Peachrock's Multirender doesn't "do" anything as such.
It is an automation tool for Vegas itself. Anything that Vegas can render to using any template in Vegas it can do, including custom templates. That includes both sound and vision. I've used it a lot to convert from .wav to .pca and to .mp3

Bob.

Right, yeah I think I knew that.

But let me ask you if I may Bob, shouldn't I technically be able to achive what I want to by going to AVI? I thought it was lossless?

Is there anyway I could you could tell me how to set up my Peachrock to do the best HD as posible?

Thanks a million.


Joshua

"But let me ask you if I may Bob, shouldn't I technically be able to achive what I want to by going to AVI? I thought it was lossless? "

You certainly may :)
Uncompressed AVI is indeed lossless however for HD file size is HUGE. That means a massive data rate that requires serious raid arrays. On the upside CPU overhead is very low, best done with Xeon CPUs on server grade mobos.

Cineform's codecs use wavelet compression to produce a modest file size that's also easy for modern CPUs to decode.

"Is there anyway I could you could tell me how to set up my Peachrock to do the best HD as posible?"

First question is what do you mean by "the best HD possible". Somehow I doubt you'll be too happy with the best, rather you'll want a practical compromise. Once you've decide what that is in Vegas if it's not a standard template then create one.
Then setup the MultiRender to encode to the codec you've chosen using the template you've chosen or created and let it do its thing.

Bob.

Okay, thanks a lot Bob. I will go back to AVI and set it up when I need to. Right now I just downloaded Cineform HDlink. I rendered the files. They look great and it did it so fast.
But there is no audio? Any ideas what I did wrong? or does it not do the audio, which would be strange?


thanks,

peace

Are your files true AVCHD or an .h264 variant of some kind? To the best of my knowledge, Cineform does not support every variant of .h264. They have their hands full trying to keep up with the moving target from the Canon DSLR's (my joke not a statement from them) I know they are having trouble with the audio from long files output by the Go Pro Hero HD's because I have been sending reports on tests to tech support. They say they are working on it.

You might want to check their site and see if your camera is listed as supported.

Cineform is very big on community and reads forums. David is here on occasion and VERY helpful. I understand their tech support is very active in a Cineform forum on DVInfo.net. (my membership was declined for some reason at DVInfo so I can't confirm) I would pop over to that forums and talk to them. As I said, they are good folks with a great product.

KK

Thanks KK, great info as always.. will do.

I am using true AVCHD from a Sony Cx-12.

peace

Dang, that camera should be supported. Hmmmmm There just aren't that many settings to deal with. That sounds like talking to tech support. I would try this first so that you have info for them.

See if under rendering to AVI in Vegas you have the option to render to Cineform. You use uncompressed AVI, go to custom and for compression look for Cineform. Use the configure button to set it up while you are there. Make sure on the audio tab you have included audio. Do the render and see if you still have the problem. I am wondering if it is an application problem or codec.

When I render it in Vegas, the audio issues I have with Cineform are not present.

ice,

The 'no audio' problem is the Sony CX12 records ac-3 audio and Cineform and HDlink can only use PCM. You need to download and install AC3 Filter http://ac3filter.net/. Also, if you are going to do color correction using cineform files in Vegas you need to read this. http://techblog.cineform.com/?cat=76

Ed B

Thanks Ed, that saves me a lot of time searching for the answer. I downloaded the program. Now what do I do?

I imagine I have to convert the audio of all my clips to something other than AC3. I am so excited.. yet another conversion process....


peace

You don't have to convert your ac3 audio. After you install ac3 filter HDLink will use ac3 filter to convert the ac3 to PCM and your CF file will have PCM audio..

Ed B

I am so happy to hear that.

One last Q and I this post is done. Can I trust the HDLink/Cineform? Like... there are no settings really, I am going to be converting all my files to use for some big projects I am about to start.. I have never used and hardly heard of Cineform before recently.

Can I trust it and know the quality is not going to be lost.. it is going to work consistently in Vegas without going red (like mpeg files).... ?

Thanks a million.

Cineform is completely legit and you aren't going to use quality. The entire film, Slumdog Millionaire, was recorded using the Cineform codec. It is an outstanding product with outstanding support and a strong commitment to Vegas. David Newman, the chief technical officer of Cineform, is a regular participant on the Vegas forum. I wouldn't worry.

SWEET.

thanks a million everybody, seriously. You probably just added a few years to my life with this post.



peace

Where did you get this information? As far as I know, Slumdog was primarily shot on 35mm film while some portions in the slums and areas requiring high mobility were shot on the Silicon Imaging SI2K. The SI2K does use the Cineform RAW codec, but that quite a bit different than the the Cineform being discussed here.

Cineform is a very good intermediate format. It has issues just like most intermediates. Understand those failings and select accordingly. That goes for DNxHD, ProRes, Cineform, CanopusHQ, etc.

I got this information directly from David Taylor, the CEO and co-founder of Cineform. According to him, about 2/3 of the screen time in the film was Cineform and, yes, it was the Cineform RAW codec with the SI 2K camera. I suppose the more accurate statement on my part should have been, "Most of Slumdog Millionaire was shot with a Cineform codec."

ICE's question was basically about whether he could trust Cineform as a company and I answered that I thought that he could. Microsoft invested $1 million in the company a few years ago. Today Microsoft has over 1500 Terabytes of spinning storage for CineForm files that serve its Xbox Live distribution infrastructure.

In regards to SlumDog Millionaire, I can only go by what came out of the mouth of the Cinematographer and was printed in the pages of American Cinemtographer and HDVideoPro when he was interviewed. I think they used a total of 4-5 film cameras on the shoot, and used 5 different film stocks. All Fuji by the way. By his words and his comments (which I cannot quote since my magazines are at home and the online ASC doesn't have that article available), the cinematographer left the readers with the impression that the SI2K played a fairly minor role in the film. Considering that they had 4-5 film cameras on hire, from large units to the small 235, that seems to jibe. IMDB lists the cameras used and the film stocks used.

Now, as to ice's questions as to whether Cineform is trustworthy as a company, the jury is still out for me. The codec is very good and I have no issues with it. I had I believe 2 unresolved tickets with the company from some years ago when I was using it to try and finish a project. Right now, I am trying to help another forum member here with their apparently broken HDLink utility that is actually dropping frames on conversion. He's submitted a trouble ticket, and we'll see how that plays out.

I wish I could say that my experiences with the company were all positive, but they have not been. Other people have had issues, and just as surely, other people have had great success. The question here is whether we can separate the product from the company, and whether that's necessary. Microsoft has no need of Cineform's utilities as they are more than capable of creating any programming they need in house. Not all of us can do that.

For many of my small projects, I'll experiment with different codecs to see how they work out. But when I am betting the farm on something, it has to be solid. 100%. Thus I tend to stick with ISO certified codecs for big projects and have never been disappointed.

Well that seems to come back to the question of reliability for me.

Here's my problem. a 600mb AVCHD file is a 7GB Ciniform file. That more than triples the space I will need for these files. I have a total of 2.5 TB's of storage. I think I can pull it off but I would have to delete all the AVCHD files. The originals. This terrifies me. I was going to convert all my files (about 600 GB's of AVCHD) to Ciniform delete the AVCHD's and move on... now being able to drag and drop to the timeline and edit with ease.

After PerroneFords last message I now highly question my mental state in doing this. Am I totally crazy? Any ideas (that don't involve buy more storage, I am out of space and money). ?

Thanks
peace.

First, I wouldn't dream of deleting originals. Second, how are you doing these conversions? There is NO WAY a move from AVCHD to Cineform should cause an 8 fold increase in storage needs. Are you convering to Cineform high? If so, that's where the problem is. You should use medium or low.

Third, if the Cineform option doesn't work out, there are various other codecs out there that should get this done for you, including Mpeg2 at 50Mbps 4:2:2 which is a freebie inside of Vegas already.

I always use "high" compression with Cineform. Look, you can buy a 2 terrabyte 7200 RPM drive for http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=7200+rpm+hard+drive&cid=2587709966134832845&ei=-bsoTMbMBJiUwAWk2uEg&sa=title&ved=0CBkQ8wIwAzgA#paround $120[/link] these days. What's the problem?

He said he was out of money. I took him at his word.

okay... I have been on "high".. but if I switch to Medium... I am still in HD?


Thanks for everything.

Medium quality is still very good and still HD, but if you are happy with medium quality and want to save money, you can just convert to Cineform or .mxf using a batch file script like http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=716576Proxy Stream[/link].

.mxf files are much smaller than Cineform clips and it sounds like that format might actually suit you better.