I'm assisting someone who wishes to use iMovie HD (5.0.1) to edit a piece consisting of a large number of scanned stills, plus video from non-DV sources (VHS, 3/4", BetaSP, etc.).
He has available to him a Leitch 475 professional digital video processor to ingest this material. This unit takes input in any number of forms (composite, S-video, component, SDI) and outputs DV via FW400 to a compliant device. Leitch (now part of Harris) says it's simple Plug'N'Play, especially with a Mac. And yes, we have TFM and have R'd it
Problem is, iMovie refuses to recognize that this multi-thousand dollar device is connected to it, and there seems to be no way to tell iMovie that this is not a camcorder that it needs to control, and just take in this video, thank you. The Leitch box seems to work just fine with Final Cut Pro, so I'm guessing we're just out of luck using the simpler iMovie solution, unless someone knows of a workaround. I know there are many A/D converters like Canopus, Pinnacle etc that seem to be used with iMovie and other low-end editing apps, so am curious why this box isn't recognized. I know he sure won't pop for FCStudio to get FCP, but wondering if FC Express allows for non-controllable FW devices. If so, this might be the solution. Dubbing all the material thru the 475 box in to a DV camcorder and then FW that into iMovie would be kludgy a way to do it and prohibitive in organization and time. His DV camcorder does not have analog ins, so don't have the option of using it as a pass-thru D/A.
Would appreciate any comments/suggestions.

My memory is that Apple started removing capability from iMovie just about then. For example, my Sony ADC no longer works. Can you try an older version of iMovie? Final Cut Pro is also a possibility.

What kind of Firewire chip does the Leitch box use? There are good ones, and bad ones. The good one is a TI chip.

Is Leitch's Firewire implementation a custom ASIC?

Just use a Canopus box.

QuickTime Pro might be able to capture from the device - it recognizes FW and USB devices like web cameras that don't have tape to control.

quote:

Originally posted by Jack Beckman:
QuickTime Pro might be able to capture from the device - it recognizes FW and USB devices like web cameras that don't have tape to control.

Thanks very much for that, Jack. It works just fine. I keep forgetting what a useful and powerful tool QT Pro can be. Why iMovie doesn't use this Quicktime functionality seems pretty dumb. Only downside is that iMovie has to convert the saved .mov to a .dv embedded dv stream, which does add a little bit of extra time to the process. I may still try to sell him on FC Express, unless he falls in love with the built-in "Ken Burns" stuff in iMovie.

quote:

Chuck M:
What kind of Firewire chip does the Leitch box use? There are good ones, and bad ones. The good one is a TI chip.

Is Leitch's Firewire implementation a custom ASIC?

I don't know. I have the physical and PDF Installation/Operation manual but no parts list block diagram or schematics. I think this box is probably 5 or 6 years old. Very powerful features but for this project it's like swatting flies with a sledgehammer.