Select the menu.

On the right side, go to the "End Action" property for the menu. It will be set to HOLD by default. You can change it to LOOP if you wish the menu to loop. However, you want to change it to "Activate Button"

In the Timeout field, enter the length of the menu video.

In the Button field, select the button you wish it to activate after that background movie completes.

Exactly the one I meant Edward! Thank you very much!!

Philippe: give that baby a go!

If you have hardware problems (CPU or RAM overheating) then you could have the problem you describe. I don't think Vegas normally crashes while rendering.

To test for hardware problems:

STEP ONE: Stress test with Prime95.
Prime95
Prime95 is a distributed computing program that tries to find certain prime numbers. Its 'torture test' stresses your computer with mathematical calculations and checks the output against known results. This makes prime95 a good diagnostic for instability problems from your CPU and your RAM. Download it from:

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm

Run the “torture test” through options --> torture test --> Ok
Prime95 will stop immediately once it detects an error, and continue indefinitely if it does not. I suggest running Prime95 overnight as you do not need to watch this program run. Prime95 will log errors in results.txt in the installation directory. The icon will also turn from red to yellow when it detects an error.

If prime95 does not find errors overnight then you likely do not have a hardware problem. You can run memtest86 to be doubly sure (not really necessary).

STEP TWO:
*If* Prime95 detects errors, then try the following two programs:

Motherboard Monitor (MBM)
This program monitors your computer's temperatures and voltages. It can help you pinpoint where your problem is (bad power supply, overheating CPU, or other). You want to get readings when your system is being stressed, so run MBM with another program like any recent 3d game or prime95. Download it and install it off:

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/download.html

Interpreting readings:
Right click the MBM system tray icon and click on settings. Click on high/low. The voltages (+3.3, +5.00, +12.00) should stay within 5% of 3.00V, 5.00V, and 12.00V. The CPU and 'case' temperature should be under 60C.
If your CPU or "case" temperature is erroneous, then those parts are overheating. (case = northbridge chip. Your northbridge chip has a heatsink on it on your motherboard, it likely needs to be re-installed/re-seated properly.) If the voltages are low then your power supply is likely bad.

*To get Motherboard Monitor working, you may need to know what motherboard you have. The utility CPU-Z can help you determine what model your motherboard is:

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

STEP THREE:
Memtest86
Memtest is a good diagnostic tool for RAM. Run this if you are having problems with Prime95 (i.e. Your computer reboots or if Prime95 is finding errors). Decide whether you want to create a boot CD or boot floppy and download the right version off

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

Use the installer to create a boot CD/floppy. Memtest will start testing immediately after you boot from the floppy/CD you have created. You do not need to press anything. If your computer did not boot into Memtest, you may need to adjust your BIOS settings so that the CD/floppy boots before the hard drive. The setting for this is usually named "boot device priority". If you do not find this, then refer to your motherboard's manual.

A single pass (look under the pass column) should be sufficient to check for RAM problems. Look under the errors column/listing to check if there are any errors. If not, hit escape to reboot and remove the CD/floppy. I recommend you start Memtest and leave it running overnight as it may take some time to complete 1 pass on old systems.

The approach above should catch your hardware problems like 95% of the time. If they don't find anything, then I would look at a software/bugginess problem. Let us know what comes out from those tests.

Cool !!!


Thanks guys , now just to make sure I don't mess thing up I exactly do I install these plugins. Tried to search for thread about that but didn't find one.

Thanks again.


PS: Rob if you read this I have a OT question. Are you planning on making a second edition to the ladyX project , I'd love to make one :)

Similar to John, I was going to suggest some kind of watermark on part of the video with a serial number of sorts that you can track. Then if number X pops up somewhere else you know which person to ask about it.

Good luck.

Dennis

Got it , I was downloading filters individually but with the whole package there was an installer that did it for me.


By the way , anybody could redirect me to any webpage that has Vegas filters.


Thanks

Phil

I figure if someone copies my work they are most likely to share with a family member or close friend. So i don't expect to find out about it. I just wondered if I could make it harder for an inexperienced person to copy with ease. Maybe a software that would not let them copy without some third party software like dvd shrink ect. You all are probably right and I should not worry about it. Not like they are costing me millions.

Ok, this doesn't make sense to me. You can take 5MB of pictures and drag them into the compilation window in DVD Architect and the disk space used goes up 300MB! Why is this?

I'm new to this program. Is there a way to reduce the amount of space that photos take up in DVD Architect?

It doesn't matter how small the pictures actually are, they take up the same amount of DVD space... which I think is too much.

Because it's taking that 5 meg worth of pictures and turning them into a 300 meg movie.

Ok, but that really doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do. Couldn't it just make a 720x480 progressive frame out of the picture? That would take less room.

I've used el cheapo software that handled slideshows better. I wish there was a way to do this with Architect without having to do it manually.

DVDs are MPEG2 video. You feed it a still image and it has to convert it into something that can be read by the DVD player. The longer each image is displayed, the longer the MPEG2 file will be. Of course the bitrate chosen will also affect the length.

Well - could somebody please test this issue?

Rob, I'm mid-project and loathe to update whikle I'm amongst this one! Hah! But come March I'll consider it.

Oh yes, I diodn't get notifacation - again! - of your addition to this thread. This is NOT the first time. Hmmm... Chris? Ken?

Grazie

I've encountered reported larger file sizes than outputted. I believe I put roughly 400 slides onto a DVD and the output was to be 6gigs but was under 4 when down.

Was the file size you received before or after export?

Thanks,

KIM

I need advice from those of you guys who edit PAL - anamorphic footage on VEGAS.

I shot feature on DVX100AE (PAL) with anamorphic adapter.
After the capture I cant make my Vegas to burn 16:9 footage.

Why?

1) When you capture your PAL anamorphic footage what settings do you use?

2) When rendering for (CD or DVD) what settings do you use?
I need AVI and MpG renders but did not get 16:9 footage at all.

If you edit PAL anamorphic, please contact me cos it looks like till now (after 3 days of "trying") I am still in the point where I started. I just have captured 13 hours of footage but I am not able to BURN a CD which will be 16:9 at all.

Thanks for your help.
voytek

You don't need to do anything special when you capture. If you use in camera anamorphic, the DV stream will be flagged as 16:9 and Vegas will recognise it.

However, as you have used an anamorphic adaptor, the camera (and hence the computer) doesn't know it's anamorphic and assumes 4:3.

This is no big deal - in the media pool, you just need to right click the clip and select properties, then change the pixel aspect to PAL DV widescreen. Then make sure you set the project properties to PAL DV widescreen and everything should work itself out.

When rendering to DV select the PAL DV widescreen template. When rendering to mpeg2 for DVD, select the relevant DVD format (PAL) and click the settings button. Go to video and change the display to '16:9', then render.

BTW, this is all from memory so some of the terms may not be exactly as they appear, but I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Cheers.

Others Have told me that it is easy to animate text the way i want in vegas. Could someone give me an overview of the process. Say i want to have words or letters of those words fly off the screen in different directions independently. How would i even begin. This is an example iv seen of things id like to do but i am a real novice.

http://s92274348.onlinehome.us/Video/swirl.wmv

Could you help?

Is it ok to use some tracks with AC-3 audio and some PCM on a DVD or do they have to be universal throughout?

Not sure exactly why you would want to but here goes:

By default DVDA will convert everything to AC-3

You can either change the default or override the default to PCM

If you go to the File - Optimize screen, you can individually pick the format for each audio element to be PCM or AC3 - whichever you prefer - and can easily mix the two.

If the words all fly off individually then they will all have to be individual events. Have one track per word and then you can control how each word moves individually.

my problem is getting the letters or word to follow the exact path i want. Is there a way to set a path for them to follow?

I'm picking out components for my new editing PC which will be running Vegas 5. The only component that I haven't decided on is the video card. A friend of mine is encouraging me to get the XFX geforce 6600. I can get a 5700 for a bout half the price. I am not a gamer. this PC will be dedicated to video editing and DVD burning. How important is the graphics card. I don't mind paying more if it will help me, otherwise I would rather spend the money elsewhere.

Say I'm creating a DVD out of several various MPG2 files however some of them have AC-3 audio and other PCM. From the sounds of it- it shouldn't have a problem.

Will it automatically try to re-compress whatever audio format which is NOT chosen as the default? How do you get around that- through the optimize screen?

Vegas (or any other NLE) doesn't require a fancy video board. Those are for games that do heavy 3D rendering. NLEs won't make use of all that processing power. Many folks work with stock video cards or even on-board graphics in their PCs.

Good luck.

Dennis

Assuming your are still on mainly default settings, it will attempt to compress everything to AC3. If you go to the optimize screen you can manually tell it which clips to use AC3 and which clips to use PCM.

No easy way - just lots of keyframes

After I render out my Vegas project to an MPEG2 file and proceed to buring it to a DVD with DVD Architect, DVD Architect goes through another "Rendering" and "Preparing" process before it actually starts the burn. Is my Vegas-generated MPEG2 file getting recompressed? Is there something I should be doing to avoid additional "rendering" etc in DVD Architect?

A green check in the Optomize window indicates that there will be no recomression on a particular disc asset.

Menus and other incidentals will always have to be rendered.

Thanks Edward.

just for drill, be aware that there are various versions of pcm audio, such as signed vs. unsigned(?), if my terminology is right.

the issue is that not all pcm audio is legal for dvd use, because some pcm audio does not contain any identifying information that tells the dvd player what the specs of the pcm file are.

dvdlab pro warns about this in the help file, and it actually checks the pcm audio file when it's imported... if the pcm file does not have the identifying data as part of it's bitstream, dvdlab pro will change it to a dvd-legal pcm bitstream.

i think that you should go ahead and let dvda do the conversion to ac3, because it should de-mux/re-mux your mpg2 files anyway.

We are referring to PCM and AC-3 file rendered in Vegas specifically for DVDA. They are always legal that way.

Can anyone help with this? At first, whenever there was a transition, the image on the external would freeze, the transition would then appear in the Vegas preview until the transition ends. Then it would switch back to the external monitor until the next transition where the whole process was repeated. That was yesterday. Today the image on the monitor freezes at the first transition and just stays frozen. I am using 5.0. I tried using 4.0 and had no problem. Any help would be appreciated.

Bob

Go to Preferences>Video Device and make sure you you have 'Recompress edited frames' checked.

Gary

True they would be legal however some dvd players may have a problem with auto switching.Just out of curiosity what would the advantage be to having some pcm and some ac3?

<<<-- Originally posted by Gary Kleiner : Go to Preferences>Video Device and make sure you you have 'Recompress edited frames' checked.

Gary -->>>


Bingo! Thank you Gary.

Bob

Hi all,


Just went from Athlon XP to Athlon 64 , new mobo and ram.

In this case would you recommand reinstalling Vegas or not

Thanks

If you switched your motherboard, windows will likely BSOD on startup.

To avoid this, see http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/ubb.x/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/1400925745
Swapping your board without so much as a reinstall (243kB of images)

2- You probably don't need to re-install Vegas in my opinion.

Hi guys, just quick question. I use a Canon GL2 and I have been using Vegas 5.0 on a PC for a while now. Im wondering if I should be rendering into MPG2 or AVI before making my DVD's? I have been rendering into AVI and have not had a problem but should I be using MPG2 instead? And what is the difference if any? Thanks !!

None I just accidently rendered a few as PCM.

You should render directly to MPEG2, that way you only have to render once. You'll also have to render the audio to an AC3 file. Make sure that the MPEG2 file and the matching AC3 file have the same name, except for their extensions.

There are settings in Vegas for rendering to DVDA MPEG2/AC3 . If you need to render multiple files try a multirender script (http://www.peachrock.com/software/veggie-toolkit.html)

I would either re-render those to AC3 in Vegas or just allow DVDA to convert them.

I use an Albatron FX 5200 to run two monitors off of one AGP slot.

It's works great with Vegas 5 and it's powerfull enough for a quick game of Call of Duty every now and then.

As an added bonus, it includes the DVI to VGA adapter for the second monitor in the box.

It's pretty cheap too, newegg has it for about $57.00 right now with shipping.

Thanks for the heads up Glenn.


My switch went as smooth as it could get , the fact that the new mobo and a Via chipset as old one had probably explains a lot.

There is a couple of games that i had to reinstall , that's why I was wondering about Vegas as well , knowing some software went hayware i just thought that maybe Vegas would too.

All looks clear then

Thanks

http://www.vasst.com/mailers/NABBlasst.htm
I'm not sure what a pre-announcement is, but it's the language I was given to use. :-)
This party is sponsored by a number of companies including our own DVInfo.net/HDVInfo.net, so I'll leave it to you to view the mailer to find out who, rather than listing them all here. Thousands of $$ in door prizes, top-notch professional presenters, and some screenings will take place at this event in honor of our favorite software suite.

If you're even just considering attending Vegas this year for NAB, check out the Post Production Conference as well. We're working with the Post Production conference folks to make this the most Sony software-centric NAB ever. For the first time in the NAB conferences, we'll have sessions featuring Vegas, Acid, Sound Forge, and Noise Reduction in addition to the other sessions. This is your chance to get in on the first year of the Vegas and ACID bootcamps, as well as the HDV classes at NAB. There are more than 250 conference sessions to choose from at NAB this year, and there are more than 20 sessions that will show, teach, or demonstrate Vegas, ACID, or Sound Forge in those sessions.

i film biographies on ppl, then chop it up and render it out on dvd, blah blah.

so, i import the footage in vegas, and as i review the footage, i delete out the interviewer's voice, and set a marker as to the title of the topic.

by the end of the footage, i generally have 30+ markers, with gaps in between the blank footage where i deleted the narrator's voice. still with me?

it ends up looking like this:

http://www.labproductions.com/temp/markers.jpg

so my question is, when i am moving all the split footage back towards the begining of the video, how do i group the markers in so i dont loose them as a point of reference? if i try and move the audio and video, or even group it together, the markers stay put on the timeline. i need them to move with the corresponding footage.

am i going about this all wrong? is there a better way?

thanks!

If you use ripple editing and have it set to affect everything, it will move those markers automatically. Just double-clidk the blank area (to select it), make sure ripple edit is turned on and set to affect all tracks/marker/regions and press the delete key.

thanks, will give that a whirl.

yet to use ripple editing. thanks for the advice.

>is there a better way?<

I wouldn't do this with markers, but by naming the events in the timeline.

First go to preferences and turn on 'Show Active take information in events'.

Then for each event, right-click>Properties and enter a take name. That way, each event is labled for you and stays with the event no matter where/how you move it.

Gary

another fine suggestion.

been using vegas forever, and seems like i have been doing it the hard way.

what a great resource this forum is.

thanks guys.

*edit* that is exactly what i needed. thanks.

Just to give you another option, there's always the "Extract Good Clips" tool in Tsunami. It allows you to mark the good sections with regions and then pulls them out separately to a new track.