Serious Magic’s Announces the DVCProHD Decoder for Sony® Vegas® and Adobe® Premiere® Pro Users


New add-on enables multiple NLE software to read full-resolution MXF files generated
by the Panasonic HVX200 camcorder.

September 13, 2006 (Folsom, CA) – Serious Magic, Inc.™ announced today the immediate availability of its Video for Windows (VfW) decoder for the DVCProHD format. Because DVCProHD support is limited for Sony® Vegas® and Adobe® Premiere® Pro users, Serious Magic now provides a decoder that will allow these popular programs as well as other software applications (i.e. Adobe® AfterEffects® and Serious Magic ULTRA) that uses VfW codecs to read these files.

Using the DVCProHD Decoder, video files can be edited natively without the need for transcoding because the format uses intra-frame compression just like DV. The workflow is straightforward; users are not required to convert their video data to another codec. The decoder also is bundled with an easy-to-use software utility for quickly converting native MXF files from the Panasonic camera to standard AVI or QuickTime files. Users of Apple® Final Cut® Pro can transfer the QuickTime file to their Mac for quick and easy editing in a more universal format.

Availability
DVCProHD Decoder is now available for download at $195.00 (MSRP) at SeriousMagic.com.

it is also included as part of the new DV Rack 2 HD. http://seriousmagic.com/products/dvcPro/index.cfm


Gary

Or wait 28 days for apple to release a free update for FCP users !
-matt

No trial to test before giving away 200 US?

i believe a trail version of DV Rack HD will be posted shortly. The DVCproHD Decoder is part of DV rack 2 HD

http://www.seriousmagic.com/products/dvrack/

gary

Or wait 28 days for apple to release a free update for FCP users !
-matt

These are both different apps with different capabilities on different platforms.

I installed mine last night - it came with the DvRack HD pack.

So far so good - I tested with a couple of 720 24 clips from the HVX200 and some longer SD content from the SPX800 (DVCPRO50 in P2/mxf format).

It bombed somewhere in the conversion on one of the longer clips, but let me go back and convert the problem file or two again without much trouble. Not sure what the hiccup was for on the first round...

I think it's going to need some interface tweaks - there's no regular windows title bar (File, Edit, Tools, Help, etc), so I really didn't know where to point to the source files for transcoding or how to get into any initial help/instructions, etc.

It took me about 15 minutes of playing around, and then I finally lassoed the actual .mxf files from a windows explorer window and dropped them in the visual queue. It works quickly thereafter. Picking your destination is very clear cut.

Another note - it will let you overwrite previous transcodes with the same filename without a prompt, so be careful, or you may overwrite and/or lose some time... Perhaps they'll tweak it in future versions, but this still gets you there once you're finally up and going. A nice idea and option for getting your footage to folks that are behind a P2 'wall'. I love having the options now - that's for sure...

FYI - The files seem to work fine in Edius Broadcast as well. If you look at the video properties on the timeline, it seems to reflect that it's a DVCPROHD codec/Canopus SD50 (DVCPRO50) codec, correct frame-rate, pull-down (when applicable), etc, depending on the project settings, etc. I have to experiment more in pulling the clips between 16x9 & 4x3 projects (seeing if it letterboxes for you automatically, or if you have to address the frame size for the project, etc) - but I don't think there was too much trouble initially.

Transcoding time seems to be quick enough as well - I didn't keep much track of that, and I let the larger one go while I was sleeping, but it shouldn't bother you if you account for it, or do it offline, etc. I let it go without showing the video in the preview window, which is labelled as being the fastest method.

Not quite perfect on the interface, but not a problem so far either. Great idea, like all their other stuff. I look forward to their future innovations... I upgraded from DVRack1 with the HDV pack - it was an excellent upgrade price at $99 for version 2, plus this utility to boot - Many thanks for taking care of the legacy users - FOR SURE!