Dropped Frames on New Installation

I have Final Cut installed on my G4, G5 and PowerBook and it works fine.
I just installed Final Cut 6 on my IMAC G5 - 1.8Ghz Power PC with 1.5GB Ram.
When I play back video on my timeline it keeps on reporting dropped frames.
I've tried adjusting some of the suggested settings and still get the same results.
Also, when I connect my DSR-20 through the FireWire port, the video only updates on the monitor when i stop playback. When I hit play, I hear the audio playing but the video stays still until i stop again and it updates to where the playhead is on the timeline.
Any ideas on why this might be happening ?
Message was edited by: Kindkidz

Originally I had the video captured on an external drive which has never been a problem on my other computers. I tried connecting this drive through both firewire and USB with the same results. I tried copying the files onto the internal drive, but that didn't change anything. My internal drive is a Maxtor 7Y250M0
The video I am working on is DV NTSC 48kHz

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Dropped frames on capture

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last week all workflow was fine.
yesterday (saturday) I could NOT even capture 1 minute of DV video without aborting after 20 seconds due to dropped frames. I wiped a drive clean thinking too much fragmentation. The only thing that changed is I updated OS from 10.4.8 to 10.4.9 when it came out. I could however capture my DV using iMovie, export it, and work as normal in FCP. I hope FCP v6 comes out soon like at NAB next month and I get back to normalcy.

What I really want to do is go back to the previous version of Quicktime I was using (7.13) -- and I can't. I have deleted everything even resembling Quicktime from my system, as well as all the .plist files and prefs, and yet the 7.13 installer will not install; it says that I have a newer version (7.15) installed. Where else does Apple hide Quicktime prefs information?
Re-installing 7.15 did NOT solve the problem. Here are some more details:
When capturing from Final Cut Pro and iMovie, I get 50 or 51-frame gaps. Audio continues to be captured, only the video cuts out. Each gap seems to be 40 to 60 seconds apart. These gaps are actual holes in the data. Cinema Tools diagnoses the clips as damaged.
I removed the camera from the equation by using a different camera for capture.
I removed the media from the equation by using another DV cassette that I recorded recently and was able to capture from (last week) with 100% success.
I don't think QT is a factor either, because I deleted and removed all QT software and rebooted, and FCP still runs and still has the problem. I don't think QT is used unless you actually export from FCP.

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Not all Canon cameras have connection issues, but hanging around this site I've come to recognize their ability to connect in FCP is the most problematic of all the camera brands. If you have a Canon camcorder, and can not get it to connect up with FCP, the following is a way to sort through the issues and get it to work. Some are elegant - some are ugly.
Before we go any farther -
• You should be using 'Firewire Basic' as the control protocol. If you aren't, go change it and try again.
• Also, verify that you have a solid installation of Quicktime. You may want to reinstall it using the 'delete receipts' method. Do a quick search here on the site - it is mentioned daily if not hourly.
With some confidence that the software installation and camera settings are correct ... the most direct solution is to purchase another, non-Canon device to use as your capturing machine. The Sony DSR-11 is highly recommended for DV work. A deck will save wear and tear on the camera's lightweight drive mechanism and will allow you to permanently connect a NTSC/PAL monitor for proper viewing. If you are working with HDV, you may have other issues ...
Beyond that, the path you take depends on the model of computer you own.
1. If you have a G5 tower or a MacPro, capture to a second internal drive with only the camera attached. If you need to move material to firewire drive, disconnect the camera. A second internal drive is quite inexpensive these days if you do not already have one.
2. If you have a G5 tower (PCI) MacPro (PCIe), G4 powerbook (PCMCIA) or MacBookPro (Expresscard 34) with an available slot, purchase the appropriate firewire card for the slot. Connect your camera to the card and you should be good to go. The new card creates a unique bus and will avoid collisions with the external drives.
3. If you do not have a slot or a second internal drive and you are stuck with the camera, welcome to the camera/drive shuffle.
• shut down and remove the external hard drive(s) from the system
• connect the camera directly to the firewire port of the computer
• start the camera then the computer
• capture to your internal (system) hard drive
• shut down the camera and computer
• disconnect the camera and reconnect the external hard drive(s)
• start hard drive(s) and computer
• move captured files to external hard drive(s)
• edit
If you output back to tape or wish to view your work on an external Video (NTSC or PAL) monitor, you need to set up the camera to use the firewire out as the A/DV converter or VTR - which means reversing the steps:
• copy the file back to the internal drive
• shut everything down
• disconnect the external drive(s)
• connect the camera to the firewire port (and the TV to the camera if needed)
• start the camera then the computer
• play the file.
One caveat here - You may have difficulty getting the file back to tape without dropping frames. Playing files off of the system drive is very demanding and they may have a hard time keeping up.
All in all, if you do not have the option for second bus (i.e. iMacs, eMacs, iBooks, MacBooks) you may want to think about a computer with expandable options next time.
There is the option of capturing using iMovie, but that brings on it's own set of problems and is not recommended.
Good luck.
x

Dropped Frames on New Installation

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