Software editing question for PC Users
 

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and I am jumping into video with both feet.

If I was on a MAC this would be easy and I would go with Final Cut Pro without even thinking about it.

I am currently using a PC and will probably in the future move over to a mac.

I think I have decided on buying the Canon XH A1 as my first video camera and I need a editing software.

Does the Vegas software work well with this camera?

Also what do you recommend to work with this camera?

I have seen Vegas, Ulead, Adobe Premiere but I do not know which one would be the best bet for starting out.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I was also told that if Vegas supported the 24f of the Canon camera it would be a nice package to get into. I just do not know enough about it even with all the reading so I ask you who have all the experience.

I like the price of Vegas and Ulead but if they font work I don't want to throw money away either. Most of my budget is being spent on the camera and things I need but I also realize that the software is extremely important as well.

I am also planning on picking up a HV20 for playback as I was told that you do not want to use the main camera for playing back as it will wear down the heads. Again I am new so I hope these question are not too stupid.

Thank you again,

Kevin

Get Vegas Pro 8, this way:

Go to BH Photo, order Vegas 6 Disk. Get it delivered before October 31, 2007.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...o_Editing.html


Goto Sony Vegas site, and upgrade to Vegas Pro 8 for $150.00 (about). This has to be done, if I recall, before October 31, 2007. Will include DVD Architect 4.5.

Total for Vegas, about $250.00

To accompany and to make your capture and editing easy, get NeoHDV from Cineform. It will handle pull down removal, on fly capture conversion to easily edited .avi high definition files. About $250.00

Total for capture and edit software- $500.00

HV20 will work great as a deck, and you will love it as a b camera, and find yourself using it as a main camera at family events...

Hello Chris,

Thank you very much for the information. One question is that what is the purpose of the NeoHDV ? Cant you read directly into Vegas 8? Again I am new to all this so I am just wondering.

Also do need anything else or just a fireware port, cable to camera and software?

Thanks,

Kevin

Yes, you can capture directly to Vegas 8. You will get a an mpeg (actually .m2t) file for editing. Vegas 8 does a nice job editing, but if you doing pull down from the HV20, it does not do it. In addition, editing in Cineform is a lot less stressful on your processor. But with enough horsepower, you can do fine with "native" file editing. Firewire is all you need.

Ok cool. So it looks like I will want both softwares. What is pull down?

Thank you again,

Kevin

Does Cineform just wrap the footage into avi form?
If you come from a Sony HDV cam into Vegas would you still use Cineform?


I still use a PD170 and have not used a HDV cam yet.

Cheers
Simon

Pulldown: HDV cameras that do 24 progressive frames per second shoting to simulate film speed of 24 frames per second, actually use a 1080i 60 frames per second stream to laying the 24p shots within, through some sort of magic. When played back by the camera, or on the computer, the players ignor the non 24p parts of the strean. The pull down process, as I understand it, actually pull out the extraneous frames in the newly captured file, so there are no problems with playback that can sometimes occur without removal.

No. This is not a wrapper situation. This is actual transcoding from the .mpeg steam coming from the camera into an .avi file. Mpeg works with GOP (group of pictures). GOP means that there might be a single frame out of a group of 15 frames that contains all information, with the balance providing updated information only for that frame. At play back, it is therefore processor intensive, and in editing, some error can occur. Its really amazing how it works... but in editing and multiple render situations, the original resolutions can be lost. Trancoding immediately to .avi file will avoid most of that loss because .avi is frame accurate. You do end up with a larger file, by about 3x, but it is well worth it to most who edit regularly.

Re Sony Cam- yes. You are not restricted to using pull down with Cineform. Any HDV will work.

Thanks for all the info Chris. I just ordered the HV20 and NG-2 mic, next is the big boy XH-A1 and the software you listed above.

Thank you again as I greatly appreciate your advice.

Kevin