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Imac and Final Cut Pro – detecting firewire (miniDV camera)
Hi, I’m using Final Cut Pro version 5.1.4 on my Imac (2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, OS X Leopard version 10.5.2).
I find that Final Cut does not detect my mini dv cam unless i restart the whole OS. Which is to say, I need to have turned on the camera first before the OS boots up.
Even then, if I switch off the miniDV cam while using FCP, the firewire cannot be detected again upon switching the camera on, and I have to restart the computer again.
I’ve tried refreshing A/V devices in FCP, my set-up is that it’s set to Firewire PAL but still I have to restart everytime I want to digitise unless the camera was plugged in and turned on before I turn on my imac.
Is there an easier way to work around this or am I not doing something right?
Thanks in advance, sorry if it has been posted before
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6 Replies
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One thing that may be getting in your way here is having a firewire drive connected at the same time that your camera is connected. This is a dicey setup… some FW drives do much better than others though.. G-Tech, and Weibetech drives work well with this I know… OWC probably would do fine too, but I’ve no direct experience with them.
If you have a FW drive connected, try disconnecting it and see if the behavior changes… if it does, we’ve narrowed down your problem to the drive…
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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Thanks Jerry
It sounds like a conundrum if I can’t digitise to an external firewire drive. How am I supposed to digitise then..?? Is there a workaround?
Anyway in my current set-up, I have no other firewire drives connected.
Thanks in advance
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Well you can to SOME FW drives.. weird but true. I’ve done it very successfully with Granite Digtial Drives, Weibetech drives and with G-Tech setups… all using the same FW bus on an older tower I have. You should be capturing to an external drive with the iMac, and it’s being done all the time I read. You’ll end up dropping frames during playback if you use your single internal.
iMac’s aren’t the best for FCP because they really aren’t that expandable… they can be made to work though with the right FW drive. (one of the above works well for me here)
That said, you might try resetting your PMU or SMU on your machine. Search on those two terms to find out the procedure on Apple’s support site. It’s different from model to model. It can restore a FW buss to a better working condition, and a bit more, but certainly will not hurt your machine to try this. Might fix you right up.
Jerry
Apple Certified Trainer
Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here
Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D
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Hey Jerry
thanks for the info.
No wonder I remember having dropped frames in playback when editing in a frustratingly small space set-up with a 20″ white imac sometime last year.
I was wary of getting an imac but based on the new specs it seemed like they’re value for money for what I want to do – light editing at home.
So my new imac is just a couple weeks old and its internal hard drive space is 320GB… I don’t need more space yet. I’m not in USA and I haven’t heard those brands of ext drive brands you mentioned but I get your drift; will try out drive compatibility next time when I have one.
Just really happy to be able to run FCP at home!
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Hey guys,
I had to chime in here ‘cuz I’m having very similar issues.
I have a recent iMac (bought in May 2008, 2.4ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB ram) and I’m having trouble digitizing regular standard def mini-DV footage due to dropped frames to an external hard drive. It’s a Maxtor One Touch 500gb. I’ve used the following configurations and I always get dropped frames:
Config #1-The Maxtor 500gb One Touch connected to iMac via 6 pin-9 pin cables on the Firewire 800 port. Canon ZR800 camcorder connected to iMac via 4 pin-6 pin cables on the firewire 400 port.
Config #2- Both the above camcorder AND the hard drive connected to the iMac Firewire 400 port via Firewire 6 pin- 6 pin cables using a Firewire 2-port hub.
Again, with both of these setups, I always get dropped frames. With configuration #2, at least I can digitize 30-60 second clips without dropped frames. With config #1, I can’t digitize a damn thing.
Would it make sense to connect my hard drives to the FW 400 port, and then connect my camcorder to the FW800 port with the appropriate cable?
Does using different drives really make a difference? Do the quality of how they operate really differ across brands?
Would resetting PMU and SMU be advisable as well?
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Messrs help…
I have an I,2 ac.64 GHZ
From day to day I could not capture more ptro, Ak because I do not see my firewire 400 port, 800 is only the.
Anyone knows how I can restore the port 400 "?
Uregente
Thanks
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