IF you edit with Vegas (9or10) should you shoot in ProRES?

[John Rofrano]

[Sean McPartlin] “hvr-a1u (1 with hvr-dr60 recorder) I forget what codec the DR60 records but Vegas is very happy to edit it.”

It records native HDV files which is why it’s a dream to edit in Vegas. This is the best possible HD format to be editing.

[Sean McPartlin] “so I got to wonder about how good this would be to use vs the HVR-dr60’s and I wondered about how this codec would work with Vegas.”

No good at all. The HVR-DR60 are giving you native HDV which is what Vegas edits best. It’s not going to get any better than this.

[Sean McPartlin] “But the real questio is this: Is apple PRORES a good codec for Vegas? We have one user that uses a mac and final cut pro…so I assume it would be fine for them… but our people use PC’s and Vegas…”

Absolutely, positively NOT! ProRes is a proprietary Apple Final Cut codec and if you don’t plan on using Final Cut on a Mac, you should not be acquiring with ProRes. There isn’t even a Prores encoder for the PC because that’s the way Apple wants it. I would stay far away from ProRes if you are a Vegas editor.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Sean Mcpartlin]

Ok that’s good info. I guess ProRes isn’t for us….

But is there a device to record the video in HDV and supports GENLOCK?

[Edward Troxel]

[John Rofrano] “There isn’t even a Prores encoder for the PC because that’s the way Apple wants it”

John, have you seen this?

Telestream Enables Encoding to ProRes on Windows
Server Products
Vantage, FlipFactory and Episode Engine are the industry’s first video transcoding solutions for Windows Server OS to offer encoding to ProRes

Nevada City, Calif., March 31, 2011 – Telestream®, the leading provider of video transcoding software solutions, today announced that its Vantage®, FlipFactory®, and Episode® Engine transcoding software for Windows-based servers now allow encoding to the Apple ProRes video codec. Telestream is the first company to enable the creation of ProRes in Windows-based transcoding applications, for use in Final Cut Studio production environments, as well as in preparing content for distribution through iTunes.

https://admin.virtualpressoffice.com/Presenter?urlId=1&deliveryid=1301582286360

Edward Troxel

[John Rofrano]

[Edward Troxel] “John, have you seen this?”

Obviously I haven’t. 🙂 I’m surprised that Apple is allowing them to do this. I guess they are paying royalties to Apple. I wonder if it will sill have the gamma shift problem of if they have solved that?

Of course, it looks like it is a server based transcoder which would not be practical for the average user, and also prices starting at $5,495! lol. I could buy a pretty awesome Mac Pro for that price and have the ultimate ProRes encoder. (hahahaha) 😀

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Sean Mcpartlin]

As I wait for Netflix to start working again….

So am I to understand Vegas (latest version) would need transcode prores to edit?
Ok if that’s true then prores is out…

I am just looking for the most cost effective way to record video for Vegas (4 users) and 1 FCP user.

The tiny Sonys we have shoot avchd that Vegas has no issue with… But FCP struggles a little.

The Sony. Hdv dr60 hard drive shoot HDV m2t but the drive is too small. Has anyone taken the thing apart and put a bigger disk in it? ( I am willing to try)

So the Nanoflash gizmo from convergent design will let you pick your codec and I thin M2t is one of em. (you can change the bitrate and it seems lots of folks like 50mbs). Anyone know how that nano flash is for Vegas ?

[John Rofrano]

[Sean McPartlin] “So am I to understand Vegas (latest version) would need transcode prores to edit? Ok if that’s true then prores is out…”

Technically it would work to edit because QuickTime supplies a ProRes decoder (just not an encoder). That means you should be able to edit ProRes but not render to it. Practically, it may cause problems because QuickTime is not a native format for the PC. I would try editing some ProRes footage in Vegas and see what the experience is like. It would certainly not be my choice.

[Sean McPartlin] “I am just looking for the most cost effective way to record video for Vegas (4 users) and 1 FCP user.”

Capture in the native camera format which Vegas can edit easily. Give the native format to the FCP editor and if they can’t ingest the native camera format’s tell them to find a way to transcode it or get an NLE that can deal with native camera formats.

All I’m saying is that it makes no sense to capture in a none native format that is proprietary to the Mac for one editor and make 4 other editors struggle with it.

[Sean McPartlin] “The Sony. Hdv dr60 hard drive shoot HDV m2t but the drive is too small. Has anyone taken the thing apart and put a bigger disk in it? ( I am willing to try)”

The HVR-DR60 holds 4 hrs of HDV. If that’s not enough you could offload to a laptop and keep going.

[Sean McPartlin] “So the Nanoflash gizmo from convergent design will let you pick your codec and I thin M2t is one of em. (you can change the bitrate and it seems lots of folks like 50mbs). Anyone know how that nano flash is for Vegas ?”

M2T would be my format of choice. This edits the easiest. As for the bit-rate, if your camera is sending 25Mbps HDV out the firewire port, it makes no sense capturing it as 50Mbps. It’s not going to look any better because it’s already 25Mbps of information.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Mike Kujbida]

[Sean McPartlin] “So the Nanoflash gizmo from convergent design will let you pick your codec and I thin M2t is one of em.”

QuickTime (MOV), MXF and MPG are the file formats that this unit saves in.
I can confirm that Vegas handles the MXF format very nicely as this is the format the XDCAM EX ClipBrowser quickly re-wraps the MP4 footage shot on my new JVC 750s.

“Anyone know how that nano flash is for Vegas ?”

I looked at that unit a few months ago and was very impressed with it.
Due to the cost, I decided to stick with the SDHC Cards that my cameras use and re-wrap the footage as described above.
There are footage samples on the Convergent Design site in MOV and MXF format that you can download and play with.

[Sean Mcpartlin]

[Sean McPartlin] “So the Nanoflash gizmo from convergent design will let you pick your codec and I thin M2t is one of em. (you can change the bitrate and it seems lots of folks like 50mbs). Anyone know how that nano flash is for Vegas ?”
M2T would be my format of choice. This edits the easiest. As for the bit-rate, if your camera is sending 25Mbps HDV out the firewire port, it makes no sense capturing it as 50Mbps. It’s not going to look any better because it’s already 25Mbps of information.

Ok so I am not sure about HDV but I would be using the hdmi out cable (use a hdmi to hd SDI converter and I need that to connect the cameras to the Sony any cast switch anyway)

The claim as I understand it is the video from the camera is native uncompressed video and that’s why you can record whatever bitrate you want because the data is there. (obviously playback it’s not)

We are looking to use older cameras hooked up to recorders.

The codec we use to record is what matters.

[John Rofrano]

[Sean McPartlin] “The claim as I understand it is the video from the camera is native uncompressed video and that’s why you can record whatever bitrate you want because the data is there. (obviously playback it’s not)”

Yes, if you are going out of SDI and not firewire then you can pick your codec and bitrate. You did say that earlier, I just forgot.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

[Sean McPartlin] “But is there a device to record the video in HDV and supports GENLOCK?”

Hi Sean, I see that no one else has offered an answer so you might want to start a new thread with the title “GENLOCK support for HDV capture” or something like that to attract more eyes who understand GENLOCK. I have not worked with it so I can’t say. The current title of ProRes and the number of answers in the thread are probably not enticing people to read it and offer answers. (just a suggestion, cuz’ I hate to see unanswered questions) 😉

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com