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WHY no Motu v4hd support in Final Cut Pro X?
Hey everyone. We are a large church in SW FL that takes our output feed from our broadcast quality switcher into a MOTU v4hd and then firewire into a Mac Pro running Final Cut Pro 7. We capture the live switcher feed and then edit for the web, TV, etc. This process has worked well for years.
We recently upgraded a few Macs on campus to Final Cut Pro X and have enjoyed the workflow. BUT, before attempting to upgrade our main capture system our research told us that the MOTU v4hd no longer can be used as a capture device in Final Cut Pro X. We have read tons of helpful threads on this forum and others, but no one (even at MOTU) can answer WHY this device isn’t supported.
We can literally hook up a standard DV camcorder to FCPX via Firewire and it works fine. But not a pro device like the MOTU?!?! Doesn’t make sense, and I just want to see if anyone knows WHY it won’t work.
Obviously, we have to make a decision to either change capture devices and upgrade to a Blackmagic, AJA, or Matrox, etc, but then the MOTU is a $2000 brick. Or, we have to go to Adobe or something else that we are not as familiar with. Either way it seems we are stuck. I suppose that’s a mini rant. I apologize!
I appreciate any and all feedback on this issue. THANKS!
Jeremy
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15 Replies
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If MOTU can’t tell you why they aren’t writing drivers for it, then I am not sure if anyone else will know.
Perhaps their hardware is limited to a Quicktime infrastructure and can’t make the switch to AV Foundation, but that’s a wild and silly guess.
It is mostly up to MOTU to write the drivers for it, provided that their hardware can handle the change.
Jeremy
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Are we talking monitoring or “capture device”?
Because apart from Firewire, there is no capturing inside FCPX with any card, not MOTU, not AJA, not BMD not Bluefish.MOTU lists the drivers for your box as compatible with X, just not for capturing because X simply can’t and never will. Nothing MOTU can do about that.
But hey, that’s evolution for you.
BTW, if the driver isn’t TB aware and you’re getting a new Mac you can put the box in the bin because the driver won’t work, even with a FW to TB adapter.——
“You also agree that you will not use these products for… the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.”
iTunes End User Licence Agreement -
Most capture card companies provide a capture utility.
AJA, in particular, allows you to capture and send the results immediately to an FCPX Event.
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That’s great, but he’s not using “most capture cards” or AJA but a Motu v4HD and there is no capture app that comes with it.
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“You also agree that you will not use these products for… the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.”
iTunes End User Licence Agreement -
[Frank Gothmann] “That’s great, but he’s not using “most capture cards” or AJA but a Motu v4HD and there is no capture app that comes with it.”
Then I’d guess I’d have to ask why MOTU doesn’t provide what everyone else does.
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Neither does Bluefish (for the Mac, for the PC they do), so “most” capture card makers means half of them. And there are quite a few issues with Media Express from BMD. But, sure, it’s their responsibility to fix what others broke in the first place.
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“You also agree that you will not use these products for… the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.”
iTunes End User Licence Agreement -
Perhaps MOTU should ask Bluefish what is going on.
Bottom line, you need to install MOTU drivers fro FCPX if they are available.
You can still use FCP7 for capture if you need it. FCPX will work with ProRes media captured with FCP7 since MOTU, apparently, doesn’t have their own capture solution.
You can also check on Softron Movie Recorder to see if they have MOTU support.
Jeremy
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Looks like someone forgot to do their research…to see what FCX does and doesn’t do.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Dear Shane. I will respectfully disagree with your statement, and frankly, it really wasn’t necessary for this thread. If you read my initial post you will see that I am fully aware of the current hardware/software limitations. Hence, why we haven’t moved forward with any purchases either way. Please note that I was inquiring as to WHY this was the case, merely starting a discussion towards that end.
Since I am a new person on this forum, I would hope another poster would hesitate and read the OP before posting what is really a waste of time.
J
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Jeremy, I’m not clear from your original post, have you actually tried connecting the firewire output from the Motu and it doesn’t work?
Steve Connor
There’s nothing we can’t argue about on the FCPX COW Forum
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