DCP in Vegas or Catalyst

astar wrote on 8/22/2015, 4:43 PM
Where is the DCP functions in Vegas or Catalyst for that matter?

What are they thinking over there at Sony, when you see stuff like this.

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/how-to/export-digital-cinema-package.html

Has Vegas and Catalyst simply just become a editor for games on YouTube?

Where is the Pro in Pro?

What is the point of being able to edit in ACES, and then only output to image sequence, for some other application to do the final steps of making the rubber meet the road.

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/23/2015, 9:56 AM
> "Where is the DCP functions in Vegas or Catalyst for that matter?"

Vegas Pro and Catalyst Edit support professional formats like XDCAM, MXF, DXP and OpenEXR. I assume DCP will be added as a future format if there is enough call for it from customers. Don't forget that Catalyst Edit is just starting out. There is lots of room for growth there.

> "Has Vegas and Catalyst simply just become a editor for games on YouTube?"

I haven't seen anyone use Catalyst for game videos on YouTube. The Catalyst forums seems to be filled with professionals trying to fit Catalyst into their production pipelines and XDCAM workflows.

As for Vegas Pro, it does seem to be used by lots of gamers yet it's horrible for that task because it doesn't support editing game capture formats well at all. I have no idea why they use it. So Sony is certainly not listening or caring about what gamers needs are, despite the fact that gamers use Vegas for their YouTube videos. (I'm guessing it might be because some of the the gamers might not be actually be "paying" $399 to edit with Vegas Pro in the first place... but that' just a guess.) ;-)

> "Where is the Pro in Pro?"

I wouldn't say that Vegas Pro is not a Professional tool simply because it doesn't support DCP export. DCP is a very specific format for theatre distribution. It is becoming popular with the Indie film crowd but most "professionals" have a service do this for them. Final Cut Pro X doesn't support DCP export either and that isn't stopping people from making Hollywood movies with it. Most professionals use a pipeline of tools and don't care that one tool doesn't do-it-all. In fact, they prefer it that what which is why Catalyst is a Suite of tools and not an all-in-one.

Most people that require DCP that can't afford to use a service will export a TIFF Sequence and then make the DCP package from that with a free tool like OpenDCP. Vegas Pro supports TIFF sequences so it's just as good as any other NLE in that regard. The fact that Adobe is first to include DCP support is irrelevant. Vegas Pro has had many functions like HD and 4K before Adobe, Avid, or Apple had them. It doesn't make any of them any more or less "Pro".

> "What is the point of being able to edit in ACES, and then only output to image sequence, for some other application to do the final steps of making the rubber meet the road."

Hint: a DCP package IS an Image Sequence with audio and metadata! So you are arguing "convenience" over function. Vegas Pro editors CAN make a DCP package with OpenDCP. You would rather not have to use a separate program. I recommend that you document this in a Product Suggestion. That's how Sony developers gauge what their customers want.

~jr
musicvid10 wrote on 8/23/2015, 10:03 AM
Sony doesn't like to pay licensing the way Adobe seems willing to do.
Witness the histories with ProRes, mxf, et al.

TIFF, BMP, DPX sequences from Vegas should work in OpenDCP, right?
I see there is DCI p3 profile in aces.

NormanPCN wrote on 8/23/2015, 12:13 PM
"Most professionals use a pipeline of tools and don't care that one tool doesn't do-it-all. In fact, they prefer it that what which is why Catalyst is a Suite of tools and not an all-in-one."

This statement chimes true to me. I have no direct knowledge to this industry I do live in Los Angeles and have a few mountain biking friends that work in the broadcast and movie industry. It is incredibly specialized and compartmentalized.

All editors do is cut, so even a simple editor like Catalyst Edit can do what they need to deliver to the next person in the chain. Editors never edit a raw or a 4K file, they see proxies. In short promos an editor probably does not do the motion graphics even if simple. The motion graphics guys do that and they use separate tools.

In the intermediate files area movies and broadcast can often split. Broadcast commonly passes around DNxHD or Prores. The Movie world goes with image sequences of DPX or EXR. Big honking horribly large amounts of data. Vegas could/should give encoding options for EXR.

People don't load intermediates back into Premiere or the like to color grade. They use tools specialized to the task. Resolve has been mentioned. Editors and effects guys don't grade.

As for encoding for delivery, I've never heard any stories about that process at post bike ride, scarfing a burrito at lunch time sessions. I'll bet that they do not load into Premiere or the like to encode to whatever. They likely use some encoding suite specialized to the task. Something that can use a render farm.
astar wrote on 8/23/2015, 8:03 PM
Yes. Yes. You all do a very good job of defending Vegas. I have used Vegas since I saw it 1.0 at NAB LV, and was rendering DV content.

DCP is no longer the medium of the few, most local theater houses these days support DCP with the right projection gear. Most film fests will at least recommend DCP, if not require it.

As some one said earlier, DCP is just JPEG2000 and PCM in an .mxf. That sounds like a pretty short step for developers when your software already produces .mfx and image sequence.

Yes there are a bunch of tools for generating DCP from outside the application, I know this well and have used some. I also understand the role delegation in the feature film industry. The post is more in response to the Adobe video link I posted with it. This is the sort of addition I would have expected from Sony and not Adobe 1st.

I buy into the licensing a bit more, but PCM is already handled in current software, and can JPEG 2000 really be that much more when you already license JPEG?

I have already posted these requests and other to product suggestion, but I think that's a real black hole. By the sounds of it, most Vegas users could do without the feature, or at least the people responding.

Vegas supports EXR btw. EXR support just has not been upgraded to the latest versions that support compression and layers. See other posts of mine on the subject.

The post is not so much of a ding against Vegas, but more of an attempt to get someone to look into this with ability to do this.



musicvid10 wrote on 8/23/2015, 9:09 PM
To the extent it is accurate, the Q&A on this site should shed some light:
http://www.dcpinfo.com/"

videoITguy wrote on 8/23/2015, 9:09 PM
For reasons already detailed here, DCP is not a market of VegasPro - and wow! certainly not a market of Catalyst edit.

The post reference to internal thread earlier in this thread which was created sometime ago - gives all the details you need to proceed.
astar wrote on 8/23/2015, 9:39 PM
VideoIT guy did you watch the video?

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/how-to/export-digital-cinema-package.html

There is no discussion of what can and cannot be done, and yes up until now this was an expensive process that needed specific professionals. But that is true for a lot of the video industry. Everything falls quickly out of the clouds in video, DCP support is just another.

The issue is more of the fact that Vegas already does .mxf and image sequence exporting, and not packaging to the correct formats. Seems like task item on a development project plan, and not ground breaking.

Whether the guy that rides bikes with pros needs it or not, whether the gamer needs it or not, is not relevant. Whether the industry as it stands today needs the workflow or not is not the issue. What is forward looking and can change the way things are done in the future is relevant. Eliminating workflow steps, and the middle men from the post production process has been a time honored tradition of Sony, AVID, and others.

Editing in ACES is step closer, since you can apply RRTs to the export for the projection you are heading to. You still need to go to another application, as you said untested or poorly supported, for re-encoding to the correct format. This could be a single step as simple as you render any other .MFX.