Connect HD & Vegas Media Studio Plantinum
 

Hi

I downloaded a trial version of Connect HD as I was curious. I know it's not meant for Vegas MS but it does accept the intermediate files created by using HDlink (in fact Cineform intermediate files can be created by Media Studio but it takes ages), then I can render them back to m2t and send to the camera.

Does Cineform say Connect is for Vegas 5/6 because it gives integration with the Vegas GUI?

I strikes me if I bought Connect HD, just using HDLink would be a useful tool for creating the intermediate files quicker for use with Vegas Media Studio. Or have I missed a technical point somewhere?

Graham:

My understanding is that HD Connect provides the capture utility, transcoder and codec for using Cineform in various editing programs. Once loaded, I think the codec will remain available as long as you don't delete it, even after you take the program off the system. That would likely give you the ability to render to Cineform from a .m2t file. That is time consuming, and what I think you are refering to. By the way, I see you have PPro 2.0. If that is an upgrade from 1.51, your 1.51 will capture in the Cineform codec. You may then be able to open it in Vegas MS if that is what you want to do. Let me knowhow it works out.

Okay, I just tried it. I captured using Premiere Pro 1.51 in HDV. It creates a Cineform intermediate file I then opened a HDV Project in Vegas MS, and brought captured file into that project. I rendered that 10 sec fileback out to a .m2t file in about 30 secs. I also tried a direct tape of same project, and came outfine, too.

I am not however able to render anything to the Cineform intermediate file from within Vegas MS, as you were suggesting. It is probably because your trial has not ran out, as mine has.

Chris. My premiere pro 2 is an upgrade from Premiere 6.5

With media studio pro plantinum, you can render to cineform intermediate, using 'render as'. The codec is already included - albeit version 1.2. It might not be available in the non platinum edition. But anyway, this render method is too slow compared to using the HDLInk capture utility

My question was really why are they saying Cinefrom Connect is for Vegas 5/6, when Cineform's capture utility will create and scene split intermediate avi files which are perfectly useable in Vegas Media Studio Platinum.

Since downloading the trial, I have, for various reasons, reformatted and reinstalled everything. Does the trial version of Connect contain exactly the same version of codec as the release version? I should imagine it does, as purchase only seems to require the input of a serial number rather than downloading a fresh copy.

While I much prefer PPro as an editor, being an enthusiast rather than making videos for a living, I'm not going to spend $499 for Aspect. I could fly to New York and back for less than that!! But I'd be willing to pay $99 for Connect - just for the HDLink utility.

I used HD Connect trial version with my Movie Studio Plat. The Vegas in that version seem to be the same as 6, except without some bells and whistles and advanced editing features, as I understand it, and I easily used the HDlink captured files in the MS Plat editor.

Last time I looked, though, HD Connect was $200 US. Has there been a price drop?

So do you have a problem with editing .m2t in PPro 2.0 for some reason? System not up to it?. Ive had good success with native editing, and captures take up so much less..

Afterthought: So you might want to consider the PPro 1.51 upgrade to your 6.5 for continuity, and its HDV capture codec is the Cineform intermediate file. Seems crazy, but.....

Yes you're right $199, around £113.

I was thinking about getting the 1.5 upgrade. However, on Amazon in the States it's being sold for $186, Amazon in the UK sell it for £230, similar prices at other UK stores. Ever heard of rip-off Britain?

Editing native HDV in Premiere Pro2 isn't too bad. the playback a little jerky at times and I have to keep the preview monitor on draft setting. My graphics card isn't one of the compatible ones for accelerated rendering of certain effects. I'm more interested in smoother playback in the timeline than assisted rendering. If I knew for certain that one of the graphics cards Adobe say is compatible would assist in smoother playback, i'd get one.

Graham:

I'm not running a fairly generic 256 MB video card. It is a PCI express card, from Vision Tech ATI based, X 700. It does a pretty good job of rendering the high-definition playbacks so far.

Sorry for the rudimentary question (new to this), but what are the differences between Sony Vegas MS Platinum and Sony Vegas 6.0d? I have the latter and am wondering if MS Platinum is a newer/better version?

No. It is a stripped down version without all the feature of Vegas 6. It has more and better correction tools, transitions, and effects. It also allows unlimited tracks of video and audio. Movie studio does also have stripped down versions of DVD Architect and Acid. Architect allows you to author some very nice DVD menu systems.