Vegas Pro 12 not able to read files encoded in Apple ProRes

[Bob Peterson]

My guess is that, if you are not using Sony’s recommended version of the codec, you will probably not get any support from Sony. In the past, Vegas users had to use an older version of Quicktime to successfully read .mov files. I haven’t seen that mentioned recently, but this could be another case of that phenomenon.

[Rick Shorrock]

The link I mentioned trying is on Sony’s site. Why would they recommend an “unrecommended” version of the codec?

[Aaron Star]

I would look at the “Media Info” (the application) on the ProRes files and make sure the Writing Library was Apply. If not they may have use FFmpeg to encode Prores and screwed it up.

Next try the Vegas 13 Trial and see if that plays the file in question.

[John Rofrano]

I use Apple ProRes files in Vegas Pro all the time and it reads them just fine. You no longer need to download the codec because the decoder is now part of Apple QuickTime for Windows.

I went to Rampant Designs and downloaded some of their free QuickTime files and I can confirm that they do not work with Vegas Pro. So there is nothing for you to do but complain to Rampant Designs or convert them to some other format yourself.

BTW, these files work perfectly fine in Final Cut Pro X and appear to be valid ProRes 422 files from the Apple encoder. If I run them through Apple Compressor on my Mac and drop them back into Vegas Pro they play perfectly. So it’s something with how Rampant Designs is encoding the files that is causing them not to work with Vegas Pro. I would hazard a guess they they don’t even test their QuickTime files with Vegas Pro so it should be no surprise.

You could also complain to Sony because FCP X doesn’t have a problem reading them and therefore Vegas Pro shouldn’t have a problem either but the fact that running them through Compressor to make new ProRes 422 files works with Vegas, kind of points to Rampant Designs as the source of the problem.

~jr

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

[Rick Shorrock]

Thanks, John. I knew if anybody, you would know what’s going on!

[John Rofrano]

You’re welcome Rick. It’s really strange because the files appear to be “real” Apple ProRes 422 and work fine on my Mac. Which, by the way, is one of the primary reason’s I moved to the Mac. I got tired of Windows not being able to work with industry standard files. 😉

~jr

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

[Rick Shorrock]

Any free programs you might recommend to convert the files to something that will work in Vegas? Streamclip, perhaps?

[John Rofrano]

[Rick Shorrock] “Any free programs you might recommend to convert the files to something that will work in Vegas?”

I really don’t know because I would use Apple Compressor on my Mac to deal with it. I would try Streamclip and see if it works.

BTW, from past threads on this topic, we learned that Adobe Media Encoder creates ProRes files that Vegas Pro cannot open so perhaps Rampant Design is using Adobe Media Encoder to create these files. I’m sure Adobe would consider this a “Sony problem”. lol

~jr

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

[Steve Rhoden]

A distinct ploy by them John, lol.
Anyway Rick, i too run into problems with some files from Rampant
in this similar regards. I use after effects to convert them to what i want.

Steve Rhoden (Cow Leader)
Film Maker & VFX Artist.
Owner of Filmex Creative Media.
Samples of my Work and Company can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/FilmexCreativeMedia

[Wayne Waag]

[Rick Shorrock]

Any free programs you might recommend to convert the files to something that will work in Vegas?

Just downloaded one of the freebies and confirmed that it will not open in V13. I found 2 ways to easily convert to MP4. First Photoshop CC, although it’s really slow. You can also convert to Apple Animation in PS, which is even slower. Second, and free, is Handbrake. Surprisingly, it opened without any problem and I was to able to render pretty quickly to a high bit rate MP4. Both the files from Photoshop and Handbrake opened in Vegas without issue. Only thing I could see different is that chroma sub-sampling was reduced from 4:2:2 to 4:2:0. Also in both instances, you will need to apply a Studio to RGB conversion to bring it back to 0-255. Apple Animation rendered at full scale, but don’t know if chroma subsampling was maintained.

wwaag