Vegas 7 XDCAM workflow overview

Horaah! Vegas 7 has now been released into the world. This release of Vegas is of particular significance to users of XDCAM because it not only fully utlises the XDCAM workflow,but it is the only editor anywhere near its price range to allow the import of every single current flavour of XDCAM in existence. Unlike,say, Avid Xpress which limits users to the DV25 variation of XDCAM, Vegas 7 handles DV25, IMX50, and all bitrates of XDCAM HD. On top of this Vegas also supports full mastering to XDCAM too. So once a project is complete you can actually render out whichever type of MXF file you wish, and have Vegas automatically master the file back to an XDCAM disc. Most other NLE's currently limit XDCAM support to import only, so this is a great addition.

So, how does the XDCAM worklow in Vegas 7 work?

Well, lets take it a step at a time. When you first boot Vegas 7 after installation the XDCAM function will not be enabled. To correct this you will need to go to the "Options" drop down menu and select "Preferences". Now select the "General" tab and scroll down to the bottom.

Tick the "Enable XDCAM Explorer" box and click "Apply". You will now need to reboot Vegas 7 to enable it.

However, don't do this just yet. I also want to mention the option above that called quot;Import MXF as multichannel". This is an option that you may or may not wish to enable depending on how you have recorded sound. By ticking this option you are telling Vegas to automatically create a seperate audio track on the timeline for each channel of sound in the MXF file. So for example if you have recorded 8 seperate channels of sound with a PDW-530 camera, it will mean that 8 discrete audio tracks will be created on the Vegas timeline when you drag the clips into the project. This is an option that I would recommend ticking only if you are working with many recorded channels. Otherwise your workspace can become a bit cluttered.

Right, on with the show. Reboot Vegas and lets import an XDCAM disc. First of all you will need to select the XDCAM Explorer tab, then select, surprise, surprise, the Import Disc icon! This will then bring up the following dialogue box.

You will need to select which XDCAM device you are using when you first start Vegas. Afterwards the program remembers the option that you selected, even after exiting the program, until you hange it. The next set of options on the list is the Clip Resolutions selection. You can select to import either Proxy files, or full resolution files or both. To minimise the hard drive space that is used, as well as import time, for now select Proxy Files only.

You will then need to select a folder where Vegas will copy the Proxy files to. You only need to select a folder for your project in general because Vegas will automatically create a seperate folder for the current disc inside the folder that you select.

Last on the list is the Disc Name option. This is very handy for keeping track of discs. If you haven't given your disc a name you can do so here. When conforming projects over multiple discs doing this will greatly help as Vegas will request you insert the relevant disc when it requires it. If you have already given your disc a name via a program such as PDZ-1, Vegas will use that name instead.

The name of the disc will then appear in the XDCAM Explorer. Unfortunately Vegas does not currently give the actual folder on the hard drive where it copies the files to the same name as the disc. A minor thing, but hopefully that will change in future revisions. Now click "Okay". Vegas will now start importing the proxy files.

Once Vegas has imported the proxy files you will see them appear in the XDCAM Explorer. Importing is done in the background, so you can drag proxies that have already been imported onto the imeline while the rest are still being copied over. You will notice that the XDCAM Explorer window is split into two halves. The bottom half in the screenshot above is showing a Cliplist that I created in PDZ-1.

By right clicking on this I will be presented the option to add the Cliplist to the current timeline using either proxy files or full resolution files. Very handy if I've been out in the field and created a rough edit using the camera or PDZ-1.

The XDCAM Explorer also has an option box to select what is displayed. So for example you can select to show only clips that have Shotmarks 1 and 2, or any custom essence marks that you have created. Essence markers appear as normal Vegas markers when the clip is opened in the trimmer, or on the timeline, along with the appropriate label.

Now drag one of the proxy files onto the timeline. In the example above I have the "Import MXF as multichannel" selected, so 4 audio tracks have been automatically created. When using MXF files right clicking on an audio event gives some further options for audio channel selection than there are for normal video clips.

As you can see, if I click on an audio event I can choose whether to use any one of any of the individual channels, or to use them as stereo pairs. In the example above you can see that I have right clicked on Audio Channel 2, and you can see that Channel 2 is automatically selected. But I can change it to be any of the audio channels that I wish.

Also, now that Vegas 7 deletes groups in one go by default, if I select the video of that event and delete it, the associated audio will also be deleted from the timeline. Be careful, the old behaviour of Vegas 6 was that if you deleted a video event the audio stayed on the timeline. To be more logical the programmers of Vegas have now changed this to the afforementioned behaviour. However Vegas 7 allows the old style event deletion behaviour to be selected in the preferences.

Right, back to XDCAM. When you have imported a proxy file onto the timeline you will notice that the aspect ratio may not be correct, as seen by the slight pillar boxing in the preview window.

Do not unselect the Maintain Aspect Ratio for the clip, there is nothing wrong with this. The aspect will be fully correct when the full resolution files are imported as seen below.

Next on the list is conforming the proxy files to full resolution. Go to the XDCAM Explorer and select the Conform icon.

You will then be confronted with another dialogue box to confirm the conform. If you are using an Ethernet connection for your XDCAM equipment you will also be allowed to select a "Trim clips if possible" option. This will mean that only the portion of the clips you have used in the edit will be transferred, thus saving disc space. I know people talk about how cheap hard drives are these days, but you know the saying "Waste not, want not". Being efficient is always desirable. The only drawback is that currently there is no partial file import ability for those who are using an FAM connection. In my opinion this is a major oversight which needs addressing. PDZ-1 incorporated such an option precisely because those with FAM needed it. I would also wager that there are more independent XDCAM operators out there using a FAM connection than Ethernet.

But regardless of those minor gripes, the XDCAM workflow in Vegas 7 works very nicely. In fact the whole program is the best version so far. If you haven't tried Vegas or have never heard of it, give it a go!

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