How exactly do you transcode 100s of Canon mov files into diferent container for smooth editing on vegas?

[Aleksey Tarasov]

> “too many imported mov files brings vegas to a halt!”

this is not true for MOV H.264 format (which is used in most DSLRs)

> “convert MOV to MXF for seamless previews”

afaik, this requires re-encoding => imo it’s not worth it

> “it can’t render multiple files, just multiple regions of a single file.”

yes, you need third-party converters or Vegas extensions

> “SO does anyone know a way to batch convert multiple mov files of a Canon dslr into a format that Vegas can easily handle, that doesn’t involve a MOV container?”

you can re-wrap MOV files to MP4 w/o re-encoding, for free! using command line utility ffmpeg.
You can find examples on the net

[Mike Kujbida]

Vegas Pro has a built in script that lets you batch render multiple files. Load several mov files and drop them on your timeline. Make regions if each event by double clicking it and pressing the r key. Run the script, choose to render regions, pick your new files location and your desired format and run it. That’s all there is to it 🙂

[Neil Pollick]

I decide myself what it is worth my time doing, I am asking for very specific help.
I am certain that Vegas 13 has a problem with mov files, I have tested it with the same video clips in a mov container and an MP4 container, the results were clear as day.
Many threads on this forum, not just one person, have stated that importing too many mov files causes problems, such as clips on the time line blacking out. I misrepresented them, I should not have said “bring it to a halt” but “make it sluggish and unusable”. I see no reason to doubt these experienced professionals.

This is why I want to transcode all my mov video clips to a format that Vegas has no trouble at all with, such as Sony MXF – I would like to hear from a person who has made large batch conversions from MOV files successfully, exactly as I stated originally, nothing has changed. If it allows me to edit with Best quality previewing then it well worth the trouble of transcoding every single clip I intend to work with, really,well worth the trouble.

[Neil Pollick]

Mike Kujbida
So each separate imported clip (video) is placed on the timeline and becomes a different region so is rendered to a different file? So theoretically there is no limit on how many clips you can place on the timeline?

Mike, I saw a thread where you told someone how to batch render to MFX and you provided a screenshot to show the settings to choose to ensure the quality would be retained in the new file.
But it did not look like the interface I have in Vegas 13.0

[Neil Pollick]

Mike
This is the dialogue I get when I choose to batch render.
Seems I have to choose just one and then proceed to render, I cannot access any other options.

[Neil Pollick]

I tried out the Vegas batch renderer using the third from bottom setting in the Sony Mfx list, “HD422 1920×1080-60i 50Mbps” and this is the info on the rendered file

Is there a plugin to give me greater control over batch renders? This Vegas facility would be usable if the rendered video retained the name of the original clip.

[Mike Kujbida]

[Neil Pollick] “So theoretically there is no limit on how many clips you can place on the timeline?”

In theory not that I’m aware of. My personal limit is around 50.

“Mike, I saw a thread where you told someone how to batch render to MFX and you provided a screenshot to show the settings to choose to ensure the quality would be retained in the new file.
But it did not look like the interface I have in Vegas 13.0”

Neil, do you mean this thread?
My guess is that I was using Pro 10 for that screenshot and I was showing him which render template I was using.

[Mike Kujbida]

Neil, you can definitely choose more than one format to render to.
I’ve done 3 or 4 at a time when I have a project that needs to get rendered for YouTube and DVD. I usually do this at the end of my work day before I go home. I click the appropriate boxes and render everything. When I come back the next day, it’s all there waiting for me 🙂

[Mike Kujbida]

[Neil Pollick] “Is there a plugin to give me greater control over batch renders? This Vegas facility would be usable if the rendered video retained the name of the original clip.”

Ask and ye shall receive 🙂
I got the scripts below on here and together they work great!
I zipped them and keep them in my Dropbox folder so I don’t lose them.
The first one (written by John Rofrano) converts all events on the selected track to regions.
The second script is a Batch Render script that was modified by Aaron Star to use the original file names.

RegionsScripts.zip

[Neil Pollick]

Thanks for the scripts Mike, definitely usable now!
The thread you linked to was indeed the one I had seen.
If I had looked at it closer I would have seen that you were recommending the
“HD EX 1920x 1080-60i” option, which IS listed in the Vegas 13.0 menu, 8th from bottom in the Vegas 13.0 list in fact.

My primary concern it to create files out of the original Canon mov’s that avoid the h264 codec and the mov container, so that Sony can handle them easily in the edit and so that I can use Best quality preview without having to pre-render all the time (I accept it is not guaranteed to work all the time!). This was what led me the Sony MXF format.

So I am looking to convert/render using whichever preset in that Sony MXF menu that retains all the quality of the original mov while at the same time keeping file size down (the usual preoccupation!).
Should I go with the “HD EX 1920x 1080-60i” option then? Or would another be just as good? Please excuse me if you have already answered this but I am failing to see it.

I am confident I can handle the render of the completed edited project later on (I will make different versions for various platforms).