I've just finished a film made from stills from a Canon SLR. I had both jpeg and .CR2 (Canon raw) versions available for the source material. Despite having applications installed that handle the .CR2 files on the workstation, Vegas doesn't recognise them so I've had to convert them to bitmaps which means enormous files (50MB+). Is there any way that Vegas Pro can be made to accept the original raw files please?

I'd assume it's possible, but I have no idea how expensive of time, money, or programming skills it might be. Maybe easy, maybe not!

I'd start with this page, Decoding raw digital photos in Linux (http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/dcraw/), home of the excellent dcraw open-source raw processer that's used in many open source still photo softwares (it's not just Linux). I've never heard of it being applied to an NLE, but why not? It would seem to me you could then do a lot in the 32-bit workflow.

However, I think most people who've worked with raw formats will tell you "50MB/frame? Just the cost of doing business, get more storage!" I've been working with still images at 250MB/frame, and that's what I had to do.

I'd guess in that 50MB you've created a 16-bit TIFF? If you can do your color correction and come close to your final grade at the time of that conversion, you can save 8-bit JPEG at 100% quality, visually lossless, and bring that into Vegas. It's not the best on paper or by the maths, but would bet a nice dinner that if you side-by-sided the methods in the real world you couldn't tell the results apart when you deliver your final projects.

Maybe someone out there knows better how to do this...

Convert to bitmaps? Why? Convert to jpegs, much simpler and more than enough quality. png is better, technically, but it really doesn't matter IMO.

I use irfanview and downsize and convert at the same time.

I also am a Vegas user.

Looking in the Help index under 'RAW camera files', and reading on down I found:

"If you want to use RAW camera files in your project, the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack will allow you to view RAW camera files and add them to the timeline."

They give a link to the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack here:
Download Microsoft Camera Codec Pack (6.3.9721.0) from Official Microsoft Download Center (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26829)

It appears to have been last updated just over a year ago. If your RAW files don't work, I would suggest using Adobe Camera Raw, Photoshop, Lightroom, or whatever software your camera manufacturer has supplied, to convert them to Adobe DNG RAW format.

Adobe Camera Raw Converter can be found here:
Adobe - Adobe Camera Raw and DNG Converter : For Windows (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=106&platform=Windows)

My Pentax still camera(s) shoot DNG files natively. I added them to the timeline and they appear to work just fine.

Thanks for that Bill. Unfortunately, the MS Camera Codec pack only works for Vista and Win7. The recommendation seems to be to use the Adobe RAW format.

What Operating System do you use, Mr. Game?

Steve, I've just imported/dragged a PowerShotSX CR2 file directly from an MS Folder onto the Vegas Timeline.

If you wish you could post one of your CR2 files and I could check here, also in London!

Toodles

Grazie

Bill,

My mistake, I have 2 edit platforms:
1) a workstation with Core i7 920 and 12GB RAM with win 7. This is my PC for larger edit projects. I had been editing on this over the last 3 days using stills from a Canon SLR. It wouldn't (at the time) handle .CR2 files, so I had to use Zoner Photo Studio to create bitmap files. Thanks to your link, I have been able to install the MS Codec pack and I can now use RAW files natively in Vegas.
2) a general purpose Core i3 PC recently built with win 8.1, for speed and convenience with a SSD which I often use for very short video pieces and tests. It was on this that I tried to install the Codec Pack which was of course rejected. I have just tried to drop a RAW file on the timeline and to my surprise, it handled the files with ease. I incorrectly assumed that neither PC would handle them before.

Graham,
Thanks for the offer. As you can see above, my mistake, - I can now do what I wanted to.

Jeff,
The reason that I wanted to place bitmaps directly, (ideally the original RAWs or as near to that as possible) is that there was a lot of track and pan work and I use the Technicolor Lookup Table to give me the maximum headroom for grading and matching. JPEGs can compromise the original levels as well as create detail artifacts that when zoomed become visible at HD resolutions.

In summary, thanks to all for your prompt responses.

Steve

Update for Microsoft Camera Codec Pack for Windows 8.1 for x64-based Systems
Download Update for Microsoft Camera Codec Pack for Windows 8.1 for x64-based Systems (KB2859675) from Official Microsoft Download Center (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40310)

Gotcha, Steve. My wedding and corporate work does not require your attention to detail. Good luck!

Nor does mine really, I'm retired and just do it for enjoyment (usually). I just want an easier workflow which thanks to the replies on this thread, I can now do by just dropping CR2s on the timeline. The i7 920 is not that fastest processor around but the SSD is more than fast enough to handle the larger but simpler raw files rather than forcing the decoding of 18-20mp jpeg on the fly especially with effects in places.
Maybe when I upgrade, the stuation will change again.

Nor does mine really, I'm retired and just do it for enjoyment (usually). I just want an easier workflow which thanks to the replies on this thread, I can now do by just dropping CR2s on the timeline. As the i7 920 is not that fastest processor around but the SSD is more than fast enough to handle the larger but simpler raw files rather than forcing the decoding of 18-20mp jpeg on the fly.
Maybe when I upgrade, the situation will change again.