Rendered Video without Sound
 

I'm new to Vegas 8, having used VMS 7 and 8 for some time. VMS renders seemed to incorporate audio with the render, whereas many of the Vegas 8 renders only include audio or video.

I want good sound, but I'm not looking for audiophile fare. What do others recommend for integrating audio with NTSC video and even HDV video when it's not automatically incorporated?

Render your audio using the default AC-3 template.
As long as it has the same name as the MPEG-2 file (i.e. myvideo.mpg & myvideo.ac3) AND is in the same folder, it will automatically load once you load the video portion of the file in DVD Architect.

Excellent, thanks for the help.

Mike, I am in the opposite boat. My client wants no audio in his videos (industrial stuff), not even music. If after I render in Vegas I delete the ac3 file, will I be able to create a soundless DVD in Architect, or will it go crazy looking for the rendered audio file?

Rick, go right ahead and do it.
DVD Architect won't care that it doesn't have an audio file attached to it.

OK, here's another thought. Is there a way to stop rendering of audio in a project? Muting the track doesn't stop it from being rendered, only from being played back. Since I don't need the audio it would help speed up renders if I didn't have to include the audio tracks. My projects have LOTS of clips, so removing the audio from each one individually is a pain.

Can you right-click on the audio track (on the far left of the timeline with the panning/volume controls) and delete audio track?

I can't remember if Vegas forces you to un-tether the audio/video tracks first. If it does, you might be able to ctrl-A to select all, then hit the U button to untether THEN right-click on the fart left side and delete the audio track.

JR

Rick,

If you render in AVI both video and audio will be rendered at the same time.Why can't you just render the video (as MPEG2 or whatever) and make no render of the audio (which would otherwise be in AC3)? Only the rendered video will then be dragged into DVDA.

Richard

A number of Vegas rendering options are "NTSC Architect Video Stream" or "Blu-Ray Architect Video Stream"... which don't include sound.

I find it really curious that if I want full screen NTSC, the audio renders automatically, but if I want wide screen, I have to render the audio separately. Fortunately the audio renders pretty quickly compared to the video. Right now I'm in the middle of an 13 hour render of a 70 minute project to wmv. Ouch! (3.2 GHz dual, 8600 GTS vid, 4GB Ram, lots of HDD).


Just to stir the pot, I recently showed someone how to make a project in Windows Movie Maker and was shocked how fast it renders everything. It rendered to wmv in about 1/4 the time Vegas required.

Roger, are you rendering to MPEG-2?
If so, you must be choosing different templates for full screen and wide screen as, any time I render to either format, the audio is rendered separately.

No stirring necessary :-)
Vegas is definitely much slower at WMV renders than WMM.
The only gotcha is to take a look at the same render from WMM and Vegas.
I found that the Vegas render looks better!!

Readers please be aware that WMV format can have unreliable performance on some player versions if an audio stream is not included. It can be silent and of low bitrate, but it's gotta' be there.

Regarding the encode speed of Windows Movie Maker vs. Vegas - was this a fair test? The question would be, same source, no edits or similar edits, no color correction, levels changes, render quality on "good" not "Best"... etc.? Just curious, I'd rather stay with the editing tool I know...

Seth,

Comparing WMM to Vegas isn't fair a comparison any you look at it, either direction. For a person wanting to put together straight family footage from a single camera with a single audio track for placement on the web, WMM is a good option. You run out of creative options really, really quickly, however. My observation is that most laymen don't have the desire to put several hours into a 5 minute piece anyway. As much as I enjoy Vegas, its out of reach dollar wise for a lot of people and takes time to master. I'm still trying to learn the keystrokes and function. ProTitler is kicking my tail.

One things for sure, WMM screamed through the wmv files and the output looked pretty good @ 640 x 480. I do a good bit of web forum postings and have used WMM to post when in a hurry or when I'm away from my own machine.

I'll wait for the DV disbarment proceedings to begin.

Seth, here's a fair test for you.
Source AVI was a 6:45 NTSC DV-AVI.
Rendering was done to the 512K preset in both WMM & Vegas.
Vegas 7: 3:44
Vegas 8: 4:12
WMM: 3:08

I don't think being a true believer in Vegas is neccessary to be a forum member. Roger, I think you're on track here, there are many people who will benefit most from WMM or iMovie, etc., I just referred a friend to Womble to lightly edit the video from his still camera, a different friend has Vegas Movie Studio on my recommendation, but has difficulty now that he's only using it a couple times a year.

Thanks Mike! Good reference.

Seth,

I agree, and I am becoming a believer in Vegas. Lots to learn, but its proven much more stable than Vegas Movie Studio so far, especially on projects over 15 minutes in length. I especially like the multiple camera options in V8, this really helps put a project together quickly.

I just finished editing and outputting to DVD a one hour 12 minute video for a client using V8 MSP and DVDA. The video had over 60 chapters and I needed to create menus with 20+ chapter buttons. While I am still struggling with Vegas' lack of adherence to convention (events vs clips, just one example) I was able to use it and deliver a satisfying product to my client. So, I am at a loss to understand your comment about MSP. I've used a lot of budget editors over the years (offerings from Pinnacle, Ulead, and Magix) and even been a beta tester for Cyberlink, so I have some experience to draw from. Even with Vegas 8 MSP's vagaries and sometimes non-sensical, unconventional vernacular, it is probably the most stable editing program I have ever used.

Rick,

I started with Pinnacle 7, went to 8, then Ulead, then VMSP7, then VMSP8, then Vegas Pro 8 (where I am now) along with Cinescore and various Theme Packs. I haven't tried the Apple world so I don't have meaningful experience with those editors. I had a horrible stability problem with VMSP8 on my newest PC using AMD 6400+ with all 4 OS's (XP32, XP64, Vista32, Vista64) and spent tons of time and money investigating the problem. I had same issue on an older system using an AMD 3800+. I used the trial version of Vegas Pro 8 and all files that caused problems in VMSP8 rendered flawlessly in Pro. It was cheaper to convert than to keep trying with VMSP8.

Other than stability issues I experienced on my PC with VMSP8, I wouldn't miss much of Vegas Pro8 except:

- I really like having unlimited tracks. I could work around it in most cases in VMSP8, but it makes organizing the work really much easier. I like being able to dedicate a track to each of 3 cameras, then have 5 or 6 title lines.

- I like the multi-cam functionality in Pro.

- I haven't really done much with DVD Architect Studio 4.0 or Architect 4.5; most of my work is placed on the web, stored on a server, or saved to HDD. My DVD burning is very basic with minimal menu options.


If you read into my earlier post I didn't like Vegas or VMS, I did a poor job of communicating. I think they are great programs and incredible values. I've purchased 5 sets of VMS and 2 sets of Pro 8 for home and work and both are light years ahead than the other software I mentioned. My biggest complaint with Vegas is that sometimes the automated still pans get a little jumpy even when set to "Best" and rendering still seems quite slow.

Roger, I'm not trying to defend Vegas. Lord knows I have had my problems with it, but thankfully not with its stability. I haven't had it crash on me once (knock wood). I went through the Pinnacle Studio deal from 4 up to 9 and finally got sick of the poor support and constant problems. I tried Ulead's Video Studio from version 7 to 10+ and while it was better, it still has issues. I've used various versions of Premiere and hated them all. Cyberlink's Power Director 6 is probably the best, easiest to use and stable, budget editor available, although it doesn't have the power some more capable shooters may need. For editing and burning DVDs of family and friends, it is probably as much as the average consumer needs or wants. My projects are commercial in nature and need quality output, so I'm kinda stuck with Vegas. I'll learn to use it, but it will probably always be a love/hate relationship between us. At least, so far, it isn't because she's flaky. ;)

If you rendering to burn to DVD you can render an MPEG2 file and that will be video only with no audio.

I am new to Vegas (in fact new to computer editing)but my workflow has been to edit then render the video to MPEG2 with the template option set for DVD Architect. Then I render the audio as AC3 Stereo.

As someone mentioned DVD Architect then will automatically pull the audio file in with the video file when you select the video file for a project. Unless of course you foolishly name the AC3 file something different from the MPEG2 file. Then it won't match the two together. I found this out the hard way!!

Back when I had my problems with VMS, the computer tech dug up a number ofr articles inferring potential compatibility problems of VMS8 with some AMD dual core processors. I never dug into it deeper, but both of my systems run AMD. I was a whipped puppy by that time and just needed my system to work and Vegas Pro 8 fit the bill.

When you think about it, there's probably isn't a more taxing application for your computer than editing; computation, graphics, sound.... its pretty amazing what these programs do.

I'm running an AMD 6000+ 64X2, so if there's any issues with it I haven't seen them...yet.

I agree, it is amazing what we can do with these hunks of silicon, plastic and copper. I'm editing HD videos already before most of the people I know even have an HDTV. My 80 year old father still thinks a cell phone is cutting edge technology. :)

Many of my projects are in HDV stored in avi on HDD. I render them to NTSC now and can render them later to Blu-Ray. I saw an LG Blue burner for $279 last week, so I may take the plunge soon. I imagine they will be sub $150 in the next 12 months. No rush until my HDD's start to fill up and/or HD becomes the expectation. Right now very few people use HD players, but its growing. I Christmas 2008 will be the tipping point as the new standard looms and HD TV's and players become the popular gift.

I will start rendering and saving future projects to MPEG Blu-Ray on the HDD so I can quickly put them to DVD when I get a burner. I just hope Blu-Ray sticks as the norm for a few years. I imagine "2TB Rainbow-Ray" will hit the press about the time I purchase Blue!

I think Sony's and other movie studios' involvement in BD will keep it viable for a good while if for no other reason than they don't want to have to rerelease their vast movie libraries in yet another standard. Consumers will be pretty mad, as well, if they go out and buy BD players and compatible HDTVs only to find them obsoleted in just a few years time, especially after sitting on the fence waiting for the HD DVD vs Blu-Ray war to be decided. What will be interesting is to see how many consumers will be angry when they find out that the 720p HDTV they bought can't take full advantage of BD's 1080p output. The salesmen aren't informing buyers of that fact, and in some cases are actually withholding the info in order to move lower-priced units.

Re: Vegas. I am shooting everything in HD simply for the better SD quality it gives me. When the day comes that the burner AND playback device AND full 1080p HDTV are more reasonably priced, I will be ready to output my Vegas files to the HD format. In the meantime, few of my friends and family even have HDTVs so sticking with a more distributable format makes sense.

Rick,

I sometimes have jumpy pans on automated still shots. I have the setting to "best", but its not silky smooth like some footage from FCP and Avid that I see. Any hidden setting you know about that perhaps I'm missing?

Sorry Roger, I'm nowhere near proficient enough in Vegas yet to be able to help you. Sorry. :(