Hello again,
Cyberlink informed me that the Canon HV20 is not on their compatibility list. Their suggestion to capture HD video from this camcorder, is not doable - capture in DVD format, render it to (HDV) Mpeg-2 format after capturing; but this option is not available for me in PD7 Ultra! -.
Isn't anyone out there using the Canon HV20 with PD7 Ultra!? Is there possibly a work-around or I just spent my extra money for the HDV-capable Ultra version for nothing?
If this is true, I may have to return the program and look into Ulead Video Studio 11.5 that I understand works well with this camcorder.

Thanks for any suggestion!
Laszlo

The Canon HV20 has some menu configurations that if not set correctly will cause capture options in software to not recognize the camera. I sold my HV20 to finance the HF100 and I don't remember EXACTLY what the settings are, but here what I can "dig up":

In the record setup you want HDV.

In the playback setup there may be two items and here you may have to refer to the manual and do some search on the HV20.com forums but one choice may be "auto" where the cam outputs whatever format is on the tape, and the other must NOT be "DV LOCKED" or something like that.

I had a heckuva time getting it right with mine but once I did it worked with Pinnacle Studio, HDVsplit, and whatever else I tried. If the 3 items are not set correctly HDV output is NOT recognized by anything and it's critical enough that I can see Cyberlink not getting that right therefore declaring the HV20 not on their compatible list.

Here is one more thing that makes configuring the HV20/HV30 a big "pain". Your menu choices on the camera, if not correct while connected by firewire (IEEE1394), are "greyed out". DO NOT DISCONNECT OR CONNECT THE HV20/HV30 WITH EITHER THE CAMERA OR COMPUTER POWERED UP!

These models are somewhat more sensitive to static and sudden current changes in the firewire circuits and there are many complaints of "fried" ports on the cameras. So power down both computer and camera before disconnecting or connecting the cable. Then power up the camera and make the menu changes you need to try, power down the camera and connect back to the cable (which is still hooked up to the computer). Power on both and see if the change works. Once you get settings that work, write them down where you can refer to them.

Hope this works. If I run across wherever I wrote the settings down I'll post them here.

Thank you Bif!
You were right on!
In the menu selection of my HV20 there were a couple of items set incorrectly: "Play/out setup 1" was on DV instead of HDV; "Play/setup 2" under "Comp. out" of course has to be 1080i and the "DV ouput" has to be HDV/DV (and not DV locked, as for some reason I had it set).
PD7 Ultra now recognizes the camcorder as an HDV and in fact names it correctly in the Capture panel.
One minor question remains: the file generated with the HDV capture selection ends up 1440x1080i and not 1920x1080i. I could not find any setting in the program to change this. I wonder if my camera actually recorded in this resolution - I may need to look into this a little further -.
Anyway, thanks again Bif; you don't know how many messages went back and forth between tech support and myself about this problem They tried very hard to help but did not have the information. I hope they read these messages because the HV20 should be on their compatibility list - they should provide the setting that you pointed out to me and I summarized above -.
Also, many thanks to Gene who gave me another work-around to the problem in a PM. The above changes in settings is nonetheless the final answer.
Laszlo

Quote: Thank you Bif!
You were right on!

One minor question remains: the file generated with the HDV capture selection ends up 1440x1080i and not 1920x1080i. I could not find any setting in the program to change this. I wonder if my camera actually recorded in this resolution - I may need to look into this a little further -.

The HV20 sensor is 1920x1080 but what actually winds up on the tape is 1440x1080. There is nothing you can do to change that, it is sometimes discussed on the HV20.com forum.

Nonetheless the HV20 footage looks just great when rendered to 1280x720p WMV and when rendered to Blu-ray compliant file on regular DVD media and played back on a Blu-ray player hooked up to a 42" LCD TV.

This 3 minute short was done with my HV20 before I sold it.

http://seemyworldonvideo.com/view/308/vision-quest/

And as a side note: Send your findings on the HV20 settings to Cyberlink so they can give the correct info to folks in the future.

Have fun!!!!!

Just purchased the PD 7 Ultra today because of the HD ability.
Capturing begins with a slight hesitation and then the capture continues normally BUT, about every 5 -10 seconds the frame freezes for a split second, or becomes pixilated for a split second, throughout the capture. If it was only one or two times I’d edit it out, but it is the entire footage. I’ve tried to capture on each drive, thinking it may be a SATA thing.
I’m also capturing HD footage from a Canon HV20- Play/out setup 1: playback-HVD, 16:9, set to output: Auto,16:9, Play/out setup 2: comp out 1080i, DV Output-HDV/DV
PD 7 Ultra recognizes my HD HV20 camera fine and I’m using capture preferences (unsure if this is correct): Unchecked-enable Cyberlink MPEG@best, Checked- do not detect scenes, Tried capturing to each drive
I’m using a brand new HP 5000t, Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450, Nvdidia Geforce 9500 GS, two 500 Gb hard drives.