DV transfer from Panasonic to IMAC- help!

[jerry1o1o1o]

Computer- Imac, OS= 10.4.4
800 power pc G4

Panasonic DV- pv-gs250

1) connects with usb- in the finder
a. recognizes - the DV camcorder as a volume (MSDOS FAT 16 file system; 245 mb capacity)
b. recognizes the pictures in the sd card
c. sees two files- dcim and misc
d. in the dcim there is a sub file labeled 100cdpfp in which the jpgs can be accessed.
e. The misc file has one document labeled autprint.mrk
2) In both imovie and iphoto the jpgs can be accessed
3) However- in IMOVIE- the program does not read the video in either the VCR or PC setting on the camcorder. IMovie states- “no camera attached” –have tried changing the camcorder settings, adjusting the connection, turning the camera on and off, re-starting the program.
4) Argggghh
5) From reviewing the posts it may be that I should be using a firewire rather then usb connection.
6) Is this correct or is there something else?
7) If it is the firewire- noob question coming- the system profiler indicates there is a firewire bus- is there a specific port? Do I just get the cable and the system will recognize it as a different connection? Is there a specific fire wire port I missed?


thanks in advance for any ideas

 

[sonofapplepm]

You will need to get a 4 pin to 6 pin firewire cable. I'm not near my Panasonic
dv cam, but this is what i had to get! All should be well after you get the firewire cable!

 

[26139]

Um...

So the computer is saying you need a firewire connection...it doesn't work with usb...and you are asking if you need to use a firewire cable?

yeah...methinks you should get a 4-6 pin fw cable..

 

[DanielNTX]

All firewire baby!

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

I agree with the other posts and ...

The firewire cable will only fit in one of your iMac ports ...
Yes - the system should recognise it as a totally different connection ...
And iMovie should automatically recognise that there is a camera attached (you might need to toggle iMovie to the camera setting).

It took me a couple of tries the very first time, but after that all was sweet.

Also, depending on the camera settings, you might want to play with iMovie preferences to get the video to import the way you want (if you get stuck there is a pretty good forum on the Apple Support site).

Good luck.