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GH2 AVCHD with Vegas Pro 10
Forgive me if this has been covered before, but I have had a hard time searching for a complete answer to this. I’ve been using a borrowed Canon 60D and converting the footage to DNxHD 145 for editing in Vegas Pro 10c 64bit, Windows 7 64bit. It’s been fine. I just ordered a Panasonic GH2 to try as my own. Now I’m a bit jittery as I’m wondering if I will have problems editing the footage. Yes, I should have done a bit more research perhaps. Will I need to convert the GH2 files for edit in Vegas Pro 10? It’s not a big deal to convert to another format, but will MPEG Streamclip handle the GH2 files to DNxHD like it does the Canon files should I need to? I suppose I could convert them in Vegas too should I see the need. My desktop computer edit station is: Windows 7 64 bit, I-7 2600, 8gb Corsair RAM, Gigabyte board, GTS 450 video card, two 1TB 7200rpm drives for material and WD 500gb 7200 for the OS. Thanks for the help ahead of time. This forum is great to have around.
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7 Replies
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There are no issues or problem editing GH2 videos in Vegas.
Steve Rhoden
(Cow Leader)
Film Maker
Filmex Creative Media.
1-876-832-4956
https://filmex-creative-media.blogspot.com/ -
Thanks for replying so quickly, Steve. I should have added too, I would like to try one of the GH2 hacks to bring up the bitrate to perhaps 44mbs or 66mbs at the most. Would that create issues? Yes, It indeed would be great to import it all directly without transcoding. I like Vegas Pro and wish to stay with it. This was my first post here, so many thanks, Steve.
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Yes, it can be directly imported into Vegas 10/11.
No need for transcoding anything.Steve Rhoden
(Cow Leader)
Film Maker
Filmex Creative Media.
1-876-832-4956
https://filmex-creative-media.blogspot.com/ -
Wonderful! I won’t fret about it anymore. I’m sure it will out fine. Thanks, Steve.
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Let me know when you get your GH2 Camera…..lol
Steve Rhoden
(Cow Leader)
Film Maker
Filmex Creative Media.
1-876-832-4956
https://filmex-creative-media.blogspot.com/ -
The main issue with AVC (including AVCHD) in current versions of Vegas (10 or 11) is simply the fact that AVC is complex to decode. So you need a fast PC to be happy with it. Which you do have.
You shouldn’t have a problem editing Canon 60D video, either. Canon’s doing AVC at 44Mb/s in a Quicktime wrapper, standard GH2 video is about 24Mb/s in an AVCHD standard MPEG-2 TS wrapper. But that’s only part of the story. Canon only uses I (independent) and P (predictive) frames, so it’s actually a bit easier for your PC to decode, though harder on the hard drive. You need Quicktime installed, I think, to read these fikes in Vegas. Regular AVCHD video uses I, P, and B (bidirectional) frames; B frames add to the coding efficiency, but also the cost of decode.
There are even better hacks to the GH2, including one that cranks the bitrate way up, and records in I-Frame only AVC. This is called AVC-Intra in the industry, and usually offered only by pro-market AVCCAM and similar camcorders. Much like DNxHD, this is even easier to decode onthe PC, more strain on your HDD, and generally higher quality. Santa brought me an Olympus E-PM1 to replace my dead Panasonic pocket camera. But moving into the m43 market (as an alternative and backup to my Canon HDSLRs), I have been looking a bit more at the GH2. My camcorders are Pannys already…
-Dave
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Thanks, Dave, for the info on AVCHD. With the Canon 60D and 7D footage I have been bumping it to DNxHD 145 in a Quicktime. I have tried the Canon footage native, but it seems to be easier to work with after converting to DNxHD in Vegas Pro 10 that I have. The Canons are owned by a friend of mine I do work with. I have actually never use a GH2. I know no one around here who has one, nor do the camera stores in town (St. Louis) carry it, but I see several advantages to it over the Canons, and the footage I have seen looks very good. In particular I like the idea of an electronic viewfinder for starters. Yes, the many hacks are a plus as well. I’ve been out of the biz for while, so I’m on a large learning curve. My shooting experience is with Panaflex 35 and Arriflex 35 film cameras. It’s a totally new ballgame for me. I’ll let you know later in the week what I think of the GH2 as it should be here in a day or so.
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