and were can i find the european firmware?
I have a new HD101E

Firmware upgrade for GY-HD100E - 101E
http://www.jvcproeurope.com/firmware/hd100/firmware_request


Firmware upgrade for GY-HD110E and GY-HD111E
http://www.jvcproeurope.com/firmware/hd11x/selector

isnt there a way i can do it alone?

in the version check menu i see the following:

SYS CPU C1590 V0401
CAM CPU C1591 V0400
VTR CPU C1594 V0120
ENC CPU L1187 V0108

PACKAGE C1615 V0202
FPGA2 C1595 V0202
FPGA3 C1596 V0101
FPGA4 C1597 V0106

Phone Mike Turner at JVC UK - his number is +44 (0)20 8208 6241 extn 6241
(I'm sure he won't mind me handing it out, as he told me I could ring any time if I had questions about my camera, and I'm just an ordinary joe punter)
p.s. the upgrade he gave me last week (by email) for my HD101E (not an "A" model) was V0405

which is:
SYS 0402
CAM 0400
VTR 0122
ENC 0113

ill give him a call

The easiest and fastest way to tell if you have the "A" upgrade is to look under the camera body underneath the shoulder pad. There is an "A" sticker.

I had to drop my HD100 off at the Cypres factory to get the "A" upgrade however I was able to perform a more recent upgrade via internet download. This is the upgrade that came out last July for the FCP users.

I thankfully have the 'A' sticker and I'm hoping this A refers to the upgrade - an upgraded HD100 model was mentioned at the time of purchasing around a year ago (upgraded in Germany in believe).
Hopefully I can therefore not worry about having to send the camera in and obtain the latest firmwares over the net (I'm phoning JVC today).

Have these latest upgrades generally fixed the clip break ups? Great if so, I've had a whole host of them of late.

It worked for me. I haven't had a single split problem since upgrading.

I still capture in AIC to avoid the gaps between clips. I wish this could be resolved but I prefer editing AIC over HDV anyway so no biggie.

^^ Are you referring to the clips being split up or the 7 second missing footage Scott...I should have made that clearer - I'm currently having the 7 second breaks within long clips and having to capture the missing portions via DVHSCAP

It was a while back, but advice at the time suggested setting the TC to REGEN (instead of REC) to help eliminate the 7 second split?

I don't think AIC is applicable to me in PAL land unfortunately so I'm set with HDV 720p25.
Cheers.

^^ Are you referring to the clips being split up or the 7 second missing footage Scott...I should have made that clearer - I'm currently having the 7 second breaks within long clips and having to capture the missing portions via DVHSCAP

It was a while back, but advice at the time suggested setting the TC to REGEN (instead of REC) to help eliminate the 7 second split?

I don't think AIC is applicable to me in PAL land unfortunately so I'm set with HDV 720p25.
Cheers.


The "split" as i understand it is exactly that in long captured clips FCP brakes the long clip to little pieces and then because of the GOP sys you get the 7 sec brake in the middle of the clip.

Im also in a PAL country, and i find the AIC much more reliable then the regular HDV 720p25, also i still capture using the DVHSCap soft because of the GOPs.

The "split" as i understand it is exactly that in long captured clips FCP brakes the long clip to little pieces and then because of the GOP sys you get the 7 sec brake in the middle of the clip.

Im also in a PAL country, and i find the AIC much more reliable then the regular HDV 720p25, also i still capture using the DVHSCap soft because of the GOPs.

Interesting...I had it as gospel that AIC was irrelevant in PAL land...unless recent s/w upgrades (I'm using FC5) have made this possible?

In Europe they do the upgrade as well, but they don't add an 'A' sticker.
At least not with my camera. You have to check the firmware to make sure.
There was also a small modification done on my processor board for the 'Mode changing' issue which was fixed completely after the upgrade.

^^ Are you referring to the clips being split up or the 7 second missing footage Scott...I should have made that clearer - I'm currently having the 7 second breaks within long clips and having to capture the missing portions via DVHSCAP

It was a while back, but advice at the time suggested setting the TC to REGEN (instead of REC) to help eliminate the 7 second split?

I don't think AIC is applicable to me in PAL land unfortunately so I'm set with HDV 720p25.
Cheers.

If you capture in HDV you still get the missing footage between clips. If you reduce the pre-roll in your user settings, you can get those gaps down to 2-3 seconds, but since I shoot a lot of events, I can't afford even that, so I capture with AIC.

The upgrade that came out last July fixed another problem that effected both HDV & AIC capture where longer clips were being spliced part way through. The upgrade works quite well and if you don't mind AIC, you shouldn't have any further problems.

AIC eliminates the GOP for faster editing but it takes up about twice as much hard disk space and doesn't preserve the original tape's timecode. This sucks if you ever want to do a batch capture for an older project.

If you capture in HDV you still get the missing footage between clips. If you reduce the pre-roll in your user settings, you can get those gaps down to 2-3 seconds, but since I shoot a lot of events, I can't afford even that, so I capture with AIC.

The upgrade that came out last July fixed another problem that effected both HDV & AIC capture where longer clips were being spliced part way through. The upgrade works quite well and if you don't mind AIC, you shouldn't have any further problems.

AIC eliminates the GOP for faster editing but it takes up about twice as much hard disk space and doesn't preserve the original tape's timecode. This sucks if you ever want to do a batch capture for an older project.

Cheers Scott - yes I was having longish runs broken up into clips with 7 second portions missing - as I've only required to shoot in DV mode for clients this hasn't been an issue - now however I'm using the camera's full capability and shooting HDV, so workarounds are now needed.
I cannot capture AIC natively in FCP so I have the two options of :

Capture in DVHSCAP and export as AIC in Quicktime (or FCP 8bit uncompressed 4:2:2 - is AIC still preferable over this?)

Capture natively 720p25 HDV then DVHSCAP the missing portions (pre/post roll altered).

Drive space is very tight at the moment so AIC export might have to take a back seat.
I'll let you know how I get on with the upgrade (and reading some of the scare stories on here I'll endeavour to be extremely carefull with that operation!).
Cheers.

Phone Mike Turner at JVC UK - his number is +44 (0)20 8208 6241 extn 6241
(I'm sure he won't mind me handing it out, as he told me I could ring any time if I had questions about my camera, and I'm just an ordinary joe punter)
p.s. the upgrade he gave me last week (by email) for my HD101E (not an "A" model) was V0405

which is:
SYS 0402
CAM 0400
VTR 0122
ENC 0113

Paul - I called JVC but Mike wasn't around.
I found it a little odd that nobody there seemed to know about the 'A' upgrade? I have old software which I'll need to upgrade (via the website and SD card) but I understood the 'A' upgrade was more of a physical thing?
Perhaps I do in fact have the A upgrade afterall...I've filled in the form (S/N etc) anyway - the guy on the phone to be fair, did ask whether or not I wanted to send it in, but I need the camera over the next week so will attempt the upgrade myself.
Cheers.

Paul - I called JVC but Mike wasn't around.
I found it a little odd that nobody there seemed to know about the 'A' upgrade?

Mike seems to be the most knowledgeable one there, so I'd try to speak to him again.

As far as I know, the whole "A" upgrade thing was the "U" models not the "E" models? (I may be wrong). I haven't had to send my cam in for any fixes, but then again I've never had many problems, I just wanted the firmware update to minimise the final cut problems, and so far I haven't had a chance to try it out.

The only thing thats noticeably different so far since the update is a couple of extra menu items, which I think are connected to firestore hard drive use.

^^ Cheers Paul.
I phoned again on Friday and they asked if I wished to send the camera in for the upgrade - I told them I'd give it a go myself (making sure the tape is out the cam!). However, for the HD100 fix on the website you have to fill out a form for them to then contact you again...so I'm still waiting.
Didn't realise the 'A' upgrade relates to the U models though.

Thanks.