Abort Capture on Dropped Frames Feature is Not Saving Captured Media

Question

I have searched for this specific problem here without any results. I'm simply capturing regular SD DV and am getting dropped frames. Even though the dropped frames is an issue that I shouldn't be encountering, that's not the reason for this post. The bigger problem is that FCP 6 is not saving the file prior to the abort.
The manual specifically states on page 308 Part IV " Abort capture on dropped frames: When this option is selected, capture stops immediately when a dropped frame is detected. All media captured before the dropped frame has frame-accurate timecode and is preserved. The resulting media file is saved and a clip for that media file is placed in the Browser."
Well the issue is, FCP is NOT saving the file to my hard drive much less it's NOT placing the clip in my Browser. I can spend 50 minutes and get a dropped frame and it aborts capture (that's what I want it to do) but the time spent capturing that 50 minutes of media is simple gone. Poof, no file, no nothing. So what gives, anyone else seen this problem?
I am up to date on all software.

Answer 1

Hi Michael, thanks for the feedback.
I have a MacPro 2.66 GHz dual-Core Intel Xeon with 5 GB of ram. Internal 250 GB system drive with an additional internal Seagate Barracuda 750 GB drive 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s drive Model number ST3750640AS which I have captured my previous project, and now am capturing only my 2nd project to.
Note: I have only captured 2 projects to date on this new Mac. The first project consisted of around 5 tapes which I captured each one using the CAPTURE NOW feature without any problems (with the exception of the reset timecode which FCP handled as advertised and stated below). So far I've captured 10 tapes from my 2nd project. So I still have well over 500 GB free on that drive.
I am capturing via firewire from a Sony DSR-11. I only use one brand of tape, the Panasonic AY-DVM63AMQ. My cameras are 2 Sony VX2000 and one VX2100. I know for a fact that I need to replace the internal battery in my oldest VX2000 because every time I turn it on, I get a warning that I need to set the clock, and everything else has reset itself to default settings. However, this is not the camera that I have been experiencing timecode reset with. It's my other (not as old) VX2000. I don't use my cams to capture to the computer, that's why I purchased the DSR-11. With this camera, it will reset timecode frequently with the camera still powered on, but stopped (not pause mode). The tape is not being previewed or anything causing it to play past the preexisting recorded media which wold in fact cause a timecode reset as you stated in your last message. So I don't know what is wrong with this camera, I'm fairly certain the internal battery is good because it keeps time on it's own. I'm hoping it just needs a good cleaning, but I'm afraid it may be something worse. I'm getting ready to send it off for a checkup this week.
In any case, about 80% of the time, FCP has been able to properly detect timecode reset when it is encountered, and it does in fact pause recording, save the first file, and reposition itself to the new timecode and start recording a new file as advertised. The other 20% of the time it has simply paused the DSR playback, saved the file, and informed me that the tape has reached the end of the recorded media, which it hasn't but In these cases it's not detecting a timecode reset. I then have to press the stop button in my capture window to actually move the deck from pause to stop mode.
Now, the dropped frame issue on capture is a separate issue. According the the FCP manual (as I stated in my first post) it is suppose to abort capture, but still salvage what has been captured thus far, and it is not doing this. Thus far over the course of these first 2 projects on my Mac, I have only encountered dropped frames on capture twice, and both times while capturing from this 2nd project. The first time this happen, I was doing a lot of stuff in the background, i.e. checking email, browsing some web site, but nothing that consisted of playing video or audio, and I was doing some iChat (simple chat, not screen sharing or video/audio conferencing or anything like that. So I attributed my drop frame to the fact I was doing too much in the background. I then decided that I would NOT be playing around in the background any more while capturing. So I was quite surprised when I received yet another dropped frame notification at around 50 minutes. It did about capture as advertised, but it did not salvage the media it had already captured.
So... that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Thanks for your time, I appreciate the help.