What Could Make My iMac Stutter As It Records?

Until recently my iMac would record flawlessly when recording via the iSight camera or when importing from my DV camera, but now it stutters and stops? I have tried other programs on the web like Vidi and it's the same problem.
I am now suspecting a computer hardware problem. What could the problem be and how easy would it be to fix?
I am using a 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

Hello, Robert.
It may be better to post you're questions in the iMovie 6 (or '08) Discussions pages as opposed to the more general Snow Leopard side of these Discussions.
That said, I would run the "Hardware" tests found on the Snow Leopard DVD to try and rule some things out.
Have you tested the external camera using a different Firewire cable?
Does the camera have "external" power supply attached?
What software are you using to record the built in iSight camera?

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What Could Make My iMac Stutter As It Records?

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