Vegas Video discussions from 2005 (Q1Q2)

[Hugh DiMauro]

What would we do without ya, pal?

[Peter Jefferson]

use sphere and pinch/punch combined.. :)

ive used this numerous times to emulate security cameras and hidden cameras.. even though im using a Z1 or DVX.. lol

[Fred Finn]

Yeah just like the title, I'm trying to make a low pass filter in vegas 5.0. The objective is to level out volume from different takes. For example I have two takes that are cut and put together to look like one, but the audio is a little bit different in volume. So I want to add a filter to the master bus that will level out audio. Not sure if that is possible, I'm thinking I might need to run a separate bus for that track?

Thanks.

[Glenn Chan]

You can use the graphic dynamics filter for that, or the compressor filter.

The compressor might be a little easier? The settings to play around with are:
Ratio: About 3:1 is fine.
Threshold: Set this to a level lower than your peaks. The attenuation bar shows how much compression is going on.
You can make it something absurdly low to hear what compression sounds like.

Make-up gain: Pump this up to compensate for the loss in volume.
Smooth saturation: Turn this on.

Attack about 25ms or so?? (attack= how fast it kicks in; you generally want this fast, but too fast may distort the bass a little)
Release about 100ms or so?? (release = how much time it takes before the compressor lets go)

You might just want to add the compressor to the one relevant track, but that depends entirely on how you like things.

[Glen Elliott]

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

For all users of Excalibur 4, Vegas 6b has added a new ability that allows switching cameras to be done without stopping playback of the timeline. After weeks of testing, I am now ready to allow anyone using Excalibur 4 and Vegas 6b to use this new functionality.

Download the following file:
http://www.jetdv.com/scripts/ExVegasUtils.dll

This file should be copied to the Vegas 6.0\Script Menu\Excalibur4 folder and will replace an existing file. Once this file has been replaced, you will no longer need to stop the timeline playback to switch cameras. There WILL be a slight pause as the camera switches but playback will automatically continue.

NICE job Edward!

[Shawn Murphy]

I've posted a ton of information and pictures over on dvxuser, but I'm just not getting anywhere: http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread...445#post233445


I have two .avi files, one which was recorded in the DVX100A letterbox mode, and one which was recorded in 4:3. So, I open a new project, set the default properties to 'NTSC DV WIDESCREEN', then I apply the 16:9 crop to the 4:3 file, the size then is listed as 368 (originally it was 480), and 368 seems to match exactly with the letterboxed image, but when I watch in preview or after a render, the second image looks as though it is still the same height as when I started, higher than the first image in the timeline.

I have to be missing something painfully obvious, but I just can't seem to find it, so, perhaps a fresh pair of eyes can assist.


Thanks in advance for any help!

[Michael Wisniewski]

I think if you set the project settings to 4:3, it will resolve the problem. My understanding is that the DVX100a letterbox mode is 4:3, it's not 16:9 anamorphic, so it doesn't make sense to use a project with widescreen settings.

[Shawn Murphy]

Originally Posted by Michael Wisniewski

I think if you set the project settings to 4:3, it will resolve the problem. My understanding is that the DVX100a letterbox mode is 4:3, it's not 16:9 anamorphic, so it doesn't make sense to use a project with widescreen settings.

that makes sense about the DVX in-camera letterbox being 4:3, but even still it doesn't seem to be solving the problem..

So, what I have is two 4:3 clips. When I check the properties of each via the 'Pan/Crop' tool, they are both dimensionally identical:720x480. For the one that is already letterboxed, the actual image height takes up approximately 373 of the 480 pixels.

Again, the odd thing is that if I apply the 16:9 pan/crop to the other image, the one without the letterbox, then the size as shown in the pan/crop tool shows the height as 368 (pretty darn close to the approximate 373 I think the in-camera letterbox creates), and the width stays at 720, so, you would think that in the preview or when I render that the two clips would look symmetrically the same, but they don’t.

(should I take a break from smoking crack while doing this?)

Oh well, the footage I shot using in-camera letterbox mode was an anomaly, basically just experimenting, now I shoot everything 4:3 with the intention of cropping in post if necessary, so, I'll just chalk this one up to a twilight zone freak event and in the future I shouldn’t be mixing the two anyway. Thx.

[Bob Safay]

Hi all. I finished a dvd project on Vegas 5. Used Vages DVD2 to burn the dvd. It is a 44 minute presentation (talking head) with lots of graphics. I burned them on my HP computer useing HP blank dvd's. Now, during play back on a computer they just all of a sudden stop in the middle of the presentation and go back to the menu screen. Am I overloading the system? Do I need a more professional blank dvd? Please help. Bob

[Edward Troxel]

No way to answer without more information. Could the the DVD. Could be the procedure you used. Could be.....

How many files did you give DVDA to use? What kind of files?

[Patrick King]

I've been using Windows Media Encoder to attempt to thin some MPEG2 video files down to a smaller size for use in another program.

When I did this starting with .avi files instead of .mpg files the result was a .wmv file that was small and played very smoothly with great resolution. Trying to re-encode starting with .mpg files results in poor resolution and stuttering video.

Anyone have experience in Vegas trying to convert .mpg files back to .avi files for editing purposes? I guess if I do this I'll lose some quality, but if it will then compress into a .wmv file, it'll be worth the effort.

[Michael Wisniewski]

A 16:9 mask will do the job. The letterbox mode you're trying to re-create is functionally a 16:9 mask. Think "masking tape".

The pan/crop tool in Vegas is more like a zoom in/out function.

[Ruben Pla]

Hi, there. My Video FX are not working on Vegas 5. The Transitions and Media Generators work fine, but not the Video FX (none of them.) The plug-ins are checked (not by-passed) and the "before Pan/Crop" is selected, but the FX still don't show on the preview monitor. I tried applying the FX through the track, on the event, and by dragging the FX icon to the event and the preview window. None of it works. Anyone have any ideas? Thank you in advance. Ruben

[Edward Troxel]

Did you click the Split Screen (set to bypass FX) button just above the preview screen? If you did, you won't see any FX (but they'll still render fine). Click that button again to turn them back on.

[Ruben Pla]

Thank you. If I choose "select left/right" the FX shows on half the screen, but if I choose "select all" it doesn't show the FX at all. Is that the correct choice?