Importing my footage properly for editing

VEGAS Pro

Importing my footage properly for editing

Posted by Vinny Hardeo on November 18, 2011 at 8:34 pm

Hi,

I’m currently shooting video with a Sony HXRMC50U, a compact AVCHD camcorder.

As with most AVCHD cams, the output files are .MTS by default.

Currently, I have footage that is 1440×1080 (1.333 HDV Pixel AR). I’ve since changed it to 1920×1080 so I can get that 16:9 AR, but I have some older footage that is in the prior resolution.

While importing these into Vegas, they stutter a bit on playback, and should I add any little effect to them in Vegas, I will almost have to RAM Preview every time, which is a little annoying.

I see bigger guys like Freddie Wong working with these AVCHD cameras, so I assume there is some sort of trick to get these working properly.

I want to be able to edit in Sony Vegas and Adobe After Effects.

Importing them into After Effects has horrible playback.

I’m using AFX CS4 and Sony Vegas 11 PRO.

I’m very tech savy so any tips are appreciated.

I’ve heard alot of people talk about converting to a more friendlier format to edit in, but is this really the standard? If so, what should I convert/re-render to?

I’ve heard alot about rendering first to .mov, if someone can talk to me about that. I’ve heard that converting to uncompressed .avi is good, but from what I’ve seen, when I do that, it makes playback stutter because the bitrate is so beyond high, or maybe I’m just doing it wrong.

I’m just trying to get as much help with this as possible as I want a easier working experience until the next few months when I can get a more powerful PC for dedicated editing.

Vinny Hardeo replied 14 years, 8 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
5 Replies

Steve Rhoden
November 18, 2011 at 11:12 pm

The solution is simple….A very powerful system (beast),
is the best solution to avoid the stuttering and such, working
with those file formats in Vegas.

Otherwise, its the old faithful Dynamic ram preview that has to
be used. Ive gotten quite use to it, and dont find it annoying at
all.And converting video files to edit and basically convert again is
something i’ve always hated.

So, you are gonna have to wait a few months when you can get
your more powerful PC for dedicated editing….lol

Steve Rhoden
(Cow Leader)
Film Maker
Filmex Creative Media.
1-876-832-4956
https://filmex-creative-media.blogspot.com/
Vinny Hardeo
November 19, 2011 at 12:06 am

I never said I had a weak PC to begin with.

I have a fairly powerful PC, that I use for gaming here and there. I will be getting one in the future just for editing.

For now, this is the only format I really have issues with it.

I’ve heard people talk about converting etc, I want to hear a little about that to see whats the best choice for Vegas and AFX.
Mark Barton
November 19, 2011 at 2:22 am

Read this post about cineform and you might appreciate the other response about the best way to address the stuttering is with a system powerful enough to handle the compression in that format.

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/24/938874

I was researching like you about cineform and came across this and decided that the performance from my i7 6 core system would be better than adding cineform to the workflow (at least for the time being as I get used to Vegas Pro 11.
Steve Rhoden
November 19, 2011 at 3:23 am

The talks you’ve heard are probably using Cineform to convert
video files for easier editing on the timeline….Which for
most brings another set of problems.

Steve Rhoden
(Cow Leader)
Film Maker
Filmex Creative Media.
1-876-832-4956
https://filmex-creative-media.blogspot.com/
Vinny Hardeo
November 20, 2011 at 1:46 pm

Well I’ve found my own solution. I’m a very complicated person and I find workarounds for almost everything.

I’m using Sony Vegas 11, which allows export to Sony’s .MXF format.

I simply converted my clips to that (which went surprisingly fast) then made my cuts and added in my effects.

These clips played back in the timeline without lag even with Magic Bullet Looks on them. The upside was that I could put the clips in a very low quality .MXF format and get very small file sizes.

After I finished the sequence I simply went into the media bin and replaced all of the .MXF clips I was using in the timeline with the original .MTS files. My sequence was done, with all cuts and effects in place, and now the original format clips were in there and being used.

Then I just had to render out. Everything was fast and not one problem.

So it looks like a very powerful system wasn’t the only answer.

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