2 or 3 questions from a

sirbellog wrote on 5/21/2002, 4:33 PM
Hello, as I said in the title, I'm considering purchasing Vegas whose demo pleases me. But before I do that, I'd like to know 2 or 3 things, so I'd be grateful to anyone willing to help (excuse my english, I'm a french guy) :
-for other stuff on my PC, I must stick to W98se, and so to Fat32. I believe that this format limits the file size within a maximum of 4 Go, about 20mn of video. So my 1st question is : is Vegas able to cope with this limitation, creating several files on the fly, as soon as the critical size is reached, so that the user is not worried by this issue ? (in other words, does it allow to handle more-than-20mn-video with Fat32 ?
-are the "superior codecs" of Vegas used to "bypass" the "average" built-in codecs of the entry level firewire cards ? In other words, is the quality of captured AND re-exported video really flawless even with a mid-range PCI card ?
-any chance that anyone on this forum has already used Vegas with a MV30i Canon camcorder with success (or issues). That's the one I currently have, and of course i'd like to know what are the odds !
-are there any issues that I should be aware of, before going to the "buy now" menu ?
THANKS to anyone for ANYTHING it will reply related to this topic !

Comments

tserface wrote on 5/21/2002, 4:44 PM
I'll give it a shot, but I don't use FAT32 so I'm not really sure how it reacts...

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for other stuff on my PC, I must stick to W98se, and so to Fat32. I believe thatthis format limits the file size within a maximum of 4 Go, about 20mn of video. So my 1st question is : is Vegas able to cope with this limitation, creating several files on the fly, as soon as the critical size is reached, so that the user is not worried by this issue ? (in other words, does it allow to handle more-than-20mn-video with Fat32 ?
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I think it will create multiple files, but I'm not sure if this works well. If I were you I'd get a new PC to do video if you're going to do much video editing and run WinXP or Win2000.
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are the "superior codecs" of Vegas used to "bypass" the "average" built-in codecs of the entry level firewire cards ? In other words, is the quality of captured AND re-exported video really flawless even with a mid-range PCI card ?
-any chance that anyone on this forum has already used Vegas with a MV30i Canon camcorder with success (or issues). That's the one I currently have, and of course i'd like to know what are the odds !
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VV3 comes with some great CODECs, but it will use any of them that you have installed. I use the VV ones and I don't even know what other ones were installed before. I get great results.

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are there any issues that I should be aware of, before going to the "buy now" menu ?
THANKS to anyone for ANYTHING it will reply related to this topic !
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VV3 is a great deal easier to work with than Premier or MediaStudio (the other two I tried). The FX's that are built in are great and the support, here and elsewhere, is wonderful. I've never regretted buying it and I can't imaging using any other product unless I was forced to work in a Mac environment. You can do some amazing video stuff with very little learning curve. There is always something new to learn, but you can do a lot while you are learning. I admit to being a little biased, but I don't think you can go wrong especially given the price point.

My 2 Francs...

Tom
Chienworks wrote on 5/21/2002, 5:13 PM
Vegas' Video Capture will automatically create 4GB files (approximately 19 minutes worth of DV) on the fly as you capture. These files can be played back together seemlessly without missing a single frame. I have Win98SE and use this file splitting feature all the time. Not one single problem with it yet. Vegas will also automatically split your DV output file into 4GB sections while you are rendering if necessary.

Vegas can use it's own DV codecs. Keep in mind that this really only matters when Vegas is rendering. When you're capturing through your firewire port, the camera you used has already compressed the video. All the firewire port is doing is passing the data straight through.
sirbellog wrote on 5/22/2002, 4:32 AM
Hi, thanks for you replies, and those replies strengthen my will to purchase Vegas....
Also, seeing that there are here on this forum people willing to help and to answer newbie's questions also make me confident about the software...
So I'll rely once more on your patience and helpfulness, and ask if I got this right :
- since Vegas is able to create several 4Go files on the fly, it definitely means then that even in Windows 98se, one can (flawlessless, in ONE SHOT, and hasslefreely)import AND export movies much bigger than 4Go ? This is very important to me, since long and uninterrupted projects really are my main goal.
- since firewire cards do nothing more than bringing untouched data to the computer, the poor-quality Windows codecs won't, in anycase, interfere and ruin the pristine quality of what's on my videotape ? And for Vegas' codecs, they are involved as soon as rendering is requested for the imported video material ? (in order to produce the best quality rendered video, which will really benefit the DV "final result", I mean what is eventually exported to my video tape)
- ONe more question : is there a way in Vegas to make "backwards motion" ? I mean to read one or several clips from end to beginning (sometimes "reversed" clips fit better in the movie)
Thanks again, I'll look forward to you replies !
mbo wrote on 5/22/2002, 6:11 AM
If for whatever reason you are not happy with VV capture, I would recommend to buy Scenalyzer. It will automatically pick up all your scenes on tape and capture the scenes you choose. It will also reduce the file size (it is selectable in the setup) to 2 or 4 gig as you wish. It is very cheap as well.
I bought Scenalyzer before VV so I still use it.
I have never used VV capture utility for above reason, so I do not know much about it. VV works great with the files captured with Scenalyzer.
Chienworks wrote on 5/22/2002, 7:41 AM
I've captured 4.5 hours from VHS (through an analog -> DV converter) in a single shot. Video Capture stored this as 15 separate .avi files. I placed these on the timeline, did some very minor edits (mostly cutting out a few unwanted scenes), and printed back to tape. The result was flawless. It was impossible to see where the transitions between files occurred.

Vegas will use the Sonic Foundry DV codec when rendering. Note that in the above case, no codecs were used at all (at least not in the computer; the external converter used it's own hardware codec of course). The file was never rendered, so the original DV material was simply passed back through the system unaltered.

Vegas has "velocity envelopes", which let you adjust the speed of the video track from +400% to -100% (backwards) or anything inbetween. It won't reverse audio though; you'll have to do this in a separate audio editor, such as Sound Forge.
sirbellog wrote on 5/22/2002, 8:33 AM
Thanks a lot !
Things are getting clearer and clearer. Your replies helped me clarify some points that needed to be, so I'm very grateful to you all.
I guess I'll get Vegas very soon now (I'm still waiting for my ordered PCI card to come to me).
Then i'll maybe beg some more help if I encounter issues (this I don't wish !), but by now I just want to say that this forum seems to be a great one (no wars, no flaming apparently, just quiet people interested in video and exchanging tips orlooking for solutions : that's fine !)
I hope I will soon be able to help others myself.
Gilles
Stiffler wrote on 5/23/2002, 2:05 AM
Well, then Gilles...Welcome to the forum.

Vegas software is the best $260 I've spent on my computer!