XDcam mp4, XDcam mxf and HDV m2t all use the same MPEG2 format for their video (assuming the bitrate and frame size dimensions match) and you can in fact smart render between all three of these. In the HDV format, the audio is also data compressed and will suffer on successive generations so I avoid that. My favorite is XDcam mp4 because you can render it without audio for b-roll and it doesn't lose a stereo channel when feeding Handbrake, but XDcam mxf is a little more robust on a Vegas timeline and has higher bitrate and colorspace options.

Not a direct answer, but this might help... Here's a partial list of the types we can smart-render:

MainConcept MPEG-2, with HDV output type
Sony AVC/AAC, with AVCHD output type
Sony MXF, DV
Sony MXF, IMX
Sony MXF, HD
Sony MXF, HD422
(notably, Sony MXF HD EX does NOT smart render, neither does HDCAM-SR)
Panasonic P2 MXF
Sony XAVC, XAVC MXF output type (not XAVC-S MP4)

There are a few others I didn't list (e.g. several AVI subtypes) but I'm willing to bet that the above list are the ones you're most interested in.

Sony AVC/AAC, with AVCHD output type ?

Is this something new? It was tried in Vegas 9, but has it been resurrected?

Thanks for the replies!

So far I test rendered an MXF HD422 and the output file was not recognized my WMP, but playback in VLC was fine. When I dropped it on an 1920 HD project and rendered to the same MXF HD422 template it rerenders. On the same 1920 HD timeline when I have an HDV M2t clip and render to 1440HDV I get the no recompression required smartrender which is what I want.

I also take the final edits rendered to HDV and pull them into Architect for DVD and BluRay projects. Its faster to render them to architect DVD/Bluray formats in Vegas then bring into DVDa but I like to have DVDa do the conversion, even though it takes an extremely long time, because it will automatically maximize the bitrate and comes out crystal. So Hopefully DVDa wont have any issues with whatever new format I'm supposed to be using.

Laurence, XDcamEx looks like a good balance for final base output @35MB. it rerenders without compression and should encode to 8mbDVD/25mbBR with no noticable quality loss. Plays back in VLC but not in Win8 WMP but I assume a codec needs to be installed.... More feedback on formats that may offer benefits over going the XDcam output are appreciated!

Anyone who is using XDcam mxf really should check out the free Sony XDcam player at this link:

https://www.servicesplus.sel.sony.com/sony-software-model-PDZVX10.aspx

After you install it, go into the tools / options menu and click the tab to "use alternate renderer".

What this will give you with Sony XDcam mxf video is hands down the best computer video playback I have ever seen! It applies a bit of a sRGB to cRGB correction and if the video is interlaced, will apply an absolutely fantastic looking bob deinterlace.

If you want to see someone's jaw drop when they see your video, this is the ticket. Render to XDcam mxf and play with this software. Wow!

musicvid10,
Hmm, maybe I'm wrong about that one... I based my notes on what I found in the code and maybe that one's not actually functional?

ChrisDolan, if memory is correct the code was only working in last version known as 9.0d of VegasPro and only in that version was it deemed successful. It was disabled in final release of VegasPro 9.0e and has been disabled ever since in succeeding versions AFAIK.

i generally use mxf, but would really like it if scs brought back xdcam as a smart renderer....

"ChrisDolan, if memory is correct the code was only working in last version known as 9.0d of VegasPro and only in that version was it deemed successful. It was disabled in final release of VegasPro 9.0e and has been disabled ever since in succeeding versions AFAIK"

Actually 9c is the last version to smart render AVCHD as far as I know. I use it all the time and it often doesn't smart render when I think it should. Don't expect a very long clip to smart render all the way through.

It smart renders clips from my Sony AVCHD camera and rendered AVCHD (if not too long) but won't smart render AVCHD from Premiere Pro, VideoReDo or Smart Cutter as far as I recall.

>i generally use mxf, but would really like it if scs brought back xdcam as a smart renderer....

Yes, I used to use XDcam mp4 as well. It looked great, was relatively small, smart-rendered, absolutely flew on a Vegas timeline and would feed programs like Handbrake, Microsoft Expression Encoder and Tmpgenc. Now everything above is true except for the smart-rendering part (which was an extremely important key part).

The problem with Vegas 9 was that it would smart render right up until the first non-ref frame edit, then it would revert to full encode in order to restore GOP integrity and re-index. This continued until the end of the project.

i use exclusively .AVI, using the free Canopus HQ codec (Now Grass Valley HQ)

great for recompressing (very very low generation loss), great for smart render (no recompress when not needed), adjustable quality/file size, works with all formats (1080p, 1080i, 1080/60p..) import on any program, very fast even on slow systems.

as i love doing batch scripts, ive automated everything.

i have a batch to copy files (AVCHD cam) to hd/backup hd, a batch to convert the files to .AVI with the canopus codec (HD to HD or SD), a batch to convert the AVI to Blu-ray files, and a batch to convert AVI HD and SD files to DVD.

i like efficient stuff ;)

malowz - which variety hqx or hq?

i'm revisiting this codec cause it apparently works well in davinci...