How to capture DV & HDV video tapes on a Windows 11 PC using FireWire to Thunderbolt 3/USB-C

In this video I show the best way to capture your old mini DV camcorder tapes using a PC running the latest version of Windows 11 (22H2) using the adapters required to go from FireWire (i.Link, IEEE 1394, etc) to Thunderbolt 3 or (USB-C plug). Below are time stamps and links to the hardware and software you'll need.

*Time Stamps:*
0:00 - Intro
0:26 - Hardware setup
2:10 - Software setup
5:01 - Capture procedure - DV
5:56 - Capture procedure - HDV
6:27 - Optional final steps
6:42 - Problem troubleshooting
7:27 - Wrap up
7:55 - End

*Links to the items mentioned in the video:*
Apple Thunderbolt 3 and 4 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 1 and 2 Adapter:

FireWire 800 to 400 mini plug cable:

FireWire 400 to 800 cable:

FireWire 400 to 800 adapter:

FireWire 400 mini to 400 mini cable:

FireWire 400 mini to 400 full size adapter:

Have a desktop with a PCI/PCIe card slot, or a laptop with a ExpressCard/PCMCIA card slot:

Laptops with Thunderbolt/FireWire:

Other items I recommend:

(note the links above are affiliate links which helps support my channel. Your price stays the same but a small commission may come back to me if you decide to purchase anything using my links. It's a win-win for everyone!)

*Software Mentioned:*

*Other videos that may help you:*
How to connect a FireWire Audio Interface to a Mac or PC with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C

How to connect FireWire devices into new Mac's with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C

How to connect FireWire devices to a new M1 Mac with Apple Silicon

How to use legacy FireWire and Thunderbolt devices on new PC's with Thunderbolt 4

*Troubleshooting*
If you are having issues with your PC connecting to the device, there are a few things you can try:

[ScottSchramm]

Software Mentioned:

Other videos that may help you:

Troubleshooting
If you are having issues with your PC connecting to the device, there are a few things you can try:

1. Ensure your PC has a Thunderbolt port (not just a USB-C/charging port). Visit the support page of your computer (support.dell.com, support.lenovo.com, etc) and verify that your drivers are up to date. Sometimes the Thunderbolt driver is separate and needs to be installed manually. Also check that your BIOS is up to date. If you're getting blue screens when you plug in, this is the solution.

[TheRealRHDuggan]

I have 100 old tapes I needed to capture, some of which are DV and some HDV. I thought I was out of luck until I found your video, which pulled it all together for me. Thanks so much!

[dav]

Thank you for making this, I can now restore my family videos. I had a faulty 1394 firewire cable, but knowing what programs to run and how to connect to the computer helped alot.

[AbnormalArtsDOTcom]

You are VERY thorough! You're easy to understand; you annunciate your words; you are an excellent teacher, and watching your video did not feel like a chore. Thanks for such a well thought-out tutorial. Also, thank you for going the extra mile by providing all of the info that may be needed if things don't go as planned with installation of software. That was very thoughtful of you.

[rundrish]

Amazing video!!! Finally got my firewire card installed to capture video from my old Vixia HV40 Camcorder, intending to capture using Adobe Premiere 2024, only to discover they have deleted all capturing from the program! Adobe help was no help. Searched youtube and google a lot before finding this video. Having the firewire card I was able to skip through all of those wire connections. HV Split 0.77 Beta worked great. The video was still too large at that point for Premiere Pro to do anything with. Ran it through Handbrake 1.7.3 and it compressed it way down. Now it imported and worked in Premiere Pro just fine, but there was no longer any point to that, lol. Awesome stuff!

[felipexrmz]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video, it's really helped out a lot!

[jeremystuart]

What a brilliant and helpful man and video. 10/10 for thoroughness! A joy to watch. First class assistance, thank you.

[SteveHartmanVideos]

I have been having trouble getting hdvsplit.exe working on my win10 laptop via firewire to my Sony HDV camcorder, and thanks to your video, I realized that I didn't have k-lite on it. I usually have that installed on my other machines, but until now, i never realized that hdvsplit.exe requires it to "See" the camera! thank you!

[chestnutgreg]

Everything worked exactly as described. I only needed to add an IEEE 1394 Controller driver to my LG laptop. Excellent!!!

[johnnyc.]

Wow, such a perfectly executed video tutorial. Now I'll be able to get those videos off my Sony DV tapes. Subbed and liked...

[davidtreger]

This process worked perfectly, thanks for the great documentation.

[graywolf]

Hi Scott! Good news and an update on getting WinDV to work on a Dell Laptop (G7700) running Windows 11, i7 CPU. It would not work using the Gen 3 Thunderbolt port on the laptop, so I purchased the DELL Thunderbolt Docking Station model WD22TB4. I connected the Apple Dongles directly into the new Docking Station TB port, connected the TB Docking station to the TB port on the laptop and gave it a try. IT WORKED! I am now transferring mini tapes as I author this update. I hope this helps others. The laptop is running Intel generation 10 CPU. Next, I am going to see if I can get it to work on my new ASUS Z690 Motherboard desktop running Intel i7 generation 12 CPU.

[on]

Just to add, the process works the same for Hi8 tapes. Despite the name, WinDV has no issues with Hi8.

[danfuerthgillis]

I love that fact that the mass consumer once has access to an Indexed video format cameras which was then pulled off the market and never allowed back into the mass consumer market. Everything since then has to be either Proxied or re encoded to something else. DV and later DVCPRO literally capture and transfer to your computer, edit and export that was it. Since the footage was INDEXED every software editor was able to play, edit and encode without any proxy files. The mass consumer is still waiting for a video Camera, DSLR that was as fast and proxyless as DV.

[graywolf]

Update Scott! I decided to try an old DELL XPS i5 desktop that I upgraded the OS from Win 7 to 10. I added a firewire port expansion card and everything worked using Firewire cable from Sony 4 pin to Firewire expansion card. I successfully used the Sony DV camera and WinDv program with zero issues. Slow, very slow for a 1 hour tape, but that was to be expected using this method. I am going to try my newer win 11 Dell Laptop as soon as the TB DS arrives this Thursday, I will let you know how it works.

[bencrowe]

Hi Scott, thank you for the information and the helpful videos. I browsed through the previous comments and didn't find the question I had. Is it possible to go from Thunderbolt to HDMI?
I have a Dell laptop that only has USB or HDMI.
I tried to use a 2019 Mac Book Pro running Ventura 13.6.3 with the Intel chip and it didn't recognize the Sony DCR TRV525. It recognized the Thunderbolt 2-3 and the Thunderbolt to Firewire but not the Sony camcorder or the mini DV to Firewire. Are you aware of any problems with this Mac trying to transfer videos?
Thank you very much.

[brucefox]

Great video Scott, well covered, thank you.

[briankneebone]

Thank you, the cable stuff I found really helpful. Any recommendations for paid-for software for those of us that are security paranoid? I was looking at Pinnacle Studio and I have an old 10.5 version, but it's unclear if this is supported in newer versions. I heard Adobe Premiere supports importing as well, but that's an arm and a leg. It's the K-Lite codecs making me nervous. Thanks again for a great video. YouTube content creators always amaze me!

[HonestFred]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but your mini dv camera is the Canon Vivia HV40 correct? For those who have this camera it has an HDMI port. You could save yourself the time and captured video through there and save time and money with all the extra steps you outlined. But for those who don't have this camera, the steps you outlined are good.

[Hernandezvideofilmaudio]

You have put together a set of incredible and thoroughly thought out videos on this topic that I subscribed to your channel. Unfortunately so far it hasn't worked with my very new laptop running Windows 11 and using 13th generation Intel chip which you mentioned in a previous video I need 11th generation or less. I have two older laptops running Windows 7 Professional (but these don't need the special cables. They both accept firewire connections). So my question if you can help me answer it is. How can I capture uncompressed AVI using firewire? I have searched high and low to no avail. I'm in the business of media conversion and I have one client that will give me her business (and it's a very good paying job) if I can capture her videos to uncompressed AVI for preservation purposes. She originally wanted me to capture using the FFV1 codec with a Matroska (MKV) container but could not find any help on that topic but she would settle for uncompressed AVI. Please help!!! I hate to lose this job. Thanks in advance.