help, newbie with hv20, can't get firewire??

[tom chang]

I had a sony SD camcorder before, so I had the firewire / card before,
and when I try to transfer the video , I get no recognition of the
firewire connection to the HV20 from my XP windows PS2....
Do I need to get the appropriate transfer software for HD before my
PC recognizes my HV20 ??

Is the transfer/capture an analogue transfer into the PC much like the process with
the old SD camcorder ?? My video capture card was rather weak with
my old sony.

Is the USB port just for pictures ??

I just got the camcorder yesterday, and I am at step 1.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Mal]

You'll need to connect the HV20 via Firewire to the PC, and have some software that can capture the HDV footage, such as VEGAS:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/step2.asp?DID=698

or free:
http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm

There's tons of info on the capture workflow here:
http://www.hv20.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32

[tom chang]

thanks man

[bluegrass]

I had a sony SD camcorder before, so I had the firewire / card before,
and when I try to transfer the video , I get no recognition of the
firewire connection to the HV20 from my XP windows PS2....
Do I need to get the appropriate transfer software for HD before my
PC recognizes my HV20 ??

Is the transfer/capture an analogue transfer into the PC much like the process with
the old SD camcorder ?? My video capture card was rather weak with
my old sony.

Is the USB port just for pictures ??

I just got the camcorder yesterday, and I am at step 1.

Any help would be appreciated.

Just follow what Mal said & you'll be in good shape. I just wanted to answer one question he didn't and clear up some confusion you have. If you had a SD camera, you wouldn't have been capturing data from it via your graphics adaptor. SD & now HD is all digital data and transfers via firewire. There is a new revolution that might change that to HDMI but for now you need to think firewire and forget analog. That term doesn't come into play with SD or HD video. Audio maybe.

[tom chang]

Just follow what Mal said & you'll be in good shape. I just wanted to answer one question he didn't and clear up some confusion you have. If you had a SD camera, you wouldn't have been capturing data from it via your graphics adaptor. SD & now HD is all digital data and transfers via firewire. There is a new revolution that might change that to HDMI but for now you need to think firewire and forget analog. That term doesn't come into play with SD or HD video. Audio maybe.

Thanks, just wondering why in SD, the quality of the capture was better
with feeding via firewire to a SD DVD recorder like Toshiba, rather than
capturing it through a card on a PC through firewire ??

If both capturing processes are done digitally, why should there be any
difference in the quality ??

I had the older Hi 8 Digital Sony when it came out 6 ?? yrs ago and was capturing
it via firewire to PC until I started recording it to Toshiba DVD recorder as
the quality was better.

[David]

wondering why in SD, the quality of the capture was better with feeding via firewire to a SD DVD recorder like Toshiba, rather than capturing it through a card on a PC through firewire ??

The answer here is that the quality wasn't better. What do you say to that! :)

The DVD recorder was upscaling, converting and/or reencoding your footage. It's possible that it was taking your SD footage and uprezzing it to a higher resolution, but it couldn't be making it "better" unless your PC was intentially making it 'worse' than original.

The original data (all 1s and 0s) that your camera captures all gets put straight through the firewire cable into your computer with no conversion, no re-encoding, no nothing. It's the original signal. DVDs are a completely different file format, so your DVD recorder was undoubtably re-encoding the footage. Perhaps it was doing something to the contrast and color that makes you think it was 'better', but unless your PC-capture-methods were flawed and set up in such a way that your PC was degrading the original data, the firewire to PC version was the pristine, untampered with footage and the DVD version was the original footage re-encoded to something else.

[tom chang]

The answer here is that the quality wasn't better. What do you say to that! :)

The DVD recorder was upscaling, converting and/or reencoding your footage. It's possible that it was taking your SD footage and uprezzing it to a higher resolution, but it couldn't be making it "better" unless your PC was intentially making it 'worse' than original.

The original data (all 1s and 0s) that your camera captures all gets put straight through the firewire cable into your computer with no conversion, no re-encoding, no nothing. It's the original signal. DVDs are a completely different file format, so your DVD recorder was undoubtably re-encoding the footage. Perhaps it was doing something to the contrast and color that makes you think it was 'better', but unless your PC-capture-methods were flawed and set up in such a way that your PC was degrading the original data, the firewire to PC version was the pristine, untampered with footage and the DVD version was the original footage re-encoded to something else.


Thanks for you explanation. I was referring to the Sony Digital Hi8 cam,
the capturing of video(PC capture card) was worse in that when the footage was , the frames / second ??,, the movement of the objects in the video was more broken (less frames per second) when done through my PC
via firewire. When burned from camcorder to the Toshiba DVD burner,
the DVD quality was as good as the original tape play back.

I have spoken to my friend, who is a novice and he also stated that
he could not find a PC capture card as good as the one on the DVD burner
at the time.

If there was a difference in the quality, then I assume my capture card on PC was not set up correctly ?? Are all capture cards created equally because of
the digital format ??

thanks

[tom chang]

So far, my PC does not respond to the firewire connection,
I downloaded the HDVSPlit,
I opened the program, but it does not recognize any playback
from the camcorder.....I am using the same firewire connection used
previously for the sony digital Hi8 SD camcorder.

Guys, I am at step 1, like the step after getting the camcorder 2 days ago.

So any help would be appreciated.

One of the links for some software posted here is gone.

thanks again.

[tom chang]

Hey guys, I can't get this to open http://hdvforever.com/hdv/hdrhc1/freecapture/default.htm

where can I get the canon driver video ??

[bluegrass]

Thanks, just wondering why in SD, the quality of the capture was better
with feeding via firewire to a SD DVD recorder like Toshiba, rather than
capturing it through a card on a PC through firewire ??

If both capturing processes are done digitally, why should there be any
difference in the quality ??

I had the older Hi 8 Digital Sony when it came out 6 ?? yrs ago and was capturing
it via firewire to PC until I started recording it to Toshiba DVD recorder as
the quality was better.

Your problem probably was the capture software built into the Toshiba was doing a better job than whatever software you used to catpure and create the MPG file on the PC. If you capture raw avi data on the pc and played it with a video player you probably would have seen even better than what the Toshiba offered.

[bluegrass]

Hey guys, I can't get this to open http://hdvforever.com/hdv/hdrhc1/freecapture/default.htm

where can I get the canon driver video ??

It appears to be a bad link. I couldn't get anywhere with it either.

Basically unless you have a defective firewire card, I would say they are pretty much equal. That wouldn't be much of a concern with me. They are so cheap, you could just get another one to satisfy yourself that it's not a defective firewire card. Does your 6 year old super8 still get recognized by your whatever software you used to talk to the super8 in the past via this firewire card. Incidentally, it's not really correct to call the firewire card a capture card. It acts in many many capacities besides capturing video. You might check with a friend to see about connecting another firewire device to your computer to see of the PC can recognize it.

What editing software did you purchase for editing HD from the HV20? I don't think I read what OS you were using. If your on XP you need XP with SP2 installed. If you have a different OS, I'm not sure what you need. Definitely on the PC side the smoothest ride to HD capture and editing is via XP SP2 & not Vista. Vista will probably be the best choice in another 6 to 12 months but if you have Vista now, it's probably a bit spotty to get the drivers you need. When you ask about a driver for the HV20, to tell you the truth, I don't thing the OS needs to or has a driver for the HV20. I think it's all up to the application to communicate & handshake to the HV20.

Sorry, I know PCs and especially PCs and camcorders can be frustrating. I'm better at hands on troubleshooting and fixing than I am via email or phone. I suggest you go back and take a hard look at more of those links that Mal posted for you.

[tom chang]

It appears to be a bad link. I couldn't get anywhere with it either.

Basically unless you have a defective firewire card, I would say they are pretty much equal. That wouldn't be much of a concern with me. They are so cheap, you could just get another one to satisfy yourself that it's not a defective firewire card. Does your 6 year old super8 still get recognized by your whatever software you used to talk to the super8 in the past via this firewire card. Incidentally, it's not really correct to call the firewire card a capture card. It acts in many many capacities besides capturing video. You might check with a friend to see about connecting another firewire device to your computer to see of the PC can recognize it.

What editing software did you purchase for editing HD from the HV20? I don't think I read what OS you were using. If your on XP you need XP with SP2 installed. If you have a different OS, I'm not sure what you need. Definitely on the PC side the smoothest ride to HD capture and editing is via XP SP2 & not Vista. Vista will probably be the best choice in another 6 to 12 months but if you have Vista now, it's probably a bit spotty to get the drivers you need. When you ask about a driver for the HV20, to tell you the truth, I don't thing the OS needs to or has a driver for the HV20. I think it's all up to the application to communicate & handshake to the HV20.

Sorry, I know PCs and especially PCs and camcorders can be frustrating. I'm better at hands on troubleshooting and fixing than I am via email or phone. I suggest you go back and take a hard look at more of those links that Mal posted for you.


Thanks Bluegrass, I did not have time to buy anything, I was trying HVDSplit, I used
the old Roxio media creator to burn the SD DVDs, maybe the burning process
was flawed with the Media creator. My old Sony still gets recognized
by the firewire.

[Deep G]

I just got a pal version HV20 and the camera does not detect on any computer in my house with firewire. I rang canon support in Australia and they said it is most probably a defective unit. I'm in the warranty replacement process now.

I tried different IEEE chipsets, cables and even XP sp1 as opposed to sp2.

Hope this sheds some light on your question.

[tom chang]

OK guys, only when I set the output to DV, I get a recognition by Roxio 7,
I get a blank screen on the roxio when I try to capture it in SD.
So there is recognition but it cannot pick up the video even the SD from HV20.

any ideas ??

[Mal]

I just got a pal version HV20 and the camera does not detect on any computer in my house with firewire. I rang canon support in Australia and they said it is most probably a defective unit. I'm in the warranty replacement process now.

Just to make sure (and I know this is a very basic question) but did you turn the HV20 ON, and place it in PLAY mode?

[Deep G]

Just to make sure (and I know this is a very basic question) but did you turn the HV20 ON, and place it in PLAY mode?

Yes, everything by the book with all the menu settings set as per the manual. Also tried camera on and in play mode while computer is booting, tried rec mode etc..

Also tried with battery only, battery + AC power adaptor, AC power adaptor only, an Intel dual core Laptop with XP Home SP2, an AMD desktop machine with XP Professional SP2, ditto with XP SP1.

[Mal]

Yes, everything by the book with all the menu settings set as per the manual. Also tried camera on and in play mode while computer is booting, tried rec mode etc..

Also tried with battery only, battery + AC power adaptor, AC power adaptor only, an Intel dual core Laptop with XP Home SP2, an AMD desktop machine with XP Professional SP2, ditto with XP SP1.

Wow, then it really does seem like a defective HV20. Amazing....please keep us up to date on how the warranty exchange works for you, and how you like the new (working) unit!
Sorry to hear of the troubles...

[tom chang]

HV20 SD DV is not being picked up by my Toshiba DVD recorder or the
firewire to PC, while the Sony Hi 8mm SD video is picked up.

Any ideas guys ?? Do I have a defective unit ??

[cra2]

Hey guys, I can't get this to open http://hdvforever.com/hdv/hdrhc1/freecapture/default.htm

where can I get the canon driver video ??

yeah, I got a dead link on that too.
and I can't get HDVSplit to recognize the camera either.
Is there a support site or forum for HDVSplit?

If I plug in the camera in SD mode, win movie maker captures the video fine.
But if I plug in the camera in HD mode, it doesn't pick it up unless I set the camera to DV Lock.
And even then, the capture's (in win movie maker) are staggered like still images with audio narration.

How do you get HDVSplit to work?

[tom chang]

Hey guys the latest problem I am having is.... I have it set on hdv/dv,
I am using Roxio Media 9, but the problem is when I plug in my hv20,
via firewire, I get a windows prompt for a driver for AV/C subunit, it is
asking me the driver for the camcorder, I believe, so where the hell is
the driver ??
any websites ?? or somewhere on the Windows XP ??

HELP guys, I am getting frustrated with this camera.

[Terfyn]

Have you tried the software disk that comes with the camera? My user manual suggests that the disk is loaded first, now it does contain a lot of snapshot handling software but I think that the drivers you want are hidden on the disk and downloaded with all the other stuff.
I can download HDV into Pinnacle Studio 10.7 without too much hassle.

[Mal]

1st of all, with the track-record of Micro$oft compared to Canon, I'd venture to guess that all these firewire problems stem from the COMPUTER side, NOT the Canon HV20.

There's much info on this issue (cam recognized by XP), and it seems that it's mainly a fault of the XP software. I have both XP and XP 64 here, and it works flawlessly (at least the capture does).
BTW, it seems that XP SP2 is required.

[tom chang]

I have XP sp 2, it recognizes the HV20 as a new hardware, but does not have driver for it. My XP is several years old.
I did a search for driver in the CD , but no where to be found.
Does Canon have a driver for it ??

[tom chang]

OK guys, I may have a problem with XP, will try another XP disc later today.

[tom chang]

Update:
I am able now to capture small HDV portions before the system chokes on
Roxio 9 and it aborts, so I get broken images of short video.
Is this a hardware problem ??

I have XP sp2, 2002, AMD sempron 2400 + 1.66 Ghz, 512 MB RAM

Help guys, any gurus out there to help this frustrated newbie ??

[sp8ce07]

You've probably got too many programs open in the background. You dont' have a superior enough video card. This is a combination of a lot of things. Possibly hardware or software.

You need to make sure all your windows updates have been installed. You may have a bad firewire cord, or hardware card. When you are in situations that require attention and you don't know what to do, you have to use the resources available to you.

Google.com
Forums like these.
Trial and error.

Trial and error can be the most uninspiring time spent - and yet the most rewarding in the end. Test settings out. Try different computers. Update your system. Try a different firewire card or port. You have to cancel out all the factors that are effecting your situation.

Everyone can try and troubleshoot for you - but you will ultimately have to figure it out. Good luck.

[Mal]

tom, first off; could you PLEASE let us know how you resolved the "Can't recognize the cam via firewire issue"? You seem to have said you'd try a different Win XP CD, and now it works? Was that the problem?

sp8ce07 gives some good advice, although I disagree about the video card. That should have virtually zero effect on capturing.
Your machine sounds plenty fast enough, so you should follow sp8ce07's other recommendations.
Maybe your machine is already choked before you start?
Get a program called WHAT'S RUNNING and possible SPEEDITUP FREE. With those two programs bring the computer down to a minimum of programs running, and a maximum of available memory.

[tom chang]

tom, first off; could you PLEASE let us know how you resolved the "Can't recognize the cam via firewire issue"? You seem to have said you'd try a different Win XP CD, and now it works? Was that the problem?

sp8ce07 gives some good advice, although I disagree about the video card. That should have virtually zero effect on capturing.
Your machine sounds plenty fast enough, so you should follow sp8ce07's other recommendations.
Maybe your machine is already choked before you start?
Get a program called WHAT'S RUNNING and possible SPEEDITUP FREE. With those two programs bring the computer down to a minimum of programs running, and a maximum of available memory.
Yes, that was the solution for the win XP problem, It was not SP2, as it was not updated.... so now no problem recognizing by XP.

I tested capturing on my second computer with another firwire card in that second computer. I still get the same problem , after 20 - 30 seconds, of capturing, the system chokes and aborts.... almost as if there is not
enough RAM, as memory gets used up,,,, then the system aborts.

What is the Processor speed you guys have ??
and is it AMD or INTC ?? either there is not enough memeory or
the 1.66 GHZ is not enough or matched ...

[tom chang]

forgot to mention HDV split also has the same issues as the Rocxio9,
so its gotta be my computer.Never had this problem with the
SD capture on Roxio.

[tom chang]

Hey guys, I am not a Hardware expert, but heck in comparing the
CPU and RAM usage with capturing SD and HDV,
man, my CPU is hitting 100% 30% of the time and the RAM is 500-500 Mram,
so I figure I gotta upgrade my CPU and RAM and try it out again on HD output.

Time to upgrade my PC.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Just wondering, if there are any hardware guys here, If I upgrade my Ram to
say 1 GIG, do you think that will reduce the demand on the CPU so it
won't be stressed out to the 100% function level ??

this is the Hard drive 7200 eide

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=66

[Deep G]

Wow, then it really does seem like a defective HV20. Amazing....please keep us up to date on how the warranty exchange works for you, and how you like the new (working) unit!
Sorry to hear of the troubles...

Yes the official word was the unit was defective, just waiting on refund.

[Deep G]

What sort of hard drive?
Sata or IDE?
7200rpm, 5400rpm ?
etc

[tom chang]

What sort of hard drive?
Sata or IDE?
7200rpm, 5400rpm ?
etc

Hard drive is probably not the issue here,
my questions relate to the RAM, 512-333Mhz, AMD sempron 1.6 Ghz,
is that enough to operate like Roxio 9 for capturing HDV ??

7200 RPM, eide,

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=66