Vegas Video discussions from 2005 (Q1Q2)

[Steve Roffler]

Seems like someone must have asked but I can turn up anything in search:

Does it matter what order the video filters are applied? I usually add at least curves, color correction, HSL, and broadcast safe filters. I assume that the effects are produced sequentially so it seems that it may make a difference which order these are applied. Is there a prefered order?

Thanks.

[Edward Troxel]

Actually, yes it DOES make a difference. Different orders can provide different results. What is the "right" order? Depends on the results you desire. :-)

[Glenn Chan]

For color correction, the order I would use is:
Color corrector that fixes white balance
Color curves to fix exposure and/or film look; may introduce saturation shifts

Then:
Any looks/effects
Saturation adjust
Secondary color correction

Then:
?Color curves to map values from 0-255 into 16-235 range.?
Broadcast safe

What I started noticing in Vegas is that many filters assume 0 is black (whereas 16 should be black) and that with multiple filters you may run into problems with banding (from rounding error).

2- If you use masks, pay careful attention to whether or not your filters are applied before or after the mask. You can click on the little trianges at the bottom to adjust this.

[Peter Moore]

Sweet, thanks guys.

[James Binder]

Here’s the situation:

I have a two camera shoot/edit -- both cameras combined on the same video track.

I need to extract 1 of the 2 cameras footage from the single video track (where they are both currently combined), paste to a new track and apply color correction. Or more simply put, I need to separate the two cameras footage for color correction (independent of one another).

Right now, I am going down the line, one by one and dragging one of the cameras/video up to a new video track. There must be an easier way to do this! If this is a glaring newbie question, my apologies, I’ve searched the board and can’t find an answer…

I’d just go ahead and do it, but it’s a two hour and fifteen minute project!

Thanks for you help!

[Edward Troxel]

Here's a better option:

1) Apply the color correction to the first event of that camera and get it correct.

2) Save that as a preset

3) Delete it from the first event

4) Apply that preset to that camera in the MEDIA POOL which will affect that camera no matter where it is on the timeline.


Alternately, once a preset has been created you can use the Apply Effects tool in Neon and tell it to apply the effect only to the clips that are of the same file as the first clip.

[James Binder]

Edward --

Many thanks -- I've only been around this board a short while, and so far I’m thoroughly impressed with you vast knowledge of Vegas.

I'm going to go and try your suggestion right now -- and save myself hours of work! I didn't know that you could apply effects in the media pool -- very cool!

BTW – when you say ‘apply’ the preset to the camera in the media pool – do you mean to drag and drop the present to the file/camera?

Thanks again –

[Edward Troxel]

Effects can be applied in multiple places. You can apply them to:

Event level
Track level
Project level (i.e. drop it on the preview screen)
Media Pool
Bus Track level

Vegas is very flexible.

I have all of this detailed in one of the newsletter issues.

[Milt Lee]

So I'm using my trusty Sager notebook, with WinXP Pro for all my editing. It's nice and fast and really love it - thanks to all the people the recommended it.

BUT it really has a bunch of extra junk that comes up in the start menu and if I ever have to use Ctrl Alt Del, I see about 50 processes that seem to be running.

Which of these can I remove safely? Is there a guide for removing junk? I would really like to have this machine boot more quickly, and I don't want to worry about some strange process jumping in and grabbing memory in the middle of a render.

Thanks for the advice,

Milt Lee

[Peter Jefferson]

have u guys tried updating to the latest Vegas, it carries some HDV templates which may alleviate this problem

[Peter Jefferson]

do a google search on "Tweak XP" or "XP Tweak"

theres an actual site which goes thru and explains what everything does...

theres loads of info pertaining to the crud and bloatware that XP instals, not to mention ur laptop manufacturers OEM installations of other crap..

[Don Bloom]

videoguys.com have a page of WinXP tips and tricks that will help you out.
Tells you what you can SAFELY shut down and how.
Don

[Peter Jefferson]

i was thinking of gettina KB for Vegas, but once i got my hands on this Microsoft Elite Pro wireless system, i cant look at anything else..

its expensive and doesnt have the keys all painted for me, but the Board itself is flawless.

[Peter Jefferson]

Hey glen, Dolby Labs have changed alot of the info they carry online, and only allow licensed producers access to their tech files, so drop me a line and ill send afew tech sheets your way.

basically what your doing with ac3 is producing 6 mp3 TYPE files (theyre not actual mp3's as its not using the mp codec, its using an AC3 codec.

with dialogue normalisation, its refering to a roundabout level of gain which wont exceed X db.
I personally use -30db as i sometimes deliberatly have to blow out peaks due to fluctuating levels. The Normalisation as well as the Dynamic range usually brings this down later, but im also using a Sonic Foundry clipped peak restoration filter on all audio, so the clipping is non existant within the finished ac3. its just a different way of doing things, as i know what to expect and i know how high i can push it without killing it.

This is useful for EX mixdowns, or MixUps to 6.1 and 7.1

EX essentailly allows for the clean downmixing (through metadata) of 6 channels into 2, or up to 6 and 7, where 5.1 remains untouched depending on the Decoder. this is where the normalisation and sourroud channel configuration db comes into play.
I usually leave these untouched and allow for the EX stream to be active.

WIth the Dynamic range, setting which Ed has mentioned, i persoanlly prefer to use a "film light" compression as opposed to off. This allows a nice clean level of audio thoughout all channels and brings down those clips i was refering to earlier. it also allows for a cleaner mixdown when using DD EX.

There are many ways to produce a good sounding ac3 file, the most difficult thing about it though is making sure u maintain a good constant level of volume throughout and that each channel is clean.

Also i find that if u set your actual voice channels/tracks to film (in the panner) instead of standard it gives u a tighter environment and doesnt carry that strange hollow spread that u may hear depending on the system youre using... in here u can also kill off the rear speakers and allow some bleedthrough into the F LR channels while the C is dominant force. It just gives the voices that much more weight within the mix.

like i said, there are heaps of ways to get a good mix, but for weddings (which is what i assume your doing this for) its probably the best combo i have found. It took a while and alot of trial and error, but again it really depends on the raw recording...

It might be easier if i just get some screen grabs of each panel and email those to you with my settings.

[Milt Lee]

Thanks Guys!! Always get good info here.

Later,
Milt