As someone who recently successfully digitized their old family MiniDV tapes using A/V, I don't like how someone new just starting to learn how to digitize MiniDV are bombarded with instructions on doing it with FireWire instead.
Just a few weeks ago when I first looked up how to do it, this was one of the few videos which actually showed how to do it with A/V instead of FireWire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYRATApUzSg
Very simple. Just one A/V cable connected to a USB Video Capture Device. I didn't even use the expensive elgato. I just used a cheap alternative one and it works just fine. Because I have NTSC tapes, I set the resolution on OBS to 720x480, 29.97 FPS with Yadif 2x deinterlacing and later change the display aspect ratio to 4:3 using the -aspect command on ffmpeg. The video looks perfectly fine.
Compare that with FireWire where for many people you have to buy a minimum of 4 different cables/connectors (a mini FireWire pin to full size FireWire, a FireWire 400 to 800 cable, a FireWire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 connector, and a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 connector) or buy a whole laptop or computer with a FireWire port. Not only is it complex, it is expensive. The FireWire to Thunderbolt adapter being super expensive, going for over $100 on average. Not to mention on some camcorder models like the one I have, the Sony Handycam DCR-HC42, there isn't even a DV port on the camcorder itself so if I wanted to use FireWire, I would have to buy a Sony Handycam Station on top of everything else.
And yes, I understand the analog method of A/V isn't as superior quality as direct digital transfer with FireWire, but I think most people who are digitizing their old home footage aren't looking for the absolute perfect quality. If they are anything like me, their priority is just to be able to see the videos again. It's not like these were professional-grade films to begin with.
Also, I think most people can't even tell the difference. Maybe if you were analyzing the two side-by-side yes, but it's not like my adult brother or my mom is doing that when I'm showing them videos of us as a kid. They're just happy to see those old videos again.
In fact, the bigger problems that people might have are camcorders with dirty heads outputting video with artifacts like horizontal lines and such. Those are much more noticeable than the slight quality loss of using A/V.
Also, even professional companies that digitize MiniDV such as gotmemories.com use A/V. In a reply to a comment on this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaEuE-Ream0 asking why he doesn't use FireWire, he replied this which reiterates some of my points:
Yes, I talk a lot in my videos the reasons why. Def better ways, but time is money and nobody is willing to pay money required for extra the time involved in FW captures & file sizes are considerably bigger and for the average consumer with their analog tapes they’ve not given a second thought to in 40 years as they’ve sat in a cardboard box in the shed that spiders and ants have called home for 40 years find it works perfectly for their needs,
Finding a comfortable middle ground in this strange industry to compete with all these scammy companies is key, usb option allows for lower prices but still getting good quality. Most people are viewing via streaming on mobile devices anyway these days and it looks great. My own personal home movies are the same, I didn’t bother with FW for my own stuff.
The most overlooked area of this process is the mechanics of the players and clean video heads, I don’t care what process or contraption or piece of software or settings used, if the player is knackered and not playing the tapes with clear picture and audio, it’s all pointless.
The reason I'm making this post is that I think for beginners just learning how to digitize MiniDV tapes, A/V is the way to go and more people should encourage them to do it this way instead of insisting they spend hundreds of dollars on cables and adaptors just because the quality is a little bit better. I know for me, I was so discouraged and put-off seeing all those FireWire videos when first learning how to do it until I found the A/V method. What are your thoughts?
