My computer was built in 2006/2007, has a Q6600 processor, and runs a hacked install of Vegas Pro 10 on Windows XP x64 (which doesn't officially support VP10). I just bought a Panasonic GH4 and shot a load of Cinema 4K footage (4096x2160). To try to edit this footage on my pre-historic computer is frankly just ridiculous, but I won't have a new computer until August, so I decided to try.
In thrashing out a viable workflow, I had these particular limitations to overcome:
1. Attempting to edit native C4K on the timeline makes everything grind to a halt and/or crash. Obviously.
2. This bug, which, apart from being a pain, cripples most conventional proxy workflows.
3. My preferred proxy formats have limitations such as a) can't be installed on XP x64 (e.g. Canopus HQX), b) don't support the C4K aspect ration (e.g. Sony MXF), c) shift the luminance (Quicktime batch done with MPEG Streamclip), or d) aren't free (Cineform).
I found that the UT Video Codec as a proxy is great quality, free, supports my old OS, supports the aspect ratio, and previews fast if the right flavour is used. This is a lossless codec, which is overkill really for a proxy, but I couldn't find another viable choice. The files are also huge, but if you're dabbling in 4K then you probably have shedloads of disk space anyway. (EDIT: I am now switching to )
Note that I am using Quicktime 7.6.2. Later versions are known to cause problems in some versions of Vegas, but try the current version first if you are using a recent version of Vegas such as VP12 or VP13.
So here is my workflow, presented as a tutorial. Much of this is applicable to more modern computers than mine. In fact any PC that struggles to edit the native C4K .mov files can benefit from some or all of this. Items in brackets are probably overkill, but I wanted to give the computer every chance of success that I could. For background on some of the speed tweaks, refer to my post of 4/14/2011 7:10:46 PM on this thread.
1. Install "GH4VideoLengthFix.js" script from
. I am using (I think) version 9.0.3. (EDIT: I am now switching to )
6. Options > Preferences > Video > "Dynamic RAM Preview max (MB)" = 0. Rendering ran out of memory otherwise after a while when I tried 350MB or 1024MB.
(7. Options > Preferences > Video > "Thumbnails to show in video events" = "None")
8. File > Project Properties > Video> Match Media Settings (icon top right) > Choose one of the C4K source files
9. File > Project Properties > Video> Deinterlace Method" = "Interpolate" not "Blend" ("None" maybe as good or even better)
10. Save a template "C4K (4096x2160, 24.000 fps)" for future use
(11. Preview Quality = "Draft (Auto)" (note that this will be automatically changed to "Best (Auto)" during render))
(12. Uncheck "Scale Video to Fit Preview Window")
(13. Make preview window tiny or even close it completely)
14. Save the empty project now in case of crash
15. Drop clips on timeline
16. Select all video events > right click > Switches > Disable Resample
17. Select the video track and run GH4VideoLengthFix.js script
18. Save project
19. Run RegionsFromEventFileNamesWithExtension.js script
(20. Close unnecessary windows such as video scopes and media manager)
21. Save project
22. Render a little footage in the following format then save a render template: Ut Video Codec RGB (ULRG) VCM x86, 1920x1012, 24p, interleave every frame, Optimize for decoding speed, Frame divide count = Same as # of logical processors, etc.. (This is best for my native 1920-width monitor. Adjust resolution to match other monitor native resolutions, or maybe half the resolution of very high resolution monitors) (EDIT: Or render to MagicYUV with its paramaters at default settings)
23. Run "Batch Render with Region names.cs" script. Choose same folder as source files. Choose your UT-Video-Codec-C4K-Proxy template. Check "Render Regions".
24. Have a cup of tea or go for a holiday, depending on the amount of footage
25. Delete the regions (select 1st, shift-select last, right click, delete)
26. Delete the unnecessary *.sfl files in the target folder
27. Run Proxy Stream script. Select "Switch" tab. Check "Proxy files". Proxy file extension = "avi". Switch. Quit. Allow it to build the audio peak files.
28. File > Project Properties > Video> Match Media Settings (top right) > Choose one of the 1920x1012 proxy files
29. Save a template "C4K proxies (1920x1012, 24.000 fps)" for future use
30. Save project
31. Reverse the "energy saving" saving steps you made above":
- (Options > Preferences > Video > "Dynamic RAM Preview max (MB)" = 350MB or whatever you find works best. Actually I've started leaving it at zero for C4K proxy editing because I don't do dynamic RAM previews.)
- (Options > Preferences > Video > "Thumbnails to show in video events" = "All")
- (Restore preview window size
- (Preview Quality = "Best (Full)" (lesser quality such as "Preview (Full)" may look just as good and be a bit smoother))
- (Check "Scale Video to Fit Preview Window")
32. Edit video
33. Run Proxy Stream script. Select "Switch" tab. Check "Source files". Switch. Quit
34. Render
35. Have another cup of tea or go for another holiday
The C4K .mov files and the UT Video Codec proxies can of course be swapped at any time with the Proxy Stream script.
If you get black frames when using the UT Video Codec proxies (likely!), restart Vegas.
Thanks very much to all the scripting gurus for their scripts which made this workflow possible.
In thrashing out a viable workflow, I had these particular limitations to overcome:
1. Attempting to edit native C4K on the timeline makes everything grind to a halt and/or crash. Obviously.
2. This bug, which, apart from being a pain, cripples most conventional proxy workflows.
3. My preferred proxy formats have limitations such as a) can't be installed on XP x64 (e.g. Canopus HQX), b) don't support the C4K aspect ration (e.g. Sony MXF), c) shift the luminance (Quicktime batch done with MPEG Streamclip), or d) aren't free (Cineform).
I found that the UT Video Codec as a proxy is great quality, free, supports my old OS, supports the aspect ratio, and previews fast if the right flavour is used. This is a lossless codec, which is overkill really for a proxy, but I couldn't find another viable choice. The files are also huge, but if you're dabbling in 4K then you probably have shedloads of disk space anyway. (EDIT: I am now switching to )
Note that I am using Quicktime 7.6.2. Later versions are known to cause problems in some versions of Vegas, but try the current version first if you are using a recent version of Vegas such as VP12 or VP13.
So here is my workflow, presented as a tutorial. Much of this is applicable to more modern computers than mine. In fact any PC that struggles to edit the native C4K .mov files can benefit from some or all of this. Items in brackets are probably overkill, but I wanted to give the computer every chance of success that I could. For background on some of the speed tweaks, refer to my post of 4/14/2011 7:10:46 PM on this thread.
1. Install "GH4VideoLengthFix.js" script from
. I am using (I think) version 9.0.3. (EDIT: I am now switching to )
6. Options > Preferences > Video > "Dynamic RAM Preview max (MB)" = 0. Rendering ran out of memory otherwise after a while when I tried 350MB or 1024MB.
(7. Options > Preferences > Video > "Thumbnails to show in video events" = "None")
8. File > Project Properties > Video> Match Media Settings (icon top right) > Choose one of the C4K source files
9. File > Project Properties > Video> Deinterlace Method" = "Interpolate" not "Blend" ("None" maybe as good or even better)
10. Save a template "C4K (4096x2160, 24.000 fps)" for future use
(11. Preview Quality = "Draft (Auto)" (note that this will be automatically changed to "Best (Auto)" during render))
(12. Uncheck "Scale Video to Fit Preview Window")
(13. Make preview window tiny or even close it completely)
14. Save the empty project now in case of crash
15. Drop clips on timeline
16. Select all video events > right click > Switches > Disable Resample
17. Select the video track and run GH4VideoLengthFix.js script
18. Save project
19. Run RegionsFromEventFileNamesWithExtension.js script
(20. Close unnecessary windows such as video scopes and media manager)
21. Save project
22. Render a little footage in the following format then save a render template: Ut Video Codec RGB (ULRG) VCM x86, 1920x1012, 24p, interleave every frame, Optimize for decoding speed, Frame divide count = Same as # of logical processors, etc.. (This is best for my native 1920-width monitor. Adjust resolution to match other monitor native resolutions, or maybe half the resolution of very high resolution monitors) (EDIT: Or render to MagicYUV with its paramaters at default settings)
23. Run "Batch Render with Region names.cs" script. Choose same folder as source files. Choose your UT-Video-Codec-C4K-Proxy template. Check "Render Regions".
24. Have a cup of tea or go for a holiday, depending on the amount of footage
25. Delete the regions (select 1st, shift-select last, right click, delete)
26. Delete the unnecessary *.sfl files in the target folder
27. Run Proxy Stream script. Select "Switch" tab. Check "Proxy files". Proxy file extension = "avi". Switch. Quit. Allow it to build the audio peak files.
28. File > Project Properties > Video> Match Media Settings (top right) > Choose one of the 1920x1012 proxy files
29. Save a template "C4K proxies (1920x1012, 24.000 fps)" for future use
30. Save project
31. Reverse the "energy saving" saving steps you made above":
- (Options > Preferences > Video > "Dynamic RAM Preview max (MB)" = 350MB or whatever you find works best. Actually I've started leaving it at zero for C4K proxy editing because I don't do dynamic RAM previews.)
- (Options > Preferences > Video > "Thumbnails to show in video events" = "All")
- (Restore preview window size
- (Preview Quality = "Best (Full)" (lesser quality such as "Preview (Full)" may look just as good and be a bit smoother))
- (Check "Scale Video to Fit Preview Window")
32. Edit video
33. Run Proxy Stream script. Select "Switch" tab. Check "Source files". Switch. Quit
34. Render
35. Have another cup of tea or go for another holiday
The C4K .mov files and the UT Video Codec proxies can of course be swapped at any time with the Proxy Stream script.
If you get black frames when using the UT Video Codec proxies (likely!), restart Vegas.
Thanks very much to all the scripting gurus for their scripts which made this workflow possible.