XA30 video issues not good at DVinfo.net

Lalo Alvidrez · January 15th, 2018, 12:11 PM

I recently purchased an xa30 and used it over the holidays for the first time to video a Christmas program. After getting the footage transfered and put on the vegas video timeline. I noticed the video would glitch. when I rendered the video it put a green glitch on the video. There are some samples. Is this a common problem with xa30 camcorder is do you think my camera has an issue that needs to be addressed with canon? It has been a headache dealing with this because when I think I have it all fixed I find another problem and have to re render again. Very disappointed with this especially since its a brand new camcorder. Does anyone else have this issue?

Don Palomaki · January 15th, 2018, 01:06 PM

I've not seen anything like that from my XA series camcorders. Have you seen it often with your camcorder? Does it show up if you play the original file in the camcorder or with another program such as VLC (not the transferred copy of the file)? At the same point in the video? Are there multiple glitches in the video? Do you see it on other memory cards?

The original footage looks like a read error, possibly a problem with the memory card or the transfer to the CP. The rendered footage green is probably what the NLE did when it hit the error in the file to deal with the issue.

Ron Evans · January 15th, 2018, 02:08 PM

Did you use the Pixela transfer software or just grab the files off the card ? I do not have this camera but am interested .

Tim Lewis · January 15th, 2018, 09:22 PM

FWIW, I think this may be the result of the camcorder hitting the ~2GB file limit when writing the file, it the switches to a new file and you can get this green frame. If you still have the files on the card, look in the AVCHD folder and drill down until you find the .mts files and see if they play with a green frame at the front, where they are a continuation of the previous footage.

I get this issue with my Canon Legria HF200's, but I have three of them running and make sure I start them about 15 seconds apart so the green frames never overlap. I can them cut around them easily in the multicam edit.

Ron Evans · January 16th, 2018, 06:42 AM

I think if you use the Pixela software it will stitch together without a problem just like several other transfer software but they need the metadata in the folder to do that. Straight files are not enough. That is why with mny Sony AVCHD cameras I always use the Sony transfer software.

Don Palomaki · January 16th, 2018, 07:50 AM

FWIW: I often use the DOS COPY command to concatenate files split at the 2 GB point. Some NLEs can do this as well if they are sued to import the file. But I don't know abut Vegas.

Ron Evans · January 16th, 2018, 11:21 AM

I think Vegas can do if it has the full directory structure to work from. The issue is that the files do not always have in sync audio and video and the meta data tells the transfer software where that data happens to be . Simplistically the audio and video do not line up in each file. One can be longer than the other and the transfer software sorts this out but just copying files either leaves a loss of audio or video at some points. At least that is my understanding.

Jay Massengill · January 25th, 2018, 11:28 AM

I haven't seen anything like that from my XA10 or XA20 cameras, except once when, despite taking precautions against static electricity on a very static filled day I sparked to the XA10 near the end of a long interview.
It was several days before I was able to copy the footage and I had to use Recuva software to save the long take from total loss. Even then, the final interview answer was lost and there was an artifact that looked like that in the middle of the frame (but a lot worse) and nothing could be recovered after that point.

It could also be a simple bad memory card error or unsuitable card for that data rate.

Generally speaking, I've had more trouble with the manufacturor's software not performing correctly when transferring long files. This was especially true from my XF300, where I found Vegas Pro was better at simply handling the files but using the Canon software to transfer caused glitches.

Also with the XA20 and XA30 you can shoot in either AVCHD or MP4.

I use a file joiner program for the AVCHD and just let Vegas Pro 12 handle the MP4 files directly. I've never had a problem with either of those methods and in most cases I didn't maintain the recording file structure, just copied the individual recorded files from the card to my computer.

Give us more information on your original file recording settings and how the transfer was accomplished and we can make some more suggestions.

Lalo Alvidrez · February 15th, 2018, 09:29 PM

I copied the files directly from the sd card. Just found the files when I inserted card into my pc card reader then cut paste to my hd. I did order anther sd card as a backup. So is it possible to start recording at different times on the two cards? I will be shooting another program this weekend so hopefully it will go off with out a glitch.

Ron Evans · February 16th, 2018, 07:45 AM

As I mentioned before let the Pixela software or even Vegas transfer the files from the card NOT Windows explorer. It may work for small files of a few minutes but will likely fail for long clips. Why the resistance to using software that works?

Don Palomaki · February 16th, 2018, 09:08 AM

Quote:

So is it possible to start recording at different times on the two cards?

Yes. Be sure the camcorder is turned off when you insert or remove cards. With two cards in the camcorder at the same time there are several options covered in the manual but that is beyond the scope of this post.

Did you resolve the glitch you had? A problem is that in a long shot (more that 2 GB of video) the camcorder creates one or more continuation files. The first file in the sequence has the header information for the video clip. The continuation files for that clip do not have the header information, so the NLE gets confused if the files were not imported from the SD card by the NLE or other software that understand this (e.g., Pixela) or the files otherwise recombined on a system that can deal with the larger fiels

The amount of video you can fit into a single 2 GB file will depend on the data rate you have selected. 24 Mbps will reach the 2 GB file size limit in roughly 10 minutes.

Lalo Alvidrez · February 19th, 2018, 02:51 AM

I have a dance recital that I captured and will be transferring tomorrow. I will use Vegas to complete that transfer and hope for the best. Will post my result.

Lalo Alvidrez · February 21st, 2018, 12:03 PM

I transfered files from my camcorder using vegas and it resolved the issue. I have been editing that recital and have not come across a glitch yet. Thank you all for your input and suggestions. Now I can continue using my cam and not worry about video issues.

January 15th, 2018, 01:06 PM	#2
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Re: XA30 video issues not good I've not seen anything like that from my XA series camcorders. Have you seen it often with your camcorder? Does it show up if you play the original file in the camcorder or with another program such as VLC (not the transferred copy of the file)? At the same point in the video? Are there multiple glitches in the video? Do you see it on other memory cards? The original footage looks like a read error, possibly a problem with the memory card or the transfer to the CP. The rendered footage green is probably what the NLE did when it hit the error in the file to deal with the issue. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

January 15th, 2018, 02:08 PM	#3
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,220	Re: XA30 video issues not good Did you use the Pixela transfer software or just grab the files off the card ? I do not have this camera but am interested .

January 15th, 2018, 09:22 PM	#4
Tim Lewis Major Player Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Perth, Western Australia. Posts: 591	Re: XA30 video issues not good FWIW, I think this may be the result of the camcorder hitting the ~2GB file limit when writing the file, it the switches to a new file and you can get this green frame. If you still have the files on the card, look in the AVCHD folder and drill down until you find the .mts files and see if they play with a green frame at the front, where they are a continuation of the previous footage. I get this issue with my Canon Legria HF200's, but I have three of them running and make sure I start them about 15 seconds apart so the green frames never overlap. I can them cut around them easily in the multicam edit. __________________ Cheers Tim

January 16th, 2018, 06:42 AM	#5
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,220	Re: XA30 video issues not good I think if you use the Pixela software it will stitch together without a problem just like several other transfer software but they need the metadata in the folder to do that. Straight files are not enough. That is why with mny Sony AVCHD cameras I always use the Sony transfer software.

January 16th, 2018, 07:50 AM	#6
Don Palomaki Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Northern VA Posts: 4,488	Re: XA30 video issues not good FWIW: I often use the DOS COPY command to concatenate files split at the 2 GB point. Some NLEs can do this as well if they are sued to import the file. But I don't know abut Vegas. __________________ dpalomaki@dspalomaki.com

January 16th, 2018, 11:21 AM	#7
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,220	Vas Re: XA30 video issues not good I think Vegas can do if it has the full directory structure to work from. The issue is that the files do not always have in sync audio and video and the meta data tells the transfer software where that data happens to be . Simplistically the audio and video do not line up in each file. One can be longer than the other and the transfer software sorts this out but just copying files either leaves a loss of audio or video at some points. At least that is my understanding.

January 25th, 2018, 11:28 AM	#8
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	Re: XA30 video issues not good I haven't seen anything like that from my XA10 or XA20 cameras, except once when, despite taking precautions against static electricity on a very static filled day I sparked to the XA10 near the end of a long interview. It was several days before I was able to copy the footage and I had to use Recuva software to save the long take from total loss. Even then, the final interview answer was lost and there was an artifact that looked like that in the middle of the frame (but a lot worse) and nothing could be recovered after that point. It could also be a simple bad memory card error or unsuitable card for that data rate. Generally speaking, I've had more trouble with the manufacturor's software not performing correctly when transferring long files. This was especially true from my XF300, where I found Vegas Pro was better at simply handling the files but using the Canon software to transfer caused glitches. Also with the XA20 and XA30 you can shoot in either AVCHD or MP4. I use a file joiner program for the AVCHD and just let Vegas Pro 12 handle the MP4 files directly. I've never had a problem with either of those methods and in most cases I didn't maintain the recording file structure, just copied the individual recorded files from the card to my computer. Give us more information on your original file recording settings and how the transfer was accomplished and we can make some more suggestions.

February 15th, 2018, 09:29 PM	#9
Lalo Alvidrez Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Longview, Tx. Posts: 227	Re: XA30 video issues not good I copied the files directly from the sd card. Just found the files when I inserted card into my pc card reader then cut paste to my hd. I did order anther sd card as a backup. So is it possible to start recording at different times on the two cards? I will be shooting another program this weekend so hopefully it will go off with out a glitch.

February 16th, 2018, 07:45 AM	#10
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,220	Re: XA30 video issues not good As I mentioned before let the Pixela software or even Vegas transfer the files from the card NOT Windows explorer. It may work for small files of a few minutes but will likely fail for long clips. Why the resistance to using software that works?

February 19th, 2018, 02:51 AM	#12
Lalo Alvidrez Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Longview, Tx. Posts: 227	Re: XA30 video issues not good I have a dance recital that I captured and will be transferring tomorrow. I will use Vegas to complete that transfer and hope for the best. Will post my result.

February 21st, 2018, 12:03 PM	#13
Lalo Alvidrez Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Longview, Tx. Posts: 227	Re: XA30 video issues not good I transfered files from my camcorder using vegas and it resolved the issue. I have been editing that recital and have not come across a glitch yet. Thank you all for your input and suggestions. Now I can continue using my cam and not worry about video issues.