Panasonic HMC 150 and Vegas Pro 9 (AVHCD)

[Al Bergstein]

Stephen, what .xf footage are you talking about? It seemed to me that the new Canon and all the XF100 and 300 footage is .MXF file format. The specs on the new camera seem to be the same for the footage as the XF series. I use Vegas both 10 and 11 with that format without transcoding. It’s wonderful. So not sure what you are thinking about, but perhaps you simply need to upgrade to Vegas 11 to do what you want???

Alf

[Stephen Crye]

Hi Al;

I was a bit confused. I meant to say .mxf.

I’m just about ready to buy a Canon XF100. Very nervous because I have been a Sony cam customer all my life. I have a brand-new NX70 that is driving me NUTS! I have it boxed and will send it back tomorrow.

I was able to download some of the raw camera .mxf files from a dropbox and they work great in Vegas.

I do have a question, I hope you have an XF100 and use the Canon EF utility. When I use Sony PMB to import camera files from my various Sony camcorders, PMB can take the multiple < 2 GB nnnnnn.MTS files from the camera that comprise a recording , and, (by also reading some kind of metadata?) combine them into a single file with a name in format yyyymmddhhmmss.m2ts on the computer. This is essential, because a big 50 GB recording consisting of 25 2GB raw clips would be insanely hard to work with!

So, does the Canon EF utility have similar functionality, or will I be forced to deal with dozens of raw AAnnnn.mxf files?

Thanks,

Steve

Win7 Pro X64 on Dell T3400 MultiTB SATA 8 GB RAM Vegas 10e x64 DVDA 5.2 Sony HDR-CX550V

[Al Bergstein]

yes it does. I use a xf305 but the formats are the same I do believe. Just the same camera with less features.

Alf

[Stephen Crye]

Thanks Al!

Just to be clear – you can use the utility to create a single, giant file on your computer, that contains all the information contained in the several raw < 2GB .mxf files that comprise the recording, from the time you pushed the record button until the time you stopped the recording?

What kind of file name is given the giant file?

Thanks again,

Steve

Win7 Pro X64 on Dell T3400 MultiTB SATA 8 GB RAM Vegas 10e x64 DVDA 5.2 Sony HDR-CX550V

[Gilles Gagnon]

Hey Steve,

I don’t have your cam but…

I think that if you use the “device Explorer” of SVP, all your files will be “stitched” together.

Perhaps others can confirm this.

Gilles

[Al Bergstein]

Right. You don’t end up with one continuous clip on the timeline, but Sony stitches it all together seamlessly. I’ve not experienced any problems with this. Has anyone else? I’ve shot a number of performances with the camera using this stitching. I don’t know any other camera that shoots nonstop for endless amounts of time without the stitching effect. I suppose a Nanoflash will do it, but they rely on file formats too, which are the limiting factor. What is the JVC MOV file size limitation?

Maybe I can put together a small clip of such a transition for you later today, if the wind storms here in Puget Sound don’t take out my power! We’re expecting a really bad blow starting in an hour or so. Going to grab my camera and head for the lighthouse, which is always an interesting place to be when the winds are blowing 60MPH or better. 6 to 10 foot seas expected.

Alf

[Stephen Crye]

Hi Al;

You are correct about “no camera can produce a single continuous file” – that is where Sony Picture Motion Browser (PMB) really shines.

Sony cameras, just like the Canons, can’t save a clip file on the card that is bigger than 2 GB, which is the limit of the FAT file system that is used by SDHC and also CF cards. So, during long recordings, the camera is forced to create a succession of 2 GB files. All those files together comprise the entire recording, from the time you press the record button until the time you stop.

I just looked at the raw contents of an SDHC card that I used for a medium length shoot where I recorded continuously for about 45 minutes. When PMB imported the recording, it created a 3.66 GB file on my computer (Windows 7) named 20110317173355.m2ts. (note the nice naming format of yyyymmddhhmmss ). That imported, assembled file was built from from two raw files, 00264.MTS and 00265.MTS, located on the SDHC card in G:PRIVATEAVCHDBDMVSTREAM . 00264.MTS was created on the card on Thursday, March 17, 2011, 5:33:55 PM

It would be wonderful if PMB could consume the raw Canon .mxf files – but it can’t – at least the version I have can’t. It won’t even show the files. This will complicate my life if I buy the XF100, because I will be producing vids with footage from my HDR-CX550V and the XF100.

Well, if this was easy I guess grandma would be the expert – oops, there are probably plenty of grandmas on the Cow who know a lot more than me! 🙂

Steve

Win7 Pro X64 on Dell T3400, MultiTB SATA, 8GB RAM Vegas 10e x64 DVDA 5.2(build 133) Sony HDR-CX550V

[Al Bergstein]

Steve,I guess we are describing two different ways of approaching the same problem. I have routinely shot long concerts with the xf305/100 and can easily drag and drop multiple clips onto the timeline and stitch them together with Vegas without even thinking about it. It doesn’t slow down my workflow, and I actually never even thought that I should look to stitch together the clips in some intermediate way. I suppose that would make some sense, though it really doesn’t seem to slow me down to do it my way. It seems it would create larger files that could take even longer to prep. I don’t know, I suppose it’s just the way each of us approach the workflow.

I don’t miss it, and I guess I might find it useful if I had it. But until just now, I didn’t even know I might want it (G).

Probably another way to solve this could even be to drop the two/three clips onto the timeline and then render them out as a separate clip. That would take about as long as running some intermediate program to do the job, yes? And I could easily rename the clip anything I want. I’ve never been a fan of filenames that are simply date form. That’s why we have long file names. To be able to use something more meaningful.

Not trying to be sarcastic, but am I just not understanding something about how effective the PMB workflow actually is?

Alf

[Stephen Crye]

HI;

Al, thanks for taking the time to write such a nice detailed reply. It is good to know that working with multiple small files is possible.

Question: Suppose you have shot a concert, and the continuity of the auto/video from clip to clip is critical. When you drop multiple 2GB clips into the timeline, can you confirm that there is not the slightest gap in the video or audio?

For example, say you zoom the timeline so that each frame is 1/4″ wide on the screen, and the audio waveform is showing smooth sine waves for a clear note played on a flute. Will there be any gap in the waveform?

I’m trying to figure out how a NLE like Vegas would be able to handle a gap in the GoP if the transition between two clips occurred within a GoP. (Perhaps this is a non-issue because the camera makes sure that each clip in the recording never happens in the middle of a GoP).

As far as convenience, how do you keep track of which 2GB clips comprise a single recording? Do you have to manually create a folder and then move them into it? Back when I used to shoot “play” video on my DSC-H50, it was disconcerting to deal with a bunch a sequentially numbered .mpg files.

With PMB, each continuous recording is always a single file, in the yyyymmddhhmmss format, so it is easy to look at the filename to see when the recording started. Windows does not always report the correct “date taken”.

Regarding the time it takes for PMB to import the files from the camera, it takes exactly as long as the time required to copy the clips at USB 2.0 speed from the camera to the computer’s drive. And when I edit a “large” file in Vegas – for example I recently dropped a 30 GB recording into the timeline, Vegas does not miss a beat and I can start editing it within seconds. This seems easier than having to select and drop 10 or 10 2 GB clips into the timeline, butt them against each other, and then select them all and create a group before moving the entire group around.

Thanks,

Steve

Win7 Pro X64 on Dell T3400, MultiTB SATA, 8GB RAM Vegas 10e x64 DVDA 5.2(build 133) Sony HDR-CX550V

[A.miller@yourmusicmuse.com Mueller]

Steve, I read your other post about the Xf100 and vegas. I too appreciate the ability to have multiple smaller files combined into one event. With my AVCHD cams this is no problem because vegas combines the 2gb files with its device browser as other people have kindly pointed out. It is nice because I can dump all my SD cards at the studio and bring home to combine and edit. Takes quite a while to combine all the files but oh well.

With the XF100 I have a ton of 2gb files that need to be combined. With my workflow I like to be able to add media fx to one 15-20 minute event. I shoot greenscreened music lessons and right now I have to copy and paste an fx group to each 2gb section which is frustratingly stupid. There HAS to be a way to combine all this into one file for each scene! If anyone has used a 3rd party program successfully please post it here. To be clear we are talking about stitching together .mxf files from the canon xf100 camera.

Lee

Director Of Video Production (yes this is made up)

https://www.yourmusicmuse.com