The effect your talking about is done in these commercials by a DV Info'er, John Britt.

Demos:
www.karatemedia.com/video/jomo.wmv

www.karatemedia.com/video/theatre.wmv


www.karatemedia.com/video/commercials.html

Bob, try this:

A- Always play from the start of your project, because the compressors are time-dependent and will give a different effect if you start later.

B- Make the attack a lot shorter. Attack is the delay the compressor takes before it kicks into action. Sometimes you want a long delay, so there's more dynamics in music. But in this case you want a very fast attack (and probably a very fast release too).

If my work was printed to tape on 720p and later is viewed on LCD or plasma hdtv with a native resolution of 1080 will it look the same as viewing it on a screen with a native res of 720?

thanks

Also, keep in mind you can save and recall your workspace setups. Once you have it set the way you want, hit CTRL-ALT-D and then a number. After that, hitting ALT-D followed by the number will recall that workspace. This is really useful if you're like me and you prefer different workspaces for editing audio versus editing video.

Has anyone been able to create AC3s in mono using Vegas? If so, what settings did you use? I have some dialog recorded in mono, and I hate to waste bandwidth on a non-existent channel. I tried using both stereo and mono sources.

I figured it out, but I can not delete this thread! Oh well, for those of you wondering: you need to create a surround project and pan the sound to the center channel. I thought using a mono file would do the trick but it did not.

I did it a long time ago in Vegas but forgot how.
I know there is somewhere you have to type in
"60" where that option does not exist as a pre-set.
(Did a search here but couldn't come up with the
info.)
How do I convert 60i to 60p?

Hi all,

First of all thanks to all (especially Edward) for responding to my Vegas questions.

I have a .wmv file that I want to edit in Vegas and then make a DVD of.

When I drag it into Vegas, the audio shows up OK, but the video is all blacked out. Anything format I tried to render in results in all black video.

When I play the .wmv file in WinAmp, the video shows up no problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Isaac

make sure u have windows media 9 or above installed.. in vegas drag the piece to the timeline and render out to dv avi,
from here you should see all frames.. so long as u have mediaplayer9 installed..
also turn off the microsoft codecs within vegas

if u try render wmv into any other format those black frames will be embedded to the actual output. avi is the only way to get full frames

the black frames u see are compression, which vegas sometimes latches onto, which is why u see the blacks more than the actual frames.. i dont know how or why, but it doesnt interpolate between the dead compression frames... i guess it can still recognise the frame rate so it leaves it..
Might be an idea to change the frame rate to force interpolation??
Youll need to experiment.

during playback, you SHOULDNT see these black frames at al unless ur scrubbing backwards.. (Mpg would behave the same way)

go into your project settings, switch it to 60 and turn on interpolation, now turn on progressive..

the only output option u really have with this though is Sony YUV or Uncompressed.. i dont see wy youd need 60p unless ur source material was 60p...

thats cause the license is only for stereo or 5.1 (ex included)

if you want full ballsy DD manipulation, u need something like nuendo or the standalone Dolby encoder (sonic foundry softencode) which is no longer available.

the trick is to run a stereo track but tun all ur audio into mono. Also, make sure ur environemtn is set to film (tighter spacial environment)

you can do this with 5.1 surround sound, and by muting the FL, FR, RS, LS, and LFE channels on th etrack (Just double click the panner in the track header, and turn off those respective speakers), to emulate the whole 1.0 audio field (basicaly killing off the surround but maintaing the centre channel only) problem with this is that from memry, youstill ahve to render 5.1 which is 5 extra dead channels being rendered out and taking up precious storage space

Wow, this thread turned out to be alot more helpful than I imagined, thanks for that last piece of info Brian, that will be very helpful in the future

One of the VfW templates is fields to frames in Vegas 6.

Peter, I did in fact get a mono AC3; not just a stereo or surround with identical channels. From what I can tell, the Mainconcept encoder can create everything from 1.0 to 5.1

OK...so I know MPEG isn't really a good codec for editing (the whole Group of Pictures thing), but that is the source format for some video I need to slice and dice.

1. What techniques are there in Vegas that will help when editing MPEG-2 video?
2. Should I turn Quanitize to Frames ON or OFF?
3. Are there other Vegas settings or Preferences that should be enabled to edit MPEG-2?
4. Is there any way to zoom in close enough on the timeline to tell where a GOP starts and ends so that I try and split or cut on those natural breaks?
5. Should I just render out to AVI? If so, does that create audio sync problems?

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

1. Render the whole thing to DV-AVI and then edit that. It will save a lot of headaches.

2. ON

3. Nope. It will handle it as-is.

4. I don't believe you'll be able to tell the difference between i-frames and the others. They'll all look the same on the timeline.

5. See #1 :-) Should not be a sync issue.

I'm using Vegas 5 Vidcapture tool to capture video from my Canon XL2. The video was shot in 16:9, and it looks like it captures it in 16:9, but when I start importing it into my project I can't get the resolution and aspect ratio right.

In the specs for the XL2 the resolution for 16:9 mode is 960x480. If I put the project resolution in Vegas to 960x480 it doesn't look right. If I put it to 720x576 (default) I get a widescreen picture, slightly anamorphic, with the black 'pull down' bits at the top and the bottom.

The best I've got, is 720x576 (default - with the pull down bits) with the pixel aspect ratio set to 'square', but the rendering options don't allow alteration of the pixel aspect.

So I got 2 questions:

1, When the camera records on DV tape, does it record it in 4:3 anamorphic or 4:3 with pull downs or another format I don't know about?

2, What resolution settings can I use to edit and render in Vegas to get a proper widescreen project, that will playback on DVD, in widescreen?

Any help is much appreciated!!

What are your project settings? Go to File - Properties and pick the right setting (i.e. widescreen).

If I use the widescreen setting with res of 720x576 and a pixel aspect of 1.45, the video fills the preview but it's anamorphic.

I've just been playing around with it, and if I set the res to 870x480 with a pixel aspect of 1.0 square, it looks like what it does when it's captureing it. I think I've possibly answerd my own question!!

But of course, I can't render it like that, because the pixel aspect can't be set to 1.0 for the rendering.

If I set the project settings to 870x480 and 1.0 pixel aspect for editing, and use the widescreen setting to render with the pixel aspect of 1.45, will this show as widescreen when playing on a dvd?

Or have I got it all wrong?

If I use the widescreen setting with res of 720x576 and a pixel aspect of 1.45, the video fills the preview but it's anamorphic.

I've just been playing around with it, and if I set the res to 870x480 with a pixel aspect of 1.0 square, it looks like what it does when it's captureing it. I think I've possibly answerd my own question!!

But of course, I can't render it like that, because the pixel aspect can't be set to 1.0 for the rendering.

If I set the project settings to 870x480 and 1.0 pixel aspect for editing, and use the widescreen setting to render with the pixel aspect of 1.45, will this show as widescreen when playing on a dvd?

Or have I got it all wrong?

Lee,

The 16:9 is still 720 wide. You need to tell Vegas that your footage is 'anamorphic' and then it should know to 'stretch' those 720 pixels out to form a 16:9 ratio. How you do that in Vegas, I don't know. But you certainly don't want to change resolution settings. The ccd block is 960 but that's not what the camera records to tape. So, you will be working with a 720x576 image with an altered pixel aspect ratio that makes it 16:9.

Hope this helps.

-gb-

You should look into getting software that is good at editing Mpeg.

I use Mpeg Video Wizard from Womble ($99), and, while it certainly is not equal to Vegas in editing and features, it handles mpeg with a GREAT DEAL more ease than Vegas, and it allows you to join Mpeg segments without recompression.

Gary

Thanks Greg, makes sense now.

Thanks Glenn, So much to learn, so little time....

Edward and Gary,

Gentlemen, thank you specifically for answering my question here, but more than that, thank you for participating in this forum. Both of you make at least part of your living selling your knowledge (scripts, training, etc.) and I have to say how great it is that you give it away freely here when asked. Your participation in this type of forum is exactly why I'll continue to purchase your products.

Patrick

what format audio are u encoding to??
as i can guarantee u that vegas doesnt use mainconcept for Dolby Digital encodes...

im curious how you achieved this as it would save many hassles :)

How do graphic cards effect editing with Vegas Video? That is, is there any advantage to buying a high end graphics card for Vegas Video? Thanks.

There is NO advantage to buying a high-end video card. Most people DO like one that will handle multiple monitors, though.

Hey I'm headed to Denver - end of October and would love to connect with some Vegas 6 users - or one that has used it a bunch to talk about how the program works, and do some hands on with the program.

Anybody out there from Denver? Maybe I should search the profiles.

Thanks,
Milt Lee

Hi folks.

DSE and Co. came to Toronto, Canada to present the HDV VASST tour/Sony Vegas 6 training seminar - it was very well attended and a blast.

This was the first time I met Spot and wow, what an impression the VASST guys make! It was an amazing presentation through and through and I know any time these guys hit town, I gotta be there!

DSE was surprised at the high proportion of Toronto attendees who were "long-time" Vegas users and it's looking like a Toronto Vegas users group might be set up...

As if VASST needs the endorsement... well, I'll say it anyways...
Cheers to you all - if you're interested in keeping up with the latest and the greatest in the industry, VASST's seminars are a must. I'm grateful to Sony Canada to have helped make this event possible - Sebastian and Brian, thanks for helping to make it happen! Canadians deserve more VASST!!!

Cheers!

Mark, it was great to meet you and the other Vegas users both new and experienced, in Toronto. What a great group of folks. The only thing that could have been better is if we'd have had a larger room so folks weren't quite so cramped. We just didn't expect that sort of attendance.
Looking forward to coming up again soon for some other presentations.

Ok im tired of the Main Concept MPEG2 codec. I want to install the H.264 MPEG2 codec. Is there a way to do this and have Vegas export using this codec? Thanks

Greg

I believe that Sony will have to add that in a future version. As of now, you could frameserve from to a standalone encoder (such as MainConcept).

Thanks Ed

Greg

debugmode frameserver is free and like Ed said, the best way to go.

http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/
I use this to encode with Canopus Procoder rather than main concept.

As a frequent user of the 'lower thirds' option within UltimateS I decided to build myself a set of clips that showed each 'third' in action. It occured to me that other UltimateS users might be interested in them, so I've thrown them up on a quick webpage.

Of course you need to have your own copy of UltimateS to implement the thirds in your clips, they simply illustrate the final outcome.

Be warned, they are big files - I did try zipping them but it didn't seem to shrink them all that much.

You can download them here:

http://www.users.on.net/~waynestarick/

I did a search first but no luck.
My question is: If I do a 5.1 mix but want to change
it to 2.0 later on, am I required to totally remix it
at 2.0, or is there some other way that Vegas will
automatically convert it to 2.0, such as by just
changing project properties?

u pretty much nailed it..

but theres afew tweaks such as levels and eq's which will need to be adressed.. oh and surround panning.. as anything in the rears may be lost (abit... )

Ok im tired of the Main Concept MPEG2 codec. I want to install the H.264 MPEG2 codec.
H.264 is not an MPEG-2 codec, it is an MPEG-4 codec. If you were hoping to use the H.264 codec to encode video for DVD-Video, then I'm afraid you will be disappointed. Only MPEG-2 encoded files can be put on DVD-Video disks.

u pretty much nailed it..



So, you're saying that I would have to start over
from scratch and make a seperate 2.0 mix?

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/download/step2.asp?DID=579

You can now import video from a DVD Camcorder disc. From the File menu, choose Import, and then choose DVD Camcorder Disc. Standard and VR-mode discs are supported.

You can now export AVC (also called H.264 or MPEG-4 AVC) video to a USB-connected PSP(PlayStation®Portable). From the Tools menu, choose Export to PSP(PlayStation®Portable).

Lots of bug fixes too.

Here's the full list:

Notable Fixes/Changes in Version 6.0c

You can now import video from a DVD Camcorder disc. From the File menu, choose Import, and then choose DVD Camcorder Disc. Standard and VR-mode discs are supported. Please see Known Issues for additional information.
You can now export AVC (also called H.264 or MPEG-4 AVC) video to a USB-connected PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable). From the Tools menu, choose Export to PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable).

NOTE: PSP firmware version 2.0 is required to use this feature. To check your firmware version, choose Settings > System Settings > System Information. For the latest firmware, go to http://us.playstation.com (in the United States) or http://www.playstation.com (outside the United States).

QuickTime 7 is required to preview AVC video on your computer.

A full-resolution MXF reader for XDCAM has been added to allow you to use MXF files on the Vegas timeline.
Changes have been made to improve importing speed and memory handling when working with AAF files.
Track-based audio gain and panning are preserved (keyframes are not supported) when saving or importing AAF files. When exchanging AAF files with another application, refer to its documentation to determine whether audio gain and panning changes are supported.
A bug that affected rendering and reading of large AIF files has been fixed: 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo AIF renders are now limited to approximately 03:22:53 of audio (536,870,909 samples); 24 bit, 96 kHz stereo renders are now limited to approximately 01:02:08 of audio (357,913,940 samples); the largest file that can be rendered as AIF is approximately 2GB in size. Vegas 6.0c will continue to load files created with previous releases that exceed these limits, though other applications may fail to load them.
A bug has been fixed that caused some AVI and MPEG files to be improperly identified as AAF files.
A bug has been fixed that caused some AAF files to be improperly identified as MP3 files.
A bug has been fixed that could cause the Media Manager to crash when performing some editing operations if the Save media-usage relationships in active media library check box on the General page of the Preferences dialog was selected.
A bug has been fixed that could prevent snapping to the ends of media when trimming event.
The Ctrl+K caption-placement keyboard shortcut in the Edit Details window has been fixed.
A bug has been fixed that caused still-image sequences to be replaced with a single still image when replacing media.
A video rendering issue that occurred when using many high-resolution still images of different sizes has been fixed.
The CineForm CFHD codec has been updated for rendering HD intermediate files.
An issue that prevented certain media video properties from switching when relinking to offline media has been fixed.
A "Reverse" icon has been added to identify reversed events.
Multimedia keys now pass-through to Windows if they are not assigned in the Vegas Keyboard Preferences tab.
Issues with regional decimal separator characters in the Audio Event Properties dialog Time stretch / Pitch shift section have been fixed.

I missed the "MPEG2" part related to H.264. However, the newly release 6.0c update includes H.264.

http://www.vasst.com/resource.aspx?id=c2c9b927-d612-4b09-bd0e-e49570d837fa to find out

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/download/step2.asp?DID=575

Notable Fixes/Changes in Version 3.0c

* A bug has been fixed that caused layers to be flattened when pasting attributes of buttons created from layered .psd files.
* A bug has been fixed that caused theme exporting to fail when overwriting an existing theme.
* A bug has been fixed that could cause a crash when deleting files from the Project Overview window with a track selected in the Timeline window.
* A bug has been fixed that could prevent some DVD Architect projects from opening.
* A bug has been fixed that could cause button images to be displayed incorrectly after replacing individual images with layers from a PSD file.
* An Enable progressive render of DVD menus check box has been added to the General tab of the Preferences dialog:

When the check box is selected, all noncompliant menus in your project will be rendered as progressive-scan video.

When the check box is cleared, all noncompliant menus in your project will be rendered as interlaced video.

If you use a background video in your menus, we recommend rendering the video in progressive-scan format before adding it to your project and leaving the Enable progressive render of DVD menus check box selected. Progressive-scan menus will provide the sharpest-looking text and highest level of DVD player compatibility.
Note: Some DVD players will not display the last frame of a menu correctly when using interlaced background video.

If you change the setting of this check box after preparing your project, the change will not take effect until you clear the Enable smart prepare check box.

Mike Kujbida

However, the newly release 6.0c update includes H.264.
Well, it's good that Sony didn't wait until the next major release to add H.264. I just wonder why they didn't include it in version 6 - which was just recently released - to begin with? I guess they must not have had it quite ready when version 6 had to start shipping.

Hah, this has always annoyed me on my laptop...

"Multimedia keys now pass-through to Windows if they are not assigned in the Vegas Keyboard Preferences tab."

Yeah! Now I can use my volume controls hopefully... :)

I’m taking out my old NEC DVD burner and going with a new Pioneer unit
My question, Will DVDA2 find the new drive? I think WinXP pro will see it ok

Thanks
Vince

If Windows finds it, DVDA2 should as well.

thanks Edward

Is it possible to save a "frame" from a video to a JPEG image file with Vegas?

Thanks!