How to do some quick and dirty editting with 550D footage? at DVinfo.net

Lee Ying · July 13th, 2010, 12:29 PM

I am new to HD DSRL and have been absolutely thrilled with the DOF and lowlight performance of T2i (which I just got three days ago). So coming from HDV I found .mov files are easy to be transfered to PC but a beast to play and edit. My understanding is that there is no HD player (except fast PCs) that will play back raw footage smoothly, is that right? not even PS3?
I know with HDV there are quite a few software programs (even free ones) that allow you to throw the footage in timeline and add some cheesy music and spit out some quick HD video. Is there any editting program that does the same for 1080 .mov file? such as loading the .mov file and letting you put in some background music and finishing the final HD product without re-encoding the video?
Thanks much for sharing your tips.

James Donnelly · July 13th, 2010, 05:20 PM

There is a way to edit footage smoothly without transcoding, but you need the right video card and NLE, and it costs money:

DIVIDE FRAME: Software solutions for the broadcast industry

Regarding editing without re-encoding, yet it is possible, but if your final product is going to be one that doesn't play back well on many systems. Over all, I would not bother, but if you must, here is one way, maybe not the best.

If you follow the guide here up to step 10:

Eugenia's Rants and Thoughts Blog Archive Intermediate Usage of the Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame HD Codec

You will be able to open your .mov files in Virtualdub, via the newly generated .avs files. You can use direct stream copy mode to save the marked region without re-encoding. You can also choose audio->audio from another file.

Much better to re-encode to a playback friendly format IMHO.

Sam Kanter · July 13th, 2010, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee Ying

I am new to HD DSRL and have been absolutely thrilled with the DOF and lowlight performance of T2i (which I just got three days ago). So coming from HDV I found .mov files are easy to be transfered to PC but a beast to play and edit. My understanding is that there is no HD player (except fast PCs) that will play back raw footage smoothly, is that right? not even PS3?
I know with HDV there are quite a few software programs (even free ones) that allow you to throw the footage in timeline and add some cheesy music and spit out some quick HD video. Is there any editting program that does the same for 1080 .mov file? such as loading the .mov file and letting you put in some background music and finishing the final HD product without re-encoding the video?
Thanks much for sharing your tips.

Pinnacle 14 HD plays and edits MOV files perfectly, in full resolution, without transcoding (on my i7 860 PC). I just drag files from my T2i to the timeline and start editing, look at edits full screen in full resolution. I use Pinnacle most of the time instead of Vegas 9 because it is so much simpler, easier, and faster. Get the Ultimate version with loads of plugins for post processing, including Magic Bullet.

Noa Put · July 20th, 2010, 07:39 AM

For quick and dirty editing I can edit 1 stream of native dslr footage on my 3 year old Q6600 win xp pro machine with 4g of memory and edius 5.5. I would say it can preview the footage in high res at about 90% of it's speed (it slows down a bit at playback) but it's not a choppy playback. For very rough editing my pc can handle it fine, if I need more horsepower I just convert to canopus hq for several streams color corrected or whatever.

Tim Kolb · July 21st, 2010, 10:27 AM

Vegas handles DSLR footage I believe...

I use Premiere Pro CS5...seems to work pretty well...and no, you don't need a huge GPU display card, but yes, for editing DSLR footage on any computer, you'll need a pretty robust processor.

Sam Kanter · July 21st, 2010, 01:54 PM

>>Vegas handles DSLR footage I believe...

Not on my i7 860 system. Playback is jerky.

James Donnelly · July 21st, 2010, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Kanter

>>Vegas handles DSLR footage I believe...

Not on my i7 860 system. Playback is jerky.

I have an older CPU on my Vegas workstation, a Core 2 Quad Q6600. I think it is generally accepted that It's choppy.

Yes, Vegas will run with it, but you will be limited to a low-res preview if you want full frame rate during editing. Also, CPU runs near capacity even before you add effects and preview in real time, so there's not much headroom.

As a Vegas user and fan (boy), this is why I love GPU decoder. It will preview in full blown glory and consume barely any cpu, leaving those lovely cores to focus on snappy interface and loads of plug-ins.

To me it is logical to offload to the GPU if it's there. I'm running on a Geforce 9800 GT, old but good.

Sam, interesting what you say about Pinnacle. It's got me wondering how they do it? How is your CPU consumption during preview/playback? Do you notice any compression artifacts, or is it identical to the original?

Chris Barcellos · July 21st, 2010, 03:10 PM

I use Vegas with one of two approaches. First is using the Cineform Codec to transcode files for ease of editing and previews. The second is to use EPIC which actually creates a proxy file in background while you load files on your time line. Playback is then in lower rez, but absent the hickups.

Sam Kanter · July 21st, 2010, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Donnelly

I have an older CPU on my Vegas workstation, a Core 2 Quad Q6600. I think it is generally accepted that It's choppy.

Yes, Vegas will run with it, but you will be limited to a low-res preview if you want full frame rate during editing. Also, CPU runs near capacity even before you add effects and preview in real time, so there's not much headroom.

As a Vegas user and fan (boy), this is why I love GPU decoder. It will preview in full blown glory and consume barely any cpu, leaving those lovely cores to focus on snappy interface and loads of plug-ins.

To me it is logical to offload to the GPU if it's there. I'm running on a Geforce 9800 GT, old but good.

Sam, interesting what you say about Pinnacle. It's got me wondering how they do it? How is your CPU consumption during preview/playback? Do you notice any compression artifacts, or is it identical to the original?

CPU is about 25-40% during playback. I have 8GB RAM. No artifacts, preview/playback identical to original. In fact, I drag files into Pinnacle immediately just to look at them.

I don't know how they do it, but editing and playback is so seamless without any transcoding that I have no need for Vegas or other more pro systems. That said, I'm editing relatively simple projects. If I needed complex editing with multi streams of audio and video, I'm not sure that a consumer program like Pinnacle could handle it. Hopefully Sony and Adobe will figure out how Avid does it! ;-)

July 13th, 2010, 12:29 PM	#1
Lee Ying Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Atlanta, Ga Posts: 73	How to do some quick and dirty editting with 550D footage? I am new to HD DSRL and have been absolutely thrilled with the DOF and lowlight performance of T2i (which I just got three days ago). So coming from HDV I found .mov files are easy to be transfered to PC but a beast to play and edit. My understanding is that there is no HD player (except fast PCs) that will play back raw footage smoothly, is that right? not even PS3? I know with HDV there are quite a few software programs (even free ones) that allow you to throw the footage in timeline and add some cheesy music and spit out some quick HD video. Is there any editting program that does the same for 1080 .mov file? such as loading the .mov file and letting you put in some background music and finishing the final HD product without re-encoding the video? Thanks much for sharing your tips.

July 21st, 2010, 10:27 AM	#5
Tim Kolb Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Neenah, WI Posts: 547	Vegas handles DSLR footage I believe... I use Premiere Pro CS5...seems to work pretty well...and no, you don't need a huge GPU display card, but yes, for editing DSLR footage on any computer, you'll need a pretty robust processor. __________________ TimK Kolb Productions

July 21st, 2010, 03:10 PM	#8
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	I use Vegas with one of two approaches. First is using the Cineform Codec to transcode files for ease of editing and previews. The second is to use EPIC which actually creates a proxy file in background while you load files on your time line. Playback is then in lower rez, but absent the hickups. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

July 13th, 2010, 05:20 PM	#2
James Donnelly Major Player Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Chelmsford England Posts: 287	There is a way to edit footage smoothly without transcoding, but you need the right video card and NLE, and it costs money: DIVIDE FRAME: Software solutions for the broadcast industry Regarding editing without re-encoding, yet it is possible, but if your final product is going to be one that doesn't play back well on many systems. Over all, I would not bother, but if you must, here is one way, maybe not the best. If you follow the guide here up to step 10: Eugenia's Rants and Thoughts Blog Archive Intermediate Usage of the Matrox MPEG-2 I-Frame HD Codec You will be able to open your .mov files in Virtualdub, via the newly generated .avs files. You can use direct stream copy mode to save the marked region without re-encoding. You can also choose audio->audio from another file. Much better to re-encode to a playback friendly format IMHO.

July 20th, 2010, 07:39 AM	#4
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	For quick and dirty editing I can edit 1 stream of native dslr footage on my 3 year old Q6600 win xp pro machine with 4g of memory and edius 5.5. I would say it can preview the footage in high res at about 90% of it's speed (it slows down a bit at playback) but it's not a choppy playback. For very rough editing my pc can handle it fine, if I need more horsepower I just convert to canopus hq for several streams color corrected or whatever.

July 21st, 2010, 01:54 PM	#6
Sam Kanter Major Player Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: New York Posts: 205	>>Vegas handles DSLR footage I believe... Not on my i7 860 system. Playback is jerky.