Canon XL & XH 24F, 25F, 30F capture in FCP / FCE

Dean Collins · February 4th, 2007, 02:33 PM

I bought my A1 and tried importing some test footage to my imovie hd and it wont support my camera. It says it's inaccesible. Why is that if the camera is HD and so is the program. It wanted me to down convert it or something so it's not HD but I want it to be all HD when i import it and not look stretched and crappy. I tried switching to final cut pro and tried importing my footage on that and I had to go into signal setup and switch it to PLAYBACK STD: AUTO OR DV not HDV. I just want to import my footage the way it is on the camera without stretching it so much or making it look way worse on the program. What should I do?

Chris Hurd · February 4th, 2007, 03:16 PM

Moved from Canon XH to NLE Mac.

Nick Weeks · February 4th, 2007, 03:35 PM

On FCP, make sure your device control is set to HDV and your sequence preset is set to HDV 1080 60i or 24p to capture. I've captured footage today that was shot at both 1080i60 and 1080p24 and it works great with FCP.

What settings are you using now? go to FCP menu > audio/video settings

EDIT - I just checked my FCP and forgot I made a custom device control preset for the A1 when shooting 1080 24F. Here are the settings:

Protocol: HDV FireWire
Time Source: DV Time
Frame Rate: 24

My capture preset is 'HDV' and my sequence preset is 'HDV - 1080p24'. When I capture 60i I use the device control 'HDV FireWire' and the sequence preset 'HDV - 1080i60'... and have no trouble. Hope this helps

Dean Collins · February 4th, 2007, 08:26 PM

hey thank you for replying. I am going over my FCP Setting and trying to do what you told me but all it has is HDV- 1080i50, 1080i60, and 720p30 as far as capturing in HD. I dont know why it doesnt have 1080i24 like you said. I'm gonna keep trying stuff. thanks so much for the help though. Any other thoughts about imovie? I have imovie HD and would like to edit on that but it wont let me. Is there a plugin or something I can get to upload my HD Footage because it is imovie HD which is weird..

Nick Weeks · February 4th, 2007, 11:37 PM

Oh yea, forgot to mention you need the 5.1.2 Crossgrade upgrade for $50. You need to get it before March though because I think the price will go up. Trust me, its well worth the $50, especially since this will let you use your A1 with it

http://www.apple.com/universal/crossgrade/

Jeremy Naus · February 5th, 2007, 02:46 AM

Dean,

I can import from my XH A1 in iMovie without a problem. It works on both my Mac Mini and Macbook Pro (both Intel). Maybe you need to check for updates of your iMovie?
You also need to make your project a 1080i project. Whenever I now connect my camera and iMovie is up, the camera gets detected.

James R. Leong · February 5th, 2007, 02:47 AM

Quote: "Any other thoughts about imovie? I have imovie HD and would like to edit on that but it wont let me"

Capture with HDVXHD. Use MPEGstreamclip to convert m2t file to Quicktime Apple Intermediate Codec. Import Clip into imovie.

Dean Collins · February 5th, 2007, 03:09 AM

Hey James
Sorry that was really confusing. I'm not sure I follow. I don't want to go through a process of down converting my footage. I just want it to go straight from my HD Camera to Imovie HD the way it is. Do i need a certain fire-wire cuz mine is kinda old. I'm not sure.

Dean Collins · February 5th, 2007, 03:10 AM

Hey James,
Sorry that was really confusing. I'm not sure I follow. I don't want to go through a process of down converting my footage. I just want it to go straight from my HD Camera to Imovie HD the way it is. Do i need a certain fire-wire because mine is kinda old but I'm really not sure. My footage is 1080i by the way.

Dean Collins · February 5th, 2007, 03:10 AM

Hey James,
Sorry that was really confusing. I'm not sure I follow. I don't want to go through a process of down converting my footage. I just want it to go straight from my HD Camera to Imovie HD the way it is. Do i need a certain fire-wire because mine is kinda old but I'm really not sure. My footage is 1080i by the way.

Dean Collins · February 5th, 2007, 03:10 AM

Hey James,
Sorry that was really confusing. I'm not sure I follow. I don't want to go through a process of down converting my footage. I just want it to go straight from my HD Camera to Imovie HD the way it is. Do i need a certain fire-wire because mine is kinda old but I'm really not sure. My footage is 1080i by the way.

Dean Collins · February 5th, 2007, 03:13 AM

Sorry about all those reply's! My computer is acting up. Sorry about that

James R. Leong · February 5th, 2007, 04:52 AM

It looks like imovie doesn't support the Canon XH series right now.

Dean Collins · February 5th, 2007, 01:15 PM

damn that really sucks because I am so used to imovie. Are you sure it's not because my fire-wire is old and may need a new one or something like an HD fire-wire? I also want to transfer all my footage into FCP without down converting it. I just want it to go straight into FCP as HD. What do i do?

James R. Leong · February 5th, 2007, 04:29 PM

So far, I can't get anything into Final Cut Pro or Imovie from the A1 except SD. or using HDVXDV.

http://www.hdvxdv.com/

http://www.squared5.com/

Final Cut Pro is the only NLE for mac that supposedly works with the A1, I believe. May have to try a reinstall of OSX as noted in another thread.

February 4th, 2007, 02:33 PM	#61
Dean Collins Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United States Posts: 30	Final Cut Pro And A1 Help Aspap I bought my A1 and tried importing some test footage to my imovie hd and it wont support my camera. It says it's inaccesible. Why is that if the camera is HD and so is the program. It wanted me to down convert it or something so it's not HD but I want it to be all HD when i import it and not look stretched and crappy. I tried switching to final cut pro and tried importing my footage on that and I had to go into signal setup and switch it to PLAYBACK STD: AUTO OR DV not HDV. I just want to import my footage the way it is on the camera without stretching it so much or making it look way worse on the program. What should I do?

February 4th, 2007, 03:16 PM	#62
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Moved from Canon XH to NLE Mac. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

February 4th, 2007, 03:35 PM	#63
Nick Weeks Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL USA Posts: 722	On FCP, make sure your device control is set to HDV and your sequence preset is set to HDV 1080 60i or 24p to capture. I've captured footage today that was shot at both 1080i60 and 1080p24 and it works great with FCP. What settings are you using now? go to FCP menu > audio/video settings EDIT - I just checked my FCP and forgot I made a custom device control preset for the A1 when shooting 1080 24F. Here are the settings: Protocol: HDV FireWire Time Source: DV Time Frame Rate: 24 My capture preset is 'HDV' and my sequence preset is 'HDV - 1080p24'. When I capture 60i I use the device control 'HDV FireWire' and the sequence preset 'HDV - 1080i60'... and have no trouble. Hope this helps

February 4th, 2007, 08:26 PM	#64
Dean Collins Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United States Posts: 30	hey thank you for replying. I am going over my FCP Setting and trying to do what you told me but all it has is HDV- 1080i50, 1080i60, and 720p30 as far as capturing in HD. I dont know why it doesnt have 1080i24 like you said. I'm gonna keep trying stuff. thanks so much for the help though. Any other thoughts about imovie? I have imovie HD and would like to edit on that but it wont let me. Is there a plugin or something I can get to upload my HD Footage because it is imovie HD which is weird..

February 4th, 2007, 11:37 PM	#65
Nick Weeks Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Birmingham, AL USA Posts: 722	Oh yea, forgot to mention you need the 5.1.2 Crossgrade upgrade for $50. You need to get it before March though because I think the price will go up. Trust me, its well worth the $50, especially since this will let you use your A1 with it http://www.apple.com/universal/crossgrade/

February 5th, 2007, 02:46 AM	#66
Jeremy Naus Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Antwerpen, Belgium Posts: 60	Dean, I can import from my XH A1 in iMovie without a problem. It works on both my Mac Mini and Macbook Pro (both Intel). Maybe you need to check for updates of your iMovie? You also need to make your project a 1080i project. Whenever I now connect my camera and iMovie is up, the camera gets detected.

February 5th, 2007, 02:47 AM	#67
James R. Leong Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 81	Quote: "Any other thoughts about imovie? I have imovie HD and would like to edit on that but it wont let me" Capture with HDVXHD. Use MPEGstreamclip to convert m2t file to Quicktime Apple Intermediate Codec. Import Clip into imovie.

February 5th, 2007, 03:09 AM	#68
Dean Collins Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United States Posts: 30	Hey James Sorry that was really confusing. I'm not sure I follow. I don't want to go through a process of down converting my footage. I just want it to go straight from my HD Camera to Imovie HD the way it is. Do i need a certain fire-wire cuz mine is kinda old. I'm not sure.

February 5th, 2007, 03:10 AM	#69
Dean Collins Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United States Posts: 30	Hey James, Sorry that was really confusing. I'm not sure I follow. I don't want to go through a process of down converting my footage. I just want it to go straight from my HD Camera to Imovie HD the way it is. Do i need a certain fire-wire because mine is kinda old but I'm really not sure. My footage is 1080i by the way.

February 5th, 2007, 03:13 AM	#72
Dean Collins Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United States Posts: 30	Sorry about all those reply's! My computer is acting up. Sorry about that

February 5th, 2007, 04:52 AM	#73
James R. Leong Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 81	It looks like imovie doesn't support the Canon XH series right now.

February 5th, 2007, 01:15 PM	#74
Dean Collins Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: United States Posts: 30	damn that really sucks because I am so used to imovie. Are you sure it's not because my fire-wire is old and may need a new one or something like an HD fire-wire? I also want to transfer all my footage into FCP without down converting it. I just want it to go straight into FCP as HD. What do i do?

February 5th, 2007, 04:29 PM	#75
James R. Leong Regular Crew Join Date: May 2004 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Canada Posts: 81	So far, I can't get anything into Final Cut Pro or Imovie from the A1 except SD. or using HDVXDV. http://www.hdvxdv.com/ http://www.squared5.com/ Final Cut Pro is the only NLE for mac that supposedly works with the A1, I believe. May have to try a reinstall of OSX as noted in another thread.