Canon VIXIA HF M31 camcorder problem

[Charles L. Cotton]

My Canon VIXIA HF M31 camcorder is arbitrarily splitting longer videos into multiple shorter clips. For example, Jim and I recorded a 48 minute orientation video (raw length) in one take, but the camcorder split it into 3 different clips of about 15 minutes each (not exactly the same lengths). The split between the first two clips lost about 15 seconds of video/audio, while there was no lost video/audio between the second and third clips. We also used an external audio recorder (Zoom H1N) for production audio and we are going to use a lot of cut-outs, so the lost video/audio isn't a problem. It is very annoying however, and in a different setting, this could be a major problem.

Does anyone with experience with this camcorder know why this is happening?

Thanks,
Chas.

[Keith B]

My camera will split the video into maximum file sizes depending on the format and resolution being shot. This may be the issue, however, it should overlap the videos so you can easily edit them in the scene editor.

There should be a file size setting in your menu, so see if that is set to the maximum. Just remember that many formats don't like really large file sizes or they tend to corrupt.

[Keith B]

Also, are you using the camera to edit the scenes and burn to the DVD? If so, it splits them into 2GB files. Here is a support doc http://kbsupport.cusa.canon.com/system/ ... E_ID=34228" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Charles L. Cotton]

Also, are you using the camera to edit the scenes and burn to the DVD? If so, it splits them into 2GB files. Here is a support doc http://kbsupport.cusa.canon.com/system/ ... E_ID=34228" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No, I just import the raw video into my computer and do all editing with Adobe's CS6 package.

Chas.

[Keith B]

I am assuming you are just using the internal memory on the camera and not an SD card? It is possible to turn on 'spanning' to allow the video to switch from internal memory to a memory card if the memory is full. That might account for the 15 second gap if it jumped over to the memory card. Also, if using a memory card, make sure it is a Class 10. I have seen the Class 4 & 6 cards flake out if you are doing AVCHD in a large format as they will not write fast enough and maybe that is why it is splitting the video?

[lipstickandlead]

Some cameras and software have scene detection on. And when it recognizes a cut, a jumpframe, or even possibly a single drop frame glitch in the recording, it will make the video split at that point into another clip. You may see if scene detection is an option on that camera and turn it off. Just a thought. Good Luck.

Mac - Lipstick and Lead Video Production Team.