Open iPhone videos in Vegas

[Wayne Waag]

The problem with iPhone footage is that it is variable frame rate (vfr) which you can see from MediaInfo. The ImportAssist tool in HappyOtterScripts enables the user to “rewrap” one’s footage and convert to constant frame rate (cfr) video which works a lot better in Vegas. Rewrapping does not change the video stream so there is no loss in quality. The conversion to cfr changes the presentation time stamps to a constant frame rate which works reasonably well unless you really have very large changes in frame rate throughout the video. Actually, iPhone is pretty good in this regard. Another advantage of rewrapping is that it is very “quick” since it is only copying the videostream rather than re-rendering it.

Here’s a demo rewrapping some iPhone11 HEVC 4K 60fps video for use in V16.

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The alternative to rewrapping is transcoding which re-renders the footage to another format which Vegas can more easily decode. The ImportAssist tool also has options for transcoding to lossless formats such as MagicYUV or UtVideo as well as lossy MP4 formats.

Alternatively, lots of people use Handbrake which works very well although it was not designed for rendering high quality digital intermediates which are preferable. The advantage of Handbrake is that it is freeware. You could also consider using VirtualDub2 which is a lot better for producing intermediates in that it supports lossless formats as well as Cineform and other high quality formats such as GrassValley HQX. Again, this is freeware. Lots of options are available. Good luck.

wwaag