Questions - Canon HV30/HV20 users

After reading several reviews I’m thinking of purchasing a Canon HV30 camcorder to do some HD recording. Yet I am proceeding with caution - HD files are huge and I’m wondering in a generally way how my - intel 24” 2.15 GHz - RAM at 3gig iMac will perform? Will it perform real time video captures etc. with this tape based camera? I am a patient sort of person and don’t mind waiting for things to process but is it even reasonable to use this setup for HD.
2nd Question --
– I use iMovie 6 and Final Cut Express 3.5. I have several large capacity FW 800 external drives connected to the iMac I would like to use with this camcorder.
However there's always unexpected things like I have read the Canon HV30 uses FW400 port and does not like any other FW devices connected when capturing video to the computer – So does that include the FW800 port as well?
Perhaps a few of you have some experience with the HV30 or HV20 - I’d like to hear your thoughts on what to expect - would it be a good choice. What are your brags and nags about your HV30?
I know that's subjective but I'm looking for good video quality - ease of editing and having the ability to save the edited movie back to tape. Latter when bluray media and burners get more reasonable I may burn the edited movies to disk.
Thanks for any thoughts,
Steve
800 mhz eMac 768MBs RAM - 2gig 17" G5 iMac, 24" 2.1gig iMac 3g RAM Mac OS X (10.4.11)
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Hi Ron,
Sorry your having problems - If you live near an Apple store or a friend that has latter hardware/software on their Mac try the HV30 at least you wold know if somethings wrong with the cameras FW port or not. Perhaps you can get the camera exchanged. I have head from quite a number of folks their HV30 work fine with Macs, iMovie an FCE.
I went ahead and purchased the HV30 it should arrive early this coming week -
One thing - As I mentioned before in other posts to this board I do have a Canon gl2 and it is very touchy about any other FW devices connected most times the computer will not even recognize the camera. Try the HV30 as the only device on the FW port. I'm using iMovie 6.0.4 and FCE 3.5 I'll post how things go - you have got me a little worried though.
My 2 cents - best wishes,
Steve
Message was edited by: Steve Anderson5

Similar Messages

Canon HV30 Question

Hello.
I just purchased a Canon HV30. I shot some sample footage in HDV. Then created an easy setup in FCP...HDV 1080i60 Firewire Basic (1440x1080). I captured the footage and placed the footage on the timeline..The footage however needs to be rendered...Is that how it works? All HDV footage needs to be rendered? Or do I have my sequence settings wrong? My sequence is set to 1140x1080 HD 16:9.
Thanks for your help.
Ian

#28 Having to render every clip in the timeline
Shane's Stock Answer #28: When I put a clip in the timline, I have to render it before it will play. Why?
Your clip settings MUST match your timeline settings. If you have DV/NTSC material, you need a DV/NTSC timeline. The frame rate, audio rate and dimensions (4:3, 16:9) all need to match exactly.
The most important thing you need to do is properly set up your project from the start. It is always advisable to use the Easy Setups. Here is an in-depth article on the topic:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/settings_fcp_5balis.html
Shane

Question about canon HV30

(FCS 2)
I have been shooting DV for a few years, and have had no real issues.
At work, we just bought a Canon HV30. I have never shot in HD. (As I am sure you know) it shoots in 3 modes:
HDV (1080i)
HDV 30 (progressive)
HDV 24 (progressive 24 fps)
Most of our work right now will be for web. Down the road I see us burning HD DVD.
What format should I be using???
Also, I have shot some talking head footage using HDV 1080i.
When do I need to de-interlace? At what stage do I de-interlace? That part has been confusing me.
Should I just stick with shooting progressive?
I really appreciate any advice.

Okay Here's a guide. This will give you some awesome looking footage to work with:
1. Setup your Audio/Video Settings.
2. Sequence Preset: HDV- 1080i60
3. Capture Preset: HDV
4. Device Control: HDV Firewire Basic
5. Video playback: Off
6. Audio playback: Built-in Audio
7. Plug in your HV-30 via firewire
8. Click on Log and Capture
9. The HV30 will auto create scenes when you start / stopped the tape. (Very Useful)
10. After your footage has been captured, open JES Deinterlacer.
You can get it here: http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeschot/home.html
Make sure you get the right version for your OS.
Now all footage is captured at 29.97 JES Deinterlacer will go in get rid of the duplicate frames and get it at a nice 23.976.
Now in JES do the following:
1. Go to "input" and select the footage you'd like to convert.
2. Put checks in the boxes for: "Top field first" and "video range"
3. In the "Project" tab select "Inverse Telecine" from the drop down menu. Then
check "Detect Cadence Breaks" and "Output frame rate 23.976"
4. In the "Output" tab, check "Progressive" and do a "Direct" output with "Photo-JPEG" as the compressor.
You are going to be changing the footage from HDV MOV to Photo JPEG MOV. There is absolutely no loss of quality in fact it will look so much better than what you captured and will be 24P.
The frame rate on the clips should now be 23.976 with about 20mbs data rate. The original capture files are no longer needed and can be deleted, but first! check your new converted files in FCP. Then delete the original capture files.
Now it's time to bring it all back to FCP
1. Create a new sequence.
2. Change the sequence settings to:
Frame Size: 1440x1080 HD 16x9
Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD 1440x1080
Field Dominance: None
Compressor: Photo-JPEG Quality 100%
Audio: 48kHz 16bit, default config
Check it out in the timeline. I think you will be impressed in the power of that little HV30.
Basically what you just did was when the HV30 records it puts a 60i wrapper around your 24P footage. This method will take off the wrapper and you get awesome looking 24P footage!
- Hope this helps!

Best Settings using the new Canon HV30 and Final Cut Express HD v3.5.1?

My wife presents programs at schools and uses digital movies that we make and edit as one of her media materials. We want to present higher quality videos that look more film-like. I am hoping that the combination I described above will enable this improvement. In the past we used a Canon ZR20 and iMovie HD and put these on DVD's that were then played on a MacBook Pro with with QuickTime or iDVD hooked up to an Epson PowerLite projector.
I am now the proud owner of a new Canon HV30 and Final Cut Express HD3.5.1 (had FCE for a while so know how to use it). From my research, though, it looks like FCE will not be able to handle CINE MODE recording in combination with 24fps progressive frame rate [HDV(PF24)] which would allow the enhanced effect of the Cinema Mode. I can't justify the cost of Final Cut Studio 2 so I am hoping that the new [HDV(PF30)] will allow me to more easily edit in FCE.
Does anyone know if this is true and if so can please tell me the settings that I need both on the camera and in FCE to get the best quality movie that can played directly from my MacPro using QuickTime or iDVD or from a DVD in the MacPro using the iDVD player. I won't have the opportunity to always play the videos directly from the camera to an HDTV because of the school setting and the need to use a projector.
I know this is a lot to ask for, but I am sure that it will come up again and again as more people purchase this new camera. Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
Lou Hosta

Without totally repeating myself with my post to MaccyLeopard, I haven't shot any footage yet. After doing a lot of reading I think I confused myself more than helped myself as far as settings go. So if you remember from my initial post I am asking for advice and guidance primarily on camera settings with the HV30 that will be used in a classroom (artroom) setting and then edited using FCE HD v3.5.1. I wish I was the type of person that could jump right into using a new piece of equipment but I like to get the advice of others beforehand. That way I'm not always questioning myself as to 'whether or not is this the best I can get'. I also am wondering if the 30fps frame mode would be the best to use in the classroom setting? From my reading, this mode should allow more light onto the tape allowing me to shoot in conditions with lower light levels that are typically found inside? Finally, is FCE HD able to edit this new 30 fps frame mode of the HD30? I've heard that FCE HD can't handle the 20 fps frame mode.
Thanks for taking the time to help me out.
Sincerely,
Lou Hosta

Can't Import HDV 24p with Canon HV30

So I have the common and very low budget Canon HV30 HDV Camcorder, which has the ability to shoot in 24p. The only options I have when importing footage from a tape in Pr are HDV or DV, even though the Sequence format is HDV 1080 24p. After importing, the clips are at the standard HDV 1080 60i instead. Is there a way to capture the footage with the correct frame rate, or do I have to do a pull down removal in After Effects? :(

"Not all of them offer a recording format that can do proper pulldown removal, though Josh. The Panasonic 24p mode is to be edited in a standard 30i preset. Only the 24pA mode offers a pulldown that can be properly removed for editing in a 24p preset."
Jim I know the difference between 24p and 24pa, sounds like Harm doesn't though explain it to him. All I was trying to get across is: Just because a dv tape can only record 60i doesn't mean you can get progressive frames from it.
I did a google search and there a ton of info about dv30 and 24p. The whole point of that camera is that it shoots 24p, it's cheap and a lot of indie people use it to shoot shorts and even features. There's whole websites about that camera because it can shoot 24p. Click below.
http://www.hv20.com/archive/index.php?f-32.html
http://www.hv20.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32&order=desc&page=25
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx?128@@.59b4f4af

Advice needed!!! Imac 27"/Canon HV30 capture/FW 800 compatability.

Greetings.
I have been really intrigued by the new 27" i5/i7 Imacs. Basically getting a computer along with the monitor. I realize the expansion short comings, but until I get little busier (or richer) a Mac Pro along with a new display is sort of out of reach.
Has anyone had a chance to actually capture video with FC from a Canon HV30/40 via FW from camera to the FW 800 port on the Imac? Can it be done? I have always hooked up the FW cable from the camera to a FW 400 port on my G5 and I've had no problems.
I'm assuming there would need to be an adapter that makes FW400 plug into a FW800 port, or maybe it's as simple as anew cable.
My last question: If I have a Lacie 1 TB external connected to the Imac via the FW 800, that leaves nowhere to attach camera for capture.
However, on the back of my Lacie, I have a FW400 port. Can I hook the camera to that port and capture video from the camera that way?
If you can't do that, then it seems the only way to capture video from an HV30 is to connect the camera to the FW800 (if possible at all) capture to the start-up drive, and then move all captured files to the external after capture.
Help, please. I need to do something really soon.
Thanks.
Jonathan

There in a nutshell is the exact problem with the imac and final cut. If I were you, I'd take my camera and the drive and hop over to your nearest apple store and try plugging the camera into the drive and the drive into the imac and seeing if you have any problems capturing. Don't forget that canons don't always play nice with other devices on the same bus.

Using Canon HV30 in 30p mode - settings for FCE?

I'm a little confused about the best settings in FCE for capturing video shot in 30p mode on a Canon HV30. I know (from the manual) that the HV30 records the 30p video at 1080i specifications.
Should the Easy Setup be set for AIC 1080i60, or AIC 720p30 (I don't see an option for 1080p30)? I want my end result to be progressive, not interlaced. The movies will be burned on DVDs, for display on computers, regular TVs, and HD TVs.
Likewise, when I create a sequence, should I select AIC 1440x1080i60, or AIC 720p30?
FCE seems to gladly let me use any combination of these. If the answer is “it depends”, then what does it depend on?
Thanks.

coachwpb wrote:
I am just learning a lot of this stuff, but here's my 2 cents...
Yeah, I've been using FCE for a couple of months with my Elura 65 SD camcorder. I just got my HV30 last week, so I'm trying to wrap my brain around all the HD options.
I just bought the HV30 a few weeks ago. I set my Easy Setup to 1080i60 and it captures fine (remember, though, your capture screen will be different than regular DV capture. It will have no controls, just the screen and you press esc when you're done.)
I've noted that FCE often doesn't recognize ESC when I hit it. When that happens, I manually stop the camcorder, and the FCE thinks it's reached the end-of-tape, which has the same effect.
Once you import it, it will show as 1440x1080, even though you may have read stuff in the manual about 1920x1080. 1440 is what it captures at b/c that's how it is able to store it on miniDV tapes. This is a miniDV thing, not a FCE thing. (I spent a few days on that one!)
When working with it in FCE, you will see the sequence and captured video settings as 1440x1080 (I believe the sequence will be created from settings specified in the Easy Setup, so it'll be 1440x1080.) When you export it, however, you will see the info on the exported file as 1920x1080.
I do not think you are going to have a choice in shooting at 720p with the HV30, or at least I have personally not found a way to do that.
I was looking at the 720p option just because it was the only one that indicated Progressive.
I believe I've heard that one can use the 720p import option to reduce the capture file size, at the expense of some resolution (but it's still HD). Anyone have any comments on that?
In terms of all the destinations you're seeking for this video, saddle up, because you're in for quite a ride figuring out this HD stuff. It is not trivial. I am so frustrated at the moment with much of it that I'm likely to shoot in regular DV mode for a while until this stuff settles down into some easier (read: more commonly adopted) ways to work with HD video.
My final destination is a DVD via iDVD. It seems that just exporting as a QuickTime movie (not Using QuickTime Conversion...), selecting Audio and Video, and Include Chapter Markers (if I'm using them), produces a .mov file that drops right into iDVD. I also choose Make Movie Self-Contained, which results in large files, but I want to archive them and don't want them location-dependent.
My advise is to start playing around with it (using short clips!) and testing some stuff out, then posting specific questions to what you're trying to accomplish. These forums are amazing. And I just ordered Tom Wolsky's book on FCE 4 as he is a machine on these forums and I've read great things about the book.
That's what I've been doing.
And I'm also a Wolsky fanboy - I purchased his +Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop+ shortly after I started learning FCE, and that book has been very helpful. My main issue right now is coordinating the settings in my HV30 with the FCE settings.
Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
-Gordon

Canon HV30 Tape Recommendation

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001G7UAII
Hi
Just got a brand new Canon HV30 and want to use the best tapes for it.I shall never re-use them but shoot once and archive them.
Would you suggest this 5 pack deal to be fair choice or is there another option?
Thanks

I understand the school of thought regarding keeping to one manufacturer for life of the camera and that is exactly what i plan to do but i have a few questions.
I intend to keep the camera for next few years so would be annoyed to find they discontinue it.
I've read that Sony use a 'wet' style of lubrication and Panny use a more prefered dry tape.
Seller advises that :
http://www.tapecity.co.uk/acatalog/info_2.html are the very best
and http://www.tapecity.co.uk/acatalog/info_356.html are standard but the most popular.
but ive also read great review about these Panny's http://www.tapecity.co.uk/acatalog/info_143.html
thanks for all your advice so far guys

Canon HV30 - not showing up ??

I have FCS2 and a HV30 for the deck. I'm an avid PC Avid user (hmmm, pun or what :o) and I am now learning FCP/FCS2 and have created my first project and like the file set up so far and ready to make my first capture and have hooked up my Canon HV30 and "no capture device" is showing up.
I've tried disconnecting, turning it off/on, plugging in the back, rebooting with the camera connected, connected, connected on/off, etc., you name it I've probably tried it.
Any ideas how to get my camera SEEN ???

Well, you CAN do something else while capturing, but there is no guarantee that you won't drop frames. It is possible, but not 100%
Your drive cannot be formatted as FAT32, or you will run into space issues. You need to format it MacOS Extended. Go into the Disk Utility and try again.
And did you set that drive up as the SCRATCH DISK, in the System Preferences? If not, FCP defaults to capturing to your system drive. In the documents folder in FINAL CUT PRO DOCUMENTS>
Shane

Canon HV30 Capture Setup

For information only (not a question). Several posters have complained about the capture of HDV from a Canon HV30 in FCE. Their complaint is that when connecting the camera via firewire only a few seconds of video is captured before ‘End of Tape’ is encountered and capture stops. Here is my solution. I have a very modest system (iBook G4 using OSX 10.4.11 with a 1.33GHz processor). I run FCE 4.0.1 on the internal hard drive and capture the HD video to an external 1TB LaCie Big Disk extreme+. I use the Easy Setup: Format HD; Use: HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60 and then use File > Capture to capture video from the Canon HV30 HDV camera*. The critical factor is to connect the external hard drive (LaCie in my case) to the system using the USB 2.0 connection and the Camera to the system via Firewire.* I have imported several one hour tapes (60GB each) without any problems. New clips, of course, are produced at camera scene changes but the entire tape is captured. My system runs behind the camera about 65% when transcoding the video to the Apple codec. I reconnect the external drive via firewire after the capture for editing. Hope this helps someone get connected.

You mentioned the size limit issue. I have an hour-long video shot on HD on the HV30. I capture it on FCE (no problems on my end with this) and it ends up a 30 GB file before I can even start editing. I give the same tape to my friend with a PC and he pulls out an unedited ~ one (1) GB file. Is this size difference a PC vs Mac thing where I'm dealing with the Apple Intermediate Codec and he doesnt't have to, or am I missing a simple conversion step somewhere between capturing, editing and exporting that I need to do in order to end up with a smaller movie file? I've found that trying to edit and export a 30GB simply takes too much time and I'm sincerely hoping there's a way to end up with a movie still HD without loss of resolution. Or is there some other reason I'm not thinking of?

To purchase Canon HV30?

I have a Canon Elura 100. Nice quality video.
If I do not shoot in HD, is Canon HV30 that much better?
Thanks in advance for any help with this non-imovie specific question!

Read good reviews here:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

Importing footage from my canon hv30 video looks slow why?

Footage done in canon hv30 HD looks a bit slow audio is ok. I try putting case in none and it looks just a bit better. somebody?

This camera doesn't actually shoot 24fps. It shoots 24 over 60.
"You can change the camcorder's frame capture rate to 24p (recorded at 60i), which provides the appearance of the same frame rate as movie film." (From the Canon web site)
This means the tape is actually recording 29.97 with pulldown added to make up the difference.
Bottom line: the media is 29.97, what iMovie calls 30.

Premiere Elements 11 no longer recognizes Canon HV30

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated to my problem. I have been using PE 11 to download HD camcorder footage from my Canon HV30 camcorder to hard drive. I've gone through about 15 tapes and all was going well. Two days ago I went to download the next tape and PE no longer recognizes the Canon.
My setup: Windows 7. Canon HV30 connected to PC using Firewire cable. Drivers updated, etc. The cable appears fine (if I force PE to switch to "standard definition camcorder" the Canon appears as "Microsoft Camcorder" and PE will control the camcorder). I have tried plugging/unplugging cable at various times; starting PE with and without camera plugged in; uninstalled and reinstalled drivers for the firewire card. I am now at my wit's end.
The only change between when I last downloaded footage on Sunday and Wednesday was a MS Windows update and Quicktime update. So I have uninstalled Quicktime. Went through the same tests: start with/without Canon turned on; reboot, etc. Nothing works and I'm at a loss. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Pacoinmass
First thing, quickly reinstall the latest verison of QuickTime or use the version that was just updated. QuickTime is a requirement.
If you want the 7.7.4 prior version, please try the following link. But, for now I would go with the latest version of QuickTime 7.7.5.
http://www.oldapps.com/quicktime_player.php
Download and install HDVSplit and do a capture firewire with it. That will give you split clips MPEG2.m2t to put on your Timeline.
Here we are using it as a troubleshooting tool. If it works, it may become your permanent tool.
Did you remove the Windows Update?
In Edit Menu/Preferences/Scratch Disks, where do you have the Captured Video and Captured Audio fills directed? How much free hard drive space is at that location?
Please review and let us know if any of the above had any impact on your situation.
Thanks.
ATR

Connecting Canon HV30 to New Macbook pro with firewire 800

I just received new Macbook pro 2.8 that only has 9 pin firewire 800 connectivity. My previous IMac accepted my Canon HV30 HD video through 4-6 pin firewire 400 with ease, the new laptop will receive the video through 4-9 pin cable but the video color is severely distorted and unusable. Is there a problem with firewire 400 to 800 transfer compatibility?

Yeah, FW400 is compatible with FW800. Only need to find the conversion cable with the correct connectors.Try getting that first and connecting the two, to see if the Mac recognizes it and enables capture. Else visit the camera maker's site to check if they are providing Mac-specific software.

Interlaced frames after using Apple directions for Canon HV30 24p

I have an Canon HV30 HDV video camera and clips that have been recorded using its 24p mode. I'm using the instruction Apple has given to remedy this type of footage in Compressor and output to Pro Res:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2410?viewlocale=en_US
I've tried this method a couple of times and carefully also. Everything seems to work well other than the fact that I am getting interlaced frames on the last one or two frames of each clip. Sometimes it's the beginning of the clips. As they are supposed to, clips are changing to 24p and when I step through a clip frame by frame everything looks fine, except for those last couple frames. Other methods, like using JES Deinterlacer, do not produce these distorted interlaced frames. However I would prefer to use Compressor. Could it be that I changed some setting or preference in Compressor a while back that is affecting these clips right now?
Please help!
Once again, using Final Cut Studio 2 and a Canon HV30 with 24p clips.

Hello,
I experienced the same thing. But I feel that the first second or two of any clip is not useable, when
editing I have never needed every last frame.
This is not much of a help to you. I think it has to do with the mysteries of HDV, Long GOP, and 2 t0 3 pulldown and the complex post processing that must happen to yield 24 full frames.
Good luck, Tom

Questions - Canon HV30/HV20 users

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