Entire Mac Lab Can't Log and Capture

I teach FCP at a college two days a week. While I was away, my students were emailing me complaining that they couldn't Log and Capture in FCP (6.01 & 6.02 variously). So when I got to the Mac Lab I tried it and I couldn't either. I tried 2 DV cameras and 2 FireWire cables on 4 iMacs. The iMacs aren't recognizing the cameras. In System Profiler, it sees the FireWire drives, but not the cameras -- even when the cameras are the only thing attached. When you run FCP it loads 90% of the way but it won't finish loading until you unplug the camera -- then it finishes. When you choose Log and Capture you get a Communications Error message. Everything was working fine the last time we did any capturing a few weeks ago. I don't understand how this problem could have started globally. Has anyone heard any buzz about some update breaking camera connectivity? A QuickTime update? My class has come to a halt.

Thanks very much.

Mitchell Rose
[www.mitchellrose.com]

iMacs aren't the greatest FCP machines-- I have even seen FC Express lock up on new aluminum iMacs with plenty of power.

Try zapping the PRAM on each machine and then plug in first the camera, then the media drive.
(Be sure to check that external for proper MacOS Extended formatting-- some drives come as FAT32 Windows format and don't tell you.)

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:
Access your customized User window layouts 1 & 2 with Shift-U and Option-U !
(After setting each by accessing Arrange with the Option key held down.)

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Did you just upgrade those machines by any chance, like a new version of Quicktime? There was a problem a while back where the Mac would not recognize a Firewire deck after an upgrade, and certain Quicktime files needed to be tossed out to regain functionality. I think the link is in the FAQ somewhere...

JK

_______________________________________
SCQT! Self-contained QuickTime ? pass it on!

iMacs are no good for production...ESPECIALLY a school lab that gets high volume traffic. This could be anything... is your lab on surge protection? You could have had a lightning strike. Try unplugging all the macs and all the peripherals attached to them & let stand for 30 minutes. Plug everything back in & boot up.

Trash FCP preferences on all systems.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

FCP 6.0.3 update is out, maybe try that as well? It fixed my P2 importing problem in the Log and transfer window.

Thanks for your help.

iMacs is what we got and what we'll have for a long time. I'm lucky, and grateful, that we have them. Colleges aren't rolling in dough. If I had Mac Pros and monitors, I'd have to half my class size.

They've been working fine since September.

Some machines are at the latest QT, FCP, and everything else, while others are a few months back. Doesn't make a difference as to whether the log and capturing is working.

Zapping the PRAM didn't help.

Ext hard drives are all MacOS Extended -- and again, they've been working fine since September.

Still experimenting. Got three people working on it.

Thanks again for the tips.

Mitchell Rose
[www.mitchellrose.com]

Wow, that's a hard one. Lots of Macs all in the same room with various versions of QT and FCP all breaking at once.

There has to be a common denominator. What has changed in the entire environment since the system worked?

Is there .. I dunno - a new networking system of some sort? A hub added? New electrics? I'm clutching at straws, but it almost has to be something environmental. Or some nasty kid has done soemthing on purpose. Can't think what they could have done..

are the cameras recognised in System Profiler?
is it a communication problem specific to FCP? can you capture directly in QT Player and/or iMovie?

Have you tried hooking up other cameras? Maybe someone just messed up with settings on the camera side? Like switching between DV/HDV or different aspect ratios?

Interesting; Powerbooks had that problem. The workaround was to keep the camera on the native FireWire bus and hook the drive to a cardbus (or on newer MacBP's, an xpresscard34 slot) and that seemed to solve the bus conflicts.

Tis indeed a headscratcher. Maybe some piece of utility or other software recently installed?

Let us know. It may be one for the FAQ.

- Loren
Today's FCP keytip:

Set your customized window layout 1 or 2 by holding Option then click
Window menu>Arrange>and select Set Custom Layout 1 or 2 !

Then use Custom Layout 1 or 2 with Shift-U or Option-U !

Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide? Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Get on to your I.T. Dept ?

HAHA I remember this problem...

Ok... here's what you do...

(If my guess is right...)

Pick a computer... just one...
Separate it from the others.
Unplug the Firewire drives you have connected to it (their ID numbers are bad ju-ju)
now... with no other firewire devices connected... reboot, and plug in the same camera... and try to capture to the desktop.
If you can... thats the end of the line. Thats your problem.
The firewire device IDs are screwing up your imac device ID flow.
I had the same thing.

Good lick.
-Synthian

www.ExitOphelia.com