Recording video in Vegas - question

[Brian Huether]

I am new to DV so my question may seem odd...

Here is my question: Is there any benefit to recording video on my computer in real time or should I just transfer after the fact? I imagine real time recording to the computer puts extra strain on the camcorder. The reason I ask is I downloaded the Vegas Pro demo and am going through the process of setting up a project. I am wondering if I should just record my audio or if I should have video and audio streams going in at same time. The only benefit I can see to recording through Vegas is that I imagine it would sync the audio and video as opposed to me importing the video after and aligning. What do you think?

thanks,

brian

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Brian Huether

Is there any benefit to recording video on my computer in real time or should I just transfer after the fact?

Yes, there are benefits - you now have two copies of your source footage (because you rolled tape too, right?). You are now ready to edit, with no additional transfer time. This is assuming you made the vegas copy via firewire in dv or hdv, which means that the exact same data should be on the tape and on your harddrive. There are no quality benefits to recording direct, but there may be workflow benefits, depending.

Recording live footage to a laptop can be clean, sometimes its a problem because: You didn't have enough disk space (13GB/hour), your disk was fragmented and you dropped frames on capture, or there were too many other processes using processor cycles and you dropped frames. The vegas post-capture dialogs should tell you whether you dropped frames.

For these reasons, it's always good to a) check out how all this works before you depend on it for a shoot, and b) always record to tape as well.

Originally Posted by Brian Huether

I imagine real time recording to the computer puts extra strain on the camcorder.

Not an issue at all for the camcorder, though it can "strain" the computer, depending. All this encoding to DV/HDV, sending via firewire is handled with hardware in the camcorder, it isn't like a pc where multiple processes can slow down everything.

Originally Posted by Brian Huether

I am wondering if I should just record my audio or if I should have video and audio streams going in at same time. The only benefit I can see to recording through Vegas is that I imagine it would sync the audio and video as opposed to me importing the video after and aligning. What do you think?

I'm trying to parse through the workflow you're suggesting. If I understand you correctly, yes, you're right - recording audio-only through Vegas will result in later sync work, which is very heavy lifting for a beginner. Keep your audio and video together for a while.

FYI, if/when you do try some audio-only recording in Vegas, typically that's going to be done with an audio-only interface such as an internal sound card, external usb or fw preamp/converter, something like that. Vegas does not natively record audio-only from a firewire camcorder feed.

If you have further questions about why and when you might want to record directly to Vegas, audio or audio/video, why don't you tell us a little about your camcorder and what you're shooting.

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Edit for clarification: All the above was posted prior to discovery that the OP did not actually have a DV camera, and did not have firewire connectivity. Many of the comments above do not apply to AVCHD workflows.

[Brian Huether]

I have a Canon HG20. I am shooting myself for instructional guitar videos. The audio is all recorded separately with external mics and preamps. I got a Vegas Pro demo up and running. But I don't see how my camcorder could support realtime video capture to the computer since the camera is AVCHD.

My workaround right now is to hit record in vegas for the audio and at the same time hit record with the camcorder remote. Then I would have to transfer to the computer of course.

thanks,

brian

[Ian Stark]

This isn't answering your original question, I'm afraid, but would you be better off mixing your audio into the camera? You could then firewire out the synced video/audio to Vegas.

[Ken Steadman]

Originally Posted by Brian Huether

I have a Canon HG20. I am shooting myself for instructional guitar videos. The audio is all recorded separately with external mics and preamps. I got a Vegas Pro demo up and running. But I don't see how my camcorder could support realtime video capture to the computer since the camera is AVCHD.

My workaround right now is to hit record in vegas for the audio and at the same time hit record with the camcorder remote. Then I would have to transfer to the computer of course.

thanks,

brian

I'm confused by the original question? are you asking what are the advantages of capturing?
You could just use a blackmagic capture card and record through the HDMI port. You will get better colorspace but the file size will be enormous.

If you have an AVCHD cam you dont need to capture just drag and drop the files onto the timeline from your camera.

[Brian Huether]

The HG20 does not have firewire. Anyway, I think recording and then importing is fine. I messed around with it last night. It is fairly easy to hit record in Vegas (for the audio) and hit record on the camcorder remote control at about the same time.

thanks,

brian

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Brian Huether

I am new to DV so my question may seem odd...

Well, DV may stand for "Digital Video", but it is also a camcorder format that typically uses firewire to the computer. Thus the reason you now have so much info that doesn't pertain to your camera.

There are adaptors from Juiced Link and Beachtek that connect the pro audio world to a consumer camcorder like the HG20. If later sync of your audio isn't working out, that's a pretty tried and true way to get your mics & preamps signal onto your original recording.

Kudos for recognizing that the camcorder's built-in mic is not the best choice for a music instruction piece.

Good luck with your projects. For more info on syncing in Vegas you can search on the term "sync" or "synchronization" in this forum. Vegas is actually a *very* good tool for post-sync of audio and video.

[Brian Huether]

My computer was originally set up for audio recording/editing. I purposefully bought a middle of the road video card. But I think that has to change. The preview in Vegas is very slow and choppy. I have nVidia GeForce 7300 GT. Any good recommendations on a video card? The CPU is Intel Quad (Q6600). RAM is 2 GB.

thanks,

brian

[Ken Steadman]

It's unlikely it's your video card AVCHD is hard on your processor.

[Ian Stark]

Ah, didn't realise there was no firewire, sorry.

Don't waste money on a new video card, Brian - Vegas isn't interested in it. Search in this forum ("video card") and you'll find plenty of explanations.