Questions for EX1/Vegas users

[Paul Cascio]

Do you transcode (I have Coneform) before you edit, or use the native HD files?

Do the native files holdup well to post processing?

How is timeline playback compared to Cineform or other trancodes?

Thanks

[Marty Welk]

20-1 compression, man it didnt hold up to the initial storage to begin with :-) let alone processing it and re-encoding it back into 20-1.

I have displayed freeze pictures that show how much STUFF is tossed out with 5-1 DV compression, today i just saw some of the ramifications of tossing out 7 colors out of 8, vrses 4 of the 8 :-) this all totally depends on the type of image, stuff with details and contrast and all you can toss out a lot of minor small differences and not notice what departed. but put a blended gradient that in (say) 24bit colors would be 10 real steps , and after 20-1 compressions its nasty.

Will it all require processing :
if at All possible feed your Original in vrses Starting by de-re-encoding it already.
the original must be decompressed by the software to be processed or transistiond or resized, but if it is just Cut, or clipped and trimmed then there is no nessesity to de-re-encode all of it.
that which does not need to be decoded (for special processing) can potentially just be the same GIVEN, that the input codec and the output codec match. So part one, anything not requiring de-compression but just transfer of sections, can potentially make it out the other side alive.

Decompressing is inevitable:
so assume it IS getting processed and therefore de-compressed, , AFTER that processing, if you could preserve it for any next steps your going to take on it, then you have ONE de-code and one re-code.
you HAD to DE-code it at Least once if it will be processed.
at that time if you never re-compressed it again (at all) you could preserve it till the last encoding, but full uncompressed is unpractical with todays systems.

De-Re-De-Re-do-ra-me:
now how many things are you going to try and pipe it through around, to ? how many times will you have output one file, to only turn around and try and Re-edit (more re-de) the final output Again?

The least of these is worthy:
If you only de-code the original to process the decompressed , then you finish by outputting (by some sheer magic) direct from that single decompression to the final output format, then you have one DE-compression to process, process the decompressed, and Re-compress into the final output, done in one DE-RE. That is how we thinks about such things here.

Both Output format and Master edit:
if you want to take your output and store it as a "Master", instead of an "output format", then you need less compression out of the edit or process ALSO. that is 2 codes for 2 different files, one to go as direct as possible to output format, and AGAIN one to go direct as possible to master edit output.

How will you get to DVD, one step or 2:
if your going to write out of the EDIT/process in one format then de-re that AGAIN to get to say a DVD , then right there you re-compressed something that shouldnt YET be recompressed, or at least not with so much loss at that time.
it WAS decompressed (decompression is inevitable) but you prefer to avoid doing deep compression again, if your going to have to de-compress it one more time.
Re-encoding to a different codec requires one DE-RE.

the more you want to write the files out and send them back in again (say to reEdit, or process in AE, or run through a color correct), or put them through some other process, the more you need to maintain the data ONCE it has got to its FIRST DE-compress, all the way to your last Re-Compress.

in a perfect world of utopian digital fantasy you would want
From Original compression <- DECOMPRESSED - process - transition - edit - effects - overlays - filtering - whatever -> COMPRESSED final.