Wow, that's a little expensive for me. Will this work: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=389754&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

It does have s-video output.

Why would you want to replace your camcorder? I have never heard of anyone's camcorder failing from being used as a A/V bridge.

Hi everyone,

I just finished a short film and today I rendered to MPEG-1 (for VCD) straight from the timeline. However, the video quality is terrible - the image is very noisy and there are artifacts surrounding my credits and titles. All of my previous short films have looked fine, but for some reason this new one looks terrible. Can anyone help?

(I have Magic Bullet applied twice to the bus video track. One is set on 'Filmic' for the beginning and the end of the video, and one is set on 'Neo Dark' for the middle section of the video. I thought this was the problem, having two things in the chain. However, I rendered sections of the video again without any effects, and it still looked bad.)

Also, I rendered with everything closed except Vegas 6, and my computer is fairly new. I'm not sure what the problem is.

Thanks,
Dennis

Tony, I have used the ADC Pyro with my Mac and it should also work fine under Windows for your purpose. There might be a few reasons to use this instead of a camera. For one, your camera isn't sitting out on your desk gathering dust for long periods of time and won't be connected to the A/C line where a power spike could hurt it. But probably the main attraction would be that this box has component video output which can drive a monitor at higher quality (if the monitor supports it). That box will is also switchable between NTSC and PAL which might come in handy.

Why would you want to replace your camcorder? I have never heard of anyone's camcorder failing from being used as a A/V bridge.
I can't be the only one who thinks it's a pain in the butt to use my camcorder as a converter for my monitor. It's a simple job, so I'd like a cheap peice of dedicated equipment. That way I could keep my camera downstairs and ready to go.

Tony, I have used the ADC Pyro with my Mac and it should also work fine under Windows for your purpose. There might be a few reasons to use this instead of a camera. For one, your camera isn't sitting out on your desk gathering dust for long periods of time and won't be connected to the A/C line where a power spike could hurt it. But probably the main attraction would be that this box has component video output which can drive a monitor at higher quality (if the monitor supports it). That box will is also switchable between NTSC and PAL which might come in handy.
Excellent... I'll have to try that. That should be a cheap alternative to leaving the camera hooked up to the computer.

That is one of the limits of Boris. The advice I've been given is to take the clips and use boris by itself and then you can play the clips in Boris. I haven't tried it but it is a pain.

I expected more from Boris and was let down.

I created 3 menu pages which are chapter selections, 14 chapters in all.
The 1st two pages havev 5 chapters eachand the 3rd page has 4 chapters.

Now I want to create a home page which is what I want to be displayed on my DVD 1st. This menu page will be my home page and will basically have a picture, a play all button and a chapter selection button.

I tried to create a menu page that links to page 2, but it puts the menu page as page 4 and it links only to page 3.
I dragged it to the top of my project window, without a problem, but it still links only to page 3.
I cant use end actions to link my new menu page with because it does not allow me to link it to page 2.( page to is not an option on the properties window)

I already linked menu pages 1, 2 and 3 in the order I want.

PLEASE HELP ME CREATE A NEW MENU THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO LINK TO PAGE 2 WHICH IS WHERE CHAPTERS 1-5 ARE.

Please help, I'm desperate!!!

Thanks in advance.

Bernard

Thank you Edward. I appreciate the info!

I would have created the main page FIRST. However, just add a new menu and set it to be the first menu that is shown. Then add links to the proper menus or videos to that menu.

Coupla things to view here.
1. Vegas scales media correctly, so if you were to save at 655 x 480 from AE, Vegas will read it right.
But.
2. AE/Adobe prefers scaling vertically, so 720 x 540 is the preferred size from their apps. PITA, it would be better if they correctly scaled, but it works either way in Vegas.

HTH

The MB stuff you're applying likely has a little to do with the image quality, but two things to note.
Vegas doesn't do MPEG 1 well, I'd recommend a third party tool like Procoder or TMPEG.

Second, try crushing the blacks with the Black Restore plug. You'll usually see some improvement.

finally, unless you *have* to use MPEG 1, avoid it. It's so antiquated, it's tough to get anything looking good unless you really reduce saturation and give the encoder a mostly flat, unsaturated image.

Hi Douglas,

Thanks a lot for the reply I'll try those things and get back to you on how it goes.

Cheers,
Dennis

After using PixelPops for my menu(s) I find they work well in Encore but I know I need to change the names for them to be accepted in Architect.

From what I can gather from the Help and Manual the only accepted "items" are buttons or backgrounds, both with their various sub items. If so how is a video, that is to be used as a motion element, named? Is there any way to look at a template that is included with Architect to see how the structure is established.

Thanks

Jim

Thanks for the help. That puts an end to the mystery for me. :)

Newbie question. I am running Vegas 6.0 (+ HDR/HC1) and I am looking for a work around or solution for a opacity issue. When I add generated media in the form of scrolling credits (actually timed fade in/out text),, I can only see the text when I reduce the opacity of of my primary video to 90%. Thus, in order to see white text, my video is darkened because my background for the generated media is black. When creating a white background for the generated media(dark text)hoping that would solve the problem but I can't seem to generate any text that way. Can I overlay clearly recognizable text without reducing the illumination of my video? I suppose a workaround is to overexpose my video when I shoot, in order to add text, but I hope it doesn't come to that. For what's it's worth, this is my first introduction into video production and I think Vegas is pretty sweet.

Sounds like you're putting the text track below the video clip. Make sure the text track goes above the the video clip and you should be fine.

I am nearing the final stages and I have a few ?'s on how to procede. When editing and then rendering intros and graphics do I first need to render them to HD specs best and then install to main time line? Or can I render them to preview and when I choose to print to tape, will it then render graphics in best quality? It may not work that way but I need to know for sure. In final render for graphics what settings do I need to use as far as blur, interlace flicker, interleave how many frames, and all the rest of those settings that I know are probably pretty important to get the best possible project. I have completed the meat of the show with music and rendered it to HD and printed to tape. The show looks great and I am very impressed with HD. I now have to add lowerthirds and other graphics to the footage as well as finish the intro and put billboards and commercial breaks.

I have yet to get this alpha channel right on lower thirds. I have went in and changes all images to premultiplied before final best render. I pray that it works this time. Each 5 second render for the lower third takes about 15 minutes. I really want to be able to use them.

One more thing, the network requires all audio to be on track two. I know how to combine tracks and that type of stuff but I have never recorded to track 2. Thanks

Thanks for hearing me out. I appreciate any and all help.

Regards,
Capt Ben

Lower thirds are rendered along with the show. you don't ship them separately.
As far as audio on Channel two, that's got me confused too. We ship HD via HDCAM, and never have been required to submit anything but stereo, and on two occasions, 5.1.
In all cases, we ship primary audio on channels one and two. If it's 5.1, we've been shipping that as separate channels to the 8 channels, with a stereo mix on one and two, and the six channels for 5.1 so they get both.
Don't worry about interleaving frames, etc. Just render to a template. You haven't said how you're delivering. HDCAM, D5, disk?

Hi Douglas,

Using TMPGEnc worked very well, the quality was noticeably better. I've also decided to render to other formats, which turned out with a much cleaner picture. Thanks for the assistance.

Just a question in general, which is a better format for small file sizes and web-distribution - WMV or MOV?

Dennis

For small web file quality, nothing yet beats WMV. I've been doing MPEG 4 comparisons all week with various encoders, and at bitrates of lower than 256, nothing at all, compares.

DSE

I didn't do a good job explaining what I meant. Rendering lower thirds and then rendering them again onto film is where I am wondering if I can skip. Rendering lower thirds and other graphics has taken extremely long times. What I am doing is Rendering the graphics multiscreen intros in HD 1080i and on the BEST setting. I leave all the other settings at where Vegas has them. When I render to the best setting. Time goes from 5minutes for one 20 second intro to 5.5 hours. That is along time considering I have two such segments. I have the feeling there is no way to get around it though. I have a fairly fast computer. P4 3.4 HT and ATI 600 graphics card but when it comes to final rendering, Whew!

As far as what I am rendering it to. I am going to render it to a Sony Digital Master 63 Minute Tape via the Sony HVR-Z1. Please tell me this is feasible or my heart will be broken.

One more thing, should I do anything with the blending of fields and those types of buttons?

Thanks,
Capt Ben

Hi all,

I am trying to accomplish the following. I want to have an event where a water drop makes contact resulting in a water drop ripple effect. After that I want my logo to appear, i.e. fade in.

I'm not sure how or where to get the water drop video from?

I know this is a special effect, any suggestions are appreciated.

check out pixelan Spicemaster . they have organic transitions there, the one u want is ripple. the good thing about spicemaster is that you can change the shape of teh gradient used, being that you can have a BW logo ripple in like water.. once u have it u can add some depth by playing with the bump map filter.

What your wanting is a displacement transition, or u can do this in vegas manually with the displacement map and parent child tracks.

Thanks, I'll see if they have a demo of it. I suppose if anyone has come across the actual water drop video clip and knows of where I can obtain it, that'd be great too.

Hi all,

Right now I am using Ulead's MSP8 and when I render a file I can have it use a basic AC-3 so as to have better compatibility with DVD. At least I think it does.

Anyway, when looking at the comparison chart for the different versions of Vegas, it would appear that this can only be done with the Vegas+DVD version.

My question is, how can this be done with either Vegas 6 or Vegas Movie Studio+Platinum?

I am thinking about switching to Vegas and I am trying to decide which version I would want to switch to.

I can use the competitive upgrade, but my budget is limited and the full Vegas+DVD costs too much for me even with the upgrade price.

I am sort of leaning towards Vegas 6 because I am not sure if Vegas Movie Studio+Platinum will meet all of my needs or not.

Whatever of the two versions I choose if any, I need to know if a rendered file can have AC-3 or not and if so, how and how much would it costs if it requires a separate purchase.

I would be using Uleads DVD Workshop2 express for my DVD authoring.

Note: I did a search first but couldn't find the answer I needed.

Thanks in advance,

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com

Based on the comparison charts, it does not look like either of the "Movie Studio" versions include AC-3. With the full version of Vegas, you need "Vegas+DVD" to also get the AC-3. It does not come with just Vegas - it's included with DVD Architect.

Here's the comparison:
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/showproduct.asp?PID=977&FeatureID=8357

AC-3 is on the 5th line down.

Based on the comparison charts, it does not look like either of the "Movie Studio" versions include AC-3. With the full version of Vegas, you need "Vegas+DVD" to also get the AC-3. It does not come with just Vegas - it's included with DVD Architect.

Here's the comparison:
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/Products/showproduct.asp?PID=977&FeatureID=8357

AC-3 is on the 5th line down.

Thanks for the reply.

That part I already know and maybe I didn't make it very clear. The question is how can it be done in Vegas 6 and Vegas Movie Studio+Platinum? How much would an encoder cost? Or would I be better off stretching my budget out of shape and just simply get Vegas+DVD?

Thanks,
Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com

You will be better off just getting Vegas+DVD.

I couldn't find price information on the AC3 encoder on the Sony site but it used to be MORE than the "+DVD". (I'm thinking about $180?)

You will be better off just getting Vegas+DVD.

I couldn't find price information on the AC3 encoder on the Sony site but it used to be MORE than the "+DVD". (I'm thinking about $180?)

Thanks.

Inotice that VideoGuys page shows that there is a competitive rebate of $100 for Vegas+DVD and that it expires 1-31-2006.

Would I have to make the purchase today or is the expiration date inclusive so I can make the purchase tomorow?

I need to know ASAP!

Thanks again,

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com

Mike, thanks for the reply. Yes my video track was above my generated media track, but after switching them, the fundamental behavior appeared to be the same. However, after some experimentation, I was able to "lighten" the generated media track and it seems to help. Does a level 1 track take precedence (or not) to the level 3 track?

Paul, I totally missed the line in your first post where you said "Thus, in order to see white text, my video is darkened because my background for the generated media is black". If you mean what I think you mean, you used "Plain Scrolling on Black" instead of "Scrolling on Transparent". Try the Transparent option and it should solve your problem.

Sorry about the mad rush and all but a $100 rebate and the training DVD deal from VideoGuys was too good a deal to miss. The net price is better than what it would have been if I had bought direct from Sony.

So I went ahead and purchased Vegas+DVD. So it looks like I will become a Vegas user in a few days.

I will still have MSP8 to temporarily fall back to while I get up to speed with Vegas.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com

Make sure a watch the training DVD and look through my newsletters (in the Newsletter Archive section on my website). There's also lots of tutorials on the VASST website.

You can easily change the background color. Open the Generated Media FX box, on the right side, go to the "Styles" tab, and look at the bottom of that tab. There you will find a "Background Color" box that is set to black. Click on the background color and then change the "A" setting from 255 to 0. This will make the background transparent.

I do remember someone posting the link to the actual video on Edwards site;

Here's the link

http://thetroxels.com/vegas/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1093

Hope that helps

I am attempting to create a scene where I can place potential sponsors names moving and pausing underwater. I have tried to use 3D modeling with the top underwater area having light rays shine through on the bottom and on the sponsors logo from top to bottom. I was wondering if I should try to use animated water or reel water shot. I checked every VASST Veggie I could and everthing places logo on top of water or just in the water with no top or floor. Any and all ideas is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Capt Ben

The http://www.vasst.com/resource.aspx?id=aa3ebade-2014-4cca-9958-012275582727 file doesn't do it for you? Very easy to make generated water, but if you need something different than the asset listed above, I'd recommend using shots of real water.

Mike and Edward,

thanks the excellent suggestions! Making the generated media background transparent should indeed work but for some reason, my white text disappears. (now I know what Styles-> color-> A0 equals). Anyways, what works well is placing the GM on track 1 (foreground) having video on track 2+, and setting the "composting mode" selection for track 1 to "lighten". My composting mode for track/video is source alpha. Mike, your suggestion "scrolling credits on transparent" is excellent and works, however I am using "timed fade on black". I'm sure if there was a timed fade on transparent, that would do the trick. Thanks guys!

Steven,
if you don't need the actual drop to be seen, but just be a representation of it, it's easy to build. Gary Gowman has a great tutorial on Sonar Rings that you can find at http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/vegfiles/gowmansonar.htm which can easily be modified to make a drop of water appearance.
If you want to see how you'd do that, http://www.vasst.com/resource.aspx?id=35839a9d-47f4-45b0-a000-2b47a51fa358 has a tutorial and veg file, plus downloadable media. It's a project for Vegas 4, but it's still quite applicable.
If you have Ultimate S, building the drop will take about 5 mins, tops. Without it, about an hour, but it's quite simple. If you can't get it quite there, drop me a note, I'll quickly build it for you.

DSE for some reason when I download that file I don't get any motion. Is there something I am missing?

"I'm sure if there was a timed fade on transparent, that would do the trick."

In a roundabout way, there is. It's just not specifically called that.
To fade titles from or to black (and keep the underlying video intact), use the "Scrolling on Transparent" option. Place your cursor at the top left or right edge of the title segment and you should see it change to a 1/4 circle with the words "Fade offset 00:00:00:00". Drag this forward or backwards to the desired amount. That's it.

http://www.vasst.com/resource.aspx?id=35839a9d-47f4-45b0-a000-2b47a51fa358
contains the entire tutorial, that should get you going. You can also download a free water clip.

Make sure a watch the training DVD and look through my newsletters (in the Newsletter Archive section on my website). There's also lots of tutorials on the VASST website.

Thanks much!

I will get Vegas+DVD tomorow 2-2-2006.

I am looking forward to viewing the training DVD. I've already figured out a number of things when it comes to basic editing. Some of the workflow is a lot like what MSP8 has. I found a bunch of video type tutorials on Sony's site.

Meanwhile, I've been up all night editing and need to get some sleep.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com

Hello

Had the same problem still need another program that is easyer to use


http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=58209

Does anyone know where the video codecs for vegas are stored, or where can you find which ones are turned on?

I just installed DivX 6.1 and now none of my .avi files show any video when I drag them into Vegas. I uninstalled 6.1 and reinstalled DivX 5.21 and I still can't see any video on the timeline.

Help please!

Thanks,
Isaac

Hello
I have soon finished a 30 min shortfilm and am about to render the final project.
(I have Vegas 6b + architect, footage shot in 4:3 25i (Pd150))
I intend to burn it to dvd.
(I´m from sweden, please excuse my english)

But i have a few questions, hope you can help me.

1. Is there any good way of knowing how to get the picture as dark as possible without risking it to be too dark for some tv:s and/or monitors? I have connected my PD150 to a tv and uses that as an external monitor and have corrected the black and white levels using a colour chart. It looks good on my monitor too, but my friends complain that it is to dark on their monitors. Perhaps their monitors are old and therefore too dark, I dont know, but is there any way of getting a dark image (i want that) without risking it to be to dark, following a "thumbrule" that I don't know of? Or do I have to make it a little brighter then I want to, and by doing that not taking any chances?

2. The film is only 30 min long. Do I need to encode the audio in ac3 or can I render it as PCM? I read somewhere in this forum that the audio might get to low when using ac3, and I thought that if I simply make it PCM I get around that problem? I have never burned a dvd before; can I use an PCM audiofile or does it have to be ac3 when making the dvd? The project is in stereo, not surround. (A sidequestion: what level in the audiometer level should I try to aim for when I´m editing the audio? Should I keep it well below 0db, or always try to keep it as close to the red area as possible, or in the middle? I know that for dramatic events I shoudl increase the volume in order to surprise the viewers, but other then that, what level should I aim for in general?)

3. Might it be a good idea to render the project as avi (and pcm) if I want to keep a sourcesfile on my hd, and then render the avi to mpg2 when making the dvd? I ask that question since I never have worked with mpeg2 files in Vegas and are a little bit afraid that I after the long rendering see something I want to change, and that it´s more complicated to do that with a mpeg2 file.

4. A final question. How should I make it look as good as it can look on a tv? I don't mean " how do I get a film look" with filters and all, only should I choose to render it 25i or 24p and if so do I only have to change that in the settings and Vegas does a good job deinterlacing it? Will different dvdplayers object if I make it 25i or 24p or will they both run fine on any dvd player?

And if I then decide to crop it and render it as 16:9, what should my settings be? Project settings are Pal 25i, 720 * 576. Do you think that I should first render the entire project to 4:3 25i, and after that start a new 16:9 project and import the final file, or is there any easy way of changing that before that? But since I already have som panning on some of the clips, I imagine that there might be a problem if I should add a 16:9 mask over the entire project, or? That was why I was thinking it would be easier to first render it 4:3 and then to 16:9 If I should do that (import the rendered 4:3 file to a new 16:9 project) what should my setting be for the final 16:9 project, "stretch to fill frame" or nor etc. etc?

Grateful for your answers
/ Fredrik

When printing to tape in DV I was always given the option of color bars and tone before print. However, HDV print does not mention this. Is it not available? Do I need to manufacture one on my own from a DV tape that already has it on it? Will that even work? I went through preferences and project files but could not find any mention of it.

Thanks for the help.

1- See my article on setting levels properly:

http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/articles/glennchan/levels_in_sony_vegas_part_one.htm

Some consumer monitors intentionally make the image really bright. This may explain why your friends say the image is dark.

You can try the following to lower the overall brightness of an image:
Add the Color Corrector filter, lower the gamma. Set it to something like 0.592.

Add the color corrector (secondary). Use settings like:
saturation = 0.827 (this setting affects chroma, not saturation)
This brings down chroma so everything looks normal. The gamma setting above actually changes the luma values of the signal. While doing this, it doesn't change the chroma values accordingly. So saturation will look wrong.
Do play with the "saturation" setting.

Limit luminance low = 0.0
High = 118.6
Smooth = 255.0

you can put your own bars/tones at the head of your file.
Leave a 65 second blank spot at the head of your project.
Insert 60 seconds of generated media/test patterns at the head of the file. then you'll have 5 seconds of black
to get a tone, there is a collection of tones on the home page of the VASST site. They're free.