Am still using FCP 6 on MacOSX 10.8.5 at the moment... yeah, I know, but I need to stick with it a bit longer since I have a large quantity of 10 to 15 year old DV tapes to ingest. Recently got a used Sony HVR-M15U deck but (as discussed in another thread) it doesn't do a very good job of displaying 480i over firewire.

Are there any current options for video output that will work with old versions of FCP? I am using a Mac Mini, so it needs to be an external device and not a card and it needs to support 480i 4:3. Would FCP "see" a thunderbolt or USB 3.0 device? Does anyone still make firewire video devices?

Would the Blackmagic Ultrastudio mini monitor work? It claims to need MacOSX 10.9 or higher though: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/892451-REG/Blackmagic_Design_bdlkulsdzminmon_Ultrastudio_Mini_Monitor.html

Well I'm gonna to answer this question myself the hard way. Just ordered a Blackmagic UltraStudio Mini Monitor from B&H, should be here Thursday. Have already spent more than planned to get up and running on this legacy video project, so what's another $160? :-0 Got a new thunderbolt cable also, since the only one I have is questionable. Boy those things are expensive!

Did some Googling and saw that the Mini Monitor was around since at least MacOSX 10.8, so there should be some compatible drivers. Also saw that it worked with FCP 7, so will just keep my fingers crossed for FCP 6.

But anyway, I'm eventually going to transition to new software, already have a copies of the new FCPX Free Trial along with Davinci Resolve installed on an external drive under El Capitan. My firewire tape deck doesn't work for external video with these programs but the Mini Monitor does.

Worse comes to worse, try to find a used Intensity Pro non-4K and install it in a free PCI-E slot in your system if it's a Mac Pro tower.

Thanks Jack, but as I said above...

I am using a Mac Mini, so it needs to be an external device and not a card

Will post an update after I get the mini monitor, it should be here today.

The Blackmagic UltraStudio Mini Monitor is here and it works perfectly. No-brainer setup, they provide software and documentation on an SD card. After installing, I statred up FCP 6 and there were a whole bunch of new Blackmagic external video devices in the A/V settings menu. The image looks terrific on my new Sony LMD-2110W monitor.

It really is a very small device, and it runs quite hot (have seen numerous comments on this while Googling). I made a little stand to raise it 3/4" above the desktop and allow some air circulation. The software says you need MacOSX 10.9 or newer, however it is working fine under 10.8.5 on my 2012 16gb Mac Mini.

Only issue (which I was expecting) is that there's no audio output from the Blackmagic box, so you have to choose a separate audio source in the A/V settings unless you want to use the speaker on your monitor (the Sony has a lousy mono speaker and no audio output).

Choosing the Mac built-in audio works, but is way out of sync and the FCP audio delay setting didn't seem to help. But if I send the audio over HDMI to my computer monitor, it seems very close to being in sync with the Sony screen. So I have my studio monitors plugged into the headphone jack there for now. Just ordered what I hope will be the last piece of the puzzle, an HDMI audio splitter that claims 5ns latency.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/963089-REG/gefen_cp_hda2_hdmi_audio_splitter_de_embedder.html

Very pleased with this setup so far, but have only used SD footage in FCP 6 for now, I am trying to work on my project without getting too distracted. Will try it with HD footage from my old HVR-Z1 and current XDCAM-EX1 in the coming days to see how it works in FCP 6, FCP X and Resolve.

Just to wrap this up, everything works fine in FCP 6 now, with the BlackMagic UltraStudio Mini Monitor as an external video device, and the Comprehensive HDMI audio splitter as an audio device. No issues with sync or latency. I am using the RCA stereo outputs connected to a pair of Mackie studio monitors, although the device also supports optical links.

The BlackMagic Mini Monitor is great, it's really small and doesn't need external power. Have also been using it with my MacBook Air to view footage in the living room on a Sony 46" LCD TV and it looks great, much better than connecting the computer directly with an HDMI cable.

Also works fine under El Capitan with the Final Cut Pro X Free Trial.

Maybe this will help someone else looking for solutions that work with legacy software as well as the newest programs. Here are a couple quick photos.

http://stephencreek.com/dv/mini_monitor.jpg


http://stephencreek.com/dv/hdmi_split.jpg