You could also split the clip, apply 100% B&W (or desaturate in color corrector, whatever) to the first part, and then do a dissolve from one to the other.

Yes, there's a keyframe on the Sony B&W filter. Use it all the time. As was mentioned, it's at the bottom of the effects dialog - there's a timeline there. If you can't see that timeline (it's resizable) then it's probably been resized to "nothing". Move the mouse slowly toward the bottom of the dialog box. As soon as it turns into an up/down arrow, click and drag upward.

Technically you can use any filter that can adjust the saturation so you have multiple options to do this effect.

Looking to render to DVD from HD - a little help please
 

I am at the point where I have to render my HD footage to DVD. I would like some suggestions on how to go about this - which codec do I use? I remember hearing that HD get converted to SD, but how is this accomplished? I don't want the client looking at this and saying, er...this doesn't look like HD. Any help appreciated.

David

DVD = MPEG2. Just do a File - Render As, pick the proper MPEG2 preset, and proceed as normal.

So just render as an AVI? I am not using DVD architect because I find that is doesn't seem to work for me..

Also, is this going to maintain my 16:9 ratio? I want the black bars on the top and bottom on people's TV screen and not to stretch out - so do I need to render it how?

Render as MPEG2 and pick one of the widescreen presets. That will give you a DVD compliant 16x9 file. You should render the audio separately as AC3. Then use those files in whatever authoring program you're using.

Vegas 7 - HDV Editing - Connect HD necessary?
 

I've asked around a little on this subject and am still a little "fuzzy" as to the answer. Perhaps some of you more knowledgeable can help me (and others) out.

Vegas 7.0 includes new features that evidently allow it to edit and manipulate HDV footage more efficiently. How did they implement this and is a secondary software like Cineform's ConnectHD still necessary?

#1) How did Sony implement "better editing HDV" in Vegas 7?
Are they simply just using your processor more efficiently to edit Mpeg-2 footage on the timeline? It's my understanding you do not want to edit in Mpeg-2 on the timeline for a variety of reasons, some including speed of editing as well as frame cut problems due to Group of Pictures (I & B Frames and what not).

#2) Is there a benefit/need to Cineform's ConnectHD Intermidiary codec still? Will the 3.04 version of of ConnectHD even work with Sony Vegas 7 well? I understand using this intermediary codec allowed for a much quicker editing process on the timeline by somehow converted the Mpeg-2 HDV video via capture into a proprietary video format for editing on the timeline. Something I'm not too familiar with is what happens when I have my edit session complete and I'm ready to export to various formats? Does this video have to pass back through the ConnectHD intermediary codec or can I export directly from the timeline to Windows High Definition Video, Quicktime Sorenson, DVD video disk, etc.

In a nutshell, is the $200 spent on ConnectHD still necessary with Vegas 7.0 and if so, what are the benefits it provides?

Jon

Imported Video is Dark
 

Okay, another "newbie" type of question here. I'm just getting into Video editing and have purchased two HDR-FX1 Sony Camcorders and am going to be setup with a good editing computer running Vegas 7.0.

While awaiting my camera's, I've been playing around with Vegas 6.0d and my Sony 1-chip DV camera. When using either Vegas, (or any other video editor for that matter) the video coming in has a really dark look to it. It's clearly not as lit up as what is being shown to my on the flipout LCD monitor on my camera.

Does anybody know why these editors are showing my video to be so dark? Is there a way to configure my editor or computer up front to have what is displayed on my monitor reflect the true look of the captured video?

Jon

Jon, the question may be "why is the video on my camera lcd so bright?" Or, "why is my PC monitor so dark?" Or "why is my camera underexposing these scenes?"

Because Vegas capture did not change your brightness, nor did Vegas (unless you've inadvertantly made adjustments to track video level in the track header, which is easy to do).

To figure out what's going on, you need to do some measurements:
Put suspect video on the timeline. Open the scope. (view | video scopes). Select the waveform monitor.

If you have the cursor over a scene with whites in it and they are somewhere between 90 and 110 units then the original exposure in the camera was close enough and your PC monitor is showing you a dimmer picture than you want.

Peak values in the waveform monitor of less than 95 or 90 in a scene that has white means that the camera is underexposing the scene. LCD monitors on cameras are not totally trustworthy guides to exposure, they can be made too bright (or dim) too.

Bottom line - a firewire transfer of DV tape using Vegas Capture doesn't change a thing - it's just a transfer of the 1s and 0s that are on the tape. Vegas doesn't change anything unless you select a filter, touch the "level" slider in the track header, or touch the "opacity" envelope on the clip on the timeline.

You should also setup the scopes correctly.

If you didn't change the Vegas preferences, then the default codec will decode to studioRGB color space. So in the scopes preferences/settings, check the box beside studioRGB.

The 7.5 IRE setting determines where Vegas puts black level on the scopes; this also happens to be a confusing setting, as it tries to emulate what an analog vectorscope would show (but it doesn't know what an analog vectorscope would show). I just leave it unchecked, so that black level should end up at 0 on Vegas' scopes. Anything under 0 will usually get clipped.

With the 7.5 setting checked, then anything under 7.5 will get clipped. Vegas has no marking for 7.5, so I do things the other way.

Thank you both for the help. I do realize that Vegas or any of my other NLE's aren't changing the video to look so dark, but what I couldn't figure out was why it display on my monitor so dark. Obviously, the first thing I did was try to up the brightness on my monitors (2 - 19" Samsung CRT's) but of course, that washed everything else on the screen out and made everything way to bright. So I knew that couldn't be the problem.

I talked to a guy who's married to Apple and FCP and he gave me the typical answer "PC's suck for editing, you should be using a MAC as they display stuff the way it should" Well, I won't take anything away from a Macintosh but I know damn well that PC's don't suck and there certainly aren't millions of editors out there all starring at dark video on their screens and just living with it.

Hi Jon,

As usual, Seth & Glenn are pointing you in the right direction. There's nothing wrong with your equipment.

As a general rule of thumb - TVs and LCDs tend to make video look brighter while computer CRTs tend to make video look darker. This is normal, and just something to keep in mind when shooting & editing. Seth & Glenn's advice will help you adjust your system for the differences.

Itested today the V7 demo - HDV now is running native (m2t - HDV rawfiles, captured straight from the cam) with full 25 fps framerate @preview - or draft quality, 1/4 output preview size and additional color correction.
System is a P4 / 3GHz 533 / 2GByte Dual-DDR (older system).
I would say VERY big improvement against v6 !
I guess on a actual system (core 2 duo or similar) Vegas now will fly like a rocket. :-)

Feed back needed! Look Of Film??
 

Here is actual Look of Film HD ! First test shot HDR-FX1

http://www.box.net/public/3x1cch85ku

I would like to post full Quality but I have no server to host it!!

Here is Low Quality Render test TO WATCH not real quality!!!
http://www.box.net/public/5k7n1y8cri

What if I intend on editing 1080/60i though? Would this be no different?

Thanks Steve but this doesn't quite answer the question I have posed. Does ConnectHD or a similiar intermediary codec offer any advantages in Vegas 7 over whatever is built into the software?

Jon

I tried rendering the same native HDV file, with a filter on it, on Vegas Movie Studio Plat, and on the Demo of 7. I have a meter that reads the Dual core usage, and both maxed out both cores during render.

I actually have Vegas 6 coming from BH so I can take advantage of upgrade to 7, but I wonder if they had actually added whats in 7 to Movie Studio already, because Movie Studio Plat was sold specifically for editing of HDV.. I will see how the straight 6 version works on the dual cores when I get it.

My project referenced above was 1080i 60 fps interlaced, shot with FX1.

Actually, with the first run through I added sharpness as a test, and I was impressed with the result..

Here is Doug Spotted Eagles take on this same question, as I asked it:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...443#post541443

The other thing you may learn from this is do not color correct using your PC monitor. Use a calibrated NTSC monitor out side the PC. Set up to "view preview on an external monitor" attached to the camcorder or deck ( connected to the 1394 port of course)

Ron Evans

Raylight
 

I use RayLight to compress for edit much less Taxi on computer! Raylight Rules
I have cineform ,I use it sometimes to import thats it !The rest Raylight from Dv film!
Dont know much about V7 yet and codecs it comes with!

Dark video
 

I had a similar problem a while back. I found, that on one of my systems, when switching from vegas to other video applications, something would reset my video display settings. This would make my video appear very dark with washed out colors. I accidently found an icon hidden on the right side of my task bar that gave me access to the display properties of the cheapo video card I was using. This was the only place I could find this utility. I often have to set this to default settings to get things cleared up. Just an idea.

John:

My ATI video card has a an adjustment for video overlay. You need to into the video Card set up. Right click on the desktop, and the display properties menu will come up, then select advances, and start going through the various choices. Try looking under the "color management" tab, for instance. There may be a way to adjust the overlay somewhere there, depending on your card...

Super, these are some excellent tips!

Problem changing settings when rendering - MPEG2 mainconcept?
 

I have recently upgraded my computer and had to format with new codec on my drive, I am wondering if this is causing the problem because I cannot change the settings when rendering with MainConcept MPEG-2 codec. I can change all over settings for avi, wmv, mov, mp3 etc, but mainconcept doesn't work. Any ideas how to fix this?

I've been there.
I agree with the others here.

You have to find your video adapters settings to adjust for your video overlay.

Vegas 6/7 - 2Gb RAM or 4Gb RAM
 

Building a new computer system to go along with my Sony HDR-FX1's on the way and am contemplating the benefits of having 4Gb of RAM over 2Gb. In my search around these forumns, I couldn't find too many people who were currently using this much RAM. For the extra $250.00 do you think 4Gb offers a solid benefit over 2Gb?

My alternative is to save the $250 and buy the ConnectHD 3.04 Intermediary codec, but I'm not yet sure/convinced it's needed in Vegas 7.

Jon

If Im not mistaken, Windows XP will only utilize 2 or 2 1/2 gigs of ram even if you have more than that. Thats the way it is with my system anyway. I own a BOXX system with two dual core opterons and 4 gigs of ram. Under SYSTEM in the control panel, Windows only sees 2.5 gigs. I think WinX64 allows you to use more, im not sure tho.

-burk

I found this on Microsoft's website regarding Windows XP Professional Memory. Says that Windows XP can indeed see 4Gb of memory.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system...AE/PAEmem.mspx

Jon

AH! A better answer, the post 3 down explains it all.

http://bink.nu/forums/8805/ShowPost.aspx

Windows can only see 4Gb of memory, period. Which means if you have a pagefile of 1.5Gb setup, Windows will only see 2.5Gb of system RAM. Appears the solution is probably to turn off the pagefile.

Jon

Old movie filter
 

I was playing with the old movie filter on Vegas 6 and was unable to turn OFF the scratch film effect. I only want selected filters like "Hair" and "Jitter", not the scratched effect. Is there a way to use the other old film effects without being stuck with the scratched film filter?

I'd say there still is a need for Cineform - for me there is, at least. I'm editing in HD (from the JVC GY-HD101, so it's 720 25p), but in order to see whether the shot I'd like to select for the cut, I need to see whether it's completely in focus. Therefor the preview window is running in full resolution (1280x720), but at quality preview (that only affect effects and transitions, so that's fine).

Problem is that even with v7, HD at full 1280x720 doesn't run quite so smooth as it should (on a 3,2 GHz AMD64 with 1Gb RAM and 256 Mb videocard)...

With Cineform it's a little better (not even there yet, but perhaps that's because of the enormous file sizes?

slowed down video
 

There's a problem I'm dealing with quite some time. When I slow down video, I usually go to properties and set the speed to 0,500 , instead of 1,000, just to make sure the speed is exactly half and the results are optimal (instead of using the CTRL and drag to expand the clip, because then I won't know how much it's slowed, and it's immpossible to get it at exacly half speed). With this I have 2 issues:

1) If I made a trim, put it on the timeline and change the speed to 0,500 (as I always do), I loose my outpoint, because the clip is slowed down, but holds it's original lenght, instead of doubling. It is somewhat un-logic - and all the other NLE's seem to double the lenght. Can it be set somewhere that the original in and out points of the trimmer should be respected?

2) And this is the toughest: The audio doesn't stretch with the video - it stays at normal speed. You have to set it apart from the video. You can't set the speed to half, but you can set the duration to double, so that is okay, but it is really a drag to have to do that in 2 steps. No easier solution here?

Grouping them doesn't work (and obviously so, because they're normally always grouped to start with)...

Any suggestions?

Best rendering options
 

Hi all, I love these forums. I have a quick question regarding best rendering options as I prepare wedding videos.
I use Vegas-6 and DVDA. In order to produce the best quality DVD, should I render AVI or MPEG-2 out of Vegas.. then into DVDA. I noticed that DVDA's prep work is much faster with MPEG-2.

Your expert optinions please. Thanks

I render to MPEG in Vegas, as it gives you more options (variable bit rates, 2 pass etc) than you get in DVDA.

Use a script! Write yourself a script that will set the playback rate to .5 (on ALL selected events - just make sure you select both the video and audio first) and then sets the length to 1/2 what it previously was.

I know Excalibur will do this task for you. Ultimate S may as well.

Keyframe the Scratches so that they are off.

Remember that, if your final project is longer than 70 minutes, you'll need to use a bitrate calculator like th eone at http://www.videohelp.com/calc to determine the proper settings for it to fit.

Yup, Ultimate S will do both in one step. Go to the Visual Effects tab and select Adjust Playback Rate and there is an optional check box Adjust Length to Match and you're done.

~jr

Thanks for the confirmation, John.