Hi all,
I was having the standard Windows 7 64bit firewire capture problem outlined here: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/869277. However, having followed those steps, I was still getting the "Can't Activate Recorder. Try Resetting Camera." error when trying to capture DV footage (DVCAM as it happens). I can capture HDV fine - and yes, I'm changing over the capture settings and the playback setting on the camera.
I had got to the point of being able to control the camera with the buttons at the bottom of the capture window, but had no display, and still had that error.
Happily, I have discovered an additional step which enables me to capture DV. You need to click the Edit button under Capture Settings (on the Settings tab), and in the window that pops up, click settings again. Then untick all the boxes (Preview Video on Desktop, Preview Audio on Desktop) for both During Preview and During Capture.
This should leave you with a black screen, but premiere will happily capture clips properly. You'll obviously need to log clips blind (without a display on the monitor), or capture whole tapes at a time, but it's still a valuable workaround.
So I just thought I'd post it up, seeing as I've seen some other poor souls on my forum travels who need this solution!
My specs: Premiere CS3 (3.2.0). Windows 7 64bit Home Premium. AMD Athlon II X2 245 2.9Ghz. 8GB RAM. NVidia GTS 450. Camera - Sony Z1E.
