Vegas 8.0b works great with Sony SR11 AVCHD

ken c wrote on 4/16/2008, 5:16 PM
Just got my Sony SR11 avchd camcorder from b&h today, and it works *perfectly* with Vegas 8.0b ... I set the capture to capture it directly to my 8gb memory stick, HD 1440x1080 res at the 2nd-to-highest of 4 settings, and it captured perfectly.

Ingests fine to Vegas, and full res preview at best quality with no dropped frames or problems, in my winxp e6660 dualcore 4gig ram pc.

Really thrilled about this - my video production will get a lot easier, fast - because I can just take the little memory stick and plug it into the PCs usb port (I used an iomega $15 memory stick reader I got from amazon.com) and drag and drop the .mts file to the pc's hard drive. Makes it very easy to grab HD 1440x1080 res footage from the camcorder and No More vidcap.exe! hurrah.

-ken

p.s. b&h does have their bundle specials, I got the $1399 one, if you call and talk to a rep, the hdmi cables were backordered but they still took my order and shipped all but that, so it worked great, including the 3yr service warranty plus a few freebies, like bigger battery, cam light, lens cap etc.

p.p.s. the SR11 seems to be well-built, slick camcorder, but a bit outdated re form factor, it's still a full size camcorder, not as small/sleek as I'd expect, this late ... I'd expect a smaller form factor/size of the gear by now... but that's a minor nit. Overall it works great, and the lcd screen is large and clear etc. and it captures great.

Comments

busterkeaton wrote on 4/16/2008, 6:33 PM
Ken,

It's about 5 inches by 3 inches by 3 inches with a 2 inch zoom lens, a hard drive and a 3 inch screen. What size do you think it should be?
ken c wrote on 4/17/2008, 6:04 AM
If you look at comparable Japanese camcorders made in Japan and only sold there, you'll see form factors of around 35% smaller... for those of you who've lived and/or traveled in Japan lately, you'll know what I mean (or watch wealthy Japanese tourists here, with their electronics that are so much smaller than the US-version releases). It's surprising that there still continues to be a big difference in sizes between everthing from cell phones to camcorders for the Japanese-market only versions vs what's released in the US.

My wife's Japanese Sony camcorder from FIVE years ago was smaller than my current SR-11, by 30% (she's Japanese and gets her electronics in Kobe). Sony-Japan seems to release superior products to the Japanese market only, compared with what they release to us. (explanations?). I'd use their stuff, but the buttons and menus etc are all in Japanese so I can't understand it.

Anyways, my point is that I'm *thrilled* that my workflow will become so much better with the SR11 and memory card 8gb cards - I can keep my SR11 in the basement studio and just bring up the memory card to plug into the pc to transfer AVCHD footage to the pc for editing - a huge timesaver. Not to mention a ton more efficient than tape. I'll never use tape again.

-k
dstarr wrote on 4/17/2008, 9:55 AM
THAT IS NOT TRUE. If you compare Apples to Apples both camcorders have different features. I have a Camocder from sony that is 5 years old and is 40% smaller then my SR-11.

If a product is made in Japan it usually comes out a couple of months their before it hits the streets in the USA. We pretty much have the same stuff in USA compared to Overseas, just different model numbers. We have alot of stuff here that Japan doesn't have, like Apple stuff.
dstarr wrote on 4/17/2008, 10:00 AM
Oh yea what Japan Model is 30% smaller to the US comparable model?
Terje wrote on 4/17/2008, 2:05 PM
If a product is made in Japan it usually comes out a couple of months their before it hits the streets in the USA.

That's not even close to true. There are a large number of gadgets released in Japan that never hits the US, or hits the US years after they were released in Japan. This is particularly true for mobile stuff. Same for Europe, where they generally are a couple of years ahead of the US in features.

The main reason for this is the terrible state of mobile networks in the US. EDGE? Please, that is so 1990s.
dstarr wrote on 4/17/2008, 2:37 PM
For Mobile Devices I agree. The reason for that is US has not adapted to spending money on expensive handsets. (iPhone chnaged that)

It's not that US doesn't have the technology. An example would be Motorola. They release a ton of Expensive phones that US hardly would see, because no one wants to pay the money for gadgets. I think as the Cell Phone Companies start promoting better services it will change.
busterkeaton wrote on 4/17/2008, 3:08 PM
Ken,

But does her camcorder have the features yours has? Does it create the same picture? My point is that should be your concern. Also since you do studio work, how relevant is that?

The Sanyo Xacti camera that mentioned is a pretty small-form camera. I don't think the I saw on Amazon is any bigger than the one on Japanese website.
ken c wrote on 4/17/2008, 3:34 PM
Right - all valid points, I'll certainly concede. It just seems from all of what I've seen, that Japanese consumer electronics are much smaller than the US versions, even when released by the same manufacturer.

I'll locate a catalog-type .jp japanese electronics site to show what I'm talking about.. And right re the Xacti .. I'd found it on a japanese site, then saw that it was same size as on amazon for u.s. version, so i took that reference out.

In the meantime, I'm glad to have the SR-11 and Vegas working together as part of my workflow now, as that's a relief, re ingestion and no dropped frames during edit, and the tapeless workflow (yeah!), which is a huge quantum leap improvement.

-k
DGates wrote on 4/17/2008, 5:53 PM
Ken,

If this is going to be your production cam for your videos made at your residence, I assume it will always be on a tripod? So that fact that it's not smaller isn't really an issue for you, as it might be if this was something you just got for when you're traveling.

How much video can you get on that 8BG card?
Bit Of Byte wrote on 4/18/2008, 1:13 AM
Ken.

Can you see any difference in picture quality when compared to your experience with tape?

Also, why are'nt you using AHCVD format with the SR11?

I am also interested in how much footage time you are getting on your flash card.

Bit
ken c wrote on 4/18/2008, 6:22 AM
here's a video review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/sony-handycam-hdr-sr11/4505-6500_7-32775808.html
and
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-HDR-SR12-First-Impressions-Camcorder-Review-34178.htm

Here's the user manual, p.10 has recording times:
www.docs.sony.com/release/HDRSR11_EN_ES.pdf

Sony spec page/product info page:
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-3&productId=8198552921665291500

Recording times, from what I can see, there's 4 different HD recording quality options, plus more in SD, and a 4Gb memory stick will do 40-90 mins (?) and the
8gb one will do at least an hour... there's a matrix somewhere, will look for it..

-k
Bit Of Byte wrote on 4/18/2008, 6:26 AM
Thanks Ken.

Can you see any difference in picture quality when compared to your experience with tape?


Bit
ken c wrote on 4/18/2008, 6:29 AM
I've not shot hd-tape, just sd-tape ... this is a lot better than sd-tape, by orders of magnitude, the .mts avchd files, so it's well worth getting for me.

-k
Bit Of Byte wrote on 4/18/2008, 6:52 AM
Thanks Ken,

Do u think you woudl see a difference between HDV tape and ADVHCD - based on your expereince with the SR11 so far?

Bit

Bit Of Byte wrote on 4/18/2008, 7:01 AM
I need to know why you choose not to shoot in AVCHD but rather HD?

What bitrate are u using to shoot in HD?

Bit
seanfl wrote on 6/3/2008, 7:48 AM
I've been wondering about how the quality would compare to HDV. I have a Sony HDR-FX1 and use that to shoot around the house kids footage in addition to professional stuff. I'd like a small camera that has roughly the same quality and wondering if the SR11/SR12 would be it.

16Mbps is the bitrate for the SR11. I think HDV is 25, right?

I've wondered why Sony and others haven't gone with h.264/mpg4. Is AVCHD a more efficient codec than mpg4?

anyway, if anyone has experience with the latest AVCHD, please let me know if it would be in the same ball park quality wise as the hdv that I'm used to for family type stuff.

Sean