Update for Sony Vegas 7.0 e

[Timmychuck]

Sony Vegas 7.0 e


http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/step2.asp?did=698

[BJ_M]

that among other things will include support for AVCHD format video

[racer-x]

Yes, but only for Sony AVCHD camcorders. No support for Panasonic or other AVCHD. They may support them in July. Knowing Sony, they'll probably charge extra for the support to other brands.

[BJ_M]

not to defend them- but IF they add support for panasonic , they will not charge more ...

sony division that vegas is part of is far removed from corporate sony (i.e. - the bad guys)

[globaldonkey]

So I have Vegas 70e now, and I can (at last) edit my AVCHD files from my Sony camcorder.

It really would have been nice of Sony to include a H.264 encoder in the update so you can at least render your projects in 1080i/p and create an output file that is not horrendously large.

Anybody know of a good way to render to a useful sized AVI / MKV with 1080? I tried installing the main concept H264 encoder, but it doesn't seem to show up in Vegas as an encoding option. Xvid did and I can render with this encoder, but I'd really prefer a H.264 / AVC solution.

[Wile_E]

Your link goes to Trial software of Vegas. Here is the correct link for 7.0e update.
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/step2.asp?DID=697

[BJ_M]

So I have Vegas 70e now, and I can (at last) edit my AVCHD files from my Sony camcorder.

It really would have been nice of Sony to include a H.264 encoder in the update so you can at least render your projects in 1080i/p and create an output file that is not horrendously large.

Anybody know of a good way to render to a useful sized AVI / MKV with 1080? I tried installing the main concept H264 encoder, but it doesn't seem to show up in Vegas as an encoding option. Xvid did and I can render with this encoder, but I'd really prefer a H.264 / AVC solution.

Vegas 7 comes with the Main Concept AVC Codec encoder (2 pass) and the Sony AVC codec encoder (including AVC lossless) and also can encode to h264 with ffmpeg and pretty much any other h264 codec installed on your system

[SCDVD]

Vegas 7 comes with the Main Concept AVC Codec encoder

Is there any difference in the Main Concept encoder that is bundled with Vegas or other suites and the stand-alone Main Concept encoder?

[BJ_M]

I dont know about other suites (not many include the MC AVC encoder I think) - but the one in vegas is very much like the stand alone -- but with a bit less control -- also the stand alone is slightly updated build right now (but there is a way to update the vegas version to the same build)

[globaldonkey]

The problem with the Main Concept and Sony AVC codecs that come built in is that they do not have very high resolutions (640x480 max). They both appear to be designed for encoding for portable devices with the mp4 container. I really wanted to render a file that supported the original resolution. Shouldn't that be the point of trying to edit AVCHD in the first place?

How do you use ffmpeg to render out of Vegas? [/quote]

[BJ_M]

you can encode to any resolution, just select custom and set the resolution ... they are not limited to 640x480 (a least the mc codec)


for ffmpeg -> select avi and then custom - then select ffmpeg or other choices from drop down list ...

or

use the debugmode frame server to frame serve to another encoder

[globaldonkey]

Thanks BJ_M!

You know... no matter how many times I looked at those rendering options I never saw the "custom" frame size. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees.

I still haven't found how to use ffmpeg though. It just doesn't appear in the list of encoders when I select custom AVI. How do you "register" ffmpeg with Vegas?

So between the Main Concept and Sony AVC encoders, the Main Concept seems to be the pick, because the Sony one is CBR and has a maximum of 768kbps. I imagine at HD resolutions, this would result in a fairly average encoding.

What kind of maximum / average bitrate settings do you think I should use with the Main concept encoder set for 1440 x 1080 @ 25fps? Should I use two pass for the best output?

[BJ_M]

i cant really say what settings to use - as i dont know what you are doing with the material .... but an avg of 4meg , peak of 6 , 2 pass would be a good place to start .. in vegas that would be 4,000,000 average....


for ffdshow et. al. see pic below

[globaldonkey]

I guess my main focus is to try and maintain as close to possible the original quality of the AVCHD transport stream, without generating an excessively large render file. I think re-encoding with an AVC / H.264 codec in the original resolution is probably the best way of acheiving this, right? Basically, I'm trying to introduce as little degeneration into the editing process as possible, whilst maintaining similar file sizes to what comes off the camera. I tried an xvid encoding, and you could easily see the difference between the original and the final edit. Am I on the right track here?

I used max 10mbps and avg 4mbps on a small test project which consisted of two m2ts files 26M and 39M in size. The resultant mp4 was 43M in size. Not sure if this is good indication of quality of the encoding, but the quality to the naked eye does seem comparable. It would be nice if something like Gspot could analyse the original m2ts file so I could see the bitrate of the original file.

When I tried to configure ffdshow, I can only see the libav codecs, and there isn't a H264 available.

The only other downside I've found is that the Main Concept AVC codec doesn't do AC-3.

[BJ_M]

AVCHD is about 12Mbps - depending on cam

AVCHD is a format that stems from H.264 anyway, if you lower the bitrate below 12Mbps, you will have some loss (even AT 12Mbps you will have some loss as AVCHD is a lossy format)

the standalone MC h264 v2 does give better quality and has a lot more settings to tweak -- it also has the HIGH (HD) profile - which the vegas version only has baseline and main

[barbaralassiter1938]

I have just got Sony Vegas 7.0e and have transferred a High Def movie from my Sony HDR-SR1 into it. I am rather concerned that the film is very jerky. Has anyone else experienced this, or do you know what might be causing it?

[BJ_M]

not using a tripod ?

[barbaralassiter1938]

Both with using a tripod and without. It isn't that kind of jerkiness. If viewed in the camera the action is smooth, it is only when viewing it, unedited, in Vegas 7.0e that it is very jerky.

[BJ_M]

change preview to draft or get a more powerful pc perhaps

[barbaralassiter1938]

I have an HP Media computer which is a dedicated machine, I would have thought it was capable of running the preview smoothly. Still I will give it a try, and hope that the final result is not jerky.

[globaldonkey]

Thanks again BJ_M....

I did another test render at max 14mbps and average 10mbps. This time the filesize was 100M.

I still don't understand how I can render in Vegas with the standalone Main Concept H264 encoder or ffmpeg? When I choose ffdshow as the avi format, the only codecs that I can configure are the libav codecs. No H.264 or AVC.

It also looks like the standalone Main Concept H.264 only supports the mpg container too

It would be nice if the folks at Sony Creative Software would include a codec and profile that achieved the objective of rendering the AVCHD transport stream into a format of comparable quality and file size, including the AC-3 audio. Am I missing the point here? Wouldn't most people who want to edit HD want to output in HD with an efficient codec?

I guess it's early days and that will be coming...

[BJ_M]

because - at this point in time -- h264 is not really an editing format .. sony (and others) recomend rendering to the cineform codec or sony yuv for editing

editing sure goes a lot smoother

[steve392]

I have the sony hdr-sr1 camcorder and see that you have nanaged to get this into and edit it .Could you tell me how pleaseas I havent found a editing prog to do it yet .I have vegas 7.oe
steve