Package
includes the EPIC I Plug-in for Sony Vegas, and a control panel.
Requires
a Pentium 4, Athlon 64, or compatible processor. The processor must have the
SSE2 instructions. See Intel.com or AMD.com for details. EPIC checks and warns
you if you don’t have the necessary processor. 1.8GHz speed or higher is
recommended. Operating system must be Win 2000, Win XP 32/64, Vista 32/64, or
Windows 7 32/64.
No disk
speed requirements if you want to edit in EPIC Red, the low-quality mode,
however a dedicated drive for video data is recommended. The throughput
requirement for running EPIC Red with Ľ size proxies as much as editing DV.
Quicktime 7.6 is required. Get it at http://support.apple.com/downloads/QuickTime_7_6_for_Windows
EPIC I
has been tested with Vegas Pro 9.0 (32-bit only). EPIC will also work with Sony
Vegas Movie Studio.
EPIC I
does not presently support Vegas 9.0 64-bit.
If you
have any existing installations of EPIC remove them with the UnInstall.
Copy the
EpicISetup.exe file to the desktop or any folder and double-click the file to
install the application. EPIC installs into the Windows Start Menu, DVFilm
program group.
Run the
Epic Control to enable the EPIC Plugin (click the Update button on the bottom
of the panel).
Then you
are ready to drag your DSLR Quicktime files into Vegas.
Remember
to re-install I if you ever re-install Vegas 9.
Vegas
users can enjoy the direct import of H.264 DSLR Quciktime files into the timeline
and get real-time playback. In Vegas use File->Open or File->Import->Media
Files. Select a file and click Open. Or
drag the DSLR Quicktime file directly from the Vegas file browser into the
timeline.
Here’s how
it works: when Vegas is started the EPIC control task (purple or red Greek
column in the Windows task bar) is started as well. When you import or drag an H.264
file into the timeline, a message is sent by the plug-in to the EPIC control
program to start creating the proxy. The proxy file is an MXF file in the
DVCPROHD or DVCPRO format. The frame size of the proxy is the same as the frame
size of the H.264 file, unless you have the ˝ or Ľ-size options selected. A
progress dialog appears on your screen showing the progress of the conversion.
The conversion is approximately real-time for fast, dual-core processors. You
may continue editing while the proxy is being made. You may import or drag
other clips into the project and the plug-in will queue up the files to be
converted. You can scrub through the clips, change in and out points, do all
normal editing while the proxies are being made, but playback may not be very
smooth depending on the speed of your computer system. If you do not want to see
the progress dialog, dismiss it by clicking the X in the upper right-hand
corner of the dialog. You have the option of clearing the file queue when you
do that by answering Yes to “Clear Proxy Queue?” Answer “No” if you want the
proxies to continue to be made, but without the progress dialog.
As soon as
the proxy is completed, you will then notice smoother playback for the H.264
clip. The EPIC plug-in will start using the proxy immediately. If the make
proxy option is turned off when you start a project, and then during editing
you turn the option on, you may need to re-open the project to get the proxies
made.
There
are two rules to remember on switching the proxies on and off during editing. There
is one rule for the 10-bit YUV mode (see section on 10-bit YUV mode) and one
for normal mode:
The
proxy is used only when the EPIC Quality Column is red. Otherwise the H.264
original is used. The Vegas Preview quality setting has no effect in this mode.
In this mode, we strongly suggest that the “Mark Proxy” option be turned on.
This will warn you if a file is rendered in EPIC Red.
In this
mode, with 10-bit YUV turned off, it is the Vegas preview setting that controls
the proxy usage. If Vegas is in Preview ˝ mode, or in the lesser size modes,
the proxy will be used. In Preview Full, the original H.264 file will be used.
However, you can force the plug-in to use the proxy in all preview modes by
setting the EPIC quality to red.
With the
“Mark Proxy” option turned on, the video will be burned with the word PROXY in
the left-hand corner. This is a good way to let you know if the proxy file is
being used. When you render a final cut of your project, setting the quality to
EPIC Purple will prevent this mark from appearing in your exported video.
The
proxy files are normally stored in the PROXY folder with your source files. You may wish the proxy files to be stored
somewhere else. In this case, click the Browse button in the EPIC config panel,
and select and/or create the folder.
If you
ever change the folder option in the middle of an edit, you should save your
work, kill EPIC Control (right-click on
the ball in the task bar and select “Exit...”) and restart Vegas.
A proxy
will be remade if you delete it. To force an existing proxy file to be remade,
save your work and quit Vegas. Delete the file using windows explorer. Kill EPIC
Control and restart Vegas.
If you
use the proxies for H.264 editing, keep in mind that the proxy is created from
the entire clip, not just the trimmed clip or the portion of the clip used in
the timeline. So it’s better to stop and start the camera between takes rather
than letting it run.
If you
have problems getting full speed playback do one or more of the following:
1. Change EPIC speed setting to EPIC Red.
2. Use a smaller size monitor window. Preview ˝ or
1/4 are recommended. Smaller is faster.
3. Make sure your EPIC files are on a clean
non-fragmented drive used only for media.
4. Make sure no other processes are running.
5. Edit at 24P if you shot 24P, the data rate is
20% less than 30.
1. Make sure the display settings are 32-bit
“True Color” or 24-bit (“Millions” or “16M” color). Do not use 16-bit (“high
color”) or 8-bit 256 colors.
2. Change EPIC quality setting to Purple.
Note: EPIC
I cannot export H.264 format. If you need to export a quicktime, disable the
EPIC plugin from the Epic Control panel, then restart Vegas.
This
option draws a red border when using EPIC Red. No border is drawn in EPIC Purple.
This options serves to mark rendered material that was not done at best
resolution, therefore any output which has the borders present is flagged as ad
hoc or preliminary material.
This
mode features higher quality for H.264 files. The quality difference is subtle
and may not be apparent unless you have very fine gradients such as with
cloudless skies or smooth walls with brightness increase during color
correction. You may notice a very slight difference in contrast between 10-bit
YUV and the original (RGB) mode.
Creates
a watermark in the YUV mode so you can check if it’s working.
If the
DVFilm watermark appears then you are running the demo version of the program.
Purchase the release version and reinstall to remove the watermark. Also the
demo limits you to 20 files per session, and for 60 days of use.
DVFilm
is not responsible for any damage or loss resulting from the use of this
program.
Make sure
you try the demo version and test it with your editing system before
purchasing.
c. 2010
DVFilm