Uninstalling Vegas does not remove the media manager prefs, delete the "Media Manager" folder in Documents and Settings \ User \Application Data \ Sony \ Media Manager.

My media mgr was tring to locate a DB which was offline when reinstalling, and refused to install/start...

/magnus

Can you give me some specific numbers or settings for the colour curves? That'd be brilliant. I wish there was a bank of presets I could download from for just these occasions. Is there?

Register MPEG-2 encoder with render client running = Nuke 6.0
 

Just discovered that trying to register the MPEG-2 encoder online with the network render client running in background on same machine will nuke Vegas 6 terribly. A reboot and exit of the autostarting render client is the solution, in case someone has the same problem.
/magnus

Just drag the bottom curve/tangent and play around with it. There's two squares on the bottom control point. The one to the upper right controls the tangent control- drag that one around. You probably want to move it to the bottom right a little.

Honestly, just play around with it. It may help to understand that the x-axis is the input and the y-axis is the output.

you can also look at the picture at the bottom. It shows the resulting gradient if the input were a gradient from black to white.

2- If you are outputting to television, then blacks are supposed to be at 16 16 16 in RGB values. Computer black is 0 0 0 (RGB), but that's not what you want.

Also... there's this whole issue with DV equipment not corresponding to 7.5IRE and old versions of Vegas handling it wrong. On the Vegas side, Vegas 5 or better will have documentation on how to setup the video scopes.

On the monitoring side, check out http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm

Explanation of 7.5IRE setup (AKA pedestal):
*applies to NTSC, not PAL.
With the DV format, 16 16 16 (RGB) is black in the digital domain. The problem occurs when these digital values are translated into analog signals/voltages.
16 16 16 (RGB) is supposed to be translated to 7.5IRE. 7.5IRE is a measure of voltage and only applies to analog signals. Consumer and lots of prosumer equipment (DSR1, PD150?, VX2000, XL1) will translate 16 16 16 (RGB) to 0IRE, which is wrong. This means some dark colors will get crushed and your overall image will be a little too dark.

If your monitor takes only one source, then the solution is simple: Calibrate it to the PLUGE bars in the color bars... and your blacks will be right. If you need to dub to analog then you should be especially careful about 7.5IRE setup.

*Japan NTSC defines black at 0IRE.
**Assinine technical note: DV doesn't actually store things in RGB values, but we can ignore that because in Vegas you manipulate the video in RGB values. You will rarely see things in YCrCb (which is also called YUV sometimes, but that may be wrong).

2- By default, Vegas likes to put blacks at 16 16 16. There are some workarounds...

For dissolves, add a solid color generator in a lower layer of 16 16 16. This way things dissolve to 16 16 16 and not 0 0 0.

For color correction, it gets a little trickier. One approach is to color correct everything and put blacks at 0. In the video preview window, click on the FX button and add the color corrector. Use the computer RGB to studio RGB setting, and double-click the saturation slider.
This is probably easiest, although you might cause a little bit of banding.
The other option is to make a color curve preset with the bottom point at 16 16 16. This is kind of a PITA to make, but with the color gradient generator and the *legacy* broadcast safe plug-in (invert the colors) you should be able to figure it out. In color curves, to move the bottom point, you have to de-select everything and then click the bottom point. Then use the arrow keys.

I tried the suggestions. I uninstalled and cleaned out all the files as suggested, re-installed Vegas 6. Same problem, same error message. Any other suggestions?

Update -problem fixed
 

After a bit of research and exploration, I did a repair of my Microsoft Office application. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled the Vegas and related software. That appears to have done the trick. Apparently there was a SQL file that was hosed!

Thanks for this excellent suggesion. I use the Studio Denoiser from Acon
http://www.acondigital.com/StudioClean.htm
which is really really good, they have a Studio Clean package for $69 with a de-noiser, a de-clipper, a de-clicker and a "Rebirth" module whatever that is. IMO better quality than sony's - and more user friendly.

/magnus

Fairy Dust effect in Vegas
 

Anyone know how to create a 'fairy dust' effect or 'shooting star' effect in Vegas? I've seen it done in AE using Delirium Plug-in but I am a Vegas user so just curious whether this can be done.

I'm not a novice by any means when it comes to Vegas and compositing and I've done a lot of complex multi layer composites. But I've been scratching my head over how to accomplish this.

One thought was to use PS or Illustrator to create a small bright star like image and use some motion blur but it's not quite the same. The 'fairy dust' effect that I've seen in AE is very nice and it contains many independent 'objects' trailing dusts that moves on its own.

Any suggestions??

what you want is Particle Illusion (www.wondertouch.com)

AWESOME absolutely INCREDIBLE piece of software (and i say that not as a disributor, but as a user)

thousands of tweakbale effects, and free downloads each month;

there is the SE version which is a single emitter no blocking program which is dirt cheap, and there is the Full bodied version which absolutely ROCKS

its probably one of the best independantly created pieces of software ever created, so my hat off to Alan

AlamDV has been rebuilt now, which is also good, huge user base and very flexible.
I havent used much of AlamDV, but i like the idea of if :)

Thank you very much for your response. I didn't realize there was such app that can do this. It's just what I need. I'll take the demo for a spin.

Vegas 6 - muddy output ?
 

Hi

I looking to get a new NLE and have read much about Vegas, so downloaded the eval copy to give it a go. I am choosing between AVID XPRESS DV (because I like the workflow & look) and Vegas (packed with features, including good sound support). As far as editing goes, I have been struggling on with MediaStudio Pro for a couple of years.

Anyway, I have tried a number of clips (straight from the camera), had a play and like the results. However, I have a number of clips that I have composited in Combustion, which are night scenes, and put these into Vegas. The output from vegas seems VERY dark and most of the detail seems to be lost. If I render & output through DV monitor in Mediastudio I get the right (as seen on monitor) balance of contrast / brightness), but through vegas, even when rendered to hard disk and played through media player or back through MediaStudio, the result is poor.

Is this something in Vegas ? Can it be corrected ? Or do you think the original clip could be at fault and needs lifting ?

If it was the original clip I would expect that it would look just as bad playing through any nle. Note that I encode DV clips using the Alparysoft lossless codec until I render for final output, so the combustion clip is using that codec when importing into vegas (other clips were straight DV codecs).

Before I purchase this software I would like to know whether there is something I am doing wrong, something in Vegas, and whether it can be fixed easily.


Thanks
Declan

Just to go more in depth on Peter's response. AlamDV was rebuilt like he said but it now goes by the name EffectsLab.

I believe it's a bit cheaper then Particle Illusion and you will be able to to create other effects with it's engine. It runs at 49 pounds, or close to 100$ USD.

You can check it out below.

www.fxhome.com

Good luck with your effect.

question about "Ignore event grouping"
 

I'm experiencing a strange problem in Vegas: normally whenever I move a video event, its corresponding audio event moves as well. With ignore event grouping it moves independently. But then after turning off ignore event grouping it still moves independently as opposed to the audio and video moving together again. What am I doing wrong/ not understanding?

J.

forgot to mention this one..
Main Concept have tehir editing program (it used to be called main actor) which actually has a particle generator within the NLE...

pretty nifty, but nowhere near as powerful as particle illusion or AlamDV/EffectLab

Declan,

You have quite a different workflow than I am used to, so my comments may be off the mark. What format are finally rendering to? I notice that my mpeg2 renders look very dark and dirty in media player, whereas they look fine when played with powerDVD. You might try another player just to see if it makes any difference.