HDV FW capture, digital hits, aborts every time!!

[Jason Porthouse]

BTW, this is a good time to chime in with my usual mantra –

GET A SPARE FW HD and SUPERDUPER or CARBON COPY CLONER and CLONE THAT SYSTEM DRIVE!!!!!

Do it. For the sake of a hundred or so bucks it’s a must. Problem like this? a couple of hours if that to fix, or a 2 minute reboot from the good clone if you’re really up against it…

Jason

_________________________________

Before you criticise a man, walk a mile in his shoes.
Then when you do criticise him, you’ll be a mile away. And have his shoes.

*the artist formally known as Jaymags*

[Catherine Ceigersmidt]

I don’t know how to repair permissions…someone suggested I do that in my prior post and it’s the first I’ve heard of such a thing. I tried looking it up in the FCP and Mac Help manuals, and I came up short. Could you tell me how?

Cathy Runge
Mary Productions

[Catherine Ceigersmidt]

Yes I’ve tried that, twice. Made sure everything was set to an internal drive, including the project file. When I try capturing, I get this message:

Timecode Break

Warning: Capture detected a timecode break in the last clip. You will not be able to recapture it accurately.

Cathy Runge
Mary Productions

[Zane Barker]

[Catherine Runge] “When you say “No problems here,” I’m assuming you mean you’re successfully capturing HDV via FireWire using 6.0.3?”

That is correct. I would uninstall your final cut and reinstall it. Do a search on the forum and you will find info on how to uninstall.

If that does not work then I would recommend backing up your data and erasing your system drive and installing a clean OS.

There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[Catherine Ceigersmidt]

Dear Jason,

I looked up repairing disk permissions online, did it, tested out both my internal and external drives, and I’m up and running again! I can’t thank you enough for suggesting this. I’m still seeing a few digital hits when the tape begins playing, but the captured clips look fine. Simon, I hope you’re reading this!

Best,

Cathy Runge
Mary Productions

[Kevin Monahan]

Your “My Book” and other FireWire drives should be checked in Disk Utility (the same app you use to Repair Permissions) to see if your drives are initialized in “FAT 32” as most are right out of the box. FAT 32 is the initialization scheme for PCs, you need to initialized them as MAC OS Extended to make them work properly with a Mac. FAT 32 may work, but I suspect it causes a lot of problems with FCP, not to mention the 2 GB limit on QT files.

Make sure you backup the files on your drives prior to re-initializing (erasing) them.

I am surprised that many people do not know Mac basics like drive initialization, how to repair permissions (which should be done on a regular basis) and how to repair the disk by booting from the OS X install disk and Running Disk Utility’s “Repair Disk”. There must be a lot of sick Macs connected to FAT 32 FireWire drives running around.

Here comes the rant: One thing I have learned is that you have to be a technician as well as an artist in this business. I’m not putting you down, just suggesting you take a course on basic troubleshooting and maintenance for Macs. That way, you can keep your Mac happy and when things go south, you have a solid base to work from. It’s a very empowering feeling. I did it and am so glad I did. There have been very few repairs that I have not been able to take care of on my own over the last 10 years.

Kevin Monahan
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro