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Proxies and replace in Vegas 9
Hello, I’m using Vegas 9 pro 64 on Win7 64, editing Canon 5d2 clips in simple projects with not much more than crossfades and a music track. Despite having a new i7 3.4ghz machine with 16gb ram I am using my own proxy clips made in a separate standalone program, just to make everything super fast in terms of editing. Then at the end of the project I’m doing a manual replace on each clip, which is no big deal since there are maybe 50 or so in a project. 15 minutes work for the replacing.
The file structure is simple. It’s an India project, and I have
Top level folder (India)
– – Location/subject folder 1
– – – – Full-res clips
– – – – Subfolder w/small clips– – Location/subject folder 2
– – – – Full-res clips
– – – – Subfolder w/small clipsetc.
So at the end I just replace from the small folder to the regular folder. Not a big deal but I’m wondering if there are any scripts or plugins that simply do this behind the scenes at render, without actually changing the project file, so that the proxy clips can stay in the timeline. That way if I modify the project, especially if I do some big changes, I’m still working with my proxies. This would actually be extremely useful if such a thing doesn’t exist. If I knew how to write it I would.
Seems like it would just need some user-configurable rules for determining the substitution directories. I think it would certainly be premised on identical file names and some sort of regular directory structure (the simplest being what I’ve done, proxy clips are always in a subfolder of original clips, therefore a simple rule), but I think even the format and suffix could be different (in my case everything is identical).
I imagine there would invariably be pitfalls and complications with this approach, but I should say that in my case I have very simple timelines and a very regular, patterned directory structure, which I think would provide a foundation for this premise to work without issue. All clips are the same input type, the proxies all share the same name and extension, I’m only doing straight cuts and crossfades, and I’m not using any plugins.
Anyway, just a thought. This would be awesome, to be able to stay in this super fast editing environment.
Thanks,
Brett -
12 Replies
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To elaborate on how it might work, as I see it:
1. It dupes your project file
2. Makes the substitutions
3. Renders
4. Deletes the duped project file it made (or not, doesn’t really matter) -
On the subject of creating proxies a program called Movavi is absolutely brilliant. It seems optimized for the new i7’s, as it runs 8 conversions at a time, completely maxing out the CPU, and does them at blazing speed. It blows away AVC, etc. by a mile.
I’m creating roughly 400x300px proxies from my full-res 1920 Canon 5d2 clips, and in an hour, Movavi will convert 275 clips, starting with 60gb of data and ending up with less than 1.5gb.
For the conversion output I’m using an H.264 codec for iPhone, and although it creates an .mp4 file, I just batch change the suffix to mov (file renamer basic does this for free) and they import and behave fine in Vegas. This makes the substitutions/replace within Vegas seamless, as the file name and suffix of the proxy are identical the 5d2 clips.
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You might want to look at VASST GearShift. It allows you to edit with proxies and shift back and forth between the proxy and full-res file as much as you want.
It won’t keep the directories like that. It keeps the proxies in the same folder as the full-res files but you shouldn’t need to worry about that since it’s doing all the switching for you in seconds (instead of 15 minutes manually).
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Hi John, looks perfect. It seems to be framed in terms of HDV. How is it with 5d2 source material? I would be working with a certain amount of older HDV from an XH-A1, and then a lot of new 5d2 material, which will likely be my format going forward.
How are the conversion times? Say I drop a 1gb clip into the timeline? How long to make the proxy? i7 2600 3.4
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It should do fine with the 5D2 files. I don’t know long they would take to render proxies because I don’t have an i7 or 5D. You can figure this out easily by manually rendering a one minute file to DV Widescreen (our default proxy format) and multiply from there.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Hi John,
I’m pretty much sold on it, but I guess before spending $50 I’d want to be sure that it works with 5d2 source material without any issues (no offense and please don’t take that the wrong way, you just didn’t sound 100%), and to be sure I understand how it functions. Basically it will create a proxy for every clip you bring into the timeline, and at any moment you can switch between proxy and original for all clips?
Also, I have the demo of Vegas 9 and will be purchasing the full version in 5-10 days. Can I install this plugin on my demo, and then also install it when I have the full version. I’d like to keep working and incorporate this into my workflow right away.
I tried to evaluate the Gearshift demo but it told me that my license was expired so I wasn’t able to. This was right after I installed it. Not sure what’s up there.
Thanks, much appreciated,
Brett -
[Brett Cole] “before spending $50 I’d want to be sure that it works with 5d2 source material without any issues (no offense and please don’t take that the wrong way, you just didn’t sound 100%), “
No offense taken and in fact, I would urge you to download the free trial and try it for 15-days to make sure that you like the workflow before buying it.
[Brett Cole] “and to be sure I understand how it functions. Basically it will create a proxy for every clip you bring into the timeline, and at any moment you can switch between proxy and original for all clips?”
It can but I wouldn’t use it that way. The easiest way is to run GearShift on an empty project, load it’s file list with all of your source files, and have it render them all to proxies. Then begin your editing with the proxy files.
Alternately, if you have a lot of source that won’t be used, you can do a rough cut of the source on the timeline and then make proxies out of only the footage that is on the timeline.
Either way you can swap the proxies for the originals and back amy time you’d like.
[Brett Cole] “Also, I have the demo of Vegas 9 and will be purchasing the full version in 5-10 days. Can I install this plugin on my demo, and then also install it when I have the full version. I’d like to keep working and incorporate this into my workflow right away.”
Yes, GearShift will work for 15 days. During that time you can re-install it as many times as you’d like into Vegas 9 or 10. I’m not sure why you would buy 9 when 10 has been out for almost a year now and 10 works much better with 5D files. (you might not even need GearShift with Vegas Pro 10)
[Brett Cole] “I tried to evaluate the Gearshift demo but it told me that my license was expired so I wasn’t able to. This was right after I installed it. Not sure what’s up there.”
We have seen this problem with certain versions of anti-virus that are too aggressive and won’t let our licensing work properly. Try disabling any anti-virus, anti-maleware, anti-anything else that might limit our access to your computer.
Feel free to contact VASST support via the ultimatesupprt email. We fully support customers trying out our demos. Part of the demo experience is experiencing our support as well. 🙂
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Why 9 instead of 10?
$$$, of which I have very little
Thanks for your help. I turned off everything and it’s not working, so I don’t know what I’ll do as far as Gearshift. I’d like to use it.
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Hi Brett! Another tool that can do what you need is Replace Media from Vegasaur toolkit. It supports subfolders and allows you to exchange the proxy for the HD version with one click.
You can use it for free within 30 days.Best regards.
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Thanks Aleksey, I will try it out right now
Ok, I’m back. Will it work with my directory structure as I described it in my original post? I don’t see a way. So far it is only working if I go into each directory separately. I can’t choose the top level directory.
It does restore them all at once, even if they are in separate directories, so that’s nice. Overall this is still very helpful. It would be perfect for me if I could operate on the top level directory and have it apply to the subdirectories.
Thanks
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