ProRes in Vegas Pro 13 - Ready to try anything.

MarkHolmes wrote on 6/17/2015, 6:44 PM

OK, so at my wits end here. Using an NX1, footage transcoded to ProRes in EditReady, trying to import the ProRes files into Vegas. The files import only as audio, with a message in Vegas Explorer stating "Video: Stream Attributes Could Not Be Determined."
I have uninstalled Vegas and reinstalled. I have uninstalled Quicktime several times and reinstalled. I have installed older, and newer versions of Quicktime. I have done a manual (ctrl-shift) reset of Vegas. I have scoured these forums, DVINFO, Creative Cow forums.
I'm now thinking complete reinstall of Windows 7 is in order. Any other suggestions?
And if I reinstall Windows and Vegas Pro (and Quicktime) are there any suggestions for installation workflow, order of installs, etc., to end up with Vegas Pro that can accept Quicktime files on the timeline...

Comments

Pawel Janaszkiewicz wrote on 6/17/2015, 7:35 PM

Try this https://support.apple.com/kb/DL2?locale=pl_PL
I can import prores files to VP12 but only few. Whe i try to put on timeline over 1 hour prores files VP12 crashes.

MarkHolmes wrote on 6/17/2015, 7:38 PM

Tried this several times. It aborts install and says there is a newer version of the decoder or Quicktime installed. Thanks anyhow.

Steve_Rhoden wrote on 6/17/2015, 8:15 PM

By now, you should realize that the the problem is actually with those ProRes
files that has been transcoded, why are you fighting your system, no amount of
re-installations are gonna yield any better results!
Go back to the source files from that NXI and start there!

Former user wrote on 6/17/2015, 9:18 PM

I have to go with Steve on this one. You are using a Windows machine, you will get better results using a Windows Happy File.

musicvid10 wrote on 6/17/2015, 9:54 PM

ProRes and Windows NLE applications have never been the best of friends.
Something struck me as a bit odd though, as if ProRes was the only lossless export from EditReady. So I looked at the user manual, and sure enough:

Problem solved, I would guess.

OldSmoke wrote on 6/17/2015, 9:54 PM

If you can, use XAVC Intra; these play great in Vegas and are 422.

MarkHolmes wrote on 6/18/2015, 1:08 AM

The DNXHD only transcodes to 1980p - don't want to lose the 4K since I plan to crop into it, so that's not an option.
OldSmoke - I've been searching for a way to get the footage to XAVC-S - love that codec for both Windows and Macs. Anyone have any ideas for how to get h.265 transcoded to XAVC?

OldSmoke wrote on 6/18/2015, 4:21 AM

Have you tried Catalyst Browse or Prepare?

MarkHolmes wrote on 6/18/2015, 1:37 PM

Catalyst Prepare, which I tried during a 30-day trial, can transcode ProRes to XAVCS, but won't do anything with h.265. So I would have to transcode first in Edit Ready, then in Catalyst. So a two hour show would take up almost two days of computer computer time - unacceptable.
And $200 for a program that does little more than transcode is ridiculous... EditReady, which does what Prepare does, is $50. The Catalyst "Suite" should all be $199, $99 as an upgrade for Sony Vegas users, imho.
FCPX, which does far more than all the Catalyst programs combined, is $299.That pricing makes sense.
Bottom line, Sony Vegas should be able to play back ProRes....

NormanPCN wrote on 6/18/2015, 2:42 PM

"Bottom line, Sony Vegas should be able to play back ProRes.... "

Your ProRes problem may be with your specific ProRes files.

I have played some ProRes files in Vegas. Some BlackMagic 4K and some ProRes that I rendered myself from Vegas via Frameserving to ffmpeg.

ProRes in Vegas is via Quicktime, which is Apple, which is using the Apple decoder. Apple decoders are very finicky about muxer chunk sizes with regards to ProRes files. Other decoders don't much really care so it seems. I'm not stating this is the problem but it is a known thing.

One question would be does the Quicktime player play those files. If yes, then QT is accepting the file(s) and then that leaves the Vegas<-> QT interface.

Silverglove wrote on 6/18/2015, 3:33 PM

I edit in V13 every day using ProRes. Check your source media
I'm running Windows 8 on the latest 8 core MacPro via bootcamp, but shouldn't make a difference. I do have the Avid DNXHD codec installed.

Silverglove wrote on 6/18/2015, 3:45 PM

Also, I have Calibrated{Q} XD Decode installed.

FYI: http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll6/silverglove1/prores_zpsobzw8yvu.jpg

Steve_Rhoden wrote on 6/18/2015, 4:05 PM

"Bottom line, Sony Vegas should be able to play back ProRes"

Bottom Line, Vegas handles ProRes format quite well. I work with them on a daily bases.
And im handling broadcast content.
As i told you before, EditReady transcoding of them is where your problem lies...

astar wrote on 6/18/2015, 6:17 PM

Would it be possible for the NX1 owner to post a 5 sec 4k sample file from the camera? I would like to try some conversion attempts.

balazer wrote on 6/19/2015, 1:44 AM

Vegas handles Quicktime files horribly. Quicktime for Windows maps the levels incorrectly and decodes with low precision, causing bad banding.

If you care about video quality, transcode or remux to another format that Vegas can read natively.

MarkHolmes wrote on 6/19/2015, 8:20 PM

Well, I finally figured it out. And you all are right - not the fault of Vegas. Turns out Vegas won't recognize ProRes directly exported out of EditReady. However, once I put those same ProRes files into Apple Compressor, and exported back out in the exact same format (ProRes 422 LT) they played back fine. And the Compressor export was a real-time encode - 30 minutes per 30 minute file - so not too time consuming or cumbersome.
Thanks for all the input, all!
And what a pleasure to be back in Vegas. I had struggled to do the project in FCPX, which has its advantages, but no NLE I've ever used compares to the speed and intuitive nature of Sony Vegas.
Thanks again!

ddm wrote on 6/20/2015, 12:40 PM

>>>And what a pleasure to be back in Vegas. I had struggled to do the project in FCPX, which has its advantages, but no NLE I've ever used compares to the speed and intuitive nature of Sony Vegas

Ain't that the truth.

Steve_Rhoden wrote on 6/20/2015, 3:23 PM

I've been telling you all along, that the problem is derived from EditReady from the
moment you made your first post.... Anyway, glad you found a solution!

MarkHolmes wrote on 6/20/2015, 3:54 PM

My hat is off to you Steve. You were right all along. This whole experience has me looking at Sony cams that shoot XAVC-S. The hours wasted on transcoding workflow on my last project is ridiculous. Looks like maybe the AX 100 is my next camera.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 6/21/2015, 9:03 AM

I've said this before but it's worth repeating...

If you edit on Windows you should acquire you footage on Windows.

If you edit on a Mac you should acquire you footage on a Mac.

You should never acquire on a Mac and edit on Windows or acquire on Windows and edit on a Mac. This is just asking for trouble as the two platforms have totally different native formats.

~jr

Len Kaufman wrote on 6/21/2015, 11:12 AM

I had a number of issues with similar files and Vegas. All of my problems went away when I installed the Quicktime Alternative (after removing Quicktime).
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/quicktime_alternative.htm

Len Kaufman wrote on 6/21/2015, 11:19 AM

See this earlier discussion. Though you seem to have solved your problem with extra steps, this discussion may prove useful to you. It did for me.
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/showmessage.asp?forumid=4&messageid=914735

MarkHolmes wrote on 6/23/2015, 1:04 PM

Thanks Len - I read that thread during my attempts to get the footage to play. Unfortunately uninstalling all elements of Quicktime and installing Quicktime didn't help.
Johnny - I agree with this now! Ultimately, the way for me moving forward is to simply work with cameras that record to Sony Vegas friendly codecs, I've also found that Vegas handles 4K XAVC-S really well.