OK,

I have an hour and twenty minute video on the Vegas 8 timeline that I shot with my EX1 and edited from mxf footage created with the Sony Clip Browser with a little bit of color correction. Before I downconvert it (with Procoder 3) I am rendering an .mxf intermediate file.

After 7 1/2 hours it is only 23% done. Estimate is over 30 hours !

Seems pretty insane.

John

If you're going to continue to put long GOP HD files on the timeline, get used to that kind of render time. Avoid Magic Bullet effects because they'll double that time easy.

Cliff and I and others have preached it until we are at wit's end about these workflows but it seems the only time people pay any attention is when their project is in the toilet or things go sideways.

Personally, I'm done with it. I wish the best to all of you. The answers to these problems are in the archives.

Contrast that with the same project using Cineform and better yet, Cineform Neo HD and Firstlight for color correction. You'll get super fast previews and renders. I have no doubt I'll be back on Cineform as soon as this bug (that I can only use HD Link generated clips) is sorted out. The Matrox VFW codec looks really good as well.

If you're going to continue to put long GOP HD files on the timeline, get used to that kind of render time. Avoid Magic Bullet effects because they'll double that time easy.
====================================================================


Laurence started a thread entitled "Using .mxf instead of Cineform for now" so I tried it. Why am I getting a lecture when I discover that render times are too long?
I edit .mxf and frameserve them to Procoder or Virtual Dub or render them to Mpeg 2 and don't get render times anywhere near that thus, the statement If you're going to continue to put long GOP HD files on the timeline, get used to that kind of render time. isn't quite accurate, is it? I guess it depends upon what you are rendering to doesn't it?

John

The Matrox VFW codec looks really good as well.
======================
How is that listed? I installed the VFW codecs, but it isn't listed in the video format drop down list for any of the avi templates. Matrox Uncompressed HD and Matrox Offline HD are listed, but not Matrox VFW.


John

Yes John, it depends on what you are rendering to. But long GOP on the timeline causes myriads of problems including memory issues,and longer render times. I didn't mean to "lecture you" as much as I meant to vent frustration. Your's just happened to be the post I clicked reply on.

It should be listed as Matrox Mped-2 I-Frame. If you don't have these options, you likely got an old version of the codecs. Matrox really has not done a good job of removing older versions and keeping new one in an easy to find place.

It should be listed as Matrox Mped-2 I-Frame. If you don't have these options, you likely got an old version of the codecs.
=====================
OK, I see it. There are two:

1. Matrox MPEG-2 I-frame

2. Matrox MPEG 2 I-frame HD

I assume it is the second one. I'll try it Perrone.

Thanks,

John

>Matrox MPEG 2 I-frame HD

When I try this option it will render fine from 32 bit Vegas, but if I try to play it with any media player software, all I see is black. The same thing when I import it back into Vegas. Nothing but black where the video is supposed to be. My test render was 1280x720x29.97p.

> There are some older versions of the codec out there that have caused issues for some folks. Be sure to get the latest ones.

I'm having no luck playing back this codec or using the renders in Vegas. Since you have the MX02 Mini, my guess is that you have playback codecs that installed with the MX02 system that any of us who try the free VFW codec don't have access to.

Matrox MPEG 2 I-frame HD

================
Just tried this Laurence. Got the exact same results. VLC Media player says it doesn't recognize the proprietary Matrox file, WMP shows black, Vegas timeline shows black as well.
My test render was 1920 x 1080 x 29.97.

John


EDIT: I just tried the Matrox Uncompressed HD codec. That one worked. Maybe Perrone meant that one?

No,

I used the Matrox codecs before I got the MXO2. In fact, when I installed Avid and the MX02, it broke my ability to use them in other apps because the Avid version of the codecs is different than the commonly available ones.

I still have the original codecs loaded on my non Avid machines though and it works great.

Let me know if you need them, I can email them to you.

No, not the uncompressed one. I think you guys are not getting the right codec. Lemme see if I can push this thing somewhere for you.

[Edit]

Ok, I've got a YouSendIt package ready to go. Give me email addresses and I'll send it out.

While waiting to hear back from Perrone, I downloaded the older version of the Matrox VFW codecs (there are only two versions). I got the same results.

Meanwhile I went to the Matrox forum and found this:

Poster:

I am trying to install the VFW Software Codec pack on a Win7 64 machine that I use for After Effects. It seems to install just fine but when I try to play a Matrox file the I captured with my RTX2 card, all I see is a blank screen in Windows Media Player. I can hear the audio, but I can't see the video. Is there another step I need to do to get this to work? Or another download maybe? I need to be able to digitize on one machine and do After Effects on another, how can I get this to work?

Answer from the Motrox Support Team Forum Moderator



John

I think that is an old version.

The current version can be found here.

Mark

Sorry, yes the link posted earlier is the right one:

http://www.matrox.com/video/en/support/windows/vfw_software_codecs/downloads/softwares/version1.0/


Did you restart your machine after installing?

The only reason I tried the old version is because the newer one didn't work. I got the same results as Laurence in both cases. I restarted the machine both times as well. In the programs folder there is a settings menu. None of the settings made any difference.

Both versions (VFWCodecs_10.exe - (newest) and VFWCodecs.exe (older) are available for download here.

Perrone was kind enough to upload the older file to YouSendIt. Thanks Perrone. It matches the older version I linked. But I did try it with the same results. Audio only - no video in Vegas or WMP. But I do appreciate you taking the time to upload it for Laurence and I.

John

I'm sorry guys. I really don't know why it's not working for you unless you are using only Vegas 64bit. That's all I can think of. In Vegas 32 bit, it should work like gangbusters.

I tried both 32bit and 64bit versions of Vegas. I believe that it's not working because playback with this codec is tied to the Matrox hardware.