Cannot Capture Canon HV-40 to Sony Movie Studio 8

I recently purchased the Canon HV-40 camcorder. Wow! What a big improvement over the Canon GL2. The Canon GL2 is a fantastic camera, but it is just a bit older technology and it is not High Definition quality. There is a real discernible difference in the final result.

Capture Canon HV-40 to Sony Movie Studio 8

I was disappointed by the inability to capture video using Sony Movie Studio 8. I did several Google searches and all I saw was frustration by other users. I found no readily available solutions, and that is why I wanted to make this post available to others.

I attempted to capture video on two different XP computers - one was with the XP-64 operating system and the other was the standard 32 bit XP version. The same error message showed up on each computer. Actually, the same error message kept showing:

"The Device 'Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit Device' could not be opened. Please make sure that it is turned on and is not being used by another application or user."

I tried using Movie Maker that comes installed on XP and experienced the same error. By the way, I have used the same computers for several years to capture video from the Canon GL2 without any problems.

Note: A USB cable is enclosed with the HV-40. Naturally, you would think that you coule use it to capture your videos, but no way. The instruction book doesn't make this very clear. It is used only to upload still photos from the miniSD card that you can insert into the camcorder.

You will need an OHCI compliant IEEE1394 card for your computer and the appropriate cable. I found one for only $7.50 on the web, which includes the appropriate cable. The new IEEE1394 card didn't solve my capture problem.

I finally found a workaround solution. I downloaded freeware called HDVSplit. Because I installed that software, the problem was solved. I was able to import m2t files into Sony Movie Studio 8.0 without any apparent loss. Unfortunately, Microsoft Movie Maker doesn't recognize the m2t files created by HDVSplit. That didn't present a problem since I have been using Sony Movie Studio 8 software and really like it.

To summarize, if you are using Sony Movie Studio 8 and the Canon HV-40 camcorder, you can solve your capture problem by downloading the freeware HDVSplit software. It worked for me.

P. S. I did take the Canon HV-40 over to my friend's house to try capturing with his Sony Vegas Pro 8. It captured perfectly without having to use the HDVSplit software. Sony Vegas Pro 8 is the high end version for about $599. Actually, I just checked...it is Sony Vegas Pro 9 now, and I am confident it will capture from the HV-40.

Canon support was very responsive to my pleas for help, but they couldn't solve my problem since it wasn't their problem. It was the Sony software problem. My version of Sony Movie Studio 8 that didn't recognize the HV-40. I never did contact Sony for help because I solved my problem with the freeware, and therefore, didn't need to involve Sony.