Depends on WHAT you are looping. If you have a 60 second song you want looped, you need to make it 60 seconds. If you have an 8 second video clip that's looping, natrually make it 8 seconds. If you want to try an make sure there is no "gap" in the music/video (i.e. when the looping actually occurs), you'll need to make it longer so that they select an item BEFORE the looping occurs. Of course you could always "timeout" and have it automatically select something after the song plays if they haven't.

Remember that the loop time applies to EVERYTHING on the menu.

Need help w/ DVDA menu text flicker problem
 

I'm learning on the fly here, and doing plenty wrong, so I'm sure this is just something I've messed up, but I just noticed that my text is flickering. What I mean by that is, the text-only buttons/list of Chapters, flickers. It doesn't on the computer screen of course, only when burned and played back on the TV, so obviously there's something I need to change/tweak.

Quick project facts:

* Video is Mini DV shot 24p (24pA with the DVX100)
* Video was exported to DVDA as mpeg 2, 24p
* DVDA background for menus consists of a frame grab/still that's been softly blurred in Photoshop Elements, imported into Vegas 5, layered within Vegas with generated media from Vegas as well as text that was created in Photoshop Elements (beveled, etc.)
* This composited background was rendered out of Vegas with the same specs as the main video... mpeg 2, DVDA 24p

Everything looks great, except for the text-only buttons which rest on top of the media mentioned above. I tried rendering the above composite DVDA NTSC (not 24p), but that made both the background and the title created in Elements look like crap.

Is it possible that it's the font itself? I have somebody waiting for this DVD, and I'm out of time... so many tests and only incremental progress. :-(

Any ideas?

Marcia

There's no "anti-flicker" tools available for the menu similar to the "reduce interlace flicker" option in Vegas. Here's another place where this was discussed: http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...ssageID=189824

Basic solution: Use a thicker/larger font.

I'm gonna freak here...
 

Jeez, what am I missing. I got a mixing board with mic's etc. with
the main outs going to my sound card, arm an audio track in Vegas and record, works great. Play it back, sounds great,
once I do another recording, the original one is silent?
Open a 'copy' in Sound Forge - nothing is there, open 'the file'
in Sound Forge and it is there?? But I can't get it back into
Vegas. Record a vocal track, listen to it, next pass it's silent?
What am I missing here??? Pulling hair - help!!

Beat me to it
 

I've had a similar problem which I am thinking of including in a separate post (I'll need to take photos of my TV screen - thus the future tense).

The setup in DVD architect:
- 24p DVX100a footage, rendered to DVDA 24p mpeg2 format
- Background image (high-quality photoshop - generated .jpg file) containing the text (typographic effects etc. not achievable in DVDA).

The problem:
- when I import 24p footage in the timeline, burn project to DVD and then view the resulting DVD on my DVD Player/TV, the text in the background image gets "damaged" - looks like some of the horizontal lines are missing.
- it seems that DVDA changes (erratically) the DVD intro screen if 24p footage has been imported into the project.


A simulated demonstration of this effect (photos soon)

Image on left is how the intro screen looks if no 24p footage has been included.

Image on right is how it looks if 24p footage *has* been included.

http://www.instantclassic.org/external/demo2.gif

The problem is visible only on the TV screen after the project has been rendered and burned on a DVD and played in the DVD player.

In DVD architect the screen looks OK.


At first I thought this was the result of DVDA resizing the background image to fit the screen so I tried different versions of the image resized in photoshop (640x480, 720x480 and 654x480 if my memory serves me well) and I also tried different "fitting" modes - letterbox, enlarge to fit etc.

My experiments did not change the end result.

Then what I did was remove the 24p footage and burn a DVD with just the multiple title screens on it.

(by different screens I mean having a title screen with let's say 640x480 image set to "resize to fit" modem then a button to another title screen with same image set to "letterbox" mode etc. all in all 9 screens with 3 fitting modes for the 3 image sizes).

On this one all the screens looked OK.

The only difference between good and bad DVD being the 24p footage, it seems that this is an issue with DVDA architect handling progressive scan DVDs.

Any advise will be appreciated - I'll add photos to this post soon, or start a new thread.

note: my DVD player is the Phillips DVP642 and has not shown similar issues with any other DVD.

Regards
-- Andre

Interesting Andre. I'd like to see the screen shots when their ready. Following Edwards advice I tweaked the font, font size, and added bold to it. It still flickers a bit, but for a screener copy of my movie, it'll do for now. Not something I'd let go for any kind of professional release, but hey, maybe by the time I get to that point Sony will come up with a solution. ;-)

Marcia

DVDA goes to ch 1 even if the ch number is 11, 12, etc.
 

Okay, of all the things I've been up against in the last year, this isn't the most frustrating, still...

...how do I get DVDA to recognize chapters entered in on the remote that start with the same number? 1/11/12/etc. If I hit the number one and then the second number, or both at the same time, it just registers chapter 1 and immediately goes to that one. What's the trick? I can't find anything helpful in the manual or on the Sony website. (sigh) And I was so close...

Marcia

Anyone used Macrovision or CSS?
 

Ladies, gentlemen,

Has anyone ever made a - commercial - DVD using Macromedia or CSS [Content Scrambling System]? I expect a potential customer will ask me about copy protecting his film in the nearby future, and I'd like to understand the process of getting a film scrambled, as well as the costs involved.

Thanks a million in advance,

Barend Jasper

This has been discussed before you might want to do a search. It is only cost effective in large quantities in most cases. Get some costs from some DVD replicators in your area and prepare a quote for your client.

this type of DVD can only be authored with a program like Encore, Maestro and afew others..

Truely protected DVD can ONLY be burned on DVD Authoring Media, <Very differen to yoru standard DVD-r>
(if u want to have a copywritten/protcted master. These require a different burner to your stocky Pioneer or whatever youre using..

Another alternative is DLT master tapes, send those off and have the duplicating company do the encode, and mark the glass master with CSS data for mass production.

Macrovision is a licensed product, and costs a fortune.
forget it..

These days though, anyone who asked for thisi usually tell them to forget it..

Apps like DVD Shrink allow the removal any copy protection/CSS from the disc and re encode a disc (if u want it to)
in the end if someone wants a copy, they will find a way to get one..

I would think that would be a function of the DVD player itself. Does the remote have a "+10" button to indicate tracks above 10 (i.e. press it once for 1x, twice for 2x... and then press the second digit so track 23 would be: +10 +10 3)

DVDA can make chapter points. The DVD player lets you select them.

Bella keyboard for Vegas 4,5
 

Hi:

Will this keyboard also function as a regular keyboard for every day use or for Vegas use only?

http://www.bella-usa.com/detail.aspx?ID=40

Thanks
AP

Yes, essentially it IS a regular keyboard, just with additional colors and printing (and a jog wheel).

Gary

Amazing... I'd tired jumping around within the menus on only one of my DVD players. Since it didn't work on that one, I assumed I hadn't gotten some setting right within DVDA. But you're right, Edward... it was the player. The other two machines in the house went right to the correct chapter.

Thanks again,
Marcia

P.S. Now if I could just find the magic bullet that makes graphics come up with the exact same placement on all my TV sets (of various sizes), instead of centered on one, and off-center on the next... geesh. What a pain.

It's the TV!!! :-)

Yeah, but how do you know which one to trust? That's the real question. What I can't decide is whether or not to just go with the grid on DVDA to decide if it's centered, even when two of three TV's make it look off. On this past burn I adjusted to find a compromise that looks the best on all sets, but it's definitely not dead on in DVDA that way. I suspect it's like trying to make web pages look optimal on the greatest number of computers. There's no sure thing. But I am curious how the big boys decide this stuff for studio releases.

*I* trust DVDA. TVs are ALL going to be different. I trust that DVDA will be correct IF I could see the image on TV without overscan.

Vegas contrast / brightness change after render...
 

Hey all. Well I've noticed that what I see in my preview window in Vegas 4.0e isn't exactly what it exports when I render a file. Example: when I render an AVI and then view it in WMP outside of Vegas, the files have more contrast. I've already checked to make sure my WMP is calibrated to zero enhancements. I do have a track effect of Kodak 5279 applied to the entire project but this is obviously already reflected in my preview window (yes, I made sure I have view effects turned on). Is this normal?

Dallas?
 

Hey gang, I'll be doing some training at a television station in Dallas next week, staying at the Hilton Garden near Love Field.
If there are any of you in that area that would like to get together for a small dinner gathering, we're gonna get together at 7:30 on Wednesday at the Hilton Garden.
Would love to meet some of you.

Vegas. Problems when import CD.
 

Hi everybody...I bought Vegas 1 week ago...looks good...But I have a problem when import music..The counter goes until 99% and at the end tell what there is an error what Vegas don't recognize...But the weird thing is sometimes do the import, and sometimes don't...Any sugestion is welcome...

I use Vegas all the time to read in CD tracks. Haven't seen a problem with it. Not sure what could be causing your problem. Can you do it with something like FreeRip?

problems when import music
 

Hi Ed...I'm just learning this program..What's freerip?

Text Overlaid
 

How do you overlay text on the video as opposed to text against a solid background?

I've figured out pan and zoom but I want to transition from a overview map to a blow up map. When I transition I want to have a flashing square in the part of the map that I will zoom to (which will use a different more zoomed detailed image file.) What's the best way to flash the square?

Last I would like to draw an animated line that will follow my pan on the map.

Hope this is understandable...

-Jonathan

Add a generated text event on a track above the video. By default the background will be transparent and the text solid white. The video shows through all but the text.

If you add a square instead of text (A dot in the default font Arial is a square, just set the point size bigger) you can outline it by making both it and the background transparent. Then you select Outline and set the thickness where you like it. Choose a colour for the outline - white will probably be good in this case. Even if you set the thickness to zero, there will be a very thin outline on your video.

You can blink it with keyframes or by copying very short instances of the event at intervals down the timeline.

The animated line drawn on a map (which is overkill in my opinion - I'd rather have just a moving dot or figure) can be done with Bezier curves in Vegas 5 I think, but I haven't gotten around to installing it yet so I'm not sure.

Which burner are you using? Sounds like your burner is not fully
compatible with DVDA (try clearing it in something like Nero) or
the media is not fully compatible with your burner.

Do a search on google. It's a program that will rip songs from CDs.

No no. It seems that it is Windows itself. For some reason when I eject a disc and put a new one in, or I eject a disc, use it in another computer and then bring it back to my editing machine, Windows doesn't seem to learn that a new disc has been put in.

It's really strange. It seems that because the disc I put in before the DVD was a normal CD, Windows was refusing to accept that a new (DVD) disc had been inserted no matter how many times I told it to refresh, or ejected and reinserted the disc. I keep having this problem and it's really becoming a pain in the backside!

Vega. Audio problems
 

Thanks Edward...

The text must be placed on a track ABOVE the video track. If you make sure you use one of the presets with a checkboard background, the background will be transparent and the video on track 2 will show through behind the text on track 1.

There are multiple ways to create a flashing dot. Tors method will work fine. Another method would be to add a solid color (whatever color you want the dot) on a track above the map, use the cookie cutter to limit the size and position of the dot, and then you could alter the transparency of the dot to make it flash OR change the size of the cookie cutter so that it grows and shrinks.

Getting the line to slowly appear will, somewhat, depend on the path of the line. If it's fairly straight left to right, for instance, you might be able to simply use a transition to get it to appear. If it doesn't, then you may need to use the Bezier tools as suggested by Tors or some other means of masking.

What operating system? Perhaps time for a reinstall?

video preview help
 

Hello,

This is maybe the most ridiclulous post I have ever made.. But somehow in Vegas 5 I have lost my video preview window and have not been able to get it back !! I understand docking of windows and have done so many time, but for some reason I cannot get this sucker back..I have even gone into the view pulldown and turned video preview on and off..but no go..
I have even gone in the view menu, and turned everthing off, and then turned on the video preview, but nothing..
Any help anyone..?? This is a problem that i would think SHOULD NOT happen..

Mike M.

I use EAC (Exact Audio Copy), it goes after maximum quality when ripping.

Hi Rob...Where can I get EAC?...It's a software or a machine?

I doubt it. It's a fairly newly built system. Windows XP SP1. It's got no internet access, as it's purely for editing. So the only software I have on it is what I need for editing and nothing else. It's about 3 months old.

The DVD burner is a Philips DVD+RW 824.

Apart from that the system runs as smooth as a babies bottom.

Quick answer: hold down CTRL-SHIFT and open Vegas. This will reset EVERYTHING back to default (including any preferences you have changed) but will get the preview window back to where it belongs.

Longer answer: Odds are that you have moved it OFF the screen somewhere. Here's how you can find it:
1) Change your screen to a higher resolution.
2) Look in the areas outside your normal screen size
3) Find the preview screen and move it back into the normal screen size
4) Change your screen back to your standard resolution

Thanks Edward, you saved me a lot of hassle..I believe i must have moved the Video Preview window off the scrren like you said..

Thanks again !!

Mike M.

vegas. problems when extract audio..
 

Hi again. Who knows what mean " An error occurred while opening one or more files.?
{error 0x800a0026. message missing). This is the only thing what I get each time I tried to extract audio from CD..Any explanation will be very welcome....

Vegas.Problem with audio
 

I found the solution.With freerip, I fix it...Thanks Edward.....
Thanks Rob too....

Need Help with First Commercial
 

Hey Guys/Gals,
I am shooting my first commercial to be aired as a 30 sec. spot on Comcast cable. The commercial is an ad for a stage play that will be presented at a local theatre. I have captured the footage and I am editing it on Vegas 5. I have quite a few questions:

1. Do most station require a color bar with tone followed by 10 sec. lead? Or does it vary from station to station?

2. Currently I have my main audio to peak at -6 db using a soft limiter? Is this a good setting for tv?

3. I have my background music peaking around -10 db, is this good? Is there a general rule for the ratio of main to background music?

4. The director of the play like the film-look. Should I apply the Magic Bullet film-look to the master track? At what setting (if any) is standard?

5. Also, I want to make sure all my colors are legal. I plan to use the broadcast clamp on the master track. Should I this be the first in the chain of Track Fx followed by the film fx?

6. To go with the theme of this production, I used a white text with a red outline on top pf a black background. (Text appear in blakc bands created at top and bottom of screen). Will I have problems with this since red can be a tricky color? Should I apply a broadcast clamp to these tracks?

7. How risky is it to have a portion of the text between the safe area lines (overlay)?

8. What is the font size (using ARIAL) that can be easily viewed by most tv's?

I guess that's enough for now. Definitely more to come.

Thanks of all your help.

Sincerely,

Albert Rodgers

16x9 on a 4x3 external monitor - Please help!!!
 

I am working on a project I filmed in 24pa using squeeze mode on the dvx100a (F6). When I preview on an external 4x3 television through firewire, I want to see the material in 16x9 aspect ratio with the black bars on the top and bottom. I have set the project properties to NTSC DV Widescreen and tried the different options in the event pan/crop menu with no luck. Also, my video device is set to NTSC DV Widescreen in the video preferences page. I have tried on two different 4x3 TVs with no luck, so I ruled out a TV problem. Is there a setting in Vegas 5 or on the DVX100a I'm missing? Any suggestions on achieving the 16x9 preview?

Thanks in advance.