Best workflow for ingesting m2t from compact flash?

[hedleyw]

Having just bought a Sony Z7 I'm wondering what the best workflow is to get the m2t files on the cf card to an Edius bin in Canopus codec? My system isn't fast enough to work with m2t.

Any ideas please?

[xtz_]

Watch folder?

[GrassValley_CP]

You can browse to the files' location on the CompactFlash card and add them to your EDIUS Bin. Once there, select all of the files with your mouse or with ctrl+A, then right-click and select Convert>File>Canopus HQ (default setting). This will convert the files to the HQ codec, which will give you far better realtime performance and no image quality loss.

[hedleyw]

Thanks for that Chris. Unfortunately the conversion to Canopus HQ online quality takes around real time so I'm getting no advantage in workflow speed compared to capturing from tape :(. More stages involved as well, no opportunity to rename clips as captured, m2t files need to be deleted.

Surely there must be a better way or is my Pentium D 3.2 GHz with 2Gb ram just not up to the job?

[GrassValley_BH]

Sorry, if converting isn't a good workflow, then you'll just need a faster system.

[hedleyw]

Sorry, if converting isn't a good workflow, then you'll just need a faster system.

Thanks Brandon. What conversion speeds could I expect with a top-end system please, or would it then be better to edit native m2t?

As an aside I find procoder 3 about 1.5x real for the Canopus HD conversion as opposed to about 1x (i.e. faster) converting to Canopus HQ online from the Edius bin. Is this what you would expect?

[GrassValley_BH]

A lower-end quad-core (or dual dual-core) machine can reasonably expect to do 1-2 native HDV streams, in a project that matches the resolution/framerate.

So what you use depends on what your typical project consists of.

An alternative workflow if you really can't edit native might be to use watch folders and "dump" your footage to a machine running ProCoder and have ProCoder "deliver" the converted HQ versions to your edit system or shared storage. You can run the EDIUS Watch utility on your EDIUS system and when the clips appear in the selected folder, they'll automatically be added to the Bin.

As an aside I find procoder 3 about 1.5x real for the Canopus HD conversion as opposed to about 1x (i.e. faster) converting to Canopus HQ online from the Edius bin. Is this what you would expect?

If you mean "1.5x real" as a 30-second clip takes 45 seconds to convert, then that's reasonable since Canopus HD is DVCPRO HD and therefore 1280x1080i, requiring a scaling, whereas the Canopus HQ conversion would occur at the same resolution as the source.

[hedleyw]

Thanks for that Brandon, but I'm now confused :). According to ProCoder 3 the Canopus HQ PAL 108i preset (the one I used) is 1440 x 1080, 50i which matches the Z7 footage. Which ProCoder preset is equivalent to the Canopus HQ online within Edius?

Adding to my questions, how can Edius stitch together m2t files that are contiguous on the cf card or do I have to use the Sony Utility for this?

[GrassValley_BH]

Whoops... You said Canopus HD, which is different from Canopus HQ, but now that I think about it, you can't generate a Canopus HD AVI from ProCoder anyway.

At the same resolution/framerate speed should be comparable, but they're different environments (EDIUS and ProCoder), so it's tough to make an "apples to apples" comparison.