Free DVCPRO50 codec for Vegas

B

Barry_Green

Moderator
Don't know how many people know about this, but Matrox has a video-for-windows codec available for free download, which includes a DVCPRO50 codec!

This means that you should be able to use Vegas to edit HVX standard-def DVCPRO50 footage! The codec doesn't include any way to get the footage onto your computer or off of it (i.e., no capture or print-to-tape capability) but, of course, with P2 that's all unnecessary anyway.

So, no solution for DVCPRO-HD is in sight yet, but at least DVCPRO50 can be edited in Vegas (today, even!)

download the codec from here:
http://www.matrox.com/video/support/ds/software/codec/home.cfm
 
Great! I downloaded it and installed, and it does appear as a 'Video Format' under 'Render As...' menu with AVI selected.

So, a (somewhat hypothetical) question: If I bring in all that DV footage into Vegas, apply effects, chroma blurs, etc., and then save as this AVI - will that actually be 4:2:2 (realizing that the source footage was not)?

To put it in another way - if there was some magical way to add color information to DV (4:1:1), the result, saved with Matrox DVCPRO codec, would be broadcast quality (4:2:2), right?

Jerry
 
Well, it begs the question of how would you get it out of your computer, first of all... Vegas doesn't have any way to control a DVCPRO50 deck.

But, presuming that you had some way to do so -- yes, you could bring your 4:1:1 footage in, and work with it in a 4:2:2 workspace, and export to 4:2:2 .AVI files. Again, what you will do with those AVI files is a question; you could perhaps take them to someone who's running an old Matrox DigiSuite NLE system and have them export to DVCPRO50 for you, I guess. Once the HVX is here, you could just process those files with the Firestore file converter, and then copy them straight to a P2 card to play back from the camera.

But keep in mind, if you brought in 4:1:1 footage, and exported it as 4:2:2, it would still be 4:1:1. It just would be carried within a 4:2:2 format. Like if you poured a gallon of milk into a two-gallon container -- you wouldn't have two gallons, you'd have one gallon carried within a two-gallon container.

You'd have to start with 4:2:2, or do some effects or processing or something that takes advantage of 4:2:2, before you'd see any benefit.

To put it in another way - if there was some magical way to add color information to DV (4:1:1), the result, saved with Matrox DVCPRO codec, would be broadcast quality (4:2:2), right?
Click to expand...
Well, if you were to magically add color resolution, which seems impossible, then yes, you would be able to output a 4:2:2 file. Whether that would be "broadcast quality" is a whole 'nother question!
DVCPRO50 has two main benefits -- the first is, of course, 4:2:2 color sampling. But the other is a much, much gentler compression system. You can go multiple generations of recompression with DVCPRO50 without any real discernable loss due to compression "buildup".
 
Thank you. That answered my question. Barry rocks, in case nobody has heard it before! :thumbsup:
 
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