Cheap/Free MXF conversion for premier?

[guysmilez]

I’m a student filmmaker and recently purchased a HVX200 and have not been happier with my purchase. After reading the forums and waiting for adobe to get their act together with mxf compatibility is there a cheap way or to convert mxf to avi without using aspect hd $500 or raylight $200 or dvrack 2 hd $500/$160 with student discount?

Can I use virtualdub or tmpgenc somehow? Or anything else?

I am really considering getting dv rack because I can get it cheaper but I want to see that it enables premier to import mxf files. Their trial doesn’t allow you to try the hd compatibilities.

So does dv rack give me the compatibility I need for premier support of mxf (straight import with no conversion)?

Is it possible to not spend any more than I have to so I can get by till adobe incorporates it like it will?

[David Saraceno]

For the price of DV Rack, can't you get Edius Broadcast?

[Barry_Green]

DV Rack does include an MXF conversion utility.

[guysmilez]

so dv rack converts the mxf files and doesnt enable premier to use them straight through?

and no the sites that give student or academic discounts dont have edius broadcast which is a $1000 program.

thanks guys i assume that there exist no such way to cheaply convert the files.... pooo well i guess ill have to try and sell the moths in my wallet.

[guysmilez]

so barry would u recommend getting dv rack or would you recommend me goin with raylight which seems to be your weapon of choice in other posts?

does anyone know if premier is planning any type support anytime soon?
if so ill just stick with SD but i would like to record HD to give me the ability to in post zoom in a little bit in the time that i would need it or produce a super clear SD DVD.
also during green creen stuff i would like to be able to get a very nice key.

[David Saraceno]

Edius can be purchased for about $800.00

DV Rack HD is about $600.00.

For two hundred dollars more you get to work with MXF directly.

[Barry_Green]

EDIUS is an editor. DV Rack is a monitor/capture/quality control tool. Night and day different.

Premiere doesn't support MXF files directly, EDIUS does. EDIUS screams with MXF files from the HVX, it blows away any other editor as far as P2 integration goes. Head and shoulders and navel above the rest (excepting Axio; Axio gives Premiere Pro just-as-good-if-not-better integration, but then again Axio's $4000 or so).

If you want to stick with Premiere, you have no choice (right now) but to get an additional program. Whether that's Raylight, or CineForm, or Axio. If you want to stick with Premiere and have the very best P2 integration possible, consider getting an Axio. If you don't want to spend that much, Raylight is soon going to release a plug-in that gives Premiere true MXF support. If you want DV Rack, get it -- just be aware that it will also solve your MXF problem by giving you an MXF unwrap/AVI re-wrap tool.

In order of P2 integration and ease of working with the footage, it breaks down like this:

Category 1: tools that give you the ultimate benefit of the P2 workflow and multiple streams of HD in realtime
Matrox Axio using Premiere Pro
Canopus EDIUS Broadcast

Category 2: tools that give you the full benefit, but not quite as fast as Category 1
Vegas with Raylight 2.02 or later
and, presumably, someday, Premiere with Raylight 2.1 (or whatever it'll be called)

Category 3: tools that give you some of the benefit of the P2 workflow but are limited in various ways; they do some of the "good stuff" but don't get it "right"
Avid XPress Pro (no 1080/24p on a 24p timeline, etc)
Avid Liquid (no DVCPRO-HD support, only standard-def)

Category 4: tools that use patches or conversion programs to let you use the footage, but because of this it prevents you from getting the true benefit of the cards and the workflow
Apple FCP 5.04 through 5.1.2
Premiere or Vegas using DV Rack's DVCPRO-HD converter utility
any editor using either CineForm or a version of RayLight prior to 2.02

[Bird]

Just wondering if there is any quality hit with DV Rack HD. I have it and it seems to work fine to shoot in HD (with the HVX) and then just drop the Avi file that it gives into ppro 2. It seems to have eliminated the need for other conversion tools. I've not had time to do much with it yet, but what I've done seems to be fine. Any thoughts?

Bird

[THoff]

There is no quality hit. DV Rack HD records the data to disk exactly as it is delivered by the camera, and the DVCProHD Decoder (if you install it) decompresses the DVCProHD-encoded video.

[Bird]

Thanks. I thought it looked quite good.

Bird

[TimurCivan]

DV Rack does include an MXF conversion utility.


but its not very good. The DVCproDecoder isterrible with PN footage. it messes up the auido.

[THoff]

Adobe has a fix for that, but apparently can't be bothered to release it. The patch cleared QA in December. Way to go, Adobe!

Their acquisition of Serious Magic is the worst thing that could have happened to the product. :Drogar-Mad(DBG):

[guysmilez]

k last question due to my budget it looks like im going to be using dv rack hd. but my only question is when i do get it what project preset in premier do i use to keep the hd quality ? than what do i export to (ex. dv projects export to dv files almost exactly the same or exactly the same format file.) does dv rack hd give you a export format to export your final render to a single file? and does it give u a preset also?

[ulisses]

Anyone using black magic and Vegas ??? http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/multibridge/

I'm curious about Black magic and MXF integration using RayLight.... if it is possible...

Thanks,
Ulisses

[THoff]

I don't use Premiere, so I can't help with that specifically.

What I can tell you is that DV Rack HD can record to AVI files with or without pulldown. You'll have to match your timeline settings to how you record.

The DVCProHD Decoder can only decode, so you'll be able to use the AVI files in Premiere to edit, but you cannot output back to DVCProHD, you'll have to go to a delivery format such as MPEG2 for DVD, WMV or H.264 for the web, or uncompressed / lossless AVI if you need to move the video to another editing tool.

[Spit]

Ehhh I wouldn't use Premiere for HD footage. If you're a student, check out educational rates for programs like Edius Broadcast.

[dregenthal]

Does anyone know if the Decoder (audio) issue has been resolved yet?

[cur-sed_neil]

uh... i don't know what all the fuss over premiere is about. seems many of you are making this seem way more difficult than it is.

the latest version of raylight is only $195 and it integrates directly with premiere. you simply import the mxf files directly into premiere. end of story - that simple.

if you want to convert the mxf files to avi's, you can do that too... premiere does the pulldown for you, no hassles and you can customize raylight for whatever your camera settings are (24p, 24PA etc.).

the footage at it's highest VIEWING rez will lag, though, if you don't have a fast machine. but you can always view it at a lower rez, then export your finished movie at the highest (lossless) rez when you are ready to send your movie to your distributor.

i use premiere pro 2.0 with raylight, edit HD no problem at it's highest rez. i don't have any special or fancy hardware or video cards.

word.

[Barry_Green]

Does anyone know if the Decoder (audio) issue has been resolved yet?
You mean the Serious Magic DVCPRO-HD decoder? Yes that's been fixed.

[THoff]

Here (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=86952) is some more information about the Adobe/Serious Magic DVCProHD Decoder patch.

[Jim Anderson]

I have been very pleased with Raylight (dvfilm.com). It is the best and least expensive ($195.00) purchase I have made to handle MXF files with premiere. Try the free trial download. I purchased DVRack with the ProHD Decoder first and was able to get a refund when they couldn't solve the audio issues they had with pn files. Good luck

[dregenthal]

You mean the Serious Magic DVCPRO-HD decoder? Yes that's been fixed.



Here (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=86952) is some more information about the Adobe/Serious Magic DVCProHD Decoder patch.

Barry & THoff . . . Thank you both!

David