How to save files from the Canon HF100 camera (Note: These instructions assume you are using a Macintosh computer with . If you are using a Windows-based computer some things will be the same, but you may have to do some research with Google to find specific details.)

In order to store an amazing amount of HD on small SD cards, the Canon HF100 compresses the video data using a called AVCHD and names the files with the extension .MTS. In order to save your video you need to get it from the SD card onto a computer. Since you are not allowed to keep the SD card when you return the HF100 to the Equipment Room, you must get the video files from the SD card onto some other personal storage like an external hard drive, a USB thumb drive, or your university account. These files will be your “master” video files and you want to make sure you have them in a safe place because if they get deleted or lost then you video is gone! To get the video files off the HF100 and onto your personal storage you can do the following:

1. Plug the Canon HF100 into a Macintosh computer with the USB cable. (see the HF100 manual for details. WARNING: Always turn the camera OFF before plugging in the USB cable to a computer. Failure to heed this warning could cause damage to the camera!) 2. A second way is to remove the SD card from the HF100 and plug it into the Macintosh computer using the Kingston Mobilelite Card Reader in the HF100 bag.

3. When you plug either the camera or the card reader into the computer you

should see a drive icon named “CANON” appear on the desktop. 4. Double-click on the CANON drive icon and you should see some files similar to

this: Your video files are located in these folders. It is best not to change the order or name of these folders or the files inside them, especially if you plan to edit them with a non-linear editing (NLE) system like Final Cut Pro (FCP). 5. Now create a new folder (from the desktop press ⌘N – shift-command-N) and give the new folder a name that describes the video in the CANON folders. For example, if the video you shot was the second day of a documentary project you might name your folder – Doc_Master_day2. 6. Drag the folders inside the CANON drive icon into your new folder.

7. Now you should drag the new folder with your video files onto your personal storage device. Remember these are your master files. 8. You can now return the SD card to the camera or the plastic holder in the HF100 bag. You might want to erase the card unless you want the next person using the camera to see what you recorded. To erase the card please see the HF100 manual in the camera bag.

How to Log and Transfer files from the Canon HF100 to FCP These instructions assume you have read the section in this document entitled “How to save files from the Canon HF100 camera.”

In order to use the video files with computer non-linear editing (NLE) systems the HF100 saves the .MTS video files in a system of folders that contain other information for the NLE to use. It may seem a little confusing at first, but it makes sense to the computer and NLE and it is much faster than the Log and Capture from a tape.

2 1. Plug the Canon HF100 into a Macintosh computer with the USB cable. (see the HF100 manual for details. WARNING: Always turn the camera OFF before plugging in the USB cable to a computer. Failure to heed this warning could cause damage to the camera!) 2. A second way is to remove the SD card from the HF100 and plug it into the Macintosh computer using the Kingston Mobilelite Card Reader in the HF100 bag.

3. When you plug either the camera or the card reader into the computer you should see a drive icon named “CANON” appear on the desktop.

4. If you followed the steps outlined in the section entitled “How to save files from the Canon HF100 camera” and you have a master video folder, then plug in your personal storage device to the Macintosh computer. 5. Start FCP and make sure you have created your scratch folder. If you don’t know what a Scratch Folder is see the section in this document entitled “Setting up your Scratch Disk/Folder.” 6. Launch the Log and Transfer window by clicking on FILE – LOG AND TRANSFER. Now if everything is working right FCP should automatically find your video files in the CANON icon drive and the Log and Transfer window will look something like this.

If nothing shows up in the Log and Transfer window you may have to tell FCP

3 where the .MTS video files are located. Click the folder icon in the upper-left of the Log and Transfer window. Then click on the CANON drive icon. Finally select the PRIVATE folder and click OPEN.

7. If you saved you master video files in another folder on your personal storage device you will have to tell FCP where that folder is located. To do that click the folder icon in the Log and Capture window

8. Now comes a tricky part. Remember I said that the HF100 saves the video files in the AVCHD format with the extension .MTS, but FCP doesn’t like AVCHD so we’ll have to convert (transcode) the AVCHD video into something FCP does like – Apple’s Quicktime codec called ProRes 422. ProRes 422 is a professional level

4 video codec and comes in different “flavors.” The ProRes 422 flavors give you different level of video resolution and quality. Unless you have a huge amount of personal storage we are going to use the lowest setting – ProRes 422 (Proxy). This setting will still give you great looking HD video! 9. To set the Log and Transfer window to transcode the AVCHD video to ProRes 422 (Proxy) video, first click on the Gear icon. Then click on Preferences.

5 10. Next in the Source Format column click on AVCHD Plugin – AVCHD and in the Target Format column choose Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) and then click OK.

11. Now you can select one, several, or all of your video clips and click ADD SELECTION TO QUEUE to begin the transcoding process. This will move the selected files into the queue and begin transcoding. You can follow the progress of the transcode in the status bar. Once the transcoding is finished you will see the video show up as a clip in the FCP Browser window and you can begin editing.

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12. If you’re curious where your new ProRes 422 (Proxy) video file is stored – well that’s why you create a Scratch Disk/Folder. FCP uses the Scratch Disk/Folder you create to store folders for media files like video, audio, render files, thumbnail files, etc. Your video files go into the Capture Scratch folder.

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