HD capture with Mac G5 FCP 5

[artvesta]

Hi,
Thank you for reading this post.

For the first time I have been asked to edit some footage captured by Sony Z1U camcorder in 2006.
I actually need a SD footage as a result of my editing, but the raw footage is in HD.

What do I need to do to capture the footage (either in HD or SD)?

I don't have a HD deck or any special cards installed in my computer.
Can I capture the material only with the help of the Z1U camera hooking it up to my computer via fire wire cable?

I was trying to do so, but Final Cut would not show me any video in preview window and would not capture anything because when I try to "capture NOW" the message says "There is no video".

Please advise.

Is it actually possible to capture that video with the equipment I have? If yes, what settings in log-and-capture window should I chose? If NO, what do I need to change/buy/install in order to be able to work with HD?

Thanks a lot.
Tatiana

[minidv2dvd]

this might need to go into the mac forum.

it's an HDV cam. you need to capture the HDV tape like miniDV over firewire but as 1440x1080 30i. most recent editing programs can do this, if your computer can recognize the cam as an HDV device. or on a pc i would say use HDVsplit.

the other option is to put the cam in SD mode and let it transfer the video out in DVavi over firewire. it should have the ability to convert on the fly, but i've not used that exact cam model.

[edDV]

Final Cut should be able to cap HDV to the Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC). You should have a choice of capture to 1440x1080i or 960x540p (quarter resolution). What version FCP do you have?

From there you will resize for a 720x480i DVD.

I'm away from my Mac so can't help with detailed menu settings.

Best this is moved to the Mac forum.

[minidv2dvd]

i'm not sure fcp 5 can do it, version 6 might be needed.

[artvesta]

Thanks! moved to the Mac forum. Thanks again!