Hi Ed,



Thx for the input , i will remember that when i upgrade to 5. As for now though i'm still in 4.

Do you think there is something similar in 4


Thx

Phil

Vegas 4 does not have a transition envelope. I'm not entirely picturing your transition but, if I understand correctly, you may be able to duplicate the transition using Track Motion and/or Pan/Crop.

Thx Ed ,


I do manage to get something moving with the tracking tool.


Now I added some text that appears over the jpeg and stays on it for as long as we will see it.

The problem is , is that i added a text media that ,of course , stay put while the JPEG moves around because of the tracking tool that i applied.


Is there a way to merge them together so the will move at the same time or is it faster to create 2 JPEG , one with the text and one without .


Thx guys

Pan / Crop and the slingshot effect
 

Well.... 3 postings in 24h that breaks my record HIHIHI !!!


Ok now on to more serious , i finally manage to understand and make the P/C tool works well..... not 100% but here it goes.


I got a jpeg that i am moving around , so i create keyframes with 2 sec intervals.

Now when i play the movie the picture moves in the corrct direction but on the halfway mark it backtracks and comes back to his original position creating the "slingshot" effect.

Tried to fiddle around with the "move freely" and create many KF but it always comes back to it's original point instead of going the way it is suppose to be going


Any ideas !!!


Thx guys

Yes. Apply the same tracking motion to the text track as well.

When you set multiple keyframes, you set them all in the ORIGINAL position. So, when you changed the second keyframe, it moved from the original position to the position specified in the second keyframe and then back to the original position set by the third keyframe. I don't preset keyframes - I just add them to set new positions.

Hi Ed so let's see if i understand you correctly:


What i do is i create one KF go 2 seconds further apply the move and move on to 2 sec later to create another KF and so on...


I f i understood you correctly do you want me to create all KF at once and move them to the point whre i want to.

btw what should we do with the first KF , should i use it as the first point of movement or should should i keep it there at the beginning of the event.


Thx

Open the Pan/Crop window, make sure the first (default) keyframe is selected, and make it the size and position you desire for the beginning of the clip. Now, move the cursor to the next point in time on the timeline you want a specific position, and then resize and position as desired for that point in time. A keyframe will be automatically created. If needed, you may then go ahead and add more keyframes the same way.

Chroma keying in Vegas/miniDv - best way
 

This isnt just a 'Vegas' question, but what is the best way to do a key in the minidv format using Vegas. Arent the 4:1:1 limitations of miniDv too much to achieve a really beautiful key?

Are people finding new and better ways to key in MiniDV, and is Vegas 5 enhanced at all for chromakeying?

Thanks,
John

Vegas 5 Academic
 

Is there a Vegas 5 Academic version? I can't seem to find any info on it, only version 4.

Vegas 5 is Available!
 

For all of you loyal Vegas users, Sony now offers the Vegas + DVD 5.0 upgrade editing package at a fabulous price through their website. To buy it cold would cost $799.00 but if you are upgrading from Vegas 4.0 the cost is significantly cheaper. I just ordered mine and received free shipping! Cut and paste the below thread to se the prices.

http://www.custcenter.com/cgi-bin/sonypictures.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1047&p_created=1082385390&p_sid=mgSPeW9h&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnB fZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD02NDcmcF9wYWdlPTE*&p_li=

OOPS!
 

I just saw Edward Troxel's post! Sorry!

when keying i usually render as uncompressed as teh shots themselves are usually short enough to fit on 120gb drive.. i use a green screen with standard 3 point lighting on teh subject, but i use a halogen on the screen.

i used to use combustion to do this but im gettin lazy and im sticking with vegas coz.. well im lazy and cant be bothered.. i liek the results and my stuff aint that important.. if it was a high end payable job,.. then id use combustion and magic key (my friends.. i cant affod that.. LOL)

You should seriously go look at a product called ULTRA at www.seriousmagic.com.

It is so beyond execllent that I am not even going to screw it up by trying to describe it. Go have a look at their demo's.

I have the product and it really one of the best things I ever pourchased..

External Monitor
 

I want to have an NTSC monitor attached so I can see what I am going to get when I output for tape or dvd.

I have a compaq evo d510 minitower that came with an intel agp card which may or may not be integrated to the mother board. (I haven't looked yet)

I run Windows XP Professional.

Do I need to throw this card away and replace it or add something else to the mix?

When all is done what I want to be able to do is edit on my monitor and see the previews on a tv just as they will appear when I am done editing.

[I have tried using my camcorder for this purpose and failed. Either it doesn't support it or I am an idiot. 50/50 there]

Thanks for your help.

KIM

Yes but you'll need to purchase it through a reseller. If you already own 4, it may be cheaper to simply upgrade.

Yep. I "stuck" the upgrade information up top (temporarily) so that it would remain on the main screen.

First of all, it's best to use a green screen (as that's the "4" component). Secondly, it is VERY important to use good lighting. You want an even amount of light over the backdrop. Vegas does a wonderful job of keying.

(Remember, you can also use the other color correcting tools to help get a better key when lighting is less than perfect.)

External preview is done via firewire. Connect your camera/deck/convertor via firewire and then connect the TV/monitor to the camera via RCA or S-Video. Make sure the proper settings are chosen in the camera to allow pass-thru and you will see the image on the external monitor.

(NOTE: your camera MUST support pass-thru for this to work. If it does not, you may look at something like the Canopus ADVC-100 convertor.)

DID The VASST Tour Date for NYC Change????
 

I thought it was June 7 and now I see it is June 9th. What is the truth?

Thanks,

KIM

Thanks Edward. Do I just plug the Canopus thing into firewire and then connect it to a tv and I am done? If so, that sounds like a no brainer.

Yes - GREEN is the right color. Photoflex Flexdrop2 or a westcott background seem to be good choices. You will want the talent far enough from the green backround that they don't cast shadows on it (consider 4 feet or more) and you don't want the green to spill onto the talent.

Light that background sperately from the talent. You can use flourescent lights to cover the backround - they are cheap and they wont heat up your room.

Also, make sure your camera has all the auto stuff turned off.

Try www.studica.com

Vegas 5 Capture
 

Hey Folks,
There is a procedure, and I can't remember what it's called. When you capture in AVID or FCP, you can capture at low res, edit your piece, then tell the programe to go recapture only the footage on the time line at high resolution. Do you know if Vegas 5 has this feature? What it's called? And how to work it?

Michael Estepp

Vegas 5 currently does not have this feature. You could capture at full rez, render at low rez, and then recapture at the end.

Yes.

The dates seem to be moving. The Atlanta date was 5/13 but now appears to be in June. I've asked Spot for some more information.

Kim: perhaps you'd better tell us first what camera you have
before you go and buy something else. We might be able to
tell if it should work with your camera or not.

Green is only the "right" color for the screen if you are shooting relatively dark foreground objects. If your subject has blond hair or lots of bright colors (whites/yellows) a bluescreen is the better backdrop.
More details here.

Most workarounds for DV video work by either bluring the Blue & Red channels prior to keying, or mixing Luma keying calculations with color difference keying. "Color Difference" keying is the most common technique for profressional compositing. This is not the same as the Chroma Keying calculation.

DvGarage has a product called DVMattePro that is simply the hands-down, best DV keyer anywhere, and it's only $200. Unfortunately, it's only available as a plugin for either AE or FCP.

Another company, CSB-Digital, puts out a product called Chromanator. I've never used this, but the existing users (mostly young, amateur movie makers) are downright fanatical about it. It's designed to be used as a stand alone application next to Premiere or Vegas, sells for under $100 and includes some of the most critical compositing calculations including a color difference keyer, garbage matting and spill suppression.

The ULTRA Key product really has nothing revolutionary in terms of the compositing calculation itself. It is good, but the keyer is no more advanced than what is in the two products above. What it DOES have that is above and beyond ANYTHING else is that it is bundled with automated, moving, virtual sets. These allow you to easliy place your subject into one of several preset environments and the ULTRA product automatically moves the subject in sync with the set as the camera "moves" along a pre-determined path. You can't really edit the sets or create your own (as far as I know) but if one of the sets fits your needs, it's basically a plug-'n-play operation.

I'm not a Vegas user, so I'm sorry that I can't address any questions specifically relates to keying in Vegas, but hopefully some of this information will be useful.
Have fun.

If I capture at high res and render at low, why would I need to recapture at high res

If you re-render as low, I would assume you would delete the original. Otherwise there's NO reason at all for using low-rez during the editing phase. Personally, I'd just stick with full rez throughout.

The whole reason for that workflow (capturing and editing in low res first before master) is to help speed up the responsiveness of the NLE beings it's dealing with low res footage and effects won't take as much of a toll on framerate.

Why not just capture in high res (standard) and edit using the video preview window in Preview mode. Once your ready for your final render just render it out at full res.

Reverse Pulldown (Inverse Telecine) with Vegas 5?
 

Can Vegas 5 do reverse pulldown of 60i footage (such as laserdisc or VHS films)? And can you set the offset and polarity manually like with virtualdub? Thanks a lot.

I actually wanted to capture in low res because I thought it would save room on my hard drive.... even one gig counts, ya know?

I would use VirtualDub for that. Why? Because Vegas to the best
of my knowledge will only handle inverse telecine with DV footage
that is marked as such. I don't think it has any manual options
in that regard.

You can always try out the demo of 5, ofcourse....

Yeah I have used VirtualDub and it works great. But sometimes I notice that the 3:2 offset actually changes in the middle of the footage, in which case I really need a good NLE to help me spot those points and then change them on the fly without having to wait until everything's output before I realize halfway through it's messed up. :)

But I will for sure be downloading the 5 demo. I just want to see if it's worthwhile before upgrading, since I'm strapped for cash between Gigastudio 3.0 and the possibility of an XL2 successor on the horizon. :)

Thank you all very much. i have had my eye on the ULTRA key from Serious Magic - for lots of reasons, including the virtual sets. Nick, thanks a bunch for the extra info also.
I dont want to have to do a bunch of extra tweaking and detail work to get a good lookin, professional key.

DVD to Screen
 

Hi Guys!

This may be a bit OT but I'll run it any way.

A friend of mine is going to get me to produce a 5 - 6 min promo for his business in Vegas, and put it on DVD. (Could be my first pro job - here's hoping!)

He then wants to run the DVD on his ;aptop, but display it on a screen or Overhead projector.

What's the best way for him to achieve this?

Thanks in advance!

Andy

I have a SONY TRV27, TRV120, and TRV460

Text Motion Tracking
 

I am using Vegas to create training videos for students in a university science course. I am trying to position text at precise places in the frame and then animate its motion using keyframes. I find this very tedious to do in Vegas because it is time consumming to get the position of the text accurately placed. I have been using either motion tracking or the pan crop tool. Movements of the text are coarse and Vegas updates the display slowly. This makes it difficult to quickly position the text where I want it. Using the arrow keys for movement is precise but slow. In addition The Vegas Media Generator cannot make superscripts and subscripts in the text (unless another layer is used.) This means using photoshop to make graphics files instead. Can anyone suggest a better way.