DV to iMovie.. Image shown, import doesn't work

Here is a recent post that may help.

where to go from here...

If you have only a few tapes to import then your best bet might be to copy the Hi 8 tapes to DV tapes on your Sony cam. This will provide the Time Code that is required, then import the DV tapes into iMovie.

The other option is to use QuickTime X to import using pass through,File > New Movie Recording, see link.Then import this into iMovie.

If you have QuickTime 7 Pro you can do as QuickTime X above, File>New Movie Recording then import this into iMovie.

As QuickTime 7 Pro is not free, you might want to try importing with QuickTime X, which you should already have, to see if it gives you what you want.

QuickTime Player 10.x: Record video or audio

Note the bit that says:

To change the input source or quality of the recording, click the arrow button in the controller.

Note: Audio files are encoded in AAC format, video files are encoded using H.264, but recordings made with the high quality setting may use different codecs depending on the capabilities of your computer.

So, for what it's worth, for anyone who stumbles across this:

I have a very similar situation-- using an older Sony camera to play Hi8 tapes, using a Sony DV camera as passthrough and importing to my iMac on Firewire.

This worked well for many months, and I imported about half of my home movies without much pain.

Set the project aside for a few months, during which iMovie updated.

Now, it still will import video played on the DV camera. But although iMovie will display the video being converted by the DV camera, it will not allow me to record. I get the "no tape" message.

If I insert a DV tape into the DV camera, it imports that tape.

If anybody knows what setting might have changed, or what the workaround is, I would appreciate it.

And confirming the diagnosis that the problem is with iMovie 11 -- I was able to import the clip problem-free using an old version of iMovie 9 that was sitting around. Hope that helps someone.