I thought the Vegas team had a different link for formal submissions.

I recall that there once was another more formal avenue for submitting feature suggestions and I also recall that it was mentioned on the forum some time last year but a comment at the time said that the formal avenue was dropped years ago. Maybe that suggestion avenue was back in Sony days on Sony Vegas Pro's then existing website.

FWIW: I hate waiting for Vegas' proxy generation so disable it and create my own using Handbrake or FFMPEG when needed.

Also with Handbrake or FFMPEG you have to wait. Another option in Vegas is to use Vegasaur for proxy or intermediate creation, but needs also some time. Best option is to use a fast PC then there's almost no need for proxies.

Yes, but they are (arguably) faster than Vegas.

By the time I actually fire up Vegas I want to edit, not wait for proxy generation.

When I was using proxies a lot I was working on 4K 3D 360 videos that required days or weeks to prepare and stitch the original media into clips I would edit in Vegas. Creating the proxies in the process, or queuing them up for an overnight batch proxy generation was trivial.

Anyway...that all falls into the "FWIW" category, eh? I just mention it because it also ensures that I know what proxies are available, which is kinda, sorta, the topic of this thread...

Case in point why this is useful -- the quality of proxies I just built for a project in Vegas was very poor, so I re-built them using Vegasaur telling it to use the native Vegas proxy format. Looks MUCH better. But guess what -- Vegas isn't using them.

How do I know?

I ran the command-line: Openfiles /Query to view all open files. No proxy files are open!

So away I go now to manually swap them in/out... :( sorry to see the Vegasaur method isn't working now

You're probably doing something wrong when using Vegasaur. With Vegasaur it's even possible to "burn in" a text like " proxy" into the proxy file. So you see directly in the preview if you're using the proxy or the original file. Be aware that proxies are just lores background system files to make editing of complex hires projects possible. Also proxies are only used in Preview mode draft and preview, the originals are always used in Preview mode good and best.

When you want to edit in hires quality you have to work with intermediates and use the swap files option. Another story.

Ps when once manually created a proxy file by right clicking, the next time the option to create a proxy is greyed out. You can only create a proxy once.

I personally never had the need for an option to see which files have proxies and which have not. Most important that for the clips in the timeline automatically proxies are created when needed.

. I wonder if you could use ffmpeg to build a SFVP0 proxy file?

 

You don't need to. The way I do it is create a directory for my source media and another for the proxy files---with identical file names. Edit using the proxy files & when done turn off Vegas. While Vegas is off, change the name of the directory containing the proxy files. When you restart Vegas it won't be able to find the proxy files and prompt you to tell it where to find them. Point it to the directory containing the original media and it will apply all of your edits, FX, etc. to the original clips and you're ready to render.

If you use the same file names for the original and proxy clips you just have to navigate to the first clip it askes about and it will look in the same place for the rest. If the file names are different you will have to do it clip by clip.

There are probably a few details I've forgotton---it's been a while---but this is it in a nutshell. This may be covered in the manual, and there are likely several discussions of this in the archives here---I think that's how I learned to do it.

The KwikProxy tool in HOS will speed up proxy creation quite a bit for certain formats, especially HEVC with NVENC encoding. Here's some comparison times done awhile back using NVENC and Mpeg2 encoding.

And a demo. https://tools4vegas.com/kwikproxy-demo/

For older vesions of Vegas, swapping filenames as suggested by @3d87c4 worked well. Unfortunately, not so for V18 and V19.

I ran the command-line: Openfiles /Query to view all open files. No proxy files are open!

So away I go now to manually swap them in/out... :( sorry to see the Vegasaur method isn't working now

You're probably doing something wrong when using Vegasaur.

Like what? I chose a render option. Told it to use the vegas-style proxy. It creates the files... but Vegas isn't using them.

Since this wasn't working I just renamed them to .VEG and put into a Proxy folder, and swapped the project media to use the proxies. I think I wrote this elsewhere -- I'm very familiar building proxy files with ffmpeg and putting them in their own folder, swapping after my MC edit is done.

Also proxies are only used in Preview mode draft and preview, the originals are always used in Preview mode good and best.

Yup

When you want to edit in hires quality you have to work with intermediates and use the swap files option. Another story.

You've had issues editing with the 4K files directly? This hasn't been an issue for me regarding performance, although I *have* found the system a bit less stable.. sometimes.. with the 4K footage, but I do believe it's related to my video driver/card possibly. My proxy needs are really for when editing multiple 4K video files multi-view.

Ps when once manually created a proxy file by right clicking, the next time the option to create a proxy is greyed out. You can only create a proxy once.

Well now -- that is good info -- I hadn't noticed that but will check it out.

The KwikProxy tool in HOS will speed up proxy creation quite a bit for certain formats, especially HEVC with NVENC encoding. Here's some comparison times done awhile back using NVENC and Mpeg2 encoding.

Is it using ffmpeg behind the scenes? Just curious..

For older vesions of Vegas, swapping filenames as suggested by @3d87c4 worked well. Unfortunately, not so for V18 and V19.

I use V18 and have used proxy/source folders frequently, swapping to the source files after the MC edit is complete. Why do you say "not so for V18 and V19"?

KwikProxy uses FFmpeg for MPEG2 and x264 (cpu) renders only. It uses other apps for Nvenc, QuickSync, and VCE renders.

My comments were applicable only to Vegas-style (sfvp0) proxies. For swap-style proxies, there should be no problem in V18 and V19.

For older vesions of Vegas, swapping filenames as suggested by @3d87c4 worked well. Unfortunately, not so for V18 and V19.

D'oh! I did most of my proxy editing with V13 and V16. Haven't needed it lately so wasn't aware there was an issue.

Until Magix adds such a show proxy option, here's a very simple scripting workaround. Essentially, it searches for the existence of an "sfvp0" file for all media and adds the results to a newly created "Proxy" bin. Here's a demo.

The only drawback (minor) is that you have to run the script when anytime that new proxies are added. On each run, the bin is cleared so that removed proxies will not be shown.

If there is any interest, I'll add it to my FreeTools library.

Any ideas for an icon?

Maybe a good future request to make created/pending proxies, used media and scene splitted media automatically recognizable in the media bin like I'm used from my other (non pro) NLE.

Also I'm missing a feature to remove proxies (when not needed anymore). Can only be done manually within the Windows Explorer. In my other NLE I can automatically let delete them after 1-60 days or manually within the NLE.

Maybe a good future request to make created/pending proxies, used media and scene splitted media automatically recognizable in the media bin like I'm used from my other (non pro) NLE.

Also I'm missing a feature to remove proxies (when not needed anymore). Can only be done manually within the Windows Explorer. In my other NLE I can automatically let delete them after 1-60 days or manually within the NLE.

+1 Full agreement

@wwaag I for one would be very much in favor of such a script. I think that many others also see it that way, but do not express themselves here.

"Also I'm missing a feature to remove proxies (when not needed anymore)."

You can already do this using the KwikProxy tool in HOS. As seen in the warning dialog, Vegas must first be closed before the proxies can be successfully removed.

@wwaag oh!! Never noticed that! Thanks!

As Vegasaur, HOS and Excalibur are great (scripting) tools for streamlining video editing with VegasPro, these tools shouldn't hold back future improvements of VegasPro.

The Show Proxy script is now available for download. https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/happyotterscripts-free-tools--118349/?page=4#ca837348

@RedRob-CandlelightProdctns

Happy Otter Scripts offers numerous tools for creating and manipulating proxies.

Oh -- I have no problem creating proxies and using Vegasaur "swap media" process to sub in/out the originals and the proxies. But there is something VERY handy about being able to just toggle Preview/Good to see the poor vs good quality image, as needed. Having to run a script to swap them works at pivot points in the workflow, but not as a repeating behavior during edit.

For that, having working Vegas-style proxies would be nice, but it doesn't seem to be working reliably for ppl anymore when built with external tools.

Case in point why this is useful -- the quality of proxies I just built for a project in Vegas was very poor, so I re-built them using Vegasaur telling it to use the native Vegas proxy format. Looks MUCH better. But guess what -- Vegas isn't using them.

How do I know?

I ran the command-line: Openfiles /Query to view all open files. No proxy files are open!

So away I go now to manually swap them in/out... :( sorry to see the Vegasaur method isn't working now

@RedRob-CandlelightProdctns

Vegas Native Proxy in Proxy Media Builder of the Vegasaur will work correctly in Vegas Pro 19 as long as the rendering model that will be used to create the Proxy file is in .mp4 format and is configured to render video only, ie there can be no audio. See my screen record bellow showing the procedure.

This format limitation is due to recent changes to Vegas proxy internal coding architecture. The Vegasaur developer @altarvic is aware of this and is working on a solution.

I like to create native proxies using Vegasaur as it allows me to choose resolution, format and also add overlay text to identify proxies. All this while maintaining the default Vegas system that uses the quality of the Preview Window to switch between the proxies and the original files. This makes the proxy system of the Vegas one of the most efficient among video editors.

... as long as the rendering model that will be used to create the Proxy file is in .mp4 format and is configured to render video only, ie there can be no audio. See my screen record bellow showing the procedure.

Most helpful -- thank you. I'll check it out.

I currently have been building my files using an external batch file process and FFMPEG -- I'd rather do it this way.

FWIW: I hate waiting for Vegas' proxy generation so disable it and create my own using Handbrake or FFMPEG when needed.

I've used FFMPEG for these workflows too.

- to auto-merge multiple Osmo Action or GoPro files into one (avoiding audio-drop/gaps) while copying media from the microSD card

- to build proxies for folders that seem to run well on all my machines

FFMPEG seems really very efficient.

AND -- there's something to be said about the simplicity of getting the media on the timeline and just having Vegas (or Vegasaur) build thing.. AND.. using Vegas's native proxy/no-proxy (preview/good) native feature is very helpful sometimes -- being able to toggle preview/good during the edit process (e.g. with a 3x3 or 4x4 multi-cam edit, can be very helpful). I wonder if you could use ffmpeg to build a SFVP0 proxy file?

I've tried this script for ffmpeg but vegas wont recognize the proxy files... :-(

ffmpeg -i FILE.mp4 -c:v mpeg2video -brand mp42 -vf scale=1280:720,select="gte(n\, 2)",tpad=start=2 -profile:v main -level:v 4.0 -colorspace:v "bt709" -color_primaries:v "bt709" -color_trc:v "bt709" -color_range:v "tv" -qscale:v 5 -video_format component -g 30 -an -f mp4 -y FILE.mp4.sfvp0

@john_dennis, thanks for reminding my one brain cell about this. There is so much in HOS and Vegasaur that the one functioning cell just can't keep up. I just tried it on some 4K 10bit 422 footage and it worked great.