The Strangest Thing Ever!!
 

Hi Guys.... (excuse the elaborate subject title, thought it would grab attention)

I'm hoping someone can help...

I'm having the strangest problem when rendering on Sony Vegas 7.

When rendering a project to PAL DV .avi, I am finding the rendered clip is playing back slightly fast, and the subjects in the film are rigid in a sped up sort of way (Chaplinesque!)

What's even stranger is that the sound seems to be playing at normal speed (the audio is not live sound, but a seperate music track), and the overall project length seems to be correct in the clip information.

The technical information is that it's a standard definition 720 x 576 PAL DV video project (interlaced) and I'm rendering to the same properties.

Is there any reason for why the video is playing slightly faster than it should be??

The velocity and overall 'Rate' settings are on default settings so I don't see how these would be having an impact....

Hopefully someone can help!

Many Thanks

Sunny

Edward, your method worked great, thanks so much!

JPEG Photo Montage for HDTV Playback
 

I have been using Vegas for video and photo DVDs. Up until now I been using the software for making DVDs to be played back on Standard Def TVs and have had good results. Can anyone tell me what has been their experience for getting the best results for playback on HDTVs? Intuitively, the photo resolution should be higher. What rendering option is best? I am using DVD-R media and standard def DVD player.

Since you're using a standard def DVD player, you can't get any better than 720 x 480 (NTSC) resolution. You could try to find a DVD player that supports WMV HD or some other form of HD playback. I think there are a few on the market but I'm not personally familiar with any of them.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the reply

What I do (and I believe most people do) is capture and edit HDV (in one form or another). That way you can output to both HD and SD from Vegas.

You don't need anything special to capture HDV - just Firewire.

In Vegas 6, editing native HDV was slow, even on a fast machine. So with Vegas 6 most use either Cineform intermediates or a DV proxy file to edit. Vegas 7 is much faster at native HDV editing (for most PCs), so that becomes an option.

In Vegas 6 I used DV proxies, in Vegas 7 I'm editing native.

Project files... converting from 6 to 5?
 

Someone help. Please. Is there any way at all to open .veg in Vegas 5 that were made in Vegas 6?

Any way at all?

A conversion of some kind?

I'm in a crunch and need to figure something out quick that doesn't involve recreating entire edits in my Vegas (5) that were made in version 6. I won't get into why or how this happened, I just need someone to tell me there's a way or there isn't a way.

I (we, actually) stupidly assumed 5 to be forward compatible with 6. It's not, in case anyone was wondering. The error goes something like "this is not a supported file type".

Thanks,

You can export the EDL file from V6 and open that in V5, but that's about it. Filters, titles, etc will not be present, it's a cuts/dissolves-only option.

And, if you have both on the same machine, you can open the EDL in 5 and then copy/paste the effects from the corresponding clips in 6 over to 5. Time-consuming, but still better than doing the project again from scratch.

Ok, Thanks. I had sent VASST an e-mail a while back asking this question when I couldn't find anything on their site but got no response from them. I guess I should have checked back at their site first....

Vegas 7 preview settings...
 

Never had this problem in Vegas 6, but in 7 I'm not getting the res or the smoothness in my external monitor preview. Is this the consequence of being able to see both previews at once? I'm using the default settings of 511mb and 4 threads max in the video prefs. I know with ver 6, 16mb seemed to run more smoothly for me, and I tried that in ver 7 with no changes. Any advice here would be appreciated. I don't want to have to reinstall 6 due to the incompatibility of the ver 7 vegs I've already created.
Thanks.

Lamar,
After having just searched our servers (that would be all of the email addresses), your name doesn't show up on any emails received in spam folders or otherwise. Could you please privately mail me so that I might find your mail? I'd hate to think we're missing mail somewhere.

Thanks!

What's the mem on your vid card?

DSE--I'm currently running a GeForce 7800 gs (I know, it's only AGP) with 256mb of GDDR3 @ 1250mhz. Same card I used with Vegas 6. Latest drivers, too.
BTW, Vegas 7 doesn't use the vid card in the rendering process now, does it? I know it has nothing to do with the preview, just curious. I know Premiere does.

Anyone else having major trouble
 

It all started with using Blackmagic HD card. Would not work as the second monitor. After a couple of hours with Sony tech support we finally figured it out. The only project setting it would work with was 1920 x 1080. Thats how I left it with them.

Now that the show is done it won't render to an mpg file, avi or anything. Keep getting the message that "Vegas has encountered a problem and needs to close, sorry for the inconvience".

Using footage shot with the Z1, 1440 x 1080, Cineframe 30, Cinform capture as progressive. The same as always.

Guess I will be back on the phone Monday!

Jim

External Monitor & Video Preview
 

Is it possible to view video on both the external monitor & the video preview window during playback simultaneously without the preview window being blacked out?

I am using vegas 6.

Does vegas 7 have this as a new feature?

Vegas 7 allows for both computer display and external monitor display of preview at the same time, yes.

Awesome, and thank you.

Capture A1J to Vegas
 

You'll have to forgive me, but I cannot find the information I'd like. This isn't a small forum and trust me I have looked and searched until I'm cross eyed.

Maybe someone could point me in the right direction.

I thought, like an idiot; that the reason for digital was zero degredation during transfer. I cannot get any (any format for 4 months) captures off my tape using firewire to motherboard without blurry video resulting. What I see in the viewfinder is what I want to see on the screen!

I have tried combinations of most of the settings that made sense and have not acheived good results. Is the A1 capable of producing DVD quality images? or at the very least something that looks better than a VCR tape?

Where is the thread describing the settings for capture in Vegas? Or can someone describe a work flow for me to follow?

Many Thanks,
tt

1, put cam in HDV mode.
2. Plug in firewire cable
3. Start Vegas
4. Choose the INTERNAL capture app for Vegas, not the External. Internal app is for SDI/HDV, external is for DV.
5. Start capture.

You got to give us more info: whats your computer, is it VV 7.0, which version of BM card / driver, etc. Come on now we want to help you out !

cannot render to windows HD
 

My system cannot finish a render to WMV-HD (from JVC-HD100, HDV-30P clips & cineform AVI project) ... it just finish before completes the clip (52 mins. long)... render to std. DVD (mpeg2 & AC3) is great without any problems...

any suggestions ?
is there any other HD-format to deliver the project ? (other than tape)...

reagrds

Burning in DVDA 4.0 - IOCTL Error
 

Here's the problem:

I just upgraded from DVD Architect 3 to Architect 4. Architect 3 previously worked flawlessly.

First render went fine but about 2 minutes into the burn I received an "IOCTL Error" with a statement that the "interface or drive may be configured incorrectly". Just to make sure, I tried to burn 2 more disks (different brands) after the first - all failed - all got the same error.

Here's the full details of the error message:

'SFMMCX'-(17)
''-(0)
-'_NEC DVD+-RW ND-3530A 104C'-(0)
Module sfmmcx.cpp Line 1764

Status: ff000000
Command: 2a 00 00 00 d0 e0 00 00 20 00
Sense: 02 04 08
Info: 00 00 00 00
Specific: 00 00 00
Extra: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Yes, the driver for the burner is updated to the latest version (I reloaded it again tonight just to make sure). Yes, the bios for the computer is updated to the latest version (ditto re the driver). Yes, the burner has been error-free until installing DVD Architect 4.0. No, nothing else on the system has been changed (other than the install of Architect 4.0 and Vegas 7(a) up from Vegas 6(d)).

I've considered dumping Architect 4 and re-installing DVD Architect 3, but as I recall from the warning screen in DVDA4 projects upgraded to 4.0 are not backward compatible to 3.0.

And I'm burning a project with a simple menu (one animation in the thumbnail and one animation in the background) and one project (downressed in the render from .m2t file).

Help! Thoughts? Solutions? (and, of course, I am trying to burn a project to a deadline ...)

(and if an offered solution is to burn using another non-DVDA4 burning programme, could someone let me know what I need to do to load up the DVDA4 project into the different burning programme?)

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE:

OK - reinstalled DVDA3. Redid the menus having lost them upon the upgrade to DVDA4. Rendered and burned the media under DVDA3.

DVD burned and (partially, as of now) checked and it's perfect. Major crisis averted, blood pressure returning to normal. Deadline will be met.

To my non-technical pea-brain, the issue with the burner would appear to be solely a DVDA4 issue (i.e. the burner works just great with DVDA3 and other programs and is outfitted with the latest drivers etc. etc. etc.). Hopefully Sony fixes it, or it's DVDA3 for me for the duration (which renders the purchase of the bundled Vegas 7 with DVDA4 more than slightly disappointing).

Vincent, a buddy of mine is experiencing similar results with cineform files. Is this what's on your timeline?

I don't know anything about it directly, but he referred to it as a known bug in V7, cineform's own forum full of threads...

I have had similar problems with DVDA3. I would get seemingly random IOCTL errors when trying to burn. I became fed up and now I create ISO files from DVDA and then burn with Imgburn. I never have a problem with this procedure.

Regards,
Jerry

Vegas 7.0 vs 7.0a
 

I just upgraded to Vegas 7 via Sony direct. Please be aware the version you may receive may not be 7.0a (Build 115). Mine was 7.0 I had to go to the website to pull this as an update.

I noticed this as I was highly anticipating the HDV capture scene detection feature which I could not find in 7.0. Am presently capturing HDV and seems to be working ok. (only been 10 min, so it's hard to type with fingers crossed!!)

When you start Vegas, or Click on "Help, About" you will see the version.

No Seth, no cineform on my timeline, just a straight SD cap through Vegas...Vin

What version of Vegas? I have a 60 minute project that won’t complete rendering in Vegas 7 to Cineform AVI. Sometimes it just quits like you said and other times I get a BSOD. Vegas 6 renders the project just fine. Maybe it’s a bug?

~jr

Anything you get on CD is probably old and you should always go to the manufacturer’s web site to get the latest updates. This is standard procedure for all software.

~jr

Vegas Artifacts/Interlacing Issues
 

I'm new to HDV editing and am using Vegas 7 and a Sony HDR-FX1 Camera capturing in 1080i HDV. I'm having a problem in that whatever video format I render to is showing what looks to be horizontal lines or interlacing issues whenever there is any movement in the video. So when somebody moves their arm say up to their head, you can see jagged edges until their arm comes to a stop and then everything looks alright.

I've seen this before and thought it had something to do with the field order, but I'm not sure.

My workflow is as follows..

Start Vegas... Start a new Project wtih the following settings..

HDV 1080-60i template (1440X1080, 29.970 fps)
Field Order: upper field first
PAR: 1.333 (HDV 1080)
Frame Rate: 29.970 NTSC

Full-resolution rentering quality: Best
Motion blur type: Gaussian
Deinterlace method: None (I've switched this to blend fields & interpolate fields with no success).

I import my video which are straight m2t files and I believe matches those setting and am trying to export WMV9, MPeg2, etc, etc and no luck. Always the issue there.

Any thoughts or suggestins?

This is normal behavior on a progressive display such as a computer monitor. You won't see these artifacts on an interlaced display.

"Full-resolution rendering quality: Best"

perhaps somebody could post the sony spec's rendering using BEST, GOOD, Preview, DRAFT ...
you don't need to use BEST all the time ... GOOD might be the best for 80% of your projects ... if you are not scaling , slo-mo , panning video frame then GOOD will do the same quality in less time ...

Vegas 7 - my 2 cents
 

First, I have to say so far I am thrilled with the ability to directly edit .m2t's on the timeline.

I went from a Athlon 64 3700+ to A64 x2 4600+ AND upgraded to Vegas 7 from 6.0d over the weekend.

I can't say which had more impact (too busy to benchmark), however, I suspect Vegas was the overarching factor as I am now preferring Vegas to look at and import m2t's over previous solutions (I am not using Cineform. While excellent, I am hobbiest).

I used WMP 6.4 and VideoLan (VLC to look at M2t's earlier as vegas 6 was too jerkey. Now I can use Vegas. VLC and WMP didn't seem to gain that much from having a dual core cpu available IMO, but Vegas 7a is beautious.

FYI I was freezing up in Vegas 7.0 and uninstalled dotnet 2.0 as well as vegas and sony media manager. I then rebooted/reinstalled dotnet 2.0, reboot, install vegas 7.0A (and MM) and so far, no hangs capturing off sony a1u. scene detect seems to work fine.

Mind you this is just one weekend's mucking about with all these new early xmas toys, but know lots of folks are contemplating the leap I just made. I have not gotten to building a DVD though... have to sleep sometime. I even uninstalled older Vegas/DVDA. It's worth it.

Question: Vegas 7 and Cutting m2t's (reducing file size)
 

Can someone confirm please if I am correct?
I cannot trim an M2t in Vegas 7a and reduce the file size, right?

Example - I have a 400M .m2t, only 100M is useful after FF past poor framing/focus, etc to the "good part". There is no way in Vegas 7 to copy to a new file the 100M "good part" and later delete the original file to save disk space, right?

To do this I would need Womble MPEG-VCR (or similar).
I am planning on licensing womble if this is correct.
Thanks in advance.

Okay, that helps... but I suppose when I'm working on the time line, I'd like to render a file for playback on the computer, and then export a copy to DVD. Does this mean I need to convert the interlaced footage to progressive?

What format are you looking at for playback on the computer? Windows Media, for example, is inherently progressive. It'll look fine.

For DVD, you'd use the DVD Architect templates, which will be interlaced (unless you use the 24p templates, but there's no reason to do that unless you want to change the look of the footage). That will look fine on an interlaced TV.

But if you play it on a progressive TV with a progressive-scan player, you'll see interlace artifacting. But this is true of interlaced material even from Hollywood.

Vince et all

Specs
Windows XP Pro
Duel Core AMD Opteron 285 2,6 gHz
NVidia Quadro FX 1500, Driver 9.1.3.6
Blackmagic HD, Driver 5.1.1
M_Audio Firewire 410
Captured using ConnectHD
Vegas 7.0a

Looks like I am not the only one

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=77054

Sounds like the same problem. Render just quits, or returns the message "Vegas has encountered an error........sorry for the inconvience, or the infamous Fatal Execption error.

Jim

Lets us know if you have a render problem. If not then I will ask for info on the uninstall/reinstall of dotnet 2.0

Jim

Thanks
 

I will let you know when I shoot next weekend and maybe post a clip of how it went!

So, if I read between the lines, downconverting is the method of choice when it comes time to publish?

Thanks,
tt