Mac software for rescuing old video tapes

Imported all my DV tapes to my mac painlessly. Needed a minor workaround to import audio from the canon camcorder.

Works really well. Automatically splits each clip into separate HD videos on Mac. Which I can then do with as I please. Just push import button on app at the start of your rewinded tape. There are some options but I leave all unchecked. You can investigate to see what works best with the options. After pushing import it will index all the clips and keep everything in a folder on the computer. I made a shortcut to this folder. I drag clips into after effects and premiere pro from there.

I have very old video home movies on VHF that I have been unable to import successfully into iMovie, until now. iMovie kept splitting the shots up into tiny pieces. I first transfered the recording from the VHF machine to a Sony HDV DX recorder onto digital tape. And then transfered into iMovie using LifeFlix. This was the only software that I could find that would do the job. It’s a little pricey but worth every penny as the alternative is to eventually loose all those precious recorded moments.

Trying to pull in the many dozens of MiniDV tapes we have from the early to mid 2000’s was a nightmare using the Sony-recommended method of iMovie. After capturing 2 tapes, creating iMovie projects, adding the MiniDV media to the projects, splitting scenes, joining scenes, saving projects and then finally exporting to a viewable file….I was exhausted. I thought “no way am I doing this.”

A quick google search revealed LifeFlix. After reading about it, I jumped all over it. After buying LfieFlix and downloading and installing it, I started capturing tapes. What an easy process. The Combine feature makes it easy to connect the scenes that go together. No rendering needed, it’s almost instant. The split and trim functions are no nonsense. This is not a high end editing program. But it does just what you need it to do to get your mini DV tapes onto your computer. I started a week and a half ago and, as of today, I have over 120 videos added to my Computer for archival and viewing on Plex. My kids are having a blast reliving these old videos and showing them to their kids. Worth every penny.

I'm transferring old digital 8 tapes to my macbook pro with LifeFlix and it works perfectly.
In particular, because the audio was recorded in 12 bits, iMovie would transfer the audio out of sync. No such issues with LifeFlix.

I have a Sony MiniDV Handicam that has been sitting unused for many years. My wife recently asked about some of our old family videos and I went on a search of how to get them onto our NAS for all family members to have access to these memories. The Sony website recommended using iMovie to capture the tapes. Unfortunately, I struggled with iMovie (too many steps to pull in video, create a project, edit video, export to a file, etc.).

After a little more research, I found LifeFlix. It is simple, intuitive and works very well for the most part. It is NOT a full featured video editor. It does NOT have titling and effects. Stick with iMovie if you need that. But if you (like me) need something that effectively captures MiniDV onto your Mac, allows you to trim, split and combine segments, captures entire tapes with one click, and save of share files, this is the app for you. Full disclosure: I have had a couple challenges where the software cuts single scenes into multiple segments, but that may be a function of signal degradation on my tape. Luckily, LifeFlix provides a 'Combine' button that makes quick work of stitching segments together.

LifeFlix automatically captures the video to it's own filing system in a folder within the 'Movies' folder on my Mac. But you also get the ability to save the captured files to wherever you want.

Overall, LifeFlix is easy to use and reliable. I just started last week and of my 60 or so tapes spanning 2000-2008 , I've already captured the 16 tapes that comprise 2000-2001. My kids are having a blast watching these. You can't put a price on this. I think LifeFlix is totally worth the investment.

Very happy with this product

LifeFlix Importer & Editor 3.5

LifeFlix Free

Used LifeFlix to import all my old DV tapes. Did a great job!

Have used LifeFlix to import 30 dv films, works like a charm

Thanks for a very good product.

A wide array of tools that are so easy to use, even for a 71 yr old like me. I have had 5 different video to computer software programs in the past and this is by far the best.

So easy to use. I like the way you can add descriptions to the individual clips. Also how they are date and time stamped

Great program with nominal need for literature review. Very intuitive and without issues upon implementation. I have already transitioned from iMovie. Utilized Sony camcorder without incident!

Works like a champ even though I have to use the work around due to the Canon/Mac thing. perfect! So simple to set up and use. Thanks!!