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Can’t capture SD footage from XLH1
Hey everyone.
I’ve run in to something with Premiere CS4 and can’t seem to find a similar problem anywhere.
The problem: I recently purchased a Canon XLH1 HDV recording camera. When trying to capture standard definition footage in to premiere with the camera (capture settings set to DV in Premiere), I receive no control of playback and am told “Can’t activate recorder. Try resetting camera.” When the capture setting in premiere are set to HDV, I am presented playback control, time code, and everything would seem to be in working order aside from one issue: Premiere displays no preview and refuses to capture any frames.
I find this curious as my XL2 is able to playback SD footage and capture flawlessly in to Premiere. However, I’d like to part ways with that camera and can’t do it until this issue is resolved because I use my cameras as playback decks for when I receive HDV or DV video. It’d be great if I were able to use the XLH1 as a deck for both.
The solution: ?
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3 Replies
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[Nathan Weatherford] “”Can’t activate recorder. Try resetting camera.””
Try resetting the camera…unplug it and then plug it back in (firewire). Make sure the camera is in the DV mode.
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I agree with Nathan. I have done lots of capture over SDI cables where I know that audio and video are arriving down the pipeline and, if the material is in the wrong format (ie HD if your editor is set up to be SD or SD if your editor is set up for HD) the editor will tell you that there is nothing flowing down the pipeline.
The XLH1 may well be confused and be putting out an HD signal (as its default) over firewire while playing back an “upconvert” in its own monitor. I’ll bet there is an arcane reference to this in the camera’s manual that doesn’t make things completely clear but covers this. Cycle power on the camera with it in VCR mode and play the tape and see if that doesn’t fix the problem. Else set it for SD playback in its menus then cycle it again (if that is a menu choice).
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
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Hey and thanks for responding, guys.
I was up all last night trying different methods between the XLH1 camera and Premiere CS4 to make both SD and HDV footage capture possible from the XLH1. I was finally able to get it to work both ways.
Firstly, there is a plug-in available from Adobe which adds some RED camera codecs. I didn’t see how this could have affected anything, but I downloaded it anyway. I was then able to capture SD footage from the XLH1, however, here is the trick: Premiere will not switch capture methods and display footage within the capture window.
To switch from HDV capture to DV capture you must open the capture window (F5), select the settings tab, and set the capture format to DV. Turn off the camera, and close the capture window in Premiere. Now, turn on the camera and open the capture window again to and you will be able to import DV footage from the XLH1.
Strangely enough, I had tried this exact same thing several times before downloading the RED camera plug-in to no avail. So, I would wager that this is also a necessary procedure. I was prompted to download this plug-in upon launching Adobe Update.
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