White Balance - How to correct?
 

I had a crew hired to shoot my son's 1st birthday party. Somehow, they misbalanced the white balance in one of the cameras and a lot of that footage is looking real bad. Is there a way to correct it in post with vegas?

http://www.wideopenwest.com/%7Ewvg/tutorial-menu.htm
Billy has some great tutorials here for correction.

Don

I tried the dedicated firewire card and it worked! The controls and advanced capture are working properly. A few dollars well spent. Thanks Gary.

Keep Vegas, sell Adobe?
 

I've been a Vegas user since version 4, and I love it. About 6 months ago, I was on a real spending spree, and bought Adobe Video Collection 2.5 Standard.

I installed it, and I never use it. Vegas 6 does everything I want and I actually know how to use it (unlike Adobe Premiere...)

Anyway, is there any compelling reason I'd keep this? Otherwise I'm just going to sell it and buy some software I'll really use. I'd just hate to sell it and later find out there are tools in there you just can't live without.

Perhaps the audio tools (audition) can do some things that Vegas can't do,
other than that I can't really see any benefits...

No reason not to keep After Effects. It will do quite a bit that Vegas can't.

Surround sound, vegas or dvd architect?
 

Forgive me if this has been asked before

So I started out with 5.1 surround sound project in Vegas 6b. Rendered as MPEG2 and imported to DVDA 3b to build menu. When I hit "Make DVD" I have an option to choose the Audio Format and by default Stereo was selected. What should I do? I want my surround sound to stay intact. Do I change it from Stereo to 5.1 surround?

Please help.
AP

Did you export the 5.1 audio as AC-3 from Vegas? If not, you need to do that and use that file for the audio.

Hmmm... I do like Audition. Maybe I should try learning how to use After Effects and then decide. Perhaps between those two products, it will be worth keeping.

Chris, I'm in the same exact boat you are!
 

I have both and bought Adobe Video Collection because I experienced (allegedly) unrepairable rendering issues with Vegas 6.0 (and Sony told me Vegas does not support 64 bit O/S, HA!) Anyway, I solved the render issue and now also have both programs. I have no intention of sending back Adobe because Photoshop CS and After Effects are well worth having.

My two cents worth. Only send it back if you can't feed your pet turtles without the refund.

If you rendered a dvd compliant mpeg with audio, your 5.1 audio will have been downsampled to 2ch. As Edward said, you need to render the audio to a seperate 5.1ch ac3 file.

While the normal practice is to render an mpeg with no audio, and then render the ac3 to a separate file (unless you also want a 2ch track as well), I just thought I'd mention that to save another lengthy mpeg2 render, you can simply open your project and render the ac3 file, then open DVDA and just replace the audio with the ac3 file - much quicker (provided bitrates, etc are all ok, which they probabably will be).

Well, he gets a lengthy MPEG render either way -- either he renders a new, DVD Architect-compliant MPEG from Vegas, or DVDA re-renders the video when it prepares the DVD.

I'd go with Vegas, because for the most part, any time you make a change to the DVD (fix a typo, reorder the menus, etc.), it will have to render the video AGAIN (though, as Ed Troxel pointed out elsewhere, DVDA3 does a little better with this). Render it from Vegas, and you render only once.

Two tracks of video overlapped.
 

Hi all,

I'm working on a dance recital video and I have each camera (I used two) on a separate track.

What I've noticed is if the upper track is playing there is a "ghost" of the lower video track that shows in the preview. I've checked to ensure that the top track's opacity is at 100% but there are still faint "ghosts" of the other track visible.

What I've had to do is cut the bottom track so that they only overlap as the dominant track fades out or in.

Is this ghosting effect the "nature of the beast" so to speak or can I do something other than going back through the video and ensuring that there is no overlap between video track one & two?

Thanks for the help.

sincerely,


ian

Perhaps you changed the compositing level of the EVENT. You do that by moving the mouse to the top edge of the event, clicking, and dragging down. It's really noticable if you have a fade in/out as the curve will not go all the way to the top of the event. If that's the case, just click on the "line" that appears on the event and drag it back to the top of the event.

Well, that's embarrassing...
 

Hi folks & Ed especially,

Well, I'm messing about with the various settings and I focus on the compositing button and go through the various settings and then I notice, quite by accident, that the slider to the left of the compositing button for the event (my top video track) was slightly off of 100%.

D'oh!!!

Thanks Ed for the clues that pointed me to the culprit which was, um, me.

*sigh*

sincerely,


ian

LOL, Ian!

Most of us have been there, so don't worry about it! As far as you being the culprit? I don't know...it seems like those sliders and lines just drift on their own sometimes!

What happens to me is that I think the track has the focus when, in fact, the track HEADER has the focus. Now I want to move left on the timeline so I use the left arrow. My cursor doesn't move so I click on the timeline and use the left arrow. If I'm not careful and look, I may never notice I just lowered the Levels slider below 100%.

Aha!!! So that's it! And here I thought Vegas had gremlins. (Hey, if Excalibur can have its wizard...) :)

Compressed vs Uncompressed
 

What are the benefits of rendering compressed versus uncompressed?

If you're capturing DV, you're already compressed. In that case, there's no need to go uncompressed as it's much larger and won't make things any better than they already are. There are times to use uncompressed (or one of the other codecs instead of DV) but when starting with DV, you might as well stick with DV.

Lorinda,

Speaking of Excalibur...Edward, isn't there something in Excalibur that will check if you've got unintended gaps or displaced sliders?

59.94 project setup question
 

This always throws me when I am trying to convert 60i to 24p in Vegas 6:

I have de-interlaced a 29.97fps interlaced project to 59.94 fps progressive from After Effects using fields kit 2x setting which doubles the frame rate.

So now do I create a 59.94fps or 24fps project in Vegas 6? If I do a 59.94fps no fields project I will convert using the mpeg2 encoder to 24P with 2:3. If I import the 59.94fps footage into a 24p project I have no idea how to do the output.

Do both ways work or is one better or required for this kind of progessive project?
Or do I want to back to 29.97 interlaced using 3:2 pulldown for a film effect?

If I could just get this process right for output to DVD I would be very happy.

Excalibur will let you eliminate all gaps but it won't check for them. There is currently no way to check for a reduced track level slider other than manually looking.

Ultimate S has the ability to check if gaps exist on the timeline and eliminate them if desired.

Excalibur or Ultimate S?
 

Just wondering the major differences between Ultimate S and Ed's line with Excalibur, Neon ect. It looks as though I could buy almost all of Ed's line of products for the same price as U-S. Suggestions? I am looking to improve my work flow with short cuts. I tend to do two camera shoots, however there are times I will do three, and it looks as thought U-S will only do two. I liked Excalibur's interface but was unable to get my demo of if installed correctly and I gave up on it, this was over a year ago and I'm sure it had more to do with "user" error than any fault in the program.

Render Problem - No Audio
 

Hi.

I'm just upgrade from Vegas Movie Studio to Vegas 6.0.

After editing my first project, I've encountered a rather disturbing problem. When I render it, I get no audio.

I rebooted, tried again, in several different formats, and still no audio.

Suggestions?

Which format are you rendering to?

If it's a DVDArchitect preset, this will be a video stream, and you need to also render the audio. If the video (MPG) and Audio (Ac3) have the same name and are in the same folder, then DVD Architect will automatically import both when you drag the video file to a menu.

They are both good products. You can try either of them out for a demo period and see the features you like best in each.

There is no longer a "Neon" or "Tsunami". Instead, Excalibur 4.x (now at 4.5) includes everything that was in Excalibur 3 + Neon + Tsunami + new tools and features. So now a single product gets you everything.

The new Ultimate S 2 update will do up to 4 cameras. Excalibur has presets for up to 25 cameras.

I've done that a few times with different reasons being the cause.

1. Check the master volume fader. Is it up to -12db or at least past -30? Also check the audio track volume settings. Also is the mute button enabled on your audio track?

2. Do you have markers? If so did you have the
render loop region only selected in the render menu? I once had a very small section that did not have audio selected. Shortest render I ever had, but not what I wanted.

3. Do you have any volume envelopes? Are the pulled all the way down on the event?

4. Are running V-6 out of the box, or have you downloaded the upgrade to 6b? I don't think this one should be an issue, I didn't have audio issues, but there were a few gremlins that 6b fixed.

What is your destination render format? MPEG-2, AVI? There are so many to choose from.

Audio Render Box Not Checked
 

Fixed. I went deeper into Render - Custom and found that the audio box was not checked.

works now!

thanks to all....

Ultimate S 2.0 is now available from VASST
 

The latest version of Ultimate S 2.0, the original all-in-one multi-tabbed scripting tool, is now available from VASST. We have really concentrated this release on exploiting the deeper features of Vegas 6. There are tools to import veg files into a master project and retain the markers, tools to save and trim projects with nested veg files (Vegas does not save and trim the nested project but we do), some convenience features like the ability to save pan/scan presets, improved marker manipulation, etc. You can read all about it here.

The 5 most advanced new features are:

QuadCAM: Four camera editing with custom tally indicators, real-time switching, and built-in Shuttle Pro support

Lower Thirds: A collection of 4 new graphics overlays packages called GrafPaks with animated lower thirds that you can just drop in and use or apply, push, dissolve etc. with a single push of a button. GrafPak-1 & 2 are included in Ultimate S2. GrafPak-2 Wedding and GrafPak-3 Worship are available for purchase.

Special FX: Compositing FX like Water Color Painting, Pencil Sketch, Romance Look, etc. to give an artistic quality to your videos.

Audio Mastering Plug-In: A DirectX plug-in from iZotope® custom made for VASST is included along with AudioPak-1, a package of 38 Track and Mastering presets specifically designed for voice over, mastering, and special fx.

4 New ReelPaks: There are now 5 ReelPaks in all with film looks from the past, Classic TV, and Hollywood looks. These can now be added to a track, events, or master video bus.

Ultimate S 2.0 is beyond just a scripting tool for editing convenience. It is a one-stop, multi-cam, film look, audio mastering, lower thirds, special fx tool; to not only keep you more productive, but improve the quality of your productions with the new content. No other scripting tool provides this.

The 15-day free Trial comes with sample content from GrafPak-1 & 2 and AudioPak-1. Check it out at VASST. Please read the ReadMeFirst.htm file included in the ZIP file you download. It contains important installation details concerning changes in our install procedure.

Attention Celluloid and FM users: A new free update to Celluloid is available that includes additional functionality and support for the new ReelPaks. A new free upgrade to FM is available that includes the iZotope® plug-in and AudioPak-1. (FM users contact VASST for AudioPak-1 after you have installed the new version) There is also a new update to Ultimate S 1.1 to support the new ReelPaks. Be sure to update your copy today.

Note: Because of the new Vegas 6 functionality we have exploited. This version of Ultimate S2 will only run on Vegas 6. We are working on a Vegas 5 version that should be available by August 1st.

~jr

Class On Demand Vegas 6.0 TurboCharger Kit
 

We just launched a new Vegas productivity bundle:

Class On Demand Vegas 6.0 Complete Training ($119.95 value)
Sony Vegas® 6, packed with powerful new features, is arguably the ultimate all-in-one environment for creative professionals, can now be quickly mastered with “Complete Training for Vegas® 6” from Class on Demand.

Excalibur 4.5 ($99.95 value)
Speed up your workflow with live switching between cameras and the ability to assign most tools individually to the toolbar. The Original scripting plug-in for Sony Vegas providing multi-cam features such as sync assistance, auto PIPs, camera scripts, and the tally system now enhanced to include live camera switching.

ProDad Heroglyph ($129.95 value)
Complete Software package for advanced video titling with extended layout and effect possibilities, map/route animations/visualisations with moving objects, videowalls with unique effects with a few mouseclicks, Plugin for Vegas, DV, HD compatible.

ProDad Adorage 2 ($99.95 value)
Effect-software with more than 1200 videoeffects such as transitions, picture-in-picture, splitscreen, particle effects such as snow, rain, light-effects such as lenses, natural fire etc., almost realtime, Plugin for Vegas, HD, DVD compatible.

That's over $450 worth of cool stuff for under $200!! For more info http://www.videoguys.com/COD.html

Gary

Well as an update, 30i to 60p and back to 30i for output looks the best so far. Don't know why it looks better than 30i by itself yet...

Try this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=45440

Still Images in Vegas??
 

Vegas 5.0

Still images look horrible when burned to DVD! Any suggestions on gettting rid of the (terminology) shaky, pixelated look?

Thanks, newbie here.

Check out the link below this one: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=48136

It should help.

After you freeze the frame as a PNG in Vegas (remember to change the preview screen to BEST FULL) then RIGHHT CLICK the still and in the PROPERTIES use SMART DEINTERLACING OR bring it into Photoshop and deinterlace it then bring it back to VEgas. Either should work fine and the jaggies should go away not to bother you anymore.

Don

How do you deinterlace in Photoshop?

The main reason to use uncompressed usually involves exchanging the footage
between multiple programs (for sending it from an NLE to a MPEG-2 encoder
it is usually wiser to simply use frame serving) to add effects or color correction etc.

Toolbar>FILTER>VIDEO>De Interlace

Don

Undoing a Split
 

I am relatively new to Vegas so forgive me if the answer to my question is found in the manual. I looked through it and couldn't find it so here we go.

I am editing a piece that has a video track and two audio tracks. One of the audio tracks is the audio from the camera, the other is from a soundboard. I want to substitue a portion of the soundboard audio for the camera audio. The portion I want to substitue needs to be 'normalized'. The problem is that there are several sound peaks within the clip that prevent the whole piece from being normalized all at once.

So, I selected a time range over the portions with the loud sounds and then split at those points. I then 'normalized' the other portions. This seemed to work find. I then created a new group of all these clips so I could move them all at the same time. However, I really wanted to undo the splits so I would have a single clip which would be easier to work with but I can't figure out how. Is that possible? When I undid the split from the pull down menu of previous "undo's" I lost my normalization.

Ultimately, I want to subsitute that clip for the audio from the camera without losing my sync. If I simply drag it over top of that clip is there any problem? In the back of my mind I think I should be deleting the old underlying clip that I don't want but perhaps I am being to fussy.

I know there are lots of ways to accomplish the same thing in Vegas but I am interested in learning to do it the right way, if there is such a thing.

Any comments would be appreciated.

thanks

Curt