The "Official" Canon Vixia HF10 / HF100 Owner's Thread - Page 71

Here's a newbie question:

How do you delete videos from your camcorder using the included ImageMixer software? Plus, does anyone know when ImageMixer will work completely with Vista?

thanks!
:-)
Jaxim

Plus, does anyone know of a good software program that will allow you to best organize your AVCHD video files? Has anyone used Photoshop Elements 7 and/or Premiere Elements 7. If so, can you use it to tag and organize your AVCHD video files?

With the HF100 all video clips are on the SDHC card. You can write back edited movies to the card on the camcorder (with some size and number limitations).
Canon expects that you will delete unwanted raw video clips on the SDHC card by using camcorder functions, not by using ImageMixer.

Apart from writing back edited movies they really don't want you updating the card. As an example, the card has to be initialized by the camcorder, not a computer.

(I think similar restrictions are placed with the hard drive of the HF10).

What do you mean by "work completely with Vista" ? What are the specs on your computer system ? Have you read about problems or are you having specific problems ?

I am using ImageMixer SE 3 with a Vista Home Premium 3GB 2.2Ghz dual core system and it is very stable.

From the ImageMixer manual PDF (on the CD-ROM)it has ways of organizing videos.
I haven't used it much but it looks like it is half-decent and I use
ImageMixer to upload the clips to my computer anyway.

The pages about albums and smart albums show the available features.

i also noticed that the onboard mic is a bit noiser than the vive on my hf11... and that test was done in manual audio mode.

the best way to fix this is to turn the manual audio on the camcorder down quite a bit, then plug in an external mic pre-amplifier/xlr adapter, because it will have a much lower noise floor... there is a company called juicedlink that is supposed to make some nice portable pre-amps.

you can also clean up some of that noise in an audio editor, but it won't be nearly as good as plugging in a juicedlink pre-amp.

>What do you mean by "work completely with Vista" ? What are the specs on your computer system ? Have you read about problems or are you having specific problems ?

On a vista machine try go to the option "browsing & authoring". This opens ImageMixer3 Library. Try clicking on a drive on the left that may not necessarily be available. For example, I clicked on the SD card drive when there was no SD card. I get an error window saying that the drive is not available, and then after I close the error window, the program is unresponsive and I must use the task manager to close the program. I've read elsewhere that this is a problem with the software and Vista. Even in their wikipedia page for the software a few months ago, it stated that the software maker was working on making a Vista compatible program.

I think most people would consider that a minor bug.
Don't do that again !

I had read that ImageMixer was incompatible with 64-bit Vista but not too many people use that.
The ImageMixer PDF has "Microsoft Windows Vista (32 Bit)" listed as a supported O/S.

I'm using both Photoshop Element 7 and Premiere Elements 7. Photoshop Element 7 does not recognize the AVCHD format, so you can't throw them in the organizer in that format with your photos. I've taken to putting both the original AVCHD file and an .M2T file created with Premiere Elements 7 in the same folder for each clip, then putting the .m2t file in the Photoshop Element 7 organizer.

NOTE: THIS IS PARTIALLY INCORRECT. PLEASE SEE UPDATE BELOW.

You mean just like the HF11 but with a HDD instead of a solid state like the HF11 both have 24Mbps

This is a great thread for HF10 owners, I ordered a HF10 & it should be here tomorrow. The info. about Vista64 is disconcerting though, what software are Vista64 users using with the HF10 - any recommendations?

Win XP Pro....

Seggers

Yes, you're right... the HG20 is closer to the HF11... I was citing "The "Official" Canon Vixia HF10 / HF100 Owner's Thread Reply to Thread" as a reference to post.

Is there an online manual for the UK/European version of the HF100 . I wish to buy it soon and need to know if it can be powered by 100- 240 volts. As I need to use it here on 240 and over in Japan which has mains power of 100 volts. Our whole trip is based on the fact we can get it to work over there and charge it up as we are due to do a lot of filming. Is the battery charged in a separate enclosure. For example could you be charging a new battery and be out with the camera filming or does it need to be in the camera to be charged up ?

Also has it still got the problems when trying to import via final cut on the mac. I know i-movie is supposed to be able to handle it but I don't want to use that

I need a camcorder in the back of a classroom to record as wide a view as possible, to capture both the teacher and the class. For a variety of reasons (external mic and headphone jacks, removable media, lower cost), I am considering the Canon HF-100. However, I want to record in SD, both 4:3 and 16:9. Going over all the specs for this camera in various sites, I can't see if this is possible.

Then, assuming it can do the above, will the less expensive wide angle adapters such as the Impact DVS-WA45-37 (.45x) or the Sunpak Platinum Plus 0.5x allow me to obtain a wider angle image?

Not too interested in ultimate quality, this is for documentation. Thanking anyone for feedback.

Keel,

The HFs don't do SD.

Seggers

Haha, you're funny! lol. But seriously, there has to be some compatible software for Vista64 users. I've been using Vista64 for almost a full year without any compatibility (or other) problems so far and this surely would be the type of app. which would benefit from Vista64 power. Perhaps Nero 9, or the forthcoming CS4 Premiere?

Strike that. Turns out I didn't have a codec to enable Photoshop Element 7 to see the .MTS file as a video file. All I did to correct this was install Pixella (never had to use it, just install it), and voila; WMP11 and Photoshop Element 7 now both see and play the .MTS files.

Once Pixella is installed (or the codec is obtained from elsewhere), it's actually extremely easy to import and manage the video clips in the Photoshop Element 7 Organizer along with my photos.

Here's the quick and dirty on how it's done (this assumes you have BOTH Premiere Elements 7 and Photoshop Elements 7 and desire to use Photoshop Elements 7 to organize your video clips along with your photos):

1. Plug camera into computer (or insert SD card into card reader).
2. Launch Premiere Elements 7 and open your Project (be sure the Full HD 1920x1080i 30 setup is selected).
3. Select Organize/Get Media from AVCHD Camcorder/Device.
4. Select the Canon device in the drop down menu.
5. Import the clips you want.*
6. When the clips appear on the right, you should tag them with the appropriate tags (your tags from Photoshop Elements 7 will have been imported during the install and should be available).
7. If you want to edit the clips, then proceed to do so.
8. If you don't want to edit the clips or if you've finished doing so, then close Premiere Elements 7.
9. Open Photoshop Elements 7 and go to the Organizer.
10. Voila! Your clips will be there in the Organizer tagged with the tags you gave them in Premiere Elements 7.

*Note that although having the correct codec will allow you to see, keep, and organize the .MTS files in the Photoshop Elements 7 Organizer, you cannot import them using the Photoshop Elements 7 importer; you must import them through Premiere Elements 7. I'd prefer to be able to import them automatically through Photoshop Elements 7 in the same manner my photos are imported from my digital camera, but for some reason, this can't be done, and Premiere Elements 7 must be used to import them.

Just curious if anyone knows what the "best" codec is to use with the AVCHD .MTS files the camera uses natively (which, I believe is h.264 AVCHD 10). Currently, I am using Premiere Elements 7 to import the files in their native .MTS format off of the camera, and then using WMP11 to view them

WMP11 appears to be getting its codec for this from the Pixella software (since WMP11 didn't work before I installed the Pixella software, and it does now).

If it matters, I'm running the 32 bit version of Vista Ultimate.

Thanks in advance!

--Mav

What is the minimum resolution?

No idea. I only use FXP....

Seggers

Thanks for the info. Gee, that's too bad, as they seem to have all the other features needed:
1. Record to removable media (miniDV, memory card, etc.)
2. Headphone jack
3. Exernal stereo mic jack
4. Adapter for wide angle lens
5. Lowest cost available.
6. Output can be edited in iMovie and exported as a DV format .mov, or to iDVD

I don't think we want the students recording to HD just for documentation. We also don't want to start supporting HD editing until next semester.
Thanks for the prompt response.

the hf11 shoots at 1440x1080 in the three lowest bitrate modes, at something like 5Mbps in lp mode... that's over 12 hours of recording time with the 32 gigs of memory.

i'm guessing that most computers could play back 5Mbps avchd, but i've never tried it... the free vlc media player can now handle h.264, but if you need video acceleration for higher bitrates, nero is an xlnt option.

Interesting...my Panasonic Plasma (58pz700u) does not play the AVCHD files off of the camera. That is, if I shoot something, then pop out the card and put it into the TV, it tells me no files found. Am I missing a step here?

--Mav

As others have pointed out the HF cameras don't do SD. But it's not too tedious to down-convert - and the down-conversions look very good. I down-convert from FXP (1920x1080i) to 720x480i but it does take time. To down-convert 1 hour of video takes about 3-4 hours including the initial download to a PC (5-10 minutes) from the ImageMixer software, editing and menu preparation using Nero Vision 5 (depends on how much you need to - I use several chapters to break up the video which is volleyball matches - takes me an hour since I review the matches and take statistics and setup chapters within each set of each match) and then the down-conversion which takes about 2.5 hours. So from capture to finished SD DVD is about four hours - less if you don't do a lot of editing with chapter marks. I don't do this real often - I bought the camera for HD not SD, but I get requests from other parents for copies of certain matches so I've been through this a lot. My first attempts took 11 hours but I learned the right settings for Nero Vision and now I get a disk in under four hours - 2.5 hours of which I can be doing something else since it's all automated during the final step to produce the DVD. But if all you really want is SD then you should look elsewhere - there are better values in SD-only Hard Drive camcorders or direct to DVD camcorders than using the HF-series. Even my 10 year-old Sony Hi-8 camcorder would do 16:9 to get a wider picture - and the wide angle adapters for such camcorders are a lot cheaper than what you'd need for the HF-series. If your need is purely SD then the HF is not really for you unless you're willing to accept the long post-production cycle to get an SD result. From what you describe as your goal I'd go with a direct to DVD camcorder. I'm not sure what the longest runtimes are or how long a classroom session you want to record - if your class runs longer than an hour I'd look at a hard-drive SD camcorder instead. I love my HF100 because it is HD - and if you don't want or need HD then don't buy it.

I have the TH-50PZ77u. These Panasonics only can display images on an SD card. Not video. I've posted a thread in the Plasma section about a possible hack or firmware update that could but apparently it doesn't exist.

Interesting. The initial press releases indicate it should accept AVCHD on an SDHC card. I thought it was just because my card (32GB) was too big for it to handle. I wonder why they advertised it....

--Mav

Hi, I asked my question in the HF11 owner's thread, but there is not much activity there, so asking here since the HF10/100 should be fairly similar.
See: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4#post14860004

I got my new HF11 last Friday, been playing with it the weekend.

I connected the camera using USB to my Vista x64 system, I set the camera to video playback, I power on.
I get a message on the camcorder screen that I must connect the power adapter.
The manual states you may need to connect the power adapter, I wonder what "may" means.
I connect power, and two removable drives show up on the PC, one for internal storage, one for the SD card.

On further experimentation I found that if I set the samera to picture playback, then I do not need external power, but then the video folder does not show up in Windows.
In video playback mode both the video and picture folder is visible.

I copy the internal drive contents to my machine, about 1.5GB of MTS files, using Windows Explorer, the transfer took more than 10 minutes, very slow.

I tried again, this time using robocopy, and the copy was a bit faster, but still very slow 1.553GB, 9 minutes 19 seconds, at 2.98MB/s or 23.84Mb/s.
That is a bit slower than the 24mb/s required for recording.

I am very dissapointed with the data ransfer rate between the camera and my PC, I expected read speed to be much faster, at this rate it is almost 1:1 recording time to copy time.


Can any other owners comment on data transfer speeds from the camera to the PC using USB?

P.

Don't know of a hack that will allow you to do that, but it is actually really helpful to me to know that all you need to do is rename the MTS extension to MPG in order to broaden its "readability".

For those of us who use Flickr for pictures and video, note that if you have a qualifying clip (i.e. less than 1:30 and less than 150MB), all you need to do to upload it in Flickr Uploadr is rename the file extension from MTS to MPG. No re-encoding or rendering necessary. Works great!

Yes, USB transfer is always slow. This is one of the major reason why I go with flash based HF100 and just transfer everything using a card reader, which is much much faster.

ptr,

Other have found that you must use the external power lead in order to transfer video. There appears to be no way round it, short of an external card reader (not much help for the internal though...).

On the speed front, does Vista properly support USB2, were you using a USB2 port and did you use the supplied USB lead?

I've not had any speed issues with USB connection. An external reader was quicker though. My last corder was a DV tape based one and that was definitely 1:1.....

Seggers