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Using AVCHD in vegas, or converting to MXF or other format?
Hi guys
I am making a documentary, and have lots of 720p AVCHD footage. My cpu is running very high with only one track of video, a few titles, and a few audio tracks.
Ive read that it isnt a good format to edit with. So I am considering converting all my footage, hopefully for free. Cineform seems to be reccomended but it costs. The other one people have mentioned is Sony MXF.
What do people think of this, will it make a difference?
Also, how would I batch convert all my clips? Is there a way to do this in vegas>
Thankyou
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5 Replies
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AVC video can be very compute intensive to edit. A fast machine may not notice but others it can be an issue.
Cineform is an intermediate format. Very high bitrate. Cineform file will be maybe 5 times larger. Cineform is free via the GoPro Studio software. The GoPro studio software installs the Cineform codec into Video for Windows (AVI) and Quicktime (MOV). Both of these Vegas can use.
As for MXF. MXF is a generic file container like MP4 and MOV. Vegas natively supports mpeg-2 (XDCAM), HDCAM SR and XAVC in MXF files.
The XDCAM HQ 35Vbr mode is an easy format to edit (mpeg-2). You can get XDCAM encodes in MXF (HD EX)or MP4 (XDCAM EX) file formats from Vegas. This is probably your best bet.
You might use the Vegas smart proxy feature. Underneath this Vegas creates 720 XDCAM EX files. It might seem silly to proxy a 720 format with another 720 format but the Vegas proxies are mpeg-2 and much easier on the CPU for editing. Using the Smart proxy your original files will be used for the final render. Therefore you preserve max quality. The proxy is only used in Preview and Draft display modes.
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Hi Norman
Thankyou for your help. I have a folder with hundreds of 10 second clips in. If I was to convert all of these to a new format, such as the one you recommended : XDCAM format, then is there an easy way to do this as a batch?
Also, would XDcam in mpeg or mxf be better?
Thanks again for all your help
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I’ve been editing AVCHD files for quite a few years. Started out with Vegas Pro 8 on an old Intel dual-core CPU with integrated GPU. No problems editing. Then switched to an Intel i3 laptop, again no problems editing AVCHD. The only problem I ever encountered was when I moved to the i3 laptop, and it was due to only having 4gb RAM (Vegas would crash). Upgraded to 8gb RAM and crashing went away.
Dave
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First, only convert or proxy if you must. Meaning you are not getting full playback frame rate or some other problem(s) getting in the way.
The Vegasaur productivity tool for Vegas has a transcoder feature which would let you batch transcode any number of source files to whatever you need.
MXF or MP4 files for the XDCAM mpeg-2 video data does not really matter. The video is the same. Since mp4 files are a bit more universally supported, then I would go that way just in case I needed to use or give the file to something or someone else. MXF audio is typically separate channels and some tools, like Handbrake, cannot deal with that. XDCAM in MP4 outputs a stereo channel versus two separate mono channels.
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Hey guys
Thanks for the help, its been really useful! I will see how I get on with these ideas
thankyou
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