In addition to @Musicvid , Happy Otter Scripts is currently available as a free download. You may find success using the Import Assist function within it. It is available at tools4vegas.com

Also you may like MediaER Tool Kit, which is a bit easier to use than Handbrake, both do a good job, both are free.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
(It's still downloading Vegas 16, so it takes a while to try that one out 😂)

But ER Media toolkit made miracles. Took a while but I got it into vegas now. I totally recommend that!

I owe you @Musicvid @Eagle Six 😀

👍

👍

@Eagle Six

You've mentioned media ER tool kit a couple of times, but Google doesn't seem to mention it even by searching variations of the name you gave?

Can you give us a link to the home page of this product? Is it available in the US?

Is this what they are referring to?

https://audiospot.audio/audiospot-creativetools

Yep, that's the link @Former user gave ;)

(googled in the EU)

Ok, I did see that (sans emphasis), and moved on with my search.

[Note to self: At seventy, it's really good to read the fine print.]

Will try tomorrow, still pretty happy with my 5 y/o handbrake, though.

still pretty happy with my 5 y/o handbrake, though.

I think Handbrake provides more tools for those who understand what they are and how to use them, or those who want to learn how. Like you @Musicvid I have been using it for many years. However, I tried this ER Media Tool Kit a few months ago and everything I threw at it, it seemed to perform very well, and the interface is, I think, a bit easier for folks to deal with. Using the ffpmeg as the engine of course is is fast on a lot of the jobs it does.

(George, note to self, stop calling it MediaER Tool Kit and Call it ER Media Tool Kit by AudioSpot!!!, or provide the link. It will make it much easier to find!)

This one's on me, George, and these lazy old eyes. I look forward to trying it later today!

You keep me thinking and learning.

Best as always, Mark

Oh, thanks for figuring it out @Former user and @aiki-a !

Since HappyOtterScripts has been mentioned in this thread, I thought I'd add some clarification of similarities and differences. Handbrake, ER Media Toolkit and HOS all use FFmpeg and as such the results should be the same for conversion to avc. While FFmpeg does support some lossless codecs including MagicYUV and UtVideo, they are not options inside of Handbrake (at least the version I have). I don't know about ER Toolkit.

Other than integration within Vegas, another major difference is that FFmpeg does not support vfw codecs such as Cineform or GrassValley. An advantage of Cineform is that it supports 10bit 422 and timeline performance seems better than equivalent avc, at least on my system. Since HOS also includes import using VirtualDub2, these codecs are also supported. Of course, Vdub2 is also freeware that can easily be added to one's arsenal of conversion options.

While FFmpeg does support some lossless codecs including MagicYUV and UtVideo, they are not options inside of Handbrake (at least the version I have). 

Excellent point, @wwaag

Handbrake, like Vegas, is an ENCoder, and supports only x264/x265 in .mp4, .m4v, MKV (lossy) wrappers.

Lossless vfw is not an encoding option in Handbrake, although the ffmpeg DECoder will accept it.

Note: I think Cineform is recently supported in ffmpeg/libavcodec, but is limited by Handbrake's 8 bit pipeline. As tested, however, Handbrake's dither from 10->8 bit downsampling is cleaner than Vegas' legacy pattern dither.

Yes, sending a cineform or MagicYUV file to Handbrake for h.264/265 encoding still seems to give the best quality output.

Of course I really do need to find time try Happy Otter Scripts pipeline to x264/265 before making a conclusive statement. :)

@Musicvid

FFmpeg can decode Cineform but not encode. It's a bit surprising since Cineform is now Open Source. Perhaps someone is working on it which would be a nice addition.

@Kinvermark

HOS and Handbrake encoding are the same since they both use FFmpeg. One advantage of HOS is that there is no need to render to an intermediate such as Magic or Cineform--plus you can use better quality audio codecs and adjust audio sync if that's of concern. It uses the frameserver and thus avoids an extra step. If you decide to try HOS, wait a couple of days until the new version is out. I have extended the beta period through 1 Aug.

Cool. :) I may actually have some free time later this summer, so that works for me.

BTW, I wonder if it would be a good idea for Vegas dev's to implement native cineform support - seeing as many of us are dependent upon using the old discontinued Gopro studio encoder/decoder. Something may break that software one day!

@Kinvermark

Absolutely. In some of the earlier Sony versions, Cineform was included when it was still a proprietary codec. Another option is to use the Grass Valley (Edius) suite of codecs which can be freely downloaded.

Even UT 422, and it appears Magix Intermediate, carry cleaner chroma and shadows than Cineform, in tests that I plan to repeat soon, perhaps by end of May.

I am looking primarily at two features for cineform or a substitute: 1) it must "hover scrub" fluidly in the trimmer. 2) It must be supported in other programs that I use. So far only cineform meets these criteria. I have been experimenting with lightweight h264 proxies which can be produced very rapidly via AMD VCE, and are almost as scrub-able, but not quite. Of course, this is only pertinent to my peculiar workflow, so maybe not relevant.

Yes, Cineform is very "scrubbable."

2) Which other programs do you use it in?

Have you tested "Intermediate 422 HQ? I'm just getting my feet wet but JN_'s numbers look impressive if they're on a similar playing field.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/codec-xavc-s--115606/#ca716992

@Musicvid “ if they're on a similar playing field.”? Can you clarify? Not sure what you mean here.