MXF Files and Audio

[Dustin Wadsworth]

I just started my first HVX project and I edit on Vegas so I bought Raylight to handle the MXF files.
I'm about halfway into renaming/ organizing my files and realized that the audio is not there! I did a search on this and found out that I need to "bin" the files but I have no idea how to do that.

How do you go about "binning" files and is there a way to reattach audio to renamed files?

I also noticed that the files I renamed and brought into the Vegas timeline not only didn't have audio but they looked interlaced to me. :huh:

[Ducatimark]

Look carefully at the structure of file system off the P2 card. If you compare the names of the audio and video files they match exactly, except the audio files also have the channel number embedded in them (the ending 00,01,02,03 to the original video mxf file number-not letters, too).

If you can, I'd bring all that footage back in to a hard drive off the P2 cards if possible. I'd create a master file with the client or project name>then a P2 card file> then number folders to match the P2 cards in the order they were shot.

By keeping everything under one folder, if you move to another hard drive you don't get the crazy errors about files not being found. In the same master folder, I also create a Vegas file with my VEG files as I update them, a folder for third party files (I use Boris Red and Blue for example), and a test renders files. Other files include images, music, audio, scripts, research, etc... The only time I put things on a totally separate hard drive is when I do final renders and complete backups of the previously mentioned master file. It may not be right or perfect, but it works for me.

In Vegas, you can then bring in the video files singularly or the entire video file from a card through the "add project media" button. If you right click the bins folder after clicking the project media tab (view>project media) you can add more bins (folders). I would create a video clips bin>then add bins for each P2 card where you numbered the files on the hard drive. Move the clips from those cards to their corresponding bin. You can also select all the video files from that folder and move them in all at once, as well as bring them all into the timeline at once, too. Or if you like, preview them and put them in the Trimmer and then cut them into the timeline. Just make sure they are going to the right bin you created as you add them. Vegas probably gives you way too many ways to do the same thing! Oh yeah, or just drag them from the Explorer window straight to the timeline.

You can then add other bins under the main bin for music, still images, graphics, alternate audio (ones edited in Soundforge for example). The choice of a file system is up to you. Once you decide on a system, if you repeat it project to project it sure makes it easy to find things later.

If you have changed the video mxf files actual name (and completely deleted the original name) and are totally lost, you could rename them back to the original name by looking at the names attached to the images in the "icon" file under the P2 card. Just preview the png icon images to see what clip it goes to (if they are distinct clips).

If, on the other hand, you threw all the mxf files together from different cards, then you will need a higher power to help.

Anyone?

I know Morgan Freeman's hurt, so he's out. And George Burns hasn't been seen in a while....

As for the interlaced part - were you shooting in 1080/24p? If so, you need to remove the extra frames with Raylight first and create a new AVI. Then edit on a 1080p or 720p timeline.

Good luck with this. I hope someone with more experience checks in to see if there are any other solutions.

Mark G
www.newmediadevcorp.como (http://www.newmediadevcorp.como)

[Dustin Wadsworth]

This is a big help, thanks.

[Ducatimark]

Let us know how you fixed it or if you can.

[Dustin Wadsworth]

It worked. Now I'm having trouble rendering out to a high res file. I tried rendering it as an avi using the raylight codec in Vegas and I put it to highest quality and the audio is right but my footage is really slow. Am I doing this wrong?

[Ducatimark]

How about rendering it as an HD WMV file? If you are trying to play the AVI in windows media player it probably won't play right.

Try this: Pick a 30 second or so section anywhere in the timeline using the loop sliders and then go to Render>check the box for render loop region only>select WMV as your render codec>default will probably work fine. Try it first. You can also use the drop down box to select different settings, but default will be HD if that's what the source is.

Watch the result and see if that doesn't fix it and give you a grea HD picture.