Dropped frames while capturing video on Macintosh.
When capturing video from a DV camera or other FireWire device, a great deal of bandwidth is required. If an advisory about dropped frames appears, try the steps below to optimize transfer speed to the drive.
The drive should be connected directly to the computer, and not running through another device of any kind (either another drive, or FireWire hub.)
Ensure the drive is formatted in a non-journaled file system. Most of the time, journalizing is a good idea, as it protects from corruption, and makes the drive more reliable. When capturing video, however, it is not. To check the drive format, click its icon on the desktop, then choose File from the menu bar, then click "Get Info". Next to the Format line, it can not say "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". If it does, reformat the drive in Disk Utility to remove the journaling.
If there are multiple drives connected to the same FireWire bus, disconnect them. Each drive takes a percentage of the total available bandwidth, so more than one can make a large difference.
Make sure the computer can actually capture live video. Modern computers won't have difficulty with this, but if the machine is more than three years old, close any open programs prior to starting the process.
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