• Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

  external mic connection for voice over tool

  Posted by Chris Gallaway on July 28, 2009 at 5:17 pm

  Hey folks,
  I’ve used voice over in the past with a mic attached to my camcorder and connected via firewire. I tried to set it up today, but when I select “DV Audio” in the Voice Over tool it gives me the following message:
  “The selected input device is unavailable. It may be in use by another application, disconnected, or improperly connected, or may be conflicting with a video output device.”
  I’ve checked and re-checked the camcorder’s connection to the computer and it seems fine (when I switch over to log and capture the computer recognizes the camcorder immediately). I’ve also switched External Video to “Off” in the view menu (as recommended in the FCP manual), but to no avail. Any ideas out there for what might be going wrong? Is it an A/V settings issue? Do you need more information from my end to assess the problem? I will greatly appreciate any help that can be offered.

  Much thanks,
  Chris

  Chris Gallaway replied 16 years, 9 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
• 2 Replies

• 

  Jim Glickert

  July 29, 2009 at 12:39 am

  Hey, Chris. It could be any number of things. Here are some ideas (sorry if I repeat some you’ve tried):

  (1) Do you have your camcorder in the correct mode–that is, “Record” or “Play”?

  (2) Close any other applications that could conceivably be causing a conflict. I had that problem once. (You don’t have any other FireWire devices in use, do you?)

  (3) The message you’re getting doesn’t suggest that it’s a settings issue somewhere in FCP (e.g. system settings, sequence settings, etc.), but double-check them.

  (4) Is there a setting in System Preferences that needs to be changed?

  What kind of plug is on the end of your microphone cord? Is it a 1/8″ plug that you could simply plug straight into your computer, thus negating the need to involve your camcorder in the process?

  Hope this helps.

  Jim
• 

  Chris Gallaway

  July 29, 2009 at 2:51 am

  Thanks for the insights. Camcorder was in record mode, no other programs running, and it’s an XLR input. You might be onto something with the alternate firewire ports, though. I’m running my external drive on another input, and I’ve had trouble with that getting crossed up before. I’ll try fiddling with that now. Thanks again,
  Chris

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