Sorry, if this has been discussed before but just wondering if anyone can further help me on this. from what i know, the sanyo hd2000 stops recording for a bit when filesize reaches 4gb. and then it restarts with another file. this is due to the fat32 limitation. this can potentially leave a 5-10 sec gap in your video that you wont even know about til later.

I am just wondering if this also will apply to canon and sony HD cam. or do they have the option of ntfs or other file system? From what i heard so far, this does apply to pretty much all consumer HD cam. Can anyone confirm this? thanks

Btw, does anyone also have a recommendation on Sony or canon hd cam for less than $700. has to record at least true 1080p30 and not any kind of pseudo 1080i recording (you know what i mean).

5-10 sec gap in your video
More like a fraction of a second. The pause is noticeable but not a big deal under most practical situations.

4GB limit. FAT32 etc. etc. - is the reason why wikipedia became popular.

I did the test with my HD2000 and the gap was between 5 to 10 seconds, as detailed in my Blog. Can other users of HD2000 confirm that it is only a fraction of a second? If so, then my HD2000 is faulty and requires servicing.

Or a poor design. I have a HG10 that also has to split files at the 4GB mark ... and the pause is a fraction of a second //

Panasonic SD9 and TM300 (both AVCHD) records over the 4 GB limit without anything lost at all. This is at least true as long as you play the clips right from the camera to a TV. When you import clips to an editing app things may be different...

I have recorded some concerts with external audio where lost frames are critical. My edit setup with Ffdshow, Haali media splitter, Avisynth and Virtualdub looses 4 frames at the end of each clip. Fortunately there is a plugin for Avisynth (MVTools) that can actually reconstruct the missing frames by interpolating movement. This has saved me sofar... In http://www.vimeo.com/4695560 four frames where restored at 18:03 and 47:25.

This is most likely a h264 Ffdshow decoder problem as the decoder in the cam doesn't loose any frames (or audio) at all!

Panasonic SD9 and TM300 (both AVCHD) records over the 4 GB limit without anything lost at all.

To the best of my knowledge... NONE of these cams record a file larger than 4gig.... because they all run a fat32 format.

The discrepancy in frames lost from one person to another has to do simply with the method of file extraction and rejoining.

FAT32 has a 4 gig file limit and there is no way to get around that fact. During a continuous shoot these cams will close one file at 4 gig (or less) and start another file. However, when the cam splits a continuous shoot, it pays no attention to the GOP (a certain file structure within avchd used for its compression). These files must be rejoined BEFORE you bring them into an editor otherwise the GOP that was cut does not re-complete itself and the frames associated with that GOP become unreadable and lost.

If you use the supplied software to import these files then there shouldn't be a loss at all... or play them directly from the cam.... or if you use something like Device Explorer in the newer Sony Vegas version to import, there also should be no loss. But if you simply import these files... treat them as separate, and import them to an editor then your losses could amount to quite a few frames.

I am just wondering if this also will apply to canon and sony HD cam. or do they have the option of ntfs or other file system?

Don't bet on NTFS.

It's owned by Microsoft.... and they've made it quite clear that they have no interest in sharing it with the rest of the world.

So it will have to go sooner or later. BTW, FAT, FAT32, and NTFS are all file systems developed by Microsoft.

These are FILE SYSTEMS not file formats..

@bigbarney: I'd say that cameras are not that "stupid" to make a cut inside a GOP, they close the GOP when they see the 4GB limit is close, and start a new file with a new GOP...

anyway, thank god for AVCHD, since you can record more video than other formats before you reach 4GB limit :D

So it will have to go sooner or later. BTW, FAT, FAT32, and NTFS are all file formats developed by Microsoft.
I never said the others were NOT owned by M$. What I said was that M$ has decided not to SHARE ntfs with the rest of the world.

they close the GOP when they see the 4GB limit is close, and start a new file with a new GOP...



No.
I'm afraid they don't. This is why they MUST be rejoined with their mate file(s) before brought into an editor.

No.
I'm afraid they don't. This is why they MUST be rejoined with their mate file(s) before brought into an editor.

bugger...:mad:

I never said the others were NOT owned by M$. What I said was that M$ has decided not to SHARE ntfs with the rest of the world.
NTFS is a well-known and well-documented format that has implementations on other OSs, so this is not the problem. The issue is that NTFS is too heavy because of its many features that are unnecessary in an embedded system such as a camcorder. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exfat

To the best of my knowledge... NONE of these cams record a file larger than 4gig.... because they all run a fat32 format.
Sorry, I used the wrong word. Should have read "4 GB file split".

When I watch the video over the split point all frames appear as they should with the cam connected to a TV . This proves that they are present in the file. Either the cam decoder is non standard or most other decoders are faulty! I've seen several complaints from others that frames are missing and with my setup there are always 4 missed frames at the end of the first file.

Audio dissapears for appr. the last 12 frames in my Ffdshow codec setup. Fortunately I use an external sound recorder so this is not an issue for me.

I did the test with my HD2000 and the gap was between 5 to 10 seconds, as detailed in my Blog. Can other users of HD2000 confirm that it is only a fraction of a second? If so, then my HD2000 is faulty and requires servicing.
It has to do with the way the HD2000 is designed. It takes several seconds with my HD2000, too. Yours is not faulty.

Thanks, it saves me a trip to the service centre.

ron, when you try to play your long video directly from the cam, do you still see a gap between when the files suppose to change over?

The files will play continuously as one long video without pause but the gap is there and noticeable only if it is in the middle of an action or speech where the second file takes over from the first.

thanks guys, so the in camera editing or watching the vido, did not solve the missing frames due to the new g
4gb chunk creation ?
thank you