Would one possible workflow be to output a HD QT file. Import that into Photoshop CS4 and from there export the TIFF sequence?

Yes, but you can do the output directly from quicktime.

You might try using the Debugmode frameserver. It should be able to create a signpost AVI file that serves uncompressed frames out of Vegas to quicktime. from there you do the TIFFs. The main advantage is that you don't use up disk space because the signpost file is very small and just serves to pass uncompressed output from Vegas to whatever application is reading the signpost file.

As Kelly said, Tiffs have lousy performance in Vegas so don't expect to bring a TIFF sequence back into Vegas when you're done. Vegas will rely on QTime to open the TIFFs which creates an extra layer of complexity in the process. PNGs will work better.

Rob Mack

does it NEED to be quicktime?

any reason you couldn't use the PNG QT codec? Same quality, fraction of the file size.

Chienworks:
> Vegas will import a TIFF sequence, but it will be slow and cumbersome. PNG or JPEG would work a lot better.

Slow - maybe, but cumbersome? JPG does not support alpha channel, so it is useless for my purposes.
When I use a TIFF sequence is when I make animations in Carrara, animations with an alpha channel. 1920x1080 is a little slow, I admit that, so I have tried 960x540 with excellent results.
How can I improve this? Do you recommend me to batch convert the TIFFs to PNGs?

ingvarai

PNGs can have alpha channels, and they work better in most any NLE, including Vegas.

A lot of older programs are built to use TIFFs.

do stiff's support alpha? I thought they didn't. tga's do & nearly everything, new and old, supports tga's.

Stiffs don't, but TIFFs do.

:O)

Usually you find that stiffs don't support anything ;-)

There's all sorts of variations on the TIFF and some support alpha. I think some even support layers (as does PNG if you're using Fireworks).

Rather than calling it an old format maybe the better word is venerable. It's been around forever and many, many programs use it. Vegas doesn't and PNG does what Vegas needs, plus it's not tied up in all sorts of patents and copyrights.

The issue for Vegas is that having to get Quicktime to interpret tiffs can be a real drag on the timeline.

Some video apps prefer TIFF’s and some PNG’s

Heroglyph loses it with PNG’s but does a good job with TIFF’S especially with mapping the same image on the same alpha channel
Boris also works better with TIFF’s “for mapping on an extrusion for example” using the 2D TIFF extrude the alpha into a 3d and map
the TIFF on the surface… bang easy, with PNG’s its another story

So when I generate my media in the graphics editor I always generate both just in case

rmack350:
The issue for Vegas is that having to get Quicktime to interpret tiffs can be a real drag on the timeline.

When my Vegas uses TIFFs as a media I can drop on the time line, just fine - does Vegas do this just because I happen to have Quicktime installed on my machine?

Yes, that's correct. However if you were to compare TIFF sequences against TGA, PNG, or JPG your would find that Vegas handles TIFF far slower than the alternatives.

Thanks to all who participated in this thread!
I can now confirm that PNG is the way to go with Vegas. I output my Carrara animations as TIFF images, run a batch automation in Photoshop to convert to PNG and use the PNG image sequence in Vegas.
Where a TIFF based media stutters and is jerky as can be, the PNG based media runs fairly smooth, a real nice discovery :-)

use something like infraview to convert the images. it will be a lot faster & easier.

Just google "irfanview" (googling "infraview" would give you night vision goggles :O).