Vegas Video discussions from 2006 (Q1Q2)

Douglas Spotted Eagle · March 10th, 2006, 08:55 AM

I guess you're right, I must not know what's at the bottom of the confirmation mail. Until this post, of the roughly 100 people registered thus far, no one has asked the question, so I haven't dug into the answer. I was under the impression it uses our same mail template for all registrations for all events.
Either way, to clarify again....there is no cost.
http://www.vasst.com/nabparty.htm

Lorinda Norton · March 10th, 2006, 09:12 AM

Ha ha! For every hundred people there can be a dullard, is that what you're saying? Thanks for putting me in my place.

Reid Bailey · March 10th, 2006, 10:07 AM

Thanks,

I'll check it out...

Vince Debart · March 10th, 2006, 10:35 AM

Thank you sir.. I was not quite sure about the Celeron..

Thanks

Vince

David Jimerson · March 10th, 2006, 11:16 AM

Under Preferences>Preview Device, you can set the Sync Offset for the sound. You should be able to match them up.

It won't effect the sync in your Vegas preview window.

Dale Paterson · March 10th, 2006, 11:47 AM

Hello, and thanks for the reply.

I already tried that - did not work.

The problem was that the sound would start in sync and gradually start going out unless you lowered your hardware acceleration level and even then you would have to start your playback once or twice before the preview stayed in sync.

Solution:

I tried a few (other) WDM sound cards - same issue.

I then went out and bought an ASIO compliant sound card - problem solved!

The difference (for those that may be interested) is that ASIO allows your software (Vegas) to talk directly to the sound hardware and is not dependant on DirectX or DirectSound for mapping your tracks to the correct audio channels.

This was the only solution that would allow for the preview of a 5.1 Surround Project with 6 mono tracks and preview to external monitor without glitches and audio and video in sync.

Regards,

Dale.

Dale Paterson · March 10th, 2006, 11:58 PM

Just some information that nearly made me fall of my chair last night.

I had noticed that somewhere along the line (sometime in the past) my external monitor preview (via FireWire) had become somewhat 'sluggish' and 'choppy' but I just put it down to the fact that my workstation was becoming overloaded with drivers and things and could not cope (and I also never had this issue when running Windows 2000 but had to change to XP because of Cineform HD).

While investigating my sound card issues I came across the following link:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=885222

Basically if you do not apply this patch and make the relevant changes to your registry after applying Windows XP SP2 the maximum speed at which your FireWire peripherals operate at is limited.

I installed the patch and presto - my external preview is smooth as smooth can be!!!

If you have a problem installing the patch (as I did) then do a Google search for a file called 'RegClean1394' and run this prior to installing the Microsoft patch (it just clears all of your current IEEE1394 settings and allows the patch to install). If you can't find the file email me and I will send it to you.

Email: dpaterso@fleetfocus.net

Regards,

Dale.

Magnus Helander · March 11th, 2006, 04:20 AM

Did notice that the preview was getting choppy from time to time, but never had a thought that this could be XP/SP2/FireWire related - defragging disks, cleaning drivers, disabling all kinds of useless services in XP, and then.... SP2 sets the port to S100 speed, instead of S400/S800. Morons.

Thank you very much for this post.

We use the USB Terratec Phase 26 USB card for 5.1 surround mixing, 6 analog out, two in, stereo Optical/SPDIF in/out.
Works like a dream with vegas - and easily switchable between ASIO and 'standard' for other apps.

/magnus

Magnus Helander · March 11th, 2006, 06:42 AM

Hi, been using heroglyph for two years now - the interface and approach is extremely non-standard, but it does render fantastic graphics. Especially the matrix-functions are extremely useful for making effects which look very good, and take no time at all - and then apply any number of effects to the whole matrix.

The font handling i think is a problem with Heroglyph, not all fonts installed on system are available in Heroglyph, and I cant figure out why.. and not being able to get the video from Vegas that I am compositing on/around is frustrating - apparently there is no way for a plugin to get the video signal from vegas..

It's great to be able to "fill" fonts with video from any number of clips.

/magnus

Randy Stewart · March 11th, 2006, 07:09 AM

I'm in for this! From what I've heard about past events, this is one big BLASST for Vegas folks. Thanks to VASST and the other sponsors for putting it together. Hope to meet others on this forum there.
Randy

Dale Paterson · March 11th, 2006, 08:37 AM

It is only a pleasure.

Please let me know if it helps.

"Performance of 1394 devices may decrease after you install Windows XP Service Pack 2"

It is the word 'may' that makes me smile so I would like to know if it did make a difference to your preview speed.

It certainly has improved things here.

Well, put it this way, the external preview certainly seems smoother and if there is a glitch now and then it certainly seems to recover a lot faster!

Regards,

Dale.

John Rofrano · March 11th, 2006, 11:44 AM

I would save the project under a new name and delete all the tracks from that saved project except the master video track and any audio tracks you want to keep. Then do a Save As... into a new folder and check the option [X] Copy and trim media with project. Vegas will not render, it will just copy out the sections that use used with a little extra on each end (you get to set this amount when you save) Than all you do is give your friend these AVI files to color correct.

~jr

Glenn Chan · March 11th, 2006, 12:31 PM

The VASST site has some free tutorials on color correction:
http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/ar...s_part_one.htm
That still just covers the basics.

If you're doing a DVD, then you can throw on the broadcast colors filter with the lenient settings (w 7.5IRE setup if you are targeting non-Japan NTSC markets). Over-the-air broadcast will actually be more limiting than DVD, so the 120 IRE is a little too conservative for DVD. It shouldn't be a big deal since your colors likely won't get that high (unless you are shooting something that's really bright+saturated). If you feel that the broadcast colors filter is limiting the colors too much, then raise composite max to "130".

Anything more really depends what you want to do. Color correction generally covers:
A- Fixing problems.
B- Making sure the video levels are legal.
C- Making the footage look good/better. The DVD I have coming out goes into detail on this.
At a basic level, having the video levels hit proper black and white level will make footage look better. See the tutorial link above.
With video-originated footage, you can also add a bit of film-like contrast with Color Curves. See the last event in the following .veg:
http://www.glennchan.info/Proofs/dvi...lor-curves.veg

I hope that helps.

Dale Paterson · March 12th, 2006, 01:37 PM

Hello - check this out!

It seems that I was a bit too hasty in my assumption that I had solved my external monitor preview issue by replacing my sound card with an ASIO compliant sound card!!!

Everything seemed fine yesterday although admittedly I did not test with large files.

Today - the problem started again - the video and audio started losing sync with each other AGAIN!!!

Eventually I was able to simulate the problem every time.

After a reboot of the workstation - as long as Vegas was the first application that you opened - the video and audio would be in sync when previewing on the external monitor but the moment that you exited Vegas and then opened Vegas again, or if you edited the clip on the timeline, the video and audio would go out of synch and stay that way until a reboot. The same problem was replicated on another of my workstations.

Note that this problem was only apparent when working with 5.1 Surround Projects.

After wasting the whole day today trying to solve this I eventually found the fix:

Checking (or enabling) all of the available devices under 'Options' and then 'MIDI' and then selecting the devices on the 'Sync' tab seems to have solved the problem!

Don't ask me why or what the MIDI settings have to do with external monitor preview via FireWire! I don't know! But (for now) it seems to have solved the problem!

Comments appreciated!

Regards,

Dale.

Emre Safak · March 12th, 2006, 05:24 PM

How can I go about adding a Preview on External Monitor button on the toolbar? My first idea was to create a script that would invoke that Preview command but I could not find a way to do so in the API. Did I miss it, or is there another way? Is it possible to invoke a keyboard command in a script?

March 10th, 2006, 08:55 AM	#706
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	I guess you're right, I must not know what's at the bottom of the confirmation mail. Until this post, of the roughly 100 people registered thus far, no one has asked the question, so I haven't dug into the answer. I was under the impression it uses our same mail template for all registrations for all events. Either way, to clarify again....there is no cost. http://www.vasst.com/nabparty.htm __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

March 10th, 2006, 09:12 AM	#707
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Ha ha! For every hundred people there can be a dullard, is that what you're saying? Thanks for putting me in my place. __________________ Lorinda

March 10th, 2006, 11:16 AM	#710
David Jimerson Jubal 28 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Wilmington, NC Posts: 872	Under Preferences>Preview Device, you can set the Sync Offset for the sound. You should be able to match them up. It won't effect the sync in your Vegas preview window. __________________ www.wrightsvillebeachstudios.com

March 11th, 2006, 04:20 AM	#713
Magnus Helander Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 221	Extraordinary Did notice that the preview was getting choppy from time to time, but never had a thought that this could be XP/SP2/FireWire related - defragging disks, cleaning drivers, disabling all kinds of useless services in XP, and then.... SP2 sets the port to S100 speed, instead of S400/S800. Morons. Thank you very much for this post. We use the USB Terratec Phase 26 USB card for 5.1 surround mixing, 6 analog out, two in, stereo Optical/SPDIF in/out. Works like a dream with vegas - and easily switchable between ASIO and 'standard' for other apps. /magnus __________________ Magnus Helander, Crossmediageek on G+

March 11th, 2006, 06:42 AM	#714
Magnus Helander Major Player Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Sweden Posts: 221	Go heroglyph Hi, been using heroglyph for two years now - the interface and approach is extremely non-standard, but it does render fantastic graphics. Especially the matrix-functions are extremely useful for making effects which look very good, and take no time at all - and then apply any number of effects to the whole matrix. The font handling i think is a problem with Heroglyph, not all fonts installed on system are available in Heroglyph, and I cant figure out why.. and not being able to get the video from Vegas that I am compositing on/around is frustrating - apparently there is no way for a plugin to get the video signal from vegas.. It's great to be able to "fill" fonts with video from any number of clips. /magnus __________________ Magnus Helander, Crossmediageek on G+

March 10th, 2006, 10:07 AM	#708
Reid Bailey Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Fredericksburg, Va Posts: 220	Thanks, I'll check it out...

March 10th, 2006, 10:35 AM	#709
Vince Debart Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Denver Posts: 254	Thank you sir.. I was not quite sure about the Celeron.. Thanks Vince

March 10th, 2006, 11:47 AM	#711
Dale Paterson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 200	Hello, and thanks for the reply. I already tried that - did not work. The problem was that the sound would start in sync and gradually start going out unless you lowered your hardware acceleration level and even then you would have to start your playback once or twice before the preview stayed in sync. Solution: I tried a few (other) WDM sound cards - same issue. I then went out and bought an ASIO compliant sound card - problem solved! The difference (for those that may be interested) is that ASIO allows your software (Vegas) to talk directly to the sound hardware and is not dependant on DirectX or DirectSound for mapping your tracks to the correct audio channels. This was the only solution that would allow for the preview of a 5.1 Surround Project with 6 mono tracks and preview to external monitor without glitches and audio and video in sync. Regards, Dale.

March 10th, 2006, 11:58 PM	#712
Dale Paterson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 200	Just some information that nearly made me fall of my chair last night. I had noticed that somewhere along the line (sometime in the past) my external monitor preview (via FireWire) had become somewhat 'sluggish' and 'choppy' but I just put it down to the fact that my workstation was becoming overloaded with drivers and things and could not cope (and I also never had this issue when running Windows 2000 but had to change to XP because of Cineform HD). While investigating my sound card issues I came across the following link: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=885222 Basically if you do not apply this patch and make the relevant changes to your registry after applying Windows XP SP2 the maximum speed at which your FireWire peripherals operate at is limited. I installed the patch and presto - my external preview is smooth as smooth can be!!! If you have a problem installing the patch (as I did) then do a Google search for a file called 'RegClean1394' and run this prior to installing the Microsoft patch (it just clears all of your current IEEE1394 settings and allows the patch to install). If you can't find the file email me and I will send it to you. Email: dpaterso@fleetfocus.net Regards, Dale.

March 11th, 2006, 07:09 AM	#715
Randy Stewart Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hooper, UT Posts: 177	I'm in for this! From what I've heard about past events, this is one big BLASST for Vegas folks. Thanks to VASST and the other sponsors for putting it together. Hope to meet others on this forum there. Randy

March 11th, 2006, 08:37 AM	#716
Dale Paterson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 200	It is only a pleasure. Please let me know if it helps. "Performance of 1394 devices may decrease after you install Windows XP Service Pack 2" It is the word 'may' that makes me smile so I would like to know if it did make a difference to your preview speed. It certainly has improved things here. Well, put it this way, the external preview certainly seems smoother and if there is a glitch now and then it certainly seems to recover a lot faster! Regards, Dale.

March 11th, 2006, 11:44 AM	#717
John Rofrano Sponsor: VASST Join Date: May 2005 Location: New York Posts: 516	I would save the project under a new name and delete all the tracks from that saved project except the master video track and any audio tracks you want to keep. Then do a Save As... into a new folder and check the option [X] Copy and trim media with project. Vegas will not render, it will just copy out the sections that use used with a little extra on each end (you get to set this amount when you save) Than all you do is give your friend these AVI files to color correct. ~jr __________________ Developer: VASST Ultimate S, Scattershot 3D, Mayhem, FASST Apps, and other VASST Software plug-ins Web Site: www.johnrofrano.com

March 11th, 2006, 12:31 PM	#718
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	The VASST site has some free tutorials on color correction: http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/ar...s_part_one.htm That still just covers the basics. If you're doing a DVD, then you can throw on the broadcast colors filter with the lenient settings (w 7.5IRE setup if you are targeting non-Japan NTSC markets). Over-the-air broadcast will actually be more limiting than DVD, so the 120 IRE is a little too conservative for DVD. It shouldn't be a big deal since your colors likely won't get that high (unless you are shooting something that's really bright+saturated). If you feel that the broadcast colors filter is limiting the colors too much, then raise composite max to "130". Anything more really depends what you want to do. Color correction generally covers: A- Fixing problems. B- Making sure the video levels are legal. C- Making the footage look good/better. The DVD I have coming out goes into detail on this. At a basic level, having the video levels hit proper black and white level will make footage look better. See the tutorial link above. With video-originated footage, you can also add a bit of film-like contrast with Color Curves. See the last event in the following .veg: http://www.glennchan.info/Proofs/dvi...lor-curves.veg I hope that helps.

March 12th, 2006, 01:37 PM	#719
Dale Paterson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 200	Hello - check this out! It seems that I was a bit too hasty in my assumption that I had solved my external monitor preview issue by replacing my sound card with an ASIO compliant sound card!!! Everything seemed fine yesterday although admittedly I did not test with large files. Today - the problem started again - the video and audio started losing sync with each other AGAIN!!! Eventually I was able to simulate the problem every time. After a reboot of the workstation - as long as Vegas was the first application that you opened - the video and audio would be in sync when previewing on the external monitor but the moment that you exited Vegas and then opened Vegas again, or if you edited the clip on the timeline, the video and audio would go out of synch and stay that way until a reboot. The same problem was replicated on another of my workstations. Note that this problem was only apparent when working with 5.1 Surround Projects. After wasting the whole day today trying to solve this I eventually found the fix: Checking (or enabling) all of the available devices under 'Options' and then 'MIDI' and then selecting the devices on the 'Sync' tab seems to have solved the problem! Don't ask me why or what the MIDI settings have to do with external monitor preview via FireWire! I don't know! But (for now) it seems to have solved the problem! Comments appreciated! Regards, Dale.

March 12th, 2006, 05:24 PM	#720
Emre Safak Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brookline, MA Posts: 1,447	Really customizing the toolbar How can I go about adding a Preview on External Monitor button on the toolbar? My first idea was to create a script that would invoke that Preview command but I could not find a way to do so in the API. Did I miss it, or is there another way? Is it possible to invoke a keyboard command in a script?