Really incompetent considering this is their own camera and codec. I believe it's now working in Edius, Premiere CC and Final Cut 10. Come on Sony...

Subject: RE: New Build 444
Reply by: bhc
Date: 4/25/2015 6:55:23 PM

For those unable to import XAVC-L footage into build 444, I suggest you try updating to the latest camera firmware. I have a PXW-X180 and footage shot with the latest 2.0 firmware does important successfully, but footage shot on earlier 1.0 and 1.1 firmware does not.

I have contacted SCS about the issues importing some footage and they are investigating.

Reply ;
Subject: RE: New Build 444
Reply by: videoITguy
Date: 4/26/2015 8:00:56 AM

to bhc: Yes the Long Gop Fix reported to improve with x180 camera now in new firmware - HOWEVER for x70 camera owners - there is still no joy.

I ended up using the Catalyst Prepare trial to convert my clips to XDCAM 4:2:2 1080p (not available in Catalyst Browse). XDCAM imports into Sony Vegas without the black levels being raised which is a problem I have when converting from XAVC to XAVC in Catalyst browse. I hope Sony fixes these issues before my free trial runs out. At $199 Catalyst Prepare is overpriced and transcoding eats up a lot of time.

Update: Turns out that Catalyst Prepare does not suffer the black level shift when exporting to XAVC like in the free Catalyst Browse.

So I decided to run a test exporting the same clip to both XDCAM 4:2:2 50mbps and XAVC Intra. Both of them were converted from 1080 60p to 1080 30p.

The XAVC actually looks little better and when I examine the blue only channel in greyscale there is more blockiness in the XDCAM export.

There may never be editing support for that format. Sony's direction seems to going away from direct editing of camera formats, and directing people to the catalyst prepare -> Edit > to whatever is next.

You might try your test with exports to HDCAM-SR-lite 4:2:2, that codec seems very well optimized in Vegas as an intermediate. The bit rate is much higher however, 220mbs for 30p and 440mbs for 60p

XAVX-Intra is probably the best workflow at 100mbs.

That X70 is branded an XDCAM camera, but does not seem to actually record XDCAM. hmm. Is Sony branding the XAVC as XDCAM for TV reasons?

"XAVX-Intra is probably the best workflow at 100mbs."

I think you're right but hopefully Sony will solve the XAVC-L issues in Vegas so I can avoid transcoding at all.

I managed to convert my AX100 4K files to XDCAM 422 1080 29.97p with Catalyst Browse; it does not do 59.94p.

Well damn! If I knew this little tidbit of information I would have gone for the Panasonic X1000 4K cam instead of the X70.

We make fun of other NLE platform users when they tell us they have to transcode footage to edit, now we are in the crappy predicament with Vegas. VERY UNCOOL!!! C'mon Sony, pull your finger out and get this sorted out quick smart!

Spend most of the night trying to get X70 clips converted in Catalyst Browse and Catalyst Prepare on two different computers and it crashed almost everytime.

Finally broke down and downloaded the Premiere Pro and Media Encoder CC trial. Works perfectly. Footage plays back smooth as butter on the timeline and conversion are quick.

If I were Sony I'd be embarrassed.

Converting in Catalyst apps like Prepare is going to have a lot to do with hardware. You literally are not able to optimize a VegasPro 13 app and Prepare app with the same hardware config. The lesson is to establish certain custom workstations for each.

Downloaded Catalyst Prepare trial yesterday to see what the go was... Oh man this process took ages. It didn't crash on me but even on a 6 month old high-spec editing workstation, it felt like it was transcoding in real time. This whole transcoding step reminds of 2007, when we first switched to AVCHD cameras and had to transcode proxy rushes because our PCs were struggling to edit raw MTS files.

I also found that the clips I did mange to get converted using Catalyst Prepare to XAVC Intra were jerky on playback after rendering. Has anyone ever noticed this issue with XAVC in Sony Vegas? My working solution now is to convert everything in Adobe Media Encoder CC to XDCAM 4:2:2 and then edit in Vegas. Everything renders out fine that way.

By the way Adobe CC has 30 days free trial for anyone waiting on Sony.

So I went ahead and bought Catalyst Prepare; had some "left over" money from a project.
I used Marc's sample clip from the X70 and converted it to XAVC Intra 59.94p using Catalyst Browse and Prepare. I put both in VP13 on top of each other and use the track mute switch to see the difference between the two files in the scopes. In my opinion, the difference is minimal but others may think differently. The results are here.


Catalyst Browse

Catalyst Prepare

Edit:
@Mark
Try and use CPU only when transcoding. I hope we are not seeing again GPU issues with the new Catalyst products.

Catalyst product suite is built to take in special GPU processing - Note how the installation guides you through the app requirements. You really cannot in all practicality really dismiss the Catalyst and say it as a viable product in CPU cycle alone.

Your link set above is not viable at the moment this is written.

[I]Catalyst product suite is built to take in special GPU processing - Note how the installation guides you through the app requirements. You really cannot in all practicality really dismiss the Catalyst and say it as a viable product in CPU cycle alone.[/I]

Not sure what you mean. Can you elaborate?

P.S: I put the images up instead of the link.

Oldsmoke,

Your test is as it should be since the black level shift bug is only in Catalyst Browse. It does not affect Catalyst Prepare.

The problem with Prepare is it crashes all the time when converting (at least for me and some others on the forums). Also you have to pay $200 for it.

Last night I converted 307 clips in Adobe Media encoder CC trial. It was faster and without a single crash.

Thanks for the pics upload Oldsmoke, good info that you show.

I am referring to the basis of the Catalyst suite installer. Like all installers they are built with a certain interrogation technique of the install method and final destination outcomes. Of course depending on your platform hardware and OS, the GUI that you see will vary. But indeed it is built to find out if it can be supported by the GPU that you are pitting it against.
The reason for this is very clear - you need the GPU to be beefy.

videoITguy

I still don't quite follow. The installation of Catalyst Prepare was uneventful; no questions asked what so ever. I can see both of my R9 290 under the options but only one can be used and you can also select CPU only mode. Not much different from Vegas. To be honest, aside from additional codecs/options it isn't much different from Catalyst Browse.

Like I just stated, it is difficult for the end-user to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes of a given installer. It appears (as one would expect) that your given config met the tolerances of the spec. Someone who has a more problematic system will get a different view.
Honestly I don't know how tight the installer actually is. There is always a leeway allowed so that most users get a favorable experience. But I for one, in my testing did find that it is programmed much more specifically than Vegas. In fact for Vegas the tolerance is very loose and it can be installed pretty much everywhere. Just when it comes to efficiency do you see how Vegas can break.

Mark,

I am glad Adobe Media Encoder works for you but eventually you have to pay for that too. I still don't see a valid reason why not to use Catalyst Browse. The difference is unnoticeable unless you have a better sample that shows a more visible difference.

Oldsmoke,

You don't seem to be understanding the issue here.

1. You made a test with a single file in Catalyst Prepare and Browse and then claimed there is no black level problem when bringing the files into Sony Vegas.

2. You are right there is no black level problem when using Catalyst Prepare.

3. The black level issue only affects Catalyst Browse and only when doing a batch transcode to XAVC Intra.

4. On my system and others on the forums both Catalyst Prepare and Catalyst Browse are unstable and crash repeatedly during transcodes.

Don't know how much clearer I can be about the issue.