I think it's fair to say Canopus has always been more concerned with the internals than with providing a huge set of functions. (They are real video geeks.) So I'm not surprised you find missing functions.

And now that they are owned by GV, which wants to sell it to broadcasters, I wonder if they'll add 5.1 sound.

I've often imported into Vegas from FCP/Canopus because of the need for 5.1. (Vegas runs great under Bootcamp.)

I just got my EX-1 the past weekend and I have transfered some files over to Vegas Pro8 for reviewing/editing. For some reason the videos are playing back choppy about 5-10 seconds after the video starts. I feel like my system is not able to handel it.

My computer specs are:

Intel core 2 duo 2.4ghz
2gig ram
nvidia 8800GT 320mb superclocked
500gb 7200rpm hard drive
Windows Vista

Is it my system or have I not tweaked Vegas correctly?

Feedback appreciated

-Dennis

What is your preview window set to? Running anti-virus?

I turned off anti-virus and there was no difference. The first time I ran a preview tehre was no problems but on the second day I started to see the choppyness and sound was also choppy. Preview window I believe is set to good or auto...

It helps ALOT to turn off 32 bit FP.
It also helps to convert to cineform intermediate before ever bringing your footage into Vegas.
Another thing to do for smoother playback is to ensure your project settings match your input data characteristics.

Even with all these things, my laptop, which has the same processor as you report and Windoze XP Pro, stutters on playback of native EX1 HQ files in Vegas. My guess is that the 1920x1080 format just takes the breath out of these processors.

I'd bet your antivirus is still running, if you have a fast computer. Or, somethign else is messing with your background services.

I'm new to the editing game but do understand the fundamentals. How do I go about converting to cineform intermediate? (Sorry if this question or answer has ben posted before) . Also how do I ensure my project settings match my data input characteristics. I just need to get the playback to be smooth and the rest of it I will learn on my own or from tutorials. I just need to get on my feet with the first few steps as i'm new to the .mxf format.

Unfortunately, to convert to Cineform outside of Vegas, you'll need to buy Cineform Neo HD. You can do it within vegas, but, then you'll have to drop the native files on the timeline and render. Cineform intermediate is under .avi file type.

To set the project properties, press Alt+Enter.

Thanks Bill I will try it out when I get home.

1.83 singlecore proc, old VAIO laptop, 1394 pocket drive, getting 23.97 from my EX1/mxf files.

how 'bout 29.97p or 59.97 fps, Douglas?

29.97 is fine as well. I don't have any p60 on this drive.

Guys, c'mon - it does NOT relate directly to the CPU speed! Vegas timeline can chokes in 32bit mode (or, for that matter, in 8bit but a couple of filters added) - on both my Quad&3.3GHz desktop, and the Duo@2.4GHz laptop.

If it was only dependent on the CPU, I'd see some 45% CPU usage on the Quad vs 100% on the Duo; yet they both are used at some 30% max.

What do you think it is?

Videocard?
I'm guessing 'cuz this doesn't make sense to me why we see so much variation from platform to platform if it's not CPU speed. But, Piotr is right. When I'm stuttering, I'm NOT running at full CPU, but, more like 75-80%. Edius plays smooth as butter, no stutters, even on my laptop.

.mxf files from my EX1 play very smoothly in 8-bit on my desktop workstation, core2 duo extreme, 3Ghz, Quadro FX1500 vidcard. Stutters like crazy at 32 bit FP.