How can I prevent FaceTime from launching when I plug in an external video camera? We have iMacs that we use as industrial control computers, and we connect FireWire cameras into them via Thunderbolt adapters. On previous OS X versions, we would have to go into the preferences for iChat / Messages and prevent them from automatically launching when these cameras were connected, to make sure those applications didn't mess with our own video software.

However, on Mavericks these preferences have disappeared, apparently because now FaceTime is the application that automatically launches when an external FireWire camera is plugged in. 

FaceTime seems to lack any formal exposed preferences, so is there another way to disable the automatic launching of this application on the connection of an external camera (a preference setting written at the terminal, etc.)? If so, how would we do this?
You can control which applications automatically open after attaching a camera to your Mac using the native Mac application, Image Capture. Try plugging in you camera and then launching Image Capture. If the camera is recognized by the app, there will be a drop down menu visible in the bottom left-hand corner of the app. Click the drop down menu to choose which application to automatically open when the camera is attached (in your case, choose "No Application"). 

If for some reason Image Capture does not recognize your camera, the drop down menu will not be visible. In that case, I'm not sure how to fix your problem.