Canon Unveils New Prosumer HDV Line: XH G1 and XH A1

Understood. I doubt the shipping cameras will be any noisier than the XL-H1. I'd put money on it if it didn't all go to the XL-H1! ;-)
 
filmmaker1977 said:
tweaks?!.. nope.. there isn't.. until the new "A" version.. this is an industry.. not a manufacturing craft..

edit
if the canon samples are noisy now, noisy will be.. (edit 2) i mean: the canon production units
Click to expand...
I agree.
 
Elton said:
You might be stretching it to work in HD with a G4 laptop. If it's one of the faster G4's it'll be a little slow, and if you work in FCE HD you'll be converting to Apple Intermediate Codec, which is fine at its highest quality settings. The problem you'll run into is you won't be able to capture 24F in FCE HD, but you could use this method to import clips to the NLE that were coverted to AIC. :http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showpost.php?p=492340&postcount=7

If you can swing it, I highly recommend getting a now discontinued G5 (or get one used) which are much cheaper now. And get FCP 6 which will have full 24F support and should be out this fall.
Click to expand...


I can't swing all that right now. I thought when you record HDV to miniDV it wasn't much different. I was told somewhere else if I could get this up to two gig of memory I could work with it. I'm sure it won' be lighting fast.

Or if I just used SD 16:9.

Or just the DVX100 and buy FCP.
 
filmmaker1977 said:
how much?! ;-)
Click to expand...

Enough for it to hurt! I will say that my conversation with a Canon rep was pretty reassuring. :)

They've basically taken the entire imaging engine of the XL-H1 (minus lens possibilities) and crammed it into a handycam, with further refinements of user control over the image.

One interesting aspect to Canon's approach in the market is that the pecking order of their cameras is fairly well defined. All 1/3", and each a step up from the other, but the most bang-for-the-buck is clearly bullseyed on the XH-A1. And they know it. As much as I think SDI is the schiznit, everyone is interested in that yummy A1 pricetag...as long as the image performance is on par with XL-H1 HDV.

It's not like Sony protecting their high-margin pro HD market and withholding what the low-end HD market craves. I think it's obvious they want to hit it out of the park with the XH-A1, and it'll be a huge whiff if it's a noisy bugger!

We'll see soon enough, but simply knowing that the guts of the new cameras are the same as the H1 should be enough to give them the benefit of the doubt.
 
Zim said:
I can't swing all that right now. I thought when you record HDV to miniDV it wasn't much different. I was told somewhere else if I could get this up to two gig of memory I could work with it. I'm sure it won' be lighting fast.

Or if I just used SD 16:9.

Or just the DVX100 and buy FCP.
Click to expand...

Just convert 24F HDV .m2t's captured through DVHSCap (and exported from MPEGStreamclip) to AIC and you should be able to work in FCE HD. I've never used that version of FCP but I think it'll allow you to make 24p timelines with AIC.
 
i dropped the 24F Mt2 you posted i nto Vegas and a HD24P 1080 Timeline and it worked perfectly. youi just have to render it out as HDV24P in the end.
 
Emanuel said:
It's organic, quite different than the macroblocking HVX.
Click to expand...

The HVX is certainly not macroblocking in the sense that it's compression can change based on the motion of the scene. It's intra-frame compression so it has no macroblocking possibilities.

"Macroblocking" is basically a non-issue with either the XL-H1 or the HVX so let's not get into that old rut. Noise signatures and what you may or may not find acceptable and even aesthetically pleasing are fair to debate however.
 
TimurCivan said:
i dropped the 24F Mt2 you posted i nto Vegas and a HD24P 1080 Timeline and it worked perfectly. youi just have to render it out as HDV24P in the end.
Click to expand...

What have you found when you make a few cuts and render out another .m2t? Did it have to rebuild GOP's?

Try rendering a high bit-rate (at least 15-20 mbs) WMV HD 1080 24p clip from the timeline and see how it looks.

What alternative export codecs can you work with in Vegas?
 
Elton said:
The HVX is certainly not macroblocking in the sense that it's compression can change based on the motion of the scene. It's intra-frame compression so it has no macroblocking possibilities.

"Macroblocking" is basically a non-issue with either the XL-H1 or the HVX so let's not get into that old rut. Noise signatures and what you may or may not find acceptable and even aesthetically pleasing are fair to debate however.
Click to expand...
OK whatever you want. What I meant as I posted quoting you, it is that unpleasant chroma noise -- maybe incorrectly called it as macroblocking since this meaning it is codec compression related.

But NOT unfairly or untruly.
 
I am in the same boat as Kholi. If the Canon A1 does not deliver an identical image as the Canon XL H1 then I will save even more money to buy the HVX200 with Cineporter (When it comes out). However, I won't enjoy paying an extra $3500 though ( Hvx200 + Cineporter = $7500 vs Canon 1A $4000). Also, canon XL H1 seems to perform better in lowlight then the Hvx200.
 
TimurCivan said:
im just worried about Pixelation. ive seen Mpeg2 trandsport streams in my friends house. he has digital HD cable and it looks awful.
Click to expand...

Dude, the cable companies are even worse than satellite when it comes to compressing HD. They just compress it to hell, (rate "reshaping" they call it, lol) and probably not even VBR encoding. (I have Dish Network HD)

They're trying to squeeze even more channels down the same pipe. Dish Network bought a whole new satellite system with MPEG4 encoding which allows them to offer decent broadcast HD with more channels. There are currently close to 30 available. (not including local ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox HD etc.)
 
I wouldn't worry too much fellas. Canon monitors these boards and wants to sell more than a couple A1's. :)
 
Last edited:
I can't believe it's only been ONE MONTH since the initial announcement. We've still got a month and a half left to go... ARGGGGHHHH!!!!

C'mon Canon get these babies on those container ships ASAP!
 
well if nothing else I can always do 60i in HDV,,,,until I can fill the computer needs. Still probably not to bad of a picture in at 1080.

In Final cut express it recommends 2gig of memory. My iMovie will do HDV! So I can make it work. Nothing real fancy,,,,

Just wonder if anyone has seen much footage in Standard def from the Canon H1?
 
db20 said:
I am in the same boat as Kholi. If the Canon A1 does not deliver an identical image as the Canon XL H1 then I will save even more money to buy the HVX200 with Cineporter (When it comes out). However, I won't enjoy paying an extra $3500 though ( Hvx200 + Cineporter = $7500 vs Canon 1A $4000). Also, canon XL H1 seems to perform better in lowlight then the Hvx200.
Click to expand...
If XL-H1 = XH series (A1 & G1) this will be the next sales success. If not it will be a flop because AVCHD is around the corner. And only HDV will rule following the XL-H1 success and its high quality as "the" Mini-Cinealta. For sure, I'm speaking from the light filmmaking POV though AVCHD is a consumer format. By now.

EDIT -- For example, the same reasons that push me to a Canon purchase and not waiting for the Panasonic AVCHD* offer (with a similar performance or even lesser than HVX considering its chroma noisy properties) it is why I can't to go with the A1/G1 cams if these will not be so much noiseless as XL-H1 is. Or -- if you prefer (since Barry prefers to call it equal noisy though luma noisy), I'm talking about the Canon response @lowlight; its value added.

* Sony AVCHD will never be a true option. They have a high end to protect and their product will be always interlaced or fake progressive and not progressive enough.
 
Last edited:
this is for Final Cut express

System Requirements
• Macintosh computer with 500MHz or faster PowerPC G4 or G5 (550MHz for PowerBook G4) or Intel Core Duo
• 512MB RAM
• 1024-by-768 or higher resolution display
• An AGP or PCI Express graphics card compatible with Quartz Extreme, or an Intel GMA integrated graphics processor in a MacBook or Mac mini.
• Mac OS X v10.4.6 or later
• QuickTime 7.0.4 or later
• 500MB disk space for applications; additional 16GB for Soundtrack and LiveType content (can be installed on separate disks)
• DVD drive for installation
• HDV features require 1GHz or faster processor and 1GB RAM (2GB recommended)
 
final cut pro (studio)

Requirements

Macintosh computer with 867MHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel Core Duo processor; HD features require 1GHz or faster single or dual processors (authoring HD DVDs requires a PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo processor)
512MB of RAM; HD features require 1GB of RAM or more (2GB recommended)
Display with 1024-by-768 or higher resolution
AGP or PCI-E Quartz Extreme graphics card
Motion requires the standard graphics card found in any MacBook Pro, iMac Intel Core Duo, Power Mac G5, iMac G5, a 1.25 GHz or faster PowerBook G4, or a 1.25 GHz or faster flat-panel iMac. See a complete list of supported graphics cards
Mac OS X 10.4.4 or later
QuickTime 7.0.4 or later
4GB of disk space required to install all applications
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top