How does MB compare to the median filter? ;)

2- Not sure how a 1.33ghz Athlon (FSB?) compares to a Pentium, but the Pentium should be at least two times faster. A Pentium 3.0C is fairly good bang for the buck considering you can't get much faster with Vegas. You could go with a multiprocessor (a tad faster) or with another NLE or a render farm.

That is no reason not to use it. They both conform to the MPEG-4 standard, and can decode each other's streams.

Thanks for all of the feedback on Beta 1 of the Veggie Toolkit!

Beta 2 is now available at: http://www.peachrock.com/software/veggie-toolkit.html

I have incorporated many of the suggestions and fixed a few bugs in this release. I am planning a Beta 3 release that will focus on enhancements to Capture Cutter and MultiRender. If you have any suggestions for making these tools better, please let me know.

Thanks,

Randall

I have just loaded up Vegas 5 to try and capture some video. But I got a message saying that video capture wasn't shut down properly the last time I used is, and a question asking me if I wished to load the project. I have tried answering both yes and no, and each time video capture tries to load and then crashes out.

I have just uninstalled Vegas 5, and then reinstalled it. I still cannot get video capture to load up! It still gives me the same message! Anyone any ideas? I'm desperate!

Try starting just the VidCap program. Using Windows Explorer, go to the Vegas 5 folder and double click on vidcap50.exe. Make sure all background programs are stopped...including virus checkers. CTRL-ALT-DEL to get to task manager, then click the applications tab and make sure nothing is running in the background. If something other than vidcap is running, stop it.

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

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:-)

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

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

Occasionally this will happen. The audio track will be
missing after the render, and the only way I can get
Vegas to render audio is to re-boot the system.
Anyone else ever notice this? Seems to occur more
as Vegas has been running for a while without a re-boot.

I have not noticed this. What format were you rendering to? What preset did you use? Did you go into custom and change the preset?

And which EXACT (including a, b, etc.) version of Vegas are you using?

Does Scenalyzer capture the DVX100 24p, 24p Advanced and 30p modes correctly? (personal experience please).

I checked their website but could not find any info on this.

Also, in my experience with the Vegas caprure, the cause for dropped frames has always (4 out of 4 times) fragmented hard drive and / or running process in the background.

-- Andre

Kevin, did you ever get this solved? I know exactly what you're talking about and find it's frustrating. There is an obvious jump in
and jump out, it also depends of the type of effect and what you're resolving to or from. Did you figure anything out? I can't
imagine repeating multiple layers at different levels.

Version 4d, Rob. Was d the last 4 version?
No change to custom presets, Edward, just standard
DV AVI. Happens one out of ten to twenty renders.
Actually, the audio track is not *missing*, it will be there
but with just no audio. Maybe I need to re-install the
program. Just wondering if anyone else had this.

4.0e was the last "4" version.

I've not seen this happen unless I had muted my audio.

Well... making sure that the effect is ON before you fade into that video clip and then making sure that you fade back to the non-effect laden clip BEFORE the effect is finished seems to be the easiest way. The more gradual your fades, the smoother it will look.

Now if you are using effects on both (or multiple) video streams then you would need to make a copy of at least one (or have at least one with no effect) so that you can fade back into a "normal" scene before the effects end.

You could also layer the clip endings so that the effects end on one clip first, then you fade to it from the still effected clip and then once your completely onto the non-effected clip you're back in "normal" mode.

Hope this helps,
Kevin

What operating system are you running this on, Dave?

I'm working with Vegas 4.0 e.

A few questions:

Are there any FREE additional FX plugins available for download somewhere? I know about the Satish plug-ins, but all he's got are 3d plugin pac, Wax, morph, and maybe a few others?

Also, I'm trying to do some things with titles, like making each letter a different color. . .no luck. When I try to color a single letter by selecting it, then going to "properties" and picking a color, it colors the whole title. . .even if I composite enough copies of the title to color each one differently and have only one letter of each copy show up in the final comp, I still can't figure out a way to do this. Isn't there some relatively simple way to accomplish this?

on the new Sound Forge book.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/prod...3A3920%3A105315

Thought you guys might like to know.

http://www.panopticum.com has some fun plugs, albeit very slow.
In terms of freebies on the video side, there isn't much.

To get the letters to be each different colors, you'll need to insert a new track for each color. The way I do this is to create the title, then duplicate it to separate tracks, then cut out, or erase the letters I don't want, leaving spaces where they were. Sometimes, depending on the font set, I need to use Track Motion to exactly place a letter. By keeping the full, original title in there, you can see exactly how letters overlay.

Yep, it's just like Edward said: the same as if the audio
were muted, but it's not. If I close down Vegas and re-boot,
and then bring Vegas up again, with no changes, the
audio will render. But once it starts not rendering, it
won't render again till I re-boot.
The operating system is Windows XP Home.

DSE, Good to see you hanging out here a bit.

Went to look at the link and I got this message:

Sorry! The page you're looking for is either temporarily unavailable or no longer exists.

I'm trying to flip an image left to right. This comes in handy sometimes for video editing (i.e. re-using footage, getting around problems with crossing the axis). I'm sure it's something simple but it's not immediately apparent in the pan/crop controls.

Wow Douglass, that's big news- a huuuuuuge chain like Walmart is distributing a VASST book- awesome! Congrats.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?cat=105315&dept=3920&product_id=2624222&path=0%3A3920%3A105315

Glenn:

I'm not in front of my NLE PC right now, but from memory, when I did this I used track motion, and grabbed an edge and dragged it to the other side, flipping it.

HTH

ANDY

In Pan/Crop, right-click and choose Flip Horizontal.

Gary

It sounds like a soundcard/driver problem to me. Do you have the
latest drivers installed for it?

I'm about to do a photo montage for a friend. It's for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary.

I know how to do it, but I have a workflow question. Since I'm planning on using track motion to animate the stills, I'll need to have each still on a separate track. Do you guys just animate the stills one at a time and immediately render them out, then place them together and edit, or how do you handle this?

Animate them with Pan/Crop instead. This will give you at least TWO benefits:

1) It will not affect the rest of the images on the same track
2) It will use the FULL resolution of the image. (You DON'T want to zoom IN on an image with Track Motion)

I always set ALL of the pan/crop changes and then render the whole thing at once.

Great, thanks Edward! I appreciate the help. Pan/crop it is, then.

I saw reference in one thread about using the alpha channel or something along those lines but can't seem to figure this out. If I want to make a part of the background image clickable, do I need to create an invisible button somehow or can I "define" some sort of hot area?

Also, am I able to make areas or buttons interactive to being selected?

Thanks,
Kevin

Edward is the resident expert and has helped me on many occasions concering Vegas. His advice should always come first. However, when I create my wedding videos, I use track motion for the stills, provided that no two images will appear in the same frame. You can animate images on the same timeline as long as you set in the in and out points correctly. At one time, I, too, thought that I had to use different tracks each time I animated a still or clip. But you can animate your stills and clips as much as you like on your timeline just as long as you keep in mind that you MUST set in and out point AND once the clips and stills are set on the line, you cannot move them. I hope this explains yoru question. I love Vegas 5 and will use it for as long as they continue making it the best NLE for PC desktops.

Thanks Gary, that was it!

Hugh, I will NOT disagree that your technique will work and it is one that I HAVE applied in the past (two tracks, pictures alternate between the tracks, keyframes properly set for all images). However, do this simple test:

Place a picture (same picture) on two tracks (not overlapping so you can easily see them both)

On ONE of the images, use Track Motion. On the OTHER image, use Pan/Crop. Now Zoom in on the picture so that you are only seeing about 1/4th of the total image (i.e. tight in on a face). Which one yields the better result?

The answer will always be Pan/Crop because Pan/Crop zooms in on the total image using the full resolution of the image. Track Motion zooms in on the VIDEO FRAME instead.

im going to do a mask effect for an upcoming video for school...its a kids camp about media violence and sterotypes, etc.

i had the idea to use the current logo (simply letters with some rainbow looking lines over the middle) and mask the letters and have shots of diffent kids faces in each letter...this is kinda my intro to the dvd. i was even thinking about making it so that each letter plays a short vid clip of a kid in a domino effect witht he first one starting , then second, then third (and having them run like 7-10 secs each).

i normally edit in v5, but i have after effects 5.5 pro, which i never use...anyone with experience with these apps think it may be easier in v5 or AE?

Instead of using a mask on the logo, fill in your logo with the alpha channel "color" in your favorite paint program.

Then it's a breeze to do what you want to do in either Vegas or After Effects.

Choose Insert>invisible button. Then link it to whatever you'd like.
This technique is shown in the VASST DVD Architect DVD. Pretty slick and quick.