[Will Kee]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the ‘black bar graphic top and bottom’ option wouldn’t allow you to accurately letterbox to specific cinematic aspect ratios, like 2.35:1.

If you’re clips are all the same resolution – for example 1920×1080 – you could adjust one clip so that it was 1080×800 (in the case of a 2.40:1 aspect ratio), then copy that clip, and then paste event attributes on all other clips. The problem is, if you’re clips each have different effects such as colour correction, they will be erased and replaced with the effects of the first clip you copied.

Perhaps you could change your project settings to 1920×800, for example, and then render out to 1920×1080,. This might generate black bars in your final render.

[Will Kee]

If you have space, perhaps an uncompressed AVI or MOV?

[Will Kee]

But what’s annoying is that Sony Vegas markets itself as having 4K support, but lacks the fundamentals when it comes to colour space and rocket support.

Still, I see your point.

[Will Kee]

I sure as hell hope so, but I don’t know for sure.

[Will Kee]

Also, I have never been successful in attempting to open an EDL exported from Vegas.

[Will Kee]

I work at a camera rental company specializing in RED camera, so I’ve been editing >5K R3D files over the past year or so.

A few things I have to say:

Creating proxy files is a must!

A fast harddrive array is helpful. I have 4 harddrives in a RAID 0 config, giving me 300-400 mb/s read/write speed.

The biggest problem editing R3D on Vegas is that Vegas doesn’t accurately interpret the changes made to the metadata of the RAW clip, say, in RedCineX. So, if I were to apply a certain ‘look’ to my raw footage using RedCineX, when I bring these clips into Vegas, the image is totally different (and my time in RedCineX is wasted). Although Vegas does allow you to adjust the metadata of the R3D file, the options are limited, and the layout/useability is a bit rubbish in my opinion. Also, if Vegas has interpreted the gamma etc. of the R3D incorrectly, I feel at a loss when it comes to exporting my project – what gamma space to use? how is my render going to compare my preview? Should I adjust gamma to compensate for Vegas’ gamma shift?

The easier option, unfortunately, seems to be the offline route. This way, one can make changes to the metadata and export out, without any weird compatibility issues with Vegas. However, here I encounter another issue: RedCineX seems to be tailored towards the Apple Mac market, and I’ve found it difficult to find a suitable format for transcoding my R3D’s. Typically, transcodes would be ProRes, however, ProRes seems to get sluggish on my Vegas. Other transcode options that I’ve tried seem to compromise on quality.

I’m worried that Sony are going to fall too far back on the R3D front, especially considering the new RED 6K Dragon is being released within the next few weeks.

[Will Kee]

Sorry to interject, but how do I ‘crop media on import’? in Vegas 12? I have been editing a 4k/5K project and always crop each clip after import, which takes quite a while.

Best,
Will

[Will Kee]

Is it me or did neither of those videos mention anything about Sony Vegas editing Raw 4K footage from the BMCC?

[Will Kee]

We have an F55 here at Pinewood and I’ve played around with it a bit. I’ve been losely involved in a few professional shoots with the F55, but when it comes to workflow, Vegas seems to be redundant (based on conversations with many DIT’s and camera people).

I’m left wondering why Vegas can edit RAW r3d footage and not raw f55 footage, but then again, it’s very very early days for the camera.

[Will Kee]

Thanks for the reply, Colin. I would have thought that Sony Vegas would be one of the first editing programs to edit RAW Sony F55 footage!