iMovie – How to Import Video (DV) Directly from Samsung VP-D55 – With Sound

Well, first you need Jobe’s patience!

Next, you must purchase a DV to Firewire cable *.

Oh, and I should say that I am using a 2008 MacBook Pro with Leopard OSX.

This all started when I wanted to take some old videos from the camcorder and put them on the MacBook. A quick search of the forums soon reported that Samsung doesn’t make Mac drivers. (Well, they do with some recent camcorders, but not the VP-D55).

I needed a DV to Firewire cable that I could easily order online *. I plugged it in and made my first recording only to find there was no soundtrack.

By following the steps below, you could eventually record video directly from the VP-D55 using iMovie, complete with a soundtrack. But it seems inconsistent and I don’t know why. If it’s not on the first try, it often works on the second or third, so don’t give up.

iMovie recorded the video footage perfectly throughout, but whether the soundtrack was included seems to be a hit or miss affair. I can only assume the cable doesn’t fit tight enough, so make sure it’s centered, aligned, and fully inserted into the Firewire slot. The following steps worked:

1. Connect the Firewire cable to the Mac, while the camera is off.

2. Open iMovie.

3. Turn on the camera (make sure it is connected to the mains, not to the battery)

4. IMPORTANT: Make sure the LCD viewfinder is open and the volume is turned up, so you can hear the soundtrack through the camcorder. (You may need to press the menu on your camcorder and scroll down to the volume setting to make sure your volume is not turned off)

5. The ‘Import Movie’ window will open in iMovie.

6. Choose ‘manual’ configuration.

7. Press “play” on your camera (not on the screen)

8. A message may appear on the screen saying “no device control”; just ignore it.

9. Press ‘Import’ on the screen.

10. This may pause the camera, so you must press ‘pause’ or ‘still’ on the camera to release it.

11. When you have finished recording, press ‘stop’ on the screen.

12. A “generating thumbnails” message appears

13. Wait until this completes, then press ‘done’.

14. THEN turn the camera off and disconnect the cable.

I can’t understand why this works sometimes and not others. The frustrating part is that there seems to be no way to tell if sound is being recorded while it is actually being recorded. I had to wait until a full 60 minute recording was completed before I could test it out and find that the soundtrack was missing.

I quit iMovie. He turned off the camera. I restarted iMovie and it repeated the entire process as above, checking every step of the way, including checking the cable, and this time it worked.

iMovie was pulled once or twice without explanation. I also found that exiting iMovie after each project and relaunching the application to start a new project, following the steps above, seemed to work. Checking the cable connections, which appear a bit “loose”, also seems to make a difference.

So, with a lot of time and patience, I was finally able to transfer over 4 hours of much-loved old video footage to the MacBook. Whether or not they can bother you will depend on how valuable your videos are to you I guess.

From what I can gather on the Mac forums, there is a basic incompatibility with Samsung and Mac, but I have had the VP-D55 (camcorder) for a few years, long before I bought the Mac and wanted to transfer my old videos. .

I’m glad I was finally able to do it, although the process is a bit hit and miss.