Ive looked at many old posts regarding difficulties getting the fx1 to output dv but im still stuck.

I set ilink to on (no firewire attached), turn off the cam and attach firewire, then turn on again.

Now my fx1 should send dv 9not hdv) to my mac.

In fce hd 3.5 'easy setups' are offered and rather than 'apple intermediate 1080i50' (which i use to get hd) i need to choose an alternative......being in uk i choose dv-pal basic.

......i get a dialogue saying 'unable to locate device..' to which i press continue because pressing 'try again' just repeats the message.

I then press 'capure'..........i get a brief glimpse of a progress bar 'initiating capture' and then fce just closes!

(The blue light on cam is against hdv not dv which i dont understand either. i have vcr hdv/dv set to auto)

Trying every PAL 'easy setup' there is available on fce hd i get the same response. With ilink off and the ''apple intermediate 1080i50' setup is the only way i can capture.

I'm stumped??

Hi Michael! I think the problem is in how you've setup the camera, and not in FCE. I have a Z1, but I think the menus are similar for this... Go to the IN/OUT REC menu (the icon with two arrows) and scroll down to i.LINK CONV. Now choose HDV->DV CONV ON. You will get dire warnings that changes aren't allowed, etc. but you can generally just ignore these (especially if the firewire cable is unplugged).

Is this what you've done? Your description was a little confusing. The blue light next to the firewire port should indicate DV - if it doesn't then you haven't set the menu correctly or (less likely) there's a problem with your camera. It sounds like you have FCE properly configured for regular PAL DV. The only other (unlikely) thing which crosses my mind is that maybe you have an NTSC FX1 instead of a PAL?

For another test, put your camera in DV mode: go to IN/OUT REC and choose REC FORMAT > DV. Now shoot a quick test of something, then connect the camera to your computer and see if you can capture with the PAL easy setup. If so then that will confirm that everything is OK in FCE.

Michael:

I too have the Z1U. But, as Boyd said, I think the menu selections are close enough.

Not only do you need to have the In/Out>iLink set to "On", you also need to have the In/Out>VCR HDV/DV set to "DV" or even "Auto". Once you make that second menu selection, the blue light should switch to DV.

I think you need to have the camera set to VCR mode to access that menu, right? But I'm not sure about this part, "you also need to have the In/Out>VCR HDV/DV set to DV or even Auto". He wants to downconvert HDV to DV when capturing. So I think this menu needs to be set to either HDV or AUTO, right? This stuff always confuses me in the menus also!

Boyd, you are correct on both points. The camera has to be set to VCR mode. Also, since he is downconverting, it should be set to "Auto".

Sorry guys if my post wasnt clear...i already have the settings as you are suggesting.

ALTHOUGH despite this, the blue light goes against HDV even when ive got ilink ON. (It moves to DV if i take vcr hdv/dv off AUTO and onto DV.......but that doesnt change the capture problem.)

Boyd i tried your suggestion, shooting some on dv (blue light did show correctly) but still FCE not recognising.

I guess the problem has to be with fce...i'll try a reinstall...if anyone knows of it having an issue id love to know?

Maybe its my computer causing the problem but its surprising that its happy with hd but not dv.....its technically under spec for fce hd 3.5 (12" powerbook 1g ram) but has been fine with the short hd clips ive been testing on this week while i await delivery of my 20" imac dual core. Maybe ive gotta be patient and when the new machine arrives all will be well!

It sounds like it could be a software issue.

What version of the following are you using?
a.) OSX
b.) FCE HD
c.) QuickTime

Jeff

as follows

a) 10.4.7
b) 3.5
c) 7.1.2

???
Thanks.

Okay, it seems like you are up to date on all three. So, here are the next steps to try in the following order:

1.) With your camera on, iLink set to "On" in the menu and VCR set to "Auto" in the menu, launch FCE. Next, do the following menu selections: View>Video Out and click "Refresh Video Devices", It's something like that. You may have to be in capture mode first for this to work. I can't remember.

2.) Usually with Sony camera's, you need to use the plain old set up and not basic. So try DV-PAL ini easy setup and not DV-PAL Basic

3.) Read this Apple page http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301852

Good luck!

Okay, that didnt make a difference.

1) I suspect the view>video out>refresh is much the same as the try again button in the dialogue i described in my original post (......i get a dialogue saying 'unable to locate device..' to which i press continue because pressing 'try again' just repeats the message.)

2) tried every available dv pal setting

3) i had seen a post about that in reference to fcp and wondered if it could also apply to fce hd. Followed instructions but no change to result im getting.

I'm expecting my imac by tuesday latest so im gonna be patient and hope that makes the difference...if not i'll come crying back?

Many thanks for the suggestions and support though.

Mike

Michael:

Perhaps your new iMac will be the solution!

I did heard some editing professionals discussing the desirability of QT 7.1.2 and their conclusion was that the preferred QT version for FCP (I'm not sure about FCE) was 7.1.1. Apparently, people some editors have been having trouble with QT 7.1.2.

I have not had any issues with FCP 5.1.1 using QT 7.1.2. But, if the problem still exists with your new iMac, you might try downgrading to QT 7.1.1. Also, concerning your OSX updates, you should always install the combo update and not the version that Software Update suggests.

Read this post of mine for more information. It specifically refers to OSX 10.4.6 but it applies to any OS upgrade on the Mac. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost.php?p=502960&postcount=4