Capture routines vary from software to software, computer to computer, camcorder to camcorder- which means its not an exact science. This is a common question everyone has from PC to Mac and there are many reasons for not being able to capture. Because of this, there is no one answer so we can start with the common causes blocking your camcorder's communication to your computer and offer some simple solutions from there:

• For Sony camcorders it could be a proprietary cable (an exclusively Sony cable) not being used. Sony Firewire products often work only with Sony I-Link cables. 
• Your computer's Firewire drive is 400 instead of 800.
• Camcorder's menu settings not set up for DV-in/out
• Computer resources are low- close all other programs, and running EndItAll before you start any video work.
• You're running a FAT32 system Convert your filesystem to NTFS - FAT32 has a 4 GB file size limit. 
• Connect your camcorder via Firewire to your computer throw the switch to playback or VCR mode BEFORE booting up instead of having it in camera mode.
• Older Drivers- this is the first place to look if your PC is having trouble recognizing your camcorder. Go to your camcorder manufacturer's Web site and look in the support section. You should find a page for the latest drivers or downloads. Simply download and install the drivers, and your PC should be able to work with your camcorder. You might have to reboot your computer before the drivers are ready to go, however. Once you've rebooted, try connecting your camcorder to the PC again- make sure it's in the playback and not camcorder mode.
• Older operating system - upgrade! You'll get better results when transferring and editing video and burning DVDs than you will with an earlier OS. On the Macintosh side, the upgrade to Mac OS 10.3 costs about $130. Like its Windows counterpart, the upgrade is well worth the price. This version of the Macintosh operating system is faster and more stable than earlier versions and comes with iDVD, which is a killer application for editing your home videos.
• Running SP2 under Windows XP click here to read about the problem and click here to download the solution
• Firewire card is not enabled or is simply not working. To fix this from the main windows screen go Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager If when you get to Control Panel you cannot see System, either click on classic view at the top left and it will then be one of the options or go from Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance> System > Device Manager. In Device Manager you should look for the IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers entry. If you can expand this you should have something similar to OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller. Neither of these entries should have a yellow exclamation mark by them. if there is, you have a problem and need to fix this.
• Conflicts can exist between pci cards due to the way the port has been assigned. The main problems are, No IRQ has been assigned, an IRQ has been assigned, but it has a software conflict, an IRQ has been assigned, and it has a hardware conflict. Simply put the firewire card may be interfering with say the sound card, or vice versa.
• Installing new software - for example, installing a newer version of QT will sometimes update your FireWire extensions during the install.

Now if these are any of your problems and it still does not work try capturing video using a totally seperate utility apart from editing software: it's called DVIO for  DV in/out it's free and some swear by it after exhausting all possible solutions.

Last update: 05:23 PM Sunday, November 20, 2005