Canon hv20, 24p hdv, and recommended capture method?

[joshcali]

ok, does anone have experience with the new canon hv20, and a recommendation on a capture method for getting the true 24p hdv footage?

also, what are people using for hdv capture in general?

thanks!
-Josh

[edDV]

Capture from what? Most of these HDV camcorders capture in DV format or not at all.

What is your interest in 24P?

[racer-x]

I own a Canon HV20. I like and use HDVSplit to capture/transfer footage to PC. The HV20 can shoot 24p and the camera applies 3:2 pulldown when it records to tape, so the playback rate ends up at 29.97 fps needed for TV playback. You can remove pulldown in post to get back to 24 fps.

[edDV]

I thought he meant capture of an external source with the camcorder. Shooting 24p requires a tripod or very steady hand. Not the typical Handycam technique. 24p acquisition is covered in film school classes.

The camcorder to editor mechanics for 24p is covered well in this article by adam wilt
http://www.adamwilt.com/24p/

I'm not sure if the HC20 transfers in "24p advanced" or simple telecine. "24p advanced" needs a recent version of an advanced editor like Avid, Premiere Pro or Vegas.

[Wile_E]

racer-x,
Could you tell me how the low-light performance is with the HV20? Is it grainy looking? Also is motor noise from the tape transport picked up by the built-in mics? Several people on Camcorderinfo.com have reported tape transport noise, the same problem as the previous ZR series.

I have a cheap ZR500 right now, and motor noise and low light is poor. I'm looking to move up to HD and considering the HV20, Sony HDR-HC5, Sony HDR-HC7,HDR-SR1 and the new JVC HDD coming soon.

I dont know if HDD is the way to go, as they can always fail and are not user replaceable. HDV tape still looks the way to go, but I hate real-time transfer/capture.

[racer-x]

Well my other camcorder is a Panasonic GS500, wich is a very good low light performer. I feel that the HV20 is even better in low light, especially when using 24p with a shutter speed set to 1/24 - 1/48. The high detail and low image noise continues to amaze me.

I dont know about tape transport noise, but I can hear some zoom noise when using very slow zoom. I mostly shoot sports, so it's not a big problem. You can always use an external mic to get around any camera noise.

So far I'm very happy with the HV20 and highly recomend it to anyone looking for HDV Camcorder.

[ronnylov]

Actually those are the two cameras choices I am considering as an upgrade from my old miniDV camera. So is there any reason I would buy a GS500 instead of the HV20? The price difference here in Sweden is minimal. How do they compare when using normal DV mode (not HDV)?

[Leon8]

Hi Racer_X,

Are using Vista or WinXp/1/2 with HDVsplit?

Thanks

[racer-x]

I use winXP w/SP2. You can capture using HDVSplit or DVHSCap with no problems. The footage is recorded to tape with pulldown allready applied, so the playback rate is 29.97 fps. That's needed for NTSC playback. Niether of those apps will remove pulldown for you. You will need to do that with other methods.

I don't use 24p mode much because I shoot mostly sports and the more frames, the better. Do a google search for Canon HV20 & 24p pulldown removal. There's lot's of forums out there just for it. I'm just not interested enough to learn more.

[Leon8]

Hi racer-x,
Thanks for your quick reply, unfortunately, HDVSplit doesn't recognized my HV20, I downloaded a trial version of UleadStudio 11
and it recognize the HV20 but not as a HDV so I can only capture at 720x480. Any ideas?

Thanks

[racer-x]

Make sure your camera is tured on and in Playback Mode and conected via 1394 Firewire, before you launch HDVSplit. There is no reason it can't detect the Canon HV20, unless you shot your footage in SD mode.....................

[Leon8]

The only think I can think of is that I have SD and HD V footage on the tape. It maybe confused

I will try a fresh tape.

Thanks

[Leon8]

Hi Racer-x, That was the problem, a new tape with all HDV material solved the problem, thanks again.
Have you try Uleadstudio 11?

[racer-x]

Many moons ago when I first started video editing, I used Ulead Video Studio 6 because it came with my Firewire card. I then went to Premiere 6 and never looked back. Ulead is great to learn on, but it's too restrictive for my tastes..........

[MasamKilik]

Yo, I don't have much experience with camcorders and I got the HV20. However, I can't find out how to get the files onto the computer. I've tried Sony Vegas 7.0, WinDV, and HDVsplit but none of them recognize the camcorder! I'm getting frustrated and I'm pretty sure all the recordings are in HDV 24fps. Is there a program or something I'm missing? or a step to take?

[edDV]

Vegas 7 should handle it.

HDV requires special software handling. The program must support HDV capture. Normal DV transfer won't work with HDV.

24p or 24pa needs special handling as well. Vegas can do it but needs to be set up in project.

[MasamKilik]

Okay, I found out my problem. It seems that there were 3 files in the windows folders that were missing and my friend managed to find out what they were and got them from another computer. I don't know how he did it but he did. Now it captures HDV at 24fps, but there are these massive lines that are running across the screen on vlc media player and Sony Vegas when I playback the video. Has anyone else had this problem and know what's wrong?

Maybe it's the tape? Or what?

[kadzbiz]

Firtly, I hope someone reads/answers this as the last post was in July!

Well I shot all my Canon HV20 footage in HDV. I use Vegas 7, but after almost 3 mins, the capture just stops! HDVSplit won't acknowledge the camera at all and I have done the connections just as has been suggested. I used Video Studio 11+, but that also failed after a few minutes. Both programs became non-responsive altogether. I got rid of VS11+ in the end. Now I used WinDV to capture and it has never failed or dropped a frame. Obviously I'm losing out on the m2t format, but is that a real issue anyway? If so, can anyone tell me what's going on with the HDVSplit or Vegas issue please?

[mark_m]

Firtly, I hope someone reads/answers this as the last post was in July!

Well I shot all my Canon HV20 footage in HDV. I use Vegas 7, but after almost 3 mins, the capture just stops! HDVSplit won't acknowledge the camera at all and I have done the connections just as has been suggested. I used Video Studio 11+, but that also failed after a few minutes. Both programs became non-responsive altogether. I got rid of VS11+ in the end. Now I used WinDV to capture and it has never failed or dropped a frame. Obviously I'm losing out on the m2t format, but is that a real issue anyway? If so, can anyone tell me what's going on with the HDVSplit or Vegas issue please?

Make sure you have the latest "DirectX end-user runtime" updates from MS; I have a HV20 and couldn't capture until the update was done:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx?displaylang=en

I'm trialling VS11Plus; which works well for HDV transfer. HDVSplit also works well and can embed the video-shoot time-codes into the filenames VS11 uses the transfer-date&time instead, which isn't half as useful.

Sorry, I can't help you with Vegas as I don't have it.

HTH,

Mark

[edDV]

Firtly, I hope someone reads/answers this as the last post was in July!

Well I shot all my Canon HV20 footage in HDV. I use Vegas 7, but after almost 3 mins, the capture just stops! HDVSplit won't acknowledge the camera at all and I have done the connections just as has been suggested. I used Video Studio 11+, but that also failed after a few minutes. Both programs became non-responsive altogether. I got rid of VS11+ in the end. Now I used WinDV to capture and it has never failed or dropped a frame. Obviously I'm losing out on the m2t format, but is that a real issue anyway? If so, can anyone tell me what's going on with the HDVSplit or Vegas issue please?

Make sure you have the latest "DirectX end-user runtime" updates from MS; I have a HV20 and couldn't capture until the update was done:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx?displaylang=en

I'm trialling VS11Plus; which works well for HDV transfer. HDVSplit also works well and can embed the video-shoot time-codes into the filenames VS11 uses the transfer-date&time instead, which isn't half as useful.

Sorry, I can't help you with Vegas as I don't have it.

HTH,

Mark

Ahh Thankyou. That fixed several problems I've been having with Vista video capture including getting WinDV working correctly under Vista. I wonder why this DirectX update doesn't show up under Windows Update?

[johnkh]

I have been searching, and this topic seems most applicable to me. I have a Canon XH A1 HDV video camera and I can't get the AVI video into the computer. I had previously used Ulead VideoStudio 9 for my miniDV capture. Now that I bought a HDV video camera, I was able to capture using Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, but that is to MPEG which looses the timecode from the stream and is bulky software.

So, I am trying WinDV. I did the DirectX update above. WinDV sounds great, but for me it says:
Error: Can't find DV output pin.

The guides say I should see:
Video source:
Microsoft DV Camera and VCR

I see:
Video source:
Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit Device

Does anybody know how I can get the HDV from the tape into the computer as AVI?

Thanks.

[edDV]

I have been searching, and this topic seems most applicable to me. I have a Canon XH A1 HDV video camera and I can't get the AVI video into the computer. I had previously used Ulead VideoStudio 9 for my miniDV capture. Now that I bought a HDV video camera, I was able to capture using Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, but that is to MPEG which looses the timecode from the stream and is bulky software.

So, I am trying WinDV. I did the DirectX update above. WinDV sounds great, but for me it says:
Error: Can't find DV output pin.

The guides say I should see:
Video source:
Microsoft DV Camera and VCR

I see:
Video source:
Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit Device

Does anybody know how I can get the HDV from the tape into the computer as AVI?

Thanks.

WinDV is only for 720x480 DV format not HDV. The only way to get WinDV to work is to switch the camcorder to DV format export.

[U-d]

i'm using hv20 and transfer using vegas 7, and it was fine.

[zoobie]

If your cap ap is having probs, try setting your cam output to HDV only (not auto). The auto setting can screw up the ap...worth a shot anyway.
If using VS11, make sure it's VS11+ (Plus)...free upgrade to 11.5, too.

[E_D_George]

Johnkh: see my article https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/316569-Canon-HV20-30-40-IEEE-1394-connectivity-issu...ith-Windows-XP. Let me know if it helps or if you still have issues.