Hey Guys, I figure someone here would know how to help me because I am genuinely driving myself CRAZY.

I recently shot some footage with my Canon-XH-A1 in HDV format (1080i) and am trying to import it into my Windows 7 (64 bit) based PC via firewire. I tried vegas, nothing. HDVSplit, nada. Premiere CS4, not a chance.

For whatever reason these programs are not able to capture my footage even though in all of them I am fully able to control my camera (ff, pause, rw, play, etc) Also when I think I finally think it's about to work the capturing will stop itself once it gets to a scene split (stoppage in recording).

Everything is set right on my camera settings; AV>DV is OFF. Comp. Out is set to 1080i.

I'm really not sure what else to do, I'm going nuts. Any help is very much appreciated.

Can't take any cudos for this as even this is third hand, but check out post #5 on this thread (courtesy of the Google search)...........

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-vixia-hv-series-hdv-camcorders/477757-firewire-frustration.html

May just solve the problem, don't know.


CS

Can't take any cudos for this as even this is third hand, but check out post #5 on this thread (courtesy of the Google search)...........

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-vixia-hv-series-hdv-camcorders/477757-firewire-frustration.html

May just solve the problem, don't know.


CS


Didn't see that thread at first, thanks. However, did everything suggested and to no avail. This is incredibly frustrating, I don't want to have to down convert to DV.

Did your computer come w/ Win7 or did you upgrade? There is a chance that your firewire chipset is not fully Win7 compatible. You might have to try buying a Firewire card and see if you can capture through that.

Also do a websearch for Firewire and your paticular motherboard/computer. There might be an update available &/or other people may be having the same problem.

Bought my computer with Windows 7 preinstalled.

All the Sony and Canon HDV camcorders I've worked with have been set by default to output HDV > DV via Firewire. This in-camera downconversion is ON from the factory, and you WILL see device control in Premiere, but no picture. This is the most likely scenario for your issue.

I have an HV20 at home, but don't remember what Canon calls it in the menu....for Sony, it is "i.Link Convt", but you need to find the "DV convt" or whatever Canon calls it and turn it OFF. Also, set VCR to HDV, not AUTO.

Once that is set correctly, you need to RESET the system. Turn camera OFF and close Premiere also. Next, turn camera (VTR) ON and wait for beep or other notice that computer "sees" the camera. Once it does that, launch Premiere and capture HDV.

To verify this is the issue, open a Premiere DV project and try a capture. If it works, then the Firewire convert is ON in the camera and it is outputting DV.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers


Hey Guys, I figure someone here would know how to help me because I am genuinely driving myself CRAZY.

I recently shot some footage with my Canon-XH-A1 in HDV format (1080i) and am trying to import it into my Windows 7 (64 bit) based PC via firewire. I tried vegas, nothing. HDVSplit, nada. Premiere CS4, not a chance.

For whatever reason these programs are not able to capture my footage even though in all of them I am fully able to control my camera (ff, pause, rw, play, etc) Also when I think I finally think it's about to work the capturing will stop itself once it gets to a scene split (stoppage in recording).

Everything is set right on my camera settings; AV>DV is OFF. Comp. Out is set to 1080i.

I'm really not sure what else to do, I'm going nuts. Any help is very much appreciated.

I looked through the menu again and I don't see anything that would catch my eye as a down convert problem.

AV>DV us set to OFF
HD Down-Conv is grayed out


Also, when playing back my media the HDV60i icon is above my media...


This is really beyond frustrating, I will be so thankful to anyone who can help me out. Thank you for all your responses thus far.

Can you post a screen grab of your project settings and capture window from Premiere?

http://gregorymstevens.com/vegas.jpg

Vegas: When I hit capture, it doesn't actually capture anything but plays the tape.

http://gregorymstevens.com/premiere.jpg

Premiere: Same thing, I can see video - doesn't actually capture.

http://gregorymstevens.com/hdvsplit.jpg

HDV Split: Says it started capturing, however, makes files that are "0 bytes" big.


Note: All programs seem to mess up when the camera has cut scenes. (Everytime I stopped and then started recording)




So frustrating!

My experience with the XH-A1 is that it either talks to the computer or it does not. To rule out the XH-A1 as the problem, you would need another camera to test. If have or can easily borrow another HDV camera, it does allow capture, then you might well have a problem with your XH-A1. However, since your screen shots show that the computer is reading timecode and since you have been able to run the "deck controls" in the capture programs, itseems unlikely that you have an issue with either the camera settings or the program capture settings. I'd suspect it is more likely the issue is with either the tape or the hard drive you are trying to capture to.

I've run into something this three times.

Once with my XH-A1 using HDV Split and Premiere (did not try Vegas) there was some kind of glitch on the tape right at the point I was trying to capture from. It was not a drop out. It just made the tape stop at that point whenever I tried to capture. It just happened that I was trying to start the capture right before that point and the capture would start and then immediately stop. By manually entering start and stop points for batch capture on either side of it, I got around the problem.

Another time, this happened when I was running under WinXP and trying to capture to a hard drive that was over 80% used, and I had not emptied the recycle bin. (The problem can be much worse if you are trying to capture to a system drive and you have one of those 5200 rpm notebook drives.) Also, be sure that your capture destination is a folder and not a drive root. In my case, I cleaned unused files from the disk, ran defrag, and the problem went away.

Finally, the last time I had a problem like this, I found that there can be issues with Win 7 and external firewire and USB drives. I found that Win 7 seems to arbitrarily decide that they are actually DVD drives and give you very slow i/o which can make it impossible to capture video to them. If you have been trying to capture to an external drive, see if you can feed a short segment to another drive (even the system drive if that is all you have.)

Hey Guys, I figure someone here would know how to help me because I am genuinely driving myself CRAZY.

I recently shot some footage with my Canon-XH-A1 in HDV format (1080i) and am trying to import it into my Windows 7 (64 bit) based PC via firewire. I tried vegas, nothing. HDVSplit, nada. Premiere CS4, not a chance.

For whatever reason these programs are not able to capture my footage even though in all of them I am fully able to control my camera (ff, pause, rw, play, etc) Also when I think I finally think it's about to work the capturing will stop itself once it gets to a scene split (stoppage in recording).

Everything is set right on my camera settings; AV>DV is OFF. Comp. Out is set to 1080i.

I'm really not sure what else to do, I'm going nuts. Any help is very much appreciated.

Windows 7 Firewire drive doesn't work very well, you need to use the Legacy driver.
Here is a link to an article that will give you step by step instructions

Fixing Firewire Problems in Windows 7 (http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/Firewire-1.htm)

I had the same problems myself.

I have 1.09TB free of space currently, so I don't think disk size is the issue here. I also don't believe it is a defect with my camera nor a setting (although the setting options seem fairly vague)

My footage was recorded in HDV, and my camera is currently outputting HDV footage. I don't understand why it is impossible for me to capture it. In my research I found possibly changing the 1394 driver to legacy mode would help, however, that did nothing.

Please keep the suggestions pouring, I really don't want to have to down convert my footage.

I've got an EVGAP55 MB with OB Firewire. After days of frustration, video capture finally worked for me when I turned off AHCI in BIOS (in my case before reloading Windows 7). After that it worked. I have no explanation, but it might be worth a try.

I don't think I'm very comfortable messing around with my BIOS. Do you think that's really necessary? You would think Windows 7 would make video editing easier for the consumer!


Ugh, this is really making me nuts.

Gregory,
In Premiere, when you open the capture window, click on the settings tab.

Go down under Device Control and set the device to None and see if you can manually capture the video.

Also, do you have any other programs running in background like AntiVirus or other Utilities? If so turn them off and see if you can capture the video.

Did you reboot your computer after you installed the legacy driver?

Gregory,
In Premiere, when you open the capture window, click on the settings tab.

Go down under Device Control and set the device to None and see if you can manually capture the video.

Also, do you have any other programs running in background like AntiVirus or other Utilities? If so turn them off and see if you can capture the video.

Did you reboot your computer after you installed the legacy driver?


David, Thanks for taking the time to try and help me. I really do appreciate it.

When I change the Device control to NONE, I then have no control over the controls (play, pause, etc) and even when I hit record on no device being selected and play the tape via my camera it still does not record any information.

Also; No to Antivirus, any background programs, etc...

Gregory,
Give me a minute I am trying something at my end. Hopefully I can reproduce the the problem.

Okay,
I created the same problem here and this is how I fixed it.

In Premiere, I went to Project, the Project Setting, then Capture.
I set it for HDV and clicked Okay.

Next, I went into Edit, then Preferences, then Device Control. I set the Device to None and clicked Okay.

Then I went to File, then Capture. When the Capture window opened I went into Settings. Then down to the Device Control. Set it to DV/HDV. Then click the Options button right below and set the Device Brand to Generic and the Device Type to Alternate 1.

Click Okay and EXIT out of the Capture window. Then go back to File and Capture to re-open the window and make sure you camera is on and connected to the firewire port. When you go back into the Capture you should see a Red record button next to the stop button. Manually start the camera and see if you are getting video in the capture window. If you are, the press the red record button.

I had to look this up in a note book of problems I've run into and I wanted to setup a system here to re-create it. I did and it works for me. Let me know

Okay,
I created the same problem here and this is how I fixed it.

In Premiere, I went to Project, the Project Setting, then Capture.
I set it for HDV and clicked Okay.

Next, I went into Edit, then Preferences, then Device Control. I set the Device to None and clicked Okay.

Then I went to File, then Capture. When the Capture window opened I went into Settings. Then down to the Device Control. Set it to DV/HDV. Then click the Options button right below and set the Device Brand to Generic and the Device Type to Alternate 1.

Click Okay and EXIT out of the Capture window. Then go back to File and Capture to re-open the window and make sure you camera is on and connected to the firewire port. When you go back into the Capture you should see a Red record button next to the stop button. Manually start the camera and see if you are getting video in the capture window. If you are, the press the red record button.

I had to look this up in a note book of problems I've run into and I wanted to setup a system here to re-create it. I did and it works for me. Let me know

I did all those steps above, and did get picture. However, when I pressed the red record button (although the camera did start to play the footage to be captured) the Capture duration above stayed at all 0's.

This is the case in most of the programs, I can see picture but can't actually save any of it. I really don't understand it.

Just another picture:

www.gregorymstevens.com/vegasprob.jpg

As you can see in Vegas, I get picture - the computer IS recognizing the camera, However - as soon as I decide to hit record, the meter stays at 0. Nothing is ever captured.

Let me make sure I am correct on this, you are manually pressing play on the video camera? You are not using the computer or Premiere to control the camera? And when you press the record button in Premiere it is not recording.

Have you tried a different firewire cable? Or a different firewire port on the computer? I know those are basic things to look at, but you never know.

I had a similar problem before with a camera once before and the steps I gave you is how I got it to work. Tell you what, click on the link for me below and when you get to my website click on contact us. Call the number and ask for me. Let's try somethings over the phone. I am in the office from 10am to 5pm EST.

Gregory,
Since you are have problems on both Premiere and Vegas, have you tried capturing on a different computer?

I am wondering if your Firewire port is the problem. I did some digging around on the Internet and a few other people have had the same problem you are describing and it turned out to be the Firewire port. By just dropping in a $30 to $40 Firewire card into the system and using the ports on the new Firewire card, everything worked fine.

Just an idea.

What happens if you feed the Component out into your HDTV/ Monitor and play the tape?

I'm wondering if this is a variant of the BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) bug that mysteriously appears at random then dissapears just as suddenly, and is always tape/ tape path related.

If the HDV video (you want to ingest) plays perfectly from your camera's Component out, then the tape and data are OK, which brings us right back to the Firewire port (s) OR cable (have you tried a new one?).


CS

PS: As an afterthought, it might be worth turning downconvert on in the camera and try ingesting in SD. If it will, it isn't a Firewire problem, so that can be eliminated.

David, I didn't get a chance to call today. But thank you so much for the offer - you are truly going above and beyond...

Chris--
Sadly, I only have one firewire port on my PC. However, this is a brand new PC.

I don't think my issue is hardware related as my computer and camera seem to work fine, I just don't think they are able to talk to each other.

I was thinking maybe someone can get in touch with me on skype and physically control my pc via the internet. I have just about lost all faith.

Side note:

I have a hunch this may be related to my OS being 64bit. Maybe they make Canon XHA1 64bit support drivers? I do not see any.

Gregory
I don't think it is a 64 bit driver problem. I found a few posts on adobe.com forums where other people are having the exact same problem, even giving the same type of screen shot you have shown. The person there fixed it with a new firewire card with a different chip set. I've had good luck with firewire card that have the TI chip set.

If you get a chance, call me tomorrow. I have an extra firewire card that I could send up to you to see if that solves the problem. I will be in after 11am EST.

I expressed myself badly.

Have you determined, from either the camera LCD or by plugging the Component cable from the XH A1 into a HDTV, that there is, indeed, useable HDV data on the tape past the point where it stops (or fails to start) ingesting?

Have you attempted to downconvert the HDV to SD in camera and capture that SD stream?

Have you tried any other DV/ HDV camera into that laptop Firewire port?

As for not talking to each other, the camera is clearly being detected correctly, which wouldn't happen if the port was fried.

Have you tried ingesting the data on a system with a slightly less "bleeding edge" OS?


CS

Gregory
I don't think it is a 64 bit driver problem. I found a few posts on adobe.com forums where other people are having the exact same problem, even giving the same type of screen shot you have shown. The person there fixed it with a new firewire card with a different chip set. I've had good luck with firewire card that have the TI chip set.

If you get a chance, call me tomorrow. I have an extra firewire card that I could send up to you to see if that solves the problem. I will be in after 11am EST.

Dude, you're insanely helpful. If I am able to get some free time tomorrow I will absolutely call. I really have a feeling it's not my firewire port because I've captured once before on this computer, for the life of me I can't remember how...

I expressed myself badly.

Have you determined, from either the camera LCD or by plugging the Component cable from the XH A1 into a HDTV, that there is, indeed, useable HDV data on the tape past the point where it stops (or fails to start) ingesting?

Have you attempted to downconvert the HDV to SD in camera and capture that SD stream?

Have you tried any other DV/ HDV camera into that laptop Firewire port?

As for not talking to each other, the camera is clearly being detected correctly, which wouldn't happen if the port was fried.

Have you tried ingesting the data on a system with a slightly less "bleeding edge" OS?


CS

The tape does work fine when I stream it to my television.

Yes, I am able to capture in SD.

I do not have another HDV camera to test currently.

I agree, I don't think it's the port just some sort of setting. This is my editing computer - if I can't get it to work on this, I'm out 4 grand!

Gregory,

Here are some links to the Adobe Forums where other people are having the same problem.

Adobe Tech Note
Can not start DV or HDV video capture in Premiere Pro CS4 or later
Cannot start DV or HDV video capture in Premiere Pro CS4 or later (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/828/cpsid_82848.html)

Adobe Forums
Can't Capture HDV with Premiere Pro
Adobe Forums: Can't capture hdv with Premiere Pro (http://forums.adobe.com/thread/577283?tstart=0)

The first link is a very detailed Tech Note from Adobe on setting up capturing from a camera via firewire. Has different settings to try.

A question for you, are you on a Dell computer?

I ask because I have read about people having problems (slow data transfer rates) with external hard drives connected via the firewire port to certain Dell computers. The problem has been with the chipset/configuration of the firewire port. It will work pefectly with some devices but is flakely with others.

Another thing, don't have anything else connected to the firewire port when you try to capture. It could be another device in the firewire chain that is causing a conflict with the camera.

If you get a chance, give me a call.

Gregory,

Here are some links to the Adobe Forums where other people are having the same problem.

Adobe Tech Note
Can not start DV or HDV video capture in Premiere Pro CS4 or later
Cannot start DV or HDV video capture in Premiere Pro CS4 or later (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/828/cpsid_82848.html)

Adobe Forums
Can't Capture HDV with Premiere Pro
Adobe Forums: Can't capture hdv with Premiere Pro (http://forums.adobe.com/thread/577283?tstart=0)

The first link is a very detailed Tech Note from Adobe on setting up capturing from a camera via firewire. Has different settings to try.

A question for you, are you on a Dell computer?

I ask because I have read about people having problems (slow data transfer rates) with external hard drives connected via the firewire port to certain Dell computers. The problem has been with the chipset/configuration of the firewire port. It will work pefectly with some devices but is flakely with others.

Another thing, don't have anything else connected to the firewire port when you try to capture. It could be another device in the firewire chain that is causing a conflict with the camera.

If you get a chance, give me a call.

Dave,

I actually do have a Dell (Uh-oh), I'm guessing this is a problem on their end huh? I just know this computer is infact capable of capturing HDV footage because I was able to get it once before. Maybe it's just a question of doing the right things in a very specific order.

I'm not able to call you today, I'm getting on a train in about 20 minutes to attend the NBA 2010 Draft (fun, wish I could bring my camera and film in HDV! lol) Anyway, is there a fix for the configuration with my firewire port (there is only one)?

Thanks again,

Greg

Hey Gregory,

First - I came across this tip for the Canon XH A1:

"Take the XH A1 out of auto mode to HDV mode (if that is what you shot in) with the Firewire cable unplugged. OR make sure the video camera is in the manual mode in HDV mode." Try both of these with the Firewire Cable UN-Plugged.

Since you said you captured video before with the computer and that video camera, the problem may end up being just the way the video camera is setup.

Second - The reason I asked if you have a Dell is a few other people on the Adobe.com forums have reported problems with capturing video with the Firewire port on Dell's. Here is one of the threads about it: Adobe Forums: Can't capture hdv with Premiere Pro (http://forums.adobe.com/thread/577283?tstart=0)
While the Firewire ports on Dells work fine with external hard drives, there are posts where people are having problems with capturing video with Sony, JVC and Canon video cameras on their Dells.

Are you sure you are using the Firewire Legacy driver version? Here is a link to an article that will walk you through checking and changing it. Fixing Firewire Problems in Windows 7 (http://www.studio1productions.com/Articles/Firewire-1.htm)

Other than that, I am really leaning towards a hardward problem since you are having the problem with both Vegas and Premiere. The hardware problem could be the video camera configuration as I listed above or a flakey Firewire cable or the Firewire port.

Feel free to call me on Friday.

There does seem to be a consensus that on board firewire may in some cases be causing problems with video capture on Win 7 64 bit. In my case turning off AHCI coincided with firewire capture working, I'm not saying definitely it was a causal, but I suppose it is possible that there could be some sort of conflict between AHCI and firewire capture in Win 7 or on some MBs, who knows? Since you can get a PCI firewire card for around $10, it would be worth trying (if it still doesn't work, at least you'll have a spare firewire port).

Resolution:

First of all, to everyone in this thread, especially you David Knarr, I want to thank you. I genuinely couldn't be more grateful to have access to a forum like this where people are so ready and willing to help you solve your video problems. Thank you.

As for me, I finally got it to work. Over the weekend I went to Bestbuy and picked up a 3-Port firewire card. (located here: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex%26%23153%3B+-+4-Port+USB+2.0+PCI+Desktop+Card/6307445.p?id=1074787928138&skuId=6307445) Luckily a friend of mine works there and was able to get it for like $6. I got home, installed the card and viola! Problem fixed! ( for now :-/ ) For anyone out there who is having this problem with their Dell based system, I would suggest picking this card up.

Hope this helps anyone else struggling with this nuisance of a problem.


Thanks again guys, truly.

Hey Gregory,

I'm glad to hear you got it working.

Over the weekend I went to Bestbuy and picked up a 3-Port firewire card. (located here: Dynex™ - 4-Port USB 2.0 PCI Desktop Card - DX-UC104 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dynex%26%23153%3B+-+4-Port+USB+2.0+PCI+Desktop+Card/6307445.p?id=1074787928138&skuId=6307445))

That's a 4-port USB card...

That's a 4-port USB card...

My mistake, It is a 4 port.