Vegas Video discussions from 2006 (Q3Q4)

Carl Downs · November 27th, 2006, 11:44 PM

I purchased Vegas 7 and Boris Gaffiti Ltd came with it as most of you know. The Ltd version is severly limited but was hoping to at least see wonderfull sharp text at least. So... I did all my keyframing and effects in the stand alone "keyframer" then... because Ltd, have to "Export" as avi file. All settings are at Highest, 720x480 with Alpha Strait. Bring this file into Vegas, right click it, properties, media, Alpha Channel Strait and makes the background transparent. Now... everything seems to be going ok... but when exporting (even on highest settings) The text is HORRIBLE... regular Vegas Text is MUCH better and even graphic text I have made. It jitters, it combs, it loses shape when it moves... What is the deal? Am I doing somthing wrong or is this the maximum capability of the LTD > have to export version?

Paul Grove · November 28th, 2006, 02:06 AM

Hi - simple question that is confusing me!

If I shoot with camera set in 16:9 mode, should I be renderin the subsequent .avi and .mpg files in normal PAL or PAL Widescreen for them to display correctly on a widescreen TV?

Thanks!

David Ennis · November 28th, 2006, 07:54 AM

I installed Vegas 7.0b and Excalibur as the admistrator on a computer at my school. When other users log on to that computer they can use Vegas but get a list of unaccessible resources when they try to run Excalibur. Is this a known issue?

Edward Troxel · November 28th, 2006, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Retread

Is this a known issue?

No.

Does it say what resources aren't available? Do other scripts run?

Send me an e-mail and we'll see about figuring out what the issue might be.

Jason Robinson · November 28th, 2006, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

If Vegas only reads, what 2 gig of ram on rendering a mpeg/avi/etc file, does that same principle apply to rendering veg files? I'm at two gig now, wondering if I should bump up to 4 gig.

The OS controls memory allocation. 1/2 of physical RAM is dedicated to the OS, regardless of need. That is just hard coded behavior. I have found that a render of Vegas cannot use any more than 900MB of ram. THe limiting factor has always been CPU. OF course I am rendering on a 2.5GB system so given the 1.2 rule of windows, I "only" have 1.25GB to play with for all the apps running at one time.

jason

Steven Davis · November 28th, 2006, 02:20 PM

I had heard that too, about the limitted use of ram, but I thought it was more than 1 gig.

I was just wondering if vegas limitations on rendering actual video files is the same when rendering veg files, such as those updated and then rerendered in a master project.

Jason Robinson · November 28th, 2006, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

I had heard that too, about the limitted use of ram, but I thought it was more than 1 gig.

I was just wondering if vegas limitations on rendering actual video files is the same when rendering veg files, such as those updated and then rerendered in a master project.

I have no reason to guess that the limitation would be different if rendering nested veg files or working on only one. DSE may have more info on that.

jason

Jason Robinson · November 28th, 2006, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Grove

Hi - simple question that is confusing me!

If I shoot with camera set in 16:9 mode, should I be renderin the subsequent .avi and .mpg files in normal PAL or PAL Widescreen for them to display correctly on a widescreen TV?

Thanks!

Since the source is widescreen, the render should be as well, unless you are also making a pan / scan version for 4:3. Then include the 16:9 project into a 4:3 project and use the "crop" to focus on where the attention is.

jason

David Ennis · November 28th, 2006, 04:39 PM

Thanks Ed. I created a new local computer user account and put it in the power users group. That works, but I have to really trust the users, and we're talking high school students. It would be nicer if it would work with their network logon (on just that computer, of course). So I'll try to capture the error message tomorrow and email it to you.

Mike Kujbida · November 29th, 2006, 08:01 AM

Fred, please let me know what your eventual solution is as I have similar issues with Vegas.
I'm running 3 student Vegas suites at the college I work for and I've found out that, under student profile (XP SP2), a number of things do not work properly. For example, scripts and the ability to import an audio track from CD are my two main concerns.
I'm asssuming it's a Windows issue but I'm not certain nor do I know wher eto begin looking.
Also, like you, I have no desire to swtch them to a power user profile :-(

Edward Troxel · November 29th, 2006, 08:57 AM

Mike, do ALL scripts cause a problem in this situation?

Jason Robinson · November 29th, 2006, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Kujbida

Fred, please let me know what your eventual solution is as I have similar issues with Vegas.
I'm running 3 student Vegas suites at the college I work for and I've found out that, under student profile (XP SP2), a number of things do not work properly. For example, scripts and the ability to import an audio track from CD are my two main concerns.
I'm asssuming it's a Windows issue but I'm not certain nor do I know wher eto begin looking.
Also, like you, I have no desire to swtch them to a power user profile :-(

This is indeed a windows issue. Restricted users on WinXP do not have access to some of hte same features as power users. Unfortunately, it sounds like the Vegas install application (NOTE: I worked for Hewlett-Packard's software installer division for several years) does NOT correctly support the NT user / group permissions. A correctly installed application would ask if the install should be made available to all users or just the current user.

There may be another way called the "Set Program Access & Defaults" which you can use to grant access to certain programs to users.

jason

Mike Kujbida · November 29th, 2006, 01:20 PM

Thanks for the tip Jason. I'll look into that after the semester is over and I have some free time.

Edward, as I recall, it affects all scripts as well as the "extract CD" option. I haven't been able to get near a computer yet today to confirm this though. The end of the semester is fast approaching and this means deadlines have to be met which translates to panicking students :-)

Dave Stern · November 29th, 2006, 03:25 PM

I'm using a Canon XH A1 and am planning to do a shoot (school holiday show really) in widescreen SD. Since the camera's new, I've been doing a few tests all the way through encode / create DVD to confirm the workflow and also see a few samples.

I did one test, 30F (progressive), and when I encoded and played on both an interlaced monitor and progressive display (high def TV), I noticed a flickering which shouldn't be there. Checking the encoding settings, I had told it to encode interlaced, but the source was progressive, which I thought was my problem.

Change the encode on 30F to field order progressive only, and I still get the flicker (which I thought should be gone).

If I tape in 60i, and encode in interlaced (field order as defaults), it looks fine..no flicker, as I would think should happen.

I think I've got the source of the problem identified (field order vs. source material interlaced vs progressive), but for some reason, changing the encoding on the 30F didn't seem to change anything.

Has anyone come across this and/or figured out what's happening here?

Mark Goldberg · November 29th, 2006, 08:10 PM

That slowness is a general problem of doing anything HD on a PC or MAC unless you have one of those add-in cards like a Canopus Edius or Matrox RTX2. Not that I am ready to go back to using one, but I have to work around this slowness by rendering my HD files over a weekend.

November 27th, 2006, 11:44 PM	#1501
Carl Downs Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 101	Boris Graffiti Ltd Text is horrific, am doing right? I purchased Vegas 7 and Boris Gaffiti Ltd came with it as most of you know. The Ltd version is severly limited but was hoping to at least see wonderfull sharp text at least. So... I did all my keyframing and effects in the stand alone "keyframer" then... because Ltd, have to "Export" as avi file. All settings are at Highest, 720x480 with Alpha Strait. Bring this file into Vegas, right click it, properties, media, Alpha Channel Strait and makes the background transparent. Now... everything seems to be going ok... but when exporting (even on highest settings) The text is HORRIBLE... regular Vegas Text is MUCH better and even graphic text I have made. It jitters, it combs, it loses shape when it moves... What is the deal? Am I doing somthing wrong or is this the maximum capability of the LTD > have to export version?

November 28th, 2006, 02:06 AM	#1502
Paul Grove Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Liss, Hampshire, UK Posts: 67	Movie Studio & Widescreen Hi - simple question that is confusing me! If I shoot with camera set in 16:9 mode, should I be renderin the subsequent .avi and .mpg files in normal PAL or PAL Widescreen for them to display correctly on a widescreen TV? Thanks!

November 28th, 2006, 07:54 AM	#1503
David Ennis Fred Retread Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 1,227	Excalibur problem on a managed computer I installed Vegas 7.0b and Excalibur as the admistrator on a computer at my school. When other users log on to that computer they can use Vegas but get a list of unaccessible resources when they try to run Excalibur. Is this a known issue? __________________ "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence..." - Calvin Coolidge "My brain is wired to want to know how other things are wired." - Me

November 28th, 2006, 02:20 PM	#1506
Steven Davis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Richmond, VA Posts: 3,065	I had heard that too, about the limitted use of ram, but I thought it was more than 1 gig. I was just wondering if vegas limitations on rendering actual video files is the same when rendering veg files, such as those updated and then rerendered in a master project. __________________ What happens if I push the 'Red' button?

November 28th, 2006, 04:39 PM	#1509
David Ennis Fred Retread Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Hartford, CT Posts: 1,227	Thanks Ed. I created a new local computer user account and put it in the power users group. That works, but I have to really trust the users, and we're talking high school students. It would be nicer if it would work with their network logon (on just that computer, of course). So I'll try to capture the error message tomorrow and email it to you. __________________ "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence..." - Calvin Coolidge "My brain is wired to want to know how other things are wired." - Me

November 29th, 2006, 08:01 AM	#1510
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Fred, please let me know what your eventual solution is as I have similar issues with Vegas. I'm running 3 student Vegas suites at the college I work for and I've found out that, under student profile (XP SP2), a number of things do not work properly. For example, scripts and the ability to import an audio track from CD are my two main concerns. I'm asssuming it's a Windows issue but I'm not certain nor do I know wher eto begin looking. Also, like you, I have no desire to swtch them to a power user profile :-(

November 29th, 2006, 08:57 AM	#1511
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Mike, do ALL scripts cause a problem in this situation? __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

November 29th, 2006, 01:20 PM	#1513
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Thanks for the tip Jason. I'll look into that after the semester is over and I have some free time. Edward, as I recall, it affects all scripts as well as the "extract CD" option. I haven't been able to get near a computer yet today to confirm this though. The end of the semester is fast approaching and this means deadlines have to be met which translates to panicking students :-)

November 29th, 2006, 03:25 PM	#1514
Dave Stern Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 391	vegas rendering question 60i / 30F (canon) I'm using a Canon XH A1 and am planning to do a shoot (school holiday show really) in widescreen SD. Since the camera's new, I've been doing a few tests all the way through encode / create DVD to confirm the workflow and also see a few samples. I did one test, 30F (progressive), and when I encoded and played on both an interlaced monitor and progressive display (high def TV), I noticed a flickering which shouldn't be there. Checking the encoding settings, I had told it to encode interlaced, but the source was progressive, which I thought was my problem. Change the encode on 30F to field order progressive only, and I still get the flicker (which I thought should be gone). If I tape in 60i, and encode in interlaced (field order as defaults), it looks fine..no flicker, as I would think should happen. I think I've got the source of the problem identified (field order vs. source material interlaced vs progressive), but for some reason, changing the encoding on the 30F didn't seem to change anything. Has anyone come across this and/or figured out what's happening here?

November 29th, 2006, 08:10 PM	#1515
Mark Goldberg Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Annapolis, Maryland Posts: 101	That slowness is a general problem of doing anything HD on a PC or MAC unless you have one of those add-in cards like a Canopus Edius or Matrox RTX2. Not that I am ready to go back to using one, but I have to work around this slowness by rendering my HD files over a weekend.