Assumes:
- OSX
- ffmpeg (
brew install ffmpeg
)
For OSX via USB-C, the following are required:
- Mini DV to FireWire 400 (might have come included with your camcorder)
- FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 (Amazon)
- FireWire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 (Apple)
- Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 (Apple)
Thunderbolt 2 looks like Displayport, but it's not the same thing.
This is a long cable chain, and it's not very cheap. On a Windows box you can buy a FireWire card instead (Amazon), which would allow to bypass all but the first cable above.
Once the camera is connected, turn it on and put it on "play" mode. OSX should prompt you to allow device to be connected. If not, you can also double check that it is connected by looking for it under QuickTime as one of the available cameras.
Don't use QuickTime to capture the mini DV footage from your camcorder though, unless you don't need the audio. The audio won't be correctly captured unless you perform a "hack" that cuts the first few seconds of footage.
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -list_devices true -i ""
E.g., mine is ELURA100
ffmpeg version 5.1.2 Copyright (c) 2000-2022 the FFmpeg developers
built with Apple clang version 14.0.0 (clang-1400.0.29.202)
configuration: --prefix=/opt/homebrew/Cellar/ffmpeg/5.1.2_6 --enable-shared --enable-pthreads --enable-version3 --cc=clang --host-cflags= --host-ldflags= --enable-ffplay --enable-gnutls --enable-gpl --enable-libaom --enable-libaribb24 --enable-libbluray --enable-libdav1d --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopus --enable-librav1e --enable-librist --enable-librubberband --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsrt --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtesseract --enable-libtheora --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvmaf --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-lzma --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-frei0r --enable-libass --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libspeex --enable-libsoxr --enable-libzmq --enable-libzimg --disable-libjack --disable-indev=jack --enable-videotoolbox --enable-neon
libavutil 57. 28.100 / 57. 28.100
libavcodec 59. 37.100 / 59. 37.100
libavformat 59. 27.100 / 59. 27.100
libavdevice 59. 7.100 / 59. 7.100
libavfilter 8. 44.100 / 8. 44.100
libswscale 6. 7.100 / 6. 7.100
libswresample 4. 7.100 / 4. 7.100
libpostproc 56. 6.100 / 56. 6.100
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] AVFoundation video devices:
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [0] NexiGo N60 FHD Webcam
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [1] FaceTime HD Camera
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [2] ELURA100
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [3] Capture screen 0
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [4] Capture screen 1
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [5] Capture screen 2
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] AVFoundation audio devices:
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [0] NexiGo N60 FHD Webcam
[AVFoundation indev @ 0x14ae05180] [1] MacBook Pro Microphone
ffmpeg -f avfoundation -capture_raw_data true -i "ELURA100" -c copy -map 0 -f rawvideo output.dv
Where ELURA100
is the camcorder name obtained when listing attached devices.
The command to start capture will be on standby until you press play on the camcorder. Capture happens in real time.
For more details see this guide.
ffmpeg -i output.dv -vcodec h264 -acodec aac compressed.mp4
Where output.dv
is the file captured in Step 3.