Can MPEG4 H.264 be Imported?

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

Import is as simple as importing any other video format. Just drop er’ on the timeline.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Ray Sherman]

Thanks Spot,
I haven’t purchased the cam yet, but will be this week. Thanks for letting me know that importing isn’t a problem. Your help is most appreciated. Ray

[Roger Bansemer]

That certainly is true but with the mpeg4 files I have found that they are so compressed unless you have an extremely fast computer (despite the recent updates) those clips from the camera will be extremely jerky when trying to edit. I’d like to know more about this though as I’m having real issues with the new file format.
Until the recent update I had to convert all those clips to something else like AVI in order for Vegas to run them smoothly.

[Ray Sherman]

Interesting…….. The last thing I need is problems. Ray

[Kevin Mccarthy]

It is not so much problems as patience. My experience was with a Kodak ZI8 which captures in H.264 and AAC LR audio.
I had an issue of not seeing the audio in Vegas Pro9.b

I updated Vegas Pro9 to “.c” and also had to update Quicktime. After that Audio and video worked fine. I have an older computer and drop my preview level to draft/half to avoid some of the jerkiness, but it is smooth enough to easily edit.

The rendered master is beautiful and no problems with sync. BTW, that ZI8 is really a piece of work for $150!!!

[Ray Sherman]

That’s good to hear…… Thanks for the input.Ray

[Roger Bansemer]

I’m surprised that few others have posted about the need for a super computer to edit the H.264 file format (at least the ones that Sony cameras produce). I’ve spent $2,000 on a new computer and I’m still having jerky video previews which make it very difficult to see what I’m editing even when using the preview auto mode. This was not an issue when using M2t files. But thinking back, remember when those files had to be converted to even use them on the timeline? Well, it seems it almost the same thing with the new M2ts files.

[Aaron Star]

Editing Mpeg4 in vegas is the same any other codec. The problem is not with vegas but with the way mpeg4 compresses video. DV and other editing codes store video on a per frame basis. Mpeg2+4 store groups of pictures referencing changes in the index frame. Thats why it seems like it takes a ton of computer power to edit mpeg4, the editor has to find the i-frame and then apply the changes to show the frame your trying to edit. If you convert your mpeg4 clips to all I-frames 1st, the footage will edit like DV or other editing codec. If you do convert to i-frame, using a high bitrate (compared to original) and an uncompressed audio track helps with artifacts and sound sync. If using a codec like 3vix, you can go in at set the codec to encode all iframes. utilities like mpeg_stream_clip or graphedt can help with conversion. At least thats what I have found.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-frame