New setup so re-thinking Workflow. at DVinfo.net

John McCully · July 12th, 2010, 03:54 AM

So just for fun (read totally non-professional) I shoot with an EX1 mostly 1920 x 1080 30p. Edit using Vegas 9e on a Dell i7 920 @ 2.67 GHz 4 GB memory Windows 7 64 bit. Render off to mxf for computer playback (new 24” Dell top-of-the-line monitor), and archiving. I save the project files and burn as data to DVD’s.

I don’t do a lot of fancy editing mostly just cuts, occasionally brightness and contrast adjustments and sometimes color correction. I am not making a full length feature movie and printing to film is not in my future.

Seems to be just fine. Might want to burn blu ray discs at a future date
.
So my questions is am I doing good or is there a better work flow approach given this cool hot new gear setup I now have?

Many Thanks

John

Harry Simpson · August 6th, 2010, 01:49 PM

Hi John

Seems like if it works for you that's where it's at. I burn to MP4s for computer viewing myself
If I ever want to burn a DVD to playback I have a cookbook process I follow to render.....

I'm experimenting with the best BluRay workflow now.

John McCully · August 6th, 2010, 06:09 PM

Thanks Harry, appreciate your comment. So many options, and with this new computer setup the render times are mercifully mind bogglingly short. My approach is to edit and render a master (if that’s the right word) file that is used on a day-to-day basis to play on this computer and archived and is then used as a point of departure to produce a file for web publishing, DVD and or Blu Ray creation and so on. In the past one struggled to maintain the highest possible quality (minimum compression) with acceptable file size. Now with storage at a penny a gig and computer processors that resemble rocket science the game has changed hugely, for the better. Anything goes, as you say.

I read somewhere that Douglas Spotted Eagle recommends MXF as a good format to render to for creating a master file, I think that’s what he said, and in as much as I have found his comments can be taken without salt that’s what I have been doing.

But here is something I don’t get:

I pop a file directly off the EX1 (MP4) onto the Vegas 9 Pro time-line, size is 140,566 KB.
I render to XDCAM EX1 (*.MP4) no re-compression required, file size 140,025 KB
I render to MXF no re-compression required, file size is 110,305 KB

Now given that there is no re-compression happening in either case the reduced file size is a good thing, I think, even though the render time to MXF is slightly longer, but not a lot.

Would I be better off to convert the EX1 files to MXF files before dropping on the time-line? Does it make a difference in any way? An extra step but not a big deal.

Or would I be better off dropping the EX1 files right off the camera as is then after editing render back to EX1 MP4 format and not go MXF at all?

Or is there another approach better yet?

July 12th, 2010, 03:54 AM	#1
John McCully Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: South Island, New Zealand Posts: 609 Images: 2	New setup so re-thinking Workflow. So just for fun (read totally non-professional) I shoot with an EX1 mostly 1920 x 1080 30p. Edit using Vegas 9e on a Dell i7 920 @ 2.67 GHz 4 GB memory Windows 7 64 bit. Render off to mxf for computer playback (new 24” Dell top-of-the-line monitor), and archiving. I save the project files and burn as data to DVD’s. I don’t do a lot of fancy editing mostly just cuts, occasionally brightness and contrast adjustments and sometimes color correction. I am not making a full length feature movie and printing to film is not in my future. Seems to be just fine. Might want to burn blu ray discs at a future date . So my questions is am I doing good or is there a better work flow approach given this cool hot new gear setup I now have? Many Thanks John

August 6th, 2010, 01:49 PM	#2
Harry Simpson Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Nashville, TN. Posts: 581	Hi John Seems like if it works for you that's where it's at. I burn to MP4s for computer viewing myself If I ever want to burn a DVD to playback I have a cookbook process I follow to render..... I'm experimenting with the best BluRay workflow now. __________________ Nashville TN using Canon 5D MK3, Canon 550D, RODE SVM mic, 70-200 f2.8L II IS, 24-105 f4L IS, 50 and 85 f/1.8, Vegas Pro 11, Zoom H4n, Blackbird, Lilliput Monitor, Lightroom

August 6th, 2010, 06:09 PM	#3
John McCully Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: South Island, New Zealand Posts: 609 Images: 2	Thanks Harry, appreciate your comment. So many options, and with this new computer setup the render times are mercifully mind bogglingly short. My approach is to edit and render a master (if that’s the right word) file that is used on a day-to-day basis to play on this computer and archived and is then used as a point of departure to produce a file for web publishing, DVD and or Blu Ray creation and so on. In the past one struggled to maintain the highest possible quality (minimum compression) with acceptable file size. Now with storage at a penny a gig and computer processors that resemble rocket science the game has changed hugely, for the better. Anything goes, as you say. I read somewhere that Douglas Spotted Eagle recommends MXF as a good format to render to for creating a master file, I think that’s what he said, and in as much as I have found his comments can be taken without salt that’s what I have been doing. But here is something I don’t get: I pop a file directly off the EX1 (MP4) onto the Vegas 9 Pro time-line, size is 140,566 KB. I render to XDCAM EX1 (*.MP4) no re-compression required, file size 140,025 KB I render to MXF no re-compression required, file size is 110,305 KB Now given that there is no re-compression happening in either case the reduced file size is a good thing, I think, even though the render time to MXF is slightly longer, but not a lot. Would I be better off to convert the EX1 files to MXF files before dropping on the time-line? Does it make a difference in any way? An extra step but not a big deal. Or would I be better off dropping the EX1 files right off the camera as is then after editing render back to EX1 MP4 format and not go MXF at all? Or is there another approach better yet?