[Dunwoody Lampton]

What is a “firewire power port?”
Are you referring to a Firewire Hub or a Firewire Card/Bus?

What version of Final Cut are you using?

How many devices are connected and what is the connection path during capture?

Are all devices – external drives, Mac Firewire port(s), cameras, decks – operating at the same speed during capture?

How many devices share the same Firewire path?

Have you addressed potential problems with Spotlight, as discussed earlier on this site?

If using Final Cut Express HD 3.0, have you upgraded to 3.5, which addresses some of these capture issues?

[Dunwoody Lampton]

I use a DataVideo DAC-15 bi-directional digital/analog converter between my Betacam SP source deck and my PowerMac G5. The DAC-15 has controls for adjusting brightness, contrast and chroma for source material before it enters the G5.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

I had problems capturing thru a G5 dual Motorola and a G4 PowerBook to various LaCie external firewire drives from Canon XL2 camera and Beta SP deck sources for nearly three months.

Invariably, video would freeze every 30-40 seconds, then continue rolling, then freeze every 30-40 seconds, and so on, during capture.

I recently upgraded to version 3.5 and have done several recent captures – one for 48 straight minutes – with absolutely NO freezing.

Also, I performed the suggested (on this site) steps related to Spotlight on both computers.

Good luck.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

I’ve been working for the last seven months with FCE HD and a PowerBook G4 12-inch.

Aside from some issues that appear to have been addressed with Spotlight privacy selections and an upgrade to version 3.5, I am very pleased with the hardware.

The only lingering concern is the lack of a second Firewire port on my G4, and the lack of an ExpressCard/34 slot on SOME PowerBook G4s – including mine.

Without a second Firewire port, you must use a Firewire hub when utilizing tape playback through a Firewire cable AND when utilizing an external Firewire drive with which to capture the video from the tape. But the hub’s performance in this situation is NOT guaranteed.

In lieu of this, some G4s (not all) were manufactured with an ExpressCard slot, which allows a second Firewire bus to be added to the PowerBook, thus, allowing two devices to be connected simultaneously without the use of a hub.

The MacBook Pro features two Firewire ports AND and ExpressCard slot.

Good luck!

[Dunwoody Lampton]

A simple “VGA adaptor” search on eBay yielded about 88 low-cost options. Some of them are VGA/DVI adaptors which work for the newer Macs, but you did not mentioned your model number, so we don’t know if you have the DVI port or not.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

Under: Final Cut Express HD > Easy Setup > DV-NTSC DV Converter

There is also a choice for “DV-PAL DV Converter.”

These choices have always been there during my brief experience with FCE.

Don’t know why they aren’t there for you.

“Converter” is the option you want for non-controllable/analog devices.
Mine is a Betacam SP UVW-1800 record deck.
I run it through a DataVideo DAC-15 converter or a Canon XL2 before Firewiring it into the PowerBook or PowerMac. This option allows me to convert the analog Betacam video into
digital before capture, while also recognizing that I have no FCE control over the deck.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

Final Cut Express 3.5 HD that I purchased is an UPGRADE. Says so on the package. There might be a full version of 3.5 out there, but I only focused on the upgrade version. It also came with various media disks for LiveType and others. Not sure if those were full or upgrade disks. I didn’t bother to install them. I just installed the Final Cut Express upgrade disk.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

Not sure about that model. No experience with it.

Under “Easy Setup” choose whatever appropriate format (PAL or NTSC) that has the “converter” option in it. This will be the setting for non-controllable devices.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

Not sure if you can upgrade on-line or must purchase an actual CD. The actual CD was at the Apple Store here in Chicago for $100. I bought mine on eBay, new and unopened, for $68. Might want to check eBay first if you want to save a couple bucks.

[Dunwoody Lampton]

I forgot the link, but somewhere on Apple’s site there is a chart of compatible devices for Final Cut Express. You might consult that. Of course, NONE of my cameras OR converters are listed on it, yet I have had much more overall success than failure since I started using all of them in November. Maybe I was just lucky?

From the Windy City, I wish you good luck!