Edward, It sounds fantastic! I do have two questions about Excalibur... How does it sync the audio? Is there a version for Premiere?
Thanks

Premiere - NO. It is a script for Vegas - hence the need for version 4.0b or newer.

I assume you mean the Sync Wizard. It is designed to simplify syncing multiple sources (i.e. multiple cameras, external audio from Minidiscs, ...)

To sync, you need to find a common point - such as a sudden noise. Then you find that point on the first camera and add a marker. Find that point on the second camera and add another marker. Find that point on the extra audio and add another marker. Then, the wizard will automatically sync all of the clips on the spot indicated by the markers. No more fiddling back and forth trying to get them synced.

I like that. It's a shame I'm not a Vegas user :(

Keith,

I remember thinking, "It is a shame I waited so long to become a Vegas user."

Too many things I like about Premiere, not enough about Vegas. You know, chocolate vs vanilla?

Let's not turn this into a Vegas vs Premiere thread. Both programs can edit video well. Keith likes Premiere. I like Vegas. This is a tool that simply makes Vegas better at several tasks.

It is like anything else. If it works for you - great. I had stability issues with Premiere through several versions and several machines. Just too damn buggy, at least on my computers.

If Premiere works for you and you like it, that is just fine.

I'm real happy with Vegas, well everything except the name. (I'm thinking of calling mine, Avid. No, I guess that name has been taken.) The Excalibur plugin looks very very interesting.

Ed---I ordered one---I am just wondering how long shipping is going to take----(I read to fast and didn't take the email version). Also, I never received any kind of confirmation that you received my order-----By the way, it's so simple yet so cool---real neat tool kit.

Edward, does this add-on make the velocity stuff easier to use? You mentioned something about the velocity... Hopefully you know what I am talking about, Vegas gets screwy when you change the speed and try to slice it and stuff...

David, Gary is taking care of all the shipping. I don't know what the turn-around time is. I'm sure it won't take too long.

Alex, The velocity wizard allows you to enter a percentage, just like in the velocity envelope. However, when you add a velocity of 50%, the clip will become twice as long. When you add a velocity of 300%, the clip will become three times as long. When you add a velocity of -75%, it will go backwards and be a quarter longer. It also allows a checkbox for freeze frame which will NOT change the length (actually, +/- 5% will not change length)

Edward, that sounds like something Sonic Foundry needed to add from the start, their velocity stuff with the bars is good, but it always screws up if you split the clip when its speed is changed, and reversing with vegas, hah, dream on.

Reversing is still the same. BUT it is easier than everyone makes it out to be. The key is to START AT THE END. Find the end if the clip (going forward) where you want the reversed beginning to be. Then SPLIT at that point. Now, add the revers to the clip to the RIGHT of the split and all should be well. Delete the clip to the left of the split and reposition the clip on the right and you are done!

The DVD spec does not allow MPEG-2 marked as progressive, so I don't think that's going to work for you. I think you're going to have to render as 60i interlaced (the standard template). I don't know if there are any progressive players that will sense that it's 30p (most look for 2-3 pulldown of 24p), but there might be.
///d@
P.S. The 24p template still renders 60i with pulldown (TFF/RFF) flags. That's what DVD allows. HD can have progressive frames.

VCDEasy and Vegas 4.0b?
 

Does anyone out there use VDC Easy and Vegas 4.0b on the same machine? I've been using VCDEasy 1.1.2 for the last eight months or so with no problems burning. Yesterday, out of the blue, I started to encounter buffer underruns "almost" everytime I tried to burn to a CD-R (simulated or not). I could burn to a CD-RW, but even that became sporadic. I did a virus check and it turned up nothing. I even upgraded to 1.1.5, it did a simulated burn OK once or twice, then it crapped out. And I've tried all the different settings in VCDEasy.

I installed Vegas about 2 weeks ago and I'm wondering if the VCD burning capabilities of it has loaded a dll that would make VCDEasy fubar. I'll try uninstalling Vegas, but that doesn't always ensure dlls will revert to their old state. And it was working so well . . . how irritating!

Vegas 4.0c is out
 

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/download/step2.asp?DID=447

To get split screen with unsqueezed images in Vegas:
Track one, open track motion. Set Center values to 0 and 240 (288 for PAL). This shifts the image left.
Trach two, open track motion, set Center values to 720 and 240 (288 for PAL). This shifts the image right.
Use Pan/crop to shift the images so the action is within the narrowed frames (You only get half pictures).

thanks
 

Thanks Dennis.

I have done just that but since I have a PIII-550 working on this baby, it will be another 10 hours (18 to render) to prepare the DVD for burning.

I'll be sure to post back how it looks.

A couple of days ago I saw a DVD player in Best Buy that claims to do 2-2 pull down.

It looks to me, Tor, you are settings up the images above
eachother instead of next to eachother since you are doing
the devisions on the vertical 2 * 288 = 576 (PAL's vertical
resolution)...

So I think either your text "shifs... left ... right" is incorrect
or your calculation is.

Or am I missing something?

To the best of my knowledge you can burn progressive. Why
shouldn't you be able? The ONLY difference between progressive
and interlaced is a slight time difference between the fields.
With all digital files (including DV and MPEG) the information
is stored the same (a flag is set to indicate the difference). A
TV can play back progressive as well because it is still two fields
(only the time difference isn't there anymore). It might look a
little "off" but it will still do it.

If Vegas DVD has a progressive option then it is supported,
otherwise it would not be there. Just try it out and see what
you get!

(what it won't do is 24 fps progressive, that is being stored
with a 3:2 pulldown i think)

It works!
The reason it works is that what you are setting is the point where you want your image's centre to be. And you want one at 0 x 288, the other at 720 x 288.

Addendum
If you wanted one on top of the other, the settings would be (in PAL) 360 x 0 for the upper and 360 x 576 for the lower. I'm still talking about unsqueezed frames, so half of each will be left outside of the visible area.

another alternative is to check out this great site, its got some really helpful tutorials

http://www.martyhedler.com/homepage/...Tutorials.html

its also got some really clever editing and masking techniques and configs to try out.

Vegas 4 +DVD ?
 

Hi again,
One last question before I buy Vegas 4.
Is it worthwhile to get it with the DVD included. At the moment all I have is Sonic DVD which came with my A04 burner.
Should I get the full version or could I make a better investment buying another authoring software? I am not really interested in suround sound.
Thanks
Mike

Oh lord yes! I got sonic with my Recorder, also. Tried it for a couple of DVD's, and immediately started looking for something else. I ended up with Vegas 4 + DVD . It's awesome.

I would say yes because you also get the full AC-3 encoder along with DVD authoring. With the AC-3 encoder, you can produce full Dolby 5.1 DVDs and even 5.1 WMV files. But, the encoder also produces standard Stereo AC-3 which, when placed on your DVD, requires much less space. So, if you want 2 hours on a DVD, AC-3 is REQUIRED if you want decent results.

I decided to buy only Vegas because I don't think DVDA at "version 1" is enough. I'm sure it will be more competitive with its next release, especially given Adobe's announcement of Encore DVD.

This decision will obviously cost me money. The purchase price of V+D is $200 more than just V, while the upgrade from V to V+D is $300. However, the decision frees me to use the dominant product in this price range, Ulead DVD Workshop, if I decide that's a better choice.

So I'm paying $100 to defer my decision and get what I think will be the best choice at the last possible moment before I need it.

Will, I think you made the right decision---Hope you really enjoy Vegas. Give it a couple of weeks, I think you will be pleased.

Rex, I've been using it for close to a month but knew I made the right decision before it even arrived. No hedging on Vegas, just on DVDA.

Do you think that jitteriness might have to do with resampling? Perhaps if I turned off resample, it'd like right? I have a hard time with the track motion and pan crop controls, so I use 3d plugin pac LE to size video and stuff. Is there a difference?

Can anyone confirm combatibility of Vegas DVD architech and the Sony DRU500AX burner?
 

Can anyone confirm that Vegas DVD Architech works with the DRU500AX DVD burner. I checked on Sonic's site and the DRU500 is listed but doesn't denot if it's the A or X ....or if it even matters at all. Thanks.

I used the internal version and everythign works fine, of course that is IDE not USB or IEEE 1394.

Whenever I get those jitters - for whatever reason - I first check that "force resample" and "reduce interlace flicker" is selected. That usually makes them go away. The controls are found by rightclicking the event.

I have smart resample selected by default. Is that very different from force resample?

Also, I guess I didn't mention this, but it's not so much a jitter as it is making the footage look like frame mode or something, rather than 60i.

Equalising/Normalising Audio Tracks in Vegas 4
 

I have a few additional audio tracks that have been recorded with a louder volume than the others on my current project.

Can anyone please advise me how to adjust these properties so that these tracks aren't so loud when played back on my stand-alone DVD player?

Many thanks and regards,
Neil

There are a number of ways to adjust audio in Vegas4.
1st; on track level you can adjuct the db- it's set to zero and there is alot of up and down adjustment on the slider. 2nd; you can insert and use an envelope and adjust the points up and down to suit your tastes for individual parts of the audio. 3rd; you can use the master mixer and that will control ALL the audio in the project.
Audio control is one of the strongest points of Vegas. Play around with the various controls until you get the sound that suits your tastes.
Don B.

Hi Don,

Thanks for your response.

I managed to suss out the 'add point' functionality of Vegas and it is very, very good.

I still find however, that some of the tracks are a little louder than others after I have finalised my session/project and played it back on my DVD player.

I guess a good set of earphones would help compliment me during the post production.

The master mixer is something I will perhaps tackle in the not too distant future.

Many thanks and regards,
Neil

Works Great!!

My guess is that Smart resample lets Vegas decide whether resample is needed or not. Force resample leaves the decision to you. I can't imagine that there is any difference in the resample itself.

So turning off the resample wouldn't solve my problem? Hell, I don't even know what a resample is. I'm sure it somehow involves sampling again.

Turning resample off will make the render go faster. Keeping it "smart" will make Vegas decide - but Vegas may not alway make the right decision as far as flicker is concerned.
Changing the field order may change things, too. What versin of Vegas are you using? There was a bug once that set the field order incorrectly under certain circumstances - can't remember which. If you have V4, make sure you get the 4.0c version. Just install it on top.

You could find a lot of threads on flicker at the Vegas Forum
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/S...=185550&Page=0