Should I Wait?

[Pali]

Hey, guys. Been awhile since I've been here....

I use a 20 and a 30 and am 100 percent satisfied. My problem is this: I shoot bands and on occasion the sets will run over an hour long, which means a new tape must be inserted and that creates a gap in the continuity of the set.

I have been doing my research on the new flash format Canons and will not have this problem if I get one of those models. The 2010 editions will be coming out soon. Should I wait for their arrival? Not to buy one of them, mind you, but to possibly (hopefully?) see a bigger price drop in overstocked 2009 models.

Right now the HFS100 is at amazon for 800 bucks with a new Canon extra length battery thrown in free. Seems like a pretty good deal.

All opinions are welcomed. Thanks in advance!

[net]

The HF S series does the same thing as the previous HF series... breaks the .mts files into 4 gig files due to the FAT 32 limitation.
I had the HF11 and filmed a band continuously for an hour+ and it did just that; broke it up into 5 separate files...

Placing those files directly on the time line, in Sony Vegas, would cause a hiccup where the new file started...
...then using the included software, Pixela - I was able to join the files into one big mts file and there weren't any hiccups at the file points.
...but when trying to use this big file, Vegas would crash. I ended up having to render it in a different program, without any FX, as this the only way it would not crash.
I really tried to find a workaround for this - but inevitably Vegas was just not tolerating it.

Others online claim a workaround, but it just wasn't working for me - I ended up selling the HF11 and getting an HV30 (even though I was really against tape for some time).

I really should have kept the HF11 also; I also used it for a music video and shooting small clips/using the cards/lightness of the camera was just great.
But i really needed to be able to record long events without issue - and suppose one cam was sufficient.

Again, others claim to have had success with the AVCHD camcorders and stitching together files.
Although I have a quad core processor(/3 gigs RAM)- it is a lower end AMD/2.2ghz and this may have been one of the issues with crashing.
If you have better luck than me/find a solution for hour+ shoots - definitely get the fastest processor possible... i.e. Intel quad core 3ghz .. because rendering took forever on mine.

If you can get a hold of someone else's hour+ .mts files shot from one event, (maybe have someone film it for you or you can bring a card into a store and let it film for an hour+)..then bring the files into your setup/editor..this would give you an idea if it's workable before you actually but it.

If you are just going to use the raw video without editing or adding FX - then I suppose there wouldn't be a potential issue when using just Pixela to join the files.

[Pali]

Oh, I see.

Then may I ask.... Can the footage be captured in real time via USB similar to the way I capture my HV20/30 footage with firewire?

And thanks for your detailed reply!

[Bob Sanders]

Placing those files directly on the time line, in Sony Vegas, would cause a hiccup where the new file started...
...then using the included software, Pixela - I was able to join the files into one big mts file and there weren't any hiccups at the file points.

When a avchd cam splits these files it does not close the gop and open a new one, so there will be an incomplete gop at the beginning/end of each of these files. (The only time a gop is completed is when you press the stop button). If you do not join these files together before importing them to an editor there will be a hickup at the beginning/end as the editor can not read the broken gop. You can use the supplied software... tsmuxer... or even a simple dos join command to bring these files together.

As for Vegas crashing... I don't have this issue.

[net]

Then may I ask.... Can the footage be captured in real time via USB similar to the way I capture my HV20/30 footage with firewire?

I think there is a way to do that via an HDMI capture card, but not USB.
There would still be the issue with the new file starting.
Just fully check it out before purchasing an HFS cam...

Maybe just hold on to your HV cameras and wait for the camcorders that will utilize the next generation SDXC cards (I don't know when that would be... 2 years maybe?)

http://www.sdcard.org/developers/tech/sdxc

[net]

When a avchd cam splits these files it does not close the gop and open a new one, so there will be an incomplete gop at the beginning/end of each of these files. (The only time a gop is completed is when you press the stop button). If you do not join these files together before importing them to an editor there will be a hickup at the beginning/end as the editor can not read the broken gop. You can use the supplied software... tsmuxer... or even a simple dos join command to bring these files together.

As for Vegas crashing... I don't have this issue.

yeh.. I did have the issue and it wouldn't resolve.

But, to reiterate: this was only with a big file; i.e. of an event over an hour long.
Are you saying you have joined together and successfully imported a file that big without any problems..or are you talking small clips?

Like I said, maybe with a different setup for other people it isn't so much a problem. For me, I didn't want to deal with it.

[Bob Sanders]

yeh.. I did have the issue and it wouldn't resolve.

But, to reiterate: this was only with a big file; i.e. of an event over an hour long.
Are you saying you have joined together and successfully imported a file that big without any problems..or are you talking small clips?

.

The longest avchd clip I have imported to Vegas was about 1.5 hours. It took a LLOONNGG time to write the peaks files (a 5.1 surround peak file and a downmix peak file) but it worked out fine

[Pali]

Hey, thanks a lot, guys. Appreciate all the replies!

[cgbier]

I just change tapes in a break between two songs. It mostly works.

[Bob Sanders]

Well it's not really a big issue to join files. The issue is the misunderstandings that occur over all of this. People throw these clips directly on the time line and then go; "WTF!?!!" If they printed a simple explanation in the manuals it would go a long way to alleviating the confusion.

[Pali]

I just change tapes in a break between two songs. It mostly works.

Fortunately, all of the sets I've been shooting lately run 45 minutes or so. In instances where they have been over an hour I will swap the tape between songs at the 55 minute mark or so, just in case the next song is a 20 minute medley or something.

But that can be a hassle because I use three cameras. I'll mount the 20 on a tripod near the sound man and zoom in just enough to have the entire band in the shot. I also capture sound with this camera. I have a pana GS500 I mount on a tripod and shoot from the side, isolating on the drummer. Then I walk around with the 30 getting close-ups and 'action' shots.

If I get a flash model I'll place that where the 20 is, use the 20 for the drummer and continue using the 30 for handheld shots. Yes, I will still have to swap the other camera tapes after an hour but at least the wide shot and all of the audio will be captured uninterupted.

By the way, the original question was never answered: Should I wait for the 2010 models to come out? Will, for example, the HFS100 drop in price even more then?

[cgbier]

Ok, to the original answer: If I ever had waited for the next model to come out, I never would have owned a cam, car, TV, stereo,....