Vegas Video discussions from 2004 (Q3Q4)

[Glenn Chan]

Steve, your problem can be any of the following:

CPU (unlikely) - typical CPU problem would be overheating, although you could have gotten a bad chip. The manufacturer really stress tests their CPUs and they're often much better than their rating (which is why you can overclock them well).

RAM (likely)

Motherboard - unlikely and hard to diagnose. Could be overheating northbridge (case reading in MBM)

Weak power supply + faulty motherboard sensors (unlikely)

I think those are all your possible faulty hardware. To checK:

1- Run memtest86 to check for memory errors.

http://www.memtest86.com/

You download a program that creates a boot floppy or CD. The boot CD or floppy will start running automatically once you reboot. You may need to adjust your BIOS to boot from CD or floppy. The full battery of tests take time so wait an hour or so to let it finish 1 pass.

If you get errors, do a memory swap. Also try the other RAM slots.

*In rare cases, memtest will not find problems related to RAM overheating. Your RAM may become error-prone once it warms up a bit (it doesn't really get hot... just warms up). You could cool your RAM with a table fan (open up the case) and see if prime95 fails if you suspect this.

2- swap parts around. Swap good parts in, or suspect parts into a good computer.

3- visual inspection (unlikely to find much). Look at your motherboard to see if the capacitors are getting bulgy (unlikely).

Also check for good physical connections on everything, and that fans are spinning.

[Steve Leone]

Thanx again for all the help!!!
I downloaded and ran MemTest.....I waited 4 hours and let the test complete 5 passes....no errors at all....I guess this pretty much leaves the Main Board/chipset as my problem.....MSI must be having some QC problems, since my FIRST board died less than a year ago and this was my warranty replacement.
The problem now is that replacing the board only is not really an option since my current model
uses
PC133 ram, which virtually no new boards(that I am aware of) use . So I am looking at replacing the MB and getting ALL new RAM as well....should I just go to a P4?? I hear good things about Asus P4 I865 boards....any comments in that regard or relating to my MemTest results??
Thanx again everyone!!

[Glenn Chan]

The performance slut in me says to go upgrade. Rendering speed is closely related to CPU clock speed, so to figure out your speed gains:

A- Assume that AMD's PR rating (i.e. 2000+) is accurate. For Vegas, this quick and dirty rule works well.

Above 2000+, the PR ratings are inaccurate for XP processors.

B- Divide the newer processor's clock speed by the AMD PR rating. i.e. Pentium 3.0ghz is 50% faster than a 2000+.

At MPEG2 encoding, Pentiums will blow away XP processors (something like 2X faster).

That should give you a pretty good idea of how much faster your computer will go after an upgrade.

2- The best bang for your buck upgrade is:

865 chipset motherboard. The Abit IS7 is good as it has firewire, and is much cheaper than the Asus P4P800 deluxe. I also like the MSI Neo2-P Platinum Edition (which I can't seem to find on the MSI website). It's even cheaper than the IS7, has gigE, no firewire, and some nice bundled stuff . Rounded IDE cables, bracket that shows motherboard boot state, Windows overclocking utility (probably not too useful when you can use Speedfan instead), dynamic overclocking (means lower heat while idling), and fan control (kind of lower noise... and makes your fans last longer since it slows them down when you don't need them full blast). It has a passive northbridge heatsink unlike the IS7 (this means lower noise, and doesn't let you do extreme overclocks; may be more reliable as there is no fan that can break down).

I have played with the Abit IS7, the P4P800 non-deluxe, and the MSI board mentioned.

Processor:
Both the Canterwood ("C") and Presscot ("E") processors are good buys. The Presscott consumes more electricity, which means it costs more in the long run. It is about 6% faster than the Canterwood at DSE's rendertest, and more than 6% faster at MPEG2 encoding. Its extra heat means that your computer is louder and maybe more unreliable.

Buy a few steps down from the fastest processor out. The top few speeds of a processor are always overpriced.

RAM:
512MB or 1GB. There are other threads here and over at the sony forum arguing how much you need.

What kind of RAM to get:
Get normal RAM, not the overclocking stuff (anything over PC3200) or low latency stuff. Those kinds of RAM are overpriced and at best give you a few % in extra performance.

You can get away with using the cheapest RAM you can find as long as you test it (prime95 is probably the best idea).

Overclocking: If you do this, make sure you stress test your system well. This takes time which may be better spent elsewhere. An argument can be made for either side. You are definitely fine with a stock system- I would probably recommend this because you really don't need to overclock.

3- You could troubleshoot your problem instead of upgrading (blasphemy I know...). You should try:

Swap parts in/out. In order of priority, I would try to swap: CPU, motherboard, then RAM.
Try just one DIMM of RAM in each of the banks on your motherboard. Prime away.
Re-install your CPU's heatsink. You may need to re-apply the thermal interface material. Read your heatsink's instructions.

4- If you are going to swap your motherboard, read the following thread first to avoid having to reinstall Windows:

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...4&m=1400925745

[Milt Lee]

Folks, I didn't find this, and I've looked around the help file and didn't see it, so if it's really simple please shoot me.

Anyway, is there a way to set up different workspaces in Vegas 4? In SAWSTUDIO, I can use the function keys to set up 12 different workspaces, so that I can have 1 track or 8 or 72 whatever, and on and on. But I haven't seen that in Vegas, and the fliping back and forth between the preview and the tracks can be a bit annoying. Some times I want skinny little tracks, some times big fat ones.

Help!!
Milt

[Glenn Chan]

This feature is in Vegas 5. ( I know that kind of sucks if you don't need to upgrade. )

[Edward Troxel]

Vegas 5 will let you save and recall up to 10 different layouts. However, you may also want to look at things like the F11 key (which will hide everything except the timeline and then restore it back). Take a look through the shortcut keys and you may find one that works for your needs.

[Milt Lee]

Very cool. I expect to upgrade to 5 within the next week. It's got so many very cool features that I just gotta do it.

This just confirms it, and I'm really glad that it's there.

Thanks
Milt

[Jesse Bekas]

One of Sony's press releases mentions editing systems compatability with the new cam, and Vegas isn't on it. Isn't Vegas 5 already compataible, and if not do you think Sony will release a plug-in?

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

No one in the know is permitted to comment, simply because of NDA. Keep in mind that Sony Electronics is a different company than Sony Pictures Digital, who owns Sony Software Media, which is the parent of Vegas. At the same time, Sony is working to make all their gear compatible. Xpri works wonderfully with Vegas...

[Josh Bass]

Hi. There's a contest out of NY, where people send in their demo reels. I thought I'd send mine. They won't take VHS, and recommended either CD or DVD. I don't have a DVD burner, so where does that leave me? They recommended Quicktime files on CD as a way to go, so I says to myself, MPEG-4.

Using Vegas 4, I rendered an MPEG-4 version of my reel, that came about to about 250 MB (4 mins, 20 secs). When I simply double-click the file, it plays, and for a the first 25 seconds, everything is fine. Then it goes to a clip with significant movement in it, and it starts to lag, the video playing like 5 frames a second or something. Is this 'cause my computer's somewhat, uh, low-tech by today's standards (Atholon 1600 XP+ processor, = 1060 Mhz or so), or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

P.S.
I just tried this with the highest possible settings for WM9, using the Windows Media Encoder, and got the laggy video too.

Also, for some reason, the Window Media Encoder seems to be crushing my blacks, and making the picture look overall darker. Is there a setting that's causing it to do this, or is this a result of the compression, or what?

[Peter Jefferson]

heres a wierd one..

I select Pal DV all good to capture...

wack it on my timeline, all looks good proportionally, BUT i get vertical jagies.. basically it loks like vertical scanlines.. pretty terrible and it looks like crap..

set my project to the same aspect, or any other aspect and i still get jaggies..

now.. i change the aspect to square pixels and its fine.. but people look a lil fat..

whats the deal?? can i get proper proportioned footage without the jaggies? Ive always had this problem... so now im a lil concerned..

some info..
im using V4 and V5 as editors and capture

cams are DVX100, DVC30 and MX500 , and using an MX500 as a deck

The problem is pretty obvious and u can emulate this error by changing your aspect ratio in the program or the video clip..

[Glen Elliott]

Just wanted to let you guys know I was very happy with the production quality and wealth of knowlege gained from the DVDA Training series by Gary Kleiner. This is unsolicited.

I was wondering if anyone else that has the DVD found the easter egg on disc 2? :)

[Rob Lohman]

That's quite weird. Have you tried other QuickTime codecs like
sorenson? Otherwise a friend or someone from DVInfo in your
neighborhood might be able to burn a DVD for you as well?

[Josh Bass]

Damn. The answer I was really hoping for is: Oh laggy playback is normal on lower-powered computers. Damn damn damn.

Yeah, I know a few people who could make a DVD for me.

Can you still encode in MPEG-4, with Vegas, using Sorenson? I'm not near it at the moment, so I can't check. I seem to remember having to pick from a list of templates or something, and MPEG-4 and Sorenson being mutually exclusive. Whenever I've encoded in QT before, the files always come out ridiculously large (as in, larger than the original DV footage!) unless I use a severe method of compression, like one of the MPEG brothers.

Any other opinions before I drive 45 minutes away to have a DVD made?

[Rob Lohman]

Well it *might* be your PC, or it might not be. That's a bit hard
to decide without access to the machine. It might be too slow
for WM9 indeed.

MPEG-4 is indeed mutual exclusive with Sorenson. The idea
usually is that you lower the resolution / framerate to reduce
file size as well.

I do think having the DVD made is the best option. Do make
sure you render out to MPEG2 with the DVD template in Vegas.