Canon HV20 can't capture to Adobe CS6

[beetlejuicerocks]

Hi there,

I've been researching the web all morning from posts several years ago. I recently purchased Adobe Premiere CS6, and am now finally undergoing a project with footage I shot 5 years ago with my Canon HV20 camcorder. I used to use shoot with this camcorder and edit with Final Cut 7 on an older IMac that is no more. Now I am working on a 2012 MacBook Pro -- bought a new cable since the firewire is 800, not 400 which was the older cable I used to connect my camcorder to my desktop.

Anyway, the cable works -- and I can see the video within my batch capture screen. Yet when I go to record, the only thing that records is an mp3, which has nothing on it. My camera settings and capture settings match (HDV). I've seen past posts where people suggested switching the camera setting and capture setting from HDV to DV, but that didn't work for me. I've also tried changing the timecode setting for kicks to non-drop frames. I've also seen people recommend replacing the firewire card, which I would also prefer an easier solution. Is my camcorder too old for CS6? The only solutions I saw online were from older versions of CS. My only recent editing projects have been things shot from DSLR cameras, where people gave me mov files. It's been a while since I tried to do batch capturing from a camcorder...and I can't seem to figure this out. If anyone has any tips that would be so, so, so appreciated.

Thanks very much!!!

[smrpix]

Firewire 800 does not work directly for camera control/capture. An option that usually works is to add a FW800->Thunderbolt adapter into your chain.

[beetlejuicerocks]

Thank you smrpix! Do you happen to know if a FW800->Thunderbolt adapter would work with a 2012 macbook? I happen to be in Germany right now (I'm American), and the clerk told me thunderbolt wouldn't work because my macbook is too old. Do you know if that's true? I'm thinking perhaps I may not have understood him exactly.

[smrpix]

Thunderbolt was introduced at the end of 2011. Either you have a thunderbolt port or you don't. If you do, the FW400->FW800->Thunderbolt configuration will probably work. If you don't, and you only have FW800 on your mac, you're going to have to borrow another computer.

[2Bdecided]

There are threads out there where people have problems with 800>400 converters, but get it working eventually. Mostly with Final Cut Pro though. You've probably seen the same.

Anecdotally it's very easy to break the Firewire port on an HV20, but as you can see the video in batch capture on the computer, it looks like you have no problem there.


20-years-too-late-note-to-self: transfer the footage as soon as you can. Don't rely on old equipment still working or being compatible with new equipment years down the line.

Cheers,
David.

[beetlejuicerocks]

thank you very much for all the advice! strangely, i got the cable to work. turning my camera on and off, and unplugging a hundred times -- somehow it's working now. i can't explain it. i did have to change the settings on the camera and capture to DV -- but it seems to be capturing just fine.

thanks again, and yes i'm not waiting 5 years to work on a project ever again.

[2Bdecided]

I wouldn't want to dumb down HD video to SD before editing it in 2015, but that's up to you. That camera's internal HDV>DV conversion isn't perfect, but if you're happy with what you're doing anyway, then the conversion quality is good enough.

If you can make it work with DV, it doesn't sound like an interface problem. With the right software+camera settings, it should work with HDV. I realise it sometimes seems like you need magic to make HDV over Firewire work properly. That's true on Windows PCs sometimes too.

Cheers,
David.