Possibl Vegas 9c 64 AVCHD bug, how to reproduce

ingvarai wrote on 11/5/2009, 1:19 PM
First, I am not sure wheter it is a bug or to what extent it is my setup, but here is how I can reproduce it 100%:

Project A:
Track 1 uses an AVCHD greenscreen footage
Track 2 uses a Still photo as background
Key out track 1 using only Chroma Keyer, save and close the project.

Project B:
Import Project A as the only media, save
Render to uncompressed AVI (or whatever)

Here are my results:
Project B opened and then rendered in Vegas 9c 32 - all is fine
Project B opened and then rendered in Vegas 9c 64 - the backround still image is either totally black or flickers like mad

Control test: Replace the AVCH footage in Project A with an equal prerendered AVI file - and all redners fine, also in Vegas 9c 64

Can anyone confirm this?
Ingvar

Comments

wikksmith wrote on 11/6/2009, 10:37 AM
Sorry - I can't confirm or refute this, but I was about to upgrade to Win 7 64-bit because I've been unable to render AVCHD files (1920x1080 60i Canon HF10) to any high def format (720x480 works fine). After seeing your post, I'm not sure 64-bit would help. My question is: when you replace AVCHD with prerendered AVI files, what is your final output? AVCHD? .wmv? Is it still high def? Sorry if these are silly questions.
Thanks, wikksmith
XP Pro 32-bit, Vegas Pro 9.0C.
ingvarai wrote on 11/6/2009, 11:46 AM
wikksmith,
first - the output has been several formats, MPEG for DVD Architect (another Sony application), MXF and AVI. The problem seems to be there, regardless of the format I render to.

Then, please note, this applies to Sony Vegas 64bit. To run the 64 bit version of Vegas, you need a 64 bit operating system. My system is Vista 64 bit. If you want to reproduce the error I have, you need Vegas 9c 64bit and hence a 64 bit OS.

The problem you have - you should be fine rendering to a high def output, try the MXF format which is my favorite intermediate format. I have no idea why this happens to you.

Also note - I suspect there is something wrong with Vegas 9c 64bit and AVCHD files. In general. I am only able to reproduce this 100% (every time) when nesting projects like I do in my example (first post in this thread). I will now install Vegas 9b 64 bit and check if the error is there too. But because of several install issues with Sony products, I am reluctant to do it. I will first make an image of my complete OS.
Even better - if anyone here would try my test procedure (in the forst post in this thread), it woul save me this work. It takes approx 5 minetes to do the test. You don't need green-screen footage, use any footage and just key out any color you like.

Ingvar

wikksmith wrote on 11/6/2009, 12:12 PM
Thanks for the info. Sorry if this is off-topic, but once you render to MFX, what settings do you use to burn to DVD with DVD Architect?
I've also tried to render AVCHD to .wmv for high def playback on a X-box 360, but without success: Vegas either gives me a "low memory" error message, or simply crashes - unless the file is less than about 3 minutes.
wikksmith
Q9550 quad (2.8 GHz); 4G RAM (PC6400); nvidia 9800GT (1G RAM)
ingvarai wrote on 11/6/2009, 1:01 PM
I render to MXF when I want to use this format as a proxy file, or when I need an intermediate format. MXF plays back real time oin the Vegas time line, even after adding som effects to the clip/track. Much faster than the raw AVCHD file, almost same quality (hard to tell the difference). And as opposed to the various AVI formats out there that people use as intermediate formats, MXF files become only slightly larger than the AVCHD originals.
I use AVI files only when I have to do some work in Adobe After Effects, and even then I tend to use image sequences (one PNG or BMP file per frame). This "format" will be accepted by all video software I know about.

Please note - MXF has nothing to do with rendering to DVD Architect. When I render to DVDA, I use the built in template in Vegas, DVD Architect PAL Widescreen (I live in PAL land, but there sure are templates for NTSC too). As simple as that!!
Ingvar
wikksmith wrote on 11/6/2009, 1:22 PM
OK - so your final output is standard definition (720x480), correct?
wikksmith
ingvarai wrote on 11/6/2009, 6:05 PM
The final output can be all sorts of sizes. Depending on the use I pland for the video.
When rendering withj the plan to burn a DVD, it is 720 x 576 over here where I live, since I live in PAL land.
ingvarai wrote on 11/10/2009, 2:57 PM
I can now confirm that this is a Vegas 64 c specific issue.
I have uninstalled c and installed b, uninstalled b and reinstalled c, and finally uninstalled c en reinstalled b.
Version b works fine, version c is not able to render correctly my AVCHD files (MTS from my Panasonic HMC camera).