Alrighty ... here we go!
First off, I'm not fully up to speed on Cyberlink, so most of this is coming from the Vegas side of things. Your budget is more than adequate, but you've got a little homework to do to really get up to speed.
You MUST 'render smart' - as a matter of fact, Vegas has Smart Render :lol: It's really simple. As long as you maintain your video/audio format, resolution and bit rate from capture to output, your frames will pass-through smokin' fast. The only 'true render' which will take place is on frames upon which you apply effects, transitions, compositing, titles, motion graphics, etc. Throw away the iMac, Daddy's home!
Your HDCam will do MPEG4-AVC/H.264 1920x108060i Dolby Digital AC-3 (I'm assuming 48,000Hz 16-bit) Stereo at
17Mbps bit rate. This is your 'standard' and it shall be maintained throughout the process - to your project properties and to output. From your HDCam to your software project file ...
to your project output ...
Got that? [:jaydeejohn:5]
Now, we have a problem that might not actually be a problem so you may want to download and test drive Vegas and see how it goes. Your HDCam output is a
17Mbps bit rate, and with the Sony AVCHD encoder, even under the 'custom' tab, Sony would not let me do that.
16Mbps was the closet option I had.
The reason I don't know if this will be an issue with your 'Smart Render' is that they gave me no clue as to whether this was a Constant Bit Rate (CBR) or a Variable Bit Rate (VBR). If it's VBR I don't believe it will be a problem - CBR may (or may not) be a problem.
If this is an issue with your render output I have 2 solutions, each will cost you $$$ but should easily be within your budget. The first involves selling your current Cam (it just went EOL) and buying one that outputs 16Mbps. It's well worth it because the cost/investment in a 'smart rendering-capable' HDCAM significantly reduces your computer hardware demands, anyway.
The second option: My Vegas has a MainConcept AVCHD encoder output option, but it is a 'teaser.' It will let you manually select the bit rate, but it limits the output resolution. Basstudds! I bet they will sell you a really nice plug-in that will work just dandy, though - LOL - and being the cynic that I am, I'll betcha what they are doing ...
MainConcept is really good stuff (like Sorenson in 'Final Cut Pro' for Macs) and I suspect they provided a 'limited' license for their stuff under the 'Sony AVCHD encoder' label, to work along with the MainConcept limited encoder option. You get the hor'dourves, but yah gotta pay for the 'Main' course ...