The "Official" Canon Vixia HF10 / HF100 Owner's Thread - Page 45

chewbacha-

Welcome to AVS Forum.


As restin9 said, before you buy any electronics from a Web site, especially camera-related items, go check the reputation of the site at resellerratings. Those two sites, for example, have abysmal ratings, with comments like "they remove all of the factory accessories from the box and try to sell them separately". If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I almost ordered something from a place called Broadway a while back, until I checked their rating too. Yep... 0.5 on a scale of zero to ten. Ironically, the Sonic one (I think) came up on a pseudo-Pricegrabber-type site with an imaginary five-star (out of five) "rating", so it is important to also be sure you look at legitimate comparison and rating sites.

Good luck on your search for a new HD camcorder. I am about to order one from one of the well-known big Web sites, for a good price.

A quick question: I am thinking of getting a small, wireless microphone so that I can hear my baby girl when filming (instead of me telling her what to do :-) ). Any advice???

You're right...too good to be true! Went to resellerratings.com and both of the links I mentioned are bait and switch...thanks for the heads up.

Thought I would share this with all of you. Here's what I have:

Canon HF100 (of course)
Canon DW-100 burner
LG Super Multi DVD burner
Pixela ImageMixer 3 SE software

The camera is awesome. Everyone knows this. Well, except for the ineffective wind filter. The rest, well, takes some work. The DW-100 is only good for 2 things: archiving clips from the camera without needing a computer and playing back DVDs through the camera to your HDTV (assuming you don't yet have any type of BluRay player - which I don't). For anything else, it's kind of useless (it's not a general-purpose DVD burner that you can connect to a computer). If you want to edit clips on your computer using Pixela software (or anything else), you need to burn it using another burner (in my case, the LG).

THIS IS IMPORTANT:

If you want to view your movies using the DW-100 & camcorder, you must make sure your clips are < 2 gig in size or else the movie will not completely play. When you combine several clips into a single movie (m2ts file), by default, the Pixela software creates a chapter for each scene. It will play fine on your computer, but the DW-100 will not play it back smoothly. There will be a slight "freeze-frame" at the end of each clip. VERY ANNOYING. You need to go back and delete all chapters before you do the burn. Other Blu Ray players may not have this behavior, but the DW-100 does.
I'm pleased with the results I've gotten, but it took me quite a bit of finagling to get everything to play together.

Tim

Stick with B&H or BuyDig and get a real deal.

I'll second that. I buy most everything from B&H. Their prices aren't the lowest, but they are great people to deal with. The few times I've received defective gear, they've taken it back for replacement or full credit, no questions asked. They'll even return your money if you return something just because you changed your mind. B&H usually has lower or at least equal pricing compared to other authorized dealers (the key word being 'authorized').

As to the cheaper prices... these are usually 'grey market' goods; i.e. the seller buys them in bulk fron Hong Kong and such, rather than going through the official U.S. (in my case) Canon distribution chain. For one thing, this voids the warranty.

You mean if I use an 8 Gb SD card and transfer the data to DW-100 on a DVD-R DL it won't play any data beyond the 2 Gb mark?

This is probably a dumb question, but is there an easy way to merge a set of mts files (or scenes) into one large mts file (or one large scene) WITHOUT using the supplied software? I would think there should be an easy way to do it on the camera. It would be nice to have one big file per date, so I don't have to deal with several little files everytime I start and stop the recording.

Thanks

Take a look at the following explanation on the use of the "Copy" command assuming you are using a Microsoft OS. specifically the use of the /b switch
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...chNet.10).aspx

Also, for those looking for a cheap 16GB Card, if you are fast enough, check here:
http://shop3.frys.com/product/5381518
$35 after MIB if you use such things

Russell

Does anyone know if there is a hack to the existing firmware of the HF10/HF100?

I would love it if the firmware could be hacked so instead of recording to a MTS file, it records to a MPG file. I have found that the playback support for MTS files is atrocious. If you rename the file extension to MPG and do nothing else, then the playback is supported a lot more.

For example, I placed my SD card into a Samsung HDTV. The SD card had 2 files: 1) A MTS file created by a HF10 camcorder, and 2) that same exact file but renamed with a MPG file extension. The Samsung HDTV was able to play the MPG file beautifully, but didn't even display the MTS file as an option. This is the same with many software video players.

This is why I'd like to be able to hack the firmware so the files can be saved with a file extension that a lot more things recognize. I know Canon probably wouldn't do this; that's why I am hoping for some smart hacker to do it.

That's not going to work. That only works for mts files split by the camera itself (due to file size limits) -- you're basically just gluing the cut pieces back together. For two independent mts files to be merged, you need something that understands the format and can generate a new mts header, and copy the data pieces from the two files into one. So, you need a video editing software of some kind.

Because Samsung programmers are idiots, you want to give a standard extension of a PS-file to a TS-file? Canon is OK, it is Samsung who must fix the bug.

If you do that, you'll be fine. What I was talking about is if you combine several smaller clips into one large m2ts file, if the resulting file is > 2 gig (or so) it will not play all the way through but will halt playback with an error. Apparently, the camera is buffering up data as it is playing back and the buffer overflows at the 2 gig mark.

If you're simply playing back the clips as you originally recorded them, they will each be less than 2 gig and you'll be fine.

It's not just Samsung. Cyberlink's PowerDVD can't play MTS files unless they are renamed with the MPG file extension. There are countless other players and hardware that have the same problem. If the MTS file is essentially an MPG file but with an MTS file extension, then what's the harm in naming the file with an MPG file extension from the getgo?

Personally I think the AVCHD consortium were idiots when they decided to name their files with the MTS extension rather than the more recognized MPG extension. (Unless of course there is a specific advantage to naming the file with the odd file extension that I am not aware of.)

I know Canon is not going to do this. That's why I'd like to see a hack to the firmware so people who prefer the files to be named with the MPG file extension, can opt for the hack. If you are not one of these people, then you can opt not to use the hack. Then everyone is happy.

MTS is not an MPG. MPG is a standard extension for a program stream file, while MTS and M2TS are transport stream files. If extensions mean nothing, why not using a single "MEDIA" extension for all media files and let software sort it out? A brilliant idea, all that is left is implementing it. Or even further, why not give a "FILE" extension to ALL files, and let software handle what's inside? Or why not remove extensions at all if the software will sort out the content? These are all cool ideas, but the world is not perfect, so we have file types and have extensions. Giving a file of one type extension of another type only increases the confusion and chaos and gives another excuse for no-good developers.


They were idiots for using short 8.3 filenames instead of long filenames that Sony have already used in the Blu-ray disk spec. Everyone knows that AVCHD is basically a castrated Blu-ray, with only AVC encoding and 18 Mbit/s limit for disk-based recordings and simple DVD-style menus. Everyone who uses AVCHD knows that and accepts that, so why using short file names? No one uses MS-DOS or Windows 3.1 anymore. Now we have several very similar but different standards: BDMV, HDMV, BDAV, AVCHD, AVCREC and who knows what else. It was much simpler with HD DVD.

Canon is not the culprit. It just follows what Sony and Panasonic scribbled in AVCHD specs, which by the way are not public, so good luck finding out what all these files mean.

>MTS is not an MPG.
I understand, but all I know is that if I rename the file extension of an MTS file to MPG, then many more things can play the video. Ideally everyone would update their players and hardware to recognize the MTS file but until then, that is why I am advocating a firmware hack.

Erm, can't you just do a rename on the computer before transfering it elsewhere?

Did I miss something here?

Seggers

That requires a computer and renaming each and every file. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to do that. In the case of the Samsung HDTV, it would be nice to simply input the SD card into the TV and view your recordings w/o having to go to computer to rename the extension or w/o having to hook up your camcorder to the TV. That's my point.

Is this a problem, renaming each and every file? ren *.mts *.mpg

So you are saying that if you take the original SD card, go all the way into STREAM folder, rename MTS files to MPG, and then stick the card into the TV, it shows the clips?

Yes that is what I am saying.

I'm not sure if anyone posted this note yet or not..

But Pinnacle 12 is working fine with mts.. so it should work fine with the canon.. it also works with my mov files from my panasonic dmc-tz5 camera..

When you try to hit play you get that exclamation like before.. but if you drag the slider you can work with the video a bit. Down side is that for mov's at least, you have to go through and add them one by one.. no drag and drop a bunch like with sony vegas 8.0a;

I'd prefer to stick with pinnacle 12 since i can use menu's and sony's you cant as of yet.

**I wasnt sure which to pick for burning.. there is now the choice of blu ray disc type.. they give you the 25gb and 50 options.. for image type under blu ray disc there is BDMV (mpeg2) and AVC.. obviously if i had a blu ray recorder i would use this option, but would i pick AVC (at least with sony vegas and avchd and the mpeg2 option it was terrible looking)?

For now i would choose AVCHD which allows 64 minutes of video on one 8.5GB disc.. its choices for image type are AVCHD and BDMV (AVC).. again.. here would i choose the AVC?

BTW according to Pinnacle.. choosing the 25GB bD option allows for 125 minutes (about 2 hours) of video while the 50GB allows for 249 minutes (about 4 hours).

In either disc type case.. i'm guessing at least for my panasonic camera i would want to check off "Use progressive encoding" since the original mov file is 720P (30 progressive) (?)

Its also interesting to note that my panasonic data rate is 24mbps.. so in going with AVCHD, it is actually reducing it to 17mbps.

So I am finally happy that I got Vegas to work with HF100.
So far I have using the .MTS files by using a USB card reader.
Editing has been pretty decent, the preview is a little jumpy every once and awhile, but nothing major.

My Problem is the quality. I shot a whole bunch of footage on easy mode (60i settings i beleive). I would like to get this footage to 1. I regular DVD to play on Regular DVD players on TV and 2. some HD format possibly blue ray or just HD to look at on my computer.

What I am trying to figure out is...
1. What my project settings should be in Vegas, I have tried a few different settings. and...Do I need Deinterlace checked in the project properties.

2. What should I render to if I want to play it on a regular DVD. I tried going to .AVI and it was OK, but the quality was lacking and I noticed a couple of hiccups in the footage.

3. What should I render to if I want to view it on my PC or Blue Ray?


Sorry for the long post, I appreciate any feedback.

You said you were using the usb reader.. do you mean your leaving the footage on the card and editing it from there? You'd be alot better off if you transfered it to your pc first i would think.

On my version of vegas i dont have any other output options other than bluray.. so i'm guessing you have to export to an avi or mpg first if using vegas, then import into another program.. could be wrong though?

I use the output to bluray option, found the sony avc option to have the best quality and then choose bluray 1440x1080-60i, 15mbps (the highest there is on mine).. I also choose render image only and it creates an iso.. i can then extract these contents to the harddrive (actually havent figured out how to extract this yet, for some reason it doesnt work), so i end up burning the iso to dvd then copying the dvd content structure to the PC and use Cyberlink PowerDVD to play it back from either location or in a bluray player.

Does anyone know if anyone makes a Mini Accessory Shoe to Universal Shoe Adapter that still retains the advantage that the you don't have to have your accessories run on their own battery?

The following adapter looks great, but forces the accessories to run on their own battery. It's a "cold" adapter. Is there a "hot" adapter?
http://shop.dm-accessories.com/products/cms-flat

Thanks for any help! :-)

I thought some folks in the Windows PC world might like to know the following, especially if they're on a budget. I've got an HF10.

I've read many threads about the headaches with the 2GB limit for AVCHD files.

I tried two methods of putting together 4 MTS files totalling 6.5GB.
1) Using the DOS copy command with the /b flag appending all 4 files. The end result was a single 6.5 GB MTS file.
2) Using PIXELA with authoring and writing a new movie and not adding chapter markers in between the scenes. I only included 3 of the 4 files and edited-out portions of the scene I did not want. The end results was a 3.3 GB AVCHD M2TS file.

I chose option (2) as the preferred method because it also allowed me to cut-out parts of the scene while also splicing together the spanned files. This method also allowed me to exclude the lead-in file which has the movie header information needed by some conversion apps.

Although option (1) worked as well, it did not allow me to edit the scene until after all the spanned files were put together.

I then use VoltaicHD for PC to convert the resulting AVCHD file to WMV. This tool is relatively inexpensive and does an excellent job at preserving quality.

Any subsequent editing will be done using Win Movie Maker.

Is there a 64-bit Vegas on the market yet?

Everytime I google it, all I get are a bunch of sources from 2007 saying Sony is either working on it or plans to release it.

Thanks for your response Markm75.

I am transferring my files to my PC form the card reader and not trying to edit directly from the reader.

I did some testing last night and wound up with some rather huge files.
I made a 4 minute movie using probably about 30 different pieces of footage. I had 1 audio track and 1 trackf or titles. My .AVi came out to 9GB and I tried to do another type of export and it was 27GB.

Needles to say, I think I need to experiment some more.

jaxim, which Samsung HDTV has this feature playing H.264 encoded clips? Most of the Samsung TVs I saw can only play photo or music on SD cards.

I'm pretty thrilled.

My HF100 is on a truck from PA right now, and my 8Gb card arrived yesterday.

New toys !!!!!

Seggers

SO I am wondering what people are using to view your videos on a standard DVD player.

What program are you using to edit and what is the final ouput you are rendering to? WMV, AVI etc...

And what resolution are you setting your final render to? 720X480?