Can't import from Sony GV-HD700 to Final Cut Pro X

Question

Level 1

10 points

Can't import from Sony GV-HD700 to Final Cut Pro X

I needed to get some old DV tapes onto my Mac using Final Cut Pro. This has been a long and slow process over the years, and I usually find the time to convert a few more tapes at this time of the year. Last year I did so without much of a hitch. This year Final Cut Pro does not list my GV-HD700 as an option under the Cameras in the Media Import menu.

As I've done this in the past successfully, I am thinking that maybe the problem is that I upgraded to Catalina this year.

What I have tried so far:

I've connected my GV-HD700 to an iMac with a FireWire cable and a FireWire to Thunderbolt adapter. The GV-HD700 displays "iLink In" when the unit is idle and then displays iLink Out" when the unit is playing. Final Cut Pro just doesn't list the GV-HD700 as an option in importing.
I've tried the same with a MacBook Pro.
I've tried connecting and disconnecting the GV-HD700 with Final ** Pro running, not running until after the connection, etc.

Any suggestions and solutions would be very welcome!!

Posted on Dec 26, 2020 4:53 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 26, 2020 6:02 AM in response to mahboud

Try importing via QuickTime Player as Tom suggested and assuming it works, it would be wise to convert every tape you have now whilst you still can.

I converted all my tapes several years ago and keep at least 2 copies of them on different hard drives.

Furthermore, I have converted all of them to .mp4 files which are only a fraction the size but retain to all intents and purposes, the same quality.

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Answer 2

Alchroma

Level 7

23,918 points

Dec 26, 2020 4:20 PM in response to mahboud

I have a 700 and have captured successfully using Big Sur.

If you keep having issues it may be a configuration or cable/port issue.

You can go into System Report and check if your device is connected over firewire.

Al

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Answer 3

Alchroma

Level 7

23,918 points

Dec 26, 2020 3:01 PM in response to mahboud

Did you give FCP permission to use Full Disc Access in the System Preferences?

Al

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Answer 4

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,825 points

Dec 26, 2020 5:02 AM in response to mahboud

Right a bottom of the supported cameras page

Final Cut Pro is compatible with most MiniDV tape-based camcorders using DV and HDV formats, which use a FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.LINK) cable to transfer video. Avoid disconnecting FireWire devices during import to prevent unexpected behavior or unusable imported media. Please note that FireWire hubs are not recommended for devices in use with Final Cut Pro.

You can also use the QuickTime player to import DV media.

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Answer 5

BenB

Level 6

13,444 points

Dec 26, 2020 7:15 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

To add to this, FCP will chop your video up into many segments, every time timecode is dropped (which happens a lot on min-DV tape). QuickTime player will record it all as one long QT file.

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Answer 6

mahboud Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 26, 2020 3:28 PM in response to Meg The Dog

I've been thinking of using a service, but I worry that they'd just give up after the first break in the timecode or error on the tape. I know that I'd try pretty hard to recover from a problem. If they don't tell me about issues, then I'd have to ver=ify their work by watching each tape and comparing to the file on the medium they give me.

I think the QuickTime solution is working pretty well. I'll just have to split the files where the dates change, etc., but I wonder if I can do that without recompressing. Probably a job for ffmpeg?

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Answer 7

mahboud Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 26, 2020 10:54 AM in response to mahboud

Thank you!

I still can't see the device in FCP. I do see it in QuickTime, when I do a New Movie Recording and select "HDV-VCR". Is that how you import the video or is there another way that also starts and stops the HDV-VCR automatically?

I've been gradually moving over some 200+ DV tapes. I store them on a RAID format in FCP's Archive format. Should I be exporting from that .fcarch format to .mp4? I assumed I should leave them in the original format and not recompress, but I don't want to be in the situation where FCP stops being able to import or open them.

Thank you.

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Answer 8

mahboud Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 26, 2020 10:55 AM in response to mahboud

It's a great suggestion to go ahead and do all the tapes ASAP. The reason I have put it off isn't that I don't want to do all the work. I've actually had a number of devices that I use for this playback, fail on me after helping me import a few dozen tapes. They are all Sony DV cameras. One can't read the tapes anymore, and the two others give an error when I put the tape in and usually if I eject and reinsert a number of times it can start working. My original DV deck broke last year and I bought the GV-HD700, and did a few tapes on that last year, until one tape (which was, I suspect, recorded in LP and is unreadable on this deck) and that made me pause… and here we are almost a year later.

These cameras and DV decks aren't withstanding the test of time :-(

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