upgradeing from vegas 6 to 9 for HD

[John Rofrano]

I am planning on upgradeing from vegas 6 to vegas 9 as I’m a professional wedding videographer and love how vegas 6 has performed for me in the past few years.

First, I would not upgrade to 9 at this time because 10 is being released on Oct 11th (in two weeks) so you want to upgrade to Vegas Pro 10.

Are there any HD formatts the 9 version wont handle, what HD cameras should I avoid?.

As a Veags editor, I would avoid Panasonic cameras. Sony and Panasonic don’t get along and you’ll have to buy extra software to read the Panasonic format in Vegas. In general, I stick with Sony cameras and Sony software and it just works although Canon cameras work well too. JVC is constantly creating non-standard formats that no one can edit or wacky file types (i.e., .TOD) that have to be renamed. In general I would avoid them too. Sony and Canon seem to understand that it’s important that cameras shoot standard formats. I would stick with them.

I like HDV cameras because they are easy to edit but many cameras shoot AVC/H.264 these days which requires a big beefy computer to edit smoothly. If you do get a camera that shoots AVC/H.264 make sure that it is AVCHD compliant! Lots of cameras are coming out from JVC, Canon, and Panasonic that shoots some variant of AVC/H.264 that no software can edit. It’s the wild west out there with no regard for software support. In general Sony sticks to the AVCHD industry standard and you should too. They also test with their own cameras so as a Vegas users, a Sony camera is a safe bet. You will also have far less headaches if you stick with either HDV or AVCHD formats.

Does vegas 9 have the same basic functions as version 6, captureing etc.

Yes, and likewise for Vegas Pro 10. It’s everything Vegas 6 has with more features.

Please help as I have already had interest in HD from new clients and Im under the gun.

Good luck but what are you computer specks? You are not going to cut HD on the same computer you used for SD unless you just bought a new QuadCore with lots of memory.

~jr

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

[Dale Himelrick]

Thank you so much for the info, it was extremely helpfull. A highly respected pro video shop in NYC built my computer for me about 3 years ago. As far as its specks, I’m not sure. I know it can handle hours of standard video. and I can render multiple projects while working (editing) a third with little to no problems. How do I find out what it has, the only thing I see on the outside is its an HP workstation with an Intel Xeon processor. I know it has at least 1024MB of memory made by transcend as I have the packages to refer to. Harddrive I think is about 500GB not sure. I plan to invest in a good 1 or 2 terabyte external harddrive. Am I on the right track?, I think I will wait for version 10, great tip!!!!.

[Dale Himelrick]

I have more questions. Will the Vegas 10 handle my old digital footage?. Im thinking of offering a standard digital (shot with my Canon GL2) option and then an HD option. If Vegas 10 does not handle digital footage, can I have vegas 10 and Vegas 6 loaded in the same computer?. What are the system requirements for Vegas 10 to handle footage shot with a Sony AX2000 AVCHD. Is that a good camera?. I have a friend that uses that camera and he loves it, hes also a pro wedding video dude like me. Im new to this HD thing as I have been digital for years. I feel like an idiot with all the tech talk as most of it is new to me. In the previous post I gave the specs I know about my computer, I have a feling its not going to be powerfull enough to handle my needs in HD, HELP!!!

[John Rofrano]

How do I find out what it has, the only thing I see on the outside is its an HP workstation with an Intel Xeon processor.

If you are using Windows XP, just right-click on My Computer and select Properties. It should tell you the specs for your CPU and memory.

I know it has at least 1024MB of memory made by transcend as I have the packages to refer to.

You will need at least twice that to work on HD. You’ll also need at least a dual core CPU.

Harddrive I think is about 500GB not sure. I plan to invest in a good 1 or 2 terabyte external harddrive. Am I on the right track?

It depends on what your external interface will be. eSATA is best followed by firewire. USB would be the worst.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

Will the Vegas 10 handle my old digital footage?

Yes, it will handle your old digital footage. Like I said it has everything Vegas 6 has plus more.

can I have vegas 10 and Vegas 6 loaded in the same computer?

Yes, you can have as many versions of Vegas installed as you’d like. They all coexist peacefully together.

What are the system requirements for Vegas 10 to handle footage shot with a Sony AX2000 AVCHD.

You’ll need a QuadCore with at least 4GB of memory to handle AVCHD.

Is that a good camera?. I have a friend that uses that camera and he loves it, hes also a pro wedding video dude like me.

I have not used it but it looks like a nice camera. It appears to be good in low light which is important for weddings. I would trust your friend if he does the same kind of event work you do.

Im new to this HD thing as I have been digital for years. I feel like an idiot with all the tech talk as most of it is new to me.

No need to feel that way. We were all new to HD at one time. Some of us just have a higher tolerance for pain and switched sooner. 😉

In the previous post I gave the specs I know about my computer, I have a feling its not going to be powerfull enough to handle my needs in HD

Your feeling is well founded. HD brings with it 5x the resolution but at much higher compression rates that cause computers to choke when trying to decode all that data. If you can’t afford to upgrade your computer, you could adopt a proxy editing workflow with a tool like VASST GearShift or use digital intermediaries like CineForm which are easier to edit. There are always possibilities.

~jr

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

[Dale Himelrick]

Thank you so much for the info, again it was everything I needed to know and more. At the end you mentioned Gearshift and Cineform, what are those exactly?.

[Dale Himelrick]

OK, so I think I have this figured out. I researched the Gear shift and the ciniform. I,m thinking the gearshift is the best. Based on all the info about my system, (XP Pro, Xeon processer 3.2 GHZ, listed twice so does that mean it has 2?, 1.5 Gb ram and about a 700 hard drive, vegas 6Pro) Am I right in my asumption? I plan on getting a 2 terebyte external hard drive. DO I need anything more?. This will be my in between temp fix to get through the project I have coming up anyway. Around next Jan I will just invest in a whole new system. Oh and the Camera being used is the Sony AX2000 AVCHD. Thanks again, this has been a major pain for me and I appreciate all you time.

[John Rofrano]

If your processor is listed twice it may mean that you have two. I would get more memory to hold you over. I would also get an internal drive instead of an external one.

~jr

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