Converting from HD to mini DV?

Y

ykchan

New member
I'm asking this based on second-hand info, so apologies if this comes across as a basic question: we're pressed for time and need to import our final product from HD to mini DV format. Is there some software that can do this? A couple of crew members are out trying to purchase a mini DV camcorder, but perhaps there is an easier way to do this given that the film is due tonight. Thanks!
 
ykchan said:
I'm asking this based on second-hand info, so apologies if this comes across as a basic question: we're pressed for time and need to import our final product from HD to mini DV format. Is there some software that can do this? A couple of crew members are out trying to purchase a mini DV camcorder, but perhaps there is an easier way to do this given that the film is due tonight. Thanks!
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I don't understand the question. HD is a resolution standard and mini-DV is a recording format. Unless you mean HDV which already records to tape. In that case simply connect your HDV camera (a normal SD camera won't work) to the computer via firewire and select render out to tape on your NLE.
 
Some HDV camcorders can do an on-the-fly downconversion to DV too. The Canon HV20 does that, and the Sony series does it too. The JVC HD100 doesn't, I don't know about the later HD110/HD200s. So depending on what camera you shot it on (and presuming you still have that camera) you might be able to do it with what you've got, and a simple menu change.
 
To clarify, now that I have more info:

"We're using iMovie and the footage was from a Sony HDV 16:9 format, and we need to get to miniDv in 4:3."

Thanks for your replies.
 
ykchan said:
To clarify, now that I have more info:

"We're using iMovie and the footage was from a Sony HDV 16:9 format, and we need to get to miniDv in 4:3."

Thanks for your replies.
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I still don't understand "get to mini-DV." Do you want the footage dubbed to tape or do you want to do a downconversion from HD to SD? If it's writing to tape, do what I mentioned above. If it's a downconvert, iMovie can render straight to SD from the timeline simply by selecting the resolution that you want. As for the 4:3 thing, you might have to block off the side of the footage to get it that way.
 
Jade -- yes, it's writing to tape. Sorry, was copying verbatim and since I wasn't on the crew, I could only pass along type w/o much tech knowledge. Thanks!
 
Thanks so much for the suggestions -- I was able to pass them along to my crew, who picked them up via Blackberry and were able to complete the film on time based on the advice. Thanks again!!!
 
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