Archiving DV tapes

[docx]

I am looking for the best way to archive Dv tapes for my father. I plan on saving then to a solid state external drive
I don't want to do any editing or have them spit into scenes just save the video in the best quality that is reasonable. Would QuickTime player be a good choice for this, also he has a ChromeBook and would like to use it to view the video on his TV.
Is this possible or could anyone recommend a better way.
Thank You

[ferrarr]

Do you a way to get them onto your Mac?

[docx]

I have a Dv camera and a HDMI port on my macbook so no worries there.
I'm just not sure about the best way to capture the video in such a way that it is in good quality and able to be played on a Chromebook.
Thanks

[ferrarr]

HDMI port on your MB, is output only. You may want to research what ports you have that accept video input?

[docx]

I have no problems importing the video.
Usually I edit them and burn them on to a DVD or save them as a file.
I just want to save these as an unedited file that is readable on a Chromebook.
Thanks you for your reply.

[docx]

Just realised that I said HDMI in my post when I actually meant Firewire. Sorry ferrarr you were ofcourse correct.

[Slydude]

Am I understanding correctly that you know how to import the video but are unsure which format is best to use for your task?

I haven't had a chance to play around with Chromebooks but you can find a list of the supported file formats and video codecs here. Using VLC for Chromebook seems to support a few additional formats. See here. It might be worth taking a look at the software options for his TV to see which formats they support. On one TV's you'll have to add some software to the TV from the manufacturer's app store.

Once you know which video types the software supports you might find it necessary to try a few short captures in different formats to see which format is best. M2t files, for example, offer excellent quality but take up huge amounts of space. Most software is going to support mp4.

[docx]

That is correct Slydude. I wi try a test using Quicktime and check that he can read the file on his Chromebook. Hopefully he can then use his Chromecast to view on his TV.
Thank you for the help.
Brad

[jpdemers]

These days, it's the rare setup that can't handle mp4 files. If that works, go with it, and the files should be compatible with future hadware for quite some time. (Future-proofing the media they're stored on is another matter.)