Can someone give me a simple GearShift walk-thru

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/7/2005, 2:06 PM

Marc,

First let me apologize for not having a User’s Guide with GearShift. VASST GearShift started out a simple little utility that wouldn’t need any explanation but through user feedback, it has taken on a life of its own and has grown to have enough features that now it needs a user’s Guide and I’m working on one. ;-) In the mean time:

VASST GearShift is a Vegas script. Once Gearshift is installed, start Vegas and use the menu item:

Tools > Scripting > VASST GearShift > GearShift

to invoke it. You should assign GearShift to the toolbar for easy access.

To place an icon for VASST GearShift on the Vegas toolbar:

1. Double-click on the toolbar in an empty area on the right.
2. In the Customize Toolbar dialog, select GearShift from the left-hand list
3. Click the Add-> button to add it to the right-hand list.
4. Press the Close button.

An icon for VASST GearShift will appear on the toolbar. To use GearShift, just click on this toolbar icon.

GearShift works in two modes:

1) DV proxy mode
2) M2T or HD YUV mode

It allows you to work on a proxy of the high definition video and then exchange the proxy for the HD version for rendering and then re-exchange the HD for the proxy if you need to continue to edit. This way you can edit on a slower PC than HD requires, or you can work with HD on a laptop. You can also convert your m2t files to the Sony YUV codec for going out to HDCAM or render m2t files for printing back to your HDV camcorder or deck. GearShift works for either 1080i media or 720p media.

Here is the typical workflow:

1. Capture your HDV m2t files via Vegas capture utility or via other HDV capture tool.
2. Run GearShift on the M2T files to create a DV proxy and (optional) YUV conversion
3. If you are using Vegas 5, check Adjust Colorspace to apply the 601/709 colorspace preset in the Color Matrix Filter. (This is not needed for Vegas 6)
4. Edit using the DV Proxy files
5. When you’re ready to render, press the ShiftGears button to exchange the DV proxy for the YUV files (or for the m2t files if you didn’t create YUV files)
6. Render your project
7. If you need to continue editing, press ShiftGears again to exchange the DV proxy for the HD media

GearShift will allow you to create either an NTSC or PAL DV proxy. You can convert your m2t files to YUV using any of the available templates that are provided. All of the rendering is done within Vegas’ rendering engine.

Hope this helps,

~jr

Spot|DSE wrote on 5/7/2005, 2:12 PM

Marc,
you'll find a tutoriat here
It includes directions for how to get the icon on your toolbar, and directions for workflow whether you're using the Cineform, 4:2:2 YUV, or DV Proxy files with M2T streams.

vidiot57 wrote on 5/7/2005, 2:16 PM

Hi,

You are not seeing it on the toolbar at the top of V6 ?? Make sure it installed in the right place on my system it is C:/programs/Sony/Vegas 6.0/Script Menu
if it is there..(should be a folder there called Vasst Gearshift..)
next in Vegas double click on the blank area of the tool bar at the top, a list of things should pop up.. scroll up and down and find gearshift..
after that it will appear at the toolbar on the top of Vegas 6..

I have fumbled throug using it.. so i may not be the bible on it.. but here is what i have done.. first open vegas, set your project to DV WIDESCREEN.. open up Gearshift, set the proxy media to NTSC DV Widescreen, and set the 4;2;2 YUv-HD Media to whatever you want your output footage to be in the end..
Now on the left side of gearshift, click "Browse" point it to your captured files you wish to use to edit with.. Gearhift will now render out some DV Proxy files to take the temporary place of you HDV files for the edit.. Once it is done.. you can now edit your heart away on the timeline using these files..When you have your project the way you want it.. go into Gearshift and click "Shift Gears"
it will prompt you and asj if you want to replace the proxy files for the rnder (or something like that) sayok, and it will now replace the porxy DV files with the HDV files and it will be ready to render out your project..
That is what I have done so far.. Hopefully I am doing it right!!

by the way i have and FX1 also, and right now on capture, i do not see my video on the capture video scrrem or on the preview screen.. Are you seeing the video there ??

mike Moncrief

vicmilt wrote on 5/7/2005, 2:34 PM

Hey HDRINC -

It's not too often that you ask a software question and get it answered by the Author and the Publisher!

You must be some kind of guy! :>))

v

fairorth wrote on 5/7/2005, 4:54 PM

Thank you, JR and DSE.

I think the reason I got a "non-standard" install is that I have not installed GearShift into the Vegas 6/Script Menu folder -- I didn't realize this was significant and I installed GearShift into f:/Apps/GearShift (Vegas6 is in f:/Apps/Vegas6).

JR, thanks for the write up.

Great Service == Sales ... I purchase a copy of GearShift tonight. I encourage everyone who finds this to be a useful utility to support their efforts and do the same.

Regards,

Marc

vidiot57 wrote on 5/7/2005, 5:01 PM

No thanks here ??

I wrote my explaination up probably at the same time everyone else did..There post popped up right when i posted my post...I saw that no one answered you (at least at that point) and figured i would at least give you my one day of experience with Gearshift explanation.. he he.. After reading the Pro explanation, sounds like i got most of it..

Mike m.

fairorth wrote on 5/7/2005, 9:12 PM

I'm sorry Mike, I did overlook you there. Yes, your post was quite helpful and definitely appreciated too!

And no, I'm not seeing video during capture. Not sure what you mean when by "preview". Once the captured video is on the timeline, then yes I can preview it there.

Marc

vidiot57 wrote on 5/8/2005, 6:59 AM

Hello,

Ok thanks.. So you do not see any video on capture either?? Hmmm... Maybe that is why no one answered my post on that question.. i hope Sony will address this issue..

Mike M.

PeterWright wrote on 5/8/2005, 7:10 AM

Even with DV, I never have preview on whilst capturing - maximises resources for capture, and camera or deck can be used for monitoring.

vidiot57 wrote on 5/8/2005, 7:15 AM

Hello,

it is nice to the have the option of the preview when capturing.... Depnding on how your edit bay is setup.. you may not be able to have the Camera or deck(with LCD screen) in front of you..On my sistuation the camera is on a shelf that is off to my left and in a shelf, where it makes it most difficult to twist around and watch the monitor..

Mike

epirb wrote on 5/8/2005, 7:43 AM

I get preview while capturing from my FX1 in V6, I lost it once on my laptop but then it came back . Ill try and look at what my settings are and report back.

Serena wrote on 5/9/2005, 4:39 AM

Clearly I've missed something. Got the proxy from m2t files (opted not to to generate YUV files), edited, did gearshift, which loaded back the m2t files (I think) with the timeline showing "files offline). Rendered the lot, but got black instead of images. I referenced the m2t files, but not getting anywhere. I can only call "HELP!!"

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/9/2005, 8:16 AM

> with the timeline showing "files offline”

If Vegas thinks the files are “offline” it means it cannot find them. (this explains the black render) Right-click on one of the off-line M2T files in the Media Bin and select Properties from the popup context menu. Look at the File name: attribute and physically look on your hard drive to make sure that file exists. Did you move them? (or even worse delete them?)

~jr

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/9/2005, 11:03 AM

> Just a few more questions; please be patient if they seem dumb.

HD is brand new ground for everyone so please keep the questions coming. We all learn more that way.

> Is Gearshift's main purpose to color correct HDV (.m2v files) to be edited for DVD as the final product?

No. Gearshift’s main purpose is to allow you to edit HD on a modest PC that can handle DV by creating a Proxy file to edit with and a way to swap the proxy in and out for the HD media (for rendering in high quality).

The color space correction is because Vegas 5 doesn’t natively support sources that uses the 709 colorspace. (Vegas 6 does). Gearshift provides a filter that corrects the 709 (HD) color space to the 601 (DV) color space that Vegas 5 uses. This correction is NOT NEEDED for Vegas 6 at all!

> I have purchased Gearshift & want to use it for a Z1 project that the final edited project will be .m2v. So, would my workflow be; .m2v capture, then convert with GearShift to 4;2;2 YUv-HD and also create a Proxy of the .m2v for editing purposes?

No. There is no need for you to make the YUV files if your final output is m2t. Just have Gearshift create the DV proxy files and use those for editing. When you’re ready to render, use the Shift Gears button to swap your original M2T files back in before the render.

> Can the 4;2;2 YUv-HD file be converted by CinaForm as the Proxy without a loss of the 4;2;2 YUv-HD conversion?

If you have the CineForm codec, you can also use CineForm as your proxy (instead of DV) and still swap the M2T files back in before your final render. Just select one of the HDV templates as your GearShift proxy format.

The bottom line is: If you are going back to M2T tape, only create the proxy files (not YUV) and swap them for the M2T files before you render to tape.

So for you, the procedure will be:

1. Capture M2T files with Vegas 6 capture
2. Use GearShift to create proxy files
3. Edit with the proxy files provided by GearShift
4. Swap the proxy files for the original M2T files before rendering back to tape

Does that make sense? If not, please ask more questions.

~jr

DGrob wrote on 5/9/2005, 12:56 PM

When I create the proxy file, what are the project settings in V6 used for editing that proxy file? (NTSC) Thanks, Darryl

vidiot57 wrote on 5/9/2005, 2:31 PM

Hello,

Johnny, just wanted to tell you Thanks..!! I have began to use Gearshift.. And this thing rocks!! It is must have for anyone trying to edit HDV on a run of the mill system..
One thing I thought might be useful in the future of Gearshift.. Maybe an option to delete all of the DV Proxy files used by the project?? I can see how the Proxy files caould start eating up your drive space.. Just a thought..

Thanks again..
Keep um coming..
Mike Moncrief

Serena wrote on 5/9/2005, 6:25 PM

Thanks John. Apologies for the delay in responding; this site became unavailable so I decided to sleep on it. I was running a bit of test footage to check out Gearshift as an alternative to Cineform and I think I bungled running Gearshift. It created the proxies and although the original clip still seemed to exist somehow it was unrecognised by Gearshift when it came time to swap it back(certainly it had gone from "Project Media"). The .m2t original existed (and could be run), but the properties of the "media offline" said ".avi", and although that file also could be found alongside the .m2t it appears to be blank (or black). Considering this was just a test, and of a steadicam, the easiest route is to do it again. Presently Gearshift is generating the proxy of the new footage. I'll report back -- particularly if I have further problems!

I suspect my error was ticking the "add/replace" box when electing not to generate a YUV file. My most recent effort doing the same thing gave me the message "cannot replace - media in use". So I've unticked, said create a YUV file and I'll see what happens to that. Amazing how a simple thing can be fouled up by the ignorant.

thanks.

Serena wrote on 5/9/2005, 9:54 PM

That appears to have done it. Presently rendering out. One disadvantage of Gearshift relative to Cineform is the time taken to generate the proxy clips. Cineform HD Connect is a coupla cups-o-tea (and maybe a biscuit) for half an hour of HDV, whereas Gearshift was 50 minutes for a 4 minute .m2t clip.

seanfl wrote on 5/17/2005, 4:21 AM

a quick comment: to the folks that are saying gearshift is necessary for folks with a modest pc...I think it may be necessary for any pc! I have a 3.6 ghz monster with 1g of ram, 2 fast sata drives and dual monitors. My system frame rate when editing hdv is often between 1 and 5 fps! It's impossible to work that way (unless there's really no editing you need to do!)

I'm working on one project that is 30 minutes in length. the original capture M2V file is 6.7 gig and is very tedious to edit! Since I haven't tried gearshift yet, I've made my own downmix avi and then rename the original m2t (so vegas can't find it) then tell it to reference the avi, then when done with reverse the change. Will this work?

Would gearshift make the proxy file much faster than what I'm doing? (it took 40 minutes to convert my 35 minute m2t to a widescreen avi.)

thanks for everyone's help. HDV sure looks amazing!

Sean

Spot|DSE wrote on 5/17/2005, 5:10 AM

The only things GearShift will do over what you're already doing, is to:
1. Automate the task
2. Match the DV Proxy to HDV aspect ratio/size
3. Create Proxies AND DI's in one session, if that's what you want to do.
4. Automate the switch from proxy/DI to HD final output.
5. Assures compliance and consistency throughout the process.

GearShift uses the tools already in Vegas, so there is no "magic" there; the timesaving, consistency, and ease of use are the primary benefits.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/17/2005, 6:03 AM

What Spot said, and:

GearShift has the ability to keep track of your media in multiple directories. I’m not sure how many people realize this but you can press the Browse button several times to load all your media at once. So if you capture each tape into a separate directory, GearShift will let you load multi-directories of files, render the proxies and then swap back and forth between proxy and HD media from multiple directories with one button push (the Shift Gears button). Depending on your workflow, it can be a tremendous timesaver over trying to do this manually.

~jr

Wolfgang S. wrote on 5/17/2005, 7:20 AM

I have just found out how to make an automatic szene separation, by using Gearshift.

As some of you know, I use mjpeg-avi-codecs as proxy - works fine. The rest is simple: you generate an mjpeg-avi proxy, and use the tool AV-cutty - available here:

http://www.avcutty.de/english/index.htm

When you run AV-cutty and generate a scene list, you can generate an EDL-file (vegas-5, works fine in vegas-6 too).

Then you import that into Vegas-6 - and have all your separated clips in the timeline. The only drawback is, that the audio and video part are not grouped. It seems to be true, that this cannot be controlled by the EDL-txt-file.

Is there a script that can group audio and video for every event?

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/17/2005, 8:38 AM

> Is there a script that can group audio and video for every event?

There is now. ;-) Just select the top (video) track and run this script. It will group every event on the lower (audio) track with those on the upper one.

/**

 * This script will blindly group all events on the selected track

 * with all of the events on the next lower track. It assumes there

 * is an equal number of events on both tracks.

 *

 * Author: Johnny "Roy" Rofrano

 * Revision Date: May 17, 2005

 **/

import System.Windows.Forms;

import System.Collections;

import Sony.Vegas;



try 

{

    var counter : int = 0;

    for (var upperTrack in Vegas.Project.Tracks)

    {

        if (!upperTrack.Selected) continue;

        // Get the next lower track

        var lowerTrack : Track = Vegas.Project.Tracks[upperTrack.Index + 1];

        var enumUpperEvents : IEnumerator = upperTrack.Events.GetEnumerator();

        var enumLowerEvents : IEnumerator = lowerTrack.Events.GetEnumerator();

        // Loop through both tracks grouping events

        while (enumUpperEvents.MoveNext() && enumLowerEvents.MoveNext())

        {

            var upperEvent : TrackEvent = TrackEvent(enumUpperEvents.Current);

            var lowerEvent : TrackEvent = TrackEvent(enumLowerEvents.Current);

            // Create a new group and add it to the project

            var group : TrackEventGroup = new TrackEventGroup();

            Vegas.Project.Groups.Add(group);

            // add both events to the new group

            group.Add(upperEvent);

            group.Add(lowerEvent);

            counter++;

        }

        break;

    }

    MessageBox.Show("Processed " + counter + " event(s)", 

        "GroupAllEvents Complete", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Exclamation);

} 

catch (errorMsg) 

{

    MessageBox.Show(errorMsg, "GroupAllEvents Error", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error);

}

~jr

Wolfgang S. wrote on 5/17/2005, 12:22 PM

@ Johnny,

that is great. Thank you for that!

More and more we have a system, that makes really fun to edit HD. I think, Gearshift together with this way to automate scene detection has become a great tool.

Maybe we should start to build up a better, overall tutorial - both in German but also in English.