Thanks again!

"Ok, here is a simpler question:

CCing with uncompressed footage will look no better then CCing with DV footage when both originated as DV anyway?"

it depends on how many passes you do..

personally i see no benefit from working uncompressed, unless im outputtin for a generic AVI which i can impport into any other app, like combustion or particle llusion
Also as your talking Vegas, you may be able to get away with skipping Colour correction altogether by using colour balance and secondary colour correction to sort out gamma, curves for a proper colour grading and then whatever else you want to include..

stay away from the Levels filter, as these can get noisy and juice up alot of render time..

I will be converting some 40 hours worth of Super 8 mm movies into DVDs for various persons-each person getting various versions from the many hundreds of scenes involved. Each roll of film is some 24 minutes long and will be captured direct to PC without tape. I would like to break up these big avi files into their component scenes each with it's own file name. Is this possible or the right thing to do or how should I go about this? I have Movie Studio 4.0. I would certainly not want to stop the projector for each scene in the telecine process for obvious reasons.

You could try capturing with Scenalyzer Live which has an optical scene detection option. Otherwise you'll need to split up the clips in post.

Raimo, to expand on Edward's post, there's an old version of Scenalyzer that may work for you. Go to http://www.scenalyzer.com/download.html and click on the "download the old freeware scenalyzer" link.

Mike

So I guess I will stick to DV then. My hard drives and I thank you.

I recently, several weeks ago wrote Sony asking them if Vegas took advantage of dual core and hyperthreading. Below is the entire exchange. (Read from the bottom up)

From: Sony Media Software Customer Support
Date: 08/01/05 18:08:54
To: info@droptodesign.com
Subject: I am building and need two opinions [Incident: 050718-000011]


Subject
---------------------------------------------------------------
I am building and need two opinions


Discussion Thread
---------------------------------------------------------------
Response (Kathryn) - 08/01/2005 05:08 PM
Dear Mr. Davis,
Hello,

Thanks for writing. First off, allow me to apologize on behalf of the Media Software support department. The length of time it has taken to get this reply to you is simply unacceptable, and we take full responsibility for it. You see, our email communication system runs on a database, and a flaw in what is called a "workflow rule" caused your request for help to sit unassigned to an agent.
Now, on to the question at hand.
Yes, Vegas will allow you to take full advantage of hyperthreading and dual core technology.There is no difference between using Professional and Home XP.
Thank you for waiting.
You can either update this incident or give us a call to further discuss your questions. We are available from 9 AM to 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM to 5 PM Central Time, Monday-Friday: 1-800-577-6642.

Sincerely,

Katy T.
Customer Service Assistant
Sony Media Software
1617 Sherman Ave.
Madison, WI 53704
http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware
http://www.acidplanet.com

Response (Kathryn) - 07/18/2005 02:10 PM
Dear Mr. Davis,
Thank you for writing. Sony Pictures Digital has a company policy of not recommending specific hardware. We have business relationships with many different manufacturers and cannot show favoritism. For advice on hardware, we suggest you contact a Sony Pictures Digital dealer, many of whom also deal in pro audio/video hardware. If you need a referral to a dealer in your area, you can find a full list of domestic dealers and distributors here: http://www.mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/corporate/dealers.asp
As for the 64 bit system, Sony Media Software is not yet compatible with this system. I am sorry. Here is a list of minimum system requirements for you:

System Requirements
*******deleted this part for space**********

Thank you.
You can either update this incident or give us a call to further discuss your questions. We are available from 9 AM to 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM to 5 PM Central Time, Monday-Friday: 1-800-577-6642.

Sincerely,

Katy T.
Customer Service Assistant
Sony Media Software
1617 Sherman Ave.
Madison, WI 53704
http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware
http://www.acidplanet.com

Message Acknowledgement - 07/18/2005 07:28 AM
Thank you for contacting Sony Media Software Support.

This message acknowledges receipt of your request for help. We will reply as soon as possible.


Customer (Steven Davis) - 07/18/2005 07:28 AM
First: I am considering the Matrox Millennium P650 PCIe 128 and wanted to know if this has been tested with Sony, is this a good match.

Second: I wanted to know if Vegas 5 or 6 would benefit from a dual core 64 bit system. And if the benchmarks for Vegas were better on the Intel child or the AMD 64bit x2. Since this machine will be for video editing only, I want to know what is best for Vegas 5 or 6, preferably I want to get the new Vegas suite.

Sincerely

Steven Davis

Thank you gentlemen. Does a higher version of Vegas (That is to say, from Movie Studio 4.0 ) have these scene detection features I need for my telecine work?

No version of Vegas has optical scene detection.

I downloaded your filmlook script and now when I try to open Vegas my computer pops up my install wizard for the script. I can't open Vegas at all at this point...any idea what's going on????

Sounds like you've somehow changed your shortcut to point to the script install instead of Vegas. First of all, go to your Program Files\Sony\Vegas 6.0 folder and verify your Vegas60.exe file is still there. Assuming it is, make sure your shortcut points to that file. If, by chance, it is NOT there, just reinstall Vegas.

If you’re interested in Film Looks you might also want to check out Celluloid (http://www.vasst.com/product.aspx?id=86a3c0d0-67d6-4e7b-8219-d80848cbd5ca) from VASST. It’s not free but its only $24.99 with a collection of 21 different film looks. It can render your footage to 24p, Convert 4:3 projects to 16:9 Widescreen, and can be expanded by adding new Film Look collections called ReelPaks by David Jimerson. There are a total 79 film looks in all 5 Reelpaks.

There is a 15-day fully functional free trial so you can try it on a project and see if you like it.

~jr

I tired all these suggestions, nothing worked so I just did the work over again. Thanks for the suggestions though.

So when I rendered a project at 24p I get a flickering purple line at the bottom of the image (but at the top of the 16x9 letterbox).
Is this a camera problem or a render problem?

I'm wondering if there is any way to mass import still photos into a Vegas timeline as single frames.
Example - the following thread is about a video shot on a Canon 20d at 5fps then turned into video, using Vegas 5. I want to know if there is a fast way of doing this, or did the guy have to go frame by frame?

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=43245&page=1&pp=15

Thanks!

File
Import Media
In the dialog box, look at the bottom. Import as image sequence.

OR

programs like RAD video tools and Quicktime Pro can convert between image sequences and video formats.

OR

I think there's a way to set default still length to 1 frame. But maybe not.

If they're all numbered such as pic001, pic002, pic003 etc... the answer is YES. Just go to File - Import Media, choose the first image, and then check the box that says "Open still image sequence".

What is the source? What camera type. Also, is it captured through firewire or is in an analog capture? Only time I've seen a flickering line like that is through an analog capture.

Can you post a sample? That would probably get you an answer instantly.

DJ

Thanks Ed, figured it out...and love the script by the way!

Are there any transitions out there there to be purchased for Vegas 6?
I am interested particularly on wedding transitions.
Thanks.

You might want to take a look at Pixelan and Adorage. Both of these add many new transitions.

There's also a free luminence transition available which could be helpful if you have the proper gray-scale images.

I've never noticed before, but there seems to be limiting or compression of the dynamics I created in my .veg file using volume envelopes when I render the audio to AC3. The volume difference is clearly there when I playback from the timeline. I don't see any related settings except maybe the dialog normalization level. Am I imagining things?

What are your current settings? I don't edit in Vegas (or even on the PC), but I spotted your post because I've wondered about this same thing. The AC-3 codec seems the same across platforms - I've seen the prompt in Vegas and it has all the same options as A.Pack/Compressor on the Mac - so if you're doing stereo mixed at around -12 or -18 db then -31 seems to be the setting in dialog normalization that doesn't mess with dynamics. I read this on a couple of websites and my replicator confirmed it for me. You should also make sure that you are not using the "Film Standard Compression," which for some godawful reason is the default setting in A.Pack. If you don't set that to "None" then the AC-3 codec will massacre stereo sound intended for home video/television. Some AC-3 interfaces also turn on low-pass and DC hum filters by default - I don't know about Vegas. I just realized that I am writing this as if you are not a regular AC-3 user so I apologize if it's too basic for you.

Try using the following settings.

Encode set to AC3
Click on Custom tab.
On the first tab, set diag. norm to" -31".
On the last tab marked preprocessing, set the Line mode profile
and RF mode profile mode to "none".
Now save that as a preset.

Mike

Hi all,

I've been using Vegas 5.0d and DVD Architech 2.0b for about a year now and have made many homemade DVD's with no problems. I just got SoundForge 8.0 to improve he audio in the DVD's. Once I load the .avi into Vegas, I hit copy to audio editor which opens a copy of the audio in Sound Forge. I do some stuff (noise reduction, Graphic eq, etc). and then make a new copy of the audio (in wav format). I then take that wav and add it as a separate audio track in Vegas. I mute the original audio (or delete it), and then render to .mp2 as usual. I then load up the .mp2 in DVD Architect. I run the preview and hear the audio no problem. I then burn the DVD. When I place the DVD in my computer, I can hear the audio no problem. When I place the DVD in my home player - NO AUDIO. I go back to the .mp2 file and play it DVD Architect and can hear the audio.

I do back to Vegas - go back to the original audio - render to .mp2 - insert .mp2 into DVD architect - burn DVD - now I have audio again from my home player.

Can anyone please help me? I really want to use the improved audio from SoundForge in my DVD's.

Thanks,
Isaac

Thanks guys, that made a difference!

I'm not sure why your MPEG audio (mp2) file appears to be different when rendered from a Sound Forge audio source as opposed to a Vegas audio source. Were both WAVs in PCM format?

Forgive me if you're already aware of this, but, my understanding is that North American DVD players are only required to support PCM and Dolby Digital audio (AC3). Many support DTS and some support MPEG (mp2). Perhaps your DVD player is finicky about MPEG audio, and the source file is having an affect on the creation of the mp2?

What happens when you use your prferred audio source encoded in Dolby Digital (AC3) for your DVD instead of mp2?

Sounds like you're not using the connection between Vegas and Sound Forge to it's fullest abilities. When you open a copy in Sound Forge, saving in Sound Forge should return the revised audio as a TAKE on top of the original audio.

As for why the audio may not be appearing, is it possible the audio is only on the left channel and, on the TV, only the right channel is connected? (or the other way around). Or is it a stereo signal being converted down to a mono signal and the two sides of the audio are canceling out each other? I've seen both happen.

I wondered if you ever got an answer on this.

Do you know of any special deals on Ultimate S 2 for DV Info members?

Perhaps it's offered in a bundle at a special price? The regular price of $149 (US) on the VASST site is fair. I just don't want to overlook any bonus deals.

Ultimate S 2 at VASST http://www.vasst.com/product.aspx?id=c8cec3c4-7ec3-43db-8d32-f703f5050400

Ryan

And worth every nickel. I do 5 camera editing and would be lost with out it.

Jim

I used a panny dv-953
capture to vegas using firewire
playback through MWP and a dvd program, same thing.
Can't see the line while editing.

Most likely this question has been asked before and I apologize but I need some comfort feeling to know if I am doing it right.

So I download to my PC from my camera and have numerous .avi files.
I edit these .avi files and create an mpg2 file. However, on some occasion, I need to make changes or improvement so I go back to my edited mpg2 file and reedit and again create a new mpg2 file.

Is this a good practice OR should I go back to the original .veg file with the .avi files and create a new mpg2?

Thanks.

Danny,

You should go back to the original Veg file.

The AVI when rendered to Mpeg2 gets compressed at a rate of about 3 to 1. If you rerender the Mpeg you get further quality loss.

Cheers,

Andy

You definitely do not want to re-edit the MPEG2 file. Always go back to the original AVI files.

Beauty. Thanks guys!

One thing I find myself doing more and more recently is if I have finished rendering a project and then find I want to make a change or changes, instead of re-editing it and having to then re-render the whole thing (many hours), I edit and re-render just the section(s) that I want to change and then open the original mpeg and the new short renders in MPEG Video Wizard.

I then replace the old sections with the new and save the new composite with no re-rendering. It saves many hours of time and results in a fixed movie that has not been degraded by any re-rendering.

Any bundles out there including Ultimate S 2?

I'm not questioning the usefulness of the tool. I'm just asking if it's included in any bundles.

Any bundles out there including Ultimate S 2?

I'm not questioning the usefulness of the tool. I'm just asking if it's included in any bundles.

Hello Ryan,
VASST does have a bundle deal where if you purchase all GrafPaks and all the ReelPaks, you save 10% on the package, it's automatic when you add all those items to the cart.

DSE, thanks for the info.

Folks, looking for opinions... is it time for us to fire up a dedicated "Vegas for HDV" forum?

I have had issues lately trying to use Video with Pan Crop in Vegas 6b.
Whenever I try to crop in on video shot with my VX2100 using Pan Crop to a video clip, I get wavy lines going across the video.

I have color correction and color curves applied to the clips and my settings for the project are standard NTSC 4:3 29.95 Template with Interlace field set to lower and set to blend.

When I try to do the same thing using Track motion, the video is fine, with no noise in the image.

I have used Pan Crop for pictures with no issues at all.

Is Pan Crop best suited for pictures and Track Motion best suited for Video?

Thanks for the help,
Michael
LVProductions

Well... I DO know the two work differently. For example, when zooming in on a photo, if you zoom using Pan/Crop you use the full resolution of the photo but zoom using Track Motion and you zoom in on the video frame. Now given that both sources should be the same when zooming on Video, you would think they would be VERY similar.

"Now given that both sources should be the same when zooming on Video, you would think they would be VERY similar."

you would think so, but they deffinitely display and encode different. I was reading on the Sony Vegas forum that I should have interlaced vide set to either interpolate or blend in the project properties and the event properties, as since Vegas gives you the option now to select you deinterlace method, the it defaults it to none, which desn't work well with interlaced video (which would be for progressive 24P video I assume).

I changed the project properties to blend, but haven't had a chance to check my event properties, to see if that is the cause of the problem. If I can't fix the problem in Pan Crop then I am still able to use Track Motion, but I find it more time consuming to do so.

I had this same problem when trying to create a 4:3 letterboxed version of some GS400 footage I shot in 16:9 mode. I think the problem has to do with the fact that we/you are resizing the video image in a way that creates problems when lining up the two interlaced fields per frame after each field has been resized (probably wouldn't happen if the resize was perfectly half if you see what I mean). Anyway, it's not ideal, but you are on the right track. If it is happening for your whole project (like in my case because I was letterboxing to 4:3), then leave Lower Field First set as is but change deinterlace to blend in the project settings. If you are just having issues with specific events, then leave lower field first and set to blend in the event properties. Reduce interlace flicker also helps. That should fix the waves.

I want to apply some effects over four splits, and would like to merge the clips back together first, to facilitate this.

It is too late to "undo" the split.

I'm sure there is an obvious way to do this...

i have vegas 4 copied version. the only reason for me going to vegas 6 is cause of the hd movement. since there isn't any dvd player to read hd nor any recorder in hd yet i opt to go with just vegas 6. can i later down the road just add the dvd suite production or do i have to buy a whole new vegas 6 +dvd production suite?

thanks

You can upgrade from Vegas 6 to Vegas6+DVD. You might want to look at that cost, though, and compare to the cost difference between:

Vegas 4 to Vegas 6
Vegas 4 to Vegas 6 + DVD

vs

Vegas 4 to Vegas 6 to Vegas 6+DVD

You have a few options:

1) if you have 1111222233334444 that are all pieces of the same clip and were simply split (i.e. they're back to back sections of the same clip), then you can simply delete 222233334444 and then expand 1111 until it fills the entire area.

2) You can automate the above via use of scripts

3) You can apply the effect to 1111, copy 1111, select 2222, 3333, and 4444, and then right-click one of them and choose "Paste Event Attributes".

4) Once again, #3 can be automated somewhat via a script.

You can upgrade from Vegas 6 to Vegas6+DVD. You might want to look at that cost, though, and compare to the cost difference between:

Vegas 4 to Vegas 6
Vegas 4 to Vegas 6 + DVD

vs

Vegas 4 to Vegas 6 to Vegas 6+DVD

vegas 4 is copied. i don't think i can upgrade from 4 to 6. how much would it be upgrade from 6 to 6+dvd?

Thanks