Original post updated (AVCHD, MP4). Thanks for the idea...I kinda figured I'd have to roll a custom script or the like...those seem like a good starting point.

You might look at VideoRedo (TVsuite or Pro versions) to trim AVC coded clips without unnecessary recoding. That is just what it is designed to do.

Vegas would need to re-encode your source.
A muxer as suggested above is the way to pre-trim Long-GOP source.

Answering my own question, since I got sick of editing video and needed to write some proof on concept code.

Theory:
Use TXMuxer http://www.videohelp.com/software/tsMuxeR (on a ACVHD file only.) Txmuxer seems to have a clipping function that seems to skip recoding.

Trying to make it quick for myself:
1) In trimmer, create subclip, name it "z"
2) Hit keyboard shortcut to run my hacky script below.
3) script searches media pool for media named "z".
4) script uses the start/length properties of the subclip. Build a file to feed to txmuxer that it can digest with proper params.
5) Wait a few moments (seems to depend on the speed of my disk)
6) Txmuxer outputs file.
7) Do some renaming/moving.
8) Run a SQL update query on media manager.
9) Profit.

NOTE - script is not complete. Doesn't do 7/8/9.

warning, cobbled-together in 1 hour code ahead

using System;

using System.IO;

using System.Windows.Forms;

using System.Text;

using System.Collections;

using System.Windows.Forms;

using System.Globalization;

using System.Diagnostics;

using Sony.Vegas;



class EntryPoint

{

    public void FromVegas(Vegas vegas)

    {



        foreach (Media media in vegas.Project.MediaPool)

        {

            // only add the effect if the media object has video

            if (!media.HasVideo())

                continue;

            

            //first, create a subclip named "z"

            //probably only works with MTS files

            if (media.IsSubclip() && media.FilePath == "z")

            {

                Subclip s = (Subclip)media;

                Media parent = s.ParentMedia;

                //MessageBox.Show(parent.FilePath + " " + s.Start.ToMilliseconds().ToString() + " " + s.Length.ToMilliseconds().ToString());



                //dunno if this is all right

                string muxtemplate = string.Format(@"MUXOPT --no-pcr-on-video-pid --new-audio-pes --vbr  --cut-start={1}ms --cut-end={2}ms --vbv-len=500

V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC, ""{0}"", insertSEI, contSPS, track=4113

A_AC3, ""{0}"", track=4352", parent.FilePath, s.Start.ToMilliseconds(), s.Start.ToMilliseconds() + s.Length.ToMilliseconds()); //probably some track= params here may not work for every file.



                //MessageBox.Show(muxtemplate);



                string muxfilename = @"E:\Vegas\Scripting\tsMuxeR\muxtemplate.meta";

                File.WriteAllText(muxfilename, muxtemplate);



                //fire the tsmuxer process

                ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();

                psi.UseShellExecute = false;

                psi.FileName = @"E:\Vegas\Scripting\tsMuxeR\tsMuxeR.exe";

                psi.Arguments = muxfilename + @" C:\temp\foo.ts"; //TODO: move this the source directory, overwrite chubby media, and hope this didn't screw up royally

                psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;

                psi.CreateNoWindow = true;

                Process p = new Process();

                p.StartInfo = psi;

                p.Start();

                string line = string.Empty;

                while (!p.StandardOutput.EndOfStream)

                {

                    line += p.StandardOutput.ReadLine();

                }

                MessageBox.Show(line);



                if (p.ExitCode == 0)

                {

                    MessageBox.Show("clipped clip created");

                    MediaPool mp = vegas.Project.MediaPool;

                    MessageBox.Show(s.KeyString);

                    //mp.Remove(s.KeyString); //remove the "z" subclip

                }

                else

                {

                    MessageBox.Show("boom");

                }



                //move the file around, update media manager SQL database,

                //SQL: update property set valuelong=SOMENUMBERTHATLOOKSLIKEMICROSECONDS where itemid=(select itemid from item where fullpath='the media path') and propertytypeid=34      ---34 is the duration property

                //probably no way to refresh MM programmatically

                //probably can do some creative file management to rename the original file safely, etc.



                return;



                



            }



        }

    }



}

The latest version of Vegasaur (2.4) supports Smart Trimming. Worth a try to see if it works for your footage. It makes use of FFmpeg.

wwaag

Thanks wwaag. I'm a long time Vegas User, but only use it 40hrs a year or less for a yearly personal project...so I won't invest the dollars....though I should to save my time! ...The scripting is fun though.

The scripting is fun though.

Agreed. Here is a thread (actually current) that you may find of interest. http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/showmessage.asp?messageid=932826

wwaag