How to import MiniDV tapes in FCPX

[MacBookProzak]

Kinda weird that I am at this juncture since I have pretty much had an all digital workflow, yet today I was given a Sony VX 2000 video camera to take the footage off the takes and edit them. Well, I was unable to do this in FCPX on my 2012 cMBP that is in my signature. The cord that came with the camera was a Firewire 400 and the 2012cMBP only has an 800 FW. So I went and got an 800 FW cable to connect the camera and I was still unable to get the footage imported in FCPX.... as well as in iMovie. I am using Lion 10.7.4 if that makes any difference. In doing some Google searches it looks like others have had the same issue, yet none of the results seemed to yield any tangible solutions.

Has anyone else ran into this situation and figured out a workflow for importing MiniDV tapes using a 2011 or a 2012 cMBP.

 

[daybreak]

I did not know Firewire cable has different settings?
Those you camera recognised FCP-X ?.
I use a "SONNOT" adapter from the Apple Store to connect my camcorders to the computer.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Kinda weird that I am at this juncture since I have pretty much had an all digital workflow, yet today I was given a Sony VX 2000 video camera to take the footage off the takes and edit them. Well, I was unable to do this in FCPX on my 2012 cMBP that is in my signature. The cord that came with the camera was a Firewire 400 and the 2012cMBP only has an 800 FW. So I went and got an 800 FW cable to connect the camera and I was still unable to get the footage imported in FCPX.... as well as in iMovie. I am using Lion 10.7.4 if that makes any difference. In doing some Google searches it looks like others have had the same issue, yet none of the results seemed to yield any tangible solutions.

Has anyone else ran into this situation and figured out a workflow for importing MiniDV tapes using a 2011 or a 2012 cMBP.

Do you have access to any other kind of editing software? Does QuickTime Player 7 recognise the camera?
Does System Report > Hardware > Firewire recognise the camera?
And what exact 4-pin to 9-pin Firewire cable do you use?

I did not know Firewire cable has different settings?

I use a "SONNOT" adapter from the Apple Store to connect my camcorders to the computer.

What exact adapter do you mean? Do you mean "Sonnet"? Because I couldn't find any "Sonnet" nor "Sonnot" product in the Apple Online Store.

 

[mBox]

What exact adapter do you mean? Do you mean "Sonnet"? Because I couldn't find any "Sonnet" nor "Sonnot" product in the Apple Online Store.

Im not sure what the mfg but I did buy a FW400 to FW800 connector thats about 2.5 inches long that has a FW800 with a FW400 female insert.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Im not sure what the mfg but I did buy a FW400 to FW800 connector thats about 2.5 inches long that has a FW800 with a FW400 female insert.

A 6-pin insert?

 

[mBox]

A 6-pin insert?

Yep a FW400 6Pin.
Im trying to find the damn thing now so I can post it

Found the link.
Mine was white.
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/fw_adapter.html

 

[MacBookProzak]

Do you have access to any other kind of editing software? Does QuickTime Player 7 recognise the camera?
Does System Report > Hardware > Firewire recognise the camera?
And what exact 4-pin to 9-pin Firewire cable do you use?

Image​

The camera came with a cable that is a 4 pin plug that plugs into the camera and then the other end of the cable has a 6 pin plug. This cable would have been fine, yet the 2011 and 2012 cMBP do not have a 6 pin plug (FW 400), just a 9 pin plug (FW 800) …. so there is my problem. I then went out and bought a 4 pin to a 9 pin thinking that I would be able to import the footage… but it did not work to import the footage. However I go to thinking, since the 4 pin that is needed to plug into the camera is a FW 400 and then going to a 9 pin FW 800 plug…. could that be the problem?

I don't have QuickTime Player 7, but I do have Adobe Premier Pro CS 5.5, but it is not a program I have used for anything.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The camera came with a cable that is a 4 pin plug that plugs into the camera and then the other end of the cable has a 6 pin plug. This cable would have been fine, yet the 2011 and 2012 cMBP do not have a 6 pin plug (FW 400), just a 9 pin plug (FW 800) …. so there is my problem. I then went out and bought a 4 pin to a 9 pin thinking that I would be able to import the footage… but it did not work to import the footage. However I go to thinking, since the 4 pin that is needed to plug into the camera is a FW 400 and then going to a 9 pin FW 800 plug…. could that be the problem?

I don't have QuickTime Player 7, but I do have Adobe Premier Pro CS 5.5, but it is not a program I have used for anything.

I know the differences between Firewire ports and plugs, thus my post having the image for daybreak.

Again, is the camera recognised in System Report > Hardware > Firewire while the camera is set to PLAY/VCR?
And if you have Adobe Premiere Pro: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/premier...tml#WS1c9bc5c2e465a58a91cf0b1038518aef7-7fa8a

 

[mBox]

I have never ran into a problem with any FW converter combo.
However if the camera is not supported then its not a FW issue.
Did that camera come with its own software?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I have never ran into a problem with any FW converter combo.
However if the camera is not supported then its not a FW issue.
Did that camera come with its own software?

I never needed additional software to capture footage from a VX2000 camera, either in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on my 2004 iBook or on a Windows 2000 computer using Avid XPress DV.

 

[mBox]

I never needed additional software to capture footage from a VX2000 camera, either in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on my 2004 iBook or on a Windows 2000 computer using Avid XPress DV.

I have no experience with that camera
With my experience with other cameras and users, I usually reply with "check if it works with their own software first"
I know Im lazy

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I have no experience with that camera

You are right to be sad, as it was one of the best miniDV cameras I got to use (Canons are **** and JVCs are ... wonky), except the Panasonic DVX100 though.
I used that camera a lot to make short movies or sketches or news reports and while it was small, and was really good to use (easier than those DSLR with video capabilities and dozens of add ons, an Arri SR3 is easy to configure and use than that ****) and had a good light sensibility (for my uses), though it had ****** battery life (always had two replacements batteries with me).
Ah, I miss that little beast, would like to see a good 4:2:2 2K camera in that format (with interchangeable lens of course and no MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 compression).

 

[mBox]

I am not a shooter just creative but have ordered the Black Magic Cinema to fulfill my bucket list
I want to personally start shooting my own projects.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I've mentioned this in other threads but some older FW cameras/decks won't work if plugged into a FW800 port. I have no idea why but I've done a lot of testing on different machines w/different DV devices and everything works when going into FW400 but once you switch to 800 it's a no go. At my last job when we upgraded to towers that had FW800 only we saved a couple of the older towers that had both FW400 and FW800 just for this reason.

 

[mBox]

Yep same situation here, saved a few MacPros just for situations like that.

 

[AVR2]

We discovered that our Sony J30 DigiBeta player - which has DV output via a FW400 port - wouldn't work if we used an 800-to-400 cable. It had to be 400-to-400, which seemingly made it impossible to use the J30 with our newer MBPs which only had 800 ports.

However, by sheer chance we discovered a workaround. We used an 800-to-800 cable to connect a FW hard drive which had hub functionality, and then used a 400-to-400 cable between the drive and the J30. Worked perfectly. Presumably a standalone FW hub with both types of port would have done the job too, but we didn't have any so we never tested it.

 

[mBox]

However, by sheer chance we discovered a workaround. We used an 800-to-800 cable to connect a FW hard drive which had hub functionality, and then used a 400-to-400 cable between the drive and the J30. Worked perfectly. Presumably a standalone FW hub with both types of port would have done the job too, but we didn't have any so we never tested it.

And who says you cant do this with FCPX