Excellent news however I hope you're dragging the mp4 containers and not the mpeg-2 files!

Bob.

excellent Brian ! I wanted to take some shots of it going up from over here in the west coast of Fl. can actually see it from my window, but got involved in something and remembered at 3 oclock. Man was i pissed !!

Yes mpeg4 containers.

Rob, thats a good question. It is a bit of a pain having to open each subdirectory. This needs more investigation for sure.

Whats up Eric. I need to call you soon.

Does any of the metadata show up on the timeline?

I've seen this work with Vegas and XDCAM. Would be real nice if it worked with XDCAM EX.

Bob.

Bob, I haven't check the metadata, but I believe it is the same as with the .mxf files.

Did some more testing with the EX1 and noticed that you can grab your files from the device explorer and then it will copy them onto your hard drive to the Imported Media folder. Your file will be renamed like this: ex1A0026_01_20080512_173402.MP4 (original file name from the SxS: ex1A0026_01.MP4)

You can also slide each mp4 files from the SxS card right to the timeline and edit from the SxS card, (haven't done extensive testing yet) saving you the time it takes to copy the files to your hard drive but then you must manually open each separate folder to access the mp4. Hopefully they will come up with some utility and this would make quick edits on the field a great feature.

I also copied the mp4 file from the SxS card right onto my hard drive without the Sony Clip Browser and onto the timeline and it works well.

Now those files have the same file size KB for KB, either from the SxS card or the one copied by the device explorer.

So I was wondering why would we still have to use the Sony Clip Browser if we can use the mp4 file on the Vegas timeline ?

Is mp4 or .mxf better ?

Rob

Thanks,
seems to be now working the same as CS3 where I can import the mp4's and drag them straight onto the T/L, even from the cards.

Why use the Clipbrowser?
Well as we no longer need to rewrap to MXF not for much. Except it's a free way to view what's on the cards. Also by my understanding you can add metadata to the clips with it. That's carried in the mp4 containers and should, hopefully be viewable as markers in Vegas.

For many of us (including me) not really a big deal but I think you can imagine how in some scenarios it's a very useful capability being able to annotate clips and even do rough edits in the field without an NLE. Certainly for me being able to add an Index Mark with the camera and then find that in Vegas could become a big deal. Stage shows, sports, long conferences etc. It means as I shoot I can mark points where I need to edit or have chapters etc, etc.

I think this is one of those things that "not many have asked for", mainly because you don't know how useful it is until you use it.

Getting a bit of topic, I thought Adobe's speech to text was a big yawn, until I saw it in action. Being able to edit by searching for words spoken is huge, perhaps the greatest single advance in editing in a decade.

Bob.

Did some more testing with the EX1 and noticed that you can grab your files from the device explorer and then it will copy them onto your hard drive to the Imported Media folder. Your file will be renamed like this: ex1A0026_01_20080512_173402.MP4 (original file name from the SxS: ex1A0026_01.MP4)

How did you do that - using "Import from memory recording unit"?

On my editing PC, I have one of those Synchrotec PCIe ExpressCard readers. When I mount an SxS card in it, Vegas cannot "import" the clips from it to a chosen destination on my HDD; it sees it as a regular hard disk and only recognizes the .mp4 files inside their own clpr folders. It won't copy them to the local HDD, but simply put into the project's Media Bin. So yes, you can edit straight from the card - but with a serious project, would you tie up your SxS card for that, rather than copy its contents onto your local HDD?

And with ClipBrowser, exporting (i.e. rewrapping to mxf) doesn't take much longer than copying. So, what's the big deal? I can't see any - the more so that no metadata seems to get conveyed to Vegas 9 when using native mp4's...

Disclaimer: I have yet to test Vegas 9 on my Vaio laptop; perhaps the "Import from memory recording unit" will be operational there, with the ExpressCard reader being indeed seen as a "memory card storage", rather than as a regular hard drive.

On another note: unlike VP8, VP9 doesn't seem to use 100% of my quad resources when rendering out the EX mxf material (unlike HDV, where it's noticeably faster than VP8). It might be a matter of some preference tweaking (has anyone done that with success?), but if it's slower with mxf indeed, it's a show-stopper for me.

PS Also, smart render doesn't work with mp4 - only mxf!

How did you do that - using "Import from memory recording unit"?


Just go into: view, device explorer, XDCAM EX Device will show up, click on it and thumbnails will show up.

I have captured from my us10 SxS card reader, your unit should be connected before your start Vegas. Don't know about your Synchrotech device, you might have to use your EX camera.

I also use sdhc cards, but they won't show up in the device explorer. I can still individually transfer each mp4 files from the BPAV folder onto the timeline and edit from the sdhc card.

I guess if smart render works with .mxf but not mp4, I might stick with the Sony Clip Browser for the time beeing.

"I also use sdhc cards, but they won't show up in the device explorer."

Well that's a bit of a bummer. I wonder how Vegas handles clips spread over cards, can it finally join them without a glitch?


Bob.

My Device Explorer fails to initialize (in both 32 and 64bit versions) - any changes necessary in Preferences to turn it on?

Or perhaps you have your EX1 connected via USB (or using an USB SxS reader?)

He's using the US10 SxS card reader, USD 260, cough, cough.

I truly hope SCS hasn't tied us to having to use that, it doesn't work with SDHC cards.

Bob.

"I truly hope SCS hasn't tied us to having to use that, it doesn't work with SDHC cards."

Amen! If this isn't resolved in version 9.0b it will be a BIG disappointment.

Perhaps we EX owners ought to submit our requests to SCS via the "Product Suggestion" route.

(I just did.)

"Perhaps we EX owners ought to submit our requests to SCS via the "Product Suggestion" route."

Absolutely. I'll wait until my official copy of V9 arrives (just got notification it's shipping) before I do anything or pass judgement.

Aside from that though, yes again Jay. As I've said before, the only way to get things fixed or changed is through official channels. The more of us who complain, the more likely we are to get issue or suggestions given their due consideration.

Bob.

"I'll wait until my official copy of V9 arrives (just got notification it's shipping) before I do anything or pass judgement."

Wise decision!

Yeah, I've tried everything I can think of. The Sony SxS card reader will not read the SDHC/adapter combos, as everyone knows. (If the camera can read them, there's no reason why Vegas can't.)

Using the Device Explorer, I tried using the camera as mentioned above, not because I didn't believe it, but "just in case". Then I tried reading the cards using a UBS card reader, the DE didn't recognize that either.

I can't image this would be that big a deal to "fix".

Here is an update on the SDHC cards:



If you use an external sd card reader which you plug into a usb port, the device explorer will see your card as an XDCAM EX device and therefore you can have the content of the card copied to your hard drive.

edit: an internal (built-in) sd card reader will also work, in both cases you have to insert your sd card and then open up Vegas.



Rob

"If you use an external sd card reader which you plug into a usb port, the device explorer will see your card as an XDCAM EX device and therefore you can have the content of the card copied to your hard drive. "

I can't get it to work.

Jay, I just tried it with another brand of sd card adapter and it works. You might need to insert your sd adapter and sd card first into your usb port, then open up Vegas and the device explorer. Works in 32 and 64bit version.

edit: it now works in my built in sd card slot in my computer, if I insert it before I open up Vegas.

Rob

"You might need to insert your sd adapter and sd card first into your usb port, then open up Vegas and the device explorer."

Nope, that didn't work either. Tried different ports, too. It may be the card reader--a Dynex.

It's looking good!!!

I managed to edit right off an 8GB sdhc card and render a short test.

In order to gatter all my .mp4 shots, I did a search: .mp4 into the BPAV folder bringing up only the .mp4 files which I dragged to the timeline and that's it.

Only thing is, I don't know why but I wasn't able to drag and drop in the 64bit version. So I drag and drop in the 32bit version, saved the project and reopen in 64bit.

As far as rendering, I haven't checked the render times off the SDHC card versus the hard drive.


Rob

OK, so - after a couple of days testing - I can confirm now the "Device Explorer" is a very nice addition from the EX-owner point of view (see also here: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/1143149-post24.html).

However, it's somewhat limited to certain devices only, properly seen as such (e.g. ExpressCard reader) by the PC's OS. Unfortunately, importing native mp4's - without tedious digging into their respective subfolders of the BPAV directory - is not possible when the device holding them is seen by the OS as a "regular" disk drive. This is the case with the PCIe-based ExpressCard readers, but also with any external HDD (connected via USB, Firewire, or eSATA).

I'd like to encourage all those interested Vegas users to file a feature request with SCS, asking that Device Explorer recognize not only SxS card readers, but also any device with the proper BPAV structure on it. The advantage could be tremendous; for instance:

- suppose you use ShotPut in field to off-load your SxS cards onto (a couple of) USB or FW disks. When back in the office, we could just hook them to our editing workstations and use VP9's Device Explorer to quickly import chosen clips straight onto the timeline, while at the same time creating their copies on the local HDD

- similarly with PCIe-based ExpressCard readers; copying the native clips onto local HDD while putting them on Vegas timeline would free the SxS card for continued shooting

Actually, external disks with just the proper BPAV structure on them NOT being recognized by the Device Explorer looks like a bug to me - why should this new functionality be by design limited to only certain type of devices (like the laptops' ExpressCard readers)?!!

"importing native mp4's - without tedious digging into their respective subfolders of the BPAV directory - is not possible when the device holding them is seen by the OS as a "regular" disk drive"

------------------------------------

In the meantime, just do an mp4 search to your BPAV folder and drag all the files to your timeline. Mind you, that is my prefered editing method, I don't usually use the bins, I just drop everthing in the timeline and start digging from there. At least you won't have to browse in every subdirectory.

Rob

Sure Rob, this really is using the OS functionality outside Vegas; anyway a valid work-around....