Vegas Video discussions from 2006 (Q1Q2)

Edward Troxel · February 11th, 2006, 07:58 PM

I'd try the first method first, then.

Track 1: Clouds - lower the opacity to the desired level (play with it)
Track 2: Invitation

See if you can get a reasonable look this way.

Brandon Wood · February 11th, 2006, 08:22 PM

Thanks to the both of you. After playing with it a while, it works quite well.

Tony Hall · February 11th, 2006, 09:01 PM

Can the faders on M-Audio midi keyboards be used like a hardware mixer with Vegas? What about the faders on the M-Audio Trigger Finger: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search or a midi keyboard?

Sandy Thordarson · February 11th, 2006, 11:30 PM

I've been following this forum since I purchased VMS Platinum a while ago and have gathered a great deal of info. I also purchase your book Douglas, "Vegas 6 Editing Workshop" which combined with the info on this forum has moved me from a total newby in video editing to the point where I would like to upgrade to Vegas 6. The questions I have are:

1. Will DVD Architect Studio 3 work with Vegas6 or should I get Vegas6 +DVDA?

2. Will Spicemaster 2.5 work with Vegas 6?

Both these Programs came with VMS Platinum and would like to use them if possible.
Any thing else I should Know, or watch for?

Thanks folks,
Sandy

Tony Hall · February 11th, 2006, 11:53 PM

This is what I want: http://www.midiman.net/products/en_us/Axiom49-main.html The M-Audio Axiom 49 to use with Vegas and Acid. I've been using Vegas for a while now, but I don't know the first thing about using a hardware mixer with the program. I hope something like this would be compatible.

Edward Troxel · February 12th, 2006, 06:43 AM

1. Yes, the DVD Architect version that comes with VMS would work with files created by Vegas 6 but I would still get the Vegas+DVD version simply for the additional features in the full version of DVDA (i.e. the AC3 encoder for one)

2. Yes it will.

Edward Troxel · February 12th, 2006, 06:45 AM

I know the Mackie unit is compatible. You might have to manually set that one up. Look in Options - Preferences at the "External Controls & Automation" tab and in the help file or manual for that feature.

Sandy Thordarson · February 12th, 2006, 10:44 AM

Thanks Edward, I'm always learning something from this forum!

Tony Hall · February 12th, 2006, 02:18 PM

I just skipped ahead in DSE's Vegas 6 book and that answered my question. Evidently, Vegas can work with any midi controller. I just hope I can use the faders for mixing. We'll see.

Paul Kepen · February 12th, 2006, 08:03 PM

I seem to accidentally double click on a clip in the timeline on Vegas 6.0c and then I get a bar just above the timeline. The manual refers to these as "time selection range/bars." These are great for loop playback, etc, but you can't do much trimming on cuts that fall within them.

IS THERE A WAY TO DELETE, OR GET RID OF THEM?

Thanks, PK

Mike Kujbida · February 12th, 2006, 08:18 PM

See if
Options - Preferences - Editing - select "Collapse loop region when no time selection is present"
works for you.

Mike

John Cloy · February 12th, 2006, 10:23 PM

I noticed while watching an outtakes reel on a commercial DVD that the bottom of the screen had several lines of text running along the bottom. Some was indecipherable but I quickly figured out that one of the lines was a text indicator of which camera the shot came from. As the scene progressed and the shots changed the text kept changing - I'm guessing the other items were scene, take etc.

This gave me the idea to try to incorporate this information into my projects; here's the concept:

I normally shoot with three cameras, oftentimes shooting the same event over several days. I then edit from the "best" single day and then pull from other days to cover the casts mistakes from the "best" days.

My Vegas projects normally have three video tracks. I'd like to add text over the very bottom of each video track showing which camera is on that track. I normally use track automation to fade from camera to camera - not cut and assemble. The net result would be that my review copies would have a constantly changing text field on the bottom indicating which camera the shot came from.

I know that I could get there by adding text to the original AVI files, rendering then and then using the "texted" AVI files to edit. The final render would require removing the camera tags and re-rendering - ugly!

It seems like the Vegas compositing tools/parent child track stuff should get me there - but I can't make it work. BTW - I'm using Vegas 5.

Any clever ideas?

Douglas Spotted Eagle · February 12th, 2006, 10:36 PM

to make it work, you'd need three tracks.
1. Parent with generated media mask
2. Child with text
3. Child with Media.

You'd do your fades on the Parent track. It would control the child tracks.

I understand using the compositing tool to create multi-cam, that's how we used to do it too. But I think you'd find Ultimate S, infinitiCAM, or Excalibur to be significantly faster, no? All three offer indicators of what camera is "live" during multicam editing.

John Cloy · February 12th, 2006, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Spotted Eagle

...I understand using the compositing tool to create multi-cam, that's how we used to do it too. But I think you'd find Ultimate S, infinitiCAM, or Excalibur to be significantly faster, no? All three offer indicators of what camera is "live" during multicam editing.

Gotta love this forum - three minutes from question to answer - thanks Doug!

I'll try your compositing suggestions - regarding your question above (why are you driving nails with a pair of pliers? <g>), I tried Excalibur and didn't like the assemble edit method it used, too hard to go back and make changes. This may have been a function of the user (me) not being familiar enough with the tool to make it do what I wanted. I felt like I wound up editing the the markers and not the video.

Has the state of the art of multi-cam editing moved on? - by that I mean how tough is it to re-edit a project without having to start all the way over?

Robert Crawford · February 13th, 2006, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Cloy

I'll try your compositing suggestions - regarding your question above (why are you driving nails with a pair of pliers? <g>), I tried Excalibur and didn't like the assemble edit method it used, too hard to go back and make changes. This may have been a function of the user (me) not being familiar enough with the tool to make it do what I wanted. I felt like I wound up editing the the markers and not the video.

Has the state of the art of multi-cam editing moved on? - by that I mean how tough is it to re-edit a project without having to start all the way over?

At the risk of sounding like a shill for VASST, let me say that Ultimate is great. You drop a command marker on the timeline for each camera change. To change the timing of the cut, move the marker. It's that easy. Occasionally you have to re-run part of the script to update the results, but all you care about is what camera to cut to and when.

I'm a complete beginner, and I was able to go through a three-camera shoot pretty easily. I'd say a twelve-minute set from a concert took me an hour to cut -- that's starting with the cameras sync'd, making a rough cut in multi-camera view, a second pass to refine the timing of the cuts, and a third pass full-screen to refine it a bit more.

One thing I found that amazed me was that multiple takes on the source media were kept in the individual cuts Ultimate generated. Most of the footage I was working with had been shot hand-held, so I ran everything through deshake. The raw footage and the deshaked footage were on the time line as takes; in the final cut, I could switch between the two just by changing takes. INCREDIBLE time saver!

February 11th, 2006, 07:58 PM	#436
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	I'd try the first method first, then. Track 1: Clouds - lower the opacity to the desired level (play with it) Track 2: Invitation See if you can get a reasonable look this way. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

February 11th, 2006, 09:01 PM	#438
Tony Hall Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: springfield, OH Posts: 344	Hardware Mixer for Vegas Can the faders on M-Audio midi keyboards be used like a hardware mixer with Vegas? What about the faders on the M-Audio Trigger Finger: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search or a midi keyboard? __________________ Tony "Good taste is the enemy of creativity" - Picasso Blog: http://www.tonyhall.name

February 11th, 2006, 11:30 PM	#439
Sandy Thordarson New Boot Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 9	Upgrading to Vegas6 from VMS Platinum I've been following this forum since I purchased VMS Platinum a while ago and have gathered a great deal of info. I also purchase your book Douglas, "Vegas 6 Editing Workshop" which combined with the info on this forum has moved me from a total newby in video editing to the point where I would like to upgrade to Vegas 6. The questions I have are: 1. Will DVD Architect Studio 3 work with Vegas6 or should I get Vegas6 +DVDA? 2. Will Spicemaster 2.5 work with Vegas 6? Both these Programs came with VMS Platinum and would like to use them if possible. Any thing else I should Know, or watch for? Thanks folks, Sandy

February 11th, 2006, 11:53 PM	#440
Tony Hall Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: springfield, OH Posts: 344	This is what I want: http://www.midiman.net/products/en_us/Axiom49-main.html The M-Audio Axiom 49 to use with Vegas and Acid. I've been using Vegas for a while now, but I don't know the first thing about using a hardware mixer with the program. I hope something like this would be compatible. __________________ Tony "Good taste is the enemy of creativity" - Picasso Blog: http://www.tonyhall.name

February 12th, 2006, 06:43 AM	#441
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	1. Yes, the DVD Architect version that comes with VMS would work with files created by Vegas 6 but I would still get the Vegas+DVD version simply for the additional features in the full version of DVDA (i.e. the AC3 encoder for one) 2. Yes it will. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

February 11th, 2006, 08:22 PM	#437
Brandon Wood Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Mauriceville, TX Posts: 146	Thanks to the both of you. After playing with it a while, it works quite well.

February 12th, 2006, 06:45 AM	#442
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	I know the Mackie unit is compatible. You might have to manually set that one up. Look in Options - Preferences at the "External Controls & Automation" tab and in the help file or manual for that feature. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

February 12th, 2006, 10:44 AM	#443
Sandy Thordarson New Boot Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 9	Thanks Edward, I'm always learning something from this forum!

February 12th, 2006, 02:18 PM	#444
Tony Hall Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: springfield, OH Posts: 344	I just skipped ahead in DSE's Vegas 6 book and that answered my question. Evidently, Vegas can work with any midi controller. I just hope I can use the faders for mixing. We'll see. __________________ Tony "Good taste is the enemy of creativity" - Picasso Blog: http://www.tonyhall.name

February 12th, 2006, 08:03 PM	#445
Paul Kepen Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Minneapolis Minnesota Posts: 347	How do you Delete Time Selection range/bar? I seem to accidentally double click on a clip in the timeline on Vegas 6.0c and then I get a bar just above the timeline. The manual refers to these as "time selection range/bars." These are great for loop playback, etc, but you can't do much trimming on cuts that fall within them. IS THERE A WAY TO DELETE, OR GET RID OF THEM? Thanks, PK

February 12th, 2006, 08:18 PM	#446
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	See if Options - Preferences - Editing - select "Collapse loop region when no time selection is present" works for you. Mike

February 12th, 2006, 10:23 PM	#447
John Cloy Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Escondido, CA Posts: 50	Camera Tag - any ideas I noticed while watching an outtakes reel on a commercial DVD that the bottom of the screen had several lines of text running along the bottom. Some was indecipherable but I quickly figured out that one of the lines was a text indicator of which camera the shot came from. As the scene progressed and the shots changed the text kept changing - I'm guessing the other items were scene, take etc. This gave me the idea to try to incorporate this information into my projects; here's the concept: I normally shoot with three cameras, oftentimes shooting the same event over several days. I then edit from the "best" single day and then pull from other days to cover the casts mistakes from the "best" days. My Vegas projects normally have three video tracks. I'd like to add text over the very bottom of each video track showing which camera is on that track. I normally use track automation to fade from camera to camera - not cut and assemble. The net result would be that my review copies would have a constantly changing text field on the bottom indicating which camera the shot came from. I know that I could get there by adding text to the original AVI files, rendering then and then using the "texted" AVI files to edit. The final render would require removing the camera tags and re-rendering - ugly! It seems like the Vegas compositing tools/parent child track stuff should get me there - but I can't make it work. BTW - I'm using Vegas 5. Any clever ideas? __________________ John You mean I can get paid to do this?

February 12th, 2006, 10:36 PM	#448
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	to make it work, you'd need three tracks. 1. Parent with generated media mask 2. Child with text 3. Child with Media. You'd do your fades on the Parent track. It would control the child tracks. I understand using the compositing tool to create multi-cam, that's how we used to do it too. But I think you'd find Ultimate S, infinitiCAM, or Excalibur to be significantly faster, no? All three offer indicators of what camera is "live" during multicam editing. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com