Sony Handycam Import Video To Pc

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Ma Layssard

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Aug 3, 2024, 2:29:35 PM8/3/24

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I used Windows Movie Maker to import videos from a videotape recorded on Sony handycam. I imported the video in .avi format( as it was giving the best video quality), but the size of the video is very large (8GB for just 1 hour). Moreover, it takes a lot of time to import the video in Windows Movie Maker (approx. 2.5 hrs. for 1 hour video).

Please suggest some other software which is more robust in the sense that it can give good quality video in lesser size and also it should be able to import the video quickly(as I have to import many video cassettes).

It would be pretty easy to convert the AVI file to a more compact format using many free programs, notably VLC and mencoder. Both can also digitize video from tape, butI have no experience using them in this mode so I can't give advice or recommend them.

Im going through some old home footage we took on a Sony handycam and I am wondering if its possible to import the videos onto my Macbook Pro as a copy on my laptop. I managed to watch the videos the first time I plugged it in and i managed to import the photos into the photos app but now when I try to view the videos it takes me to photos app and says there is no photos (obviously because they are videos). On my preferences I have it set to 'Open DVD player' for move DVD's but it no longer opens. The videos are on mini disks that are mainly DVD-R and DVD-RW. My DVD player reads them but I cant find any option to copy them onto my laptop and wont open the videos on photos, it just plays them on the DVD player app that pops up. I mainly just want a copy of the videos so we don't have to plug our handycam in every time we want to watch them.

It appears that you are using your handy cam as an optical drive to play the mini DVDs. Correct? Does a DVD icon appear on your desktop when you plug in the handy cam? If so, click on the icon to open its library contents. You will see a VIDEO_TS folder. Open that and copy-drag to your desktop all of the files that have a VOB extension. These are the files that contain the movies on the DVD including audio. Then convert the files to Mp4/AAC with the free download, Handbrake. Once the are converted you can play them in iMovie and anywhere else that you want.

A simple way to do it is to open Handbrake and do a File/Open Source. Navigate to your video and choose it as the source from the resulting screen. Then do File/Start Encoding. Wait a couple of minutes for the conversion to complete. Then save and import the converted clip into iMovie.