I'm falling asleep reading my GL2 manuals. My problem, not Canon's. However, I cannot seem to find a description of what the "digital video solution disk" is all about. One of the package instructions said to be sure to read the Instruction manual before loading the solution disk on your computer. In the Instruction manual, it says be sure to install the "solution disk" before importing video clips from GL2. Neither tells me what's included in the "solution disk".

I've got a finely tuned "turnkey computer" which works fine with my aging Sony camcorder. I'm using Adobe Primier, so have no interest in downloading another video editing program. I'm excited to see the quality differences/improvements with clips from my new GL2. The question I keep asking myself is: do I really have to install the Canon software to be successful in importing and using video clips from my GL2? Any help on this item would be greatly appreciated.

One additional question. Most of my videos made from clips from my Sony camcorder have occasional diagonal lines running through certain clips. I've been told this is problem generated from different fps speeds on the camcorder and the computer. I've also been told that the GL2 has a feature for addressing this problem. Can someone steer me to a forum thread or other resource where I can read some "how to" explanations.

Thanks a heap.

bake
r

I never installed that disk and I've been uploading clips for 2 months now. I never even saw it in the manual.

On page 12 of Canon's "Digital Video Solution Disk" there is a message with exclamation mark in front:
"Be sure to install the DIGITAL VIDEO SOLUTION DISK" before you connect the camcorder to the computer".

Some other place I also found a similar reference, which made me wonder what impact the software might have on my computer...

I'll take your word/experience that I don't need to install the software.

Any leads on where I might find a discussion about calibrating camcorder with computer for glitch free video cllips?

bake
r

I thought the software was for still image transfers and manipulation only. Or maybe I missed something?

Just recieved my GL2 from Zotz Didital late yesterday. Lots of info to digest from the manual even though I downloaded the manual from the Canon site and started studying days before.

Can't wait to get shooting.

Bill

I would be interested in your initial observations after you had time to try it out.

My first recording experience left me a little disappointed on the control of sound. With ear phones on and off, either way it seemed like the the recording phase and the playback left me straining to hear the sounds I was recording, even with the audio levels for recording and playback at the highest mark and 16 bit. I do have some hearing loss, but I never noticed this as a problem with my older HI 8 digital Sony. But, if the sound are reasonable on Primier timeline, I'll be happy.

I bought the Canon shotgun mic, but haven't tried that yet.

Hey Bud
I just got my GL2 Friday 22 and I had ordered Pinnacle Studio 8 With 1394 card(78 bucks).I installed card then software and it even came with a 1394 cable to plug into the GL2.I plugged in camera and it was reconigzed by XP-Pro and away I went.
i had made a video of a golf event and I captured it into studio 8 and played with it.I am very impressed with how easy the program is to use and absolutely tickled to death with the GL2.I am amazed at the quality of the video and just now learning to use it.I did not have time for much practice before friday night so I put it in the easy mode and shot away.!!!!GREAT VIDEO!!!!
You will love the GL2 and love Studio 8 even though it is slower than other programs.I think it is user friendly and I like it.All I had to do was install card,,,install software,,,plug in cam and turn on!!!!VIOLA___Gud Video
I did not bother loading the canon software but I thought it was for USB card reading only,myself....HOPE THIS HELPS
<<<-- Originally posted by Baker Rawlings : I'm falling asleep reading my GL2 manuals. My problem, not Canon's. However, I cannot seem to find a description of what the "digital video solution disk" is all about. One of the package instructions said to be sure to read the Instruction manual before loading the solution disk on your computer. In the Instruction manual, it says be sure to install the "solution disk" before importing video clips from GL2. Neither tells me what's included in the "solution disk".

I've got a finely tuned "turnkey computer" which works fine with my aging Sony camcorder. I'm using Adobe Primier, so have no interest in downloading another video editing program. I'm excited to see the quality differences/improvements with clips from my new GL2. The question I keep asking myself is: do I really have to install the Canon software to be successful in importing and using video clips from my GL2? Any help on this item would be greatly appreciated.

One additional question. Most of my videos made from clips from my Sony camcorder have occasional diagonal lines running through certain clips. I've been told this is problem generated from different fps speeds on the camcorder and the computer. I've also been told that the GL2 has a feature for addressing this problem. Can someone steer me to a forum thread or other resource where I can read some "how to" explanations.

Thanks a heap.

bake
r -->>>

Thanks Bud

I'm three years commited to Adobe Primier so I'll pass up your suggestions for Pinacle, but looking forward to similar results with my new GL2. Finally figured out the audio problem, as I located the switch to go from auto to manual. Big, big difference on audio reception now, almost good enough to hear dust fall to the floor.

bake
r

Just got my GL2 and am just now trying it out. Have Pinnacle Studio 8 loaded, but not yet the "Digital Video Solutions Disk". I believe it has ZoomBrowzer, which also came with my Canon Pro90 digital camera. Many Pro90 users prefer the BreezeBrowzer (Breezesys.com) instead. Has anyone tried to use this browzer -- for the GL2 stills?
Question for Bake: did you get better audio with the manual setting versus the automatic? Please elaborate.
For Pinnacle Studio 8 users: Is there a way -- with this or other editing S/W -- to initially review a day's "take" at full screen, to make sure what is kept is free of flaws, is in focus, has enough depth of field, has no overexposed areas. etc.? Seems like the small review window in Studio8 is not big enough -- on my 15" LCD -- to do that well.
Thanks
Roland

The video solutions disc appears to be (from my cavalier observations) to be the same as what ships with Canons still digital cams, except that it includes drivers to download stills from the video cameras, instead of the still-only cams. It may have some crappy video editing software too, but it's very easy to say if you're not downloading stills using the USB port on the camera, don't bother sticking that CD in your drive.

I want to use the stills at times when I can't get close enough with my Pro90 (10X) but can get a 1488x1128 JPEG (at 20X) with the GL2. But so far I've had trouble setting up the USB connection with my computer (installing the driver).
Roland

A find of mine explained that he no longer takes a still with his Canon XL1 video camera, because he will often miss the better shot due to lag time during the (I guess) downloading of the image to the memory card. In other words, the video camera cannot take a rapid sequence of images using the still mode. He finds it better to just keep "rolling" with the video and then later, after capturing clips to his computer, he uses his video editing software to "freeze" the exact frame he wants to turn into a still.


Question: Is there much difference when one compares the resolution/quality of a still image with that of an image that was a product of a frame from a clip on the same subject?

I'm still going to try to set up the card/still capability and do some comparison testing. I need the best reolution possible for printing.
Could you elaborate on the auto/manual audio comments you made earlier (see my previous reply). Thanks.
Roland

As a newbee to the GL2, each day seems like I discover a new feature and feel even better about my purchase. I suppose this is a common experience for lots of people. I have an outside wedding coming up and I need good audio reception/recording. When I discovered that the audio dials didn't seem to work at all, I got real concerned. Just recording TV got so/so results. Then I flicked the audio switch to manual and was pleasantly surprised at the increase when I manipulated the audio gain dials. One can make the audio reception so sensitive, however, it's like a grainy image, with lots of distortion.

This evening I will test out the Canon shotgun mic I also got to see how it fits with the manual audio gain. What I am hoping to do is avoid for the time being are remote mics until I know more about the latter. My first remote mic purchase (Sony) was a big disappointment.

So I give a thumbs up to manual audio just as I do for the manual apeture, speed and brightness controls.

I guess I'll be a few weeks/months behind you on the learning curve. But I'll be doing only outdoor nature videos, which present a whole different set of problems than weddings and such.
One thing that's still bugging me is the apparent lack of a large preview/editing screen for screening/editing (in Pinnacle Studio 8). It seems that all the not-so-expensive programs lack a full screen editing capability, perhaps all. Any clues?
Roland

I may want to take some stills and print them for some friends.I am in the market for a printer.I have been looking at the canon printers,I850 and the I550.I also use Adobe Premiere.What would you recommend for a printer to use with the GL2 ?Would you bother with the ''solution disk''?

I have been using the Canon S800 bubblejet printer for 2 years now and I have been very happy with the quality (max size 7.5x10) when I used it after editing with Photoshop. But I'm sure Canon has more up-to-date printers now. They are cheap but the ink cartridges can eat you alive if you do a lot of printing. With 1488x1126 ppi resolution (GL2) you may be limited somewhat on print size. With my Canon Pro90, which has 1856X1392 ppi 7.5x10 glossies come out great.
Roland

"I guess I'll be a few weeks/months behind you on the learning curve. But I'll be doing only outdoor nature videos, which present a whole different set of problems than weddings and such.
One thing that's still bugging me is the apparent lack of a large preview/editing screen for screening/editing (in Pinnacle Studio 8). It seems that all the not-so-expensive programs lack a full screen editing capability, perhaps all. Any clues?
Roland"

Hey Roland,
With outdoor nature video, you are probably thinking there is lots of time to set up and get what you want, and, the lag time on using the video camera to get stills is not an issue. I agree unless you are focusing on something like a humming bird...

I hear you on preferring videoing or photographing landscape/nature photography, but I cannot find any work for pay to help support my habits in that area. Currently, for landscape and nature photography, I'm using medium format, slides. As I get more and more familiar with digital images, it is more frustrating to deal with photoprocessing services, when I know I would have greater control and better results on the images taken and edited on my computer. Cannot afford the upgrades, however...

I'd be interested to see some of your outdoor nature video work from the GL2, when you have something to share....

If you are doing previews of still images gotten with your GL2, and you have access to some photo editing software like Adobe Elements or Photoshop, you could view the images at full screen or larger.

I don't have any experience with Pinnacle, but with Primier I can enlargen the preview screen to full size of the monitor by dragging on a corner of the viewing area until the image is as large as I want it to be or full size of the monitor.

bake
r

"I may want to take some stills and print them for some friends.I am in the market for a printer.I have been looking at the canon printers,I850 and the I550.I also use Adobe Premiere.What would you recommend for a printer to use with the GL2 ?Would you bother with the ''solution disk''?


__________________
richard tamayo"

Richard,

We have an Epson Photo Stylus (one of the first models with 6 colors) and while we can stilll get pretty good photos from it, it's cheaper and with more consistant results downloading a bunch of images onto a cd and either going to Costco for ~ 9 cents a print (4 x 6) or sending somewhere on mail order.

We had a Canon printer before the Epson and that is still my favorite. But I'm spoiled by the color consistancy I get using outside photo services and at prices that make my printer photos look very expensive.

You might want to consider Adobe Elements for editing your still images taken with the GL2. Adobe has been in the digital photo editing business a lot longer than Canon. But if you decide to use the Canon software, I'd be interested in hearing about your experience.

bake
r

Hey Bake:
I just learned that Windows Media Player has the full screen capability for editing, so I may be using that S/W instead of Pinnacle.
I have been taking thousands of digital images with my Pro90 the past 2 years and will publish a field guide to the wildflowers of a local private Nature Preserve -- not for profit but as a fundraiser. I have tried to shoot birds before (I'm also an avid birder) but never invested in the long lense; plus I did not have the patience required for that. Now I'm stepping up to DV and will do all the flora and fauna and some scenics as well. I'll have a lot to learn about shooting and editing techniques and I certainly appreciate the experiences all the board members are sharing with us newbies.
Roland

Roland,

You probably are already familiar with this comparison, but just in case, when it comes to dealing with over/under exposure and getting good images, film and digital are different . My experience using manual settings with film is that if it's underexposed, the image can be poor quality, so I tend to push it one stop. But with digital I find it's kind of the opposite and so I avoid over exposure, knowing I can easily rescue an image that is slightly underexposed.

Working with my GL2 today, it was bright outside and with the zebra stripes "on", I noticed that almost everywhere I pointed the lens in the sun, except shaded areas, the automatic settings were overexposing, sometimes even after the ND filter was turned on. I had to manually crank the exposure to a negative 6 or 7, which made everything okay. It seems like the camera is at the edge dealing with overexposure. I don't think I've got any other settings or functions "on" or "off" that would make the camera show overexposure

bake
r

Bake:
Thanks for the tips on exposure -- I made myself a note; but I haven't done much testing with the GL2 yet.
With my Pro90 camera overexposure was not a big problem until I gave my images to professional printers, who found several cases of "blowout". In the four color process they need to have at least 5% of color so not to wind up with blank paper.
And I thought all there was to photography was learning to set up shots and to know the basics of photography. But it tends to get you deeply into all sorts of related fields.
Later.
Roland

Baker,

On the audio, make sure the audio is set to "mic" and not "line" or "mic att" (attenuate), "mic" is about double the volume of the others. On the XL1S it is in the menu's. Not sure about the GL2 but the XL1S has auto levels that keep up quite well when not attenuated from being in Line or mic att.

As far as loading the software (or anything else) don't forget one of the best things about Canon, 1-800-OK Canon, You will not wait long before hearing a live human voice, No company that I have ever dealt with is better than Canon at answering their phones, If the phone rep can't answer it they will gladly call an engineer.

Donny

Thanks a lot for your advice, Donny.

Since I posted the comment about audio, I forced myself to consult Webster's dictionary because the manual explained nowhere the meaning of "attenuate". I'm afraid to say I've never used that word before. Although not a very techy definition, Webster helped me understand.

As for the difference between line and mic, I do not yet know for sure this distinction, but I will keep your caution in mind when I fiddle with the settings.

I nearly called Canon tonight, but was eventually able eliminate the GL2 as source of problem. I'm real happy to hear from you about Canon's good rep on helping customers. More than I can say of my experiences with Sony.

I just upgraded my video hard drives from 2 IBM 45 gigs to 2 IBM 75 gigs. Afterwhich I tried my first clip capture with GL2 using Adobe Primier. An error occured, which at first I thought might be related to the new device, my GL2. But I tried the same procedure with my old Sony with same result. Turned out to be a temp file/scratch disk problem that I'm still working on.

Went to the zoo yesterday to test the GL2. Still a little puzzled by what seems like an inclination for overexposure. Thankfully, the manual exposure dial resolved every incident. Maybe I'm reading those zebra stripes incorrectly...

bake
r

As for the zebra stripes I dont use them, something is always going to be non perfect. Mainly I find zebra'a to be everywhere in all pictures, I tend to look for the lack of details in the dark areas more than the bright areas, it just seems that zebra's were in every shot no matter what. The best thing I ever found in photography that carried over to video is the wonderful circular polarizer, it darkens the picture by 1 or 2 stops but is magnificent for knocking out the glare and darkening the overbright.

Try this, turn off the zebras and trust your eyes. It's the good thing about electronic viewfinders (EVF's), what you see is what you get.

Don,

Thanks for your advice. Playing around with my old Sony the other day, I noticed that it had the zebra stripe function also. I may have used it once or twice long ago, but then forgot about it. I may try using the zebra stripes with the GL2 when there is plenty of time to tweak an image, but that's not often in my business.

I noticed that the circular polarzier was a favorite item for purchase with the GL2 when I was shopping for a new camcorder. I use the same a fair amount with still photography, but hadn't thought it was worth it for video. You changed my mind on that one.

Thanks again.

bake
r

Baker-Baker

I just got my GL-2 and had the same quandry about the software.

I think that this is intended for those who do not have firewire, and need the usb hook-up to the pc or mac.

I have downloaded thru my firewire, unplugging my usb cable.

Does this sound right?