To begin with let me outline my hardware/software . I have a 2008 8 core MacPro , and similar vintage MacBook Pro , both running El Capitan and with FCP 7 installed from the FCS3 retail boxed set of discs , then ran through the various updates offered online following installation .

I have two cameras - a Sony HVR V1e shooting in PAL at 1080 50i , and a Sony DSR500WSP , DVCAM again a PAL camcorder .

I can record onto tape with both cameras and ingest into FCP7 without any difficulty , including capturing DVCAM footage , which is SD , and dropping it into an HDV timeline - all works fine , and the DVCAM footage looks fine upscaled to HD .

Now , I also have three Focus Enhancements Firestore FS-4 Pro HD DTE recorders , two of which were plain FS-4 units upgraded to Pro HD software , and the third was a Pro HD model from the start .

I use the first two units for SD recording from the DSR500 , encoding as QuickTime , and can copy these files straight into FCP7 with no difficulty , all works great , just as capturing from tape , and since installing a 120Gb hard drive into one unit I can record full day conferences without breaks - just what I wanted . This footage can then be edited in FCP7 and outputted as with tape footage . I have a bracket which mounts the
Firestore on the back of the camera , taking power from the Paglok plate and it is both reliable and easy to use .


Just the other day , I obtained a 'Bebob Box' to mount the third Firestore under my HVR V1e , again fitting a Paglok plate so I can power the FS-4 from one of my PAG L95 batteries . This is really neat and the camcorder records HD footage again as a QuickTime file .

I can plug the FS-4 HD into either of my Macs via FireWire and play the files back using either QuickTime player or VLC , but I cannot import these QuickTime HD files into FCP7 !

I've been through the Firestore user manual , and the various audio/video settings in FCP7 but can't see what's wrong .

Has anyone been through this before , trying to record HDV to an FS-4 then edit on FCP7 ?

If so , did you get it to work , and how ?

Have you tried copying the FS-4 HD files to a connected drive and then just drag/ dropping into an FCP7 bin?

Do you have a short FS-4 HD file you can Dropbox to me to try / look at?

Hi , I did try copying to the computer desktop and importing from there , but no difference . Files will play on computer via media players but just won't import to FCP7 .

Hadn't tried dropping into bin , was just using import,files - will give that a go


I'm at work now but will make a short file once home , thanks very much for the quick reply .

A couple of years ago Apple had an OS update that modified Quicktime making Firestore Quicktime incompatible. There was a utility to fix each file or you could record as an M2T format.

That could be the issue.

Good call Pete, I'd not come across that I've always used M2T

Derek - Info here: http://www.vitec.com/fileadmin/downloads/PRODUCTS/Recorders/Portable/FS-H200%20Pro/Apple_Compatibility_Tech_Notice_-_2015_01_15.pdf

Thanks very much for that gents .

I've just been informed by her ladyship that we're off to Aberdeen in the morning to deliver Christmas presents , so it will be a day or two before I get back to this .

Now that I'm home , I installed the file converter in Dave's link above - that solved the problem .

Thanks all for pointing me in the right direction .