Importing VCR into Final Cut Pro 10.4.8

To import from DV cam' to Mac you must use the FireWire port on the cam' .

You will need a 4 pin FireWire to 9 pin FireWire cable.

And up to 2 more adaptors, depending on the age of your Mac. The first is FireWire 800 ( 9pin) to thunderbolt and the second is thunderbolt to USBc.

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MD464ZM/A/thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter

https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MMEL2ZM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter

So up to 3 cables in all. About £80/$80 for the latter 2.There is not just one cable that exists to do the lot.

You need to be aware that the success rate of importing mini DV into iMovie/FCPX seems to have decreased over the last few years with newer OSs and newer hardware..It works for some but not others.

If you have an older Mac with an older OS then you will have more chance of importing.

Or a friend that has an older Mac with FireWire ports, so no need for the 2 adaptors.Use an external drive and transfer to your Mac .

Some who have been unable to import into FCPX/iMovie have been able to use the Record feature in QuickTime Player, and then bring this into FCPX. QTP is on your Mac.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201066

If you do a search on this forum and iMovie you will get an idea of the issues that exist before paying out up to $80/£80

for cables.

From what I see in the instruction manual for the ZR300, the camera uses either an SD card or a Multimedia card. If your original recordings are on DV tape, then there must be a camera function to back the files up to one of the memory cards. If you used an SD card and you have a relatively modern Mac, then it probably has an SD card slot in it (my iMac does and so do the Mac Minis). You could probably just offload the video files onto your Mac directly from the card. However, if you need the Canon software to "translate" the video files for Mac/Windows, then that could be a problem.

MiniDV tape can be Imported using FCP X if the timecode is contiguous.

You will need the necessary connections as already discussed.

Al