Comments

Stiffler wrote on 10/1/2003, 1:29 AM
Yea, it will work, but not for what you want to do. The only thing you will get is your computer screen on your monitor.

Going through the firewire card to your camera to monitor is your best bet. That way the only thing on your monitor is the Vegas preview screen.
bigceejay wrote on 10/1/2003, 5:37 PM
i would like to know that also
clearvu wrote on 10/1/2003, 9:04 PM
I don't like to idea of having to run my video camera just to get a "video only" image an a monitor. So, what OTHER ways are there to get just video on an external source for monitoring?

I did try the video card out and you are right, it just extends the desktop. Not exactly what I wanted, so I gave up.

snicholshms wrote on 10/1/2003, 9:24 PM
Get the Canopus ADVC-100 Advanced DV Converter. It replaces your camera in the video out to monitor via firewire chain.
It's also a rock solid way to get analog video into your PC to edit in Vegas. You won't have to use your camcorder for this anymore...saves wear and tear on the camcorder heads.
Also, no more unplugging and plugging with the wires all over your workspace...
Jsnkc wrote on 10/1/2003, 9:25 PM
Just out of curiosity, how does passing video through your camcorder wear down your heads??
BillyBoy wrote on 10/1/2003, 9:45 PM
Hasn't hurt my camera yet. Roughly figure its been on hundreds of hours easy serving just to feed input to my external monitor.
snicholshms wrote on 10/1/2003, 9:49 PM
Well, if you place your head on top of your camcorder to stabilize it...OK, you win...you got me! Seriously, I used to use my camcorder to playback/input video into the PC...before buying the Canopus ADVC 100. I've heard that playing back video tapes can cause friction and wear on the camcorder's playback heads.
clearvu wrote on 10/2/2003, 6:16 AM
I did some research on the ADVC-100 and it said as follows:

"The ADVC-100 features Canopus's codec technology, which is found in AVID's Xpress DV software and the full line of Canopus DV capture cards."

How does this affect things within Vegas? Doesn't Vegas have it's own CODEC for capturing?

Please clarify.

Also, this Converter seems to sell for $300 USD. When you add the cost of a monitor itself, it starts getting pricey. Are there any other options other than using your Camcorder?
FuTz wrote on 10/2/2003, 7:07 AM
I've read some people buy a cheap used camcorder and use it the same way you'd use the canopus box.
Chienworks wrote on 10/2/2003, 7:18 AM
clearvu, Vegas/Vidcap actually doesn't use it's codec for capturing. When you capture a signal that is already DV, it's really only doing a bitstream transfer. There is no encoding going on. So whatever codec your camera uses is what the stream has been encoded with. Likewise, if you use the Canopus converter to capture from an analog source then the Canopus DV codec is used before the signal goes into the computer. Vegas' codec is only used when rendering to a new DV .avi file.

What is sometimes confusing is that while not all DV codecs are equal in quality, they are all interchangable. Any file encoded with any DV codec is readable by any other DV codec. The resulting file formats are all identical. What does vary from DV codec to DV coded is the quality with which they compress the signal. This is where SONY's codec beats the others.
clearvu wrote on 10/2/2003, 7:43 AM
Chienworks

"This is where SONY'S codec beats the others."

Where does "Sony's" codec come into the picture? Are you referring to Vegas' codec when it renders to a new DV .avi file?
Chienworks wrote on 10/2/2003, 11:04 AM
clearvu: yep. The DV codec used in Vegas was developed by SonicFoundry, but is now part of the Sony media software line.
John_Cline wrote on 10/2/2003, 11:45 AM
Just to add to what Chienworks said, the Vegas DV codec only comes into play when rendering to a new DV .avi file and only when the original footage has been modified in some way, like adding a filter, transition or text. If the footage has not been modified, then Vegas will just copy it to the new .avi file without making any changes whatsoever. It will still be bit-for-bit identical to the original footage captured from the camcorder. Of course, if the footage was not originally in DV format or it is a graphic file of some sort, then Vegas will compress it with its DV codec. I also agree with Chienworks that the Vegas DV codec is of exceptionally high quality.

John
VIDEOGRAM wrote on 10/2/2003, 2:11 PM
Chienwork,

Concerning compatibility of DV CODECs, I've had problems with the PINNACLE DV CODEC. Things I have produced (and rendered) with my old DV300 (and PREMIERE) brought back from archives to re-edit with VEGAS on a simple FIREWIRE card crashes my system. I have to re-render the files with AFTER EFFECTS and another DV codec before using it in VEGAS.

Gilles
HPV wrote on 10/2/2003, 10:29 PM
Yes, you can use your graphic card TV output (Most, NVidia Geforce 2 here) for your Vegas preview screen. But you won't want it to be your only preview. The reason is that computer monitors and graphic card TV outputs are progressive and won't show what is going on in interlaced land. (Some claim matrox cards will output an interlaced signal, don't know first hand)
The reason you would want to use the graphic cards TV output is higher framerate and lack of eye strain from interlace jitter when you pause playback. That's why I use both. Simple Svideo switch box let's me use one TV monitor for both signals. Most of my editing is via the graphic card's tv output. All you need to do is drag the Vegas preview window over to your expanded windows desktop area of the TV monitor. Click and drag on left edge of the Vegas preview window to move. Adjusting the levels/gamma will make it almost the same as the real interlace DV signal. To check for interlace jitter on titles/stills/scaling and tweaking color correction I bounce over to my firewire ext. monitor signal (thru my DV camera).
There is a program called TVtool that will let you adjust the TV output for full screen. I use it along with a setting of 800x600 to fit the preview window (cropped to cut off overscan, just like a real TV) and the audio meters onto the one screen. Works slick. Here is their URL. The demo times out after 15 minutes, but will hold the full screen setting until your reboot.
http://tvtool.info/index_e.htm

Craig H.