sony GV-D300 Mini DV

1) Which Apple Macintosh are you using?
Ans.MAC OS X Version 10.4.8

2) What Operating System are you running in the Macintosh?
Ans.Final Cut Pro 5

3) How are you connecting the Canon XHA1 to the Macintosh?
Ans.A Firewire Cable

4) What type of video did you capture on the XHA1?
Ans.High Definition Color

5) Which application are you using to import the video from the XHA1 to the Macintosh?
Ans.Final Cut Pro 5; Log and Capture

6) If you captured high definition video on the Canon XHA1, is that the same tape you are using in the GV-D300?
Ans.Yes

7) When you say "The MAC is not reading it." Are you getting an error message?
Ans.There is no error message, when I press the capture ?now? button, the capture screen appears for one second then disappears.

What exactly are you doing, and what are you expecting to happen?
Ans.I am trying to capture the High Definition video and audio from the Canon HA1 Camcorder into Final Cut Pro 5 in the MAC OS X Version 10.4.8

to work with. But I still need a bit of clarification.

On the first question, that was a hardware question - not an Operating system question... is the computer an iMac? A MacBook?

On the second question, which version of FinalCutPro 5?

I need to check my FinalCut preferences when I get home - sorry, at work now and have to work on a Windows machine.

As I recall, when I first connected my Sony HDR-HC1, FinalCut did not recognize it for importing 1080i. I installed the Apple Intermediate Codec by doing a "custom install" using the OS system discs. Then I had to select a couple of items in the FinalCut preferences.

For Question 6: The GV-D300 will work ONLY it you are using standard definition footage on that miniDV tape. The GV-D300 does not do hidef, so there is no surprise that it does not work.

Please refrain from calling it "MAC".

You need to be on - at least - FinalCut Pro 5.1.2...

There is a good resource at apple.com discussions:

++++++++++++++

Finalcut Pro | Easy Setup

Selected:

Format: HDV
Use: HDV - 1080i60 Firewire Basic

Press Setup

++++++++++++++

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4883939&#4883939

On the first question, that was a hardware question - not an Operating system question... is the computer an iMac? A MacBook?
Ans. It is a iMac desktop

On the second question, which version of Final CutPro 5?
Ans. Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

on the first question...

iMac G5 PowerPC or Intel?

iMac G5 PowerPC or Intel?
Ans. It's not a PC it's a Intel.

computers before moving to Intel chips.

I hope you are reading the discussion links at apple.com that I posted for you in the earlier responses. Some people have the issue you have. Some people don't.

Check your preferences in FinalCutPro. Launch FCP. Under the FinalCutPro command line item, select "Audio/Video Settings".

What Sequence Preset is selected?

What Capture Preset is selected?

What Device Control Preset is selected?

Don't worry about video playback and audio playback selections. They do not matter at this point. The defaults are fine.

Consider closing this window (without selecting anything) and under the FinalCutPro command line item, select "Easy Set Up". HDV and Firewire basic...

FCP has a pretty steep learning curve - and that XHA1 is a pro-grade rig - you should seriously consider taking some classes... Local Community Colleges generally have media classes - and if you are lucky, there will be an FCP class. If there is an Apple store nearby, they have classes, too.

iMac as the computer model... G5 as the CPU, also known as IBM's 970.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerMac_G5

But no matter - I did not mean it to be a trick question. I was merely trying to understand the machine vintage. The discussions at apple.com are full of users with no issues using their Canon XHA1 cameras with G5 machines... and it appears Intel chip based machines can have use difficulties (though not all).

on this glorious Saturday morning/afternoon/evening/night (delete as applicable in your neck of the woods)

Connect the camera as usual but instead of firing up FCP, launch iMovieHD which you also have on your new Mac.

Does it "see" the camera, can it import the video from it?

If it does, it may be possible to import using iMovieHD and then make that raw video available to FCP.

Just curious.

P