Windows/PP do not recognize A1 rant/vent

F

fotoflo

Active member
I know how to resolve windows problems or conflicts but this one has me stumped. Windows XP Pro does not recognize the A1 when it is turned on. It did this morning. Not now. I transferred some HVX SD footage, but now it wont transfer A1 HDV footage. Have checked, rechecked and double checked every single possible camera, computer and PP setting. PP project settings are Adobe HDV 1080i.

PP will PLAY the tape from PP, but it wont RECORD the tape to HD. I don't know for sure if this is a PP problem or windows communication problem but when windows DID recognize.

When i turn on the camera nothing happens in Windows, there is supposed top be a pop up window that says "I see your digital device". Yesterday, yes, today, nada.

There is no way to check how windows "sees" digital devices other than to make sure the device (FW port) is present and has the proper drivers.

thanks, roger
 
Last edited:
thanks jleo, it is 1080i, just got off the phone with Canon, couldnt pinpoint it. The only thing that changed was when we set the Camera to "Signal Setup - HD-Down-Conv - On" THEN the windows message popped up when i connected the camera, so windows does not recognize HD, just SD. Also I reset the camera setting with the little pin point re-set button on the top, nada. I know there is still the possibility of incompatible PP settings so here they are . . .

Preset: Adobe HDV 1080i 30(Sony 30i)
Timebase: 29.97
Pixel Aspect: HD Anamorphic
30fps drop frame time code
HDV Capture
and in the capture window, Device Control Options is set to Canon.

I didnt really change anything from the default settings besides choosing the HDV Preset and the Canon option. Any other settings I should check?

With the capture window open and the camera connected, i can play the tape, and it shows up on the LCD and in PP. But when I try to record nothing happens.
 
XH-A1 not listed as a compatible camera w/PP2

XH-A1 not listed as a compatible camera w/PP2

Maybe this means nothing but the XH-A1 is not specifically listed as being compatible w/PP2. I know people import XH-A1 footage all the time, and the Adobe site may not be current, still, .. .



Untitled-1.jpg
 
Looks to me that you have not installed the PPro update that gives you the Canon progressive HDV presets. You should see a preset labeled "Canon HDV" in the list of presets along with the existing Adobe HDV preset. However, if WinXP does not recognize the camera, there's not much PPro can do about it. WIth the update, PPro works fine with the A1 in both HDV and DV mode.
-Dan
 
He's editing in 60i so he wouldn't need the Canon HDV preset. I use the Sony one when editing 60i as well.

What you need to do is check the firewire port on the A1 and the firewire port on your computer to make sure that neither one has gone wanky. I had a problem where my computer firewire port became fried and would reject the connection every few seconds, then recognize again, then reconnect etc. Almost gave me a heart attack.

Get another camera and plug it into the firewire on your comp. Also take the A1 and plug into another computer in HDV mode.
 
Make sure you shut off the camera before plugging in the firewire. There have been reports of A1 or computer firewire being fried when power is on. jade8472 is right, try other various combinations of equipment...
 
I tried the same setup on another (newer) computer with the same results. Windows does recognize the camera with the bump-bump signal and same thing, i can PLAY the tape from PP but I cant TRANSFER the tape to the hard drive. Doesn't that normally indicate a program setting mismatch? It would be if the tape is SD and trying to import HD, this is not the case. I know it has to be something really simple and obvious. Can you look at these and tell me if you see anything? There is no such thing as a stupid question but they are the easiest to answer!

pp1.jpg


pp2.jpg

pp3.jpg


pp4.jpg


and then nothing happens

pp5.jpg
 
You have got to be joking. I got it to work, once, but it was copying to the wrong drive and the battery was low so i stopped. when i tried to reimport, nada. Exact same sequence of events.

turn on camera
plug in fw
windows recognizes camera
open PP
open capture window
capture nothing

tried the same sequence with camera off before plugging in camera and with PP already open, that didnt work either

What sequence are people using to connect and is it a specific sequence?
 
done with rant, heres what an editor had to say about it

"I took a look and haven't found a good answer whether the capture issue is with adobe or canon, it seems both are blaming the other for it, but there is an apparent fix coming out with the CS3 release(it sounds like they will not be releasing a fix for PP2). The major issue is that the camera manufacturers aren't really working together on anything anymore, so they have all been coming out with their own standards, then relying on the software manufacturers to support their products, rather than developing a product that is already supported, or releasing a patch for software themselves. Dumb, but what can we as consumers do but wait for a fix or find a workaround?"

Thats kinda what I told the Canon video tech support guy today, after the 4th call, "Why dont YOU TELL ME which editing programs are approved and tested to import footage and work with the XH-A1?" None.
 
an editor came over and got it to import, apparently there was no time code on the beginning of the tape so he started playing the tape in PP until it hit the footage and then hit the record button. Worked well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top