HD codec: what should i use?

macgregor

macgregor

Veteran
hello. I don´t know what HD codec should i use.

I am going to digitize HDCam footage (25p). And i want to edit it on vegas6. I find these templates:

- MPEG2: HDV codec (i guess this is bad because resolution and compression)

- MPEG2: HD 1080 25p ?????????????

- AVI: HDV 1080 50i intermediate ????????

- AVI: HDV 1080 50i YUV ?????????????

- AVI: HDV 1080 25p YUV (GearShift) ??????????

- QUICKTIME: custom template using 1920x1080 25p and JPG compression at 100% (i find this easy to use, gives a very good quality and the file size is quite small)


So what do you think it will be the best codec to use? I will have a very good PC but not an HD acceleration board or so. After i have the files i will make an offline editing first.
COuld anyone explain the main differences and characteristics of the codecs?

thanks
 
HDCAM? Vegas doesn't include a codec for HDCAM. How were you going to ingest the footage? Do you have an HD-SDI board?
 
That is my question. Since vegas won´t handle HDCAM footage, i will have to convert it to something that vegas understands, ie: quicktime with jpg 100%
 
I have used quicktime jpeg motion A codec for an HD project that I edited with vegas. It is not fast, or optimized, but it works, and the quality is excellent, can't visually tell the difference between the jpeg coded footage and the original. I would go with that, or look at, oh, dang what is that codec called, it begins with a C and is used as a mediator for HDV footage, 3rd party, common, somone has to know.
 
I think you mean cineform codec.

I think quicktime at jpg will give me the best quality and a very very low size. It wont be as fast as cineform, but surely more compatible, since all pcs and macs will read quicktime with jpg compression.

Thanks!
 
So you just want to use Vegas for an offline edit and have someone else conform the uncompressed HDCAM footage? You can have someone downconvert the HDCAM footage to DV, if that's all you want to do.
 
No barry, i want to do both offline and online editing in my computer. I know it wont be fast, but it will be cheap.

By the way, how could we do an offline editing and export an EDL? is it possible to generate it and preserve the time codes of HDCAM in DV?

thanks
 
I don't see how you can edit native HDCAM in Vegas because there's no codec support. I think there are two ways to get HDCAM footage into Vegas. The Sony J-H3 HDCAM player via firewire or using a Blackmagic Decklink HD Pro card via HD-SDI. I'm pretty sure the J-H3 only will transfer a downconverted file, so that leaves you with HD-SDI. You really need to contact Sony about this because I've never heard of anyone cutting HDCAM in Vegas and there are a lot of issues with an HDCAM workflow that need to be considered--like output from Vegas. Sony's XPRI system fully supports HDCAM, and the pro Avid systems will cut it, but I don't know of any inexpensive solutions. You might also want to talk to the folks at Blackmagic, since their Decklink cards are supported in Vegas.

I'd run some tests before trusing the Vegas EDL format--it may or may not be compatable with your workflow. Vegas 6 has AAF export now (the sucessor to EDL), so that may be a better option.
 
Barry.

The process of capturing HDCAM is what i am going to perform in a professional editing system. Once it is captured there (ie: Avid) i will ask to export the footage into a quicktime file that vegas could handle, ie: quicktime with photo jpg compression.

So what i will do with vegas video is edit quicktime video streams with a resolution of 1920x1080.

Does this sound better now?

bye!
 
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