Vegas Video discussions from 2004 (Q1Q2)

[Edward Troxel]

You want issue #8.

The PBS wizard can be useful for quickly adding motion to a bunch of stills. However, here's my typical workflow:

1) Scan pictures
2) Drag them to the timeline (with the proper length set in preferences AND set to NOT overlap)
3) Run the "Matchaspect.js" script to apply Match Aspect to ALL of the pictures.
4) Manually adjust the zooms for each picture using Pan/Crop. (here is where you could use the PBS Wizard if desired)
5) Use Gap Wizard in Excalibur to create the overlaps between the images.
6) Reposition the whole group as needed on the timeline. (i.e. if I want them AFTER a beginning title but allowed Gap Wizard to begin at the beginning of the timeline)
7) Render!

[Dave Largent]

I know there's a flash transition in Vegas. Seen it before
but can't find it. Where?
Also, anybody know any alternate way to make similar flash-to-white transitions between clips that might be a little cooler/
more-sophisticated looking?

[Don Bloom]

Dave,
Goto 'Transitions' and look for 'Flash' there you have it. You can change the diffusion and the color by using the keyframes in the transition.
Hope that helps.
Don

[Edward Troxel]

For an "alternate" method, add a small white generated media on the track ABOVE the video at the point of the flash. Make it about 5 frames wide and do a fade out over all 5 frames.

[Gary Kleiner]

Also check Dissolve > Fade through White

Gary

[Randy Stewart]

Kim,
If you don't have Excaliber, use the following:

Scan in pictures

Number them in the folder on your hard drive in the sequence you want them to appear using a 3 position number in the file name (001,002,etc.).

Open Vegas and set your preferences by going to options > preferences > editing and change your new still image length to 8 seconds (my preference); then click the automatic overlap multiple selected media box; and change the cut to overlap length in the box just below to 2.00 seconds. Close the preferences window after applying.

Then click on your add media button (folder, music note, video tape icon above the media bin) and navigate to your folder where all of the pictures are, select them all and click add.

Then click on the first picture in your media bin and drag them all at once to your timeline. Vioala! Pictures are all loaded with a 2 second crossfade between each and about 5 seconds of still show time. All you have to do is add titles, music, special effects, pan/crop, track motion, backdrops, etc. as you wish and render. Clicking the maintain aspect ratio as Edward suggested is also good advice.

Hope this helps! Enjoy.

Randy

[Joseph Lawrence]

I've experienced this problem a couple of times between many successful print-to-tape outputs. I use all the usual default settings, DV NTSC, output format same as captured, IEEE1394 control of DV deck (canon optura 10) everytime I print-to-tape. The problem scenario starts as usual with the rendering of many small .avi files which are written to the pre-render folder. The second to the last .avi file is apparently a wav64 file, then the last render starts the DV deck and usually begins the print-to-tape. I can monitor progress on the camcorder LCD. A few times, the software takes control of the deck, initiates the record, but then does not begin the output transfer. I usually don't watch the entire activity, so when I return, I have a completely black recorded tape and Vegas is still waiting to 'render' the last file.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Can anyone explain what might be going wrong so I can prevent it?

Thanks,

Joseph

[Edward Troxel]

The ONLY reason I don't let Vegas automatically overlap the images is because you cannot see the beginning and end of the clip if you wish the pan/crop to zoom the entire distance. Instead of seeing the end of the clip, for instance, you only see the NEXT clip. Therefore, I add them as cuts for adjustment purposes and then add the fades at a later point in time (speeding up the process by using Excalibur)

However, It's quite possible to add the second point in the middle of the clip, get the zoom position where you desire for the end of the clip, and then move that point to the end of the clip before you exit the Pan/Crop window. For me, it's a convenience thing.

One other thing I do is leave Sync Cursor turned OFF.

[Edward Troxel]

First of all, let's get the steps correct. Say there are 10 steps. Steps 1-7 will be AVI's from where you changed the video. Step 8 (3rd from the last step) will be the creation of the audio W64 file. Step 9 (2nd from last step) will be the actuall print to tape. And Step 10 (last step) is what I consider "clean up".

Have you ever gotten anything sent back to the camera? Is there an option in the camera menus to specify whether the firewire is Input or Output? If you immediately do another PTT (where steps 1-8 above will NOT be repeated) does it work then?

[Joseph Lawrence]

You are absolutely correct about the chronology of events. I didn't count the clean-up since by then I already have the desired output. Yes, I have been successful in getting output to tape many times. And yes, I have had the initial attempt fail as described in my original post and then returned later and had it successfully print to tape without going through the video rendering steps. Vegas checks what needs to be rendered before blindly starting the render so that the second time through, if I haven't changed the project, all video clips are properly pre-rendered and so it begins with the wav64 render.

When the problem has occurred, I have tried cancelling the render, but Vegas doesn't release the task until I stop the DV deck recording and power off the deck. If I don't cancel the task, then Vegas continues to show 0% progress on the second to last render and the DV deck continues to record black tape. Even after the tape reaches the end, Vegas still does not show any progress on the second to last render. I'm running a ratio of about 10:1 for success to aborted print-to-tape operations.
Any clues?

Joseph

[Edward Troxel]

Could it be a problem of the camera going into "sleep" mode during the rendering processes?

[Joseph Lawrence]

It probably goes into sleep mode, but it certainly wakes up and records black with timecode when Vegas gets to the PTT phase.

Is there a way in Vegas to render an AVI file of the entire project and then write that back to tape? So far I have always been able to get the PTT process to work eventually for all my projects, but it might be useful to have a backup method of exporting to tape.

Thanks,

Joseph

[Edward Troxel]

I'm suspecting that it's taking too long to wake up. It's managing to get the record command but it's not awake when Vegas is trying to make the initial firewire connection.

What if you choose MANUAL instead of auto start? Then you get a count-down screen. When the countdown screen appears, make sure the camera is awake and then start the countdown. You'll have to manually press record on the camera.

Yes, you can also render to a full AVI. Just choose File - Render AS - and pick the appropriate options. You can then either drop this on a new project timeline for printing (which will still require the W64 step) OR you can print from the capture utility with NO further rendering of any sort.

[Bryan Roberts]

ok, well I feel dumb asking this but coming from Premiere and now an avid Vegas user, I have yet to need this but now I do. I'm trying to do some color correction in Vegas on a short I did a while back but all I have is the finished file so I'm trying to make cuts at certain sections that can be color corrected as a group. Bringing the file into the trimmer and then choosing the sections and then dropping these sections onto a track above the master is proving to be a pain. Is there a simple CUT option that will allow me to divide my master file into sections within the project without having to delve into the trimmer? Thanks...

[Edward Troxel]

Put the cursor where you want the cut. Press "S". You may need to press either CTRL-A or CTRL-Shift-A to select everything or deselect everything first. (or make sure the clip is selected before positioning the cursor OR CTRL-Click the clip to select it - if it was not selected - before pressing "S")