Favourite Capturing Mode - Scene Detection/One File??

[Mathiu Zimmermann]

What is your favourite capturing/editing mode?

I looked through the forum and found a discussion on the theme and KNOW, that this is a question of taste :) .

It is just, that I am used to Premieres feature of selecting an area in the first (left) monitor and then drawing the selected video in the timeline... this seemed practical to me.. Now I cannot seem to find this exact feature in Vegas. I believe I read, that they dropped this mode in Version 4.

Now, how do you all work, do you split your work in folders, capture the full length of the video and then extract clips, or do it any other practicable way. Thanks for letting me know!

Matthias

[Patrick King]

Matthias,

You've opened a real can of worms now asking for 'personal preference'. The good part is that no one who responds can be wrong and Vegas has about twelve ways to do just about anything...so here's my technique(or two):

Generally I capture the entire tape to hard drive (reduce wear on the cam). I then load the entire clip in the Trimmer and place Markers at the In and Out points. Then I go one of two ways, if I'm at the point in editing that I know exactly where I want the clip to go, I'll double-click between the two marker heads which selects the clip, right-click on the clip and select 'video-only', 'audio-only', or 'video-audio', and drag it up to the timeline. The other way is to create and name the highlighted area as a 'clip' and then drag it later from the Project Media tab to the timeline.

In the past the folders in Vegas were unreliable (or more likely I didn't know how to use them), so I've not included them in my workflow.

[Edward Troxel]

I will capture specific "sections" but will capture those sections as a single file. For example, suppose I do a wedding. The ceremony will be one "section". The "before" stuff will be one "section" no matter how many times I started and stopped the tape. The middle stuff will be one "section". The reception will be one "section". I will then use what I want from the single file sections.

So, to answer your question, I do basically a combination of the two. I turn OFF scene detection but I will batch capture into one or more pieces.

[Dennis Vogel]

Compared to some of the folks here I'm a rank amateur. But since you asked, here's what I do.

I usually capture by splitting each clip into a separate file. I should also say that I use a program called WinDV to capture with a setting to name each file with the time stamp of the first frame in the clip. I like to do that to keep a record of when the video was shot.

I then create a worksheet with each file name. I preview each file and make notes about each file such as whether it is a long shot, close up, what the subject is, where the clip might be useful (title sequence, credit roll, etc.), if it particularly good or if there are any glitches in the sound or video that I would need to edit out. Then, based on these notes, I make a first cut by putting certain clips on the timeline and begin thinking about what I want to do with them.

Good luck.

Dennis

[Edward Troxel]

Originally Posted by Dennis Vogel

I should also say that I use a program called WinDV to capture with a setting to name each file with the time stamp of the first frame in the clip.

If I need that information appended to the clip name, I use Scenalyzer Live. I also use Scenalyzer to capture 4-channel audio tapes.

[Owen Hughes]

It varies from project to project really.

For a short film I tend to capture the whole thing in one go, however for a promotional video for example, I use Edwards tactic of splitting it up into several folders. I have also used this tactic for use with short films too.

It often varies on mood, for example if I have a full miniDV of footage and I arrive home late at night, I will often capture the whole tape whilst making a coffee and some food and getting ready for bed. I'll then spend a half hour/hour at most sorting things into folders the next morning.

It depends entirely on what suits you best. I have friends who religiously name each file, whereas I'll keep them as (for example from my latest project) 'litterpicking - clip01', 'litterpicking - clip02' etc. These friends tell me its quicker to edit if the files are well sorted, however it does take time to sort them in the first place, so in my opinion its swings and roundabouts.

It does rely entirely on personal taste and as Patrick said, there will be no right or wrong answers, so play around and see what suits you best.

Owen

P.S I also use ScenalyzerLive

[Patrick King]

Owen and/or Ed,

I've used Scenalyzer before but didn't find it to be particularly great compared to the built in VidCap in Vegas. What features does Scenalyzer have that lead you to pay for a tool similar to what Vegas provides? Does the addition of Media Manager to Vegas cause you to reconsider VidCap over Scenalyzer?

[Edward Troxel]

Scenalyzer can capture 4-channel audio. Vidcap can't.

Since I already have it, I often find it easier to just capture with it than to load Vidcap and manually enter my from/to timecodes (as I always use batch capture in Vidcap)

[Owen Hughes]

as above pretty much!

its the 4 channel audio that swings it for me, but for just general ease-of-use its far superior to vidcap.

I bought it when I first got Vegas 6.0 as I was having problems with vidcap, so following an approval by Ed, I got Scenalyzer and since then I havent looked back.

Its a small price to pay as well for 4 channel audio

[Yi Fong Yu]

i haven't done much capturing but of the times i've done it it's the whole thing, why? i have 720GB so i'm not worrying about running out of space =).

[Aaron Koolen]

I prefer to capture with split. That way I can then organise them easier into bins for CU, WIDE, 2 SHOTS or whatever I want. Sometimes though I have had the problem when even though I've said to "scene detect" I still get one clip, even though the camera guy was stopping and starting. He was using an XL1s so I'm not sure if there is a setting on it that will basically write continuous timecode or something and therefore ruin the scene detection.

Aaron

[Edward Troxel]

Originally Posted by Aaron Koolen

Sometimes though I have had the problem when even though I've said to "scene detect" I still get one clip, even though the camera guy was stopping and starting. He was using an XL1s so I'm not sure if there is a setting on it that will basically write continuous timecode or something and therefore ruin the scene detection.

Tell the guy with the XL1s to SET HIS CLOCK. If the clock in the camera has not been set, scene detection will not work. Scene detection relies on jumps in the date/time code to locate new scenes.

Scenalyzer also detects scenes in this manner but ALSO has an optical scene detection mode. So it is possible that Scenalyzer could have still split that file for you.

[Aaron Koolen]

Wow, so he probably hasn't even set his clock?!? Damn. Will mention it to him.

Aaron

[Peter Wright]

Matthias,

Although Vegas doesn't have a separate source monitor like Premiere, it saves real estate by using the main Preview monitor with the Trimmer.

Because I can never be sure exactly which part of the footage may be used, I always capture everything as a single clip, then create "virtual" subclips by creating and naming Regions in the Trimmer. These can then be accessed anytime in Vegas Explorer Region view, and by carefully naming each region, I can sort them into any order I need for any given project.

[Mathiu Zimmermann]

That's right, only one monitor does save some space.

Yesterday I captured one clip, and divided it into subclips later on, which I named and put into a folder structure in the "Project Media" Manager. The "long" original clips go into the RAW section, the subclips go into groups according to the filmed event.

Later I open the Subclips in the trimmer, mark the desired part and draw it into the timeline, while figuring out, what to do with them. - Is there a way to put these littlelittle clips into even another folder structure - something other than the timeline?

The one thing I found difficult to get along with in the Project Media Manager ist the fact that there is either "all-media" or single folders, so I would never exactly know, which subclips (drawn out of the RAW clips) I had already sorted into the folder structure.

Is there any way to show all files NOT sorted in yet, or am I simply using the folder structure the wrong way.

Thanks for your input!

Matthias