Vegas 8.0c Explorer Preview

[Simon Dean]

I've recently upgraded to Vegas 8.0c and now when you try and preview (From the explorer panel) Cineform files the preview window remains black - but you hear audio. NB This is NOT from the timeline.

I tried it again on version 6.0 and it works fine. Is it fixable in 8.0c?

I also noticed playing it in preview mode on 6.0 that it runs at full frame rate, even at DV size frames, as soon as you put it on the timeline it crawls to 10fps unless in draft mode...

I'm running NeoScene by the way.

Thanks

[David Newman]

Vegas 8 bug. Rename the old version Sony ships here
C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 8.0\cfhd.dll
to
C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 8.0\cfhd_old.dll

[Simon Dean]

Hmm, doesn't seem to work. Renamed it, rebooted, still no joy. Is there a way I can tell what it's using?

[David Newman]

Reinstall. It is supposed to be using cfhd.dll in windows/system32

[Keith Paisley]

Originally Posted by David Newman

Reinstall. It is supposed to be using cfhd.dll in windows/system32

Wait, don't change any of the libraries or reinstall anything yet....

"It's not a bug, it's a feature" as they say. For whatever reason, the preview outputs directly to the trimmer window, even though by default it's hidden beneath the explorer tab. Yeah, I don't get it either...

To make it back the way you're used to, just go to the trimmer window and de-select the "Show Video Monitor" option. I guess you could snap the trimmer out of the tabbed display, which might make a little bit of sense, but I'd rather have the clips preview in the preview window.

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by David Newman

Vegas 8 bug. Rename the old version Sony ships here
C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 8.0\cfhd.dll
to
C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 8.0\cfhd_old.dll

I haven't had this work since 3.3.x. I gave up.

[David Newman]

Originally Posted by Perrone Ford

I haven't had this work since 3.3.x. I gave up.

I don't know what this means.

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by David Newman

I don't know what this means.

It means that I have not had interactivity success with Cineform and Vegas since version 3.3.x. On the machine where I NEED to render Cineforms, I left the Cineform version at what ships with Vegas. On my other machines, I just upgrade the Cineform reader versions and don't worry about Vegas interactivity.

Perhaps it was you who explained to me that this was a Sony issue and not a Cineform issue.

[Perrone Ford]

I was just able to verify that I could at least open the new Cineform encoded stuff with Vegas and the new Neo Reader (SI2K Cineform RAW). So that's a positive.

[David Newman]

If you using the free decoder version, then you can no longer encode, but that is not related to this thread. If you have purchased NEO (any version) there is no issue. Now that NEO Scene is only $129 for a 1920x1080 encoding license, it is not expensive at all to get the latest encoding tools.

[David Newman]

Originally Posted by Perrone Ford

I was just able to verify that I could at least open the new Cineform encoded stuff with Vegas and the new Neo Reader (SI2K Cineform RAW). So that's a positive.

As designed, and that should always work. The decoder is always free.

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by David Newman

If you using the free decoder version, then you can no longer encode, but that is not related to this thread. If you have purchased NEO (any version) there is no issue. Now that NEO Scene is only $129 for a 1920x1080 encoding license, it is not expensive at all to get the latest encoding tools.

I am going to see if I can get the new version of this at end of fiscal. I do have a QUICK question for you though to justify the purchase.

If I purchase Neo Scene, am I still locked out from using it with Vegas 8.1? And if so, does it have a stand-alone encoder that I can use outside of Vegas?

[David Newman]

Originally Posted by Perrone Ford

If I purchase Neo Scene, am I still locked out from using it with Vegas 8.1? And if so, does it have a stand-alone encoder that I can use outside of Vegas?

Currently we don't have 64-bit version of VfW, that is an issue with 8.1. We don't know if Sony will patch 8.1 to support 32-bit codec or where we will not that work at some point. All purchased products have always had standalone encoders.

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by David Newman

All purchased products have always had standalone encoders.

Excellent! Sorry, one more thing, and then I will end this terrible thread hijack. Is there a list of input formats that your standalone encoders will ingest? I am trying to visualize my workflow from the Sony EX1 into Cineform.

Right now, I dump the raw BPAV folder to a drive, use a tool to convert those raw .mp4 files and Avid DNxHD, and then work with the DNxHD files as masters. On projects where I've got a lot of manipulation to do, I cut offline proxies and 10-bit online versions of the DNxHD files and use that workflow. I am trying to do as much pre-processing outside of Vegas as possible (deinterlace, resizing, etc.) so that when I get into Vegas, I am ready to rock.

Thanks.

-P

[David Newman]

NEO HD will batch convert EX1 file directly with deinterlacing and resizing as desired.