Importing F55 XAVC 4K 480

brian-dzyak wrote on 1/7/2018, 2:38 PM

What version of VEGAS should I use to import and edit files created with the Sony F55 set to capture XAVC 4K 480? This is for a long-form narrative feature project as opposed to much shorter projects/segments I've been creating using Vegas Studio Platinum 14.

To date, I have imported F55 files from internal SxS cards into a MacBook Pro (using the Sonnet card reader through Thunderbolt and Shotput Pro). What hardware/software is recommended to import from SxS into a Windows PC system that I'll have VEGAS on?

I couldn't tell from the product descriptions if and how VEGAS imports and allows use of the camera-generated timecode.

Thanks!

Brian Dzyak

www.dzyak.com

Comments

john_dennis wrote on 1/7/2018, 3:25 PM

Note Marco's response about Catalyst Browse/Prepare in this thread.

Sony's site for Catalyst software.

Marco. wrote on 1/7/2018, 4:51 PM

In general F55 XAVC files should work fine in Vegas Pro. I'm not sure about Movie Studio though. At least if the F55 files are log coded you would need Vegas Pro's floatpoint mode with ACES color management to properly decode these files (which Movie Studio doesn't offer).
Also, I'm not sure whether XAVC 4K 480 is something special which maybe would not work in Vegas Pro.

Could you offer a sample file for download?

brian-dzyak wrote on 1/7/2018, 6:38 PM

480 is the highest bitrate setting in the F55. Essentially, I want to shoot in that format (as opposed to RAW) and ideally in sLOG, but want to make sure I can post the footage in an iteration of Vegas before I begin.

Ive also never imported these files from an SxS card into anything beside a MacBook Pro so need to know that it can be done into a Windows system and into Vegas without jumping through too many hoops. The camera can shoot an MPEG proxy I could use to offline, but I’d like to online finish in Vegas as well.

Marco. wrote on 1/7/2018, 6:40 PM

It should work in Vegas Pro. If you could share a small sample file I could check and repost how it decodes the sLog type video.

brian-dzyak wrote on 1/8/2018, 2:26 PM

The best I can do right now is share the MPEG proxy file, not the full 4K file. https://spaces.hightail.com/space/EA45NZdqF3

I tried importing both the full size file and the MPEG proxy into Movie Studio 14.0 Platinum but it doesn't recognize that file type, which is annoying given that both the camera and the editing system are Sony.

OldSmoke wrote on 1/8/2018, 2:36 PM

Movie Studio 14.0 Platinum

That belongs to MAGIX and even before MAGIX bought it, there was no or at best very little cooperation between Sony and Sony Creative Software. Catalyst Browse is your best friend in such a situation.

Proud owner of Sony Vegas Pro 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 and now Magix VP15&16.

System Spec.:
Motherboard: ASUS X299 Prime-A

Ram: G.Skill 4x8GB DDR4 2666 XMP

CPU: i7-9800x @ 4.6GHz (custom water cooling system)
GPU: 1x AMD Vega Pro Frontier Edition (water cooled)
Hard drives: System Samsung 970Pro NVME, AV-Projects 1TB (4x Intel P7600 512GB VROC), 4x 2.5" Hotswap bays, 1x 3.5" Hotswap Bay, 1x LG BluRay Burner

PSU: Corsair 1200W
Monitor: 2x Dell Ultrasharp U2713HM (2560x1440)

brian-dzyak wrote on 1/8/2018, 2:44 PM

Movie Studio 14.0 Platinum

That belongs to MAGIX and even before MAGIX bought it, there was no or at best very little cooperation between Sony and Sony Creative Software. Catalyst Browse is your best friend in such a situation.


What does the mean? I can't edit in Catalyst Browse. I need to be able to import a file generated from a Sony PMW F55 into one of the iterations of Sony Vegas.

Marco. wrote on 1/8/2018, 2:51 PM

That proxy file of course works pretty fine in Vegas Pro as it is plain XDCAM HD422. But that's not what you're longing for.

I just found a source for a 4k X-AVC sample file. Downloading …

Marco. wrote on 1/8/2018, 3:21 PM

O.k. – what I got is XAVC 4k 240. You can import these kind of files in Vegas Pro and if it is coded just like the display in your proxy video shows (S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3), Vegas Pro offers an appropriate transfer function via ACES. But playback performance would suffer a lot when using the ACES color management. You could also use a LUT instead but in terms of quality I think this is not even second choice. So I'd strongly suggest testing a demo of Vegas Pro.

Movie Studio is not the way to go as it can't import such files.

brian-dzyak wrote on 1/8/2018, 3:41 PM

O.k. – what I got is XAVC 4k 240. You can import these kind of files in Vegas Pro and if it is coded just like the display in your proxy video shows (S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3), Vegas Pro offers an appropriate transfer function via ACES. But playback performance would suffer a lot when using the ACES color management. You could also use a LUT instead but in terms of quality I think this is not even second choice. So I'd strongly suggest testing a demo of Vegas Pro.

Movie Studio is not the way to go as it can't import such files.


Thank you for testing this!

The idea is that I'll shoot footage at those specs with the F55. Then offline with the MPEG proxy files (for performance quality during the offline) then go back to the full res files for online. So I could happily just apply a LUT during offline and only grade the movie later during online.

Bottom line appears to be that I need Vegas Pro (any iteration?) to be able to import those original camera files because anything less simply won't work. And like any high res HD footage, playback will be limited due to file size, BUT Vegas will at least let me create an edited version.

Thanks! The only thing left then is to find the way to import those files from SxS directly into the system that has Vegas on it.

Marco. wrote on 1/8/2018, 3:48 PM

Usually Vegas Pro would import XAVC from SxS by its internal Device Explorer. If Vegas Pro wouldn't automatically find the SxS device, you'd set the path to the SxS-Device, than Vegas Pro would automatically scan its clip folder and you could select which clips to import.

Not sure, but this half-automated workflow probably won't work if you gonna start with the proxy files. But even then you would just select to path to the proxy folder in the Vegas Explorer and drag the desired files into your project.

 

brian-dzyak wrote on 1/8/2018, 3:54 PM

Usually Vegas Pro would import XAVC from SxS by its internal Device Explorer. If Vegas Pro wouldn't automatically find the SxS device, you'd set the path to the SxS-Device, than Vegas Pro would automatically scan its clip folder and you could select which clips to import.

Not sure, but this half-automated workflow probably won't work if you gonna start with the proxy files. But even then you would just select to path to the proxy folder in the Vegas Explorer and drag the desired files into your project.

 


Sorry, I meant that more in terms of hardware. Currently I import to a MacBook Pro using a Sonnet card reader via Thunderbolt. I need an SxS card reader that will connect to my PC system using USB or something other than Thunderbolt. Once the files are imported to a local harddrive, then Vegas V? can just import from there as needed.

Marco. wrote on 1/8/2018, 4:05 PM

I see.

But you should urgently test such a workflow before. The performance drop is huge when switching to the full res files in ACES mode. You should be very sure the system is stable when rendering a project and rendering would take a very long time.

Import of that XAVC 4k 240 files also works fine in Vegas Pro 13, so I would guess it also works in Vegas Pro 12. But an S-Gamut3.Cine/SLog3 transfer function is available in Vegas Pro 15 only (and same is for native LUT import).

Also – I didn't find a download for XAVC 480 files. It's bit of guesswork they'd also import fine same as XAVC 240. Sometimes there are slight coding differences which could make such files incompatible. So we should find a way to also test XAVC 480.

Edit:
Just found XAVC 480 from the Sony AXS-R7 recording device. Downloading …

ddm wrote on 1/8/2018, 4:11 PM

You could use the MacBook and Sonnet card reader to copy the video files to an exfat external drive, or... if you have an laptop that has an Express Card slot, you can read the SxS cards directly (with sony sxs driver)... or, get an SxS reader that is compatible with a PC, they seem kinda pricey. I see an Express card to usb reader on amazon but can't say if this would work, it's only 13 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/SIIG-USB-to-ExpressCard-JU-EP0012-S1/dp/B001KUOW9O

 

Marco. wrote on 1/8/2018, 4:26 PM

This is 2k. So XAVC 2k 480 also works fine in Vegas Pro 15.

Another point to consider is which format you're going to export your final project. Though Vegas Pro supports export of 4k 10 bit 4:2:2 XAVC-I, this is limited to class 240 only (so max. 240 Mbits).