Help! Final Cut "Dropped Frames"

[rsherid]

I'm logging and capturing a video from a Mini DV Camcorder into Final Cut on my MacBook. Everything's going fine until every couple of minutes I get a "Dropped frames were detected during last capture attempt" error and the whole thing stops, which means none of the video up to that point captured.

Is there a way to prevent this error from popping up and stalling the whole thing?

 

[CaptainChunk]

Dropped frames during capture can be caused by a couple of things, usually...

Which camera do you have? Some cameras behave erratically during capture using the default NTSC Firewire codec and will behave better using the NTSC Firewire Basic codec.

Dirty playback heads can also cause dropped frames. Dust and chemical deposit buildup from tapes will eventually do that. If it's an older camera with a lot of use, it'll likely benefit from a head cleaning.

 

[bigbossbmb]

you are on a macbook.... so you are capturing to an external USB drive? dropped frames during capture is usually a problem with drive speed. USB can really choke with DV.

 

[rsherid]

you are on a macbook.... so you are capturing to an external USB drive? dropped frames during capture is usually a problem with drive speed. USB can really choke with DV.

I think it's capturing to the main drive, but I do have a 1TB external. How do I set it to that?

I unselected "Report dropped frames during playback" and "Abort PTV on dropped frames" and it worked for a while until it just happened again albeit at a later point than previously.

This is for school and I need it captured before tomorrow!

 

[bigbossbmb]

go to system settings and set your scratch disk to the external