Hi guys...fcp 4.5 doesn't see my camera so i can't capture anything. I read the sticky above and tried reinstalling quicktime but that didn't work.
I can't even see the camera when I check the system profiler.

This is my system.
FCP 4.5
OS X 10.3.9
Quicktime 7.0.3
I have also tried back dating quicktime to 6.5.2 but since I tried Boyds suggestion of reinstalling 7.0.3 i can't back date to 6.5.2 because it says it can't find the right version of quicktime on the target drive when i try and install it.

I am now thinking the only way to get this to work is to update to Tiger and FCP 5...i really can't afford it right now and have an urgent project to edit...any other suggestions? This is really the first project i've done so i can't say if it has worked before.

Oh yeh i am using my friends crummy sharp mini dv cam...would FCP have problems with this anyway? I even tried capture in IMovie and that couldn't see the camera either.

I know the firewire port on my powerbook is working cos other devices i connect are seen.

Thanks guys

Hi Nick. From everything I've read, FCP 4.5 doesn't play well with QT7. Did you try the uninstaller from Apple's site?

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime652reinstallerforquicktime701.html

But that's for uninstalling QT 7.0.1, so maybe it won't work on 7.0.3? In that case I think you need to first revert to QT 7.0.1 using this installer, THEN run the QT7.0.1 uninstaller above:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime701reinstallerforquicktime703.html

But I suppose it could also be a problem with your camera. If this doesn't fix thing, try using that camera on another Mac. But for starters I'd get back to QT6; I think that will fix the problem. Let us know how this works for you. If it fixes the problem I'll add it to the "sticky" to help others in the future.

Thanks for your help Boyd. I did indeed have to use the quicktime 7.0.3 uninstaller and then the 7.0.1 uninstaller to get back to 6.5.2....unfortunately it still hasn't solved my problem...so i guess the next step is to find another camera and try that. I do remember it having worked in the past so i'm sure there must be a way to solve it..

thanks again

ok..so i think i'm getting closer. Got a different camera and it almost works. I can control it in fcp 4.5 but i can't capture from it. when i go to log and capture window..the preview is disabled but i can use the control buttons to start and stop playback on the camera etc...the timecode ticks over...but it won't capture. when i press the capture now button it says that i haven't selected a device.
the camera works fine in imovie...mybe i'll just have to capture through that. Anyone else have these problems?

my system is now os x 10.3.9
FCP 4.5
Quicktime 6.5.2

oh and i installed the pro pack update from apple for fcp etc

this is kinda frustrating the helll outta me

Is your camera compatible with FCP?

http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/specs.html

I don't see ANY Sharp cameras on their compatibility list, so that is why your friends camera didn't work. What are you using now?

the camera i now have is a samsung and the friend i borrowed it from said it has worked with final cut pro, not sure which version though. But I thought the list of qualified devices was not definitive. I mean it does't list the PAL version of sonys pd 170/150 but i'm pretty sure there are heaps of guys out there using those. Unless I'm missing something here..

If a camera isn't on the list I believe that only means that it hasn't been tested with FCP, not that it won't work. But I have no familiarity with Samsung cameras personally. My daughter has a cheap Sharp camcorder and it works fine with iMovie.

My standard suggestion for this kind of problem is to through away FCP preferences. Whenever I had problems with a camera/deck not being seen or acting goofy, that was my only fix. I didn't see that in this thread so I thought I would throw it in.

wow..never expected this would work.

I followed Mikes suggestion but i got no results. so on a whim i re-upgraded quicktime to the latest version, 7.0.3 and lo and behold after a restart everything worked I can now capture..

I am so happy. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

cheers

I was having a similar problem as soon as i updated to QT 7 a few weeks ago. Then I went deep into the preferences of Quicktime and selected use Quicktime for DV and then its all worked.