I have just purchased a new Camcorder. Canon MVX4i
I don't have a clue what is wrong, The playback on the 2.5 screen does not look so bad but when I put it even on the computer never mind the TV it is all pixilated ( Is that a word) If the camera is held still it is not so bad ( but not great) as soon as you start to move the camera you get the square dance!
I am sure it must be the settings. The instruction book is pretty useless.
I am just about tearing my hair out with this.

It is supposed to be set on auto!

Lynda

[pzd]

Sorry you've had no replies yet. I'm no expert but was a bit confused with your problem. If you are playing it thru the TV, are you holding the camcorder in your hand?? ("As soon as you start to move.....").
If you are I would think the connection wire may be the problem.
A bit more actual explanation of what you are actually doing might help the 'experts' to come riding to your assistance.
Best of luck.

Thank you,
sorry for not being so clear, I will try again.
This is brand new camera and the first time I have used it.
I did some filming around the garden and indoors to see what the quality was like.
I connected the recorder to my computer ( laptop) via a firewire cable.
I captured the video with ulead videostudio 9
The picture was blurred and very pixilated , the door frames in the lounge were shaking even.
I have since tried capturing on windvd but that is just the same.
This camera is the most expensive I have ever bought and it had such good write ups.

[pzd]

Have you tried playing back thru your TV set.
This would tell you if it was the 'capturing by ulead' that was the problem. Presumably there are cables to connect it to your TV with the camera.
Let us know.

[MarkE19]

Well it sounds like it could be a couple of problems here.

You say you capture to a laptop. Most laptops have an internal HDD that spins at a slower speed than those in a desktop and therefore are not really up to the job of captureing video. It is recommended that on a laptop you use an external firewire drive for video capture to take the load off the internal drive.
If the camcorder has the same problems when playing back a tape directly connected to the TV then you almost certainly have a problem with the camcorder. I would suggest taking it back to the shop for replacement or at least a repair.

Mark.

Thanks for your replies,

I will try a direct connection to the TV shortly and post back.

The laptop I am using I have used before but with a sony cam. It is fairly new and good specs for a laptop. Toshiba Qosmio G20


Technology type : Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760, Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200BG network connection and Intel® 915PM Express chipset
clock speed : 2.0 GHz
front side bus : 533 MHz
2nd level cache : 2 MB


Operating system Windows® XP Media Center Edition


System memory standard : 1,024 (512 + 512) MB
maximum expandability : 2,048 MB
technology : DDR2 RAM


Hard disk capacity : 160 (80 + 80) GB


DVD Super Multi drive (Double Layer) compatibility : CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM
maximum speed : Read: 24x CD-ROM, 8x DVD-ROM/ Write: 24x CD-R, 10x CD-RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R, 2.4x DVD+R(Double Layer), 4x DVD+RW, 3x DVD-RAM
type : DVD Super Multi drive (Double Layer)


Display size : 17 "
type : Toshiba TruBrite WXGA+ TFT display


Graphics adaptor manufacturer : NVIDIA®
type : GeForce™ Go 6600
memory : 128 MB
memory type : DDR SDRAM
connected bus : PCI Express x16


Internal video modes resolution : 1,440 x 900
maximum number of colours : 65,536


Max External Video Modes Max Resolution : 2,048 x 1,536
Max Colours : 16.7 Million
Max Refresh Rate : 100 Hz
Non-interlaced resolution with max refresh rate : 1,600 x 1,200


BIOS ACPI : Yes
System Management BIOS : 2.3


Battery technology : lithium-ion
maximum life : up to 2:00 hours


AC adaptor input voltage : autosensing AC adapter (100/240 V) for worldwide usage


Interfaces 1 x headphone
1 x DC-in
1 x line-in
1 x external monitor
1 x RJ-11
1 x RJ-45
1 x i.LINK® (IEEE 1394)
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Monitor-in (composite video and L+R audio)
1 x TV-antenna
1 x S-Video-in
1 x TV-out (s-video, Component-out))
1 x 5-in-1 Bridge Media slot (supports SD™ Card, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick Pro™, MultiMedia Card™, xD-Picture Card™)


Expansion 1 x PC Card slot for 1 Type II card
2 x memory slots (0 available)
1 x ExpressCard slot


TV tuner manufacturer : Toshiba
type : integrated TV tuner
tv standard : PAL


Wireless communication Compliancy : Wi-Fi™
Network Support : 802.11b/g
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN (802.11b/g dual-mode integrated network support)
Wireless Technology : Bluetooth™


Wired communication topology : Ethernet LAN
speed : 10/100 Base-TX
topology : international V.90 modem (V.92 ready)
speed : 56 Kbps data and V.92 data fax


Sound system supported audio format : 16-bit stereo
speakers : built-in Harman Kardon® stereo speakers

[MarkE19]

Now trhat is a lovely laptop, and if I had the money would get one myself. However it is still a laptop with a slow spin speed on the HDD that is not great for capture of video. If you get a good picture when the cam is connected directly to the TV then I would say your problems are almost certainly due to the internal HDD and therefore an external firewire drive 'should' resolve the issues.

Mark.

You are correct !! The picture is fine when the cam is connected to the TV, not so good on the plasma though. I expect it will be a lot better in good lighting conditions.


I will need to buy an external drive then, any idea what I need??????

Once again many many thanks,

[pzd]

Good to see problem looks like it's sorted, for you, Lynda.
Mark is the man to listen to in these matters - sure he will recommend the 'firewire' you need.
regards.

[MarkE19]

Originally Posted by pzd

Mark is the man to listen to in these matters

Originally Posted by pzd

- sure he will recommend the 'firewire' you need.

This external firewire drive comes highly recommended by those that have used them. 300Gb should give you plenty of space for capture & editing of all your DV tapes.
If however you don't want to spend that much then any firewire HDD will do the trick. You should be able to get something around 120Gb for a fair bit under £100.

Mark.

Mark and pzd,

Thank you for your help, I will get a hard drive and let you know how I get on


Lynda

Mark,

Just wanted to come back and thank you, We decided rather than an external drive we would get a Desktop pc.
It works perfectly well now, we have good clear video from the Canon. Just a little probleem at the beginning of the tape where it looks a little out of focus. as soon as I used the zoom the focus was perfect???? Oh well I can't have it all.

I just now have the problems of capturing my 8cm discs from the Sony for editing. Videostudio does not like these at all. It appears to capture from the disc then comes up with chapters before it imports. When you try to tick a box it freezes every time.

They do play ok on the DVD player so if I can't do it it is not the end of the world.There is however a lot of rubbish on them .

Well thanks very much, I will keep reading the forums and learning more.

[jomike]

Hi Lynda

I assume you are talking about 8cm DVD discs recorded on a DVD camcorder. You can try downloading the files to your harddrive using the software that came with the Sony camcorder. This will create files with a .mpg extension. Try opening these in Videostudio and see if it likes these better. If it still freezes it probably doesn't support MPEG2 format that DVD files come in.
You can try editing them in Windows Movie Maker, I have done this myself with some success. If you save at the highest resolution setting you don't lose too much picture quality.
The ideal software to use is a special MPEG2 editor such as Womble video wizard or Video redo:
http://www.videoredo.com/
http://www.womble.com/
Both offer 30 day free trials.

HTH

Mike

Thanks for the reply Mike

I will spend some time on this at the weekend and let you know how I get on .

Lynda

[senu]

Originally Posted by jomike

Hi Lynda
.............
I assume you are talking about 8cm DVD discs recorded on a DVD camcorder. You can try downloading the files to your harddrive using the software that came with the Sony camcorder. This will create files with a .mpg extension. Try opening these in Videostudio and see if it likes these better. If it still freezes it probably doesn't support MPEG2 format that DVD files come in.
......................

HTH

Mike

Lynda, The files on a DVD may not be called *.mpg but may reside in a video-ts folder and be called *.vob.
They are one and the same but some software may not like a file with a *.VOB extension. Having copied them to your hard drive you can rename them to *.mpg . They will be seen as mpg files and editable if your software supports that.
The CanonMVx4i is a minidv tape Camcorder . its not clear where the 8cm DVDs came from
Unlike Mike, ( unless you are stuck ), some of us dont like the idea of editing mpegs if you could have obtained the material (by firewire) as an AVI in the first place.
AVi is the best quality and mpegs ( good though they are) are considered to be output files having been previuosly compresssed for smaller file size. consequently editing them can be hit or miss for quality.

Senu,

The DVD came from my previous Sony DVD camera, I bought the Canon just a couple of weeks ago when I got really fed up of the DVD.
They do come up as a TS folder which I cannot always open! I have about six mini discs of our last Florida holdiay that I wanted to edit.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Lynda

Senu,

The DVD came from my previous Sony DVD camera, I bought the Canon just a couple of weeks ago when I got really fed up of the DVD.
They do come up as a TS folder which I cannot always open! I have about six mini discs of our last Florida holiday that I wanted to edit.

Oh I see.. . DVDs with copy protection will not normally allow copying from the video TS, Some personal ones ( such as yours, even without copy protection ) can prove "stubborn" too.
You can try to get these onto your hard drive by using these 2 freeware but rapidly dissapairing programs .(DVD shrink and DVD decrypter :links below)
Hopefully youll then be able to get your *.VOB or Mpg files (whatever ) from the dvd for editing in Womble or Mikes other suggested Program.

Both DVD and mini dv tapes can becomed damaged but tapes ( apart from having higher quality, less compressed video material, are less prone to read errors).
Interestingly,Jvc is marketing the "Everio" range of hard drive "tapeless" camcorders as the new hot thing ( Really it is High definition Video that the new HOT thing but that is another story)
Everio
With them one can do some editing on the Hd and transfer to DVD or to the PC for editing the usual way by software which support its native files *.MOD, a modified mpeg2. I have handled them and despite initial sceptism would love one as a present!

You may find this thread in another forum interesting!
the link is
Here
The programs
DVD SHRINK
DVD DECRYPTER
Give them a go!

[jomike]

Hi Lynda

I use Womble MPEG Video Wizard to edit 8cm DVDs created on my Sony DVD camcorder. I can import the .vob files directly from the DVD into Womble, then edit them and save them in mpeg2 format ready to be authored to full sized DVD in Nero. I assume this is what you want to do?

Regards

Mike

BTW What didn't you like about the Sony? I've had mine for 5 months now and think it is great.