Another idea for a script
 

Does anybody know if it would be possible to write a script that imports another VEG file onto the current time line, and assigns a region to that area so that if you updated the imported VEG the project containing the imported VEG could also be updated easily. Hope that makes sense?

Just trying to think of a way of doing nested timelines within Vegas, or something equivalent. I know I can open another Vegas app and copy and paste, but I was looking for a more automated way of doing this.

Short answer is NO.

Vegas will not capture OR print 4-channel audio. If you need to capture 4-channel, you can use Scenalyzer Live. I know of NO methods for printing 4-channel.

If you need to keep them separate, you may wish to simply pan the voice to the left and the rest to the right. Then you have them separate but on a single stereo channel.

The XL-1/XL-1s/XL-2/GL-1/GL-2 series are some of the FEW cameras that will actually record 4-channel audio. Most others will not. When you record a single stereo channel, it will be recorded in 16 bit. If you drop to 4-channel audio, BOTH stereo tracks will be dropped to 12 bit.

Trey,

Perhaps you are over-thinking this.

Record your mic and nat sound onto separate L/R channels. In your project, duplicate your stereo audio track and make one be left channel only and one be right channel only. Pan the left channel left, the right channel right. NOw you have mic on one channel and nat on the other.

Since Vegas can create 5.1 surround mixes, you COULD create a 5 channell plus LFE soundtrack, but you would have to encode as AC3 audio and deliover on DVD.

Gary

I use the XL-1 4-track audio all the time, though you could do the same in 2-track.

When I use 4-track I keep the onboard mic on the main channels and hook up the wireless to on of the sub channels.

When you take it to the NLE it is a good idea to keep the 12 bit track separated from the 16 bit. When you render, you save the final audio to the 16 bit production track.

This gives you a very nice natural stereo audio and allows you to mix your mono voice track anyway you want.

One caution: You cannot listen easily to all 4-tracks when shooting. You can list to the mains or sub tracks, but when you listen to both together you actually listening to cam's mix of all 4-tracks.

Once you have done this a few times you will rarely have problems.

hmmm...

im thinking that an NLE isnt going to export it back out the way this lady wants it...and its been soooooo long since ive dealt with linear that i cant remember how the audio is handled.....i will need to do some more research....i thought it was similar to the way the GL1/XL1s does the second track at a slightly lower bitrate...so its still L/R audio channels, but a separate channel. I thought maybe someone in here had some more recent linear experience that might be able to point me more in the area i need.

I really dont think my teacher my knows how the audio channels work with miniDV...but she did say i could turn it in on miniDV...so im thinking maybe it wont matter.

I think I'd start by giving it to her with the voice on the left and nat on the right (or the other way around). If she asks, you can explain that they ARE separate.

Here's another possibility but would require going analog: Send the standard video and single stereo channel via firewire to a convertor. Run the convertor to the camera with the audio connected to stereo 1. Send the OTHER stereo channel to the sound card and run that output direct to stereo 2. This would allow you to get a 4-channel tape direct from Vegas.

Any faster way of changing between two color corrected needs?
 

Hey all. Well I'm finishing up the editing on my first short film that actually had a producer, budget and crew but I've run into some interesting situations. The film is around 18 minutes long and all the while I've been color correcting for web delivery (don't ask why) but now I have a need to prepare the project for DVD delivery to be viewed on TV's. Is there a fast way to remove all the event fx on each track without going to each shot and removing them manually? (every shot has atleast color curves applied) I tried the split screen function on the preview window to just make the prev window bypass all fx and then render out but the render didn't reflect this not to mention I still will need some mild color correction after started back over clean. Any suggestions? What do you guys do?

By the way I'm in Vegas 4e. If it aint broke, don't fix it. I'm staying with 5 for 24p stuff and using my friends dvda2.

Tsunami has a tool that will remove all effects from all selected events. Just click the link under my name for more details.

Nice, that'll save my afternoon. Thanks Edward.

Strange problem, need a good solution fast.
 

I have a strange problem and a deadline..
I need a good fast solution... FAST!

I use Vegas 5, Camera XL1s, PC system.
PAL!

When I captured a simple pal file from my XL1
it looks okay, but when I put it in a project and try to
render it out it looks really bad. I have some serious
interlace problems.. Anyone have had the same experiance
and know a good solution..

SCREENSHOT:

http://www.atamashi.com/012.jpg

I've noticed this only happens Vegas 5.0
Not in my old 4.0

Anyone have this problem?

It would probably would be more useful if you put up a screenshot of your project and render settings with some info on the original format of the video.

From the JPEG image, I don't see the severe combing/shearing I associate with interlace problems. It looks more like a lot of blur. Off the top of my head, it looks like the video is being converted to progressive somewhere and that might be the problem.

Does the rendered footage look like that when you play it back on an interlaced device?

Yes, it looks like that on a monitor,
I deinterlaced it because it should be easier to see what I meant.

I've fiddled around with the render settings a trillion ways and that doesn't help...

I guess it's back to Vegas 4 to finish this project..

Try comparing settings between Vegas 4 and Vegas 5. Sounds like something, somewhere, is set differently. Check all of the File - Properties, Options - Preferences, and Render As settings to confirm all are the same.

Widescreen Rendering
 

I am having a problem and hope you guys can help me out. I am trying to render a project in NTSC widescreen and when I do it letterboxes the sides, not the top and bottom. Why is this? Thanks.

Mitch

Was the original video shot in 4:3 or widescreen/16:9? If it is in 4:3 you'll need to crop off the top and the bottom to get the widescreen look.

Simon: although Vegas allows scripting you do not have access
to a lot of things to make some really powerfull scripts like you
are suggesting. Let's hope they add more stuff to the scripting
interface shortly (wouldn't get my hopes up though).

2 things..

4:3 footage is just that..it wont change regardless of your project..

so you MUST set the file/cli[ within the timeline to 16:9 AND the Project properties to DV Widescreen to get the full effect

Alternatively u can set vidcap to capture in 16:9 which will do an automatic conversion for u.. which i woudl suggest not to..

Thanks guys. I appreciate it

Here is a partial meeting agenda for the upcoming Wednesday, September 22nd SCVUG Meeting. If you would like to get involved and attend - please rsvp by clicking the SCVUG link. SCVUG


SCVUG - September 22, 2004 Meeting Agenda

1. Jeremy Strappard and Danny Brant from Cal AV - will be making a presentation on Blue Sky Speaker Systems for Audio/Video Editing. Cal AV is a distributor for Sony Pro Audio products.

2. Liam Kennedy will be giving two great presentations.

The first presentation will be about Liam's recent trip to Iran in which he participated in a astromical conference and recorded over 20 hours of video. The footage is amazing and is being turned into a major documentary.

The second presentation by Liam will be about the Ins and Outs of producing Public Access Television Programs. Liam, currently produces a Public Access Program for the Orange County Astronomers Association which airs in Southern California to a half million homes.

This presentation alone - is worth the price of admission!

3. Jay Mitchell will be making a Showcase Presentation of current Vegas Training Products. Planned are VASST DVDs "Introduction to Vegas 5" and
"Vegas 5 FASST"

Every Month, Jay will be Showcasing Different Training Products that will be of great value to all Vegas Users.

4. Matt Reason will be giving a training session on the most requested Vegas feature Sets.

5. A Q&A session to get answers to all of your Vegas Questions

6. And, no SCVUG Meeting would be complete without our World Famous - Free Raffle of valuable editing products.

Hope to see you all there,

Jay Mitchell
SCVUG Host

Excalibur (For Edward)
 

Hi Edward!

I've done a multicam shoot, and been teetering on getting Excalibur.

On a recent post here, you answered by saying that putting two different camera shots of the same scene on two different tracks, then using the sync wizard, it will automatically sync them.

Is this correct?

Cheers,

Andy

There is still a small manual process. YOU have to find a common point on both camera angles (sudden change in sound, camer flash...). After that, yes it will automatically align them on that point, create the PIPed view, and add the camera number overlay. It really works quite nicely.

OK Edward, thanks for the reply.

I'm going to break out the credit card tomorrow. Be prepared for more questions :)

Cheers,

Andy

progressive setting
 

My camcorder has a progressive setting, and it is off by default. What is it used for, and should I have it on for better results when editing in Vegas.

Thanks, Dennis

Depends on the camera. If it's anything but the panasonic DVX series or the Canon XL2, leave it off. You are losing resolution and information. Vegas will work with the footage either way, but you are giving Vegas less information to work with. Frame mode/progressive mode on most cameras either shifts pixels or cuts framerate to achieve the progressive look.

MPEG-2 rendering question
 

I rendered a video as MPEG-2 in NTSC DVD and it worked but the picture does not fill the screen when it is played on a computer. Is this normal or how can I fix this problem.

Mitch

1. what do you use to play this with

2. what is your computers resolution (if it is anything above 720x480 then it will normally per default not fill the screen)

3. most players can up-scale the footage to fullscreen in realtime when you double-left-click with the mouse on the picture or hit alt+enter (same way gets you back)

id u change ur project from interlaces to progressive, you will get a psuedo "Frame" look..

as DSE said, you DO lose resolution... in trade off to the "look"

another thing is that progressive doesnt necessarily mean progressive in these cameras (apart from DVX/XL2)
It can also mean Progressive Photoshoot...

It is a panasonic ag-dv7 camcorder. Sounds like I should just leave it off. Just needed to understand what that feature did. Thanks.

if you want to know the difference between progressive scan and interlaced frames go here:

http://hometheater.about.com/od/befo...essivescan.htm

it explains it pretty good... ...if it's fake progressive scan then leave it off, shoot in interlaced, then if you really want to get the "film look" then do it when you render to mpeg 2 (dvd architect 24p file) or NTSC 24 dv file. vegas does a good job at this if you have version 4 or 5.. ..not sure about 3 etc.. ...this 24p is fake too, but ive had good luck with it.

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : 1. what do you use to play this with

2. what is your computers resolution (if it is anything above 720x480 then it will normally per default not fill the screen)

3. most players can up-scale the footage to fullscreen in realtime when you double-left-click with the mouse on the picture or hit alt+enter (same way gets you back) -->>>

also, what was the res of your raw footage? regular dv?

this is one feature i wish vegas had

I've worked out a bodged workaround. I'll create seperate projects for all the seperate scenes so I can edit them all individually. Then I'll render out each scene as another file. I'll import them all in order into a new project and save that as something like "fullfilm.veg"

Now whenever I make a change to a scene I just resave over the rendered file for that particular scene, and the timeline for fullfilm.veg will automatically have the new version of the scene. Of course if the scenes change length I'll have to adjust the fullfilm timeline, but it's a sort of solution.

Ed, why so blunt? I don't write scripts and don't know how. So I don't know what they can and can't do.

Wasn't trying to be blunt. At the time I posted I didn't have time to elaborate on the answer. (and I *DID* say it was the SHORT answer) :-)

Here's my reasoning behind the answer, though. In order to load a VEG file, you would have to be able to read it. However, the format of that file is not publicly defined. Then there may be effects added to clips or tracks...., the scripting API cannot apply the various settings - they can only use presets.

There are a LOT of things that simply cannot be done right now via scripting that you'd have to be able to do. So, the long answer is NO.

Your "workaround" is the same approach I take.

wind noise - please help
 

Folks I really hate to bother you all with this but .... I am at the tail end of my first project and have wind noise on a couple of key interview clips.

I know, I should have waited until the wind died down or conducted interviews somewhere else but there were mostly intermitent gust and of course the gust were always when they said something really good. It does not overwhelm the voice but you can hear it, especially with headphones.

I know, I should have gotten that muff mike thingy but the day started off really calm and I didn't think it would be a problem (I know, I know, I know). I couldn't reschedule and can't reshoot and, like I said, the wind was intermitent and I did stop recording when it got really bad as well as junked a lot of footage where it was just intolerable IMHO.

Now, with all the groveling and apologies out of the way, does anyone know of a simple fix in Vegas to minimize wind noise? I checked into Noise Reduction but can't afford the cost of the program right now and was hoping that there is a simpler fix from all you Vegas gurus out there.

You can use the parametric EQ filter to remove bass frequencies. Adjust it around until you hear it mess around with the voice, then back off.

You could also replace individual parts of words, but that's very time consuming. Jay Rose's book Audio Postproduction for Digital Video (see dplay.com on how to buy it) covers this (it's an excellent book).

There might be some other things you can do, but it takes more time/money.

2- Try to check your mix on something accurate. On headphones you hear way too much.

It might be that the amount of wind rumble is acceptable. It may also make the audience get a better sense of the environment.

Stripes on video after render/print
 

Hi.

After I rendered/printed my project to MiniDV tape (80 minutes long) I discovered at 2 or 3 different points on the tape the video showed thick horizontal stripes combining the two adjacent shots.
Anyone know why this is happening?

Thanks

DSE (SPOT) had a few great tips on the Sony site.

Here's the link:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=317110&Page=0

Hope this helps.

P.S. I'm not sure about crossposting from another forum so if ettiquette is not being followed please let me know.

Andy