What To Buy? Canon HV20 or Cannon HG10

After a year of watching HD video on my LCD TV, I'm ready to make the move to a new HiDef camcorder. After reading many reviews I am considering the Cannon HV20. But am also interested in the HG10. I use iMoveHD6.... not interest in iMovie8. Any thoughts about what to buy from you HD video makers out there?

Karsten,
I have also been looking at the same two cameras. Has anything changed on the use of the HG10 since your last posting on Nov. 20th?
I currently have the HV10 (mini dv tape) and have been looking at the HV20 but the HG10 is appealing.
It has firewire out so I assumed it would write to the Mac hard drive the same as the tape unit. Seems the output would be the same ... but what do I know??
Harold

Similar Messages

What are the settings for capturing video from Canon HV20

Hi All,
I want to capture video from Canon HV20 with Premiere Elements 11. What kind of settings should I use to capture the video with full information?
Here is what I did:
1) According the manual, I went to Capture settings panel (Edit > Project Settings > Capture) and selected HDV as capture format, because my video is at high definition.
2) In addition, I checked "Capture to Timeline" and "Split Scenes by cotent".
Are these settings enough?
Thanks.

HV20user
Sounds reasonable, using Add Media/HDV Camcorder, but....
Have you reviewed the Adobe write up on Premiere Elements 11 DV and HDV capture firewire into it.
http://help.adobe.com/fr_FR/premiereelements/using/WS5CDA0F91-60F1-4b79-ABF6-E9E75F498DB2. html#WS2AF26FB5-4C63-4c46-9DB3-7249558F6528
The mention of Get Media instead of Add Media makes me wonder if the video's instructor was demo'ing from Premiere Elements 10, but...
Major factors have always included having Premiere Elements project preset set correctly to correspond to your camera settings...For HDV data capture firewire...
NTSC HDV HDV 1080p30 or PAL HDV HDV 1080p25 depending on if you are targeting a NTSC or PAL area where frame rates are typically a consideration.
I had not done any DV or HDV data capture firewire into Premiere Elements. But, Premiere Elements 11's take over of the project preset setting would encourage me to encourage you to verify your project settings before the capture.
There are probably many more, but the following is online discussion of one Canon HV20 issue
http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/316970-video-capture-problems-HV20-camcorder-is-control led-but-no-video-capture
If you experience difficulty with the HDV capture fireware into Premiere Elements 11, you might consider what some others have done in this regard, that is, use HDVSplit for the capture firewire and then import the split (.m2t) clips "Add Media" into Premiere Elements 11 with the appropriate HDV HDV 1080p (1440 x 1080 HD anamorphic 16:9) project preset.
Please update us on your progress when you get a chance.
Thanks.
ATR

Video out to Canon HV20

I am using an Imac 20" Intel with 2G Ram, a 500 GB Lacie External drive for my media and a Canon HV20 Camcorder for material.
I was able to capture my HD footage with no problem to FCE 4.0, edited my footage and created a DVD with IDVD with no problem. Want to delete the media and start a new project. However, I read somewhere that it is a good idea to save your completed sequence back to MiniDV to keep a backup of the highest quality video for use to create HD DVDs in the future.
This is where my problems start. As I said, I have no problem capturing but for whatever reason it will not record back to my camcorder (which based on the info in my Canon manual and a check with Cannon support) I am doing everything right on the camcorder end. Camera gives error when I start the recording process of "Check the HDV/DV input" and I don't see the footage on my camcorder.
I have tried Print to Video and recording via the timeline and neither will work. Spent 2 hours on phone with Technical support yesterday and then even went to the Apple store with some footage, my camera and my firewire cable only to be told that they could only help if I brought that and my computer and my external hard drive (and then they would only try to figure something out for 20 minutes)
I am sure there is some setting that is frustrating the camera but can't figure it out....any help would be appreciated.

Hi,
I had similar trouble and came accross your post. I have since got mine to work (see below).
What is the format of the sequence you are trying to export? Is it 1080i, 720p, or something else?
My workflow involved importing clips from the Canon HV20 using iMovie at the 540p import setting (960 x 540 pixels). I would then edit in FCE 4, and my sequence settings would adjust automatically to my clips, i.e. 540p. When I tried to "print to tape" FCE would begin to export and I would hit OK on the computer screen, but the camera would not start recording.
I did some troubleshooting. What I had to do was create a new sequence 1080i and then copy/paste my edits from the 540p sequence into the 1080i sequence (and correct some incorrect motion on still images, because the resolution of the sequences were different). Now, when I "print to tape" the 1080i sequence, FCE actually does a HDV transcoding step (which takes a while on my iMac) and then the Canon HV20 records the sequence no problem. Of course, when viewed on the Canon HV20 miniDV tape to my HDTV the quality is a bit less than the original because of the down sampling to 540p. But anyway, I have an archived copy of my work. I have also had successfull "print to tape", with the HDV transcoding, using a 720p sequence.
The Lesson Learned: Import at full 1080i, or 720p, and make sure sequences match your import settings. Otherwise, you will end up mucking around with a bunch of conversion issues.
If there is another way to get non-1080i material to print to the HV20?? I'd love to hear about it since I have a couple of other very complicated sequences in 540p. I will be buying a bigger external hard disk to go 100% 1080i in the future. Live and learn.
Hope this helped,
Mace

Canon HV20 compatibility

Sorry...I would seach the forum with this question but the "search" feature is down due to iPhone overload. I'm getting ready to move from standard def to High Def with the purchase of a new camcorder. I'm looking at the Canon HV20 and was wondering how well it works with iMovie. Any feedback anyone?

I might not be much help... but anyway, I bought the Canon HV20 just a few days ago.. and right now I'm truly playing around with it. Thing about the HV20 is that it doesn't come with a firewire cable. I had to buy it today "6 PIN to 4 PIN Cable." From what I can tell the HV20 works well with iMovie.. You can record HD Video from the camcorder right on to iMovie... (I think) I put in a blank tape into the camcorder.. put it on camera mode.. and I pressed import on iMovie. It's laggy... but the quality is still great. I'm not sure if it's laggy due to how big the HD file is.. or if I just don't have it right... Nevertheless, the Canon HV20 is a great buy! (I haven't recorded something on the tape and imported the video yet... but I don't see why I would have trouble with it)

PE7 unable to recognize Canon HV20 as High Definition

Hello Everyone:
Unfortunately like some of you that probably want to try your hand at high definition editing, I just bought PE7 a couple of days before the announcement for PE8. For some reason I find that PE7 (and my previous PE3) cannot recognize my Canon HV20 as the high definition camera that it is.
I can easily import regular dv-avi from this Canon but when trying to import the files as HDV, it does not recognize the camera.
The camera is connected via firewire and is recognized as 'DV' Camcorder but not as an 'HDV' camcorder. The footage has been recorded in High defintion 1080.
I hope that one of you with this type of camera can help.
On another note, is it possible to record into PE7 with HDMI?
Thanks,
Lucio
email: [email protected]
my computer: HP m9077c, Intel core 2 Quad core Q6600, 32 bit, 3G Ram, service pack 1 with all the current microsoft updates, 400G internal HD and 1T external HD

Lucio,
Perhaps a different capture card is needed or Vista Ultimate (instead of the Home Premium that I have).
A FireWire connection should be all that you will need. No "capture card" would be involved.
There don't seem to be many setting available for transferring beside an 'AV-DV' on-off (which I keep on).
Because my Canon is an SD-only unit, I can't really check its manual to help you. This line puzzles me a bit. What happens if you set this to OFF? Considering the number of menu options and switches that I have on my SD camera, I'd have expected your HD/SD unit to have more possible settings, but maybe I'm wrong and Canon has simplified things a lot.
Good luck,
Hunt

Final Cut Studio 2 and Canon hv20

I'm currently working on Final Cut Studio 2 and I'm looking at buying a Canon HV20. I've looked into some threads on this one and it seems that people are having trouble with this camera on FC Studio 2. Is there anyone out there that can attest to smooth and efficient workflow with this set up? A major selling point for me is the 24p, tell me it works well, please tell me it works well.
thank you,
t r e y v o n

HV20 works perfectly at 24p in FCP 6.0.2.
Added advantage is that you can capture uncompressed (with HDMI card and fast drive/RAID) at much higher quality and resolution than HDV.
Quality is so good, you can create great 1920 x 1080 24p green screen shots (using 4:2:2 color space from HDMI) and dvMatte Pro 3.
The next step up to get better quality at 24p is around $5K-$6K range (I think?).
Here's a small image of a 24p frame shot on green screen with the HV20:
http://www.ecophones.com/embed/printplace.jpg

I do video productions for a small local TV station. I use Final Cut Express to edit. I need a new video camera but am at a loss as to what to buy. I know I will get a digital camera but do not know the difference between just digital and digital HD.

I do video productions for a small local TV station. I use Final Cut Express to edit. I need a new video camera but am at a loss as to what to buy. I know I will get a digital camera but do not know the difference between just digital and digital HD. Also, I can not afford an expensive camera and need some advice on which of the available cameras would be best and also work well with a Mac. One last issue, I currently use a Panasonic #CCD camera that takes a tape. When I load video to Final Cut the audio and video are out of sinc. Go figure. Can anyone help with these questions. Karen

Hello Karen,
If you are using Final Cut Express, then look for camcorders that are AVCHD camcorders. Look especially for the AVCHD logo and specific mention of AVCHD in the specs. Most of the major manufacturers produce good quality camdcorders - Canon, Sony, etc.
Also, be aware that there are a lot of "not quite AVCHD" camcorders on the market (sometimes they say they record video as MPEG4-H.264/AVC) - buyer beware!
Most everything you are going to find on the market today is HD, which stands for "high-def".
Regarding your question about the Panasonic camcorder, it's best if you post that as a separate question, and please identify the specific model camcorder and the Easy Setup you are using in FCE.

Premiere Pro 1.5.1 HDV VIDEO CAPTURE - Canon HV20

Hi,
For the life of me I cannot get my camera to capture in HDV. I can switch over to DV and it will capture everything just fine. The settings I recorded in are HDV standard, Widescreen 29fps. Not the 24. But it just tells me the device is ofline no matter what I try. I grabbed a stand alone CineForm HDLink and that doesn't detect it either. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The Client wants HD, not DV.
Premiere Pro 1.5.1 HDV VIDEO CAPTURE - Canon HV20 firewire
Thanks in advance!

Ok, I spoke to soon. I kept searching and searching. Finally found this..
http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=12131
My camera was locked in DV mode. So I had to switch it to HDV/DV
"b) As many have said you need to be sure that the camera is set ot output in HDV, and not DV locked. Because I am a bit of a dunce I found it difficult to locate that, even with the manual so here are some foolproof instructions on how to get there:
in "Play" Mode > FUNC > MENU > PLAY/OUT SETUP2 > DV OUTPUT [set this to HDV/DV]"
That did it.

Removing Pulldown from Canon HV20 shot at 24P

Hello,
I have been trying to understand this whole situation particularly with the Canon HV20 and the 1080p24 mode that the camera offers. It is my understanding that when this video is stored to HDV it is shot onto a 1080i60 timeline, thus when capturing the video capture the video at 1080i60.
Okay, that I can do without a problem. However now I want to remove the pulldown using Cinema Tools to get the video into the proper 1080p24 mode so that it can be edited on a 1080p24 timeline.
I have read two main posts regarding this:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4287943&#4287943
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=89642&highlight=fcp
The user was kind enough to provide the following information:
p-p-i-i-p - aa
p-i-i-p-p - bb
i-p-p-p-i - bc
p-p-p-i-i - cd
However, I understand that this implies the sequencing of the Interlaced and Progressive frames.
With that said, I have no clue how this applies to the options available in Cinema tools. I have zero experience with Cinema Tools other than, "Hey, that looks interesting." just to fiddle around with it for a minute get bored and move on.
Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated and I am sure that there will be other HV20 owners soon popping up with the same question....
PowerMac G5 Quad / MacBook Pro 2.0GHz / PowerMac G4 Cube 1.8GHz Mac OS X (10.4.9) Final Cut Studio - Shake 4.1 - Adobe CS2

If someone can explain how this works or point to
someplace I can learn some more I would appreciate
it.
My apologies in advance for the long winded post.
I’ve seen this question several times but I haven’t yet seen a good answer for this. So I did a little digging and here’s what I can tell you. Any of you experts out there can correct me if need be.
First off, let’s look at how the HV20 actually stores the 24p frames in a 60i format. And let’s ignore the 23.98/29.97fps thing for a while. Remember that for 60i there are 60 interlaced fields every second, each containing half the video lines necessary to make up a complete frame of data. So in order to get a complete frame, it requires 2 fields. This means that 60i really only has 30 frames worth of video every second. Fairly basic stuff… I hope nothing new.
Now let’s break this down a little further, the most basic repeating pattern for this format is 4 progressive frames being fit into 10 interlaced fields (divide both 24 and 60 by 6, don’t ask me why, it’s just the way they did it because it fits.). These 4 progressive frames are referred to as A – B – C – D. What the HV20 (and other cameras) do is convert this to interlaced fields so that it fits inside the 60i data fields. This gives us something like Au – Al – Bu – Bl – Cu – Cl – Du – Dl. Where the “u” and “l” refer to the upper or lower field of video. To make a complete frame you have to reassemble an upper field with a lower field. Now it you’re keeping track, you’ll notice that this only adds up to 8 fields and 10 would be what is needed. So they duplicate 2 fields to get 10 in this fashion: Au – Al – Bu – Bl – Bl – Cu – Cl – Du - Du – Dl. Since it takes 2 sequential fields to make a frame, this sequence normally gets referred to as AA – BB – BC – CD – DD. It shouldn’t be that big of a leap now to see that this can also be referred to as p-p-i-i-p when looked at from a frame (two consecutive fields) perspective, ie: AA is considered progressive, BB is considered progressive, BC is considered interleaved, etc.
FCP uses the AA – BB – BC – CD – DD nomenclature to designate how the cadence of a clip starts.
p-p-i-i-p -> AA – BB – BC – CD – DD -> referred to as AA
p-i-i-p-p -> BB – BC – CD – DD – AA -> referred to as BB
i-i-p-p-p -> BC – CD – DD - AA – BB -> referred to as BC
i-p-p-p-i -> CD – DD - AA – BB – BC -> referred to as CD
p-p-p-i-i -> DD - AA – BB – BC – CD -> referred to as DD
As mentioned before, the easiest way to do this in Cinema Tools is to place the first of 3 p frames in the viewer and the set the cadence to DD.
Hope this helps.
Mark

Will canon hv20 work with imovie4?

I am considering buying the canon hv20 but want to know if it will work with imovie 4. can any one please help. if it wont, does anyone have any suggestions for a video camera in the same price range that will?
many thanks

carlov wrote:
I am considering buying the canon hv20 but want to know if it will work with imovie 4. ...
yes and no
iM vers4 does NOT support HiDef quality as the hv20 delivers...
allthough, afaik, the Canon is able to output HD (HiDef) in SD (standard) ... that should work with iM..
check your set-up with the specs of iLife8 http://www.apple.com/ilife/systemrequirements.html ..
invest 80$, and you get iM08 AND iMHD6 (HD stands for HiDef)
or eBay for a iMHD5 version of iMovie ...

Import HD video with my Canon HV20

Hi, I have a Canon HV20 which is a High Def camera. I bought a firecable at the Apple Store, but now I'm trying to import it into Final Cut. I used the Log and Capture, then went and imported it as HV NTSC 48 Khz. When I burn it with DVD Studio Pro it doesn't look like it is HD. So what is a correct preset that Final Cut will recognize it because when I select like one of the DVDPRO options he won't recognize it. Thank you and much obliged for any help.

Thanks for your reply. I still can't find it in the list, attached is a screen shot. Thank you for your help!
Message was edited by: EBechStein

Canon HV20 24P HDV workflow, Some things with FCP and Quicktime are ODD.

Canon HV20, 24P, HDV, CMOS sensor...
First, I do hope and pray that the FCP dudes are making this work native at HDV 24p -- great!
But until then, there's a workflow (see below) and a real oddity I can't figure out, and if anyone has any thoughts about it that would be great.
Sometimes, the image captured/shown/exported is a lighter picture, and other capture/playing/export methods are darker picture. Example: the captured 60i from Final Cut Pro has a light gamma picture when viewed in Quicktime Player.
But playback in Final Cut Pro appears darker, and rich. But then exporting it out turns it light again, but export out to a MPEG-2 DVD is darker again? ODD.
Can anyone explain the FCP capture size of 1888 x 1062?
Anyhow, here is some workflow success that I had.
Capturing in Final Cut Pro using the HDV 1080/60i setting with HDV firewire basic NDF. But 60i is evil. So that's not enough. Got to get it to 24P,since that allows 20% more bandwidth, space, faster renders, and DVD players can play it.
Transcoding to a regular editing codec before converting to 24P is required. I found that MPEG Streamclip would create a wierd, jagged edges on small moving figures with high contrast, no matter what the settings, so I refuse to use it to export the footage.
So instead, FCP has an additional capture option of "Apple Intermediate Codec" or something like that, which transcribes it on the fly to AIC. I always stayed away from AIC like the plague, but they must have spent some time with it because it's nearly identical to the HDV original.
Next, open up in Quicktime Player, and start the clip on that second P frame. Sounds odd, I know. Goto the first interlaced frame, and back up two frames. Mark the "I", and then move that Out marker to the end, and then Trim the clip to the selection. Do that with all the clips, and then you can batch 24P them all.
If you don't want to find that one frame each time, here are the other settings:
First, open up the clip inside cinema tools, and then select Rev. Telecine button.
Find out which of these your clip is doing at the very beginning:
p-p-i-i-p - aa
p-i-i-p-p - bb
i-p-p-p-i - bc
p-p-p-i-i - cd
i-i-p-p-p - this is no good. must remove at least one frame from the beginning of source file
i = interlaced frame
p = progressive frame
all settings use the F1-F2, style one, standard upper/lower

Sometimes, the image captured/shown/exported is a lighter picture, and other capture/playing/export methods are darker picture. Example: the captured 60i from Final Cut Pro has a light gamma picture when viewed in Quicktime Player.
But playback in Final Cut Pro appears darker, and rich. But then exporting it out turns it light again, but export out to a MPEG-2 DVD is darker again? ODD.
This is known. This happens with ANY footage you look at in FCP and QT player. QT lightens the gamma of the footage. Why? Something to do with adjusting the image for computer monitors.
Shane

Canon HV20 imports footage as a single clip

I have a Canon HV20 and am trying to import my footage as separate clips based on when I pressed the record / pause button. Currently, when I import the footage automatically the footage is imported as a single clip and therefore one large .MOV file. From what I've read and heard, it's supposed to create a new clip for every start / stop on the tape. Does anyone have a fix for this?

I've only tried it on Auto. I'll have to give it a show in Manual. Is this to say you have to manually start and stop the import to create different clips? or is putting it in Manual mode a way to get it to recognize the timecode breaks?
Also, I'm capturing the full frame of 1920 x 1080 (if that helps).
Thanks.

Canon HV20 with 24p

I have FCP ver 5.0.4, and am trying to edit a 24p sequence shot with a Canon HV20. I have gone through and done the reverse telecine with my clip, and successfully gotten my 1080i60 clip off the tape and it's now 1080-24p. In my sequence settings I changed the frame rate to 24. But my clip still shows it needs rendering when I put it in the timeline.
Do I need to upgrade my version of FCP to do this properly to 5.1.x? Why does it still need to render my 24p clip in my 24p sequence?
Thanks

the 24p mode on ur camera isn't true 24p so that's why final cut doesn't like it in a real 24p sequence. try dropping it in a 60i sequence, because that is technically what your stuff is. footage from mini dv tapes should go into a 60i sequence. even though you shot it 24p and it LOOKS 24p....it's still 60i respectively.
Message was edited by: bkvideography

24p or 25p With Canon HV20?

A number of people on this forum have written about shooting 24p with the Canon HV20 and I have also read independent reviews about it.
So why does my HV20 only have 25p in the menus and manual ?
Is it because mine is PAL and the others are NTSC ?
Will 25p be superior to 24p ?
Also how do you deal with it when using FCE/FCP ? Do you treat it exactly as you would 1080i50 HDV and use the same Easy Setups etc.?
Actually it is not called "25p" but "HDV(PF25)"
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

I think it's like most things, you can _Crash and Burn_ or _Crash and Learn._
Jump in and try everything.
Thankfully we use PAL and _Not The Same Colour_ twice.
What's (PF25) stand for? 25 Progressive Frames??
BTW: I doubt if your camera will or Mac will catch fire under normal test conditions.
Al

What To Buy? Canon HV20 or Cannon HG10

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