How would you upload footage from the canon hv20 to a comp?

Question

im basically gonna buy an hv20...so i further researched canons other hi def consumer cameras. and saw the hg10 and hf10 models er something...i saw a youtube review on the hg10 and it was talking about how uploading the footage to like final cut on mac is really hard. u need a hi end mac with like 8 gigs of ram, and all the lastest updates, final cut 6.0, and OSX leopard...well first off, im using a PC, and am gonna buy one with atleast an intel dual core processor with 2 gigs of ram, and a hardrive at 7200rpm...and good graphics/sound cards...and am gonna be editing on adobe premiere pro cs3...my question is, would there be any upgrades that i would need besides having a good comp. like anything out of the ordinary...a lot more ram? any comp updates?? also, what cable would you use to upload the actual footage from the cam to the comp?

Answer 1

Great question! It sounds like you did your homework :)

The Canon HV20 is an HD camera that records to your typical miniDV cassette. MiniDV (or HDV in this case) has been around for quite a while, so it's much much easier to edit than HDD cameras (like the HG10)....MiniDV is compatible with every program out there, which is a good thing for you. (btw: great choice! HV20 powns!)

Getting to your question, you should have NO problem capturing HD files from the HV20 with your current workstation and Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 (btw: Premiere Pro powns). Your computer is fine. Around 4GB or RAM is recommended with HD files, but 2GB should be enough, at least with the HV20. You could get 2GB more if it makes you feel better, but I don't know how much you'll need it. A dual core is good, but what really matters is the speed. 2GHz would be excellent for HD, but as long as you have around 1GHz, Adobe will work (it's just a matter of how laggy it'll get when editing).

Now the equipment. Do you have a pencil and paper ready? cuz you may need to write this down.....bear with me please.

Here goes:

    -Firewire cable

....did you get that? Yes that's all you need. It's sometimes called iLink, sometimes called IEEE1394. They're interchangeable.

If you are editing on a laptop, you'll need a 4 pin to 4 pin one and with desktops, you'll need a 4 pin to 6 pin one....they're like $20 at Best Buy.

[[TIP:]] When capturing your footage, make sure the camera is OFF when you plug in the firewire, for safety reasons; wouldn't want to ruin your firewire port. Then turn it ON to VCR mode, then turn on Adobe.....the computer may be on at all times.

Well, I hope that helps, and be sure to contact me if you have any more questions!

Best of lucK!