But how do i replace them?
overwrtiting them wont owrk since te offline will be in avi and the real footage will be m2t

There's always the right-click - replace option in the media pool but the easiest option would probably be to use Gear Shift by Spot.

Yes I realize that lol....its the fact that it does Differance sort of reverse what I expected it to. It kind of left the subject almost the same color, and just blacked out the background...but that was due to the subject having some of the same colors as the background.

It actually does work the way I said - Create a Differance composite, render, black and white then threshold - then set that track as a mask on the original footage...I just wasn't using enough of a color contrasting background in comparision to my subject. With that considered...I think my results were quite good...better than chroma key. I recommend people who are chroma keying and getting that infamous "halo" try it out. I noticed where their is even slight color contrast between the subject and background I get an amazingly clean and sharp line around the subject.

Thanks. And what is gear shift and where do i get it?

Change to a 1.0 pixel aspect and render out at 864x480. You'll get what you want.


/*
I always do 720*1.2 rather than the full pixel aspect (1.2xxxx or something) - 1) it looks right, and 2) it's a better number (evenly divisible by 16) when putting the source file into an mpeg2 encoder) - 880 (next even divisible #) looks wider than it should at a 1:1 pixel aspect.

$.02
*/

Audio tracks.. probably dead simple answer..
 

but I can't figure it out.


If you've got audio in just the left channel (right channel being empty), how can you clone it to be in both?

(mono shotgun)

Right-click - Channels - Pick the appropriate option.

Brilliant, thanks!

That was dead simple.. I was trying to copy/paste everything in the audio editor (sloow).

Thanks, Edward. I'll keep experimenting with the Insert Time.

Here's a shot in the dark about your being unable to make the fade tool available. If you've dropped the gain to less than 100% (pulling down the line from the top of the clip), then keep in mind the cursor won't turn into the fade tool when it is at the upper corner of the end of the clip, but at where the line you pulled down meets the end of the clip.

Problem with my new PLEXTOR PX-716A
 

I installed a new Plextor burner this morning. Every thing was going well. No problem rendering, No problem prepareing, no problem burning. I played it back on my computer, great. I go to play it on my Panasonic deck. Nothing. It says check disk for dirt or scractes. I try three different dvd brands, DVD+R Maxell, Verbatim, HP. All play on the PC but not the deck. Oh, before I installed the Plextor I made three dvd copies on my old burner. They play perfect on both PC and deck. Any ideas? Bob

Thanks Brian, I'm suspecting that when it's happened it's been either what you or Edward suggest or both. I'll check it out next time it happens.

If it makes you feel any better I've had the same thing happen when trying to insert time. Usually it works for me on the second or third try. Don't know why it happens though.

Need help rendering video for the internet
 

A friend and I are trying to put a 17 second clip on a website so that people can click a link and watch the video. I've never rendered anything except full size and I'm having trouble figuring out how to render a clip that is smaller in size so that people can dowload it quickly. Do you just reduce the frame size under the render options or are there other settings to change? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Using Vegas 5:

I was just having issues with this the other day. Just changing your render size, and even adding compression will probably still leave you with a big file and less than optimal results.

The first thing you want to do when you "Render As" is change the 'save as' drop down box to .mov, .wmv, or .mpg. I personally use .wmv right now but that's just off of a friends recommendation not off of any testing.

Next change the "template" drop down menu. I like to use 256kbps template since its the best compressed template that uses 30fps.

Thanks Dan, it does help to know I'm not the only one :)

I'd also add, you may want to brighten up your video for the web. Video looks darker than normal on computer screens. Here are some basic color correcting examples to see the differences (click here).

I do this a lot for clients, even with movies lasting many minutes and so long as your target viewers have broadband, you should have no real problems.

What screen size are you looking at using - 320x240 or something else? If 320x240, 256k (video and audio combined - 240/16), as Matt mentions, is a good sweet spot for size vs qualty tradeoff (about 2MB's/min).

And yes, .wmv is a good way to go. If you use 160x120, you can halve the bitrate for equivalent quality and if you use 640x480 you'll need to double it. If the movie is to be played on a PC, as on the web, de-interlacing is also recommended.

I get consistently good results using 2-pass unconstrained VBR, 29.97 fps and 1-pass 16-bit CBR 22k audio, 16 or 32kbps, depending on the source.

I should mention that I frameserve out of Vegas to Procoder Express for .wmv conversion so these are Procoder settings but I imagine they have equivalents in Vegas.

Some people have reported problems getting .wmv files encoded in Vegas to stream and have found that encoding the same files in the free Windows Media Encoder instead has solved the problem for them.

Hope this helps.

Tony

Multi Video, Multi Paths
 

Hi, I am new to Vegas. I just bought Vegas 6 and I love it.
I had a question, maybe someone could point me in the right direction.

I have 3 videos, I want all of them to play in the single frame at the same time. I pretty much figured out how to do this. It looks like 3 Picture in Pictures in the frame. Now I come to the part I cant figure out. I want these videos to move across the screen at different intervals.

Ex. The first one moves from right to left at the top of the frame and the second one moves from left to right in the middle of the frame, and the third one moves from right to left at the bottom of the frame.

I am almost positive that this can be done. Does Vegas support this?

Thanks for any info.
Marshal Hewit
Las Vegas, NV

you can do it several ways, the easiest of which is to line up 3 tracks, using track motion to squeeze the vid into either vertical or horizontal areas. You can also easily achieve this with masks.
Other methods can be found http://www.vasst.com/search.aspx?text=split

Click on the link below my name and go to the newsletter archives. The first three issues teach how to use Track Motion which will let you achieve exactly what you are wanting to do.

I have an older Plextor but I've never had problems on my Sony DVD player, even when my computer has some trouble recognizing the disc. My bother-in-law, however, had trouble playing some of my DVDs so it may be machine dependent. He ended up viewing them on his PS2. By the way, I usually burn DVD-R discs.

Sound Forge Problem
 

Not a Vegas issue, but I think this is probably the most appropriate forum, since many of us use Vegas with SF. I use SF7, and my "wave hammer" plug-in reverts to demo mode from time to time (in demo mode, you get electronic beeps throughout the processed file).

This is apparently a known issue from Sony, as it's on their knowledge base -- they say to uninstall and then reinstall SF, then re-register the software.

That's fine, and it works for me, but sometimes it takes a couple of cycles of uninstall/reinstall before it comes back. Also, it's a *major* hassle, and I don't understand why it keeps having problems.

It seems like I have to do this every couple of weeks, and it "breaks" randomly -- no changes at all to the computer in the meantime. By now, I've probably uninstalled and reinstalled SF 8 or 10 times. I'm worried that one day it will tell me I've registered the same serial number too many times!

This is extremely frustrating. Has this happened to anyone else? Are there any better solutions out there?

My deck was to old. Went out and got a new $150. deck and they all play back. Wow, I thought it was the burner. Thanks anyway. Bob

I think I would try a more severe step:

1) uninstall ALL Sony programs
2) delete the Sony folder in Program Files
3) If you're adventurous, remove any remaining Registry entries for the Sony products
4) reinstall ALL Sony programs (may want to do Sound Forge after Vegas)

Edward - I may just try that. I have a bunch of Sony stuff on the computer in addition to SF (V5.0, NR2.0, CDA5.2, DVDA2.0, and the version of Acid that comes with V5). Maybe one of them is messing up the Wave Hammer plug-in registration somehow? I can only assume that's why it reverts to demo mode, it suddenly thinks that the registration isn't valid. The weird thing is that it only happens with that plug-in.

In any event, I'm considering upgrading to SF8 at some point. I wonder if it uses the same copy protection scheme? The program itself seems to remain satisfied it is a legal copy, but the Wave Hammer plug-in registration is extremely touchy! I'd much rather use a h/w dongle than put up with this frustration.

Last night, I just got so frustrated reinstalling SF for the umteenth time that I sent a note to Sony support and started this thread. Thanks for letting me vent.

"Script Menu" I can't find it any where
 

Hi all:

I downloaded the "match aspect ratio" script for my vegas 6b. I followed the instruction on the help section by placing the script in side c:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas 6.0\Script Menu but I don't have "Script Menu" folder on my computer. For the heck of it, I went a head and create a folder in Vegas 6.0 folder called "Script Menu" and placed the script in there but nothing happen when I scan it.

Why am I missing this folder? Can some one help me find it please

Allan

Are you looking in the "Sony" folder or the "Sony Setup" folder? I can guarantee that the default Sony install includes the "Script Menu" folder inside the "Sony\Vegas 6.0" folder. You don't need to create it manually.

Please rename the Match Aspect script so that it begins with a capital letter. Also, don't be afraid to check out all the other scripts that are available.

Dumb Audio Question
 

Alright. So right now i'm working on a project with a lot of slow motion, and reverse shots. I want the audio to Slow/speed up/reverse with the video. Is there any way to do this in vegas? because i've been searching and cannot find one. Is this something i have to do in a seperate audio editor? I know, from working with Premiere in the past, I had achieved it with that program.
I'm assuming there is no audio velocity evelope in vegas. Oh. Version 4.0
Anyway, Thank you anybody who responds.

-Joe

Problems rendering uncompressed .mov files
 

Can anyone help?
I want to render a four minute clip to an uncompressed quicktime .mov file.Simple enough...
What happens is,I view the file rendering in the preview window and at 75% my clip is at the end.Fade to black.Vegas,however is still rendering and renders for another 20 minutes(black)climbs to 80% and then starts back down to 75% when an error appears.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

ReelPak-1 and Celluloid
 

What is the difference between two? I see no difference.

Celluloid is a plug in for Vegas that can apply colour correction 'looks' to your video. It can also automate the conversion from 60i to 24p.

The thing about Celluloid is that it is just a scripting tool - it doesn't really do any processing itself, it uses the filters embedded in Vegas, and just applies preset curves and parameters. The great thing about it is after you apply a look, you can then open up the effects chain for the event and tweak the parameter to get it exactly how you want it. The looks aren't anything you couldn't do yourself with the filters in vegas, but they let you quickly give the footage a 'close enough' look and then just tweak it.

Reelpak 1 is another set of looks that can be used with Celluloid or Ultimate S. One of those plugins must already exist on your system. Once you install it all the looks are available from within Celluloid.

I've got it and I find it great for speeding up giving video a 'look'

Cheers.

Don't know about Vegas 4 but the current version allows you to do both. You can slow down video and/or audio with the time stretch tools and you can choose whether the audio pitch changes or not. Likewise you can create a "subclip" from either audio or video or both and flip it in the timeline to reverse it.

A velocity envelope cannot be applied to audio in Vegas 4 (or 3 or 2 or 5 or 6) That does not mean some of this cannot be done, though.

To reverse audio, you really need Vegas 5 or 6 which has a right-click - Reverse option. For Vegas 4 you'll need to reverse the audio in some other program such as Sound Forge or the audio editor that comes with Windows.

To speed up or slow down audio, use the CTRL-Drag method.

Is there anything farther down the timeline after your fade to black?

For testing purposes, have you tried any other formats? Perhaps Uncompressed AVI?

Why don't you just render in the selected region. I love that feature because I usually shoot 30 minutes of footage which is then edited down to 3 8 minute segments for the web. By rendering the highlighted section only I can keep all the related clips on a single timeline and .veg file. Mark

Oh, alright. That's what I thought. Thanks a lot, you guys.

classroom training for Vegas
 

I'm trying to convince my boss that we should switch from our outdated version of Premiere (which we can't upgrade for unrelated reasons) to Vegas. He's starting to come around but has said that before we buy it he wants me to go take a class. It has to be this summer before the fiscal year ends.

I've surfed and searched and googled and the only classes I find are VASST. While that would have been great I've managed to just miss them. Are they really the only people who offer it? Or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

I've noticed that there are a few DVD sets that people around here recommend. When I floated that option to him he balked. Probably for reasons I'm not privy to he really wants it to be a class. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Smile,
Kris

There really aren't a whole lot of options as far as an actual classroom setting. As far as I know, VASST is the only tour going around the states. There may be a few local colleges around the country offering classes on Vegas.

Don't know if it falls in your timeframe or if you could travel, but you might check out this option:
http://digitalmediaacademy.org/cours...ets/vegas.html