Sony Vegas 6.0 and Canon 7D

[John Rofrano]

[Kyle Moore] “Hello! I’m still using Sony Vegas 6.0 because I can’t afford anything else.”

So you have a $1,600 camera but you can’t afford software for it?

[Kyle Moore] “Am I able to import footage shot with a Canon 7D?”

Have you tried? Vegas 6 is pretty old and probably doesn’t handle AVC/h.264 which is a fairly new format.

[Kyle Moore] “If not, what windows programs can handle it?”

Vegas Pro 10. It specifically has improved Canon 7D/5D support as one of it’s new features. Alternately you could buy CineForm NeoScene ($99 USD) which will convert the 7D footage to CineForm AVI files which should edit fairly smoothly in Vegas 6.

~jr

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

[Kyle Moore]

Thanks for the quick response! The 7D isn’t mine – I’m editing for my boss. The camera I used for years was a Panasonic DVX so I’ve never worked with HD footage before.

the cineform Neoscene you mentioned… is that what is called transcoding software? This is going to sound very elementary, but what is AVC/h.264? I’ve seen it a lot, but assume it’s an HD term. A codec or compression rate? These are all things I should know.

[Brian]

Vegas 6 will work! And you don’t need to buy Cineform, know why? you already got it! Yep, hit “Render” go down to templates, I think it says “Intermediate codec” it doesn’t quite say “Cineform” unless you dig a little in the menus, but you already have that codec, Vegas 6 was the last version to have Cineform.

The AVC264 stuff is the codec, or lets say file type that the 7d recorded in natively, you need to “transcode” or convert it to a different file type ie Cineform. So put you native AVC footage on the Vegas timeline and render it out to intermediary codec, it will be a huge file and slow render, but once done, you’re ready to rock and roll. It’ll play nice and smooth on your timeline. Just put that rendered Cineform file onto your timeline.

[John Rofrano]

[Kyle Moore] “Thanks for the quick response! The 7D isn’t mine – I’m editing for my boss. The camera I used for years was a Panasonic DVX so I’ve never worked with HD footage before.”

Tel your boss they need to buy you new software to edit their footage. lol. 😉

[Kyle Moore] “the cineform Neoscene you mentioned… is that what is called transcoding software?”

Yes, this called transcoding.

[Kyle Moore] “This is going to sound very elementary, but what is AVC/h.264? I’ve seen it a lot, but assume it’s an HD term. A codec or compression rate? “

AVC/H.264 is part of the MPEG4 specification (MPEG4 Part 10) and stands for “Advanced Video Coding”. It is not particular to HD. It is just a way of encoding video but it contains a wide variety of profiles and features that can be used so it is difficult for anyone to support all of it. AVCHD is a subset of AVC/H.264 which narrows down the profiles, features and constraints that need to be supported.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

[brian luce] “Vegas 6 was the last version to have Cineform.”

Actually Vegas 6 was the FIRST version ot have CineForm. Vegas Pro 8.0 was the LAST. If Vegas 6 can read the file then you are correct, you can create the CineForm files from within Vegas 6. If Vegas 6 cannot open the file then you’ll need to buy CineForm NeoScene.

Since the original poster hasn’t even tried this yet, we don’t know unless you have a Canon 7D and can confirm that Vegas 6 can open the files from it. Vegas 6 uses the older QuickTime 6 which may not support AVC/H.264.

~jr

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

[Brian]

I’ve edited 7d footage with Vegas 6. It’s clunky and cumbersome but it works…at least with my iteration of Dell Vista, and that btw, from my experience as a tech moron, it’s major qualifier. Windows for me, especially Dell Windows, has always been quirky as sin. But yes, once you’ve got a Cineform file on the Vegas 6 timeline, on my machine it plays smoothly and is stable. I actually recreated an entire project initiated in Vegas 9 in Vegas 6 because 9.0 was unstable.

The upgrade from Vegas 6 to 10 is or at least was quite reasonable, and boy is it ever liberating when it comes to AVCHD and other issues as well. Version 9.0 not so much. Your Mileage WILL vary…

[Kyle Moore]

This is broken down very well! Thank you. However, I’m not sure how to make something a cineform file so I can put it on the timeline. I’m using .mov files, h.264, 1920 x 1080 x 24. Any further advice would be helpful!

[John Rofrano]

[Kyle Moore] ” I’m not sure how to make something a cineform file so I can put it on the timeline.”

You would need to place each file on the timeline, one by one, and render them using Video for Windows AVI format with one of the “HDV Intermediary” templates. If you press the Custom button you’ll see that those templates are using the CineForm codec.

~jr

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

[Brian]

No Kyle, you import the native files, ie the files directly from your camera into the timeline. Then, as John says, render it out as AVI intermediary. The resulting file is cineform (CF).