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  • Jon Moore 3 months ago
    Hi, I just bought my first ever camcorder, the Canon HF10!

    Can anyone help me to understand the various modes (FXP, XP+, SP, LP)? I realise that the quality drops with each one, but are they all HD?

    Also I see lots of references to 30p or 24p. Can someone explain what this means and how it relates to the shooting modes?

    Sorry I am such a noob!

    I also have the ulead software, but my first experience with it did not fill me with enthusiasm or confidence. I am tied to the XP machine I have, but can anyone recommend a better package that will support my camcorder.

    I am normally a 'stills' man, so am familiar with Adobe products, but my understanding is that they do not yet support AVHDC.
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  • Phoric 3 months ago
    The modes (FXP, XP , etc) refers to the quality level / bit rate of the recording. FXP is 17 Mbps, XP is 12 Mbps, and so on. The higher the bit rate, the larger the file size of the videos. Unless you are just recording casual videos for the web, you will probably just leave it on FXP... but feel free to experiment.

    30p/24p is the frame rate. This is the number of frames per second. 30p looks more like digital video, while 24p gives a more cinema/feature film "look". Unfortunately the HF10/HF100 actually uses a hybrid 24p called PF24 (24p inside of a 60i stream), which needs to be converted (2:3 pulldown) after recording in order to get true 24p. The process takes several hours, per hour of recorded video. There are some tutorials on how to do this. This one is rather good:

    eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2008/01/04/canon-avchd-24p-pulldown-removal/

    Adobe does not yet support AVHDC without installing third-party plugins. Your best bet is probably Sony Vegas Pro 8.0b (NOT Platinum). I know there are a couple others but this is what I know and use for AVHDC.

    I would consider the HF100 over the HF10. You are basically paying $200 more for the HF10, and the only difference is the color (black vs silver) and the built-in memory card. Whereas a 16GB SDHC card costs about $50-$60.
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