capturing video

[rweakins]

neither of my cameras are showing up in imovie hd. they are both canons that play mini dv's. one needs a usb cable and one uses a firewire cable but the computer is not recognizing either. any suggestions?

 

[bmcgonag]

neither of my cameras are showing up in imovie hd. they are both canons that play mini dv's. one needs a usb cable and one uses a firewire cable but the computer is not recognizing either. any suggestions?

If you could give a little more detail, it would be helpful on the firewire, but as far as I know the USB won't work with iMovie.

I'm not trying to say you don't know this, but just throwing it out there...when you connect it, and turn on the camera, if you look below the preview pane in imovie, there is a little slider type looking switch, that you can use to switch to the external cameral, make sure you are switching to it.

That's the best I can give you without more info on the steps you've taken specifically in your attempts.

Best,

Brian

 

[rweakins]

video capture

yeah i switch it and all that but the camera just isn't getting recognized. i restarted the computer and turned the camera on and off but it still didn't do a lot. and i mean its just a plain fire wire cord that i'm hooking up.

 

[Rod Rod]

Is the camera turned on before you start iMovie?

Is the camera in "Play" mode?

Are there other FireWire ports on your computer you could try?

Do you have another 4-6 pin FireWire cables to try?

 

[rweakins]

capture

i've tried already having the camera on and not having it on then turning it on. the camera is in vcr mode. i have tried another firewire port and cord

 

[ppc_michael]

Is iMovie in SD mode and not HD?

 

[rweakins]

capture

how can i tell?>

 

[Rod Rod]

how can i tell?>

Click the little triangle that shows up in the box that shows up right after "Create a New Project." To the right of the little triangle it says "Video format." Make sure you're in a mode which matches your footage, which is most likely DV NTSC 4:3.

http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/tutorial/imovieTutorial_t1.html

In the first tutorial video, this screen shows up with the caption: "Type a name for your project here, and then click Create." However, the tutorial doesn't get into selecting a different video format.

 

[rweakins]

capture

it's still not showing a camera connected. i've heard that some cameras just wont do capture...is that true?

 

[Rod Rod]

it's still not showing a camera connected. i've heard that some cameras just wont do capture...is that true?

It's true for many camcorders sold in Europe. Is yours a gray market model, or did you buy it in Europe?

 

[rweakins]

capture

it's a canon mini dv ntsc optura 60....not european...

 

[Rod Rod]

it's a canon mini dv ntsc optura 60....not european...

Hopefully it's under warranty... but before you get it serviced make sure the FW ports on your Mac work, by testing them with another FW device such as an external hard drive.

Also, did you check System Profiler and click on "FireWire"? Click the Apple logo in the top left of your screen. Select "About This Mac." Click the "More Info..." button. Under "Hardware" in the left column, select "FireWire."

 

[bmb012]

Hm, have you tried a different capture program like BTV pro?

 

[rweakins]

capture

i tried hooking it up to another computer and it didn't show up on that computer either so i guess the camera just doesn't have capture.... the camera isn't mine, it belongs to my school.

 

[Rod Rod]

i tried hooking it up to another computer and it didn't show up on that computer either so i guess the camera just doesn't have capture.... the camera isn't mine, it belongs to my school.

It sounds like the FireWire port on that camera is defective.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I would say the Firewire cable or Firewire port on you computer or camera is deffective. Try the camera on another computer and see what happens.