having used this codec during the beta period, I can confidently say it is a million times better than the MSDV codec. It is very sharp and seems to withstand the test of multiple renders better than any other I've tried.

Vegas 3 should have video people dancing in the streets.

The new Sonic DV codec is just what the doctor ordered. I did major testing last night and went to bed with a big smile. Faster and no luma clamping.
This makes print-to-tape a go, as the start of a rendered section doesn't look different now.
Good job Sonic Foundry, whooo hooooo

Craig H.

"If you can find a better DV codec anywhere, we would like to know about it. "

that's all i need to hear !
based on the above i'm now downloading the beta and will be rendering tonight !!!!!!

WILL sonicfoundry be at dv expo ( dec) or videomaker expo (jan) ???

DV Expo, yes. Smaller booth than the old Starship Enterprise booth, but we'll have a presence.

i assume that vegas beta 3 build 50 defaults to sonic foundry dv codec when using the dv template ?

i have run several TEST and i'm not coming up with your results ! i'll email in my results to the beta test which is based on vegas beta 3 defaults to the sonic dv codec using the dv template !

Where do I go to download this VV3?

Caruso

I am wondering if the new video codec is even included in the public beta? I do not see it installed on my computer under video codecs, at least not that I can tell.
I know the new mpeg2 encoder was not included in the public beta (3.0.05 pre release).

Bill

The SF DV codec is only available to Vegas Video and Video Capture. It is installed with the beta.

Oh, that would explain why it's not listed under system settings. Thanks for clearing that up. I sure appreciate SF for providing and monitoring these forums, it helps people like me tremendously .

Thanks, Bill

on my system testing VV 3 beta it was NOT using ( defaulting to ) the sonic foundry dv codec when i would render out clips using the dv template - my test results were NOT good ..HOWEVER as sonic foundry beta response pointed out to me under preference there is a box "ignore 3rd party dv codec's" once i check it i had totally different results rendering ..the difference was Night and day !! unacceptable to acceptable ..
i do NOT know what codec it was using before i checked the box ? it wasn't microsofts because i did test with VV 3 using the MS dv codec ( under preference you can check box "use MS dc codec) and the test results were better using MS dv codec then whatever VV 3 was using before i checked "ignore 3rd pary codec's) !!!!!

I noticed under system requirements that 7200 rpm drive or faster are required. My system inlcudes two 7200 ide drives, but, I also have three Maxtor external firewire drives which spin at 5400 rpm.

These drives work flawlessly with VV2 . . . will they work with VV3?

Caruso

If the drives worked with VV2, they'll work with VV3-

congradulations sonic foundry !! the new codec is EXCELLENT ! going 5 generations i found NO difference between the original DV clip and the 5th generation ! i found it hard to believe/see that there was NO difference ! found nothing , no flaws ! broke out the close up glasses/magnifiers ! i did several test and they came to same conclusion ! on scale of 1-10 the new codec gets a 12 !!

my only suggestion perhaps on install of VV3 the preference default should be "ignore 3rd party dv codec's" ( the box should be checked on install)

Yes, excellent is the word. NO LUMA CLAMPING, woo hoo. Even on some overexposed background clips that suffer bad in the MSDV codec are 99.98% of the original with the SF DV codec. It's way faster at things like bmp graphics. Works hand in hand with the ground shaking timline print-to-tape feature. Oh man, this upgrade rocks. Solid beta code.
Being as the SF Codec doesn't show up in the windows video codec pool, will there be a way to render to the SF codec from other apps. ? Not a biggie, as you guys added what was really needed, secquential still frame loading. A hugh thanks for that and everything else tucked inside Vegas 3.

Craig H.

I just tried the new DV codec. Very nice indeed. Unfortunately this will force me to rerender a couple of recent large projects... (trust me, the output is that good!)

Shame it's not a regular windows codec so I could use it in VirtualDub as well...
:O)
Anthony

Glad you like the new codec. This is a big part of the Vegas 3 upgrade, so you can render with this codec in Vegas 3 only (and maybe some other sfapps down the road).

DV avi files rendered with this codec do open on machines without the codec, so read is not proprietary.

I do agree that the final Vegas Video 3.0 should make the new and improved SF DV codec the default upon install. If users want to change it, they still can, although most will want to stay with the default anyway.

Billy Buck

OK,
Please forgive me, I'm new to all of this.
How will the DV code help me and how do I use it ? I have a Digital Camcorder.
When I captured using an analog card the compression was about 3 times better than the compression when I used ILINK (and I hear that's because I used ATIs codec)

Will this DV Codec give me better compression when I capture or when I save ?


thanks for the patience

You will save zero space with the new codec. The output quality will be vastly superior, so think "better", not "smaller".

for those shooting in DV and finishing in DV...
if you have a DV camera and your firewire it to your computer for editing all the data is just copied from camera to computer (no codec is used ) your dv camera compessed the images into data when you recorded the video - it used a dv codec using 5-1 compression...

next you edit you video on computer -if you are just using CUTS then rendering out the edited version ALL data is just copied ... no codec was used in the rendering

BUT lets say you did some color correction , used birghtness/contrast, pan /crop ,or some other FX ( you are now changing the original video clip) ..NOW the CODEC must be used to uncompress the video - make the changes - then compress it back ... it is during this process that artifacts , bad color , bad luma , noise etc. can be introduced. so how your changed video clip looks comes down to how good is the DV CODEC ..

vgeas 2 used the microsoft dv codec which i found on any changes you made ( 2nd generation) it introduced some noise and accented edge detail( where there was stair-stepping) a little too much for my taste - IMO that was OK if you were releasing few copies on VHS but unacceptable if you needed a DV master or going to digital beta .. showing clips from dv tape direct to TV was OK - i found it unacceptable if i was using digital projection ..

the new sonic foundry DV codec IS EXCELLENT .. what you have going IN is what you get coming OUT !! the 7th generation will look just as excellent as the original !

for my current project i was planning on buying a canopus product next month so i could do my color correction using their dv codec with VV2! NOT anymore ! VV3 upgrade will take care of my needs.