Canon HV20 Importing

I just imported some video into my Mini 1.42 G4 1gb ram. It imported at 1/4 to 1/2 speed. I only imported about 5 min, before I stopped the camera. The video kept importing until iMovie caught up to where I turned the video off. Playback would only work at 1/2 speed on the screen. I guess there is too much data for the mini to process to be able to import or watch in real time. My MBP imports between real time and 3/4 time, but plays back in real time. I guess, folks having the import stop after so many minutes is because they run out of RAM cache. Not sure why you're G4 isn't importing at all.

The data size on the tape is the same between DV and HDV. The difference is that HDV is using a different type of compression that can store a High Definition video in the same amount of space.

When the video is captured by iMovie, it is converted to Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) so it can be edited more easily. AIC makes files about 4 times bigger than HDV. The files you see on your computer are the AIC files which is why they are so big.

Final Cut Pro can edit "Native" HDV which means the video doesn't get converted to AIC during import. These native HDV files are the same size as DV files.

Maybe some day Apple will upgrade iMovie to work on native HDV. But don't hold your breath.

I'm guessing that you purchased the HV20 at Circuity City (i.e 15% restocking fee). I returned my HV20 and told them it was a software issue with my Mac, they waved the fee. Good luck.

I picked up an iMac Intel 24" (stock) friday and already had an HV20.

I can confirm that there is "no" sound when importing. It did import at full speed and I did not check for any lag. There was almost a full 63 minutes of video transferred and the transfer completed successfully and created a bunch of clips.

Sound plays back fine but it appears that there is some type of interlacing problem. With motion I get what looks like horizontal lines in the video that you can easily see when blown up to full screen on my 24" iMac. I am not sure what is causing that and I have not tried to ouput a DVD yet. Any suggestions here would be appreciated.

This same video looked simply spectacular on our HDTV.

Are you recording in 24p mode? If so, the camcorder does a 2:3:2:3 pulldown before writing to tape to convert it to NTSC compatible video. This causes a pattern of 3 progressive frames followed by 2 interlaced frames which then repeats. When played back it full speed, the interlaced frames should blend in and not be seen. But if you are stepping through frames on the computer or stop on 1 of these frames, you will see the interlaced video. This is perfectly normal.

Also, regarding all the comments on no sound during import, Final Cut Pro does the same thing with HDV. With SD video you have the option of monitoring sound during capture using the computer's speakers, but with HDV that option is not available. One thing you can do is listen to the sound through the camera's speaker with the LCD open, but the sound will be ahead of the video you see on the computer.

I can't get the HV20 to import into iMovie at all.

I attach the USB cable Cannon provided to both the computer and the camcorder, open iMovie, and then set the HV20 to "Play" while it is in the tape function (as opposed to card/photo), which I believe is what you are supposed to do to import from the camcorder into iMovie, but nothing happens. iMovie indicates there is no camera attached. If I hit play on the HV20, the movie plays on the camcorder's LCD screen, but nothing happens in iMovie at all.

Both the postings in this thread and iMovie's Help section suggest that you must import using a firewire cable rather than a USB cable. Can someone please confirm whether I have to use a firewire cable to import to the Mac? Also, if you do have to connect using a firewire cable, how do you do that as I see a USB output, but I don't see a firewire output on the HV20?

Finally, does anyone have any suggestions?



iMac Power PC G4 w/768 RAM Mac OS X (10.4.9)

You must use a Firewire cable with iMovie. USB won't work.

The Firewire port on the HV20 is on the back of the camera above the power connection. There's a plastic cover labeled HDV/DV and HDMI. The HDMI connector is the larger of the two.

For Mac, you need a Firewire cable with a 4 pin connector on one end (for the camcorder) and a 6 pin connector on the other (for the computer).

Have used HV20 for about a month now and here is what I have found so far.

The bottom line is that there is no problem with HV20, shooting, importing, editing or otherwise...you just have to follow the "rules" and since HD is so new to most of us it is easy to mess up.

You cannot have two firewire devices hooked up at the same time and use HV20 (or any number of other Canon cameras). That means on my MacBook I can't use external drive while I import from camera. Importing to internal drive is no problem. I have 1gb of ram in MacBook C2D and standard 5400 rpm drive and it almost always imports in real time. There is no audio while importing HD but you can always use camera speaker to monitor. Using a firewire hub or firewire express card makes no difference to the only one firewire device rule.

My MacBook Pro only has 512 gb RAM and only imports at 1/2 to 3/4 of real time, so it appears RAM is an important component as well as the core 2 duo vs just core duo. Both drives are 5400 so that doesn't seem to be a major issue. I would suggest that anything slower than MacBook 2ghz core 2 duo with minimum 1 gb of ram is just not suitable for comfortable HD importing and editing. Probably can be done but it would be like crossing Atlantic in a rowboat.

My workflow is as follows:

Connect HV20 to MacBook C2D via firewire and import using iMovie ( I use iMovie here because FCE capture doesn't allow you as much control of clip import)

Unplug HV20, connect external firewire drive open FCE and import iMovie project. This gives nice individual clips in browser and you are ready to edit. Keep FCE project file on internal drive and media files on external drive. You can now send original iMovie project to trash and recover internal hard drive space.

Works for me.

Thanks! I have the firewire cable on order now.

Alright--A quick update to my other POSTS. I have been reading many threads on the HV20 here at Apple plus other outside the Apple Forum. Here are my thoughts, comments and what I have done to make this work

1.) As almost anyone will tell you, HDV is VERY VERY VERY memory intensive. If you think about it the amount of pixels being processed are huge, so this should be a shocker. Although I had 1gb in the iMac, I opted to upgrade to 2gb. Word of advise if you are considering buying a new MAC. BUY THE MEMORY UPFRONT. The cost is about 1/2 compared to doing it later. For example, 2gb on new iMac is $175 upgrade where as I had to spend $350 for 2gb (and the first gb is not used as Apple ships the 20in iMac with 2 512mb chips) Anyone interested in some 512 chips?:)

2.) iMovie seems to work sporadically for some and not others. I am not sure the details however it appears those with older verions of iMovie seem to have more success than the really 'brand' new versions that come on iLife 6.0 and with NEW intel based Macs. Not sure if the Intel libraries have anything to do with it but just an observation. Also I noted when trying to import in iMovie that its takes all RAM (at least when I had 1gb). However, after the upgrade to 2gb I did not go back to retry iMovie. I need to but ran out of time. the Main Reason...FCE

3.) Ok--Since I dropped a grand or so for a good HDV camera I figured what was another few hundred bucks for FCE. Plus, the added edit features more than make iMovie look like just a toy. I plan to go back and retry iMovie at some point but as of now I have more than content with FCE.
Yes--it imports HDV fine---There is NO sound as many of pointed out but that is with all HDV and it clearly states that in the FCE manual. You do lose of the the 'camera' controls when importing HDV however it still breaks the import into Clips like iMovie.

I have not tried any of the more advanced 24fps stuff that many are talking about as I am more a newbie in this space and besides who wants to watch kids baseball in 24fps. The 60i makes the picture just perfect for now. I will eventually try that feature but everything takes time!

So that are my thoughts and update.

OOh--One final thought...from almost everything I have read the HV20 is by far the BEST consumer camera for HDV out there, above the Sony, Panasonic and others. So those that have it--enjoy and those that want it. GET IT!



iMAC5,1 Mac OS X (10.4.9) Intel Core 2 Duo, NOW 2gb

iMAC5,1 Mac OS X (10.4.9) Intel Core 2 Duo

iMAC5,1 Mac OS X (10.4.9) Intel Core 2 Duo

I'm having the same problem with the new Canon and IMac6 10.4.9. All the latest stuff and still no resolution....Help

I have been having the same problem with a new HV20. I can control the camera - Start, Stop, Rew, etc..... I just don't see any video

- Tried (3) different FireWire Cables

- Rebooted, pulled the power from the Mac and the camera, disconnecteds everything but the camera, the keyboard, and my speakers.

- Dual 2.5 Ghz G5 w/ 4 GB RAM -all software is updated.

- Here is the kicker, I was able to download the same video clip to a 4 yr old iMac! It took forever, but it worked.

Okay, I just read this stream and am trying to deceide between the HV20 and the Sony HDR-HC7. I friends that have the Sony and love it, others like all of you that have the HV 20. Why did you decide on the HV20 over the otehr cameras? By the way, they both have the delay in importing issue. I just want ot know which is hte better camera.

For me, the choice was high quality images and optics. I've been a very satisfied customer of Canon's for some years earlier.

I have no importing problems with my 2 gig iMac 20" with 10.4.9. 'No audio' is normal during import. But wait until you see the video fill up the screen after importing - beautiful!

Rick