Hi, I'm considering upgrading from Neo HDV to Neo HD, but just want to be certain first that it will be worth my while.

Firstly the 64 beta codec of Neo HD for Vegas. If I ran this on Vista 64 along with the 64bit version of Vegas 9, would I still be able to run my old Neo HDV files on the timeline? Or would I need to convert them to Neo HD files using this 64bit beta codec?

Also, will First Light work with the 64bit codec? And if so, would HDV footage be good enough to capture with Neo HD and then tweak using First Light? I'm assuming it would, but just want to be sure.

One other question about First Light. Will gain adjustments and colour correction add much noise, or does the DeBeyer algorithm take care of most of that?

Old files are compatible. The 64-bit codec added compatibly to Vegas 9, but don't change the source format. First Light is a 32/64-bit app, it doesn't care either -- it works with all sources (converted to CineForm *.) No noise is "added" in First Light, but noise can be gained up (or down) just like any other color corrector. Debayer is only for CFA Bayer RAW source like SI-2K, Arri D21, etc.

* FirstLight does like CineForm created with later series codecs, v4.0 onwards is good. Old encoded file can be upgraded with the CFRepair utilies with the Tools folder.

That's great, thanks David. I'll probably upgrade sometime next week once this current job is out of the way.

Just one more question. With the Neo HD 10-bit files, would it be better to work in 8-bit or 32-bit colour space within Vegas?

Vegas only support 8-bit I/O from CineForm files. The 32-bit mode is still good for color correction work, although you have First Light to help there.

Yeah, that's what I thought which is fine. First Light is my main reason for wanting to make the switch to Neo HD. Being able to apply looks to a number of files should really speed up my work flow.