I constantly watch for that and I think a lot of it is when using the ripple tool a clip gets overun and squeezed down to one frame and it happens so fast that maybe something should start blinking or a menu pop-up or bell rings or something.

JJK

The couple of times I have seen this were definitely NOT related to using the ripple tool (it hadn't been used at all in the entire project). I WAS doing a 3 camera edit with all three cameras PIPed on the screen. The interesting thing is that when it happened, it happened to ALL THREE cameras on the exact same frame. Exiting and restarting made it go away.

Like I said, I just changed my preview windows size & it went away.

Ironicly, it was a frame of the same guy in almost the same position from a seperate part of the video (not sure what part). I seriously thought it was a messup on the tape. :)

But, it's the only time i've seen it happen, and I jsut finished editing a 1.75 hour long project 2 weeks ago, and no flash frames. However, I did lots of cuts & move in this project.

It might be RAM preview related. Normaly I have that to 0, but lastely i've been having it at 300mb. A stray frame from a RAM preview could be cought in a buffer somewhere.

Hmm, UFO ( Unidentified Flash Object )...sorry, I couldn't resist ;-)

I've periodically come across the flash frame problem. I think I've tracked it down as a 'quantize to frames' problem, or rather a problem induced by trimming with quantize to frames turned OFF.

I often edit audio with quantize turned off, and then forget to turn it back on. Sometimes this results in the flash frame problem.

I think that the 'flash frame', is actually a 'flash field'. When I zoom way in on the timeline, I see black at the beginning of the clip. If I trim it slightly, the 'picture' returns.

Interesting . . .

xog

Mine wasn't a field, it was the whole frame (i checked). And I would think it could be a quantize problem, but for this entire project it was left on (the project I saw the flash in was a render of the origional AVI file, highly edited, mixed, etc. I rendered it out as one AVI file into a new project because it wouldbe easier to edit).

This was in the middle of something I didn't even cut... at least 10-15 seconds on each side with no cuts.

"UFO".... like that one. :)

I SHOULD of saved my project & shut down Vegas, re-opened the project & see if it was still there. Then I could of sent it so Sony. :)

Vegas doesn't always produce quantized events when using the quantize to frames setting. Generated Media, Stills or Cut to overlap prefs settings with partial frame durations will be an unquantized event and will let other media "snap" to it and create a patrial frame overlap that can cause problems. It can also result in two events that you think you snapped together but really have a blank space of a partial frame or more when you horz. zoom in and look at it. Stepping around at frame level will show where event edges should be. This blank space from false event snapping while zoomed out gets most people seeing the ol' flash frame problem. In those cases it will be a black field mixed with a video event field.
So a five second prefs setting for stills/overlaps really needs to be 5.005 seconds long. This has been talked about on this forum. You needs to use settings that just start a new frame. Ctrl key makes drag adjustment of this prefs duration settings much more manageable.
Besides the prefs settings, default length of generated media will default to 10 seconds and will really be 9:59 and about 3/4 of a frame. Results in a unquantized event that can't have an event snapped to it without a partial frame overlap or a partial frame blank area. This can create a flash frame of mixed event fields at times. Most the time Vegas will just roll thru a partial frame dissolve. But it not all that cut and dry. Some prefs duration settings that should produce clean frame lenghts don't. On Vegas 4 a cut to overlap setting of 0.668 sec.(20 frames) on two JPG stills of 5.005 sec. (150 frames) will result in to a transition the doesn't start on a frame line and the second event ending shy of a frame line.
Only time I've ever really seen any of this result in a mixed field flash frame thingy is with the multi clip drag to timeline feature. Oh, those clips also need to have audio events that are shorter than the capture. Most of my dv and dvcam captures have a few milliseconds less audio. Results in one clips out frame showing only half a field mixed with a field from the next events end frame. You really only catch it if you monitoring at a min. of the good setting on external monitor. I use the un -activated "unquantized events flagging" feature and it's rare for me to get the ol' red line flagging on one side or the other of an event. Sure is a nice catch when it does pop up. PS, you can also change the size of the highlight around an event when it's selected. Helps a ton with multi track beast projects.
With that said, most clips get trimmed on the tails and also aren't dragged in a group to the timeline. So video events shouldn't have quantize problems. But clean video events can be affected by unquantized "things (Vegas produced media)" going on in a given track. This is where I think most of the problems pop up.
Fixing default seetings for stills, cut to overlap and generated media for full frames on a DV NTSC project would help most people stay away from the problem. It's all the perfect prefs. adjustment Vegas gives us (for any and all framerates) that needs to have some limits of adjustments so you can only produce full frame events per the project frame rate settings.
BTW, is the offer still out there for a free Sony software package to anyone that can send in a project and media with a reproduceable flash frame problem? Can others produce the 20 frame overlap prefs glitch.

Craig Holtorf