Viewing and recording an RCA AV input

milimetersquaredmilimetersquared
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I'm trying to to take an RCA composite video stereo audio input (the red, yellow, and white cables that are the output of most dvd players, video game systems, etc) and viewing it and possibly recording it on a mac. I know that I'll need to buy an adapter somewhere, but I would prefer to use either a program I already have (like iMovie) or some shareware/freeware instead of purchasing a program (this could be unavoidable, but whatever). I am mainly looking to view with as little lag as possible, and the recording would be very nice, but not necessary. High video quality, also, is not a major concern. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    The Elgato EyeTV Hybrid can do that for the most part. You can plug your device into it and has very little lag. You can record, but there are copyright protection on DVD's so I am guessing those won't work. Using the EyeTV software that comes with it, you can convert your recordings to DV for iMovie with some existing presets.



    I don't have a free option for you, but you need hardware to do this anyways.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    milimetersquaredmilimetersquared Posts: 62member
    Thanks, but I'm not really looking to record TV shows or cable programs, which is what the eyeTV seems to focus on; I mostly just want raw AV inputs. Any other suggestions?
  • Reply 3 of 5
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by milimetersquared View Post


    Thanks, but I'm not really looking to record TV shows or cable programs, which is what the eyeTV seems to focus on; I mostly just want raw AV inputs. Any other suggestions?



    If you have a mini-dv camcorder, many of them will pass through a/v input and back out the firewire connection, which data stream you can directly import into iMovie on the fly.



    Several companies make stand alone digitizers, I have an old Sony box I use from time to time that seems to have decent quality.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Ahh, that DV camera idea is pretty resourceful. I used to have a Hollywood DV bridge and that worked well with final cut pro. (It even let my computer control my VCR using timecode!)



    As for the EyeTV thing, it is a powerful piece of software that works with a number of 3rd party video devices such as A/V converters as well. Thing is, they are more expensive, that is why I choose the Hybrid. The hybrid does come with a composite/s-video dongle to enable you to recored from a VCR or A/V device and is what I use now.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    milimetersquaredmilimetersquared Posts: 62member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    If you have a mini-dv camcorder, many of them will pass through a/v input and back out the firewire connection, which data stream you can directly import into iMovie on the fly.



    Several companies make stand alone digitizers, I have an old Sony box I use from time to time that seems to have decent quality.



    Sadly, i checked my video camcorder, but it doesn't have an RCA AV input jack. Are there any other inexpensive solutions (under $50?), unlike the standalone DivX converter that cost over $200? Again, thanks for the help.
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