Vegas and XH-A1 (HDV)

B

BlueReed

Member
I have a, hopefully, simple question maybe someone could answer: How well does Vegas handle editing of the XH-A1? I have read many a horror story about editing HDV. I was unable to locate very specific answers on the forums. Can someone give me their take, pros/cons?

Thanks!
B R
 
It can be done OK, but is not very smooth unless you have a powerful PC. If you need to do a lot of editing it is worth considering converting the HDV to intermediary files which are easier to work with. But if it is just some quick and simple edits Vegas can do it no problem.
 
I've been using Vegas with the A1 for months now, and I love it. Jaegersing is right that you'll need a comp with some beefy specs to get a smooth workflow, but then, I haven't tried cineform intermediates yet. I'm sure that would be beneficial. Anyway, I can honestly say Vegas is the easiest to learn/work with NLE I've ever used. Maybe not for other users, but it is for me. Hope that helps somehow.
 
janet, could you post the specs of your pc? i have vegas as well (but not the camera yet) and was wondering if my pc can handle it
 
Sure...

Asus P5GDC-V Deluxe Motherboard
Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 250GB Hard Drive
Intel Pentium 4 630+ CPU @ 3.0Ghz
EVGA Ge-Force 7800 GT Video Card via PCI-E
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE Sound Card
2x1GB G.Skill DDR2 PC4200 Dual Channel SDRAM
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model SHW160P6S04
Ultra Products X-Connect 500w Modular Power Supply
ThermalTake CL-P0092 CPU Cooler
Antec Case (Unsure of the model)
Two 80mm Case Fans (One up front, one in back)

I'm considering replacing my RAM with 4x1GB of single-channel memory to get that extra push if it'll make a big difference in making the preview move faster. Hope that helps!
 
thanks. i have a core2duo 6600 at 2.40Ghz, and everything else is about the same as yours. do you think the processor will be sufficient without using cineform?
 
thanks. i have a core2duo 6600 at 2.40Ghz, and everything else is about the same as yours. do you think the processor will be sufficient without using cineform?



EDIT: sorry for the double post, didn't mean to do that.
 
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The extra core will help, but I can't say how much. You'll just have to try it out and see. I'd say you're probably in the clear though.
 
On a dual core amd 4600+ with two gigs of ram, system on raid 0+1, footage on raid 0 ... cutting m2ts in vegas is nowhere NEAR responsive enough for our music video work... but we're talking hundreds of cuts and many dozens of layers .. (although ZERO fades / transitions) .. m2t cutting is crap at this level, and constant silly delays with building thumbnails, etc .. just nowhere near where a pro edit suite should be.

We went for cineform neo hdv, the difference is huge .. we can now cut a1 footage more responsively than we could cut SD.

It very much depends on your specific case, but be prepared to be in a position where you're paying $250 for cineform in order to get your edit suite where you need it... cheaper and more effective than a hardware upgrade. Besides, there is a 15 day free trial.
 
I should say, there's always the 'free' options of rendering cineform files out from vegas, or transcoding to DV25 then onlining back to the M2Ts ... but this is all very frustrating and time-consuming, not do-able in a production environment, but if you're cutting relatively simple indie drama projects then you might be able to put up with the M2Ts, or have time to go the re-rendering or proxy routes ...

But don't expect to drop m2ts straight in the timeline and get razor sharp performance with hundreds of cuts and layers like you've had with DV!
 
kledster said:
thanks. i have a core2duo 6600 at 2.40Ghz, and everything else is about the same as yours. do you think the processor will be sufficient without using cineform?

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Click to expand...

My processor is similar. If you need to sync picture to sound then forget it. You will be rendering to RAM all the time just to see what the timing is like.

Richard
 
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