Hi guys. I'm wanting to play around with Vegas Scripting. I have some reference materials for the API's but they are pretty sparse.

NOTE: I am a software developer by trade so I don't want an intro to programming book, just some practical information, like what you might find on Vegas Tips and Tricks, just a lot more.

Also anything with information like why you'd get certain errors when programming Vegas scripts, common pitfalls etc would be great.

This query arose cause I can't actually find much out there when googling etc. All I wanted to do at first was add a Track to the timeline. Using example code I got a track added, but them immediately get an error about some non referenced object. Must be doing something silly.

Cheers
Aaron

Well, I think that I have a scripting solution to this problem. I have written a script called TimecodeSync that will sync multiple audio or video tracks to a master track. You can then edit and move around the master track events and when you are ready, rerun the script to realign everything.

If you are syncing files that do not have time code (like .wav files), then you simply need to make sure that they start in sync (i.e. if you put them all on separate tracks starting at time zero, they would play correctly).

If you are syncing files that do have time code, and the time codes are not in sync, you can manually align the slave to the master, then press a button on the script form to adjust the slave's starting time code automatically so that they will sync correctly.

I have tested it with some media on my machine, but would like someone else to take a look at it before I make it more available.

If anyone would like to try this out, please let me know by emailing me at:

info@peachrock.com

Thanks,

Randall

Take a look here:

http://www.ayizwe.net/VegasScripts/

Particularly, look at the FAQ pages.

I also have several scripting articles in my newsletter:

http://www.jetdv.com/tts

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/download/step2.asp?DID=519

Build 121. Fixes some MPEG GUI issues, plus repairs the rare, but real, disappearing button problem.

I have been moving right along with my editing and with each new scene in each new project I figure more and more out. Thanks to everone who has pointed me in the right directions and offered their sage advice.

Now, I'm at the point where I'm working great with crossfades using the composite level tracking. This has been working great.

I've also started to work some video effects in and am getting comfortable with many of them. Now, I'm mixing crossfades and effects by setting a level where one video stream is about 70-80% of the scene and the other is the remainder.

Once I'm satisfied with the mix I highlight a loop region and SPLIT the video at both ends. Then I add the desired effects to the lighter of the two video mixes. I'm getting what I consider for my purposes some very visually pleasing results.

My problem is the fading into and out of these effects-laden periods and making it look smooth. I'm guessing that I just need to make sure not to fade in until the effect is ON and to be sure to fade out before the end of the split.

Are there any other suggestions as to how to best accomplish this with a clean look? Also, if I want to effect both tracks the would I need to copy a larger section to a third track and use it as my fade in/out track?

Thanks,
Kevin

A bug has been fixed that caused DVD Architect to crash when previewing or preparing a disc while the application was building peaks for an AC-3 file.


YAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!
Bout time!

never set a value to zero ;)

sometimes a "jump" will be noticable (especialyl with lighting) so always use a value of 1 instead of 0 when "resetting to none"

also, try to use less keyfrmaes.. the lower number u have the smoother the results (unless ur doing key frame by frame, or no more than 25/30 depending on ntsc or pal its jsut that wee bit smoother

It also let my Pioneer drive burn at 2X instead of being stuck on 1X even if you picked 2X!

Randall thanks, your MultiRender script is the best one I've used. It is exactly what I was hoping somebody would finally get around to writing. Sony should include it with Vegas. I'll have to check out your other scripts when I get a chance. Are you going to sell it when you're done? How much? Totally worth it for me.

I just used it to finish several pending DVD projects that were hanging because the other multiple project script broke in V5.

I like that you can save re-usable jobs. Great for DVDA templates that I've already setup. I just re-render using the same generic file names. Also the installer for V5 is great.

Some notes after using it:
----------------------------------
1. I'd like the "renderer" and "template" options to stay the same after I add a job. Everytime I added a job to the queue, those two selections defaulted to the top selection in the combo box - not a big deal, just kinda cool to do.

2. Autofill the "Job Name" when a Vegas project is open and you start MultiRender. It autofills fine when Vegas is empty and you browse to a project.

3. Turn the MultiRender window opaque when it finishes rendering - it stayed transparent after it was done, which is a little confusing. ** The MultiRender window turned transparent when it started rendering, is it supposed to do that? It's a cool effect and I like it. Stops people from using the computer during the render. A check box to make it say "Do Not Touch, rendering in progress" would be cool too.

4. Lastly, add a check-box to use Network Rendering to speed up the encoding.

But those are all minor points, it is a very useful script, it saves a ton of time, and makes Vegas very user friendly. Thanks again.

could anyone figure if this update allows for DVD projects OVER 4.7 gb.. or do u think they forgot.. ???

basically supporting the new dual layered burners..

Thanks Michael and thanks for the feedback.

I am planning on selling the scripts, but have not finalized the pricing yet.

Answers to your questions:

1. I could not reproduce this. When I add a job, the renderer and template stay the same. Were you opening a new project? When you open a new project, I set the renderer and template based upon the project video settings.

2. Good catch. Don't know why I didn't do that. It will be there in the next release.

3. The window goes transparent so that you can see the Vegas render progress window. It stays transparent after the queue is empty because it is monitoring the queue waiting for additional jobs. You could open another instance of Vegas, run MultiRender and add jobs while the first instance is rendering. I often actually do use the computer while it is rendering. I can even be editing while it is rendering in the background.

4. I will take a look at this.

Thanks again, and I appreciate the feedback!

Randall

... When you open a new project, I set the renderer and template based upon the project video settings. Whoops, yes that's it, they change when a new project is opened. Perhaps an option to tell it to use the current settings or the project settings.

The window goes transparent so that you can see the Vegas render progress window. Yeah, I really appreciate this feature, makes total sense now that you've explained it. I was a bit confused because I've never seen it before, but it's a totally great way to set it up.

Ok. I will add an option to keep the current rendering options when you open a new project.

Thanks again!

Randall

You lost me here. I have no idea what values you're referring to. Perhaps my description of what I'm doing wasn't clear enough. I'll render a short clip and make it available when I get back from Vegas -- cousin's wedding; not the software :)


-Kevin

Could someone explain why this happens?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
16:9 video output to 4:3 results in severe combing / tearing / shearing on fast panning/moving objects.

Setting the output to 16:9 widescreen clears it up.

Notes:
Spent some time tearing my hair out! The most obvious answers: Reduce Interlace Flicker, change the field order, use blur and a bunch of other wild goose chases did not work :-)

Support for dual layered burners was not added.

To what did you render? Which export settings did you use? What
where your project settings? Did you use best or good for exporting?

- Project properties were all defaults - fresh install of Vegas 5.
- Only thing I changed was Good to Best.
- Rendered to DVDA MPEG2 and DVDA AC-3 Stereo.
- Edits: basic crossfades between clips.

I'll post some video, so you can see, it's very disconcerting to see your hard won video like that :-)

Default project settings don't say much since I don't know what
they are. It probably starts up as 4:3 NTSC, but it might not. It is
VERY important to what project settings you have.

Rendering to DVDA doesn't tell me much either. Which MPEG2
template did you use?

I'm trying to setup a split screen in Vegas 5 using a Media Generator, but I can't quite get it. This is what I'm doing:

3 Video tracks

Tracks 2 & 3 are my video that I want on the left side and right side, respectively.

Track 1 contains Media Generator/Checkerboard/Split Screen

No matter how I set the composite mode for each track I still can't get the desired effect, although I think this is where my problem lies.

Can you please tell me if this is correct and how the composite modes should be set? Thanks.

Just trudging through capturing 14 tapes for footage to compile my 2005 wedding demo DVD. I'm getting an accumulation of clips in the capture's "media bin. Is there a way to clear them from the bin? There are even clips in there from captures a while ago. I have the setting checked so that captured clips are NOT added to the media bin.

On another note- anyone ever wonder if mixing tapes ruined your heads- well...I'm going to find out. I just got a brand new Sony TRV-33 to do all my capturing. Like I said I have 14 tapes to capture....all different brands- some wet lube some dry. I'll let you know if the myth is indeed a myth or....not. Wish me luck. :)

Track 1 composite mode: Multiply (Mask)
Add a "Mask Effect" to the actual mask OR track 1.

wouldn't this have been a decent setup.

http://insidecarolina.org/images/IMG_2109.JPG

stitchHost: AthlonXP 2800+ 1GBDDR
netwerkRenderMachines: Athlon 64 3000+ 512DDR, AthlonM 2800+ 512DDR, P4 2.4 512DDR

100 MB/s switch fullDuplex 100MB/s NIC setup
no programs, screensavers, antivirus, minimal driver load




.......but then i read that there was a limit of clients per license (2 i think?) gave up on the idea until some testing has been done and nothing is in the queue. can't plumb things up.

Just select them and hit delete. If you are not at ease with this
system I suggest you try it out on a "capture" you don't care
about. This should only delete if from the bin and not from your disk.

Is there a question in there somewhere? With your current license
there is a limit of two render nodes indeed. But I'm not quite
sure what your problem is here. 3 computers will do more than
one will. And you can buy extra render only licenses so you can
expand to as many PC's as you want.

Have you read the Sony Vegas 5 Network rendering White Paper?

If not do so. You can find it here: http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/download/step2.asp?DID=515

Just buy a second copy of Vegas and you can use SIX machines.

What if you just go to "File - New"?

Thanks Edward, I'll give it a try. I assume the top track with the effect should be the parent, and the two video channels should both be a child.

The TOP track is Parent, the MIDDLE track is Child, the THIRD track is back at the parent level.

with footage that has been captured in xl1s's frame mode how do you capture into computer and then render to final DVD that is 'anamorphic'? i'm using vegas4 w/DVD-Arch1.0. will upgrade later on but this is what i'm working with now.

step1:
in vegas under capture's preferences, under analog device options you can set the 'custom frame rate'. should i set this for 29.97ntsc or 24film? does this analog device options affect DV tape captures?

step2:
under 'video track properties' (right click on video track to select properties), there is a media tab, under that do you select the field order as progressive or leave it at 'lower field first'?

step3:
under 'project properties' do you select field order as progressive or 'lower field first'?

step4:
when you are finished editing and you are select 'render as', do you choose ntsc24p or ntsc30fps?

i don't have vegas5 yet but on a related note,

if you buy ONE copy of vegas5 that comes with 2 MORE nodes of network render, does that mean that you can install vegas5 on total of 3 computers and edit on all 3 computers at the same time regardless of render? i'm guessing that this only applies to the render nodes and not the editing software itself. it's sorta like microsoft windows xp. if you buy one copy you can only install it on one computer, correct?

You can buy one copy of Vegas and install it on three computers. You can then network render with those other two computers.

You CANNOT legal edit on all three computers AT THE SAME TIME.

When you capture from minidv, you don't set any properties - you just capture. Over firewire it's like copying a file from the tape to the hard drive.

Frame mode is still 29.97.

i like to cut the clips in half but i've yet to find th equivalent. anyone?

i notice that. but since it is 29.97, then does this mean that all of the rest my steps should be in 29.97 and nothing else?

step1:
this is now understood to be fixed depending on your camera/tape. if you have a 24p capture then your dv tape will have 24p here, is this correct?

what about the rest of the steps? how do i do steps2 through 4?

XL1s frame mode is 29.97p - that means each field in the 60 interlaced fields per second signal is progressive.

Capture is just 29.97 standard mini-DV. For project properties, choose 29.97, set to progressive and deinterlacing to "none". That's all.

"Split" (hit the "s" on keyboard and highlight clip with be cut in at cursor point).

The mackie universal control surface is a cool $1000. Anyone tried any less (much less) expensive alternatives with the generic driver?

go get urself a Phatboy, or a kenton midi station :)
these are midi controller devices for audio, btu worl fine with V5.

I use my Yamaha RS7000 workstation :)

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

I'm gonna be a bit harsh here, sorry <g> There is a sticky thread
on top of this forum called:

Quick reference: Vegas shortcuts and mouse gestures 1.0b (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20830)

It links to a PDF that contains all these nice little keyboard
shortcuts and other much used tricks in Vegas to complement
the manual (in which you could also have found the split option).

Please take the time to view and read the PDF in the link above!

Thanks.

This has to be one of the most asked questions from people coming from Premiere. Fortunately, in Vegas you don't need a "tool" that you have to select to simply split clips into multiple pieces. As Rob said, there's LOTS of keypresses that can help speed your workflow.

ok ,great thanks!!! =).

thx for the links.

Hi. I just discovered my rinky-dink Canon ZR20 has a squished 16:9 widescreen function. I'm using Vegas 5, and I had some quick questions that I'm trying to figure out.

1) The widescreen format looks fine in Vegas. The source media file is NTSC Widescreen. The veg project file is NTSC Widescreen. However, when I render to NTSC DV Widescreen format, the resulting file still appears squished in Quicktime or Windows Media player. Is this normal? I'm assuming that it is -- and that it will only look "correct" on a proper monitor/TV or if I render to a widescreen DVD.

2) Since I primarily make avi's, wmv's, and mov files, I'd like the widescreen look without the black bars. Is there anyway I can do this -- getting rid of the bars -- in Vegas? When I just try to crop the footage or when I try to change the actual render video size, I either get black bars or more squish. It seems rather bone-headed of me not to figure it out, but I can't quite figure this out.

Thanks.

Thanks Edward. I've got the newsletter and have looked at that Faq.

I was hoping to get an indepth book or something on Vegas scripting with tutorials.

Thanks anyway
Aaron

Greetings,

I am looking to purchase a new external DVD burner very soon, however I would like to hear from some of you as to what you use successfully with DVDA 1.0 and 2.0. I have a leaning to the Sony DRX-530UL or the DRX-700UL. The 700UL has the advantage of being able to burn daul layer, but does not record to DVD-R where the DRX-530UL will. The other unit that is interesting is the BenQ DW822A. I also understand that DVDA 1 and 2 does not support dual layer burning. Will DVDA still recognize and control a dual layer burner?

What format of DVD (DVD+r/-r) have you found seems to be most compatable with consumer level DVD players? I am in the midst of producing an hour long documentary which I need to distribute soon, and will need to find the most logical solution to distribution on DVD.

Thanks in advance for your help!

1) yes that is normal. Those formats do not take a different pixel aspect ratio into consideration.

2) this is definitely possible, so something must be going wrong.

I think something like this should work:

- start a 4:3 project
- import the 16:9 footage (you should see it with black bars)
- now crop 60 pixels from the top and bottom
- change the project settings to a resolution of 720x360
- export to a resolution of 654x360 at 1.0 pixel aspect ratio

How does that look? Could you otherwise put up a 1 second
of DV on a webserver somewhere so we can try ourselves?

I don't have any NTSC footage since I'm in PAL land. Nor do I
have any 16:9 footage myself.

I've debated writing one but that crazy little thing called TIME keeps getting in the way. It may be time to start again, though.

I think one is definately needed as there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of stuff out there.

Right now I'm stuck with scripting something to make a copy of an event in one track into another track. Looks like I have to actually duplicate all the properties and build it by hand. Must be an easier way.

Aaron