XLH1 firewire connectivity issues
 

I'm just wondering if anyone else is having connectivity issues with their XLH camera?

I'm having trouble putting my finger on the exact issue, but the symptom appears to be that, after a reboot, the computer correctly identifies the camera and I can capture into Premier or HDVSplit no problem.

However, after turning the camera off or changing modes, the computer seems to "drop" the camera and won't see it again till after a reboot.

It feels like a 1394 thing to me (as opposed to a camera issue) but if anyone has any ideas I'd be grateful. I'm on Dell Precision 5400, XP32, SP3.

Matthew

Matthew,
I have similar issues with Final Cut. Generally, I am able to have FCP recognize the XLH1 when I quit FCP and then restart with the camera on and in "VCR" mode. It's frustrating, but I have gotten so used to this work-around that I had forgotten about it until seeing your post. I'll be anxious to see if someone out there knows what causes it. At least we know it is not solely a Premier or Final Cut issue. Also, I'm on a Mac Pro Dual Quad 2.8, so it's not a Dell thing, either.

Patrick I have to do the same thing with final cut. It does this with both of my HD cameras. I have to close FCP and restart it to Log and Capture. Funny I thought it was just me. I have gotten used to restarting FCP when I capture. It does this same thing with a Canon HV20 when you try to capture as well.

Thanks guys, I don't feel so lonely now!

Having also used a PD150 and some basic canon cameras lately, it seems that the HDV cameras "connect" or are "seen" by the machine as a different device to a plain DV camera.

This might have something to do with it.... but I'd love to know how to fix it! I suspect it has something to do with the chipset on my firewire card, but i can't be sure.

MP

I've got a similar problem...but the solutions mentioned above don't work with my XLH1...
I want to capture video from the deck (it's HDV 1080i 50 PAL footage) into Final Cut Express HD, version 3.5.1.
In FCE I can't select an HDV camera under 'VIEW' > 'VIDEO OUT' (see pic).
When I want to start up the capture mode in FCE, it says it can't find an HDV deck (see second pic).

What should I do?
Thanks for helping!

To the orignial question. I had this problem to begin with. But after a few tests this is what worked for me.

I would connect the fire wire cable to the computer and the camera. Then turn on the computer. Leave the camera off.

After the computer is booted I would open premier and open the capture window. Then turn the power wheel on my XH-A1 to the VCR mode. After a few seconds it would appear in the window and would work properly.

I can switch modes and then come back to VCR mode and it will still work.

I am running a Quad Core 2.5 PC with 4 gigs of ram and Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit.

I don't know if my computer being different matters, I was supprised that Vista already had the drivers for my XH-A1 installed when I first plugged the camera in. I hoped this helped.

Thank you Patrick, I will give your process a shot!

MP

I think this might help
 

You have to look into the Device Manager to see how the camera is registered to the PC. (Non-MAC man here). If the camera is in HDV mode it comes in as a standard 1394 device and does not appear uniquely. IN this mode the only thing you can do is refresh the 1934 devices. In HDV ->DV mode it comes into Device Manager as a Imaging device and is clearly visable in Device Manager. What you can do is, with the camera on and connected to your PC, open up the camera settings and switch between these two leaving the camera on when switching. That might re-register the camera back into Device Manager as HDV.

I solved my capture problems that had been bugging me for weeks, by finding a really old firewire card and installing it. All my problems disapeared.

When FCP doesn't recognize the XLH1, sometimes doing a "Save All" and then going back to Log And Capture will fix it, otherwise, like most everyone else, I restart the program.