Hi,
Thanks for the quick reply. My laptop is a Sony VAIO VGN (64-bit, Windows 7, 8 GBs of Ram, Pentium T4300 processor). I have Quicktime installed and it's the latest version (7.7.3)
The quality of the pix is ... okay but there's some ghosting and lag. I read this from another site: "H.264 [which is what my DSLR records in] is not the best possible editing codec for Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD 11. You will have to transcode the H.264 MOV footage by using a converter app ... Depending on your editing app, MPEG-2 .mpg is the preferred codec." As such I wondered if this was the problem.
Could it be my processor? It is quite an old one. Another issue might be when rendering. The movie was shot in 23.976, I set this in the "New Project" menu and in the "Project Properties" menu too, but when rendering I don't see this as an option and select 25. Very odd omission when you can set it previously (I know you can customise the template in Platinum but I have the basic version). Could any of these be the problem? I'm a beginner so any advice re this is very welcome.

Cheers,
Ray

h264 is not your best editing format, but the rest of that is nonsense. Mpeg-2 is a lossy format, so what you gain in editing speed you lose in quality. Yes, your CPU is underpowered for this type of work.

Post your file properties using MediaInfo from Sourceforge.
Converting in GoPro Studio might be just the ticket for you.
I'm sure there are 24p IVTC (23.976) rendering options in Movie Studio, but we can deal with that after you've got it working on the timeline.

Hi,
Thanks again for taking the time to help. I've imported a standard file into MediaInfo and got the following:

Format: AVC
Format profile: Baseline@L5.0
Format settings, CABAC: No
Format settings, Re Frames: 1 frame
Format settings, GOP: M=1, N=12
Codec ID: avc1
Codec ID/info: Advanced Video Coding
Duration: 13mins 7s
Bit rate: 43.4 Mbps
Width: 1920 pixels
Heights: 1080 pixels
Original height: 1080 pixels
Display aspect ratio: 16:9
Original display aspect ratio: 16:9
Frame rate mode: constant
Frame rate: 23.976 fps
Colour space: YUV
Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0
Bit depth: 8 bits
Scan type: progressive
Bits (Pixel*Frame): 0.873
Stream size: 3.98 GBs (100%)

Does the above help?

Ray

Import and convert to AVI in GoPro Studio (free).
Place the AVI on the Vegas timeline.
Match Media Settings. This is a specific procedure. Do not guess at it!
Set your Preview at Preview/Auto. Turn off "Scale to fit"
See if the timeline performance is any better. With your weak CPU specs, don't expect miracles.

Your specs are fine so your laptop is up to it. Do NOT convert/transcode. It is timeconsuming and you'll lose quality. VMS 11 was the first version that worked fine with the Canon mov files as they are, no need to transcode.

Instead, make sure you set your project properties correctly. This can be done under properties with "Match Media Video Settings'. Use the correct icon (the last one in the row) and then point to one of movie files. Vegas will read the properties and set the project accordingly.

Set your preview quality to 'preview-auto'. The clean files (=no effects, 1 layer) should play 25fps even at 'best-full', but you 'd need a ninja beast to have fluent playback in full-best when having multiple tracks or lots of effects.

Get rid of ghosting by selecting all your events in the timeline, then click right and go to 'switches' and there you disable resampling.
Rendering from 24p to 25p, speaking from experience, does not give issues.

Take your time to go through all this. Vegas has a steep learling curve, but once you get it right, you'll be rendering your Canon mov files without much issues.

Ivan,
A dual core CPU will never hold up to 43 Mbps AVC on the Vegas timeline. It can take minutes just to move the cursor.

I own and use a dual core Pentium laptop when I'm not at home. Cineform and DNxHD intermediates are what get me through the day, especially when there is a deadline coming up.

Cineform (GoPro Studio) is a lossless, visually perfect wavelet codec, designed especially for this purpose. There will never be a loss that you or I will see, even with multiple generations.

If you would like to learn more about lossless intermediate rendering, search the Pro forums, where we have researched, commercially used, and aided in the development of Cineform over many years.

"Slumdog Millionaire" was shot with the Cineform 444 codec. Best.

My system has an Intel Q6600 (2.4Mhz quadcore) with only 3GB ram (app are installed on SSD) and dates back to 2009 also.
VMS11 (and 12) create a 'preview' and have the right codecs to do this, so I thought it might run on that laptop too.
Musicvid, what version of Vegas are you running? In my experience, there was a huge difference when upgrading from 10 to 11, and now running 12. With version 10, I too transcoded to DNxHD, but with VMS11/12, there's absolutely no need, on the same machine, I must stress that.

Ivan,
You've got a Quad, he and I both have a T dual.
All the difference in the world! Like 200-250%. Vegas versions notwithstanding.
The most helpful responses here are those that don't try to compare apples with oranges. No further worries.

Lossless intermediate encoding for Vegas is a documented, time-honored and respected workflow that will become even more important once we begin editing 4K on our 2013 era machines. Cineform is just a couple of years ahead of the game, fortunately.

Hi,
Thanks for your feedback. It's very welcome and very much needed. I've installed GoPro, converted the file to avi. but it is huge. Would I need to compress it further?

Cheers,
Ray

No, it is the interframe compression that makes a file sluggish on the timeline!

Try it on the timeline, and post back. If it works "pretty well", as on my laptop, you are in good shape.

Match Media Properties (this is a specific procedure!), and set Preview to Preview/Auto, and turn "Scale video to fit" off.
Best.

Hi there,
Just got back to the laptop after a few days away so apologies for the tardy reply.
Yes, no problem playing on the timeline. There's a moderate lag where birds are flying by in the video, a sort of ghost image that precedes their flight path, but it's not too bad. I don't mind this when I'm working on it as the final video will be played through a projector on a faster processor on another PC. I'll copy the file and take it to test tomorrow to see how it looks on this PC.
avi is still c.10 times the size of an mp4 file. Any advantages of one over the other?
This really is a steep learning curve. Still photography was so much simpler.

Cheers,
Ray

Just a related question here. Is there any reason to convert .mts files into another format before bringing them into a project? I just got a new video camcorder and that's the format they are saved as.

They should play just fine with the lastest version of Vegas.

The .mts files from my Canon Vixia HF R30 work just fine in both the 32- and 64-bit versions of SMS 12.

Mike

Mike:

I am getting an "interlaced" look during movement to my rendered files with a Canon Vixia HF G20. I updated SMS 12 to the latest build. Can you share your rendering setting or any other tips you may have used to get the mts files to work clean.

Joe