Vegas Video discussions from 2005 (Q1Q2)

Edward Troxel · January 5th, 2005, 09:50 AM

Both of those plugins should work fine in Vegas 5. There's a lot of unanswered questions, though. How about starting with:

1) What is the source format?
2) What format are you rendering?
3) Are there any large pictures in this project?
4) If yes, do they happen around the 90% mark?
5) Any other info that might be useful?

Michael Estepp · January 5th, 2005, 12:47 PM

Hey Folks,

Here's a problem you may not have heard before. I am rendering out my movie, it has three plug ins on it, brightness/contrast, levals, and black and white. I watch the movie in "preview" when I edit, and it looks grainy and dirty... just the way I want it. When I render it out, it looks TOO GOOD, glossy and very clean.... Is there a way to render it out to look bad? like it does in "preview"? I know there is an option to render quality to Preview, good or best, I am trying that now... but I am doubtful... any help would be appriciated...

Michael Estepp

Fred Finn · January 5th, 2005, 01:11 PM

I know it's something simple. I just can't find a reference to it, or figure it out.

Edward Troxel · January 5th, 2005, 01:32 PM

I think what you are looking for is what I explain in Vol 2 #5 of the newsletter. Vol 2 #3 has a similar article but is geared toward Vegas 4 instead.

Edward Troxel · January 5th, 2005, 01:34 PM

Definitely first render with preview quality which should help degrade the image. You might also want to look at the Film Effects effect which can add grain and other things.

Michael Estepp · January 5th, 2005, 01:55 PM

I have played with the film grain, the image still looks too pollished

Fred Finn · January 5th, 2005, 02:28 PM

Thanks Ed!

Tony Webber · January 5th, 2005, 03:29 PM

Hello,

I've just edited a project in vegas and have started colour correction, however when i add any effects the video quality drops seriously. Giving a kind of pixelation look to it like its been heavily compressed.

If i render out to tape and play it from the dv camera it still looks awful. If i remove the effects in vegas the video looks fine again.

Has anyone experienced these issues? If so, can you tell me what im doing wrong.

Cheers

Tony

Tim Kay · January 5th, 2005, 07:18 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Edward Troxel : Camera should be in VTR mode. -->>>

yes, it was in VTR mode and i had controls of the camera. I kept getting an error message that said format not recognized yet they were the basic ones that Vegas compressed.
\

Any other ideas why it didn't record?

Kyle Ringin · January 5th, 2005, 08:41 PM

Are the project settings set to either DV or DV widescreen?

If you are sending it to a DV camera it'll have to send it DV, not any other codec.

Tim Kay · January 5th, 2005, 09:49 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Kyle Ringin : Are the project settings set to either DV or DV widescreen?

If you are sending it to a DV camera it'll have to send it DV, not any other codec. -->>>

Does that mean it can't be a wmv or avi file?

Dave Coyne · January 5th, 2005, 09:52 PM

Hey. My last NLE was a Casablanca. I'm interested in a user friendly system. I'd rather not spend the dough on another stand alone unit but I'm afraid that Vegas will be too frustrating to use. Now, I know it may seem simple to most of you but let me give ya some perspective. In my head: Casablanca= BIG BOLD CRAYON / Adobe Premier= alien cryptic code.

cheers,
-dave

Edward Troxel · January 5th, 2005, 10:10 PM

NOT WMV.

DV is an AVI file. Pick either NTSC-DV AVI or PAL-DV AVI depending on your needs.

Edward Troxel · January 5th, 2005, 10:14 PM

The best advice I can give is to download the demo and give it a try. You can also look over my newsletters - especially the beginner's corner articles.

p.s. Vegas isn't like Premier.

Glenn Chan · January 5th, 2005, 10:22 PM

You can try the demo for Vegas. Some people find it easy to use... others do not (it made no sense to me since I learned Final Cut first, and it is entirely different than Final Cut). The sticky at the top of this forum was helpful to me.

Training materials might also help... this way you learn workflows that work and how to do things properly.

Understanding Vegas:
Vegas originally started out as a multitrack audio program. If you know how to use them then it should make sense to you. If not, then Vegas is kinda weird because it is nothing like other editing programs (Final Cut / Premiere Pro / Avid style).

Adobe Premiere 6.x versus Premiere Pro: Premiere Pro is much better and re-designed. It is very much like Final Cut on PC. You might have a better grip on things with Final Cut or Premiere Pro (I like Final Cut better, but if you have a PC check out the demo from PPro; the two programs are similar).

2- Quick basic tutorial on Vegas:

Capturing: Go to file --> capture to get into the video capture tool. Choose Capture Video- this will capture the whole tape and automagically break up clips if you set the date/time on your camera.

Import the footage into your Vegas project (if necessary) and drag clips onto the timeline. You can select the edges and move them left/right to trim clips. You can add dissolves by dragging the top corners of the clips (watch the cursor change). You can also create dissolves by overlapping two clips- Vegas automatically puts in the dissolve.

Enable snapping for clips to snap to each other. Snapping only occurs for one track, unlike other NLEs. You can't snap a clip from one track to the head/tail of a clip on a upper/lower track.

Quantitize to Frames you can disable if you wish to do certain audio work. Leave it on for video.

Read the shortcut keys PDF... it goes over useful shortcuts like mouse wheel up/down = zoom.

Hopefully Vegas makes sense to you. It can be really powerful if you know what you want to do with it.

January 5th, 2005, 09:50 AM	#91
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Both of those plugins should work fine in Vegas 5. There's a lot of unanswered questions, though. How about starting with: 1) What is the source format? 2) What format are you rendering? 3) Are there any large pictures in this project? 4) If yes, do they happen around the 90% mark? 5) Any other info that might be useful? __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

January 5th, 2005, 12:47 PM	#92
Michael Estepp Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 95	Rendering Hey Folks, Here's a problem you may not have heard before. I am rendering out my movie, it has three plug ins on it, brightness/contrast, levals, and black and white. I watch the movie in "preview" when I edit, and it looks grainy and dirty... just the way I want it. When I render it out, it looks TOO GOOD, glossy and very clean.... Is there a way to render it out to look bad? like it does in "preview"? I know there is an option to render quality to Preview, good or best, I am trying that now... but I am doubtful... any help would be appriciated... Michael Estepp

January 5th, 2005, 01:11 PM	#93
Fred Finn Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Jackson, WY Posts: 178	Turn title into mask over color gradient I know it's something simple. I just can't find a reference to it, or figure it out. __________________ i am the muffin man.

January 5th, 2005, 01:32 PM	#94
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	I think what you are looking for is what I explain in Vol 2 #5 of the newsletter. Vol 2 #3 has a similar article but is geared toward Vegas 4 instead. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

January 5th, 2005, 01:34 PM	#95
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Definitely first render with preview quality which should help degrade the image. You might also want to look at the Film Effects effect which can add grain and other things. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

January 5th, 2005, 01:55 PM	#96
Michael Estepp Regular Crew Join Date: May 2003 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 95	I have played with the film grain, the image still looks too pollished

January 5th, 2005, 02:28 PM	#97
Fred Finn Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Jackson, WY Posts: 178	Thanks Ed! __________________ i am the muffin man.

January 5th, 2005, 03:29 PM	#98
Tony Webber Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: uk Posts: 57	Loss of quality with effects Hello, I've just edited a project in vegas and have started colour correction, however when i add any effects the video quality drops seriously. Giving a kind of pixelation look to it like its been heavily compressed. If i render out to tape and play it from the dv camera it still looks awful. If i remove the effects in vegas the video looks fine again. Has anyone experienced these issues? If so, can you tell me what im doing wrong. Cheers Tony

January 5th, 2005, 07:18 PM	#99
Tim Kay Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: SF & LA Posts: 195	<<<-- Originally posted by Edward Troxel : Camera should be in VTR mode. -->>> yes, it was in VTR mode and i had controls of the camera. I kept getting an error message that said format not recognized yet they were the basic ones that Vegas compressed. \ Any other ideas why it didn't record? __________________ Event Production Services \| Video Production San Francisco

January 5th, 2005, 08:41 PM	#100
Kyle Ringin Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 241	Are the project settings set to either DV or DV widescreen? If you are sending it to a DV camera it'll have to send it DV, not any other codec.

January 5th, 2005, 09:49 PM	#101
Tim Kay Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: SF & LA Posts: 195	<<<-- Originally posted by Kyle Ringin : Are the project settings set to either DV or DV widescreen? If you are sending it to a DV camera it'll have to send it DV, not any other codec. -->>> Does that mean it can't be a wmv or avi file? __________________ Event Production Services \| Video Production San Francisco

January 5th, 2005, 09:52 PM	#102
Dave Coyne Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Rockville Maryland Posts: 30	Tech Challenged Hey. My last NLE was a Casablanca. I'm interested in a user friendly system. I'd rather not spend the dough on another stand alone unit but I'm afraid that Vegas will be too frustrating to use. Now, I know it may seem simple to most of you but let me give ya some perspective. In my head: Casablanca= BIG BOLD CRAYON / Adobe Premier= alien cryptic code. cheers, -dave

January 5th, 2005, 10:10 PM	#103
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	NOT WMV. DV is an AVI file. Pick either NTSC-DV AVI or PAL-DV AVI depending on your needs. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

January 5th, 2005, 10:14 PM	#104
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	The best advice I can give is to download the demo and give it a try. You can also look over my newsletters - especially the beginner's corner articles. p.s. Vegas isn't like Premier. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

January 5th, 2005, 10:22 PM	#105
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	You can try the demo for Vegas. Some people find it easy to use... others do not (it made no sense to me since I learned Final Cut first, and it is entirely different than Final Cut). The sticky at the top of this forum was helpful to me. Training materials might also help... this way you learn workflows that work and how to do things properly. Understanding Vegas: Vegas originally started out as a multitrack audio program. If you know how to use them then it should make sense to you. If not, then Vegas is kinda weird because it is nothing like other editing programs (Final Cut / Premiere Pro / Avid style). Adobe Premiere 6.x versus Premiere Pro: Premiere Pro is much better and re-designed. It is very much like Final Cut on PC. You might have a better grip on things with Final Cut or Premiere Pro (I like Final Cut better, but if you have a PC check out the demo from PPro; the two programs are similar). 2- Quick basic tutorial on Vegas: Capturing: Go to file --> capture to get into the video capture tool. Choose Capture Video- this will capture the whole tape and automagically break up clips if you set the date/time on your camera. Import the footage into your Vegas project (if necessary) and drag clips onto the timeline. You can select the edges and move them left/right to trim clips. You can add dissolves by dragging the top corners of the clips (watch the cursor change). You can also create dissolves by overlapping two clips- Vegas automatically puts in the dissolve. Enable snapping for clips to snap to each other. Snapping only occurs for one track, unlike other NLEs. You can't snap a clip from one track to the head/tail of a clip on a upper/lower track. Quantitize to Frames you can disable if you wish to do certain audio work. Leave it on for video. Read the shortcut keys PDF... it goes over useful shortcuts like mouse wheel up/down = zoom. Hopefully Vegas makes sense to you. It can be really powerful if you know what you want to do with it.