I have ordered Mini DV tapes - what now?
You have followed our advice and chosen Mini DV tapes as these are recommended as the best format to permanently store your films on - they are more durable and long-lasting than DVD's and are the best format to hand down to future generations as they hold the same high-quality footage as the AVI / Quicktime files.

If you've ordered these purely for archive purposes, simply store in their boxes somewhere safe. If you're planning on editing the footage, here are some tips to get the best from your mini DV tapes...

When Alive Studios transfer the film from the Phoenix System to the mini DV tape, we use 'data transfer', not 'video capturing'. This is important to retain 100% of the original quality. When transferring the tapes to your hard-drive, you should use a Firewire cable, not AV cables (the Yellow/Red/White ends), or S-Video cables.

You do not need any external video capture device, or a video capture card. Attempting to use one of these will decrease your quality significantly.

You can transfer the film directly to an external DVD recorder if it has a Firewire port. Using AV cables to connect to your DVD recorder unit will result in a loss of quality.

For best results, simply connect your camcorder directly to your computer using a Firewire cable and capture the incoming signal through your chosen software.

High Definition on MiniDV
Transferring your films in high definition onto HDV Tape is an option if you wish to store or edit your films. Please note however that you will need a HDV compatible camcorder to view or use the footage from the tapes. Standard definition cameras will not play high definition footage.