The Contour Shuttle Pro is well known and used by many Vegas users including myself. Well worth the investment.

The version 2 (black) unit is also very handy for programming macros into the buttons.

Gary

I agree with Gary. It can be very useful. In fact, with Excalibur 3 I can use it to do a full multi-camera edit without even touching the computer with buttons programmed to start and stop playback and place camera markers on the timeline. The jog/shuttle is also very useful.

Sounds like you have it connected correctly. In Vegas, make sure you have the proper device selected in the preferences and then simply click on the external preview button. That should be all that's required.

Might have to "recycle' the canopus. Turn it off and on before booting Vegas... then try the same after booting Vegas. Sometimes the order that you boot the device in will affect how the program sees it. Make sure it is set to Digital IN (The blue light is hard to read by in a dark room)

Aha. The key is within vegas ...

options
preferences
video devices
then select the canopus thingy

*poof* video appears on tv woo hoo (thank you EDWARD)

Now some of the color video is in color and other parts are sort of black and white and still other parts flicker.

Not good yet but ... getting better.

And if Connect HD gives you trouble, try the shareware DVHSTool, which is available here:
http://www.kgbird.com/DVHSTool/DVHSTool_22b1_Setup.exe

I can confirm that Connect HD will allow you to export edited 1080i M2T footage to D-VHS.

Letterbox questions
 

I have a bunch of 720x480 video in 30P mode that I want to edit in Vegas 5.0 and put on DVD with DVDA 2.0 to display on a "normal" 4:3 television. I am trying to get a handle on the various settings I should use in Vegas to get the best quality letterboxed video.

For example, in "Project Properties" (ALT-ENTER), should the pixel aspect ratio be 0.9091 (NTSC DV)? Or 1.0000 (square pixels)? Both letterbox the frame, but the square pixels seem to look correct while 0.9091 looks a little squished. Meanwhile, 1.2121 (NTSC DV Widescreen) fills the frame with no letterboxing, but the video is clearly stretched in the preview, so I assume that's incorrect -- but I am not sure about this, see below for another question about Vegas's letterbox bars.

Before my other question about the letterbox bars, there also is another setting -- in "Render As." I take it I want to pick one of the MPEG2 DVDA choices, probably "DVD Architect NTSC video stream." I assume I don't want the widescreen (16:9) choice here for my 4:3 final product. For my 30P video, should I change "field order" to "progressive only" (by clicking on custom, then the video tab)? The default is Interlaced, bottom field first.

Now my other letterbox question -- I have noticed that transitions and color corrections affect the letterbox bars as well as the regular video frame. So if, for example, I rotate the frame, the black bars rotate, too. Or if I do a hard flash transition, the black bars turn white during the transition, too. I want to affect just the video -- do you have to mask to do that? That doesn't seem right. With 1.2121, I don't have those problems (at least in the video preview), since the video fills the frame, but it's stretched, so that can't be the right way to go, either.

Am I missing something? I'm sure this is a very basic question, but I am new to nonlinear editing. A good book on Vegas or DVDA that addresses rendering might help, so feel free to suggest one! I own Naked Vegas, but that's it so far. I'm getting a handle on the audio and video editing, but the rendering has me confused right now.

transition thing ..... again :)
 

Hi all,


Ok so here it is just want to transition at the end of a shot that was a right-left pan .

That pan finish with a big guy filling the whole left-hand side of the screen.

So when he does I want the next shot to push it to the rightand replace it.

Tried push,swap,slide transitions effect even pan/crop but there is always a frigging black screen between the two image.

It's been awhile since i edited anything maybe I forgot :)


Thx in advance

Generally, you'll get the best looking video, when you keep all the settings, as close as possible to the original video.

If you shot 16:9 video, use the widescreen settings all the way through: (project, render, and DVDA).
If you shot 4:3 video, use the 4:3 settings all the way through.
If you are manually letterboxing 4:3 video, use 4:3 settings all the way through.
The same advice goes for interlaced and progressive video.


Pixel Aspect Ratio: Select square pixels if your video is destined to be viewed on a computer screen. Otherwise, select the pixel aspect ratio appropriate to the original video. You'll probably only change this setting when you are ready to render.

Are you overlapping the clips so that the second clip sliding in starts BEFORE the first clip ends?

Hi Ed


I tried overlapping them and leaving them side by side but it is always the same result.

Thx for your time

Perhaps if you posted a couple seconds worth of the video (maybe a second from each piece) we could come up with a veg file that does what you want.

Brian: that is true indeed. An option is to add a new track above
your other tracks and add a letterbox mask here, this stays at
the place it should and solves your problem.

See my post at the end of the following thread for a link to some
masks and the instruction on how to use them in Vegas:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=33557

Capturing clips in Vegas, Problem.
 

When I attempt to capture clips in vegas, the preview doesn't show anything. But it says that the device is detected. If I push stop it says that the device is stopped, the same for rewinding and fastforwarding. Could someone help me?

Welcome aboard DVInfo.net Justin. Could you please provide us
with a bit more information please?

1. what operating system (and which version) are you running?

2. what exact version of Vegas are you running?

3. which camera are you working with?

4. how is this camera connected?

5. does the capture work (ie, your only not seeing the preview)? or is also no file captured

6. is your preview (under the options) menu set to either "Always Preview Video" or "Smart Preview Video"? Did you try both?

Also...

7) Assuming you are connected via firewire (since you're seeing "stopped" and "fastforward"...) have you tried a different firewire cable and/or camera?

I run windows xp professional, with Sony Vegas. I am capturing from a Sony TRV38. I am connected through fireware, and have tried different cables. There isn't a file being captured either. It is set to Always Preview Video, but i have tried both. Thank you for responding.

Not ot be obnoxious, but have you read the instructions or help file? I just started using Vegas, and I did not find it intuitive to capture. The capture is a separate program from Vegas, and has its own settings. There are a few settings that you need to change in the preferences and file locations, and the mouse sequence also seeemed odd to me until I figured it out. I hitnk I have to click "capture" twice (two different windows) to make it happen. If you root around in the preferences and capture settings, you should see how they need to be changed. If not, I would need to boot up the capture program to help you further, and I have to stop everything else I am doing to capture... HTH

Camera Choice for Vegas
 

My wife and I are wanting to start doing video biographies using a similar type format you may see on A&E Autobiographies. We want to incorperate Photo Montages and old video(customers) into the video at times. Most of our situations will be controlable as far as lighting and such. I want to be able to get good Sound. I Received some Samples from others who do this and most of there audio was horrible. I have Played around with the demo for Vegas and like its capabilities although it may be more than what i need. I have a 2,4G Pentium 4 SYSTEM with 512 M of PC2700 DDR Ram.
40 G Hard drive(7200 RPM) Option for Serial ATA Drive ,USB2 and Firewire.
SO.... Assuming i have the right equipment so far. There are 10,000 different opinions on what camera is the best. My starting Camera Budget is around $2000 range. I have looked at the Sony trv950 And the Cannon GL2. Both have a good picture. I want to look like a Professional until I can become one. Can anyone make sense of what I really need. If I need to save more i will wait. Any help would be appreciated.


Chris

Ive gone through the help files a ton of times. I just can't figure out why the device is detected, but it doesn't show the video or audio. I've used Vegas to edit, but i haven't captured with it yet, becuase i just got it on my computer. Thank you for your help.

Which exact version of Vegas are you running?

Please start Vegas and go to: Help -> About Vegas Software

Mine says (for example):

Sony Vegas 5.0
Version 5.0b (Build 160)

black diffuse
 

Is it possible to difusse the black color? I mean to blur the just the black.

Bye!

I'm giving Vegas 5.0 demo a try...
 

Hi all,

I'm trying out the trial version of Vegas 5.0.
I have a P4 3.2 Ghz, 1 Gb RAM and a lovely and talented ATI X300 SE 128 Mb vid card. ;-P

I have two 17" monitors hooked to the x300 and I'm wondering if there's a setting to have Vegas extend across the second screen or do I simply "Restore Down" and then "pull" the edge of the program until it uses both monitors as I do now? I looked and couldn't figure out another way. *sigh*

Also, am I missing something in my presets and preferences when I play one of the sample projects (Rack Focus, for instance) and it's rather choppy in the preview screen?

My RAM usage in Vegas (I'm at work so can't recall what it's called) is set at 64 Mb. Is there a problem with my card? I've heard that rendering is done in OpenGL. Perhaps my card is lacking?

Forgive any comments or questions that are examples of gross ignorance.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,


ian

1- Get the latest dual monitor utility/driver for your video card (hydravision). They can be downloaded off the ATI site.

In Vegas 5, you can draw windows to the other monitor and save your settings by hitting the crtl alt D + number combinations (check the Vegas manual).

Your ATI card needs to be set to the mode where you have two independent monitors.

I have an ATI 9200SE and that's what happens.

2- If you have the money, the shareware utility Ultramon is EXCELLENT. You will love dual monitors with that utility as you get two taskbars and you can map a shortcut to swap windows between monitors (very nice when you have multiple windows and an internet browser window). I map F1 to switch monitors (works for me).

http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/

The utility kind of replaces hydravision and you'll never have to look back.

That setting is for RAM previews. You can get RAM previews by hitting Crtl-B (instead of rendering out the video).

There's nothing wrong with your video card for Vegas.

1- Magic Bullet Editors can do this.

2- In Vegas:
You could duplicate the video onto itself. Right click the video track and select duplicate.

Use the secondary color corrector. Set the range on luminance to only midtones and highlights (i.e. low 90, high 255, smoothness 80; I made these numbers up). Slide alpha down to 0. If you solo the top layer, you see there's only dark things in there.

Apply any blur to the top. De-saturate the top layer if you like. You can also try channel blend to de-saturate instead (channel blend can turn a combination of red, blue, and green into B+W images). You could also change the composite model to something like screen or overlay.

I don't think that's the same as what Magic Bullet does.

DVD Architect - PAL and NTSC
 

Didn't I read something on here about DVD Architect DVDs being region free? So, do I need to make separate DVDs for PAL viewers or will NTSC DVDs work in their players?

Hi Chris,

Many Sony enthusiasts have been disappointed with the 950 which was the successor to the 900, a very respected camcorder.

Sony's Prosumer camcorders are not known for their sound capabilities. However, I use a VX2000 and get good sound by using a hot mike (Sennheiser) and keeping the VX2000's gain below 50%. This yields a sound quality that is fine for interview situations such as you want to conduct. For better sound right out of the box, the GL2 is probably a better bet than the Sony's.

Also, you should consider using double sound as you often don't get a chance for a retake. MiniDisc recorders or some of the new flash memory recorders can be had at reasonable prices, and will usually stay in sync with camcorder sound for at least 3 minutes, which gives you opportunities to resync if necessary.

Your system is more than adequate for running Vegas. You will need a large second HDD for video files and a firewire card. You may want to take a look at Vegas Studio + DVD as an entry level NLE if you think Vegas is more than you need right now.

As a shameless plug, if you get film (8 or 16mm) to be incorporated into the bios, I can provide transfer services for you. rmorris21942 at yahoo dot com

Also, have you tried capturing from another program such as Scenalyzer Live to see if the problem is more related to Vegas or more related to the system overall?

Thanks very much! I'll try both methods. The video is 16:9 already -- I didn't realize the DVD player would letterbox for me. If it doesn't, I'll letterbox in Vegas and use the mask.

You set the system to extend your desktop across both monitors and then any element of Vegas can be dragged to the other monitor. You can also save the various layouts (up to 10) in Vegas 5.

Your preview framerate will vary to keep up with real time. In complex areas, the framerate will drop but the effect will continue to be shown in real time. Another factor is the preview quality.

To increase the framerate, use a combination of ram renders, pre-renders, render to new track, and/or full renders.

All DVDs created by DVD Architect are region free. The only reason you would need to make a separate version for PAL users is if you wanted to truly create a PAL DVD. Odds are high that the NTSC DVD will play fine for them.

The GL2 and XL1 has served us well. As for your system, look at possibly upgrading to 1Gig of RAM and a LOT more hard drive.

You might also want to look at the Zenote letterbox tool or, possibly, the WAX plugin by Satish.

http://www.zenote.com
http://www.debugmode.com

Ok thanks for clearing that up. It takes a while to convert NTSC into PAL using cleaner. Glad I don't have to do that with this program.

Digital Media Festival Sydney Australia
 

hey all, just wondering who will be attending this??

Im presenting a little demo of Vegas to the masses on behalf of the Australian distributor, My supply company and my own Production company.

It should be fun, but as im targetting a certain mentality, im tryin to keep it informative, but not overly detailed, as some people jsut wont understand the usefulness of certain things such as scripting and multiple envelope tools and external control surfaces.

So what do you think i should include in this??

at the moment my list is

-Setting up Dolby Digital and using surround panning within a project
-Dolby Digital output compression standards based on Dolby Labs TSA
-Multiple Envelope tools, effect automation, timeshifting, pitch shifting, beatmatching, beatmixing, effect panning
err... oh yeah and Dolby surround configuration LOL

for video, im including elements which are found in after effects (to show Vegas all in onenes) compositing, displacement mapping, chromakeying, some parent child compositing (which i really dont want to do) and scripting.
Theres also the velocity tools, as well as transitional velocity, but am i missing something??

I mean im including all teh new HDV options for vegas, but im yet to get any material on that from the distributor here.

any ideas as to how i can add to this??

News title question
 

I am doing a short nightly news spoof and need to know if I can do titles like the anchors names are. Just titles with boxes around them and just a little something extra. Not just the words.
Thanks

Mitch

Sure. Just use multiple tracks with generated media to get you the background colors. You can use Track Motion to resize or any other method you prefer. You could also make the background in your paint program using an alpha channel so the video will show through. Then add the text over that background.

This is why I love this site...
 

Edward & Glenn,

Thanks for the info. It's been very helpful. I'm about 99% certain that I'll be picking up Vegas 5 + DVD in January.

Edward. Great site you have (your personal one for Vegas). Lots of good info too.

Glenn. I noticed you're only an hour west of me. Any recommendations regarding businesses when it comes to picking up a decent minidv camera in the $1500-$3000 range?

BTW. What about the Bella EZ Keyboards? Is it better to have a separate shuttle/jog with programmable buttons as opposed to the integral shuttle/jog of the Bella keyboards? Or is it simply a matter of personal preference.

Once again.

Thanks for the valuable information.

sincerely,


ian