Soundforge vs. Adobe Audition
 

I am curious if anyone knows...

I have purchased Vegas along with the 5 training DVDs since I believe it to be the best and easiest editor to use. However, I see in so many posts about opening audio in Soundforge to edit.

I have nothing against Soundforge, and even bought an express copy years ago with Sonic Foundry, but I've always preferred Adobe Audition (which in my mind is still Cool Edit Pro since I've been using it waaaaaayyyy before Adobe bought it).

Anyway, question is, will Audition do as well with my Vegas files (I've used it many times already to successfully edit .avi's from Windows movie maker) as Soundforge will do - or is there some special things Soundforge can do that the other can't?

They've always seemed very similar, and again, I've always just preferred Audition (cool edit).

Hello,

And if it is a laptop, can you use the external connection for the monitor??

Mike

Does DVDA2 produce in DDP or CMF format
 

I'm finalizing my first comercial DVD and just noticed that the masters I send to the replictors are supposed to be on DVD-Rs and can be UDF, UDF BRIDGE, or ISO 9660 but they must be written in DDP2.0, 2.1 or CMF format.

I've searched and found that CMF is short for Cutting Master Format (I think that's what it said) but I can't find mention of either format within the help or manual of DVDA.

The guy at the replication facility makes it sound like any authoring software that's not older than 2 or more years should have it.

I'm worried because we're on a time crunch so I'd rather get it right with the first FedEx.

Can anyone tell me if either of these "standards" of authoring are part of DVDA?

Thanks,
Kevin

p.s. The credits are done and DvInfo.Net is shining proudly in the "Thank You's"

Both are audio editors. Use what you're comfortable with. The main advantage with Sound Forge is that you can send a file from the Vegas timeline to be modified in Sound Forge and, once modified, it will be brought back into Vegas and added as a Take to that event.

Yes, that should also work. I know my laptop can be set up to be two monitors - the main LCD on the laptop and an second signal out the SVGA port.

Ahhhh, thanks Edward

Exactly the kind of thing I was wondering. I guess thru Audition, I'll have to save the audio back to video (which can be rather lengthy) and then re-import back into Vegas. I wonder if that would degrade the quality of the file in any way vs. the Soundforge method?

i havent tried this as i only use Soundforge for editing, however in teh preferences tab, there is an option to select the "default audio editor"

lead it to Audition and it "should" theoretically behave the same way..

High Dynamic Range Automatic Gain Control for avisynth
 

Even though the results do not seem to be really desirable but I wonder if there is an easy way to do this kind of stuff with Vegas 5.0.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=93571

I'm not sure that by simply pointing to the other program it will allow it to bring the audio back in as a Take. It would definitely allow STARTING the program, though.

As for saving the file, why not just save it as a WAV file instead of an AVI file? Then add the WAV file as a take on the original timeline.

Very good. I'll try this out as soon as I can. Having to learn Vegas AND a new sound editor would be a bit taxing at the same time.

Thanks!

You might be able to use THIS control in Vegas. I believe that WAX adds the ability to use some AVISynth tools directly in Vegas.

What file format for watermark in Vegas
 

A friend is going to make a watermark from my logo to use on some video. Can someone tell me what file format to use to carry the alpha to Vegas? (forgive me if I worded this wrong!) Thanks, Jeff

I made my "bug" in Photoshop on a transparent background and the saved as a PNG.


Don

Creating wmv9 with wma8 or mp3?
 

I am wondering if anyone knows if this is possible. I use vegas 6.0 and do a lot of batch encoding so if someone knows a way to encode a wm video 9 file with wm8 audio or mp3 please let me know!

The reason for this is I am aware that a lot of websurfers dont have the 9.1+ codec installed and popup for codec = bad...

Thanks a lot everyone.

Or...If you have the .gif or .jpg image available, you can place it in the video and lower the opacity of the image.

If you have high contrast scenes where the highlights are near to washed out (compressed) and you need to keep the details in these areas, then you probably need local adaptive processing. Almost in all other situations gamma correction is the way to go for brighten up the dark parts while keeping the whites.

Ummm...
 

My questions must be getting boring... :)

I've done a little test - I burned a master using DVDA 2 and then I burned one by dragging the VIDEO_TS folder that DVDA created into a Nero DVD_Video compilation.

They both play in my DVD player but the writing on the DVDA disc looks different. The Nero burned DVD looks like a solid color change throughout the whole burn while the DVDA disc seems to have a couple of different gradients of color change.

Can anyone chime in on whether or not this is a good indicator that the DVDA2 disc will be in one of the DDP or CMF formats?

Thanks,
Kevin

Thanks guys. I'll try this tonight. - Jeff

The only problem with that is that although you will lower the opacity of the background you will also lower the opacity of the actual image as well.

You could make you bug in whatever format you desire and use the chromakey to pull out the background - it's an extra step but it will work.

Don

I'm thinking that the standard burned (and playable) disc will be in a format they can use.

Like Don, I found the easiest way is to save as PNG in Photoshop. Make your logo on a new layer and delete the background layer (so it becomes transparent). Then save as PNG.

60i to 24p workflow, lets talk.
 

So I have had Vegas 5 for a couple weeks now (love the program) and have been converting 60i to 24p. Looks great to me (could be a little sharper though) but the workflow is killing me. I read the 24p article on the VASST site and it seems I should be able to replace the 60i files in the project with the rendered 24p ones, but I don't really understand how this is done. So far I have been rendering out clips in one big file (I have been doing short <1 min flicks) and cutting it up again in a 24p timeline. Obviously this will not work on anything much longer then 2/3 minutes.

If you ask, "Why don't you just edit the whole thing the way you want and not cut it up at all?", I will tell you that I like to have a little leeway (+/- 2 seconds) on either side of my clips for music syncing purposes, and for just being able to play with the feel once I get everything added in and done.

So, what is the best way to work around this?

Any luck with your problem? I wonder if you are having a problem similar to mine. My processor tops out at 100% when rendering also but that is not the problem. As I start to render I watch my "available Physical Memory" disappear.

I have 1.5 Gig of memory and it usually shows 1110000 k free initially. If I render a 6-7 minute clip I can watch that number drop to 4500! The PC struggles along.

Lately as I work on wedding ceremony with 7 soundtracks and 4 camera tracks it just starts to choke quickly. Just tonight I noticed if I have the Video Preview setting at "draft auto" I can get throug without losing all that available memory but if I just click it to "draft full" I can just watch the memory disappear or at least dwindle down even if I am not actively doing work on the timeline.

Anyway I wonder if you looked in Tast Manager to see any anomalies. I see my Page File is 1.74 GIG, that seems huge but I don't understand what is happening.

Let me know if your pc is acting similarly in Task Manager?

Here's a tip that might help for situations where your music has a consistent beat throughout. First, use the "M" key to place five or so markers at consecutive beats anywhere in the music track. Estimate the time between the beats you will transition on. Using Ultimate S, lay down your photos using the estimated time as the length for each photo, and an appropriate transition time. It will help if you add a couple extra photos so the line of photos extends beyond the endpoints of the audio. Now, group all the photos, and use ctrl/drag to shrink or grow the entire clip until your photo transition centers align perfectly with the beat marks you made. Now ungroup and adjust the photos on either end to concide with the start/end of the audio.

Excalibur 4.2 Update Available
 

The Excalibur 4.2 update can be found at:
http://www.vegastrainingandtools.com...as_plugin.html

http://www.vegastrainingandtools.com...calibur4_2.exe

If you are using 4.0, it is recommended that you uninstall 4.0 before installing 4.2. If you are using 4.1, it should be fine to simply install 4.2 over 4.1.

The following changes were made in this version:

Version 4.2
1. Added Alpha Channel options to the Video Properties tool.
2. Storyboard Wizard can now save snapshots as JPG or PNG.
3. Storyboard Wizard can now use the marker labels as the base file name.
4. Storyboard Wizard can now append the timecode to the file name.
5. PBS Wizard can now apply Match Aspect instead of needing a separate step.
6. PBS Wizard can now automatically pan the images.
7. PBS Wizard can now turn on Reduce Interlace Flicker.
8. Velocity Wizard can now apply the specified velocity or freeze frame on all selected events under the cursor at the cursor location.
9. Fixed Multi-Cam dissolves to not cause out of sync events on the Master track in Vegas 6.0a.
10. The Excalibur.dll file can now be executed directly in Vegas 6.

#1. The alpha channel can now be specified for one or more selected events. This will allow quickly changing a bunch of events to the proper alpha channel.

#2-4. With these changes, you can now save as PNG or JPG and have much more flexibility in the naming of the resultant images. You can optionally use whatever label was entered for the marker and append the timeline timecode.

#5-7. PBS Wizard has seen some great improvements. Now you just drop the images on the timeline, select them, and run PBS Wizard. It will automatically "Match Aspect" and "Reduce Interlace Flicker" if desired. However, the biggest change is the ability to PAN the images. This is especially noticable on tall/narrow images. To see these differences, look at these illustrative clips. There were NO changes made after running PBS Wizard to any of these.

I ran a quick example using about 15 images from a montage. Here's how Excalibur 4.0 works to automate motion:

http://www.jetdv.com/vegas/PMExcalibur4-0.wmv

With the new additions to PBS Wizard, here's how it now works in version 4.2 to automate motion:

http://www.jetdv.com/vegas/PMExcalibur4-2.wmv


#8. This will allow you to set a specific velocity on the selected event(s) at the cursor location. So if you want to freeze the current event at the cursor location, just run Excalibur, choose "Freeze Frame" and specify to "Change at Cursor Location" and the velocity will drop to 0% at the cursor.

#9. Sony changed how one of the script functions works which causes the dissolves in Multi-Cam to create a Master track that is out of sync in Vegas 6. This update works around their change. Each event will be in sync after being added to the master track.

#10. The DLL can now be run directly from Vegas 6. This is especially important to those whose toolbar icon keeps getting switched from the .js file to the .dll file. Now in Vegas 6, either will work interchangably to start the Excalibur GUI.

Render time with Magic Bullet in Vegas
 

Hey everyone,

I just started using the Magic Bullet plug in with vegas 5 and it is taking about 8 to 9 hours to render a 7 minute clip with one filter on it.

I currently have a 1.4 Ghz PIII processor with 1 gig of ram and vegas is taking a pretty long time to render clips also - no where near the time of magic bullet though...does this sound normal?

DVCapture on PC other than Vegas 6.0
 

Hello, I am currently using Vegas to capture dv.

I would like to know if it makes sense to use another app that offers more options (if there is any). And if it does..what application?

I'm not looking for something to edit video with but just capture dv.

I tried scenalyzer but I didn't like the unusual interface.

Thanks in advance

I have a Pentium 2.6C and the rendering ratio for me is about 30:1 with magic bullet editors (depends on settings though). Extrapolating... your render should take about 6.5 hours.

That sounds kind of normal to me.

just FYI:

my p4 2.8HT w/ 1G ram took 1h40min yesterday for a 5 minute clip.

Hmmmm,

Thanks Glenn.

I guess I need to start saving for a faster processor or just leave my computer be for a few days while it does its thing.

There is always Windows Movie Maker. Its free (installed with Windows XP), it has a childishly simple interface, and it will capture DV from most miniDV cams.

Perhaps if you told us what you DON'T like about Vegas Vidcap.

I also use Scenalyzer for some of my capturing but use Vegas' capture for the rest.

A new computer would be at least twice as fast. (With Pentiums, dividing the clock speed is a fairly good aproximation of speed.)

Even if you had a faster machine though, you would still need to wait on rendering... so productivity-wise, you may not gain too much.

Help, Vegas not seeing camera.
 

Hi,

New Sony FX1, all excited and I connect camera to system via firewire, fire up Vegas 6.. And go to capture panel.. and so far it looks like Vegas does not see the camera.. tried to power up and down..restart vegas.. Something i am not doing in preferences..??

mike m.

Hello,

Well this was a surprise to me.. I dug deeper and found in the help file, how i had to go into the new capture panel, and preferences..(looks a lot different) and under the device tab,I select IEEE 1394?MPEG2 -TS-Device.. OK, but the directions say there should be a drop down list of devices.. so far I see the area where it should be, but it does not appear to be active.. Any help here??
Is there something i have to download??

Mike M.

Importing CD Audio
 

Im going to be importing some music being mixed in a studio into vegas 5 to overlay over my video Iv been editing of the live show. Im getting it in both 48 and 44.1 just incase. Is there anything tricky I should know about in trying to match it up. We used four cameras that I sinked up visualy and have been mixing with the audio from my cam on sticks.

Whats the best way to import it?

Is it just a matter up matching up the waveforms as close as possible?

Should I then convert to ac3 for dvd? And does vegas have a plugin that will do this well?

Thanks!

Hello,

So far this s#%$ !1 OK I learned a little more, but i am not where i want to be yet.. I put the camera into the DV mode, and went into Vegas and turned on the external controller.. went into capture, and Vegas does see and control the camera.. but when i turn off the external controller and then go into the capture prefs(HDV capture).. my device type is set to IEEE/MPEG2-TS Device.. but there are still no devices listed and no device properties..Its frustrating, because i am dealing with all Sony products..You think it would be able to see a Sony Camera.. Looks like one hand is not washing the other hand..
Any suggestions..??

Mike Moncrief

You can render the AC3 separately, or tell Vegas to render the video and audio streams both in the render options.

Thanks for the answers.. lol..what I don't like of vegas vidcap?!

It's not a matter of what I don't like in Vegas, but maybe someone more experienced (that's why I made this post) can suggest me an app with more functionality, easier to use, more productive, faster..I don't know.

Maybe there isn't. Maybe there is... u tell me

About movie maker I have it, but has less functionalities than Vegas vidcap, so of course it's not something I would like to transit to.

Thanks again

No (DV) capture application can do this:

- capture faster
- capture with less "quality loss"

Basically the Vegas capture does almost everything you will need.

However, if you are interested in other ways to "capture", look at this:

- a direct-to-disk recorder. This is a harddisk based device you hookup to your camera. This allows you to capture on set directly to harddisk. Saves you time when editing since you don't have to capture anything

- a cheaper approach is to use a program called "DV Rack". It's a Windows program that does the same as a direct-to-disk recorder with advantages like seeing the signal fullscreen on your computer/laptop and lots of other stuff (check it out). The downside is you need to lug a computer around the set

I hope this has given you some more insights.