{"id":6070,"date":"2015-05-26T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/?p=6070"},"modified":"2015-08-04T17:42:39","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T03:42:39","slug":"sony-vegas-pro-panasonic-gh4-compatibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suggestionofmotion.com\/blog\/sony-vegas-pro-panasonic-gh4-compatibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Can’t Touch This: How to Work with Panasonic GH4 Footage in Sony Vegas Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sony Vegas Pro may be one of the fastest video editing tools around, but it has a dirty little secret– it can’t handle footage from the Panasonic GH4<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It might not be as mainstream as other NLE software like Adobe Premiere, Apple FCPX, or Avid, but those who give it a shot quickly discover that Vegas Pro is full of innovative features that can cut down on your editing time by a wide margin.<\/p>\n

For example, inserting a transition between two clips is as simple as dragging one clip into<\/em> the other.<\/p>\n

\"Transitions<\/a><\/p>\n

This approach makes it super simple to set the transition’s duration. Better yet, it’s also perfectly clear what<\/em> will be in the transition, unlike other NLEs where it’s possible for an unexpected part of a clip’s head or tail to be visible during the transition.<\/p>\n

This is just one of Vegas’ many unique features that eschew traditional NLE workflows for something that helps you finish your editing faster, and we haven’t even touched on Vegas’ scripting functionality, logging features, or its best in class audio tools that let you edit and master your audio in a single program rather than having to export your project to a separate piece of software to get the job done (\u00e0 la Premiere\/Audition).<\/p>\n

\"Vegas<\/a><\/p>\n

Vegas’ Problems with GH4 Footage<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, if you use the Panasonic GH4 (or GH3), Vegas is effectively a non-starter due to a strange incompatibility with MOV or MP4 files from these cameras. Specifically, Vegas somehow thinks a clip’s video track is over four times longer<\/em> than it’s audio track.<\/p>\n

\"GH4<\/a><\/p>\n

Whoops.<\/p>\n

The portion of the video track that extends beyond the clip’s audio track is a freeze-frame of the clip’s final frame. This excess “video” needs to be trimmed from every single GH4 clip you add to the timeline, effectively nullifying any of the productivity gains you get from Vegas’ speedy editing workflow.<\/p>\n

\"Multiple<\/a><\/p>\n

Frame Rate Matters<\/h2>\n

Strangely, Vegas’ issue with the GH4’s footage is frame rate specific<\/strong>. Footage shot at certain frame rates works fine in Vegas, while clips shot at other frame rates is incompatible. Here’s a breakdown of the GH4’s different frame rates and whether Vegas can handle it or not:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Frequency<\/th>\nResolution<\/th>\nFramerate<\/th>\nPlays correctly<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
NTSC<\/td>\n1080P<\/td>\n24<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTSC<\/td>\n1080P<\/td>\n30<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTSC<\/td>\n1080P<\/td>\n60<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTSC<\/td>\n4K (UHD)<\/td>\n24<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTSC<\/td>\n4K (UHD)<\/td>\n30<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cinema<\/td>\n1080P<\/td>\n24<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cinema<\/td>\n4K (UHD)<\/td>\n24<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cinema<\/td>\n4K (C4K)<\/td>\n24<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PAL<\/td>\n1080P<\/td>\n25<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PAL<\/td>\n1080P<\/td>\n50<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PAL<\/td>\n4K (UHD)<\/td>\n25<\/td>\nYes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

As you can see, Vegas is incompatible with the GH4’s 24fps footage<\/strong>. You will have issues whether you’re shooting at 23.98fps (NTSC) or 24.00fps (Cinema) on the GH4. However, GH4 footage shot at 25fps, 30fps, 50fps, and 60fps all work in Vegas without issue.<\/p>\n

How to Work with GH4 Footage in Vegas Pro<\/h2>\n

Due to the GH4’s popularity, you would think that Sony would have fixed this issue long ago, but in fact, Vegas has the same problem with the older Panasonic GH3 as well<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Sony have been mum on the issue and have not provided any indication of when (or even if<\/em>) this bug will be fixed. Thankfully, there are a couple workarounds that allow you to use your GH4 footage in Vegas in the interim.<\/p>\n

1. Rewrap the Video Files<\/h3>\n

The first solution is to rewrap<\/em> the GH4’s 24fps clips so that Vegas can open it properly. Rewrapping a clip takes the clip’s original video and audio data and wraps<\/em> it in a new file container.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, though the video and audio data are exactly the same, the rewrapped files are fully compatible with Vegas, making this a permanent workaround to this bug.<\/p>\n

\"Original<\/a><\/p>\n

Rewrapping footage is fairly straightforward with the command-line tool, FFMBC<\/strong>. Open a command prompt and run the following command to rewrap a GH4 file:<\/p>\n

ffmbc -i \"<SourceFileName>\" -vcodec copy -acodec copy -strict experimental \"<OutputFileName>\"\r\n<\/code><\/pre>\n
\n
Note:<\/strong> Replace <SourceFileName><\/code> and <OutputFileName><\/code> with the original and rewrapped file names respectively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
You can also use batch processing software like Another GUI<\/strong> to rewrap multiple files at once. You can download a preset<\/strong> for rewrapping GH4 footage with Another GUI in the Vegas Compatibility Kit<\/strong> at the end of this post.<\/p>\n
\"Using<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
Pros<\/h4>\n