How can I capture Mini DV to iMovie on my desktop Mac?

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How can I capture Mini DV to iMovie on my desktop Mac?

Under advice I bought a Firewire cable to connect a JVC digital video camera to my desktop Mac. The cable is attached but the camera is not visible on my desktop. A search on here suggested I look at "About this Mac" under Firewire, to see if it was visible on the Firewire Bus. It is! What should my next step be? I have read that JVCs are notoriously incompatible with Mac. Do I need more software?

iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Feb 28, 2015 4:20 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 28, 2015 5:09 AM in response to Fitpro-truro

The camera will not display on the Desktop.

If you've connected the cable properly and powered on the camera then open iMovie and import from it.

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Answer 2

Fitpro-truro Author

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Feb 28, 2015 5:22 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks for your prompt answer, Kirk. I'm a complete novice as you can probably guess! I didn't realise the camera wouldn't show on the desktop. I imagined that's how I would identify what I want to import. However, the camera is not showing on the iMovie window either. The Firewire cable is connected, the camera is plugged in to mains power, as advised, and is turned on but the iMovie window, when I click "Import" shows only FaceTime (under Cameras heading), Macintosh HD and My Passport (under Devices) and Desktop and my Home user icon (under Favorites). Can you give me any more advice to help me, please?

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Answer 3

Feb 28, 2015 5:28 AM in response to Fitpro-truro

See if you can download a manual from the JVC pages. It may offer some answers.

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Answer 4

Fitpro-truro Author

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Feb 28, 2015 5:42 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Ah! Well, I have the camera's manual. It details only how to connect to a PC. (Not my choice, it's my friend's camera. I offered to help her - big mistake!). I won't be beaten though so I'll contact JVC direct. Thank you.

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Answer 5

Feb 28, 2015 10:13 AM in response to Fitpro-truro

Make sure of a couple of things:

1) Camera is plugged into computer (mini Firewire to Firewire, not USB).

2) Camera is powered up

3) Camera is set to Playback, not Record. There should be some kind of dial to switch between playback mode and record mode.

4) Once everything is set, turn on iMovie, the camera should show up in the list of sources.

Cheers!

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