I attempting to import video taken on a Sony DCR-PC120, but iMovie doesn't recognize it. I am using my firewire connection from the port labeled DV on the camcorder... any help? Thanks!
a. You are using a FireWire Cable (6pin-4pin) (Sure it's not an USB ?)
b. You have set Camera in Play/VCR mode (Not Record) ?
c. On Your Camera there is a Menu-system - In this You've selected DV-out ?
d. Does other Cameras work on Your Mac ?
*MY Trouble shooting list.*
Test another FW-Cable.
Test Your Camera on another Mac so that DV-in still works OK
Toogle in iMovie pref: Play-back via Camera (on<->off some times)
Other ways to import Your miniDV tape:
Use another Camera. There where tape play-back stations from SONY
but they costed about 2-4 times a normal miniDV Camera.
If Your Camera works on another Mac. Make an iMovie movie project here and move it
over to Your Mac via an external hard disk.
(HAS TO BE Mac OS Exchange formatted - USB/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange WILL NOT DO)
(Should be a FireWire one - USB/USB2 performs badly)
FireWire - Sure not using the accompany USB-Cable but bought a 4-pin to 6-pin FW one ?
Using WHAT ? :
• Mac OS - X.5.4 ?
• QuickTime version ? (This is the heart in both iMovie and FinalCut)
• iMovie 8 (7.1.?) ?
• iMovie HD 6 (6.0.4/3) ?
Free space on internal (start-up) hard disk ? Please specify the amount
(Others hard disks don't count)
Does Your Camera work on another Mac ?
Sorry to say it is to easy to turn the 6-pin end of the FW-cable 180 deg wrong.
This is lethal to the A/D-chip in the Camera = needs an expensive repair.
(Hard to find out - else than import/export to another Mac ceased to work
everything else is OK eg recording and playback to TV)
Delete iMovie pref file may help sometimes. I rather start a new account, log into
this and have a re-try.
from LKN 1935:
Hi Bengt W, I tried it all, but nothing worked. Your answer has been helpfull insofar as all the different trials led to the conclusion that there was something wrong with my iMovie software. I therefore threw everything away and reinstalled iMovie from the HD. After that the exportation of DV videos (there has not been any problem with HDV videos) to my Sony camcorders worked properly as it did before. Thank you. LKN 1935
from Karsten:
in addition to Bengt's excellent '9 yards of advice' .. 😉
camera set to 'Play' , not rec/computer/etc.?
camera not on battery, but power-line?
did your Mac 'recognize' this camera before...?
a technical check:
connect camera, on, playback, fw-connected...
click on the Blue Apple, upper left of your screen ..
choose 'About../More..
under Firewire.. what do you read..?
Thank you so much for the response. I am indeed using a 6pin to 4pin firewire cable, camera is set on DV out, and everything is plugged in correctly. Still nothing. If I were to reinstall iMove '08, how would i go about doing it? I'm fairly new to to Macs and I'm not sure where everything is located yet (reinstallation files). Thank you so much!
Unfortunately, I won't have another Mac to try it on until I get back to school in January, and I need the footage before that time. I bought the cable brand new yesterday for way more than I wanted to spend, and am not about to buy another. Camera is in VCR mode, and I have no other cameras. Sorry if my question is unanswerable, but I am really baffled by why this isn't working. Thanks!
We are having the same exact problem. with imovie 08 and leopard.
We have tried two macs and three different camcorders. imovie imports for about two to three minutes and then stops and rewinds the tape. very frustrating.
This sounds like a software issue.
I am going to try it on my mac which is still running the old imovie.
Will see if that works.
