Is it best to convert my Sony camcorder files (AVCHD) to AVI before putting them on the timeline for editing. Although Vegas Pro can handle AVCHD files, I just wanted to know the best workflow. Does Vegas Pro (v9.0 in my case) handle AVI better/quicker than AVCHD?
If you mean the Sony YUV avi file format bundled in your NLE - it is a good codec but will produce huge files and you will need very very fast harddrives. Skip that.
USE Sony MXF in your NLE for intermediates - if you do a lot of layers in compositing intermediates, you can get away with about 3 generations of succeeding MXF intermediates. Breaks at 4 gens.
I'm a bit leery of transcoding AVCHD to MPEG-2 (MXF) intermediate for editing. Although easier on the preview, there are losses I detected in my first round of tests that I wasn't happy with. If DNxHD works reasonable well in your preview, It's a good fit for compression and quality.
I shoot for other companies that edit with the old Canopus editing system.
Does anyone know if I convert my avchd clips to Canopus codec HD will
they works in the old Canopus editing machine?