Need advice on converting Canon 5D / 7D .mov files

Ros wrote on 9/11/2009, 6:29 PM

I have been looking on the net for quite a while on ways to manage Canon 5D MKII .mov files. I don't own the 5D, but will most likely take the jump into the Canon 7D.

I was wondering if there are any consensus about using these files in Vegas 9.

I only have few raw footage shots from the 7D, so I am not able to do proper intensive testing. I am also concerned about batch converting these .mov files either with a script on the Vegas timeline or any other utility.

Did some quick test with a raw 1920 x 1080 24p file from the 7D and used Mpeg Streamclip and converted to .avi: looked great but slightly darker at 50% and look like the original at 100% quality but a huge file.

I also tried converting to .mxf HD422 50Mbps: looked just like the original.

A while ago, I had tried NeoScene with Vegas 8, but then after installing NeoScene, Vegas became corrupted and I had to reinstalled the entire Vegas package. So I stayed away from NeoScene....

Thanks,

Rob

Comments

Ros wrote on 9/29/2009, 4:08 PM

I guess I have found the answer to my problem and here it is if this can help anyone.

I found this amazing script from: http://sony.vegas.1.free.fr
The script is: Proxy Stream[1.0c]

There seem to be a bug if you try to use proxies in V9, but then again, it will let you batch convert your Canon .mov to .mxf.
In this case I have converted the files to mxf HD422 50Mbps.

The file is size is about 40% bigger than the original file with no color shift and outstanding quality. I haven't tried 35Mbps but that should also be good if filesize needs to be kept smaller.

The batch processing is just great since it brings up only one event at the time on the timeline to convert, thus avoiding crashing the system with to many .mov files on the timeline.

So that will most likely be my way to go until something better comes up!

Andy_L wrote on 10/2/2009, 8:11 AM

I have been working with ContourHD video, which also wraps H.264 in .mov files, and came across this fix which you might be interested in:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eos-5d-mk-ii-hd/139418-vegas-workflow-2.html

The trick is to use Quicktime Pro to re-wrap the video as mp4 using the "passthrough" option to avoid re-encoding. Once you do this, Vegas will (hopefully) see the original dynamic range of the file, rather than a clipped version.

The problem is complex, and varies depending on windows OS version and applications. But if you start noticing brightness/clipping inconsistencies, give it a try.

FrigidNDEditing wrote on 10/2/2009, 11:46 AM

I'd give my suggestion to GearShift from VASST
or
One of the Cineform options

Dave

Ros wrote on 10/2/2009, 12:29 PM

Thanks Andy!

I will definitely look into it, sounds great!

Rob