The "Official" Canon Vixia HF10 / HF100 Owner's Thread - Page 61

Smart Rendering in Cyberlink PowerDirector 7 works just fine.

It does, but the files that come out of it can't be loaded properly in Vegas, either. Most likely, this is an issue with Vegas, but it also indicates that the PD smart-rendered files aren't exactly the same as the originals -- something in the headers gets changed.

If you smart-render the whole clip, it loads fine. If you cut any part out and render that out, Vegas won't read the file properly (you'll only get the first two frames or so).

I hope they fix that in 8.0c... or in PowerDirector if they are causing the problem .

Not clear what you're trying to do between the two.

So, I'll ask what may be a silly question.

Why have two tools?

PowerDirector is a very basic NLE -- it doesn't have the features I need/want to edit video... Vegas Pro has all the power I need, but it lacks one important feature -- AVCHD smart-rendering. So, I'm looking for another tool to do basic trimming in while keeping the original encoding quality for those times where my clips are too long and too full of useless data -- I don't want to archive and backup these clips in their original length. The requirement, though, is that those smart-rendered clips can be used in Vegas, as that's where I will be doing the actual editing.

I hope that clears things up .

That's exactly what we need. A simple tool that can cut AVCHD clips.
Pixela would be OK to trim clips for future use, if we could get them into Vegas without too much effort.

Wow. I'd love to have your budget.

I've found that PD7 has everything I need. But then again, I don't (and don't plan to) do a ton of fancy stuff with my videos. I share DVDs with family, upload to the net on occasion and do stuff for my kids for school.

Sounds like a decent market though. I'm surprised none of the current software vendors have a 'do it all' tool just yet.

Heh, most of this auxiliary tools cost less than a 16GB SD card, so you don't need much of a budget to get a set of tools doing exactly what you need, and you can use them forever. In this case, though, I don't know of any options at any price.. It most likely is just due to Vegas not really supporting AVCHD standard fully and not a problem with Image Mixer, PD7, and others that produce AVC files. So I guess it's sort of my fault for insisting on using a broken tool .


That's really all I do, too, but I find programs like PD, Pinnacle, Ulead, etc. a little stifling... They are fine for most of the stuff, but that one time when you want to do something truly creative, you realize that you can't really do anything but change the transitions and reshuffle the clips. Vegas gives you the freedom to make stuff that doesn't look like everybody else's home videos.


It seems like big vendors got caught off-guard by wide market acceptance of AVCHD camcorders -- they became affordable to the common guy a little too quick, and they weren't ready. Adobe still has no support whatsoever... Sony is a little wobbly on it... Everybody scrambled to add support, and some did it better than others. The simpler the software was, the easier it was to get the support in, and now Ulead, Pinnacle, etc. are cashing in on having the support first.

From what I've read and found, the pros/cons stand at:

DM-100 Pros:
Powered from camera (no need for separate battery)
Light-weight and compact - out of frame
Uses mini hotshoe mount
Includes furry sock

Rode VideoMic Pros:
Powered from 9V battery (no drain on camera batt)
Good quality shock-mount
Well regarded in most reviews for a low-cost shotgun mic
Better range than DM-100, preamp adjustments

The main thing I see against the DM-100 is a very poor frequency response range; loses a fair bit of bass pickup, and cuts the high-end at 10k. That might make it reasonable for typical speech in 'home movies', though I'm concerned things might sound a little compressed...

I'm concerned that 1) nobody who has bought a DM-100 has a good comparison against another shotgun mic, or 2) nobody with another shotgun mic has bought the DM-100. Is it just that nobody who would own another shotgun mic, is considering the HF10/HF100 in the first place?

I thought I was ready to buy this camcorder, and accessories... but now I'm having second thoughts. I love the idea of flash-based with no motor noises, but between the color issues and the hotshoe mount, it seems as though it may not be suitable for pushing the bounds of a consumer camera. Am I just expecting too much of it?

Would love to get some feedback on the mic, as I'm sure many others would too!

Having spent some time reading reviews of the DM-50, and correlating this to the DM-100, I'm going to toss this out. If it doesn't make sense, say so.

The DM-50 and DM-100 are "Directional Microphones", that have dual-mode operation; shotgun AND stereo. The DM-100 has options to pull in 90deg and 120deg field of audio, in addition to shotgun mode. In other words, it's not as likely to be as directional as a mono Rode VideoMic, or as wide as the stereo version of the Rode, but gives two modes of operation in one mic. EDIT: Just got in the DM-100, it actually has 4 modes of operation, it has stereo, 120deg, 90deg, and shotgun. Initial tests show it picks up quite a fair bit from behind, and some controls noise (hitting the zoom button to zoom side picks up with a click), will post separately in a DM-100 specific thread.

The DM-100 fits on the camera, cleanly, because it's shorter. Again, this is a compromise between directionality and stereo; it's not as short as a dedicated stereo mic, but not as long as a dedicated shotgun mic.

The DM-100 cannot be detached to a boom pole, and it appears it sends audio thru the hotshoe(?). Assuming this is the case, one can't use it in mono mode, and use a second mic for the right channel. (I.e. interviewing a subject, with a mic on them, and a mic on yourself.)

Given Canon's tendency to mark things up, but also to provide a reasonable product, this is probably a $50 stereo mic and a $50 shotgun mic in a single package. Not great at either, but enough for the amateur who isn't using a boom pole, minimal or no post-processing of audio, and wants to own one mic that they can use as a universal (indoor/outdoor) mic.

The power draw of any mic seems to be a minimal issue, as most are rated for very high numbers of hours off a AA or 9v battery, and nobody seems to be able to measure a difference in battery life with a Canon hot-shoe mic.

This is entirely subjective, I have yet to find a comparative review, or even a good review of the DM-100 (or DM-50) in terms of fidelity, and I don't (yet) own any of the mic's listed. That said, I'll probably purchase the DM-100, and may later add one of the Rode mic's if I desire better quality for specific types of shooting. Despite the compromises they represent, the compactness, versatility and simplicity of power/cables are all wonderful for a 'first mic'.

If anyone has first-hand experience with the DM-50 or DM-100 in relation to the other mic's, I'd love to hear it! (Especially if your opinion differs from my speculation.)

Could anyone please upload somewhere a short (say, 10sec) original (no transcoding) clip made with HF10/100 with 1920x1080x30p setting? Ideally, it'd have a fast (panning) scene. I've almost made my mind to buy HF100, with one of the reasons being this new, 30p format. From what I read though, the fact that 30p is recorded as 60i may cause some problems with my HD equipment (Popcorn Hour streamer, full HDTV Samsung LN-T4661F, Blu-Ray player Samsung BDP1200).

Thanks a lot in advance!

Do a search at http://www.truveo.com/ of hf10 or hf100 samples.

There are plenty of high rez videos and links to uncompressed original video available there.

I didn't realize they also had links to original clips. Thanks - I'll look for it.

Amazon is going to have a gold box deal today (at about noon central time) on Ulead. I'm not sure how much they'll discount the price though.

What is the consensus on ULead for HF10/HF100 owners? It seems that it's not an editing package that is being used much by the Canon crowd.

How do you merge multiple clips using powerdirector 7? It asked for many settings, not sure what to input. Also, does Pinnacle software reencode the files you feed into when authoring to DVD?

Looks like Ulead 11.5 is $30 with Amazon Gold Box right now. Is this a good software package for editing AVCHD from the HF10/HF100?

Just ordered mine at new egg.com

+1 Top banana...

The A has them at 116 and above

Seggers

Your not able to do RAW/Native editing with 11.5, 12 is due out soon in the U.S. , its available in Japan.

Is there a Sydney forum member?

I am at Wollongong.

I am looking to get a 10 minute sample of HF100 video, at a lower setting, to try out my existing computer before I purchase a HF100.

Could use my SD card, or maybe post a disc.

Adorama is listing the BP-827 on their website. When I called they did not have any in stock but said they should have some this week. Of course that was a salesman saying that so I make no guarantees. The link so that you can check out the price. http://www.adorama.com/CABP827.html?...-827&item_no=1

Is it worth the price compared to the bp-819?

The description says the battery is for these cams:
HG20, HG21, HF-11

Does it fit the HF10/100? I just ordered the BP-819 from NewEgg about an hour ago.

I wondered the same, but now I think I'll give this battery a pass. I have a real 819 (coming), a knock off 819 and 2 silver 809s.

I think even a full day at Disneyland shooting what I wanted won't use up that lot....

Seggers

I have heard that it fits the HF10/100 but I don't have anything official. The HF11 comes with the bp-809 so it would seem like it should work.

I have already ordered the bp-819 already as well.

Anyone know why costco doesn't have this up for sale on their website anymore

The Canon charger charges the 827 as well so it should fit on the HF10/100

Hey everybody, please excuse me being late to the party.

I just got my HF10...WOW!! The quality is AMAZING!!! However, as I have Vista 64bit, I cant use the Imagemaker software to transfer the files to my PC (Intel 2.0 Ghz dual core, 4gb RAM). When I connect the cam to my pc, it can see the "AVCHD" folder on the cam hard drive, but there are no files in it. I have Nero8, but that can't seem to find the files either....HELP!!!

I tried recording to a SDHC card, and the pc was able to see the mts files and play them in WMP (I have k-lite/ffdshow installed), but ONLY if I put the SDHC card directly into my pc's memory card slot. Any help would be most appreciated.

If I buy Pinnacle Ultimate 12, will this solve my issue? Thanks in advance!!!

I wouldn't sweat it. I don't use Image Mixer to transfer, anyway, even though I can. I just insert the card into the computer and copy the files onto my hard drive. I'm using my office computer which is way more powerful than my home computer and this way I avoid bringing my camera to work - I just bring the SDHC card + reader. Then I use Image Mixer to do all the editing. You must Import the files into the Library first for ImageMixer to recognize them.

I have a 1 year-old dual core 3Gb Vista (NOT 64-bit) computer.

I find that the Pixela SE software included with the HF100 is not sophisticated but it is pretty stable. It is quite fast at joining clips together ("smart-rendering" ?). I used it to produce both standard DVD's and AVCHD format DVD's on DVD-R.

Initially I just burned a standard DVD out of a list of clips. I found that each .mts clip would be a "title" in the DVD that the Pixela SE software would produce from a "DVD list". You can only have 99 titles on a DVD. I had over 200 clips from a 6 day cruise ! Back to the drawing board.....

I was able to get a standard DVD with only 6 titles (fits nice on just a one-screen main menu !) as a byproduct of my AVCHD editing as follows. I had dozens of .mts clips per day. I produced an edited AVCHD movie for each day using the Pixela Image Mixer editor. It was quite easy to do. I trimmed some clips, rearranged the order of some, reduced the sound level in some and boosted it in others. I did not do transitions or anything really fancy. I ended up with six daily titles and burned an AVCHD quality DVD-R disk.

Additionally I made a "DVD list" out of the new six daily movies and burned a standard DVD on DVD-R. Interestingly, traces of the individual clips still remained because each of the titles would have DVD "chapters" corresponding to the original AVCHD clips. I think you can have up to 99 chapters within 1 title.

You may be used to getting almost 2 hours of video on a standard DVD-R.
You will only get about 30 minutes of AVCHD quality on DVD-R. Think in terms of movie chunks to total about 4Gb (30 mins FXP AVCHD) per DVD-R.

BP-819 batteries are available now at newegg!