Vegas Video discussions from 2005 (Q1Q2)

[Dennis Liu]

...

This is the only thing I know that is happening relating to Vegas and HDV:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...?ReleaseID=588

Dennis

[Steve Crisdale]

<<<-- Originally posted by Dennis Liu : ...

This is the only thing I know that is happening relating to Vegas and HDV:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.co...?ReleaseID=588

Dennis -->>>

Which despite being an older article (which I read at the time - thanks anywayz), has the horrible implication that Sony is off-loading it's responsibility to support it's own hardware to 3rd party providers.

That'd be fine if the 'between the lines' allusion to Vegas 'integration' with ConnectHD was realised, but they are two seperate entities.

Perhaps Douglas Spotted Eagle has some insights on what I'm asking as he has been (if I've been following the threads correctly) working with Sony on this very aspect... Any tit-bits you can let slip Doug without breaching any NDAs you have?

[Gary Kleiner]

Check out Spice Master from Pixelan.

Gary

[Edward Troxel]

And WAX, and Boris, and there's a few free ones written by individuals such as here: http://mikecrash.wz.cz/

and here: http://www.endor.demon.co.uk/

[Matthew Lombardo]

I'm looking to add some equipment to my pc.
I have a Sony Viao rx550.
1.5gh
60 HD
256 Ram.

I want to add more HD. An external one to store my videos on ect.. around 200HD or so.

I would like to add more ram, my computer max's at 512.

I also need a dependable dvd burner. External as well.

I have 4 usb ports and 2 firewire ports.

My videos will be 15 minutes at most. Also after I burn to dvd I can delete my projects from the Hard Drive to clear space as well. Will also have very little effects, transitions or any complex things that will slow down rendering.

Any input on brand from personal use or experience will be a big help. Looking to puchase this week.

Thank you,
Matt

[Glenn Chan]

External hard drive:
It might be cheapest to buy a (P)ATA / normal IDE hard drive (not SATA) and stick it in a firewire enclosure. Some assembly required, but no big deal.

Example enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...145-342&depa=0
I have that and have yet to really test it.

Should be around $30 cheaper the DIY route. Hard drive you can get anything, although I'd stay away from Maxtor (most but not all people consider them not that reliable).

Burner:

Ars Technica's buyer's guide recommends the NEC 3500a. I go there to quickly research what particular brand of stuff to get.

http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/...-21-2004.ars/3

The NEC 3500a and Pioneer 108 are a coin flip according to the forum at cdfreaks.com (this is a pretty good place with info on burners). Get whichever's cheaper.

You might also want to pickup some DVD media. Taiyo Yuden DVDs are the best but more expensive than other DVDs like Riteks. meritline.com is one place to get DVDs... I don't know too much about this stuff so you could check out cdfreaks.com for help. The people over at the official Sony Vegas forum recommend riteks from meritline.

RAM:
Go to crucial.com and figure out what kind your computer needs. You can get practically any RAM for your computer... they will all work, and at the same speed (for video!). If your computer's chipset supports dual channel, get pairs of RAM all the same model for optimal performance. (I don't think it does, but you can double check.)

Generic/cheap RAM may be more likely to be dead on arrival (this is rare). You can test your RAM with memtest86. Without getting too complicated, memtest86 will catch like 95% of bad RAM.

memtest86.org is the website. You need to create a boot CD or boot floppy, and set your computer to boot from it. Memtest86 starts automatically... wait for it to finish one pass.

[Rob Lohman]

As Edward explained, the output template is 25 fps. So it will
interpolate your 12 fps footage to 25 fps which is not what you
want.

Thank you for responding to my questions. My 2nd question was
perhaps a bit unclear, I meant under the Media tab when you
go to properties, please list:

- Attributes
- Format
- Frame rate
- Field order
- Aspect ratio

What you should change (at least) is the following:

1. project properties: File -> Properties: set Field order to "None (progressive scan)"

2. when exporting: File -> Render As: choose your PAL DV template, go to Custom: Video tab: set Field order to "None (progressive scan)"

Also MAKE SURE that when you right-click on your footage, go to
properties (per my question #2) and then Media tab the Field order
there is set to "None (progressive scan)" as well (it probably is if
you loaded a still sequence).

Tell us how it looks after this. If it still looks bad then the 12 -> 25
fps conversion is creating some problem. It might be a good idea
to get use a 2 second (24 frames) JPEG export to see how it looks
for ourselves.

[Kevin Kwak]

I get the following error message when I click on the camcorder icon on Vegas 5.
The camcorder has been turned on and in VTR mode.
<i>The specified video capture application can not be opened.
C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas 5.0\VidCap5.0.EXE</i>

I've also went into the folders and opened the vidcap50.exe software in the Vegas directory.
But then, I get the Please Enter Your Serial Number for <i>Sony Video Capture XPress 5.0!</i> message.


The video capture use to work fine several weeks ago, even on the trial version.

[Walter McElroy, Jr.]

Thanks for trying to help me out Ed.

I have not figured out why my audio goes randomly out of sync, but I am editing around it by deleting the off synced audio and video tracks, then adding new ones hoping it will be ok. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Thanks again.

[David Ennis]

In Excalibur you can set the length of transitions, but I don't see how this can be done in Vegas directly. Am I missing something?

And a separate question: In the Sony Credit Roll there seems to be no capability to insert an item, such as the name of a cast member I found I had overlooked. I had to re-enter all the items from the insertion on down. Again, am I missing something?

[Edward Troxel]

Transitions: Just slide the clips however long you want the transition to be - If it MUST be a precise size, you can create a selection of the proper size to help in the adjustments. Vegas has no built-in methods for just typing in the exact size of a transition - one of the reasons for tools like Excalibur and Neon - both of which can do this.


Credit Roll: Click on the square to the left of the line where you would like the new entry added. Press the "Insert" key.

[Edward Troxel]

You'll probably have to contact Customer Service to resolve this. I guess the big question is: What changed from several weeks ago?

[Kyle Ringin]

Have you tried rendering then playing the rendered file in a player? Maybe the Vegas preview is causing this and it won't be apparent in the finished/rendered file.

[Bob Costa]

I thought the trial was for 30 days.

[Kevin Kwak]

Yup, the trial is 30 days long.
I will contact Sony Pictures once the website returns.
Since my previous use of the Video Capture program, I did not touch any settings or delete Sony related files.