How exactly do you transcode 100s of Canon mov files into diferent container for smoo

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neilpollick

New member
I've been reading through internet wisdom and the current thinking on transcoding Canon mov files for better editing on Vegas 13 is
1. avoid mov container (so "export to quicktime" and AVID codecs in Streamclip is out!!)- They say importing too many mov files, anything over 50, slows vegas to a crawl.
2. convert MOV to Sony MXF for seamless previews. They say "batch render" in vegas can do that, but it can't render multiple files, just multiple regions of a single file.

There are many glossy looking "video converters" out there but they are phony, the mp4 files they produce are a quarter of the size of the original mov files encoded in h264 so there MUST be a loss of quality. (they have a limit on bitrate)

SO does anyone know a way to batch convert multiple mov files of a Canon dslr into a format that Vegas can easily handle, that doesn't involve a MOV container?

I really believe this has not been answered on this forum.

If you have done this successfully and your converted files contain ALL THE QUALITY of the original mov files and Vegas previews them without lag, then I would love to hear from you.

I really don't have time to chase people's guesses, I have a deadline. Nor do I want to discuss lag issues in Vegas or why I am choosing to edit in this way.

Thanks
 
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I recently added FootageStudio4k to my stack of transcoding utilities. Very powerful and flexible transcoder, but it does cost a few bucks. I've switched to Cineform for an intermediate editing codec.
I used FS4k recently to batch convert 60 .mov videos from my iPad to Cineform.

http://acrovid.com/index.htm
 
The last time I worked in Vegas, I was doing an online/offline workflow, so take this with a grain of salt, but here's what worked for me. Keep in mind that my computer at the time was about 8 years old and couldn't play HD footage from the T2i I was shooting on.
First I created 2 folders on my hard drive. One for the Onlines, the original camera footage. One for the offlines/proxies. The offlines were created with Streamclip and I used .avi since that played really well with Vegas. To help with playback on my machine, my resolution was super low, like 240p I think. I did my offline edit of the entire film in one timeline. When picture was locked, I broke the film into seven reels/vegas projects and exported an AAF that was brought into After Effects. I used the Immigration script to swap out my offlines for the onlines. I graded in AE with Colorista and rendered my master as a .tiff sequence. My seven image sequence reels were brought back into Vegas, matched up with the sound and I exported my final video from there.
 
With any reasonably capable recent generation computer, I think a proxy workflow for compressed long GOP AVC like DSLR's record is a waste of time. Mezzanine codecs like Prores, DNXHD/HR, and Cineform were designed for efficient NLE performance and master quality finishing. Transcode once to a master quality DI codec, which will run far more efficiently on lower powered computers than any form of AVC, and do all of your editing, grading, finishing in that.
The Footage Studio 4k program I linked to will even let you trim clips before decoding so you don't have to transcode unneeded portions of shots.
For 8 bit 4:2:0 AVC originals, a transcode to 10 bit 4:2:2 Cineform will preserve original IQ all the way through the production chain. Yes your DI files will be much larger than the camera originals. You will need dedicated internal or external media drives separate from your system drive, a good practice for any workflow. I use hot swap 3.5" 2TB NAS hard drives for project media, about $90 or less each.
 
Try GoPro Cineform Studio.

It worked for me when I used last DSLR's but that was a few years ago now - I'm not sure how much it has changed since then.
 
deltoidjohn said:
Try GoPro Cineform Studio.

It worked for me when I used last DSLR's but that was a few years ago now - I'm not sure how much it has changed since then.
Click to expand...

The free gopro app now includes a simplified version of Cineform Studio, but it only imports GoPro camera footage or Cineform footage. The commercial pro versions of Cineform Studio are no longer available or supported. You need to install the GoPro app to install the Cineform codec package for some software. Resolve requires it for instance as does my NLE, Lightworks. FootageStudio4k exports Cineform 10 bit 4:2:2 YUV or 4:4:4 RGB high quality in .MOV, .AVI or .MXF wrappers. Codec quality at 4:4:4 level is comparable to Sony's HDCAM SR studio recorder format used to master feature films.
https://cineform.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/206528816-Understanding-CineForm-Quality-Settings , https://cineform.zendesk.com/hc/en-...CineForm-444-Quality-Analysis-Versus-HDCam-SR. It is now an open SMPTE standard (VC-5) cross platform and cross application supported by most professional grade video editing and finishing software, including Vegas. It is resolution independent and works fine with 4k footage, but you may need a raid 0 array or fast SSD to move 4k data around fast enough.
Being on a PC, it is far more practical than Prores, and to me superior in quality and efficiency.
 
We had an in house demo of some broadcast grade IP transport encoder/decoder hardware a few weeks ago. There were three different grades: uncompressed 800 Mbps 10 bit 4:2:2, JPEG 2000 DCI wavelet (similar to Cineform) , and H.264 AVC at various compression levels. We are talking about $4k plus price range dedicated hardware. Delay for uncompressed was less than 1 millisecond. Delay for JPEG2k was less than 1 frame, around 30ms. Delay for H.264AVC was over 200ms, reflecting the high level of processing power required to decode AVC. This is why is doesn't run well in NLE's. The processing overhead is too high, and gets worse the more compressed the file is.
This is why DI transcodes to a mezzanine codec are standard practice for any serious editor.
 
Is it true that the AVC codec puts even more strain on NLE's, Vegas in particular, if it's in a MOV container? That it would be far easier to handle in an MP4 container for example?
I have remuxed Canon DSLR Mov files into an MP4 container (converting the audio stream in the process) and I am testing to see if the edit goes smoother once all the MOV files have been replaced in the project by the MP4s. So far the playback seems to be smoother. I was advised this is what I should expect but I was just wondering what the thinking is on this forum?
I understand the bottom line is to transcode to a mezzanine codec and that seems very sensible but it would be also useful to know what to expect from the AVC codec in an mp4 container.
 
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Any form of long GOP H.264/AVC/MP4 compressed video codec is going to slow down an NLE due to decoding overhead. It takes significantly more computer power and ram to decode GOP's and buffer them as I-frames for editing in an NLE. An NLE doesn't behave like a video player, all editing and FX have to be performed on fully decoded uncompressed I-frames. AVC is an MPEG 4 standard codec. There are I-frame AVC codecs that will edit just fine, like Sony's XAVC. But they still need more power to decode than the mezzanine codecs.
Some NLE's handle different wrappers better than others.
 
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I have the Cineform codecs installed on my laptop and I have a workflow now for transcoding MOV files from Canon DSLR into Cinefor 4.2.2
I drag and drop the clips I wish to convert directly onto the Vegas timeline. I use a script that makes each event (in effect, each film I need to transcode) into a Region.
I use a modified Batch Render script that render's each Region into a file with the name of the original clip that was placed on the time line.
Vegas works efficiently as a transcoder with this workflow.
The transcoded files are approximately double the size of the files that came out of the DSLR.
 
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