Just the facts........PLEASE! at DVinfo.net

Charlie Webster · June 28th, 2007, 01:56 PM

I been searching for days and maybe you guys can boil it down for me.

I shoot Weddings now with PD170 and VX2k.

Current NLE is older premier setup, but getting ready to up grade.

I'm thinking XHA1 plus newest vegas.

1)I will build computer myself: and hardware thoughts on what vegas likes best?

2)Do i need a cineform plug in? How does it help?

3) Can I mix XHa1 HD images with PD170 SD images on timeline and export together?

4) Can I export to XHA1 tape?

5) What is the best way to get the sharpest copy possible onto a DVD? With XHA1 alone, and with a PD170 mix. Right now I export to a JVC DVM70 HD and burn multiple DVDs from there. I read stuff like: use "DVD Architect PAL Widescreen template."----- is that gonna play OK on gramma's DVD player and NTSC TV? I hear DVD Architect discs are not as compatable with players -WHICH IS KEY for me. I don't care about fancy menus. What I need is quality and compatablity. Would prefer to avoid long render times, and open to hardware solutions-- stand alone recorder like I have now.

These are dumb simple questions, i know, but my brain is exploding from diverse search results,

TY sirs

Jon McGuffin · June 28th, 2007, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Webster

I been searching for days and maybe you guys can boil it down for me.

I shoot Weddings now with PD170 and VX2k.

Current NLE is older premier setup, but getting ready to up grade.

I'm thinking XHA1 plus newest vegas.

1)I will build computer myself: and hardware thoughts on what vegas likes best?

I'll try to help you out here on a post I made awhile back that is still mostly accurate. http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=95335

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Webster

2)Do i need a cineform plug in? How does it help?

You don't it because Vegas does a great job of editing .HDV natively right on the timeline. Because of the GOP nature of Mpeg-2 compression (HDV) though you want to consider working with Cineform and transcoding thoe raw .m2t files into their proprietary format. If you do lots of color correcting or chroma key type stuff, Cineform is a benefit. The cineform files require a lot more disk space and that can also hinder performance a little under the vegas timeline, but I do find working with Cineform files overall better than native HDV for the reasons stated above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Webster

3) Can I mix XHa1 HD images with PD170 SD images on timeline and export together?

Vegas is well regarded for mixing file types successfully, I think it is considered the best at this, so Yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Webster

4) Can I export to XHA1 tape?

Yes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Webster

5) What is the best way to get the sharpest copy possible onto a DVD? With XHA1 alone, and with a PD170 mix. Right now I export to a JVC DVM70 HD and burn multiple DVDs from there. I read stuff like: use "DVD Architect PAL Widescreen template."----- is that gonna play OK on gramma's DVD player and NTSC TV? I hear DVD Architect discs are not as compatable with players -WHICH IS KEY for me. I don't care about fancy menus. What I need is quality and compatablity. Would prefer to avoid long render times, and open to hardware solutions-- stand alone recorder like I have now.

I use the MainConcept DVD Template inside of Vegas and then modify it for best video quality. I render both the .mpg file than an AC3 audio file from within Vegas. I open up DVD Architecht and attach these files and the quality is quite good. I've done some research on this and though some have found a few other methods they thought achieved slightly better quality (3rd party encoders, etc,) most everybody I've read seems to think the quality of DVD Video coming out of the stock Vegas application is quite good and well above average.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Webster

These are dumb simple questions, i know, but my brain is exploding from diverse search results,

TY sirs

I don't think they are dumb questions at all frankly. I asked many the same questions 6 months ago... Hope this helps... tried to "stick to the facts" :)

Charlie Webster · June 28th, 2007, 03:04 PM

awesome reply Jon,

are your DVDs playing easily in wide variety of players?

TY again sir

John Cline · June 28th, 2007, 10:05 PM

Charlie,

In my opinion, there is no better NLE than Vegas to fill your needs. I can honestly say that in the five years I've been using it, it has never crashed. Also, Vegas is capable of using all the CPU horsepower you throw at it. Here is a link to the Quad-core machine that I built a few months ago. Vegas just screams!

www.johncline.com/quad.htm

This machine currently ranks as the fastest on the Vegas "rendertest-hdv.veg" benchmark test file.

By the way, the Cineform codec comes bundled with Vegas.

John

Charlie Webster · June 29th, 2007, 10:52 AM

I think you saved me lots of time researching hardware---great link to your system.

TY sir,

what is your experience with compatablitiy of DVDs produced in DVD architect?

John Cline · June 29th, 2007, 11:13 AM

I use both Adobe Encore and Sony DVD Architect, both of them produce very compatible DVDs. However, I don't use either of them to actually burn the DVDs, for that I use either Nero or a freeware program called "ImgBurn."

Compatibility across players has a lot to do with the quality of the DVD media. I only use the "Premium Line" 8x Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs and have never had a complaint. I get most of them from www.meritline.com

John

Mike Kujbida · June 29th, 2007, 11:20 AM

Charlie, I've been using DVD Achitect since version 1 and have never had any issues with any of the DVDs I've made with it.
I use DVDA to "prepare" the files and then use RecordNow to do the actual burning (as a data disc).
Most folks run into problems because they use cheap media, cheap burners or they burn at too high a speed for the media.
For these reasons, I stick with Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden blanks.
My burner is a Plextor and I generally burn at 1/2 the speed the media is rated for.
If the project is destined for mass duplication, I'll drop the speed to 2X.
NEVER use paper labels. More and more ink-jet printers and DVD blanks are capable of printing on CD/DVD and this is the route I go with.

BTW, I built my new quad core based on Jon Cline's specs and I can tell you that it's a Vegas powerhouse :-)

Jon McGuffin · June 29th, 2007, 12:08 PM

I'll chime in here as well Charlie..

My "limited" experience with DVD-A is that it does indeed produce DVD's that are playable on a wide variety of players because I've used the one's I've made in about 6-7 different players with no problems whatsoever. But I also agree that the media is probably the best indicator here of compatability. I use Memoriex 16X DVD-R disks. Of course, nothing will likely be 100% perfect, but the combo of Vegas+DVD-A is probably about as good as it's going to get.

Jon

Jon McGuffin · June 29th, 2007, 12:11 PM

One other point about Cineform being included. It is true that there is a licensed version of the Cineform codec that is built into Vegas but the version purchased from Cineform encodes file sizes about 15-20% less and via their capture utility HDLink, you can bring in both .m2t files and Cineform's .avi files simultaneously.

My work flow when using cineform is to start up HDLink, have it capture the video from the camera into both formats, then fire up Vegas and start editing. This works quite well!

Jon

Charlie Webster · June 29th, 2007, 12:21 PM

you guys are the best.

any thoughts on the XHA1 vs a sony Z1 or FX1?

again will be used mainly for weddings

all the best,

Charlie

Douglas Spotted Eagle · June 29th, 2007, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Webster

you guys are the best.

any thoughts on the XHA1 vs a sony Z1 or FX1?

again will be used mainly for weddings

all the best,

Charlie

Charlie,
This isn't really the forum for asking which camera, but I'll comment that both the XHA1 and the Sony V1 are exceptionally fine cameras. You can't go wrong with either of them. Each has its strengths, each has it's weaknesses, both are top-notch for the money.

Charlie Webster · June 29th, 2007, 01:49 PM

hehe thanks Douglas--- I just threw that in since I have these great guys on the thread---sorry.

June 28th, 2007, 01:56 PM	#1
Charlie Webster Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Sun Valley, Idaho Posts: 81	Just the facts........PLEASE! I been searching for days and maybe you guys can boil it down for me. I shoot Weddings now with PD170 and VX2k. Current NLE is older premier setup, but getting ready to up grade. I'm thinking XHA1 plus newest vegas. 1)I will build computer myself: and hardware thoughts on what vegas likes best? 2)Do i need a cineform plug in? How does it help? 3) Can I mix XHa1 HD images with PD170 SD images on timeline and export together? 4) Can I export to XHA1 tape? 5) What is the best way to get the sharpest copy possible onto a DVD? With XHA1 alone, and with a PD170 mix. Right now I export to a JVC DVM70 HD and burn multiple DVDs from there. I read stuff like: use "DVD Architect PAL Widescreen template."----- is that gonna play OK on gramma's DVD player and NTSC TV? I hear DVD Architect discs are not as compatable with players -WHICH IS KEY for me. I don't care about fancy menus. What I need is quality and compatablity. Would prefer to avoid long render times, and open to hardware solutions-- stand alone recorder like I have now. These are dumb simple questions, i know, but my brain is exploding from diverse search results, TY sirs

June 28th, 2007, 03:04 PM	#3
Charlie Webster Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Sun Valley, Idaho Posts: 81	awesome reply Jon, are your DVDs playing easily in wide variety of players? TY again sir

June 28th, 2007, 10:05 PM	#4
John Cline Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Posts: 333	Charlie, In my opinion, there is no better NLE than Vegas to fill your needs. I can honestly say that in the five years I've been using it, it has never crashed. Also, Vegas is capable of using all the CPU horsepower you throw at it. Here is a link to the Quad-core machine that I built a few months ago. Vegas just screams! www.johncline.com/quad.htm This machine currently ranks as the fastest on the Vegas "rendertest-hdv.veg" benchmark test file. By the way, the Cineform codec comes bundled with Vegas. John

June 29th, 2007, 10:52 AM	#5
Charlie Webster Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Sun Valley, Idaho Posts: 81	I think you saved me lots of time researching hardware---great link to your system. TY sir, what is your experience with compatablitiy of DVDs produced in DVD architect?

June 29th, 2007, 11:13 AM	#6
John Cline Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico USA Posts: 333	I use both Adobe Encore and Sony DVD Architect, both of them produce very compatible DVDs. However, I don't use either of them to actually burn the DVDs, for that I use either Nero or a freeware program called "ImgBurn." Compatibility across players has a lot to do with the quality of the DVD media. I only use the "Premium Line" 8x Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs and have never had a complaint. I get most of them from www.meritline.com John

June 29th, 2007, 11:20 AM	#7
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Charlie, I've been using DVD Achitect since version 1 and have never had any issues with any of the DVDs I've made with it. I use DVDA to "prepare" the files and then use RecordNow to do the actual burning (as a data disc). Most folks run into problems because they use cheap media, cheap burners or they burn at too high a speed for the media. For these reasons, I stick with Verbatim or Taiyo-Yuden blanks. My burner is a Plextor and I generally burn at 1/2 the speed the media is rated for. If the project is destined for mass duplication, I'll drop the speed to 2X. NEVER use paper labels. More and more ink-jet printers and DVD blanks are capable of printing on CD/DVD and this is the route I go with. BTW, I built my new quad core based on Jon Cline's specs and I can tell you that it's a Vegas powerhouse :-)

June 29th, 2007, 12:08 PM	#8
Jon McGuffin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Carlsbad, CA Posts: 634	I'll chime in here as well Charlie.. My "limited" experience with DVD-A is that it does indeed produce DVD's that are playable on a wide variety of players because I've used the one's I've made in about 6-7 different players with no problems whatsoever. But I also agree that the media is probably the best indicator here of compatability. I use Memoriex 16X DVD-R disks. Of course, nothing will likely be 100% perfect, but the combo of Vegas+DVD-A is probably about as good as it's going to get. Jon

June 29th, 2007, 12:11 PM	#9
Jon McGuffin Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Carlsbad, CA Posts: 634	One other point about Cineform being included. It is true that there is a licensed version of the Cineform codec that is built into Vegas but the version purchased from Cineform encodes file sizes about 15-20% less and via their capture utility HDLink, you can bring in both .m2t files and Cineform's .avi files simultaneously. My work flow when using cineform is to start up HDLink, have it capture the video from the camera into both formats, then fire up Vegas and start editing. This works quite well! Jon

June 29th, 2007, 12:21 PM	#10
Charlie Webster Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Sun Valley, Idaho Posts: 81	you guys are the best. any thoughts on the XHA1 vs a sony Z1 or FX1? again will be used mainly for weddings all the best, Charlie

June 29th, 2007, 01:49 PM	#12
Charlie Webster Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Sun Valley, Idaho Posts: 81	hehe thanks Douglas--- I just threw that in since I have these great guys on the thread---sorry.