Is the Sony still 1920 at 24P?

[Cinemano]

I heard somewhere the EX1 when recording at 24P is no longer 1920 but 1440 lines.. is that true?

[Stevet]

Not true.

SP mode is 1440x1080
HQ mode is 1920x1080 or 1280x720

You can shoot in either mode. I have yet to shoot in SP mode.

[myCharlie]

Just curious, Stevet, what program do use to edit your HQ footage?

[Stevet]

Sony Vegas.
I've been using Sony Vegas for years, although I've also owned Avid and Premiere.

[myCharlie]

Sorry to get off topic here, but Sony Vegas 8 Pro is able to edit Sony EX1 MP4 natively, correct? I just want to make sure if I need to buy Vegas because I really want to edit my footage HD (35Mb/s VBR) and not the lower resolution SP.

[moldcad]

You need to get rid of the mp4 wrapper - Vegas handles mxf.

[Barry_Green]

I used Vegas 7 and it can't take the MP4. You have to use the Clip Browser to export the files (an irritating waste of time that is what I despise about the FCP "log & transfer" workflow).

Does Vegas 8 eliminate this step?

[moldcad]

No Barry - it doesn't, but exporting on the fly takes not much more time than simple coping from the SxS card to your disk.

[Barry_Green]

But you have to do both steps... you have to copy the MP4 files, and then export them. You don't want to throw away the original footage in the original MP4...

[matthew77]

Barry,

If you use FCP you can throw away the original files, as long as you are happy with the rewrapped Quicktimes that the Sony plugin creates. They have the identical picture and sound information within and are in a more convenient format for doing anything on the Mac.

I don't keep any of my camera original files. I do a transfer and then format the card.

[moldcad]

Also on a PC/Vegas platform, once you get the mxf's you don't need to keep the mp4's.

[Stevet]

No big deal at all..
I'm converting EX1 files to Cineform and it takes the mp4 files.

[Barry_Green]

Also on a PC/Vegas platform, once you get the mxf's you don't need to keep the mp4's.
Well, this goes contrary to everything I tell people about P2 though. FCP users always ask if they can throw away the original MXF files because they have rewrapped quicktimes, and I always say "no, don't be a fool, keep the camera originals."

Are you guys asserting that there's no content difference between the MP4 and the MXF? If there's absolutely no content difference then I can see what you're saying is safe, but -- why would they move from MXF (on the disc cameras) to MP4? Why not stay compatible with what they've already created? There's got to be a reason. I can't help but think that someday, months from now, someone's gonna figure that reason out -- and then everyone who's been throwing away their camera-original files is gonna wish they weren't.

Has Sony made any sort of official statement to say that the MXF files contain every shred of information that the MP4 files had? I can tell you for certain that that's not how the P2/MXF/Quicktime system works; the Quicktime rewrap discards the MXF file's metadata. It's not an equivalent file. Do we know for certain that the Sony MXF is completely equivalent to the Sony MP4?

[matthew77]

Barry,

I a nutshell, no. But the transfer process happens so quickly that there's no way the computer is doing any kind of recompression, even of the audio.

If the picture, sound and timecode are all there, and beautiful besides, I can't think of anything else I need from the camera original files.

If there was ANY conversion whatsoever happening - any discarding of data, I would never throw out the originals. But there clearly isn't. If I am proven wrong I will change my ways...

[myCharlie]

Okay, so let me get this straight. Even with Vegas 8 Pro, I still have to use the Sony Clip Browser to export the MP4 files to MXF file and then Vegas will be able to edit even 35Mb/s VBR file, correct?

[moldcad]

Okay, so let me get this straight. Even with Vegas 8 Pro, I still have to use the Sony Clip Browser to export the MP4 files to MXF file and then Vegas will be able to edit even 35Mb/s VBR file, correct?

Correct. And one more thing: Barry is right about the need of keeping MP4s at least in one case: when a clip spans two cards. Once you export the chunks into mxf's, there is no way to stich them seamlessly together. On the other hand, when you copy the entire card structures to you disk (one after the other, without exporting), the Clip Browser will stitch them for you.

Then you can export to mxf's safely.

[nsc]

any of you guys know if its possible to "print to tape" or essentially export the edited footage back onto the cards? this would be great as a way show people footage.

[moldcad]

any of you guys know if its possible to "print to tape" or essentially export the edited footage back onto the cards? this would be great as a way show people footage.

Not practical at all, IMHO. Why not just burn MPG or AVCHD on either BD, or even a regular DVD? Much cheaper than locking your expensive SxS card just for "showing people footage"!

[nsc]

true. showing it on a computer display is fine. going to a location and only having an HDTV set up is the key.

i'd love to be able to burn a blu ray and am waiting to see if apple starts integrating blu ray capabilities into the new line of mac pros. (there is a rumor they might in a week at the macworld expo)

regular dvd is also fine, but simply pales in comparison to when you hook the camera directly to a 1080p set.