Vegas Video discussions from 2006 (Q1Q2)

[Randy Stewart]

Looks like the brand new VASST Absolute Vegas training DVD's are available for order now on the VASST site: http://www.vasst.com/. Great prices too. You can order one or a set. Woohoo! The samples look great. Can't wait to get them!
Randy

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Prodad allows you to do this, very easily. www.prodad.de

[Nick Jushchyshyn]

Couldn't you do this by layering a no-line map with a lined map, then use an animated bezier mask to reveal the line over time?

Sorry. I'm not a Vegas user, so no specific instructions, but maybe the concept will help. Good luck.

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Originally Posted by Nick Jushchyshyn

Couldn't you do this by layering a no-line map with a lined map, then use an animated bezier mask to reveal the line over time?

Sorry. I'm not a Vegas user, so no specific instructions, but maybe the concept will help. Good luck.

Sure, you could do it this way too. ProDad is easier, but you could do it with Beziers. Or, you could create angular lines with track motion squeezed down, etc. There are probably a dozen ways to do it. Question is how fast, cheep, or good you want it.

[Tom Johnson]

thanks douglas this looks promising

[Tom Johnson]

thanks guys for all the help so far with my?'s.. much apreciated. does anyone have a top dog way of getting my hdv footage from hc1 to a dvd the right way. seems like everything i do is uhhh not so great. I want to watch letterbox on a 4:3 tv. what are the settings you use ...i am using roxio to burn dvds. but what settings should i use for my template and render setting. i am not even messing with cineform yet till i get this correct. i need to know pixel aspect ration and frame rates to...please help i feel like i am doing something wrong and coming up with less than perfect results

[Peter Jefferson]

particle illusion is a different beast altogether.. its a subcompositer (as i call it) as it does some really BASIC compositing... workable, but nothing al that tight. If u wanted to use PI engine with a decent compositor, id recommend Combustion, as it runs the same particle engine as PI <actually its THE particle engine of PI... Discrete just licensed it> so all ur PI emitters will work in there, BUT combustion is a super duper superior compositing program with a very steeeeeep learning curve..

as for effects, in general off the top of my head, theres Boris, Pixellan spicemaster/spicefilter/creative ease, umm.. oh theres wax, which is free, umm.. afew others littered here and there, but nothign like after effects im afraid..

[Monday Isa]

Hi there,
I saw on a television show, don't remember which one, but on the intro to the show, they did this cool effect with the video, where it's one video playing but they had like 8 layer boxes in different shapes that over lap each other to create that scene, I also have seen another guy who has done weddings do this effect over a shot of the brides maids. It really looks nice, and I know that the images over lap each other, I don't know how they did it, to where the images that over lap were distinguishable, there was a black out line I believe. Again it was one scene in the video but cut into boxes. Any help? Sorry if this is hard to understand a bit, but I have the image in mind, and trying to explain the image could be hard sometimes. Thank you.

[Jamie Hellmich]

I have searched the forum and found similar questions that (for me) led to "head spinning" discussions that did nothing but confuse me more.

Simply put...and regardless of down converting from the camera or within Studio Platinum...I can't find an option to render an mpg2 file in NTSC widescreen format with audio.

You can select the "NTSC Widescreen" option in project properties, but not in "Make Movie" or "Render As". I can select the "Stretch...no letterbox" option for NTSC DVD which is fine for my widescreen, but not for other displays or PC viewing. The aspect ratio is off, of course. (I'm getting away from simple). Also, when I do this, the clip aspect ratio is off when put in Vegas as well as is the icon on the DVD Architect menu.

I want to render widescreen mpg2 files with audio for archiving and burning to DVDs. I do not want them to have "built in" letterbox bars which ruins the clips for later editing, and requires me to "zoom" my apect ratio on my plasma display for viewing.

I can get the video format I want by selecting "DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream", but of course with no audio.

Selecting "Burn to DVD" from "Make Movie" works great for the video format, but then I wind up with a separate audio and video file which does me no good except to use for burning a DVD with "DVD Architect" (which is a great program in my opinion).

This problem for me does not exist in Pinnacle Studio which I am switching over from. I simply render the movie and it shows fine on my widescreen in "full" aspect and my 4/3 television displays the letterbox bars and all is well.

Again, if I use the "DVD Architect Widescreen video stream" option in Vegas, I get the same desired result but with no audio.

I guess I could burn the DVD in DA, and then pull the file off of the DVD via "Import" from "DVD camcorder disk", but that is a workaround that should not be necessary.

Am I missing something here?

Jamie

[David Jimerson]

Do you mean, it's all one image, but it's split up into smaller, individual rectangles, which seem to overlap each other, maybe with some shadows, etc.?

Something like this?

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/1107/image10ud.jpg

This can be done by using multiple tracks, cropping, and track motion. Basically, you put the same video on, say, 8 different tracks, all starting and stopping at the same time. You then use the crop function to pick the parts of the image you want for each "sqaure". With a little 2D shadow in track motion. Then, for a neat effect, you can move the individual slices around and have the pcture sort of "assemble itself," if you want.

Assuming this is the kind of thing you meant.

[John Rofrano]

The templates are yours to change as you see fit. Since audio and video are separate streams on a DVD the default options for widescreen video don’t include audio. But you can easily make your own template. Here’s what you do:

1. Choose File > Render As...
2. Select the "DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream" template.
3. Press the Custom... button on the right
4. Select the Audio tab in the Custom Template dialog
5. Check the "Include audio steam" option
6. Place you cursor in the top Template combo box and give it a new name
7. Press the Save Template icon to save your new template
8. Press OK to apply this template to your render

You will never have to do this again. Now any time you want a widescreen render with audio just select your new custom template and your done.

~jr

[Monday Isa]

David thanks! That's exactly what I was thinking. Cool, thanks for the input. 2D shadowing in the track motion, I didn't think about that.

[Jamie Hellmich]

Thanks John,

But the "Custom" button is not available at that point, it is "grayed out".

Is this because I am using "Movie Studio Platinum"? It it is, I am REALLY disappointed. To this point I have really been impressed and pleased with Vegas software.

Jamie

Edit: I actually went back and checked, all other "save as" formats allow use of the "custom" function. But MPEG-2 does not on my program (Vegas Studio Platinum 6.0A)

[John Rofrano]

Ouch!, I didn’t realize that. I just checked and you are correct, the “Movie Studio” version of Vegas doesn’t support changing the MPEG templates. I have the pro version so I forgot that. (sorry) I would contact Sony support and see if they have a solution. It would seem logical that there was at least one MPEG2 template that was widescreen with audio.

~jr

[John Rofrano]

Here is one "top dog" way. ;-) Go to the VASST website on the Freeware page and download DVDPrep. It was designed specifically for people who just want to make a DVD and not be bothered with what template to choose. The options should be obvious. Select whether you are NTSC (in US & Japan) or PAL (everwhere else except France) and whether you want Normal 4:3 or Widescreen 16:9. DVD Prep will take care of the rest. It will also remember your last settings so you can just push the button and go next time.

~jr