Capturing straigt to the computer w/o Tape at DVinfo.net

Cole Montana · May 26th, 2009, 11:48 AM

I want to shoot multiple events with my XHA1: weddings, Church, etc and would love to be able to capture straight to my computer or laptop. I use Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 for editing and it will capture, the only problem I'm running into is the camera wants to shut off every 4:30 seconds. How do I stop this? Also if I'm capturing in HD, will the firewire cable capture in 24f, or do I need to get a HD capture card and hook up using the Component Video cable (RBG)?

Thank you so much for your help, it's so hard to find answers to these questions any where...

CM

Battle Vaughan · May 26th, 2009, 01:13 PM

You can turn the power save function off in a custom function, change value 16 to 01. (P.83 in manual) As to the other question, I once played back a tape recorded in 24f to Premiere Pro via firewire, so I assume but do not know for sure that the 24f will play out live to your computer. Hth..... / Battle Vaughan /miamiherald.com video team PS if you run the camera on the ac adapter, it doesn't shut off; this probably is practical only for playback, but thought I would mention..../bv

John Estcourt · May 27th, 2009, 02:50 AM

Recording 'live' to sony vegas via firewire is no different to capturing a tape, I do it all the time and as the previous poster correctly said just go into custom menu and stop the camera from powering off.
You can capture 24f or 60i into vegas for as long as you have hard drive space.
If you capture using componant via AJA card etc I am not so sure about the progressive output as i havnt tried it, its somthing i'm thinking of trying later in the year as i can then by pass the hdv codec.
I have a feeling though that progressive would not be available via componant out, perhaps someone could confirm that for me?

Cole Montana · May 27th, 2009, 08:23 AM

Thanks so much for the help! Really that saved me a huge headache. I just realized there are two custom options, obviously I haven't read my booklet all the way through. So much to learn I wish I could find a class out here in Denver on XHA1.

Ok, about which way to get it to the computer.. So right now the best way to do it will be via Firewire? It seems much more efficient than buying a capture card that has the RGB component input, and then having to plug in the audio to the audio input on the computer as well. I'm not losing any quality correct?

I hope I'm not sounding redundant here just hoping it's all as easy as I want it to be and I'm not making it harder than it is...

Battle Vaughan · May 27th, 2009, 08:50 AM

The firewire is the direct digital hdv output; you don't lose anything, it is the best way, I believe.

The component output (page 97 in manual, rtfm!~) is capable of 1440x1080 (thus interlaced, as the xha1 doesn't do 1080p) in component mode, or several SD configurations (letterboxed, etc). /bvaughan

Cole Montana · May 27th, 2009, 09:52 AM

BV, thanks buddy, I've been ready and I hate to say it, some is just over my head, and a tad bit confusing. That's why I have you guys right! lol It's not like the book comes out and say
"BTW, when capturing to your computer, use Firewire, it's the best method"

So basically the component cable is just for hooking the camera up to a TV. Got it. I owe you beers if you ever make it to Denver!

~C~

Ian Wright · May 27th, 2009, 10:24 AM

I capture to a Motion tablet via Firewire. There have been the odd occasions when I've forgotten to press the record button on the tablet and have been rescued by the tape I also record to.

So I would suggest you record to both. It also gives you a taped archive of the event.

Ian
Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd

Jonathan Shaw · May 27th, 2009, 10:36 PM

If you capture via component you will need a capture card like a black magic one and you will actually be capturing uncompressed HD in 1920 x 1080, avoiding the HDV codec. Awesome quality however massive files....

John Estcourt · May 28th, 2009, 02:08 AM

Hi Jonathan, are you sure about the 1920 x 1080? Im sure that the chips are native 1440 x 1080 which would mean that component out would still be the same resolution as HDV but as you rightly said, uncompressed.
I do know that the capture cards can up convert to 1920 X 1080 during capture but I am not sure how good the footage looks compared to native 1920 x 1080.
The newer cards from AJA and Black Magic do look really good and for certain things getting away from HDV compression would be great.
I capture to hard drive all the time now for Ice skating events and I am seriously looking at one of these cards for later this year if I am convinced there will be an improvement in picture quality that would justify the expense.

Laurence Scott · May 30th, 2009, 02:24 PM

I've been trying to do this very thing - capture directly from my XH A1 to any of my computers without having a tape inserted.

I've mainly been unsuccessful in my attempts to do so. I'm hoping someone here could let me know what I might be doing wrong based on the following information:

Canon XH A1 set at 1440-1080i HDV
Sony Vegas Pro 8.0c and 8.1 now Pro 9 32/64bit versions
Ulead VideoStudio Pro X2 [I use this from time to time on non-important projects]
Best Buy/Geek Squad Firewire Cable 6ft length
One PC with XP Pro 32bit SP3 / AMD 6000+ @ 3.00 GHz / 4GB DDR2 [built 07/2007]
One PC with Vista Ultimate 64bit SP1 / Intel Q9550 @ 2.83 GHz / 8GB DDR2 [built 11/2008]

I've tried LIVE capture under all the various camera modes as well via the external control but I still get the same issue.

* I launch Sony Vegas and initiate the capture function [not the Sony VidCap utility]
* Power up the camera > get the windows tone recognizing the device > few moments later Sony recognizes the camcorder and I get the video preview.
* I click the record button on the Vegas interface and the camera functions as it should

** Here is where the problem(s) I've been encountering come in. I get an echo effect in regards to the audio. Like if I say "Hello" I'll get 5 - 8 subsequent "Hello's".
** If shut it down and try it again I get another problem in the form of what sounds like microphone feed back mixed in the "echo" effect from previously. So I end up getting this:
Hello tone Hello tone Hello tone Hello tone Hello tone - all the while the microphone feedback tone gets louder and louder through each cycle.

*** I get the same issue while attempting to capture using Ulead VideoStudio Pro X2 minus the feedback tone.

I get the same issue on both of my computers.

Any tips/suggestions/information are welcomed and will be greatly appreciated as this would help cut down on the mechanism wear and tear. In addition to semi-professional work I also use my XH A1 to post 2 or 3 videos per month on youtube.

Ian Wright · May 30th, 2009, 02:39 PM

have you muted the speaker on the laptop? If not, this can cause that effect.

Ian
Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd

Laurence Scott · May 30th, 2009, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian Wright

have you muted the speaker on the laptop? If not, this can cause that effect.

Ian
Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd

YES!!!!
You've helped solve my problem!!!
You're a life saver - tape saver too!!

Thanks for the tip!!

Ian Wright · May 30th, 2009, 03:27 PM

excellent!

I've just returned from a recording where I got told off for having noisy equipment. Turned out it was the speaker on the laptop that I was recording to. It had mysteriously become unmuted.

So I guess I had a bit of a clue to the solution to the problem you were having!

Ian
Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd

Jonathan Shaw · June 1st, 2009, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Estcourt

Hi Jonathan, are you sure about the 1920 x 1080? Im sure that the chips are native 1440 x 1080 which would mean that component out would still be the same resolution as HDV but as you rightly said, uncompressed.
I do know that the capture cards can up convert to 1920 X 1080 during capture but I am not sure how good the footage looks compared to native 1920 x 1080.
The newer cards from AJA and Black Magic do look really good and for certain things getting away from HDV compression would be great.
I capture to hard drive all the time now for Ice skating events and I am seriously looking at one of these cards for later this year if I am convinced there will be an improvement in picture quality that would justify the expense.

Sorry for the delay in response, not sure about 1440 vs 1920, but to upscale looks fine. I output heaps of 1440 to 1920 for clients and it looks great.

Cole Montana · June 1st, 2009, 06:39 PM

Well thanks for the help, seems it got a bit off topic but so far so good capturing in HD with the firewire. I've yet to explore the different Frame rates for shooting. I shot about 6 hours of MMA footage this weekend, but had to record it all as we didn't have access to the hundreds of feet of fire wire we'd need. Around the house it's not a bad idea I guess. We'll be shooting lots more content over the next few weeks and exploring different avenues with the music videos to more MMA fights.

One other question though, I'm shooting the fight and recording as I've got about 75' of RCA cable running to the video mixer... how do I make it so the display isn't showing up on the monitor? Nothing worse than a 20 ft TV screen with all my Display info on it as I'm checking my tape, battery and audio levels while two chicks and just beating the hell out of eachother... and does the DVD recorder that's capturing the video capture that as well?
I want to see the display only on the camera , not through the monitor.

May 26th, 2009, 11:48 AM	#1
Cole Montana New Boot Join Date: May 2009 Location: Denver Colorado Posts: 6	Capturing straigt to the computer w/o Tape I want to shoot multiple events with my XHA1: weddings, Church, etc and would love to be able to capture straight to my computer or laptop. I use Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 for editing and it will capture, the only problem I'm running into is the camera wants to shut off every 4:30 seconds. How do I stop this? Also if I'm capturing in HD, will the firewire cable capture in 24f, or do I need to get a HD capture card and hook up using the Component Video cable (RBG)? Thank you so much for your help, it's so hard to find answers to these questions any where... CM

May 27th, 2009, 02:50 AM	#3
John Estcourt Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Scotland, Ayr www.amour weddingvideos.co.uk Posts: 305	Recording 'live' to sony vegas via firewire is no different to capturing a tape, I do it all the time and as the previous poster correctly said just go into custom menu and stop the camera from powering off. You can capture 24f or 60i into vegas for as long as you have hard drive space. If you capture using componant via AJA card etc I am not so sure about the progressive output as i havnt tried it, its somthing i'm thinking of trying later in the year as i can then by pass the hdv codec. I have a feeling though that progressive would not be available via componant out, perhaps someone could confirm that for me? __________________ john estcourt www.amourweddingvideos.co.uk

May 27th, 2009, 10:36 PM	#8
Jonathan Shaw Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 552	If you capture via component you will need a capture card like a black magic one and you will actually be capturing uncompressed HD in 1920 x 1080, avoiding the HDV codec. Awesome quality however massive files.... __________________ www.ginclearfilm.com www.facebook.com/ginclearfilm

May 28th, 2009, 02:08 AM	#9
John Estcourt Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Scotland, Ayr www.amour weddingvideos.co.uk Posts: 305	Hi Jonathan, are you sure about the 1920 x 1080? Im sure that the chips are native 1440 x 1080 which would mean that component out would still be the same resolution as HDV but as you rightly said, uncompressed. I do know that the capture cards can up convert to 1920 X 1080 during capture but I am not sure how good the footage looks compared to native 1920 x 1080. The newer cards from AJA and Black Magic do look really good and for certain things getting away from HDV compression would be great. I capture to hard drive all the time now for Ice skating events and I am seriously looking at one of these cards for later this year if I am convinced there will be an improvement in picture quality that would justify the expense. __________________ john estcourt www.amourweddingvideos.co.uk

May 30th, 2009, 02:24 PM	#10
Laurence Scott Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Allentown, PA Posts: 61	- looking for a solution - I've been trying to do this very thing - capture directly from my XH A1 to any of my computers without having a tape inserted. I've mainly been unsuccessful in my attempts to do so. I'm hoping someone here could let me know what I might be doing wrong based on the following information: Canon XH A1 set at 1440-1080i HDV Sony Vegas Pro 8.0c and 8.1 now Pro 9 32/64bit versions Ulead VideoStudio Pro X2 [I use this from time to time on non-important projects] Best Buy/Geek Squad Firewire Cable 6ft length One PC with XP Pro 32bit SP3 / AMD 6000+ @ 3.00 GHz / 4GB DDR2 [built 07/2007] One PC with Vista Ultimate 64bit SP1 / Intel Q9550 @ 2.83 GHz / 8GB DDR2 [built 11/2008] I've tried LIVE capture under all the various camera modes as well via the external control but I still get the same issue. * I launch Sony Vegas and initiate the capture function [not the Sony VidCap utility] * Power up the camera > get the windows tone recognizing the device > few moments later Sony recognizes the camcorder and I get the video preview. * I click the record button on the Vegas interface and the camera functions as it should Here is where the problem(s) I've been encountering come in. I get an echo effect in regards to the audio. Like if I say "Hello" I'll get 5 - 8 subsequent "Hello's". If shut it down and try it again I get another problem in the form of what sounds like microphone feed back mixed in the "echo" effect from previously. So I end up getting this: Hello tone Hello tone Hello tone Hello tone Hello tone - all the while the microphone feedback tone gets louder and louder through each cycle. *** I get the same issue while attempting to capture using Ulead VideoStudio Pro X2 minus the feedback tone. I get the same issue on both of my computers. Any tips/suggestions/information are welcomed and will be greatly appreciated as this would help cut down on the mechanism wear and tear. In addition to semi-professional work I also use my XH A1 to post 2 or 3 videos per month on youtube. Last edited by Laurence Scott; May 30th, 2009 at 02:25 PM. Reason: forgot something

May 26th, 2009, 01:13 PM	#2
Battle Vaughan Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami, FL USA Posts: 1,505	You can turn the power save function off in a custom function, change value 16 to 01. (P.83 in manual) As to the other question, I once played back a tape recorded in 24f to Premiere Pro via firewire, so I assume but do not know for sure that the 24f will play out live to your computer. Hth..... / Battle Vaughan /miamiherald.com video team PS if you run the camera on the ac adapter, it doesn't shut off; this probably is practical only for playback, but thought I would mention..../bv

May 27th, 2009, 08:23 AM	#4
Cole Montana New Boot Join Date: May 2009 Location: Denver Colorado Posts: 6	Thanks so much for the help! Really that saved me a huge headache. I just realized there are two custom options, obviously I haven't read my booklet all the way through. So much to learn I wish I could find a class out here in Denver on XHA1. Ok, about which way to get it to the computer.. So right now the best way to do it will be via Firewire? It seems much more efficient than buying a capture card that has the RGB component input, and then having to plug in the audio to the audio input on the computer as well. I'm not losing any quality correct? I hope I'm not sounding redundant here just hoping it's all as easy as I want it to be and I'm not making it harder than it is...

May 27th, 2009, 08:50 AM	#5
Battle Vaughan Trustee Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Miami, FL USA Posts: 1,505	The firewire is the direct digital hdv output; you don't lose anything, it is the best way, I believe. The component output (page 97 in manual, rtfm!~) is capable of 1440x1080 (thus interlaced, as the xha1 doesn't do 1080p) in component mode, or several SD configurations (letterboxed, etc). /bvaughan

May 27th, 2009, 09:52 AM	#6
Cole Montana New Boot Join Date: May 2009 Location: Denver Colorado Posts: 6	BV, thanks buddy, I've been ready and I hate to say it, some is just over my head, and a tad bit confusing. That's why I have you guys right! lol It's not like the book comes out and say "BTW, when capturing to your computer, use Firewire, it's the best method" So basically the component cable is just for hooking the camera up to a TV. Got it. I owe you beers if you ever make it to Denver! ~C~

May 27th, 2009, 10:24 AM	#7
Ian Wright Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Edinburgh UK Posts: 94	I capture to a Motion tablet via Firewire. There have been the odd occasions when I've forgotten to press the record button on the tablet and have been rescued by the tape I also record to. So I would suggest you record to both. It also gives you a taped archive of the event. Ian Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd

May 30th, 2009, 02:39 PM	#11
Ian Wright Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Edinburgh UK Posts: 94	have you muted the speaker on the laptop? If not, this can cause that effect. Ian Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd

May 30th, 2009, 03:27 PM	#13
Ian Wright Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Edinburgh UK Posts: 94	excellent! I've just returned from a recording where I got told off for having noisy equipment. Turned out it was the speaker on the laptop that I was recording to. It had mysteriously become unmuted. So I guess I had a bit of a clue to the solution to the problem you were having! Ian Festival Video and Audio Previews - Festival Previews Ltd Last edited by Ian Wright; May 30th, 2009 at 03:28 PM. Reason: typo correction

June 1st, 2009, 06:39 PM	#15
Cole Montana New Boot Join Date: May 2009 Location: Denver Colorado Posts: 6	Well thanks for the help, seems it got a bit off topic but so far so good capturing in HD with the firewire. I've yet to explore the different Frame rates for shooting. I shot about 6 hours of MMA footage this weekend, but had to record it all as we didn't have access to the hundreds of feet of fire wire we'd need. Around the house it's not a bad idea I guess. We'll be shooting lots more content over the next few weeks and exploring different avenues with the music videos to more MMA fights. One other question though, I'm shooting the fight and recording as I've got about 75' of RCA cable running to the video mixer... how do I make it so the display isn't showing up on the monitor? Nothing worse than a 20 ft TV screen with all my Display info on it as I'm checking my tape, battery and audio levels while two chicks and just beating the hell out of eachother... and does the DVD recorder that's capturing the video capture that as well? I want to see the display only on the camera , not through the monitor.