Video Capture via Firewire to Computer

[John Shulman]

Hi Team, thank goodness I found this site!

As a complete newbie and proud new XLS1 owner I of course have a question / problem :-)
I have studied the manual, searched all the menus and features
I have thoroughly searched the forums on this and tried some of the fixes suggested but without results.

Problem: I cannot get my laptop to recognize my XLS1 camera and therefore cannot transfer any of my footage to my laptop for editing.

The facts:
1- I have a HP Laptop running Windows XP Service Pack 3
2- My computer has a Firewire Port (mini) and the Device Manager shows the IEEE 1394 (Firewire) Host Controller is working properly
3- Device Manager shows the only Imaging Devices installed is the integrated webcam
4- I have Adobe Premiere 6.0, DV Capture and WinDV programs that only recognize my integrated webcam as a video source
5- I set the camera to VCR setting and play the tape
6- When plugged into each other the camera shows “DV IN” in the view finder (this disappears / reappears immediately as I plug / unplug the cable) (so the camera knows it's plugged into something) (I assume it should read "DV OUT" instead)
7- I am able to output the Audio & Video to my TV via the S-Video and RCA cables
8- The Camera manual is extremely vague on how to do this!!
9- I have never used a firewire device on my computer
10- I have tried to link the camera on 2 friends laptops (both PC's) without success

If you need anymore info to diagnose my issue jsut let me know and I'll get it ASAP

Please help me turn a paperweight into a wonderful creative tool.

John

[Don Palomaki]

Premiere 6.0 - that came out in about 2000, roughly when the XL1s came out, and was replaced by 6.5 in about 2002. All this at a time when things were much less robust in terms of standardization. Premiere 6.0 is a bit long in the tooth,

Have you tried the following start-up sequence (it has been known to help with some systems)?
Power everything OFF
Connect the camcorder
Power up the camcorder in VCR mode
Power up the PC
Start Adobe Premiere

What is the age of the Laptop? Processor, speed, ram?
Is the IEEE 1394 port OCHI compliant?
Can you capture from other camcorders?
Have you tried any other Video Editing software on the PC?

[John Shulman]

Don, please accept our greatest apologies for the lengthy delay in thanking you for your feedback. We lost our ISP for weeks! Again truly sorry.

We tried the sequence you suggested but to no avail. The laptop is modern with all the bells & whistles. The port appears to be OCHI compliant. We’ve never tried capturing from other camcorders. We will try a newer version of adobe.

May be another delay since we have to send our crappy HP laptop in for repair (another issue… or maybe not…)

We’ll let you know any developments.



Sorry,

John

[Herman Van Deventer]

John ,

Try set your Premiere - under EDIT - PREFRENCES - DEVICE CONTROL - DROP DOWN LIST
of Device Brands.

b) Update 6.0 tot 6.1 or Better 6.5.

[Noel Lising]

I think the problem lies with your XL1, could be a problem with your firewire output, you might want to have it checked, if 3 PCS failed to recognize the camera, it is not sending out a signal. My old Panasonic DVC-7 had that problem before.

Borrow a video camera & check if your computer recognizes it.

[Jeff Dillon]

Make sure your firewire controller uses the TI chip

[Niu Xiaoyu]

i have exactly the same problem with you~~~the only difference is that occasionaly, like once every hundred times of pluging, the computer will recognize the XL1. That is too stange and it really bothers me a lot. Hope someone could answer it.

[John Shulman]

Alright, got our laptop back and we're back in business.

We've tried everything everyone has been so kind to suggest.

We upgraded to Adobe Premiere Elements 7.0 (Don)
We tried setting the Device Control to “Canon XLS1” (Herman)

Noel, while it might be that the DV Output of the camera itself is not functioning properly when we plug the camera into the laptop the camera says “DV IN” which makes us think there is some kind of connection there (although we think the camera should say “DV OUT” instead)

Jeff, how do we check that our Firewire Controller uses the TI Chip??

Question: in theory, even if our video capture software is closed, the camera is on in VCR mode (playing video in the viewfinder) and connected to the computer via Firewire should the computer recognize the camera in the “My Computer” window as a "Drive"?

Q2: what's our best alternative? Is there a MiniDV tape player that we can buy and connect to the laptop via firewire (instead of using the camera as a VCR)?

Thanks team

[Chris Soucy]

The correct message on the camera is "DV IN".

It is possible the camera can get info from the PC but not vice versa.

My PC emits a distinct double "dah - dum" from the speakers when it detects a connect and again when it's broken.

Device manager (Control Panel) lists the XL1s as a "Canon DV Camcorder" in the "Imaging Devices" entry, even with no editing software running.

You can use any old (or new) DV camcorder as a deck: beg, borrow or steal one and see if that works.

Another line of attack is to download the trial version of Ulead Video Studio (say), fire that up and then turn on the XL1s.

My system refused to look at the XL1s with Adobe. Fired up UVS, system saw camera, hey presto even Adobe could see the camera. Never failed since with either app.

Strongly of the opinion the UVS gave the drivers a swift kick which broke the log jam.


CS

[John Shulman]

So my buddy came over with his Mac and got the XLS1 to work with Final Cut Pro but it was hit and miss. It worked, then it didn't, then it worked, then it didn't.
Finally I've had to get a small handheld JVC cam that is recognized by my PC to be used as a deck (exactly what Chris recommended)

Thanks guys for the help.

John