Thanks for the replies. Very helpful, as always.

If you want some of the pieces normalized and others not normalized, you can't go back to a single piece. However, If you really DO want a single piece, just delete all of the pieces except for the first one and then resize the first one back to the original length. (or use the "Unsplit Media" tool in Excalibur).

To counteract the normalization problem, try using a volume envelope to adjust the volumes.

Or you could select all the "split clips" and render them out as a new wave file
which would retain the individual normalization settings of the clips.

Hope this helps.
Ken

Rob, would there be any quality loss using the frameserver?

Vegas 6 Does Not Work w/ Windows 64 bit O/S
 

I found out the hard way. I'm kinda bummed because I've used Vegas since version 3 and know the interface and am comfortable with it. Vegas software tech support also confirmed that Vegas is not engineered to work with the 64 bit O/S. I hope they offer a patch so I can go back to using it again.

Hugh,

Did Sony tech support indicate if/when Vegas would support the rapidly approaching 64bit evolution?

Nary a whisper. I hope soon.

Order of video fx...
 

Hello all,

This forum is so helpful.

I'm using Vegas 5 and I'm wondering what the best order is for video fx.

As an example I have a dance recital that I'm editing. The main camera is notably overexposed but not irretreavably (sp?) so. I also want to do minor colour correction.

Which would be first. Making the exposure consistent or the colour correction?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

sincerely,


ian

I would do as you said: exposure first, CC second. It's hard to CC first as your exposure changes would affect your CC.

Closed Captioning
 

Does Vegas support either 608 or 708 closed captioning? I am bidding on some broadcast work which requires closed captioning. I know several services that will add the captioning but am wondering whether I have the capability in Vegas.

Thanks for any wisdom.

Rick Spilman

Vegas does not do true closed captioning.

Setting thumbnail start times
 

When choosing still frames for menu button thumnails, I find two annoyances.

1. The drop-down scrubber in the properties menu is imprecise even when stretched across the screen

2. The thumbnails are too small to see subtle differences.

I can follow the link to get a bigger display, use the main video scrubber and manually copy the associated time to the properties menu, but this is time consuming.

Have I exhausted the options here?

Editing 2-Channel Audio in Seperate Tracks?
 

Alright, this is probably going to sound like a total newbie question, but here goes... I'm using a Panny GS400 and Vegas 6.0b.

If I've recorded two seperate and independant mono audio signals to my stereo mini jack inputs on my camcorder (one mono track on the L channel, and a different mono track on the R channel), what is the best workflow in VEGAS 6 to edit the mono tracks independantly. Can I do something during capture to seperate the channels? Or do I capture the same way I always do, and then split them up into different audio tracks in vegas somehow? Thanks in advance for any tips on this front...

You should be able to captue normally, You may select either channel by right clicking on the event in your time line and pick either R or L by selecting the appropriate one on the channel tab. If you want to cut back and forth between them I might suggest using two copies of the audio on the time line, have one set to left and one right, that way you can cut between the two. However I have never had to do this myself with any legnthy video/audio. I am sure if you wait a bit someone with more experience may shed further light as to how you might go about it. Good Luck!

Yes, do exactly as Devin said. Simply duplicate the audio to a second track, make one of them "Left" and the other "Right" by right-clicking, channels, and the picking left or right.

I do that entire process very quickly by using the Stereo Split tool in Excalibur. The manual process is very fast, though.

Edward, does Vegas make a copy of the original when you edit, as external sound programs do when you invoke them from the timeline? If not, I'd suggest that Bill do this manually before he alters his file.

Thanks Ed. Guess I'll budget the closed captioning service.

Vegas doesn't modify the source file when doing this process. It simply uses a piece of the original file. So just copy it, set the left and right as described, and you don't have to worry about the original file being changed.

But he said he wanted to EDIT the left and right tracks after separating, so I suggest making a backup of the original.

Guys, thanks a bunch, I should have known it would be that easy! And, BTW, when I said "edit," I only meant in the Vegas timeline, which will leave the original file untouched, so no worries on that front. Thanks again!

Hold down the Control key as you scrub with the mouse.

It doesn't matter. Vegas is non-destructive, so it will not touch the original files.

Hold down the ALT key and use the arrow keys. That will move you frame by frame so you can pick the best one. (with out the ALT key can move by multiple frames)

Thanks guys. Two useful tips. Ctrl-mouse works with the DVDA thumbnail properties scrubber, Alt-arrow works with the timeline scrubber (in DVDA and Vegas). With the latter I can double click on the time display and use copy/paste to get the start time into the properties menu.

Countdown timer
 

I am trying to get a countdown timer based on timecode in seconds/frames. If I apply a timecode operator all is well in that the code goes from 0 upwards. I tried reversing the clip but the timecode still goes forward (I understand why!!). Apart from rendering out the timecode track, re-importing the footage and reversing, is there a simple way to acheive this ?

no not really.. i had to do somethign similar with a timer and a pop quiz. lol

anyways i ended up downloading a program which i jsut googled "countdown timer" and a whole load of crap came up.. but theres an actual decent program out there which for the life of me i cant think of right now..

anyways i downloaded it.. set it to run backwards, but i set the background to be a ChromaGreen (i chromakeyed it over my footage you see.. )and i set my clock colour
from there i ran Camtasia Studio2, set my frame and hit record.. i then started the clock and recorded what i needed (my case was 1 minute interviews)
Vegas imported the clips effortlessly and all was well.. but i woudl rely on this method for accurate timecode keeping.. mine was more for a wow factor element..

Good solution, Peter. I also had to create a countdown timer and simply determined I couldn't do it in Vegas. So I created one in After Effects, which was simple and easy.

title bars
 

Hi folks,

I'm filming several interviews, and am going to put the interviewee's names and titles in title bars across the bottom of the screen, like you see in a lot of documentary interviews (or news programs). I was just wondering, is there a proper name for these objects, so I can search about them?

My specific question is, "What is your favorite way to make 'em?" I'm editing in Vegas 6, but am a print/web designer by day, so I have all the Adobe software (including Premiere and After Effects). I'm probably most comortable in Illustrator and Photoshop, but wonder if there's any specific reason to do the title bars inside a true video app, instead of importing them.

Thanks a ton!

Yes, they are called "lower thirds". In Vol 2 #10 of my newsletters, I discuss multiple ways you can create them.

I have made simple gradient title bars in Photoshop but by far you owe it to yourself to look into Digital Juice. Rick there is an old friend of mine. They make great graphics packages for every occasion. Most of which have seen some airplay on the big networks. They are available in the Editors Toolkit bundles that are fairly inexpensive for a working professional video person.

http://www.digitaljuice.com

Sean

I've got a .png image of white marble with a little bit of dark vein showing. I then make a lower third using the techniques Mr. Troxel so eloquently detailed in his newsletter. The first few times I did it, I copied it out of the completed project, but now I've done it so many times, I can create a lower third in 30 seconds, feathered edges and all.

Lower thirds
 

I have also used 12 inch design and boris red and graffiti to make mine. Speeds the process and looks great.

Thanks for all the help!

I've been drawing them up today in Illustrator and saving them as Photoshop (raster) docs to import to Vegas. Since I don't need animation at the moment, this seems to work pretty well.

DV Info -> ...helping pretenders [me] look professional!

Milo, I've had the best utility out of .png graphics in Vegas. If I remember correctly .png has an alpha channel so you can do more with the Parent/Child nesting options. I think that's covered in Edward Troxel' newsletters also!

Either PNG with transparency or PSD with transparency should work just fine. Vegas can read both formats well. I do mention using PNG's in the newsletter. The PNG's I used were actually created from within Vegas.

DVD lip sync problem
 

I edit a weekly song & sermon down to a thrity minute segment for rebroadcast on a local channel. The input product to produce the product is an MPEG-2 created from live-switching three XL1s through an A/D converter. I know MPEG isn't made to edit, that is the input though.

All was well until the upgrade to Vegas 6. The church staff didn't even know I had upgraded, but the week following the upgrade and since, they've occasionally complained that when the pastor is speaking, they see a lip sync problem. I know its not there in the edit I do, I loop very small segments with clearly discernable anunciation and there is no temporal displacement. I guess I'm just not that sensitive to it though, because when I watch the broadcast over the TV at real-time, I don't see it.

Is there a way to forceably advance the audio a half-frame forward? Is there some other Vegas setting I'm missing that may effect the sync?

You would have to turn OFF "Quantize to frames", adjust the audio, and then turn "Quantize to frames" back on. However, NOONE is going to see a half frame difference.

You are correct that MPEG2 is really not a good editing format. Here's how we do our church service (edited down to 1 hour):

Multiple cameras --> S-Video --> Live Switcher
Switcher --> S-Video --> Deck (We use a Panasonic AG-DV2000)
Deck --> Firewire --> computer

We capture DV-AVI straight to the hard drive LIVE during the service. As soon as the service is over, we are able to start Vegas, drag the clip to the timeline, and edit away by cutting to length and adding titles.

Edward,

So you are just using the deck as an A/D converter, but you are converting the S-Video input to a DV-AVI output?

We have a cheap A/D converter that is outputting MPEG-2 to the computer. The Video Director wants this to continue in order provide the ability to burn a set-top playable DVD of the entire service immediately afterwards to provide to the pastor (he reviews it that afternoon). Makes it harder for us to edit, but it doesn't require any rendering immediately after the service, only the time it takes to burn the DVD (12 minutes).

Yes, we're using the Deck as an A/D convertor. That way we have a DV-AVI file ready to go upon completion.

The deck we are using also has two analog outs. I think in your situation it might be reasonable to buy a standalone DVD recorder and use that to burn the DVD *LIVE* with only the finalization being required at the end of the service.

video fx applied across multiple clips
 

Hi all,

Perhaps I'm doing this backwards but I'm editing two video tracks. The one track is going to need some colour correcting and a little push in the exposure.

My question. I've cut up one of the tracks into clips that all require the same video fx applied to them. Is there a mass way to do it or should I have applied the colour correction to the event before I cut it up?

Thanks for the help.

sincerely,


ian