Need help editing with Canon XH A1(HDV)?

Question

Hi, I have a Canon XH A1 and I connect to my computer through a fire wire cable. I use Sony Vegas 8.0 Pro to edit. I go to capture video and it sees the footage off my camera. After I stop the capturing, I can't edit the footage. An error message pops up. (something about the name) How do can I actually edit the footage?

Answer 1

your computer needs to be able to handle HDV footage.  You may not have the proper video card, enough RAM, etc. etc.

Also, Sony Vegas is a terrible program.  Horribly buggy, slow, poor workflow.  So many people I know have had trouble with Vegas.  h**l, most of the questions on here about editing problems pertain to using Vegas.

Answer 2

When you capture with Vegas, the captured files don't immediately show up on your project timeline, but they will show up in the "Project Media" listing. Barring any failed captures (your Firewire connection and HDD need to be correct... it's usually not a problem these days), you'll find the captured media (you DID supply the capture directory and name, eh) in your Project Media listing.

From there, you simply drag said file(s) onto the timeline. You do need a pretty decent computer to edit HDV directly... Sony recommends at least 1.5GB of DRAM, and for live MPEG editing, you need a decent CPU. I run an AMD64x2 4400+ on my desktop, with a nVidia 8600GTS graphics card, 4GB DRAM, 3TB HDD, and dual 1920x1200 monitors. Vegas loves this environment, though these days I could use a Quad-core CPU for optimal results.

Vegas is the best video editor out there... I have used most of them. In general, the Sony (formerly Sonic Foundry) software has been the lest buggy of any I've used in my 20 years of video or 26 years of engineering experience. But the full version of Vegas is a pro-class tool, it's not going to be terribly easy for newbies. It's also very different than programs like Adobe Premiere... better, we'd say as Vegas users, but if you learned Premiere, you have some bad habits to kick.

You get frustrated questions here, generally, from folks who have cracked versions of Vegas and lack the manual, or the skills to use it. Pay no attention to them. You might benefit from reading Vegas forums on the Sony site, or at Creative COW. The COW also has tutorials and other resources for Vegas novices.