Nope still doesn't work.

The fact that it still does this after I reinstalled Vegas leads me to believe that there must be some kind of info file or somethng that is left behind that could possibly be deleted or reset. Though I have no clue what that could be.

This is a pretty serious situation as I need the program to do paid work with.

You might have a good point there, Emre. I typically use what is
used to encode it. Keep in mind that AVI do carry an identifier
to let the playback computer choose the codec. So if you encode
with XviD and you don't have it installed it won't play. There are
tools to change this to DiVX for example so it might play. The
problem is in the AVI file, not in the MPEG4 data indeed.

What operating system etc. are you running. If you have ANY
other NLE lying around you could quickly install that just to get
your capturing done since you seem to need it NOW. Just a tip.

Here is a link to an elegant and free DV capture program, it's called WinDV and will also print back to tape.

http://windv.mourek.cz/

John

. . . been reading this thread .. intriguing . .. When you start Vegas, is it also attempting to start the "same" Vegas project? If it isn't, then don't read any further. BUT if it is try this one.

Create a new "dummy" Vegas project, call it . .. er .. dummy.veg - get to your preferences for the new project set the way you want it to be, get things all the way you want it. No imported media at all. Nothing captured yet. Save this "empty" project. Close Vegas. Reboot. Open Vegas again. Open from wherever this Dummy.veg is. Make sure it open well. Close it and close down Vegas. Open Vegas and hopefully the new Dummy.veg will spring up. . . Now, cross fingers and try and do a Capture . .. see if this works. No? . .. oh well . .

REASON: Look, I to have run into some issues with Vegas getting hold of everything with a project I have crashed out of a project - for whatever reason - but when I've renamed, re-made a project, that which wasn't working, everything comes back.

Best regards,

Grazie

Never did like Vegas Video Capture---always set my default capture to Scenalyzer---as have so many Vegas users. The miracle of Scenalyzer is that in the three years I have used it, I have never had as much as a dropped frame---By the way, it also offers scene detection etc---something that I dont think windv does---By the way, I forget how much it cost but heck its not expensive----download a demo and try it---I guarantee it will solve all your problems.

David,

You are correct, WinDV does not offer scene detection. But it is free and was only suggested as a quick way for Simon to get his captures done.

I agree with you that Scenalyzer is THE definitive DV capture program.

John

Color matching when the white balance drifts
 

I am working on a video clip in where the white balance has drifted as the camera did a pan. (It was not me using the camera. I always use manual white balance.) Is there a way that I can correct this white balance error? I tried the color correct tool but I can't view the two difference spots of video (the color before the pan and the color after the pan) at the same time to see if I am getting it close. Thanks for your replies.

I'm using Vegas 5.

Yes you can. Just go to the "before pan" image and take a snapshot to the clipboard. Now turn on split screen preview, choose "Clipboard" as the type, and move to the "after pan" position. This will allow you to compare the two different sections viewing both at the same time.

Brilliant! Edward just too brilliant! - YEah yeah it's the software .. .

Thanks .. again,

Grazie

I don't think I could have said it any better than Graham. Thank you so very very much! Now, off to Vegas to work:-)

COmpositing or masking... not sure
 

Hi all,


Well , first if you want to take a look at this image...


http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/phil2film/


This was a screenshot taken of Vegas so i expect 5 will do it.

The one part i can't make is the first track , you can clearly see that the subject was whited off and the background disappeared. This is what i am trying in Vegas right now.

I am starting to play with advance functions now and this is the kind of stufff i wanted to tackled with since i got vegas.


Any help is greatly appreciated.

thx :)

To try and make high contrast versions of video to use as a mask, apply the Mask Generator filter.

Gary

How to set dialog Normalization in Vegas 5
 

Hi.

I am doing my first 5.1-project in Vegas 5 and it is great fun. But according to a post on the AC3 forum on Doom9 the dialog Normalization should be set to the RMS sound level of the mix in order for the decoder on get the levels right.
But how do I find the RMS sound level in Vegas 5???
I can do it in Sound Forge, but only for Stereo soundfiles.

In my first tests I saved the mix as a stereo wav-file and used SF to get a RMS value, but this produced very low levels in the resulting AC3-file. I tried just to mesure the vocals (it is my wife singing on the soundtrack), but this resulted in loud vocals and very low soundlevels for the rest of the mix. This delighted the wife, but did not match what I heard on the monitors.
Now I am using just the default -27 db dialog Normalization, and it seems to work, but I wonder if I am just lucky?

Could anybody clarify?

Thanks in advance

Normalization should be set to the RMS sound level of the mix in order for the decoder on get the levels right.
But how do I find the RMS sound level in Vegas 5???

Its already set to RMS.. Vegas wont let u peak the file

another way is to set up ur normalisation routines by right clicking on the audio element of ur video and selecting properties. in here u can recalculate ur normalisation gain levels, but u can bypass all this by just right clickin the audio and selecting switches, then normalise (after its detected the peaks... dont jump ahead)

In vegas, u work in stereo or mono sound files only. It does not natively decode 5.1 to 6 channels of audio..

as for "Dialog Normalisation" within the render element, -27 is default.. but it seems to me that its not the normalisation at fault here, its the mixing. (no offense)

what i would suggest, would be to set your audio (not ur wifes vocal) to something a lil under peak.. maybe -6 to -9 db by using the audio envelopes
Now, add ur wifes vocal and adjsut accordingly until it "fits" in with the mix and she doesnt sound like shes at a Karaoke bar (ive heard some bad mixes which ruined some great performances)
Now open her audio envelope.

If using vegas5, i would suggest a Midi Controller, then prepare ur mix for live tweaking and slowly adjust her levels as the song plays (realtime MIDI control in video.. i thought id never see the day) (or u can rubber band them if u dont have a controller)

Now u do this AFTER u have normalised everything (coz there WILL be fluctuations which ur not happy with)

Thats about it in a nutshell, im obviously leaving some detals out, but this is prolly the best way to blend "seemingly" different sound sources with different acoustic values (ie, u do this "rubber band enveloping with EQ's and compressors as well)

Theres ALOT more to it.. and u can also do it a different way by setting up bus tracks and routing shit all over the place, but right now this should suffice for what u wan to do.

With Dolby Digital, there are many elements which effect the final mix, dynamic range compression, room size, phase shifting etc etc etc

all i can suggest is that you ditch everythign u know and head off to Dolby.com and skip along to the technical download section.
In here u will find all u need to know about Dolby Digital Mixes and configurations.

Personally, i find the encoding SW in vegas to be THE best SW encoders on the market which conform to Dolby Standards..

good luck