Two Options:
1.) Upgrade to Adobe Premier Pro CS3
2.) Buy & Download Aspect HD
(http://cineform.com/products/Aspect-Prospect.htm)

canon xha1 & adobe premiere pro 2.0
 

Thanks Zack,
Not quite what I was hoping for but, it's not a perfect world is it!

Darren

There's actually a third option.
I am currently shooting in HDV mode with XH-A1 and capturing with Premier Pro 2.0 without a problem.
For 60i use "Adobe HDV 30" preset.
For 24f and 30f you need to download new presents from Adobe support web site. I don't have the link handy now, but I will post it once I find it. Then you can capture/edit HDV natively while you are waiting for PPro CS3.

canon xha1 & adobe premiere pro 2.0
 

Thanks guys,
I am gobsmacked at the knowledge out there and the speed that you come in with your answers.

Darren

Now see... that is awesome because I was under the impression you couldn't capture or edit 24F footage from the A1 without the Matrox RT.X2 and CS3 when it is released or another external software package. Boy was I mislead!!

Thanks for the info!

The real beauty is that in PPro2 when you capture 24f, you actually get 23.976fps progressive footage, which, if added to 24fps timeline, could be exported to MPEG2-DVD as native 24fps progressive scan video, with all MPEG2 flags correctly set. I know that for a fact, because my Sony DVP-S9000ES has an indicator light on the front pannel, which turns on when a pure progressive footage is detected. In this case it's using "Film" mode, instead of "Video" mode. Makes a BIG difference!

Heres a few video tutes, showing how to capture HDV with PP2

http://www.esnips.com/web/Premiere-Pro-2-Video-Tutes

canon xha1 & adobe premiere pro 2.0
 

Thanks again guys,
I have been tearing my hair out all day today, I posted copied the canon files but everytime I tried to use them it just crashed out PP2, I will spend some time dabbling with what Maksim has suggested and I will have a look at the tutes, I have been at this for 7-8 hours today as well as shooting stills in the studio.

Has anyone tried the trial version of pp cs3 yet?

I have also been trying to download that!

Cheers Darren.

canon xha1 & adobe premiere pro 2.0 Ivans tutes
 

Ivan the tutes are a great help, i thought that all clips have to be Avi, but you are saying no probs!

This is a long way from tiffs eps jpgs psd etc that I am used to, I feel like I have a mountain to climb, it's comforting to know that I am having some hand holding.

Thanks again, I look forward to watching the rest of the tutes.


Darren

Darren,
I have used PP CS3 at home on a test machine, but I just got my A1 last night, and have not tested HDV footage on it yet. From what I understand in reading other threads, the CS3 Trial does not allow HDV editing/capturing I guess. I am at work, and cannot confirm for sure, but that is what I have heard.

canon xha1 & adobe premiere pro 2.0
 

Thanks Luke!

Darren

PP CS3 trial has definatly HDV disabled.

Well guys,
I have managed to download some HDV footage as per Ivans tutes, but the footage when exported looks like it has been thru a hall of mirrors in terms of wavy at certain points.
it was captured as mpeg and I was trying to export it as a windows media item- or something similar- sorry I am at home now and don't have access to pp2. can anyone give me some pointers on this please?

N.B. the original footage had a bit of "jumpiness" but I think that it is due to it being the begining of a tape that I have been messing about with,trying to get all this lot sorted out!

Darren

Darren,

Try exporting as MPEG2 (using HDV preset) with a fixed bitrate of 25Mbs. If you are shooting 24f, use MPEG2 and set progressive scan (no fields) in the video encoder parameters.

The jumping in the footage may be from panning if you are shooting in 24f and doing fast pans.

Thanks Maksim,
I will be on the case again when I get to the studio!

Darren

premiere elements 3.0 and 24f
 

Hi,

I am new to the forum and am just curious about any of those who have used the A1 with PE 3.0. Any issues with 24f/30f/1080i etc...?

I am anticipating upgrading my software in the future, but in the meantime I want to plug away at this entry level editing software.
My camera is on its way and I have to say I will be on this site often to pick up on ideas.

Thanks to those who are able to respond!

Hi Jay
 

Hi Jay, welcome to the forum.

I use PE 3.0 to edit the video taken with my A1 and I am happy with its performance so far. I've had no problems working with 24f and 30f video. The only thing PE 3.0 doesn't do for me is capturing so I use HDVSplit for that. Of all the video editing software that is available in that price range, I would recomend PE 3.0 for sure.

-John

thanks for the reply!

I am glad my software will work with the xh-a1. I guess that means it works with all the frame-rates this camera has to offer?

I don't understand why there are difficulties capturing and I am unfamiliar with HDVSplit. I know there is an HDV captiuring option in the set-up menu when the program opens. What can you tell me about hdvsplit? Are there any links you know of that will educate me?

Thanks again I really appreciate it.

Here's the link to the HDVSplit page. You'll find everything you need there to run it, you will probally need to download ffdshow as well.

http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm

I can't tell you why PE doesn't capture video on my end. I am running Vista so that may be an issue. There is no capture preset specifically made for the A1 so that may be why also. You can try the other Canon capture presets, it might work for you. Good luck.

-John

Thanks John.

It is nice to get feedback on my first thread on this site.

I checked out the HDVSplit site and it seems straight forward so
I appreciate it!

I am still waiting for my camera so once it arrives I will troubleshoot PE 3.0.

Have you edited HDV and then brought it down to SD for DVD? If so, how did the PE 3.0 handle the process?

I know I am pumping out a lot of questions at this point but I think it may be anticipation for the A1's arrival working overdrive:)

Thanks again John.

You're very welcome Jay. I know exactly how you feel, I was on pins and needles waiting for my A1 to arrive.. and when it did I was like a little kid on Xmas morning opening up the box. It's a beautiful camera, you will not be disappointed.

As far as using PE 3.0 to output the HD to SD DVD, I was greatly disappointed in the quality of the video it produced. Also, I think you are limited to the DVD templates that come with PE 3.0, you can't create your own menu system, so that's another downside.

The only DVD authoring application I found that does a very good job is Sony's DVD Architect 4, there was very little loss in the quality of video. The bad news is that Sony doesn't sell DVD Architect 4 seperatly, you have to purchase the Vegas Suite (which runs about $500.00.) A lot of people on here use Vegas and speak very highly of it. Me personally, I find Vegas to be very user-unfriendly so I don't use it. You can download a trial version of Vegas and DVD Architect 4 to see for yourself though.

You also might want to try Ulead's Videostudio 11.. with that you can adjust the bitrate as well as other parameters to improve video quality but from my personal experience it still doesn't come close to DVD Architect 4.

-John

Guys hopefully I am not misunderstanding your issue here.

I see that you are mentioning other apps due to your dissatisfaction with Premier Elements. Elements seems to be more geared to SD. HD is MUCH more complex to edit due to the interlacing.

Have you considered doing the upgrade to Premier Pro which is actually made more for HD? I contacted Adobe and they gave me an upgrade price that was considerabley less than the purchase price. So you get a reduced price and it is similar to use to Elements so it should be easy to adapt.

Just a thought.

upgrade possibilities
 

I didn't know PE was able to be upgraded to the pro version.

That does sound quite intriguing to me. Especially if the price is right!

Will you be willing to disclose a ballpark figure on the price they offered you for the upgrade over this site?

Do you know if it is a CD package upgrade of if it is a download on their site.

Thanks again for the response!

Monitoring options
 

Jack, Your question is one I still have unanswered. I want to use an HD TV to monitor instead of my LCD displays. Does anyone know of a good quality output solution so that an HD TV can be used as a television monitor?

thanks, Rich

I received an upgrade for $599. They basically knocked off $200 for my Premier Elements 3.0. This is more than what I actually paid originally for the Elements so it seemed like a good deal.

Also, you asked if they sent a CD. They sent a whole new package as if I bought it new. They did the same thing when I bought Elements 2.0. I noticed 3.0 was available right after I bought it. I called them and they looked at when I bought it, then sent a whole new Elements 3.0 package free. I have been very impressed with their customer service.

Thanks again Ray for the reply.

I think the upgrade will be in order once I summon the funds. Sooner than later I hope.

I was wondering if you (John you may have experience with this too) have ever downconverted to SD from HD within the camera. Do you find this image to be better than standard SD? And have you ever used downconverted HD in PE without any problems?

Soon I will have my camera in my hands and I will probably troubleshoot with it until the day it dies, but until then I love to gather input from current owners.

Thanks again

Jay

Hi Rich...

I use this card.... http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/cr...helia/apve.php

I changed from an nVidia 7900 recently and haven't looked back. I'm running 2 Dell 24" monitors, 1 15" JVC CRT monitor, and a 26" Sharp Aquos LCD HDTV from this card.

Only downside, but tolerable, is that the resolution of 1600 X 1200 from the card is less that the 1920 X 1200 that the 2 monitors are capable of and the images on the monitor are somewhat distorted. However....I'm trying to get used to looking at the program monitor output on the CRT or the HDTV as appropriate.

Ray: Sorry if I came across as being disapointed with PE 3.0.. quite the contrary, I am very pleased with its performance so far. I haven't done any big video projects with it yet, but with what video I have worked with, I have no complaints as far as editing and working with HD video. The only thing I do not like about PE is the DVD authoring part of it. But that is to be expected I guess with a product of that price range.

Jay: No, I haven't tried downconverting from within the camera yet, so I don't know how good the SD quality is. As far as downconverting via software, from what I have learned so far, it just depends on what your converting your HD video to and what you use to convert it. If I use Windows Meida Encoder to produce a wmv video, there is very little loss in video quality. On the other hand though, if I use PE to convert my HD video to an SD DVD, there is a significant loss in video quality (below SD standard in my opinion.)

To be honest with y'all, I'm probally not qualified to answer or address these issues as I'm still learning myself... I know there are more experienced people on here who would be a better help.. so I'm just telling you what I have experienced so far. As Ray suggested, you would probally get better results upgrading to the pro version, however I do recall reading some threads on here from people who were not happy with the pro version, so maybe you should seek out those threads first before you decide to upgrade. $599.00 is a lot of money :)

-John

Hey guys, sorry I was late responding.

Regarding PP2.0 I agree that there is a lot of buzz about the ability to downconvert. I haven't had a lot of experience doing this as I only recently began editing HD content. However many editing programs struggle with this issue and most people have developed great workarounds to this problem.

This clip I found extremely helpful for Premier Pro.

http://www.esnips.com/web/Premiere-Pro-2-Video-Tutes

I found out some great news while researching. Premier Pro CS3 allows burning HD onto blu-ray so there is no need to downconvert. Even better news. if you have any Premier product, Elements or Premier Pro, the upgrade is only $299. I think that's a great deal. Even better for me. I upgraded to PP in March so they stepped up and upgraded me to CS3 for free!

Just FYI thought you would be interested.

A1 with Premiere Pro on a MAC? Anyone?
 

With all my frustrations dealing with FCP recognizing the A1, I was wondering if anyone is using this setup (or close to it...)

Canon XH A1
Shooting HDV (60i & 24f)
Edit with Premiere Pro (2 or CS3) in Mac OS X (on a Macbook Pro)


If you exist, do you have any trouble capturing/editing or issues with Premiere recognizing the A1?

No problems so far....
 

I am using Premiere Pro CS3, Macbook Pro 2.4GHZ, 4 Gig ram. I have only captured small clips (less than 5 minutes) in both 24f and 60i without problems. There is no preview on screen for some reason (apparently intentional as this is documented by Adobe) so all previews must be through camera.

The only "glitch" I have noticed thus far (less than two weeks with the program) is that when exporting the program will sometimes return an error message "failed to render a frame" and will not export. Closing and re-opening the program fixes the problem. For me only a minor inconvenience, for professional maybe a different story.

Also be aware that all export options are h264, quicktime variations, MPEG 2 and flash but no WMV. Again, fine for me, but maybe not as many choices for professionals.

Hope this helps.

And this is all in HDV? as opposed to SD/DV? I saw another post saying something about no HDV preset available or something along those lines.

Thanks for your input Fred.

Matrox RTx.2 compatibilities with Premiere CS3?
 

You'all might check out another thread talking about using either the matrox or cineform or both.:
"Cineform, Matrox, or both" ( 1 2)
Paul Kepen

Very informative comments and a lot of yeahs but a few nays for the Matrox.

Nvidia Quadro Fx-560 has component out (for the ntsc monitor) too.

CineForm Aspect or Prospect for HD with Premiere CS3?
 

I've been checking out their web site and looks like CineForm makes several products, two of which are, "Aspect HD" and "Prospect HD".
Any user out there who can tell me the differences in these 2 programs? It seems like a lot of guys are using Aspect with Premiere Pro CS3, and I just want to make sure that is what I should purchase instead of Prospect HD, or some higher level program that has more bells and whistles.
thanks!

HDV capture problems in premiere pro 2.0
 

Hi, hope someone can help me..

The cam am using, Canon XHA1 PAL.
It´s only when im going to capture HDV, regular DV works fine.
the program telling me that "capture device offline" but i can still
control the camera by play, stop, rew and so on, get picture on cam, but non on the computer ......so why can´t i capture anything?

Playback on cam is set to HDV, HD down-conv set to off.
Win SP2 installed to.
Device control in premiere is set so "DV/HDV device control"
Then canon standard.

i can use cineform alone to capture HDV but it won´t work in 1080 50i.
1080 25F seems to work fine.
But cineform do not show up in premiere pro when installed.

But why can´t i capture any HDV in Premiere?
This drives me crazy!


Does somebody have any clue?

From what I can gather, the main things about Prospect is that it gives you 1920x1080 (vs 1440x1080), 32-bit floating-point effects processing, and 10 bit color editing. I've been looking into these too.

http://www.cineform.com/products/Aspect-Prospect.htm has a nice comparison at the bottom.

CineForm does capture 50i, but you might have an install problem. Try capturing using the external tool HDLink, that will help remove any questions regard your camera connecting to the PC in HDV mode.