It could be that your image is such high resolution that the down-scale to DV makes it look bad. Or, maybe you're viewing at Preview/Full or Auto? Set this to Best/Full to see it in it's best presentation. If it's still bad, try a few things;
1. Right click/Switches/Reduce interlace flicker.
2. Add .001 Gaussian Blur
3. Reduce the size/resolution of the image in Photoshop or other graphic editor.

Remember, DV is only 720 x 480, so if you're dropping in an 8 megapixel image, it's likely scaling so much that it looks artifacted.

HDV and XP service pack 2 necessary?
 

I was about to purchase Vegas Platinum but the requirement on the box said service pack 2 required for HDV. Why?

What HDV functionality exactly will not work with sp1?

Only camera detection. It will run fine under SP1. I'm running it now. You *may* need to manually install the HDV camera drivers though.
You'll love Platinum, I've cut quite a few things with it.

Cool!

Makes sense, resized the images in photoshop and it made a HUGE improvement.

Thanks.

I lost a fuction with .mpg
 

When I go to render to the DVDA templates for mpeg2, and then click "custom" it won't open the custom window. It opens the custom template window in other formats.

I think this is because I recently re-installed on a formatted drive and I am missing some mpg codecs. I know that I used to be able to drag and drop in mpegs and now I can't.

I forgot what I'm missing! Please help.

DJ

DVDA2 duel layer ?
 

Any chance of Sony offering a duel layer plugin for DVDA2, or can you just upgrade to DVDA3 if you don’t want or need Vegas6?

Just thinking out loud

Vince

BTW what is the cost for The Vegas5 w/DVD to Vegas6 w/DVD upgrade?

No and No. Since DVDA2 has been replaced by DVDA3 there is no reason to offer any type of new plugin and DVDA is strictly available only with Vegas.

Don

Thanks Douglas, exactly the answer I was hoping for.

Your answer to a similar question for someone else is what got CapDVHS working for me with the Z1U and SP1.

As Don said, dual layer requires DVDA 3 and you can only get that if you update to Vegas6+DVD. The update is $250:
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/sho...cid=111&disp=1

However, it may also be possible to prepare the DVD in DVDA2 and then use something like Nero to actually burn the disc onto dual layer media.

Thank you once again for the information,Douglas!
Now I think about something else in that matter: yes, the TV set I use is interlaced, I know that. But what about when you switch an interlaced tv set on and watch a film on some tv channel? I mean that the film is progressive in any case somewhere in the tv company which you receive the film from via cable, antenna, etc. So, the progressive looks OK on the interlaced TV in your home. Or the jitter is almost not obvious! That is my confusion...

First and foremost, VCD's aren't used for broadcast.
Second, even though the source may have been progressive, it's being interlaced at the broadcaster's facility and aired to you from there, or your television is correctly interlacing progressive footage. (Most likely it's the former, not the latter)

In your case, you're using footage that was captured with interlacing, deinterlaced in (I assume) Vegas, and then put on a low-quality format, which is then being upsampled to a larger scale. This would make any interlacing very obvious.

What happens if you shoot something with your palmcorder, edit it as DV, convert to progressive scan in Vegas, and render to a progressive DVD, and watch it on an interlaced set? It should look quite good, assuming you're using the Vegas templates and not using Pan/crop on the video.

This may be a tough question but how would one do that ... after I prepare for burning then what would I do to get Nero to do the burn?

Vince

DVDA will create the Video_TS and Audio_TS folders. Then you tell Nero to burn a DVD and point it to those folders as the source for the information. I'm not sure how you pick the break-point, though.

Vegas and External Control - Tascam US-428
 

Greetings,

Has anyone been using the Tascam US-428 as an external MIDI control interface with Vegas 6.0? I am curious how its controls are able to be mapped to Vegas, and how real-time the control is versus the Mackie control surface. I want to use this unit not only for cutting video video, but also for its ability to use a tactile interface for mixing multiple tracks of audio.


Your input is appreciated!

Thanks Edward

Vince

I may just go to Vegas 6 DVDA3...the audio scrub sounds cool...and I do need duel Layer.. and maybe some day HDV

Thanks

HDV with Connect HD and Vegas 6c
 

Hey Guys and Gals,
I do alot of shooting with a JVC HD10u. It is not my dream camera by no means, but it shoots nice images. I capture the footage into my PC with Connect HD. Then that program automatically converts that footage to manageable AVI's to edit in vegas 6. I use this only because I have found that Vegas 6's capture ingredient does not suite my PC or it is just not ready. I have a P4 3.2 and 1 gig of ram. I use two drives yada yada for capturing and editing. After I load the files into Vegas 6 should I use the hdv 1280 X 720 in 30p if I am just going to burn this to dvd? Doesn't dvd compress everything to MPeg2 anyway? If was going to maintain the file and send it to a broadcast station, what tape would I have to roll that out to?

backlit altar
 

ok,
so I have a second camera shot from a panasonic GS-120 that has a bright sky in the background. The wedding party is almost completely in sillouette. Is there any filter or effect I can apply to this to clarify the wedding party. I have to use this feed for the entrance and exit of the party, so I would love to have it "visible" youknow? Thanks in advance.

Bill

Bill - it sounds like the shot is already done, and the image is severely underexposed. If so, using curves to try to open up the shadows may help, but I suspect there is not much detail in those shadows and a lot of noise.

I'd try using curves first, maybe with some noise reduction with the shadow noise you're likely to see, but you might be better off accepting it as is and seeing if you can use it in some artsy way, as if you did it on purpose.

Others may be able to offer more help. I come from a still photography background, and maybe there are some video tricks I'm not aware of.

Perhaps if you could post a snapshot for people to play with...

Will Sony improve the HDV Capture Tool?
 

For now I'm planning on using GearShift 1.5 and converting the m2t files on my 3Mhz P4. However, I really wish that the built-in Vegas 6c video capture tool had the scene detection capabilities for HDV. Bringing in a huge HDV file is not only unappealing, but hard to use from an editing perspective (others seem to agree: http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/for...ssageID=420732) Does anyone know if/when Sony will add Scene Detection for the Vegas HDV video capture tool? I'm not interested in purchasing Cineform just for this capability either - it's equal to the Vegas 6 upgrade cost.

The other thing I really miss is the 'dropped frames' counter that also was in the DV capture tool. With just a glance, I could tell if the tape fully loaded. As far as I can tell, the only way to know this now is in the midst of editing.

I was wondering that too. I don't understand why Sony did that. It's like I'll buy a brandnew car with all the bells and whisltes but doesn't come with tires.

I believe this belongs in the other Vegas forum, the "What Happens In Vegas... (HDV)"

http://dvinfo.net/conf/forumdisplay.php?f=102

ooops, sorry can someone put this topic in the HDV thread~
 

Can the kennelmaster redirect me perhaps?

Looks better rendered
 

I had the same problem and found that when it is rendered or prerendered it looks better.
Mike

moved to HDV.

If you're delivering to broadcast for HD delivery, you'd have to deliver on HDCAM or D5HD, depending on what they ask for. Some will also accept delivery on a hard drive if they have a media server.
Connect HD is likely the best way for you to work, and I'd be editing the CineForm files. Use the 1280 x 720 30p template, you'll be happy with it.

QuickTime issues, captured in FCP
 

I was trying to edit (in vegas 6) a wedding we shot and my partner captured via his mac in FCP but the audio is out of sync in vegas. They play fine when viewed in the quicktime player. I even thought maybe it was just a preview problem but even after I render it out to mpeg it is out of sync the same.

Anyone have any clue or suggestions as to what to do to fix this? Granted I'm getting pretty proficient in FCP but I would rather be able to edit at my house on my machine vs at his place on his G4.

What format did they capture to in FCP? If it's DV in a Quicktime, then you're only out of sync due to processor speed in Vegas. It's pretty tough to make DV go out of sync. You might try:
1. recapture using same names, so you can use his EDL from FCP,
2. rename his .mov files as .avi

Selectively Pre-Render Video question
 

I'm sure I'm doing something very simple wrong, but here it goes:

When I "Selectively Pre-Render Video" (say a 30 second video clip), it only creates 10 second segments. Is that normal? How do I get it to do the Whole thing?

--Dale, using Vegas 6

Laptop Question
 

A good friend of mine is interested in the Dell laptop, Inspiron 6000.... 512MB of RAM... 60GB hard drive... 1.6GHz. His plan is to do some editing with Vegas here and there... nothing big or fancy. He's ordering it straight from Dell, so he can add on or change what he needs.

I'm too ignorant to tell him exactly what he needs and he doesn't want to shell out 1200 bucks for a laptop that won't support the software. Vegas users... chime in. What would make it work well?

It will do the "whole thing" - just in 10 second increments (12 seconds for PAL users). More precisely, most pre-render files will be 300 frames. You'll notice it does the same thing on a print to tape. For example, if you have a 15 second title, it will render 10 seconds in one file and 5 seconds in another file.

If you want to do the whole section as ONE file, you might try the "Render to New Track" option. Be aware that you'll have to watch out on the audio, though, or you might end up with DOUBLE.

Got it
 

The Curves option really did the trick. I was hoping I would find something.

bill

I have an old Dell that is a P3 600mhz with 128m of RAM and a 10gig system drive. I've used an 80gig FWHDD for capture and working the project(s) and for rendering and Vegas worked just fine. A bit slow (to say the least) but I was able to do everything I needed to on road trips with that setup, so anything faster and with more RAM will be OK

Don

There is something I want to add to this matter.

25P progressive video (PAL) is nothing more than 25 frames per second, each consisting of 2 interlaced fields. Both interlaced fields have the SAME sampled image from the ccd's used as a source, this image is 1 moment in time. One of the two fields shows the even lines of this image, the other fields the other lines. That's why progressive video can be recorded on VHS tapes, mini-dv tapes (DVX100, XL2) and normal dvd's. During playback on normal tv your eyes notices a different cadans compared to non-progressive video (that uses 50 different images in time per second, where progressive uses 25). It both plays as interlaced video, but it's source is different. Just like a normal feature film played back on tv from cable, VHS or dvd.

Creating progressive video from 'interlaced'= normal video in Vegas is tricky. Because the software somehow has to go back to 25 images per second, where the source is originally 50. And combining 2 fields gives problems with movements, so it somehow has to interpolate the combined image and filling all lines with texture. And then this new image has to be written back to 2 fields, with the even and odd lines in the one or another.
This interpolation gives the troubles you see. Not the fact that you do a playback on an interlaced tv.

I do have a progressive scan playback from my dvd to a progressive scan Loewe tv, using component cables. This gives great results with my progressive video of the DVX100, editing as progressive video in Vegas and rendered to a progressive video dvd with DVD-A. But the same video/dvd also plays back greatly on a normal interlaced CRT tv. The progressive mode unleashes a quality I had never seen before with my camera and MPEG2 rendering.

Working with progressive video has the same aspects as with a real film camera. Fast movements gives motion problems (stroboscope), so you have to do slow pannings, or you have to follow a subject moving through the environment (like actors entering a building and walking to the stairs or something). The eye of the viewer is trained to look at the subject and does not register the motion problems in the background.

Export DVDA subtitles to Vegas?
 

Hi everybody,

I just finished a short film, edited with Vegas 6 and created a dvd with DVDA3. In DVDA I added two different subtitle tracks, that can be chosen from the menu by the viewer. I imported the subtitles each from a txt file a translater gave me and it was just a matter of syncing them on the timeline with the video, which was a lot of work but DVDA is fairly handy with it. All is fine now.

I want to share a internetcopy of our movie on the internet (MOV or WMV format), but I want to add the English subtitles from DVDA to it. Is there any way that I can insert them into the Vegas file, using the export subtitles option in DVDA3? So far no luck. I don't want to spend another evening syncing all the dialog lines to the actual audio again....

Thanks for any help or suggestion!

Ah... We are dealing with HD/HDV and Vegas here.

If you are indeed wondering if your good friend will be able to work with HDV on such a laptop... he'll be wanting to throw it through the nearest window after a few sessions of working with HDV stuff, unless he has the patience of a Saint that is!!

If you know he's using DV... then maybe it'll do just fine, no doubt slower than the new laptops that are now out and about, but useable.

If your friend is using HDV, then he might need to consider a 16:9 screened P-IV of at least 2.8Ghz with a 7,200rpm Hard Disk 80Gig minimum.

Bottom line: HDV needs more grunt, DV he can take a punt...

Steve is correct in that faster/bigger is better, but at the same time, a DV Proxy or CineForm intermediary in the newest/latest versions will edit HDV very nicely on a 3.4 system or faster. Faster drives are definitely helpful

Just to clarify a bit -

The 'selectively' part of 'selectively pre-render' means that it is on;y going to render the parts that need rendering, not any unchanged parts of the DV avi file.

So, for example, if you have two video events that you do not apply filters to or otherwise change, that are overlapped for a one-second transition, the selective pre-render will only render the transition.

Gary

I'd wager the rent money that no HD is involved, just straight DV. I didn't see that I posted this in the HD section until it was too late. D'oh!

Thanks for the responses... I'll pass them along!