. First, with the help of special programs and devices, the video is copied to a computer, and then it is processed and compressed to an adequate size. Anyone can cope with this task and there is no need to contact special offices.
What you need to have from devices
To digitize video from mini-DV cassettes, you need the following accessories. First of all, the video camera on which the recording was made. The computer must have an IEEE 1394 input. It should be noted that not all motherboards have it, but it doesn’t matter, since you can buy a board in a computer store. Just go there and tell them that you need a FireWire or i-Link card - these are different names for the same device. It costs from 100 to 300 rubles and a special cable for connection must be included in the kit. The cable may come with the camera, be careful.
After purchasing the card, insert it into the motherboard, into a free PCI slot. If you find it difficult to do this, it is better to ask someone who understands this better. Although there is nothing complicated here - do it with the computer turned off, the board is unlikely to fit anywhere else. Once this is done, insert the narrow end of the connecting cord into the camcorder and the wide end into the board. Put the camcorder on charge, or charge the battery in advance. Turn on the camera and put the Play / Edit mode.
What programs are needed on a computer
When we have everything ready in terms of devices, the camera is connected to the charger and the computer with special cords, it's time to move on to the software. In general, many programs can handle the video digitizing function. Some of them are: AVSVideoEditor, Adobe Premiere, Stoik Capturer, VirtualDub, Pinnacle Studio and others. Of all of them, the ScenalyzerLive program is perhaps worth highlighting. Because it is easy to use, performs the necessary functions 100%, weighs little, and nothing else is needed.
The finished video files created with ScenalyzerLive will not weigh so little, about 13 gigabytes for 60 minutes. Prepare free space on your hard disk in advance. You can turn them into a smaller size without any visible loss of quality using Any Video Converter, an excellent program for converting videos into various formats.
Digitizing process with ScenalyzerLive
By connecting the camera to the IEEE 1394 slot, the operating system should detect the camera. Start the ScenalyzerLive program. First of all, you need to specify the place where the video sequence will be saved, do this. Further on the left in the program window you will see the cassette control menu. You can use the buttons to rewind the camera to the beginning, end, pause, stop, etc. If your tape is not at the beginning, scroll it to the left to the end. Then find the Capture button at the very bottom of the program window closer to the center. Click it and you will see the frames appear in the center of the program. And also the video itself will start playing in real time. Wait for the video to finish digitizing. You will have to wait in real time. If 60 minutes are recorded, then you will have to wait 60 minutes. There is no other way.
Compress videos with Any Video Converter
Finished video files need to be compressed so that they weigh less. Therefore, launch the Any Video Converter program, click the Open Video File button (or Add Video Files - depending on the program version) and select the required video file or a whole group of files. As a result, a list of files that need to be compressed will be formed in the center of the program. On the right side there is a panel with prepared formats, you can choose something to your taste. For example, select Customized Avi Movie, then specify the video size and quality. In the video parameters, specify the desired codec, for example, xvid. Set the frame rate, 25 or 30 frames will do. Optionally, you can customize the audio settings. Now click on the "Convert!" (“Convert Now!”), Which is located at the top center of the screen. The finished result of the digitized video can be found by clicking on the button in the lower left corner of the screen of the Any Video Converter, “Media Manager” program, or by opening the directory that you specified yourself to save the video files.
You have learned the complete process of digitizing video from mini-DV cassettes and now you can create your own videos in unlimited quantities using the same cassettes. To store the compressed files, as mentioned earlier, use flash drives, DVDs and hard drives.
