H.264 and Sony Vegas?

[kjacobs]

Hello,

Another noob here with a few questions...

I just recently purchased a Samsung Digi Video camera that stores files in the H.264 format MP4. I have a older copy of Sony Vegas Movie Studio 6, which does not import H.264. First, is the H.264 format any good quality wise? Should I exchange the camera for one that records AVI or something else? If the H.264 is acceptable, what formats should I use to convert the H.264 into something Sony Vegas Movie Studio 6 can use? Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[guns1inger]

H264 is generally a good format for recording in insofar as you get good quality at smaller file sizes because it has very good compression.

However, as with most highly compressed video, it is not designed for editing, but rather end storage and playback.

If your camera records SD I would convert to DV AVI. If it is HD you might look at high bitrate (12 mbps or better) Mpeg-2.

[kjacobs]

Thanks for the info....

I read through a few other posts about H264. I downloaded and installed MP4cam2AVI and tried running that on the MP4 files to convert to AVI. After converting, they will play audio in Windows Media Player, but no video. They also will not import into Sony Vegas 6.

Then I downloaded the Xvid codec, thinking this was the problem. However, I still have the same issue. I can use Any Video Converter to convert to DVD NTSC format, and this works fine. If I try to convert the MP4 into AVI with AVC, I still get the same issue. What am I missing here?

[edDV]

Is this an SD or HD file? What is the camcorder model?

You will need to convert the file before import to Vegas. Vegas 6 is early for HD but you can do it with a faster CPU.

[kjacobs]

The camera is a Samsung SC-MX20R. The files should all be SD, as it is not a HD camera. The file format it saves is a H264 MP4. The MP4cam2AVI should convert that to an AVI file, but I am getting only audio...no video.

[edDV]

The camera is a Samsung SC-MX20R. The files should all be SD, as it is not a HD camera. The file format it saves is a H264 MP4. The MP4cam2AVI should convert that to an AVI file, but I am getting only audio...no video.

For Vegas 6 you would need th export to MPeg2, DV-AVI (easy to use) or uncompressed avi.

[kjacobs]

Doesn't MP4cam2AVI convert the MP4 to an AVI format I can use? Is there any noticeable loss in going from H264 to an MPEG-II?

[edDV]

Doesn't MP4cam2AVI convert the MP4 to an AVI format I can use? Is there any noticeable loss in going from H264 to an MPEG-II?

I haven't used it but it looks like MP4Cam2AVI converts to xvid. There is some loss going h.264 to anything but that is the limitation of using h.264 for acquisition. It was intended as the last encode not for post editing.

[kjacobs]

Thanks for the info...I probably should have gone with a camera that records to AVI to begin with, then I wouldn't have nearly so many issues now...

Thanks again.

[edDV]

Thanks for the info...I probably should have gone with a camera that records to AVI to begin with, then I wouldn't have nearly so many issues now...

Thanks again.

"AVI" is a container. It could mean dozens of formats. Go for a MiniDV camcorder for that version of Vegas. HDV would also work for a more powerful CPU.