A few more questions please

[Bruce Pelley]

In the continued quest to be a better educated consumer as I plan to buy one of these units in about 3 weeks if all goes well here a a some more...

Please bear with me and thank you.

1)Is there a simple,easy to use program that will faithfully import HD video into the PC without any (or very minimal) frame loss with the audio audio fully in sync?I see HDV splitter has been mentioned here,does it do a good,reliable job?Any opinions or suggestions based on practical experience welcomed!

2)Will my Canon ZR-1000 remote controller work on the XH-A1?The ZR-2000 is on the pricey side and my budget is limited mostly to getiing the A1 itself.

3)If DV/SD video takes about 12-13 gigs per hour of tape how hard drive hungry is HDV?

4)Since one can shoot in SD/4:3 "1080x1080" mode on the A1,can I take that tape after recording,play it on the GL-2 & it will look normal with the aspect ratio,proportions and size correct?Better yet,could the contents of that tape be imported into the PC/Premiere 6.5 if I had the right preset downloaded from Adobe?

4B)Going the other direction,can one successfully play a GL-2 tape on the A1?

5)Can I capture/record SD 4:3/1080 footage from the A1 via firewire to the GL-2?Whats behind this is that I'm trying to determine the degree of compatibility & potential interchangibility with the tapes of the 2 units.I have had my oldest GL-2 almost since it came out on the market and have a sizable archive.

6)What is the physical size difference between the 2 models?

That's all for now.The clock is counting down on this purchase.

Very much appreciated.

Bruce

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Bruce Pelley

2)Will my Canon ZR-1000 remote controller work on the XH-A1?

Yes.

4)Since one can shoot in SD/4:3 "1080x1080" mode on the A1

Well, actually SD 4:3 is 720 x 480, not 1080 x1080.

can I take that tape after recording,play it on the GL-2 & it will look normal with the aspect ratio,proportions and size correct?Better yet,could the contents of that tape be imported into the PC/Premiere 6.5 if I had the right preset downloaded from Adobe

Yes and yes -- there's no difference here. SD 4:3 on the A1 is the same kind of video as your GL2.

4B)Going the other direction,can one successfully play a GL-2 tape on the A1?

Yes -- no problem.

6)What is the physical size difference between the 2 models?

The A1 is a bit bigger all the way around.

[Kevin Amundson]

Originally Posted by Bruce Pelley

1)Is there a simple,easy to use program that will faithfully import HD video into the PC without any (or very minimal) frame loss with the audio audio fully in sync?I see HDV splitter has been mentioned here,does it do a good,reliable job?Any opinions or suggestions based on practical experience welcomed!

After having trouble capturing with PP2 I started capturing with HDVSplit and I have not looked back. It is a very solid program and I have not had a problem with it.

Originally Posted by Bruce Pelley

3)If DV/SD video takes about 12-13 gigs per hour of tape how hard drive hungry is HDV?

After everything said and done and all the files are saved onto my hard drive, the HDV(.m2t) files are the same size and actually sometimes smaller than a DV(.avi) file of the same length. HDV takes the same amount of space as DV.

Originally Posted by Bruce Pelley

4)Since one can shoot in SD/4:3 "1080x1080" mode on the A1,can I take that tape after recording,play it on the GL-2 & it will look normal with the aspect ratio,proportions and size correct?Better yet,could the contents of that tape be imported into the PC/Premiere 6.5 if I had the right preset downloaded from Adobe?

You can only shoot 4:3 in SD(720x480). All other shooting formats are shot in 16:9, HD(1920x1080) or SD(720x480 with 1.2:1 pixels).

Note: HDV is actually recorded at 1920x1440 with 1.33:1 pixels.

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Kevin Amundson

Note: HDV is actually recorded at 1920x1440 with 1.33:1 pixels.

I think you meant to say that HDV is actually recorded to tape at 1440 x 1080 with 1.33:1 pixels.

[Kevin Amundson]

Yep. Thats what I meant. :)

[Bruce Pelley]

they stated in the specs that one of the "shooting modes" is:

Copied and pasted:

Image Sensor 3 - 1/3" Native 16:9 CCDs 1440 x 1080
Total Pixels Approx. 1.67 Megapixels
Tape Recording HD: 1440 x 1080; Approx. 1.56 Megapixels
SD (4:3): 1080 x 1080; Approx. 1.17 Megapixels
SD (16:9): 1440 x 1080; Approx. 1.56 Megapixels

the middle selection SD (4:3) 1080 x 1080 et. al.
How does this correlate with what's stated in this thread thus far?

Are you gents saying that 1080 x 1080 is not possible in SD 4:3 mode? Where the specs in this respect wrong? Have mercy, I'm just trying to understand what this can and cannot do!

Also how many effective mega pixels does the GL-2 have in comparison?

Thanks for all of your responses.
Bruce

[Pete Bauer]

Took me a few minutes to figure this one out, as the 1080x1080 is NOT mentioned in either the XH brochure or the user manual; it only shows up on the Canon web pages for the cameras.

Those pixel counts relate to the CCD block, not the final image. The camera uses that area of CCD pixels -- less than the total pixels on the CCD -- to create the image, which they call the "effective pixels." For a final product of SD 4:3, the 720x480 image with a pixel aspect ratio of 0.9 is created by downsampling from 1080x1080 CCD effective pixels. For a final product of SD 16:9, 720x480 with a pixel aspect ratio of 1.2, the CCD pixel array used is 1440x1080 effective pixels. It is no coincidence that 1.2/9=1.33 and 1440/1080=1.33.

By comparison, the GL2 uses 380K effective pixels.

[Bruce Pelley]

in the XH-A1 translate to a much better quality picture comparatively speaking over the GL-2?Are the CCD's better and the density of pixels greater? Is 380k a far cry from 1.17 megapixels?Are these specs misleading?

By that I mean obviously when both are used in 4:3/720 by 480 mode.

Also,can Premiere Pro 2 successfully import HDV/.m2t files directly into the timeline if the HDV files already reside on the internal hard drive?In general can PP2 capture HDV footage directly from the A1 via firewire without dropouts,sync problems,etc.?What problems have you run into and how were they worked out?

Thanks once again!
Bruce

[John Stakes]

Originally Posted by Pete Bauer

Took me a few minutes to figure this one out, as the 1080x1080 is NOT mentioned in either the XH brochure or the user manual; it only shows up on the Canon web pages for the cameras.

Those pixel counts relate to the CCD block, not the final image. The camera uses that area of CCD pixels -- less than the total pixels on the CCD -- to create the image, which they call the "effective pixels." For a final product of SD 4:3, the 720x480 image with a pixel aspect ratio of 0.9 is created by downsampling from 1080x1080 CCD effective pixels. For a final product of SD 16:9, 720x480 with a pixel aspect ratio of 1.2, the CCD pixel array used is 1440x1080 effective pixels. It is no coincidence that 1.2/9=1.33 and 1440/1080=1.33.

By comparison, the GL2 uses 380K effective pixels.

just wanted to say that that comment was VERY helpful and saved me a large headache. But one more question, if the final product is to be 16:9 HD, what ratio do you export?
thanks

[Alan Craig]

[QUOTE=Bruce Pelley;724059

1)Is there a simple,easy to use program that will faithfully import HD video into the PC without any (or very minimal) frame loss with the audio audio fully in sync?I see HDV splitter has been mentioned here,does it do a good,reliable job?Any opinions or suggestions based on practical experience welcomed!

Try pinnacle studio 11 very easy to use and will import HD and audio together and in sync.

Alan