Check out the following message from another forum:

"This just-released plug-in for After Effects adds the ability to import Sonic Foundry's Vegas EDL files into After Effects as a Composition (similar to importing a Premiere Project into After Effects).

The plug-in was originally developed in-house to allow us to rough cut video in Vegas, then import and finish in After Effects. For more details goto www.forgedimages.com and click under "After Effects Plug-Ins."



It may do what you want.

Vegas 4.0 Review -- "WOW!"
 

"In the never ending war of which NLE is the best, it appears that Sonic Foundry has quietly set into motion a program that threatens to rock the NLE world and turn it all on its head. Jim Harvey takes a good look at Vegas 4 to see what everyone's been talking about."

I am not a pro editor, so let me ask this please. Why does a person need a vectrocope and histogram, also, what the heck is a vectroscope, and if you didn't have one and wanted broadcast quality video, where would video fall short without them. Also, is VV4 not a big project tool, several references have been made to the fact it is not?

Thanks
Donny

In order for video to be broadcast and look good, it has to fall within certain perameters, otherwise the colors bleed and/or get clipped, the audio buzzes--all sorts of ugy things can happen. The various scopes allow you to "see" the video signal and make sure it's within the NTSC broadcast limits (in a nutshell).

Vegas works great for long form projects. I have made many 2 hour plus projects using Vegas. The most complained about problem was the lack of bins in the media pool. These have been added in Vegas 4. I don't think you will have any problems with a long form video.

Thank you Jay and Edward, To date, I have see few complaints on VV4, I take it that stability is still very good? My last question is, what would the average Joe see in VV4 to make it worth purchasing vs VV3.
Thanks
Donny

Go to: http://www.sonicfoundry.com/Products...FeatureID=6877 for the complete list.

SPECS (for VEGAS w/ AVID)
 

i'm about to purchase a pc, strictly for NLE. shooting mostly documentaries on my pd150. after doing some research decided to build a pc around AVID'S xpress dv (since, this software seems to be picky with the hardware used and compatibility with software).
but.... hearing more and more about vegas 4, hmmm... i'm not sure anymore.
my current idea is: to get the pc i had planned around the avid xpress, download demo's and try 'em out before finally making up my mind (usually the advise given anyway when asked by the undecided).
my question is: if vegas 4 has any hardware preferences, as does avid? i don't want to get my pc and find out that i'm limited to one of the two. does vegas 4 have compatibility issues?

i've also read that xpress dv won't live with adobe software on the same system. what about xpress dv and vegas?

my list so far:

processor: INTEL PENTIUM IV 2.53 GHz 533 MHz FSB
motherboard: ASUS P4B533 845E or INTEL BROWNSVILLE 845G
memory: 512 MB MUSHKIN PC2100 DDR SDRAM
hard drive: 40 GB Ultra ATA, 7200 RPM
120 GB -"-
firewire: ADS PYRO 1394 DV #API 300
screen card: MATROX G550 dualhead 32MB display
system: WINDOWS XP pro

thanks

any additional comments on specs or software comparison welcome.

System looks fine for Avid.

Don't be confused by the fact that avid "certifies" certain computers, and not others. Basically, they can't test and certify every possible configuartion, so they certify those that are most likely to be bought as off-the-shelf configurations. I am not sure if Vegas bothers to test and list "certified" configurations. I know people have trouble with both systems with different hardware conflicts... it's inevitable in the PC world.

As an example, I am using dual athlons on a tiger tyan board, which is not on the "certified" list, but runs like clockwork.

The problem with Avid and Premiere playing together, was based on the fact that they used different drivers, and would fight over the default. Some people used a dual boot system to get around it. Not sure if this is true now that Avid runs on XP pro now. As far as other Adobe products like After Effects and Photoshop... no problem - Avid works well with them, and plenty of people use them. (I don't know about Vegas and After Effects.)

I don't know about Avid and Vegas on the ame system for sure, though somebody on the Avid Forum dowloaded the beta and tried it.

If you purchase avid, you also get a copy that will run on a MAC, if that is important to you. (Some people use it on different computers, one at home, one at work) Of course, it will only run with the dongle attached, so one computer at a time.

Downloading demos is a good idea, but there are no "demos" for Avid. Avid will release e "free" version next quarter, that is a limited version of course. You could go to a dealer and test drive a copy, but that might not be possible for you.

Lot of people are happy with Vegas, especially since they have finally added some media management tools, and color correction. The trim tools are still awkward, if you are cutting dialogue a lot.

If you are staying in DV as your output - V V might be the choice for you. If you are going to transfer to a high end suite to finish, then the Xpress files transfer straight to a symphony or composer. And XpressDV cuts film with the powerpack too, But that is probably overkill for what you are doing.

Basically, if you NEED to work in High End finishing or off-line transfer and Film cutting ... go Avid. It's the industry standard. Otherwise it's probably overkill.

If you would like specific questions answered about avid, try the Avid forum. www.avid.com More people here seem to use Vegas or Premiere.

Good luck

- Bill

Vegas Issues or PC issues?
 

I've been trying out the new Vegas Video 4.0. I'm very impressed. Thanks to Donatello's help, it became rather simple to learn and the editing functions work really well.

But I'm having some capture troubles. Sometimes it lets me capture numerous clips of varying lengths, sometimes just a few, then it crashes. After it gets into the crash mode, it crashes simply by clicking on "record video."

I've tried all the fixes: Defragmenting, shutting off stuff running in the background, being careful to tell it to save temp (Captured)files to a plce with lots of room, overriding Windows virtual memory and setting my own to 1-gig. But the same pattern keeps repeating itself.

I noticed in a couple of captures some pixel flashes appear where none exist on the source tape.

I also noticed after getting fed up last night and shutting everything down, when I fired it up this morning it let me flawlessly capture about 15 clips before it started doing the crash thing again.

Does this sound like maybe I've got a heat problem? Would that even be an issue?

hmmm
What chipset are you using? Via? Which 1394 capture interface?

for example, I have a mobo with a via kt266a southbridge and an Audigy MP3 with built in firewire. During capture, it appears to lose clips, but they are there during playback.

You could have PCI bus issues is what I'm getting at. Or not.

thanks bill.

<<< If you are going to transfer to a high end suite to finish, then the Xpress files transfer straight to a symphony or composer. >>>

the way i understood it, working with dv has the advantages of dv in and dv out. no recompression. i imagine i'll want to at a point get a dvd burner and burn my final projects to dvd. if these are my intentions, what advantages does transfererring to a high end suite give me.

if none, at what point will i need to do on-line editing on a symphony or composer? only when cutting film?

thanks... as you see, i'm still learning these things.

Adi,

Like I said, you probably don't need to transfer. Using Avid to off-line a down convert from film or High Def, or Beta for example, then transfer to a high end suite to finish your project. Or when cutting and conforming a negative of course. EDL's are really crucial.

I see there is another thread where someone is having problems with Vegas crashing on capture... so like I said, conficts and ironing them out are part of the PC world.

You might want to look into purchasing a turn-key system, if you are not comfortable tweaking a computer to it's best advantages. I bought my turnkey from DVLine. Got a great deal. They also sell Vegas turnkey systems, ready to go. They back it up with LIFETIME free tech support, and have always cheerfully handled my questions or problems.

Bill

ok. thanks for the help bill. i might just give dvline a call.

I think one of the BEST new features is the scripting language. I have been able to create three scripts that will greatly simplify a weekly edit by automating some tasks. Read the list from the other link. I, personally, feel it is well worth the update.

I would also recommend updating to Vegas + DVD. The difference is $150 which is LESS than the cost of the AC3 addon. So, you are basically purchasing AC3 and getting a DVD authoring program thrown in for free. I'm switching to DVD Architect for most of my DVD authoring.

It really seems to have so many great features. Any of you folks been happy Premiere users that switched to VV and never went back? Just asking since I'm a Premiere user and wondering what the experience is for a similar individual who made the switch.

I've read about a few who have switched on other forums--Creative Cow and Sonic Foundry--and refuse to go back.

The biggest challenge for other NLE users is to unlearn (forget) what they know about their old systems. Vegas is that much simpler to use.

You need to at least refer to the manual. It doesn't come through osmosis. ;o)

Please post the following information:

- What CPU/chipset
- Memory
- What firewire/audio card
- Which Operating System
- If Win2k/XP, are you using NTFS or FAT

This will help narrow down the possible problems. Did you truy
Sonic Foundry's forums to see if anyone else has this problem?

Vegas or PC issues
 

I downloaded some drivers for my system and my new motherboard. Well, okay, a friend who knows what the hell he's doing downloaded them. He also did some tweaking with the system so the parts would talk to each other better. Since then, I've had no crashes and no dropped frames.

Ahhhh... life is good.

Thanks, all.

How do you deinterlace fast motion video in Vegas?
 

While using Vegas 3 I used a velocity envelope to increase the speed of a clip. On preview it looked fine but when rendered to MPEG-2 the edges of people were somewhat irregular, jagged like. I read about using fast motion in Premier and how you must deinterlace the clip to remove the jagged edges. Does anyone know if this is possible in Vegas 3 or 4?

Of note, while playing around I noticed that this effect was not nearly as bad in slow motion.

Right-click the event on which you applied the velocity envelope and choose properties. On the page that pops up, make sure you turn on Resample (Vegas 3 only because Vegas 4 does so automatically with the "smart resample") and turn on "Reduce Interlace Flicker".

These two settings alone should greatly enhance your output.

Thanks a lot. That did it! It looks great now.

V4 book
 

Does anyone think a 3rd party manual for Vegas 4 will become available? I'd like to purchase an downloadable upgrade for Vegas, but I think printing the manual would certainly kill my printer :)

I ask because if I order from the states, I have to wait a couple of weeks, and deal with UPS brokerage B.S. I might as well buy a book and save some cash in the long run.

Douglas Spotted Eagle---one of the most knowledgable guys on VEGAS out there has just completed his book and submitted it to the publisher----CMP---It should be a virtual Bible of all things Vegas so I would wait for that to come out---I believe it will be avalible sometime in the Spring.

It doesn't matter if you order the download version or the boxed version - you STILL have to print the manual because it is NOT included in the box. It WILL be available as a separate order from eNovels. Printed double-sided, it's only about 150 pages.

DSE's book should be great. I'm looking forward to it being released in the next couple of months.

<<<-- Originally posted by Edward Troxel : It doesn't matter if you order the download version or the boxed version - you STILL have to print the manual because it is NOT included in the box. It WILL be available as a separate order from eNovels. Printed double-sided, it's only about 150 pages.

DSE's book should be great. I'm looking forward to it being released in the next couple of months. -->>>

Yeesh, that is sad. You'd think spending hundreds of dollars, they'd print a manual for you! I'd prefer the DSE anyways, I'm sure it touches on technique and functionality much better than the eNovels print.

It's unbeleivable to me that someone would complain about not getting a written manual with the software when V4 is parctically given away for free. When was the last time you looked at the price of an NLE that competes with V4...like FCP?

Plus, it didn't take THAT long to print it. And you'll probably use the help file more than the manual anyway. Plus it is always available as a PDF if you need to quickly read any sections. I have no problem with the manual not being included (just like the manual you NEED is not included in ANY software you buy today - what came with your Operating System???)

I've heard the eNovels manual is all black and white. If that's the case, you are better off printing it anyway.

Vegas rendering glitch
 

Sometimes when I try to render to an mpg1 file the process will stop and I'll get a window that says: An error ocurred while creating the media file ----.mpg. The reason for the file error could not be determined."

Of course, it only happens about 3/4 of the way through after I've already waited half an hour on a 15-minute project.

The last time it happened I went to the frame where it happened and took out that event. Then it rendered okay. I guess it must have been a bugged capture, or something. But it happened again on a different project tonight, and I'd rather not have to take that event out.

Nothing's running in the background. I have the preview turned off.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

dropped audio only on VV3 capture
 

While capturing from my camera recently, I experienced dropped audio only, meaning the video accompanying that audio was fine. This was not on the tape, and when I tried to capture the same clip again, I could never get the whole clip to have perfect audio--there would always be dropouts somewhere. The drops are very quick; you can hardly tell they're there, but they definitely are. On the waveform, the line is completely flat in those areas. I tried spooling the tape (fast forwarding all the way, then rewinding all the way) and then capturing it again with the same results. It was a Panasonic Linear Plus tape. I've only been putting Panasonics in my cam since last October. I haven't had this happen for a long long time. Any ideas?

Diskspace. How much freespace do you have? Enough on your
OS and temp drive, what about the drive you are outputting to?

What version of Vegas are you using?

Do you have DMA enabled on your harddisks? (Are you really sure?)

Other than that it does not make a lot of sense. VV3 correctly
set up and so forth?

glitch
 

Plenty of space. I've actually rendered larger files w/o trouble.


V V 4

What kind of camera, what kind of 1394 card?
I have had mostly issues exporting back to tape with Veags and foudn the issues is generally related to any footage I captured in Pinnacle software, somhow Vegas drops the audio intermittently, but your problme is the reverse.

It probably is just a plain old bug then. Have you tried looking
around the VV forums over at http://www.sonicfoundry.com/?

Perhaps you should mail there tech-support?

Are you capturing from the same camera that recorded the video? If not, try that first. It sounds like what I got when one of my cameras was going out of alignment. The tapes from that camera would drop audio when played on my deck.

DMA was apparently not enabled. I clicked the check mark (this is win 98) and it says it may have undesirable effects on my hardware if I enable it. Sure this is a good idea? Does this even matter on my C drive, or only on the drive where the media is stored?

My card was a $75 Pyro 1394 card--been using it for like a year and only had this happen with one other tape (coincidentally, a Panasonic linear plus)

XL1s camera.

This should work as a work-around for you. First, render the project to an AVI file. Now, start a new project and import that AVI and render it to MPG. This method should work.

Not captured from the same cam that recorded the video. That came was rented from our local Public Access station, and unavailable at the time. I don't really have the means to get to it for capture, as they need a quick turnaround on these edits.

First, DMA really needs to be turned on.

Second, do you hear the dropouts when playing the tape to a TV? (i.e. connect the deck/camera outputs to a TV and watch the tape - are there dropouts then?). If there are dropouts on the TV too, then it is NOT the computer - it's the tape.

Third, do you have another camera/deck (or know of someone who has one you could test with) you could try playing the tape in? If yes, does it exhibit the same symptoms?