Chroma Key Eyedropper Range Problem

fflowers wrote on 5/27/2008, 2:10 PM
I wrote Sony Tech support several times about this but they can't seem to help. So, I'll try here.

I know how to use chroma key for a clip or a track. I've done that countless times and it works. It still works for me for ONE single color, but not for a RANGE of colors. The problem is that now when I try to drag the eyedropper tool across the background in the preview window, I get a black box with a few green lines in it and the color(s) selected is almost black when it should have been a range of various shaded of green.

This used to work great for me using Vegas 7 on Windows XP. But, I got a new PC with Vista and upgraded to Vegas 8. Now, it doesn't work and I can't tell what's wrong. I thought it might be a video driver issue or hardware acceleration or something like that but no changes to these settings has had any effect on it.

For reference, here is my system information.

Processor Speed
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS

Has anyone else ever had or seen this problem or have any ideas on how to fix it? Thanks.

Comments

Harold Brown wrote on 5/27/2008, 5:16 PM
I get the same black box with lines through it when I do a range.
Vista Ultimate
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT w/512k
24" Gateway Monitors
Grazie wrote on 5/28/2008, 1:12 AM
Sorry Guys, can't repro.

I just followed your test using a variegated ivy leaf - with lots of different greens - I get a Green box with the range hovering from Green to Yellow, just what I would expect. I definitely do NOT get the black box with lines.

Grazie
farss wrote on 5/28/2008, 3:45 AM
One thing worth trying to narrow it down a bit.
How well does the selection dropper work in the Secondary Color Corrector?
If it works and the one in the CK FX doesn't that'd be something to work from as I think they both work the same way.

Bob.

fflowers wrote on 5/28/2008, 8:07 AM
It's comforting to know that someone else has the same problem - not because misery loves company but because I couldn't find any reference to anyone else ever seeing this in the forums or doing a Google search.

However, it looks like you also have an Intel Quad Core PC with Vista Ultimate with NVIDIA drivers and (I presume) Sony Vegas Pro 8. So, our setup is almost identical with a slight difference in the graphics cards but probably similar drivers from NVIDIA. Therefore, I can't rule out it being a Vista, video driver, or Vegas problem. (I doubt it's an Intel processor chip issue.)

If anyone else has seen the issue has a different setup, would you please post your environment information here? Hopefully, that would help narrow it down.

I really need to get this figured out since selecting a range gives you a lot better chroma key than just selecting one color. See here for more information on this: http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/articles/chromablur_by_kolbo.htm

All that Sony tech support has been able to suggest is that I remove ALL Sony software, loose all my settings, clean my registry, and reinstall everything again. I think that's a last grasp at straws effort that is probably going to waste a lot of time and not solve the issue.
kkolbo wrote on 5/28/2008, 8:31 AM
This is known to happen with 64 bit versions of Vista. There is no fix at the moment. I have never heard any official statement from Sony about it, but Vegas Pro does not claim to support 64 bit Vista yet. Maybe it will be addressed when the 64 bit version of Vegas is released.
John_Cline wrote on 5/28/2008, 8:41 AM
As I remember, I cured this by turning off the Aero interface in Vista.
fflowers wrote on 5/28/2008, 10:19 AM
John - Thanks so much for the answer. I tried turning off the Aero interface and it fixed my problem! I'm so glad to get this resolved.

For anyone who's not sure how to turn off the Aero interface in Vista, here's one URL that guides you:
http://www.windowsvistamagazine.com/US/28190303994125243/how-do-i-turn-off-graphical-features-in-windows-vista-to-make-my-computer-run-faster.html

I chose "Adjust for best performance" and it worked right away without even restarting Vegas or Windows. I guess you could toggle this back and forth if you generally like Aero interface but want to turn it off while you're editing.