Vixia HV40 Connectivity Issues

[teckky]

Hi Guys,

I have searched through the forum and no real joy and even phoned canon and keep getting different answers to this issue.

Work bought the Vixia HV40 (i believe from an American site, we are based in the UK) and need it to play on the laptop - we have a software that will delay footage so someone can record someone doing an exercise then the person doing the exercise can walk over and watch the exercise. The inbuilt webcam works fine with this method.

The issue is that the HV40 does not appear to connect or be recognized by the laptop. When I connect the camera to the laptop- through firewire - the laptop makes the noise that it connects but nothing shows up in my computer or Device Manager. On the camera it self the HD/DV sign comes up indicating that it is connected but still no joy.

Oddly when i try the USB connection nothing happens, not even a noise nor a signal on the camera.

System Used on the main laptop - Windows XP, SP2
Tried it on another computer - Windows XP SP3 - it picked up initially - a bubble popped up saying canon camera but when the software was installed there was nothing.
Tried on another computer and again popped up and said ready to use but again nothing of the device can be found

When i spoke to Canon, one guy said i needed to upgrade the WIA drivers to which i did - it told me that it failed to instal the drivers yet the file/folders are all there. The next person said that its a problem with the camera and need to send it in to be checked - the camera is about 3 weeks old and 2nd time we have attempted to use it.

Seriously going round in circles here any help would be really appreciated. Sorry if i have posted in the wrong forum or if it has been asked before the search string brought back no results.

[m.lomibao]

hi...r u using the canon hv40 as a webcam? cos im not sure if u can do that. Its mainly for shooting purposes ....

[teckky]

Even just to transfer some footage would nice lol but no joy.

I suppose it might sound like a webcam set up. We will have the camera on a tripod while connected to the computer video someone exercising which will be recorded on teh computer by a bespoke piece of software and then watched by the lifter. So just filming straight to the computer?

Thanks for the reply thought

[m.lomibao]

do u have any editing software? sony vegas works wonder with canon hv40's. all u need is ur firewire then the software...im using canon hv40 n sony vegas pro 10.
have u got any link that i can check ur footages or ur work pls? thanks

[Daniel Rutter]

It depends on what you're trying to do. If you're trying to use it as a webcam, you will need to set the camera to "DV" mode, otherwise it won't work.

To capture the footage on the camera to the computer, your laptop would need a dedicated firewire port (not a PC card "adapter" or USB). The USB cable to plug the cam into the PC is useless for anything but transferring photos from the miniSD card. Change your drivers to legacy drivers if you can.
What software are you using to attempt to connect to the HV?

[teckky]

M.lomibao - there is the software that is given with the camera (zoombrowser i think) and we have a bespoke piece of software that just picks up any camera

Daniel Rutter - Well as I am beginning to think it will probably end up running like a web cam - record someone lifting while the camera is hooked up to the laptop, bespoke piece of software delays the footage so the lifter can finish the exercise and then check the laptop for the footage which should be playing automatically.

the firewire connects into the usual firewire port on the laptop? Does it need to go anywhere else? I believe it is a 4 pin firewire. I gathered that about the USB from research done on the net. But the odd thing was even to just access the SDcard the camera still wasn't even recognised.

How would i change the drivers?

Using the software that is given with the camera (zoombrowser) but apart from that nothing - the bespoke camera picks up plug and play cameras.

Thanks for your help, i am still having problems. Took a few days away from it or i would of thrown it against a wall

[m.lomibao]

man i dont know what to say, all i can sugest is, just video your excercise n download it later for them to view..i think its much simplier that way. I have a friend who does karate n thats what they do, just video the moves n dowload it later. sorry i cant be much help

[teckky]

I know pal i am running out of ideas........

Thing is we can't even download the movies as the camera is not coming up on the laptop. Which makes me think its either a firewire issue, something wrong with the laptop or even the actual camera it self.

Thank you for your patience though and answering the questions.If anyone has any other ideas please chip in

thanks

[m.lomibao]

u cant just download the movie with out an editing software...u need at least like sony vegas pro 10. thats what i use

[Khaver]

Google HDVSplit and install that software. Also install ffdshow if you don't have another Directshow MPEG2 decoder.

Some people turn off their computer, turn off the camcorder and then attach the firewire cables, turn on the cam and boot the computer so they don't blow the firewire port in the cam. I've had no problems having the computer on and HDVSplit running, attach the firewire cable then turn on the cam. You should now be able to capture live from the camcorder.

For your delay, I would set up a file watching program that detects when a file is added to a certain directory and runs a program against each new file that is added. Set up HDVSplit to put the captured files into that directory and have the file watching program run a batch file that has a loop or process at the beginning that runs for the delay amount and then plays the video file using something like ffplay.exe or mplayer.exe. I think these programs won't take exclusive control of the video file so the capture can continue while they play.

You can either just let the capture continue and the playback will be delayed or you can stop the capture after each lift and the file watching program will detect when you start the capture again because HDVSplit will add a new file to the watched directory.

[Krane]

Even just to transfer some footage would nice lol but no joy.

I suppose it might sound like a webcam set up. We will have the camera on a tripod while connected to the computer video someone exercising which will be recorded on teh computer by a bespoke piece of software and then watched by the lifter. So just filming straight to the computer?

Thanks for the reply thought

Yes that is a webcam configuration which you can do. However I assume your computer came bundled with that software when you bought it? You should be able to switch from the internal built-in cam to your Canon HV40. It's a crude setup, but should be effective nonetheless.

Now for the reason it's not being recognized is still a mystery. Although I suspect it's a driver issue, but may have something to do with your OS since it is an antiquated one. Incidentally, you have to mention the spec. (OS, software, etc.) of the computers when you make reference to them.