Canon HG10 AVCHD Camcorder Video Sample January 11, 2008
Posted by 37prime in AVCHD, Announcements, Apple, Applications, Apps, Leopard, Mac OS X, MacBook, Media, Movies, News, Resources, Reviews, Tech, iMovie.trackback
UPDATE 2008.12.01
HG10 raw AVCHD sample
Check out the video taken using Canon HG10 AVCHD 40GB High Definition Camcorder here.
- 13.7MB
- Encoded in H.264
- 960×540
- 29.97fps
- Auto setting in camera
- The game in the clip is “Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory”
The price @ Amazon.com is $761.60 at the time of this post.
The video clip is imported and edited using iMovie ‘08 on a MacBook Pro Core Duo 2GHz running Mac OS X 10.5.1 Leopard.
I was importing the clip using Final Cut Pro, and for some reason it crashes during the import process.
I will test the camera using Sony Vegas later.
Hello,
Thank you for posting these footage samples. I just got my HG10 today and am very happy with it. I originally bought a Sony SR-82 and the video quality was terrible – especially in low light. But the Canon is 200% better!
Could I ask you, where during the editing/importing process do you choose to save in the H.264 encoding? I am fairly new to the camcorder/computer thing so forgive my ignorance.
I’m also on a MacBook Pro, 160GB, 2GB RAM, Duo 2.4 GHz.
Again, thank you for posting!
John
Thanks much!
i have an HG10 and im using FCE4 with my mac book pro but the footage i imported wouldnt play smoothly. it shows me a message about dropped frames.. i guess my mac doesnt have inough processing power to manage larger amount of footage. i have 1.83 GHz intel core duo with 1GB 667 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM. does anyone know whats the ideal configuration for editing? do i need to increase my memory to be able to edit without having dropped frames? is that the case?
thanks for advice. i will try to upgrate the RAM.
would you recommend me to upgrate the hard drive as well? sorry i dont know much about technical stuff.. is it possible to upgrate from 1.83 GHz to 2GHz? i was trying to find information on mac.com but couldnt find anything..
and how is it with your mac. when using avchd format, no problems with editing, dropped frames or anything like that?
Is it the Mac or the camera that produced that kind of quality. Best demo I have ever seen. I was planning to get that camera but will I get the same results on a Tosheba laptop 1.8 centrino with 1 ghz.?
i have a macbook…Black one..
Dont know to much about computers, but i put leapord and ilife 08 on my system!
I am looking to buy a HV20 or HG10… which one would work best and easiest with my computer?
Would i need to buy an external harddrive?
PLEASE SOMEONE e mail me with advice! I am in a rush to buy!
thanks so much
Rich
sorry,
my e mail is richielentz@gmail.com
so is me 2400Celeron processor no good for editing DV tapes?
I so want to get an inexpensive camcorder and had already decided on a canon as I keephearing good things about them .
How much ram do i need to have at my disposal by the way
The problem I’m having right now is that iMovie 08 will not import the video from the HG10 in its full resolution, that being 1080/60i or 1080/24p.
So as it is right now, I’m archiving my AVCHD directly to BluRay with the hopes that one day soon I’ll be able to do post-production on my home videos without losing quality.
im using FCE4 and HG10 and it does the same, convert the AVCHD into AIC video format at the resolution of 1440×1080. is that the same as 1080i? am not sure..
so if with FCE4 in AIC format its 1440×1080 resolution and HG10 is 1920×1080 does it mean that thats a loss of quality? sorry for asking i just want to make sure.
Really helpful posts. Heres another question!
Here are the specs:
Intel Mac (2.2 Core 2) with 2GB SDRAM. Running OS X 10.5.1
iMovie 08 7.1.1
Canon HG10 Cam
I am shooting in the HXP mode (highest resolution). The camera captures at 1920 x 1080i but Ive been told it really is 1440 x 1080i when its exported.
I bring it into iMovie at the largest possible size option, which is FULL – 1920 x 1080. (However it says “this setting has no effect for MPEG2″ – which I believe this is?)
In any event, when I go to re-export the movie using Quicktime option, it lists the current size as 960 x 540. Is that basically saying thats the hghest res of iMovie?
I can get in and change the export size to 1440 x 1080i 16:9, but that seems like an added step. Shouldnt the video already be imported at 1920 or 1440 x 1080?
Am I missing a step here, or how the numbers should add up.
Also When Im viewing the raw footage from the Mac hooked via dvi/hdmi on a Sharp Aquos, seems like Ive lost a lot of resolution.
Just thought I’d follow up… Has anyone found out if FCE or FCP allow to work with AVCHD, import the movie at full resolution (1920×1080 either 60i or 24p)?? I’d rather not have to buy a PC and move to Vegas …
in FCE4 there is a choice for HDV to set it up in 1080i60 or 720p30. both are t
he apple intermediate codecs though.
hi there
I just bought aCanon hg10 and i can’t import the footage, final cut doesn’t recognize the camera, even after i installed the drivers.
The thing is I have a macbook 2.0gh, 2GB RAM, etc…the corel application disk does not have any .dmg file for me to install the importing program, so my question is, how can i import AVHCD footage without those programs?
When I export a AVCHD project, I know that final cut express 4 converts the footage to a different format for editing. What format should I use to Export the project to tranfer files back to AVCHD, or whatever is the HD format for Burning? thanks
would you say that h.264 format is the best exporting option in Final Cut Express 4 for HD quality, and finally for burning project to HD/Blueray? If you are using AVCHD source files?
I discovered that Final Cut Express supports AVCHD, but not at the full 1920 resolution or whatever, it loses some resolution. I guess Final Cut Pro supports the highest resolution. that kinda suks since I dont wanna spend $1200 for FCP but I want to get the best picture from my AVCHD camera for editing. I guess I bought the HDD camera ahead of the curve and have to wait for some catching up by the industry. If they haven’t realized the popularity of AVCHD yet, they must have by now with the great prices on Cannon, and the new Sony ones have video quality just as good as HDV demand is skyrocketing.
thanks for the info, big help. actually, I have the sony sr-11 but I think its supposed to be pretty much the same quality as the HG-10. Not exactly sure. Im more of a editing nut but just now making the transition from PC/adobe premiere to Mac/FCE and FCP. I just wanted to make sure I was getting the best quality out of my camera after editing. this site is helpfull, I’m glad I stumbled on it.
I just bought an HG10 and love it. I use VoltaicHD to convert the AVCHD files into .mov files so iMovie can use them (I don’t have iMovie ‘08 yet).
Could you give a little tutorial that includes both your import and export settings so that you arrive at the highest quality for HD streaming (like on Vimeo or Daily Motion that support H.264).
I’ve got the process working, but my exported files look pretty bad. I could really use the help! And I haven’t seen any step by step tutoials for the HG10 after lots of googling, so I think others would appreciate it, too. Thanks!
I just got the HG10. My friend told me it was a bad move and I should have gotten a 3CCD panasonic HD SD unit, but I think I made the right decision. Maybe you guys can confirm?
Here’s my goals.
1. I wish to preserve the HD footage in the smallest footprint with the best quality (who doesn’t). With my old mini-dv SD, unit after import I used to compress to .mov using Sorenson 3 at 400FPS for 1 hour video files that were about 1 to 2 GB in size after compression. No remnants or wavy lines which I define as acceptable.
2. I wish to create SD DVD and HD DVD
So, when I ran compression it defaulted to AIC and created a really big file that was acceptable quality, but way too big. Is that HD or am I doing something wrong? I then tried my old Sorenson 3, only to find horrible quality with zig zag lines on every edge in the videos. So,
I can’t quite figure out my workflow using FCP 6.0.3, I import the video using the “log & transfer” method, but then I am lost after that, because the preview in FCP is great, but these transfers stink. thoughts?
ok, I’d sure appreciate the workflow. A few things you said confused a bit.
preserving the MTS files?
Does that mean the contents of the stream directory?
Do I just save those files on a hard drive someplace? That seems like a winner to me as they aren’t that large when compared with the Scratch Final cut files.
The default setting for the camera is 60i and I set it to XP.
Should I change to 24f? what would the difference be?
I shot my families dance recital today, the quality in FCP is awesome, but now I’m struggling try to get a dvd burned for my folks. thanks for your initial answer, much obliged.
Ok, got a cinema mode, So I’ll try that and compare.
Meanwhile. There is no Private folder.
Here are the folder structures:
Canon HDD>AVCHD>BDMV
Canon HDD>AVCHD>CANON
The Canon subfolder appears to have jpgs in it, so I am figuring that’s where photos go?
The BDMV folder has the following Subfolder Structures:
…BACKUP
nothing in this folder
…CLIPINF
several numbered files with extensions of .CPI
…PLAYLIST
Two files with extensions .MPL
…STREAM
several numeric files with extensions of .MTS
Then at the
…level are the following two files:
index.bdm
movieobj.bdm
So, is this BDMV folder what you would think I should drag & Save or just stream as I was thinking?
I suppose there’s meta data about the .mts files in the other folders but not sure.
And, am I correct in assuming the other high level folder, called CANON is the photo side of the equation?
Okay I have tried very hard to read and understand these posts.. I have a Macbook Pro, Final Cut Pro and a Canon HG10. I can’t get Imovie to import the clips ( I am trying to import the CPI files) or recognize anything on the Canon HDD that mounts on my desktop. Is there a simple HOW TO sequence anywhere on the web that anyone knows about?
Please??
Thank you!!
Hi,
I have got a problem with my Canon HG 10.
The video that I can record is not as good as the simple video that I downloaded from this website. Tha pictre is very noisy in a low light.
Need some help, please.
I was just wondering what settings were used to capture the sample video. Because I have got the same Canon HG 10 camcorder, but I can not get the same good quality, even the light turned on.
What do you think what can be tha main reason of my problem ?
Maybe something is wrong with my camera, or it may be because of the software that I used to download the video ? Your sample video is just great in low light, but mine is very noisy. I contected the Canon customer service but they could not help me and told me just to exchange my camcorder. But I am not sure that the bad video quality is because of the camcorder, what is your opininion?
Thank you very much!!
Gagik
Ok, here is what I can not understand. You have got a sample video, recorded by the same Canon hg10 vieocamera that I bought (right ?). But the quality of the sample video is way much better than the one I recorded. My question is why I can not get the same quality,if the cameras are same ?
Thanks a lot ! !
Great Posts here, really appreciate all the information..I have a question. I was in Best Buy today and decided to go with my gut and get the Canon HG10 over the MiniDV. Instead of using the Corel application, what applications should i buy to make the best available movie.. I should buy a new MacBook Pro and is the new Final Cut 2 the best option, does it lose quality? Thanks a lot
Dan
i wonder, if cannon record in 60i does it mean 60 frames per second? and if so it is possible to do 60fps project in FCE4? i would love to do some very slow motion..
thanks
Maybe I missed something but is there a way for me to play the native ACVHD file on the HV10 directly for viewing on my MacPro or do I need software for that? Im very frustrated that the SW with the HV10 doesn’t support Mac! Also, is there SW that simply *just* plays the original ACVHD file on my Mac..I’m not needing to edit, just play…or do I need to convert to iMovie, etc first before viewing? thanks!
Sorry, one more question if you can help. Simple, I think: I simply want to be able to move my AVCHD files from the camera to my MacPro for archiving and then back again at a later time for viewing. I can move using Finder and put back using Finder…but when put the .MTS files back the camera doesn’t recognize that its there and therefore I can’t play it. Do I need iMovie or Inagemixer to put the file back in the right format/structure to allow for this to happen? thanks!
thx but a whole host of problems with this approach. First I get an error when drag/dropping the entire AVCHD folder and its sub folders back onto the HF10 “you do not have sufficient priviliges for some items”. Secondly, I cant understand how this could work after i’ve accumulated say 30+ clips over time/days and lets say I only want to transfer back 1 of those clip so I can play it back on my HDTV. If I copy the entire folder AS IS, then im taking with me ALL .mts files in that folder, which would likely exceed the memory capacity of the drive. This all seem exceedingly complicated and this camera is not ready for general availability to ‘avg’ folks don’t you think? My goodness, one would think that the process of archiving footage would be the FIRST feature that works well and easy wouldn’t you think? thanks in advance for any further assistance/clarification!
Thanks for taking an interest in my plight. I’m not using any program at the moment on the Mac side-just finder to read the directory on the HF10 and drag/drop to a dir on my MacPro. I’ve messed with ImageMixer on Windows running under Parallels and it actually does most of what I need except it won’t let me change the sub-dir I want to store the clips in, very strange. The player in ImageMixer is very jerky too, but that just could be a parallels problem. I’ve ordered iMovie and hope that atleast the import function works, but I’m hating the fact that I have to convert the .mts to play it.
I don’t fully understand your comments about archiving and would certainly appreciate a deeper lesson. I suspect there are others out there willing to do the same thing. I’d even pay for it! Frankly, I’m contemplating returning the camera and going for HDV format until this stuff gets the kinks worked out. I spent all day searching web yest looking for information on this issue, but its very sparse. You’re blog is excellent and I appreciate you’re willingness to help people for free. It makes for good Karma :) cheers
Hello,
I have the Canon HD10 and Final Cut Express HD 3.5 — I am wondering how I can capture the files from the camera into Final Cut. I also have Quicktime 7.4.5 and iMovie 5.0.2 —
The computer recognizes the camera and has allowed me to copy the entire AVCHD folder to my harddrive, but I cannot import these files into any of my editing programs. Further, none my editing programs recognize the camera, so I am unable to use the capture function.
Any tips on how I can make this work with my current set-up? Or do I need to upgrade to FCE4?
Thanks a bundle!
Great article, and it’s awesome that you’re keeping on top of most comments.
Heres my Q.
I have a Canon Vixia HF-100, and a MacBookPro (iMovie, FCE). I’m looking for a workflow that will assist me in doing the following…
1. Transferring and archiving maximum resolution, smallest footprint. I originally just copied it over using iMovie, but recently learned that H.234 was the best format.
2. I want a solution to make all this HD footage accessible on my 52″ Plasma. I have an xbox360. What’s the best way to have it viewable on my wide screen?
3. What should i be shooting in? CINE?
Thanks for the advice..
HI,
very nice and helpful website,i have newest top of the range macbook pro,and i have FCE,IMOVIE 08 and a sonny SR12E an AVCHD format camera,i have used the log and transfer option and learned a few things in it,but i don’t know how to set the scratch desk i know that i should use an external hard disk and i am going to buy one today but i don’t know which kind is good and fast do use on my macbook:
1.should i buy a fire wire hard disk?
2.after log and transfer i can use the cutting option but i cannot drag the video effects,is it because i did not use the rendering?
3.can you tell me what is that thin red line on the top of my timeline?
4.after i buy the external hard disk what should i do with the settings of the scratch disk?
5.is there any settings that i should know about and how to set them?
thanks a lot in advance and have a nice day…
This site is a great resource, hear is another question, I have a sony sr-11 and FCP 6.0.4. What is the best setting to use for the sequence in the “Easy Setup” window? I was going to go with HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60, thanks for any help you can give
I just got a HG10 and I used Log and Transfer in Final cut to create .mov files . I then wanted to do a reverse telecine process so I used thie instructions found on the apple site here for the workflow
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2410?viewlocale=en_US
now at the end I have a video that only has some iterlacing on the front and end of the clip but its no longer in 16:9 and is compressed in to 4:3 seems like. What did I do wrong?
I know AVCHD video files are huge, but is there anyway you can put up a link to a RAW file, so I can download it and test it out in some of my own editing software?
I need to see if my machine/software is capable of handling these files before I run out and buy a camcorder (I’m thinking of the Canon HF10). Even just a very small (few seconds) file would help with this decision process.
I second what Mike asked, if you could provide a short raw avchd file from the HG10 that could be downloaded and tested on different editing software that would be soooo useful. I want to use sony vegas platinum 9 but have seen lots of comments about how difficult it is to get the HG10 files into vegas.
Thanks for a very useful site.
I am losing my mind! I have been trying to import from my HG10 to FCE4 by following all the instruction and it leaves the clip idle in the queue. I can preview in the log and transfer window but when I drag clips into the queue it won’t finish importing. I just updated FCE4 as well… still no love. Help me before I end it… please.
I don’t have those installed. I have a Macbook 2.4. I forgot to mention that I downloaded this copy of FCE4 if that matters.
sorry this is out of topic question but i need advice. i want to buy 1TB external hard drive and just want to know what is recommended. i heard that hard drives with firewire connection are the ones to go for but it seems to me its all USB out there…i have a MyBook Premium ES Edition 500GB but im not very happy with it as i cant transfer more than 4GB at one time (dont know why but it always stops after 4GB) and also it is USB..
with all these AVCHD files im in desperate need of more space..
any advice/recommendation?
Looking for educated advice.
I am interested in purchasing a form of Final Cut, but I am having a hard time differentiating the difference between:
Final Cut HD 3.5
Final Cut Express 4 and
Final Cut Studio Pro 5.1
I am looking for an entry level video editor that will satisfy my needs, with a range of options in the easiest possible way, something that I can use “semi-pro”.
I have an Macbook with the following:
Mac OS X 10.4.11
2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDram
and I am using a Sony DCRSR45-HDD, I believe the format is MPEG-2 and would like to confirm which Final Cut will support this format without video visual loss. Or any advice someone could give me, overall what is the best bang for the buck and do a fantastic job. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hi,
Awesome site for the plight of the new HG10 user! I have an iMac with lots speed and space. Have iMovie08 on board, but how on earth do i pry the video files off to my machine when I connect the HG10?
Like many other people who have posted, I cannot transfer the video to the mac. As i read through the posts, I see the same file structure that other users discuss, and start to get a glimmer of hope for a solution. However, I’m not that sophisticated and don’t use FCP or whatever, just plain old iMovie ‘08.
In case I missed the rudiments of video transfer, can you please outline them again for me?
Hello- I also am trying to get FCP 6.0 to recognize my hg10. Im on leopard- what do i do???
Any word on what to do with a Sony SuperSteadyShot HDR-SR10 with the same issue of not being able to import .cpi files into iMovie? Thanks!
Whew – fantastic site, I feel a bit like a loner w/o having gone to the Apple way… :)
I just bought the HG10 and tested it out at Zion National Park…stumbled into the problems of getting it to my PC ok..as I use ulead studio and plain ol windows movie maker for my videos.
Just saw above the tip to use VoltaicHD to convert – will give it try..
…and just seeing all of the comments makes me put an iMac on my xmas wish list!!!
Cheers ,Tammy
So I realized that AVCHD is only recognized in FCP 6.0.2 or later- which assisted me with my importing problems (Intel Mac, Leopard, FCP 6.0.4)
Now I am trying to comprehend whether or not it is TRULY possible to import and achieve 1920 x 1080i (I think I have tried every Log and Transfer/custom video settings combination possible to no avail. The largest resolution I can achieve is 1440 x 1080. Do you have any info regarding this matter? AM I CRAZY!
what is a CPI file? The movies from my camcorder are in CPI format
and I can’t open them at all. WTF
I have FCPro 5 and Express. Is there a way to download HG10 AVCHD to Express and then work with it on FCPro?
I am using nero rom to burn avchd file from my HG10 and when I try to burn, the program tells me that my dvd-r (4.7GB) is too small for the amount of data I am trying to burn (37 GB). Is there an option to keep replacing a full dvd with a new dvd so that I can put all 37 GB on 8 or 9 DVDs?? Otherwise i dont know how else to burn my data so i can view it in a blu ray. Any suggestions??
Well i have a sony HDR-SR11 and have been playing for a long long long time, so here are my settings. Using a PC i back up raw files to a external Hard drive i can play this on my ps 3 native with full DD5.1 files look outstanding very happy i can also play from camera on my ps 3 aswell. editing my videos are now easy i use my mac using imove and import at 1080i ( i bought a HD camera so want it in HD, i would have got a SD camera if i was not import at full res)anywy imovie 08 is great and so is 09 not worth the funds tho.
after i have done all my playing i need to export and this is where every one seems to have problems and i have now found the setting for my camera so i hope it helps others.
i found the best way to export is back in to avchd so export setting must be mp4 video on with H.263 what to set the bit rate, no one could tell me so i have my own idea and seems to work very well. you do need to no your cameras bitrate and set imovie to the same (my camera records @ 16.9 so i set imovie to 16900.
set at normal quality if you set at best it will NOT play back on a ps3. now you have your AVCHD export burn on to a normal DVD using toast (do not use IDVD you already have your movie)
now play on your blue ray player or ps 3, dont no about xbox as i dont have one
hope this helps
Has any one had experience with Sony HDR CX 100? I am also looking at the Canon Vixia HG 10 and I do not know which is better. Any advice? Thanks.
help. New Mac Pro 2gb ram, 1.32TB hd… but canon hv10 + FCP 6 won’t log and capture, but iMovie recognizes and imports. Was able to get it to work once before, lost setting. newbie. Was hoping you could answer:
1. how do i get FCP to communicate with hv10?
2. best import settings pref HD
3. best way export settings for .mov to DVD…?
Help ?
Great site btw an very helpful in many respects :)
I lent my Canon HD10 to a friend. Now, it no longer exports in .mov but in some weird file format no one’s ever heard of. I would be very very grateful to anyone who knows how to reset the camera to its presets or otherwise can tell me how to get the camera to once again export .mov’s.
Thank you in advance!
ps I realize this is a dumb question but this is my first time around the block with this kind of camera, if that’s any excuse.
If you are looking for better audio during recording on your hg10 or and other camera, I have been using a rode video mic, cost me $129.00 total delivered from ebay.