Thanks for the heads up about the t2i searches, but I found them to be a discussion on codecs like neoscene and epic.

I am actually looking for wise advice from seasoned Vegas Production Assistant users as to the best file format and codec to process files to for editing in Vegas. Basically, which file format is the fastest to render in Vegas?

I was thinking mpeg2 because it works great in Vegas, but didn't know if it is best...

That is part of what the discussion is about. Epic allows you to edit, but then you render from the originals. Neoscene uses the Cineform CODEC which you can render to using Production Assistant and then edit and render using the Cineform files.

There has been lots of discussion here about the various intermediate CODECS. Some like Avid's, some find Sony's XDCAM EX .mfx files OK, and I personally like to use Cineform's CODEC. All of us are correct and all us have the best solution. You should read the arguments ;-)

Read research and make your choice. I do not believe that anyone has the definitive answer for you, in spite of the fact they will you tell they do. After all, Cineform is the best combination of ease of use and quality ;-)

KK

That is part of what the discussion is about. Epic allows you to edit, but then you render from the originals. Neoscene uses the Cineform CODEC which you can render to using Production Assistant and then edit and render using the Cineform files.

There has been lots of discussion here about the various intermediate CODECS. Some like Avid's, some find Sony's XDCAM EX .mfx files OK, and I personally like to use Cineform's CODEC. All of us are correct and all us have the best solution. You should read the arguments ;-)

Read research and make your choice. I do not believe that anyone has the definitive answer for you, in spite of the fact they will you tell they do. After all, Cineform is the best combination of ease of use and quality ;-)

KK

<<the best file format and codec to process files to for editing in Vegas>>

I shot my last video entirely with the Panasonic GH1 at 720p. Most of the AVCHD files from this camera worked fine, but a few crashed Vegas every single time I clicked on them in Vegas' explorer window. (I'm using Veg 9.0e).

To solve the problem I used Vegas 8.1 to render my problem files to .mxf (MPEG2 CODEC). Vegas 9 handles HD MPEG2 MXF files as smoothly as it does standard-def DV files. No timeline stuttering, even through transitions and on clips with color correction.

With Production Assistant you'll be able to batch process your files which will save you quite a bit of time.

I once compared Cineform with a high-quality MJPEG codec, PicVideo, by re-compressing the same scene 6 times. The PicVideo files were smaller and compression was faster, but the quality of the Cineform was superior.

Still, I often use PicVideo when I don't need to squeeze out the very best quality. It's only $30 U.S. for noncommercial use:

http://www.accusoft.com/picvideospecial.htm

I haven't been willing to spend the extra money on the 64-bit version; I immediately render all clips after shooting to the intermediate, using a 32-bit version of Vegas. Then, I can open the rendered clips in 64-bit versions of Vegas even without having purchased the 64-bit version of PicVideo (and Cineform comes complete with both 32- and 64-bit codecs)

Some of the MJPEG encoders including PicVideo are excellent. At one time for A->D captures it was the best compressed codec we had.

The disadvantage is it degrades terribly after the second generation, just like JPEG stills. But if you are only using it once in the chain, it is an acceptable choice.

You can judge for yourself whether the loss in quality after 6 generations is excessive here:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=655619

Yes, that is excessive loss of color integrity and jpeg artifacting.

However that does not change my opinion of its usefulness as a single generation solution. There is a reason many medical researchers and archivists use it to this day.

I have been rendering to MXF too a lot of times from AVCH to get better performance.

/Ulf

Are Cineform or MXF files generally faster to render than the t2i .mov files?