Loading clips from HDMI Camcorder

monte1988 wrote on 10/23/2023, 5:44 PM

Hello, I am a very novice recreational video maker with older equipment looking for some help. I have Vegas 12.0 on a Win 7 PC, and have been successfully loading A/V clips recorded on a Mini DV camcorder through a firewire output jack from the Mini DV "VCR" to the DV board in my HP Paviilon PC, with the "Sony Video Capture 6.0" utility. Now I have to move on from that camcorder and into a Sony Handi-Cam, and I am looking for some guidance on how best to load clips. Ideally I would like to remain on Win 7 and Sony Vegas 13.0 but I have no idea if that is going to be possible.

The camcorder will have an HDMI output jack and the ability to take the removable memory sticks out to get onto a PC. What I don't know is what method is most practical to load clips from. Do you Vegas users have some type of capture box or card to get an HDMI "Input" onto the PC (like I had with my external ADVC110 Analog to Digital converter box used for Video tape loading)? Or do you copy the raw files from the memory stick to the PC that has Vegas installed and then "Import" the clips from the software menu? I apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge, but that notwithstanding, I am hoping someone can provide me with a direction on this. Thanks!

Comments

mark-y wrote on 10/23/2023, 6:14 PM

Transfer the files from your SDXC cards to your PC, using the import utility provided with the camcorder by Sony

RogerS wrote on 10/23/2023, 7:19 PM

How old is this Sony Handicam you are moving to?

If it's modern digital files you can just copy them over to your hard drive and then "import media" into VEGAS, no analog to digital step or HDMI input required.

monte1988 wrote on 10/23/2023, 7:39 PM

Thanks for the prompt response. I am getting the camcorder delivered Wednesday and I can confirm that it comes with the utility that was mentioned. This is a Sony FDR-AX53 HD Handycam Camcorder that I will be getting so between using the utility or copying directly to the hard drive it sounds like I won’t have to worry about “playing” the clips to load them!

Dexcon wrote on 10/23/2023, 7:39 PM

Transfer the files from your SDXC cards to your PC, using the import utility provided with the camcorder by Sony

That should be PlayMemories Home using a USB connection between the camera and computer - https://www.sony.com.au/electronics/support/articles/00018285 No addiitonal hardware is required.

Alternatively, simply remove the memory card from the camera and insert it into your computer's memory card reader and copy/paste the media to a chosen folder on your computer's HDD/SSD using Windows Explorer.

Either which way, in Vegas Pro just select the folder to which the media has been copied/transferred so that you can import to Vegas Pro's timeline.

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3POINT wrote on 10/24/2023, 12:29 AM

This is a Sony FDR-AX53 HD Handycam Camcorder that I will be getting so between using the utility or copying directly to the hard drive it sounds like I won’t have to worry about “playing” the clips to load them!

This is a 4k camcorder, when your PC is as old as you described (Vegas12 on Win7 PC), you will have severe problems to edit and render the 4k footage from that camera on your PC. Copying the files from the camera to that PC as already mentioned, is no problem.

RogerS wrote on 10/24/2023, 12:41 AM

I think VEGAS Pro 12 creates proxy files for all 4K footage. It will take forever but should work (I suffered with this workflow until getting a modern laptop and VP 15 to go with it).

Dexcon wrote on 10/24/2023, 1:10 AM

I think VEGAS Pro 12 creates proxy files for all 4K footage.

Yes, that's right. Proxy file creation is listed in VP12's user manual as being a new feature. In both VP12 and VP13, video events need to be R-clicked in the Project Media window and the 'create video proxy' option selected in the context menu that opens..

Cameras: Sony FDR-AX100E; GoPro Hero 11 Black Creator Edition

Installed: Vegas Pro 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22, HitFilm Pro 2021.3, DaVinci Resolve Studio 19.0.3, BCC 2025, Mocha Pro 2025.0, NBFX TotalFX 7, Neat NR, DVD Architect 6.0, MAGIX Travel Maps, Sound Forge Pro 16, SpectraLayers Pro 11, iZotope RX11 Advanced and many other iZ plugins, Vegasaur 4.0

Windows 11

Dell Alienware Aurora 11:

10th Gen Intel i9 10900KF - 10 cores (20 threads) - 3.7 to 5.3 GHz

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB GDDR6 - liquid cooled

64GB RAM - Dual Channel HyperX FURY DDR4 XMP at 3200MHz

C drive: 2TB Samsung 990 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD

D: drive: 4TB Samsung 870 SATA SSD (used for media for editing current projects)

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F: drive: 6TB WD 7200 rpm Black HDD 3.5"

Dell Ultrasharp 32" 4K Color Calibrated Monitor

 

LAPTOP:

Dell Inspiron 5310 EVO 13.3"

i5-11320H CPU

C Drive: 1TB Corsair Gen4 NVMe M.2 2230 SSD (upgraded from the original 500 GB SSD)

Monitor is 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz

3POINT wrote on 10/24/2023, 5:45 AM

I think VEGAS Pro 12 creates proxy files for all 4K footage. It will take forever but should work (I suffered with this workflow until getting a modern laptop and VP 15 to go with it).

That's what I meant, when PC is from the age of DV editing, it will make no fun editing 4k on that PC, despite the ability of proxy creation. Also rendering will take ages.

monte1988 wrote on 10/24/2023, 6:45 PM

I understand what you are saying…will have to see how those 4k video files work with the of PC and Win 7.0. I don’t want to make any hardware and software changes until I know what I am up against. I may ultimately have to modernize though.

john_dennis wrote on 10/24/2023, 11:36 PM

For your new camcorder:

Buy 4 of these

SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO UHS-I SDXC Memory Card

or these

SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO UHS-I SDXC Memory Card

and 1 of these

Sony UHS-II SD Memory Card Reader

3POINT wrote on 10/25/2023, 12:07 AM

I understand what you are saying…will have to see how those 4k video files work with the of PC and Win 7.0. I don’t want to make any hardware and software changes until I know what I am up against. I may ultimately have to modernize though.

It's an huge step from DV to 4k video. To enjoy 4k, your whole video chain should be suitable for 4k. Means camera, editing PC and viewing display. Even on a suitable editing PC, 4k video editing with Vegas can be a disappointment, this forum is full of those issues.

Nevertheless, I wish you all the fun/success with your new 4k camcorder.

set wrote on 10/25/2023, 1:38 AM

The most important is knowing your camcorder's recording codec. For Sony FDR-AX53, as I found here:

https://www.sony-asia.com/electronics/handycam-camcorders/fdr-ax53/specifications

Sony's Playmemories can recognize and copy to drive.

Other option, you can also try experiment with free Sony Catalyst Browse.

 

Oh, btw, even though probably 'late'..., as you said previously, have to move on from 'Mini-DV camcorder and firewire-based tape-to-HDD transfer': allow me to welcome you to tapeless-era of video recording. The transfer step from camcorder to PC will be surely a huge-faster for you!

If, in case you haven't ready for 4K-resolution XAVC-S codec especially on the editing side, you have the option for lower resolution, to XAVC-S HD, or even more classic AVCHD. Of course you will miss the opportunity of 4K higher resolution, but at least, no matter what recreational video project you do, you still can get going enjoying your new camcorder and continue doing editing with the classic Vegas Pro 12 / 13.

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monte1988 wrote on 10/25/2023, 10:16 AM

Thank you John_Dennis for the purchasing suggestions, that is very helpful. And thanks "Dexcon:, for the Play Memories link! Also "set", thanks for the information on the Codec and the information on lower resolution options. I will probably take that advice, because the recreational viceos I do will include some iPhone video clips and some leftover Mini-DV clips as well as new clips from the new Handi-Cam, so it won't be immediately necessary to have 4K video clips imported into Vegas 12. As a very "entry level" user of the Vegas product, I REALLY appreciate the help and guidance from the forum users!!

andyrpsmith wrote on 10/25/2023, 10:59 AM

I would really urge you to to film all your video in XAVCS 4K as you can produce lower resolution output in Vegas until in the future you decide that 4K is what you will use. I have had my Sony camera which uses the same XAVC since 2015 and initially output HD to burn BluRay discs to play on my HD TV. This worked well and now I have a 4K OLED LG TV (best TV I have ever had) and can now go back and convert my BluRay HD video by just loading the Vegas projects and changing the time line to 4K and out put to USB to play in 4K - which looks great. (you cannot do this if you have just recorded your bare footage in HD). Also never delete the original video from your SD cards keep it as your first backup, 128GB SD cards are quite cheap now. Vegas works well with 4K XAVC footage and you can use proxy files if your PC needs to.

Last changed by andyrpsmith on 10/25/2023, 11:03 AM, changed a total of 4 times.

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monte1988 wrote on 10/25/2023, 11:20 AM

Andyrpsmith, thanks that is good advice. I will 100% be accessing footage I take in 2023 many years from now and this strategy preserves that option. Also I had intended to save the original footage on the memory sticks because they are economical (way cheaper than Mini DV tapes for a comparable amount of storage). This camcorder says you can record in "dual mode" so it apparently duplicates the footage in 4k and a lower resolution. I will try to experiment with 4k footage alone and see if Sony Vegas gives me any problems but maybe this dual mode would be worth trying.

john_dennis wrote on 10/25/2023, 4:37 PM

@monte1988

I'm not sure when Sony cameras started creating proxies in-camera, but my RX10-IV creates files like this in addition to the 100Mb/s UHD files:

General
Complete name                            : D:\_Photos\2020\2020-08-26 Black Belt\Proxy\C0005.MP4
Format                                   : XAVC
Codec ID                                 : XAVC (XAVC/mp42/iso2)
File size                                : 148 MiB
Duration                                 : 2 min 14 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 9 258 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS
Encoded date                             : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L4
Format settings                          : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 2 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 2 min 14 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 8 676 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 16.0 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.314
Stream size                              : 139 MiB (94%)
Encoded date                             : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Metas                                    : 3
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 2 min 14 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 128 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 2.05 MiB (1%)
Encoded date                             : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC

Other
ID                                       : 3
Type                                     : meta
Format                                   : rtmd
Codec ID                                 : rtmd
Duration                                 : 2 min 14 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Encoded date                             : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2020-08-27 00:41:03 UTC

If you find editing UHD too much for your current hardware and Vegas version, you might be able to use camera proxies for editing and render UHD while you're on vacation. You might find the proxies look good enough for some uses, like sharing for smart phone viewing.

monte1988 wrote on 10/25/2023, 6:15 PM

Hmmm, not sure about this...there is a function on this camera I mentioned before that does "dual record" and creates a 4k video and a lower resolution version at the same time. I am thinking this is sort of like what you are saying here?