Do YOU own an HMC-150 or HMC-40?

[Todd Geer]

So sorry. I thought I covered all of my posts on this issue.

Yes, Vegas now sees the avchd timecode as it was recorded from the camera. Yipee! It was a fix they put in a while back now. It might have even been with version 9, but I’ve lost track.

Strange thing is, I added Premiere to my toolbox and although I saw posts stating that it noted the proper timecode, I actually see that it does not. Weird.

[Gilles Gagnon]

Thanks Todd, I appreciate you checking back in.

Before I purchase a 150… did the AVCHD work well for you in Vegas?

Gilles

[Todd Geer]

It does not play smooth like the less compressed files, but with no fx and with my speedy processor, it plays at expected rate. Add some tracks and some effects and it will slow down. I often use either the “Proxy Stream” script to create easier-to-work-with proxy files (Google it) or transcode using Cineform NeoScene. In most cases, I just use the avchd files and do occasional ram preview or selective prerender. If you’re looking for always 29.970 frame rate while playing the timeline, you probably won’t get it. I have a pretty good box, 4 core and 8gb memory.

[Gilles Gagnon]

Thanks for that Todd, very helpful.

I have an i7 920 w 12 gb ram. (a Dell Studio XPS). Let’s hope that works out, if I get the Panny 150.

Gilles

[Gilles Gagnon]

one more thing…

if/when you use proxy stream…

do you lose quality?

how long does it take to do the conversion? (ie, example for for a 30 min clip?)

Gilles

Gilles

[Todd Geer]

Yea, I sure assume that machine would kick some butt!

Yes, there is quality loss, but only during the time that the proxy files are used. The app is real handy. It creates proxy files for temporary use during editing when you need to zip around the interface and get an idea of what’s where, then before you render out the final result, you switch back to the originals. Top quality, one generation.

I interned at High Noon Entertainment in Denver this last Spring semester and that’s what they do too. They ingest the tapes for an episode as very low quality, crappy resolution files. They then do the editing. Before they do the final render, they re-ingest the tapes as high resolution and spit out what you see on TV. The proxy files are about as low quality as a bad web video.

[Todd Geer]

Oh, and conversion time. I don’t recall it ever getting in my way. I save up and do a lot of the tedious stuff overnight. I’ve never come back in the morning and still had it running. I guess it would depend on the project size. Because it’s a script in Vegas, it’s simply Vegas that’s doing the rendering. It brings in file1 to the timeline, renders as whatever proxy type you want, then closes that project, doesn’t save, and brings in file2, etc.

[Gilles Gagnon]

Thanks for all that info Todd,

Great stuff!

Gilles