Canada's most affordable and flexible DV/HDV To USB service.
- ALL DV VIDEO TAPE FORMATS: DV (Large tapes), MiniDV, Digital8, DVCPRO Video tape, DVCAM, HDV-1080i
- A personal service by a videographer with more than 10 years of video experience.
- Transfers by Firewire for lossless DV-AVI (Windows)/DV-MOV (Macs) video files.
- Costs just $15 per video hour for transfer to USB.
- Costs just $20 per video hour for DVD; extra copies are just $12. Lowest professional transfer prices in Canada, but with the highest quality.
- Turnaround time of 2-4 days for 6 hours or less. 6.5 - 10 hours require up to 7 days. More than 10 hours will require additional time.
- DV, Mini DV, Digital8, DVCam and DVCPRO 25 to DVD or DV-AVI/MOV file.
- Resume reels of actors, camera operators and producers provided for TV, movie industries and casting agencies.
- Verbatim AZO DVD's used for all DVD transfers.
- Check out the "About Trevor Thurlow" page for samples of DV transfers, as I have worked with DV for years.
DV/DVCAM/DVCPRO 25 (D7)
1995 saw a transformation in the video world unlike any seen before: the introduction of Digital Video (DV), DVCAM and DVCPRO (aka DVCPRO 25/D7). DV provided playback pictures that in most cases were equal too or far exceeded Betacam SP pictures. It also allowed digital video to be easily edited and stored on personal computer and Macs without requiring large quantities of memory, due to using an intra-frame compression scheme, where each frame is compressed by itself. This allowed the video to be stored in a smaller space than D-1 or Digital Betacam; yet without the use of inter-frame codecs compressing the video into even smaller spaces by taking bits and pieces from groups of frames (GOP), and then having to reassemble and disassemble every time an edit was made.
Of course, in 1997 Mini-DV was introduced as the consumer version of DV. It still offered the same level of quality as the professional level DV, DVCAM and DVCPRO 25(D7) formats, but the tape was smaller than a VHS or Hi8 tape. But the same rule as before with Hi8 still applied: video shot on a $20,000 professional camcorder will look better than video shot on an $800 dollar consumer camcorder.
In the mid-2000's, Canon, Sony & JVC teamed up to upgrade Mini DV to HD levels using the MPEG-2 codec. Unfortunately, JVC would not agree with Canon and Sony's methods for HDV, and as a result their recordings are incompatible with Sony & Canon HDV camcorders. JVC HDV camcorders will only record and playback 720p HDV material. Canon and Sony made camcorders that used 1080i HDV and could record 24p and 60i for NTSC markets, and 25p and 50i for PAL markets; Canon's camera's could also record 1080-24f/25f. Canon's 24f/25f led to incompatibility with Sony's HDV line, as 24f/25f videos record full progressive video, whereas the 24p/25p/50p/60p are recorded in a process known as 'Progressive over Interlace', which allows for the compatibility between each manufacturer. Trevor Thurlow Productions currently used Canon HDV camcorders for transfers, and as such are unable to offer HDV-720p transfers.
Just like Digital8, all four formats for NTSC recordings sampled their luminance and chroma at a 4:1:1 level. This means that the luminance (black & white channel) was sampled at it's full bandwidth of 13.5 MHz, while the chroma was sampled at a quarter of that for both color channels, with each channel storing their information at a 3.375MHz bandwidth. In PAL regions only DVCPRO used the 4:1:1 sampling rate, while DV/Mini-DV/DVCAM sampled their luminance and chrominance at a 4:2:0 rate. PAL DVCPRO, when it reads a tape for the other format, converts the 4:2:0 to 4:1:1 internally. 4:2:0 is also used for NTSC/PAL DVD and ATSC Broadcast standard (for both Standard- and High-Definition broadcast), but what this does, instead of recording it's chroma in 2-channels, 4:2:0 records it's chroma in one channel and averages it's sampling of the chroma. This reduces both the horizontal and vertical chroma resolutions, however it was determined to work better with PAL's perceived higher resolution. All DV formats record in 720 by 480 in NTSC and 720 by 576 in PAL format, in either interlace (most common) or progressive formats. DV can also record anamorphic widescreen in 720 by 480 for NTSC and 720 by 576 for PAL.
NTSC, PAL and SECAM DV/DVCAM/DVCPRO/Mini-DV Recordings
P2 Recordings
P2 recordings can be transferred to DVD, Blu-Ray as a Data Disc or a Hard Drive. DV, DVCPRO25/50, which are standard definition, can be transferred to a Video DVD disc for playback on any normal DVD player. DVCPROHD and AVC-Intra files can either be downconverted and placed as Standard-Definition video on a DVD-Video disc, or they can be placed in High-Definition on a Blu-Ray-Video disc.
How To Request A DV/DVCAM/DVCPRO/Mini-DV/HDV-1080i Transfer
Please fill out the form at the top of the page and I will get back to you with in 2-3 days. Please be advised that I will not transfer copyrighted, pre-recorded tapes (i.e. Star Trek: The Motion Picture), as I will not be involved in blatant copyright violation.
NOTE: DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO, Digital 8mm and Mini-DV are the exact same format, just the tape size and the way it is written to tape is different. HDV uses the same shell as a Mini-DV tape, but it is a HD format.
Also there are two popular tape sizes for DVCPRO: Medium, which is about the size of a Hi8 tape, and Large which is the same size as a large DV or DVCAM tape. These tapes have a yellow lid and grey body, and are usually marked DVP66M, AJ-P66, etc, and usually are marketed by Maxell, Panasonic and Fuji. There is another DVCPRO size, DVCPRO-XL, which at present time I am unable to transfer.
Transfers To DVD
Considering that DVCPRO25/DV/DVCam were professional formats for Broadcast use, for the best quality I don't recommend DVD's for that format or even Mini-DV/Digital8. But if you want a DVD I can put it on a DVD. All DVD transfers use Verbatim AZO DVD-minus-R discs. I've used Verbatim for many years and these discs are, by far, the best discs; many other professionals also use this brand of disc. DVCPROHD and HDV will be down converted to 480i Standard Definition to be put on DVD, as DVD's are 480i Standard Definition only.
Transfers To Digital Video Files
Most people prefer to get their DV tapes transferred to hard drive nowadays, especially if they want to edit them, or if they are unsure about how they would like to watch them. DV takes about 13GB of space for 60 minutes of video in it's native DV-AVI/MOV (AVI is more compatible with Windows PC's while MOV's are more compatible with Mac computers, they are just wrappers and both contain the DV video). A good thing to remember is that for MiniDV and Digital8 tapes, most tapes are only 60 minutes in length in the SP mode. You can either provide your own hard drive, or I could purchase one for you and then charge you the cost. The little USB sticks can currently (2020) hold a maximum of 256GB: this would be good for about 20 hours.
Transfer Your DV Tapes To DVD Today!
Testimonials
'Trevor recently transferred the files on three old mini-dv tapes to both my external hard drive and to three dvds. His professional service was prompt as promised, his price reasonable, and his explanations of the quality of my videos clear and easily understood. I recommend his service without qualications.' - John, Mini-DV to DVD and DV-AVI Files on Hard Drive, March 2015
'Just wanted to let you know that the hard drive arrived today and I have been so moved watching the videos.
Thank you again so much for completing the transfer for me. I will be recommending you to anyone I know that needs something like this done.' - Colleen, Mini-DV to USB Hard Drive as DV-AVI and MP4 files, June 2022. A number of tapes were the 83-minute Mini-DV tapes, and had numerous drop-out issues from age and other extenuating circumstances.
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