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What Happens in Vegas...
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Old February 1st, 2004, 11:21 AM   #1
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Photo resolution for montage

I am working on a project where I'll have several hundred photos in a montage, and I have a fundamental question on photo aspect ratios and size of photos.

My project is 720x480, NTSC, and will be ultimately output to DVD using DVD Architect. Photos are all jpg.

If I use the photos in a pure native format (taken by another photographer), the dimensions of most pictures is 2272x1520, and the files are about 1.8MB. If I place that picture on the Vegas timeline with no adjustments, I get the black bars at the top & bottom of the screen. Of course, I expect this as I know that 2272x1520 is not the same aspect as 1310x960, which is the aspect ratio that I need to get rid of the black bars at the top & bottom.

So, I know of three ways to fix this problem, and I am looking for the best approach before I get too far along in the project.
1. I can use PS Elements to batch resize the pictures to 1310x960. I tried that, and I found that the aspect ratio was not constrained, and therefore, my pictures ended up looking different than the original. Most times that meant that they were stretched, making the subject look thinner. While I don't think I'd get many complaints from some of the larger subjects, I would rather have a true representation of the subject. Therefore, I don't think I can use the PS Elements Batch Resize feature to solve my problem.
2. I can individually go into PS Elements, resize the picture to 1310xwhatever (constraining proportions), then resize the canvas to 1310x960, choosing what section of the picture I want to chop off since I've changed the resolution. This leaves me with a picture that, when dropped onto the timeline, fills the full screen with no black bars at the top or the bottom. In addition, the file size that I'm dealing with has dropped from 1.8MB to 1MB, when saved at maximum quality (level 12). If I save at medium quality (level 6), my file size drops almost by an order of magnitude to 182K, with only a very slight quality drop as far as I can tell, even when zoomed in on a picture in Vegas.
3. Finally, I can take the picture in it's native format, drop it on the timeline, select "Match Output Aspect" on the Event Pan & Crop, and presto, the image is automatically cropped, getting rid of the nasty black bars at the top & bottom of the screen.

So, given that option 1 is not realistic, I can choose option 2 or 3. Now option 2 is very time consuming, even at 1 minute per picture, it is more minutes than I want to spend, so I'd prefer option 3. My question is: if I let Vegas Match Output Aspect using my original, almost 2MB photos, is that going to cause me performance problems as I work on my project? Is there anything else I should take into consideration?

Thanks.
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Old February 1st, 2004, 01:18 PM   #2
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I'll have to let more experienced people comment on the performance hit.

If you want to do batch resizing and preserve aspect ratio, I'd recommend IRFANVIEW which is a free utility. It's very fast and has the ability to format conversions as well, including to PNG which I understand has some performance advantages in VEGAS
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Old February 1st, 2004, 01:54 PM   #3
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Performance hit "how" exactly? You should be fine. Having full size images in your timeline will only slow down the play back of the areas where the photos are being displayed- if anything. Though you have to keep in mind none of the source material is actually "IN" Vegas. The veg file just points vegas to the file for reference. A high res. photo has nothing on DV AVI as far as file size and it plays that back smoothly. I think option 3 is definitly the way to go.
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Old February 1st, 2004, 02:36 PM   #4
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Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I'm aware that Vegas only has a pointer to the file and not the file itself, but it does have to display a small clip of the file. I was concerned that the time required to load or manipulate the larger image, even if it is just a small clip of the pic would take more time if it was larger. Also, I'd hate to get the project complete and find out that it takes 10x to render with the higher resolution picture. FYI -- I just did a test on 5 large pics and 5 small pics (same pictures, different resolutions). Render time was the same. So, I'm off to download IRFANVIEW and use the larger pictures. Thanks.
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Old February 1st, 2004, 08:31 PM   #5
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As for formatting the pictures to a specific size, don't worry about the dimensions. All you need to do is open Pan/Crop, right-click the picture, and choose "Match Output Aspect". Since you have a BUNCH of pictures, there is a script available that will do them all at once.

Take a look at the issue of my newsletter where I describe the process of doing building a slideshow at http://www.jetdv.com/tts
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Old February 2nd, 2004, 12:57 AM   #6
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errr.. u dont even scripts man...

heres what u do...
go to your media pool and select all your files, make sure theyre all namesd in the consecutive order in whichu wnat tehm displayed...

okies, now that u have all your pics in your media pool, click and drag them to the timeline. They shoudl all be autoamically selected in their order so make sure you do this RIGHT after u import the media.

now, go to your track settings and set the frame to the action safe areas.
Now obviously some photos (portrait/vertical) wont fit as well as the landscape/horizontal pics, but that track config will be for the actual track and those that dont fit can be individually manipulated.... so u dont have to go thru 400 odd images or run any scripts.
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Old February 2nd, 2004, 08:26 AM   #7
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The "Match Aspect" script is available at: http://www.ayizwe.net/VegasScripts/

That script will quickly apply the "Match Output Aspect" to all selected pics. Then you have to fine tune the placement/movement for each pic individually.
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Old February 3rd, 2004, 07:58 AM   #8
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Thanks, Edward. I knew about the match aspect function of course, but it really helps to have the script. Works perfectly.
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Old February 3rd, 2004, 08:10 AM   #9
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That's one of the few scripts I actually have on my toolbar. It's VERY useful.
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Old July 6th, 2006, 10:50 AM   #10
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*bump*

Is this still an issue in 6.0d of Vegas? I need to have match output aspect applied to all my images too, but I'm not sure about running an old script on the new version of the software, and just wondering if anyone knows if an update was made to this. Or will the old script work? I'm just nervous about running it.
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Old July 6th, 2006, 10:58 AM   #11
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathew Kurtz
*bump*

Is this still an issue in 6.0d of Vegas? I need to have match output aspect applied to all my images too, but I'm not sure about running an old script on the new version of the software, and just wondering if anyone knows if an update was made to this. Or will the old script work? I'm just nervous about running it.

No, this is not an issue. You're looking at threads over 2 years old and 2 revs of the software old.
Nothing to be "scared of" with a script. There is ALWAYS the CTRL+Z option, otherwise known as "undo."
the worst that will happen ever, is that Vegas won't recognize the script because it may be an old script that uses the Sonic Foundry syntax vs the Sony syntax. Takes about 20 seconds to change old to new.
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Old July 6th, 2006, 11:28 AM   #12
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Thanks for yet another condescending reply, DSE. I realize how old the the thread is. I'm updating an old thread with information already discussed so I don't have to repeat a whole new thread with the same info.

And it is an issue with the software if it doesn't have the necessary options to get a certain job done and we have to make third party scripts to fix that. I was just wondering if Sony had made any updates since then and included this feature in it's software.

Not sure what I did to displease you. I think my questions have been well thought-out and pre-researched and I have been contributing to the forum in other ways as well. I realize you're a senior member here but I don't think it's appropriate to treat other members like this.
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Old July 6th, 2006, 11:47 AM   #13
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathew Kurtz
Thanks for yet another condescending reply, DSE. I realize how old the the thread is. I'm updating an old thread with information already discussed so I don't have to repeat a whole new thread with the same info.

And it is an issue with the software if it doesn't have the necessary options to get a certain job done and we have to make third party scripts to fix that. I was just wondering if Sony had made any updates since then and included this feature in it's software.

Not sure what I did to displease you. I think my questions have been well thought-out and pre-researched and I have been contributing to the forum in other ways as well. I realize you're a senior member here but I don't think it's appropriate to treat other members like this.

Wow!, I'm not sure how that could have been taken as condescending. Maybe I need a reality check. Hopefully the information was valuable in spite of the tone in which you may have read it. No intent of being condescending at all.
Either way, the answer is the same...Scripts cannot damage anything happening in Vegas unless the scripts are in violation of the Sony EULA. The match aspect ratio script hasn't changed, other than being updated to include the Sony vs Sonic Foundry syntax. It's merely an issue of changing the words "SonicFoundry" to "Sony." Edward has more information listed in his newsletters, and there is an article http://www.vasst.com/search.aspx?text=Using%20scripts that explains the process as well. Any script written for Vegas 4c or earlier will require changing this syntax.
No, Sony hasn't included a Match Aspect Ratio as part of their featureset, but since it's a free download and originally authored by one of the Sony engineers, I'm not sure it requires it.
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Old July 6th, 2006, 12:04 PM   #14
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I realize your tone was probably misinterpreted, but yeah just stuff like "CTRL+Z option, otherwise known as "undo..." and "I can honestly say that in 8 years of moderating forums related to the Sony/Sonic Foundry tools, no one has ever made quite this much fuss..." in another thread can intimidate newer users like me. Maybe you've just seen so many of the same threads they tend to wear on you or something but yeah new members will tend to be more timid and nervous when contributing to a new community especially one with such seasoned and technically advanced users such as yourself.

I appreciate your quick responses though. Thanks for the information. And no hard feelings :)
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