Is the Text Media Generator broken? Am I crazy?

Noggle wrote on 2/24/2010, 2:04 PM

Hi all,

I am doing a series of talking head business success testimonies using Vegas Pro 9.0c on XP. There's a lower third with the speakers name in it. This fades after a few seconds. I am using the Text Media Generator for the name, with everything default - simple white Arial with a black border around it. I have spent much time creating a template - noise reduction, colour adjustment, editing, sound, music etc. I then want to just substitute each speaker with indivdual fine tuning.

Now, when I delete the first name in the text media and put the second name in, the first name stays there! I can see the first name still in the preview window and the new name in the text media, both at the same time. When I exit the text media and go back in, the new name is gone and the first name is back there. I have no keyframing happening.

Also, when I delete that text media and get a new one, I can type in a new name but it won't take a black border around the name. I can tick the box, select the colour and so on, but you can't see it. I have tried looking at it with the preview window set to Best/Full but still nothing. Huh?

regards
Noggle

Comments

xberk wrote on 2/24/2010, 2:20 PM

Cannot reproduce this is 9.0c 32 bit.

You describe something different but just to be sure Did you "copy" the text media and perhaps use "create a reference to the orig media" ? THis means a change to that media will change in all the other copies.

Is it possible that a copy of the text media is stacked on a track above the one you are changing? Then both would show. Another possible is that the "opacity" of the text media event is at zero in which case no changes to it would be visible in preview. See "Opacity" in Vegas help.

John_Cline wrote on 2/24/2010, 2:30 PM

Only time this ever happens to me is if I am editing a text event but the timeline cursor is on another clip and the preview isn't showing the event that I'm editing.

xberk wrote on 2/24/2010, 2:35 PM

Good one John. That would do it.

BudWzr wrote on 2/24/2010, 3:55 PM

So how do you prevent it? This happens to me too sometimes.

===========================================
Only time this ever happens to me is if I am editing a text event but the timeline cursor is on another clip and the preview isn't showing the event that I'm editing.

John_Cline wrote on 2/24/2010, 4:02 PM

Oh, I don't know... how about making sure the timeline cursor is on the event that you're editing?

johnmeyer wrote on 2/24/2010, 6:15 PM

I have seen this many times before, and therefore am pretty certain I know the problem:

keyframes

Open the text generator for the problem text, and make sure you do not have any keyframes on the timeline. I will bet that you DO have more than one keyframe, and this is what is causing the problem.

If you do have more than one keyframe, what you'll find is that the text from the first keyframe appears until you get to the next keyframe. The text that actually appears in the preview window depends on where you are on the timeline relative to these keyframes.

xberk wrote on 2/24/2010, 6:39 PM

Keyframe could be it. -- and if Noggle has copied the text over and over then Noggle is copying the keyframe over and over.

I love to copy titles right on the timeline and change them as needed. Ctrl and drag --- use that a lot.

Noggle wrote on 2/25/2010, 10:17 PM

Thanks all for your replies.

> Did you "copy" the text media and perhaps use
> "create a reference to the orig media"?
No. After about 10 hours of working out what I wanted, I had created a template which could then be used for all the other testimony clips - just change the video clip (incl audio track) of the speaker, change the speaker's name and make individual adjustments as necessary. After taking the ten hours for the first one, the others only took 30 mins or less each. Mainly, I could not change the text names as easily as I wanted. It has eventually 'settled down' but I have had 1 or 2 that still gave the problem and I had to delete the text media and regenerate it for the next name.

> copy of the text media is stacked
> on a track above the one you are changing?
No. There is only one Text Media in the veg and it is the highest track.

> the "opacity" of the text media event is at zero
I am using the Text Media Generator to put text in a lower third, not the Protype Titler.

> making sure the timeline cursor is on the event that you're editing?
It's there.

> keyframes
I'm not using any. The only one there is the default starting one. I have even zoomed in fully to see if I have accidentally created a second keyframe diamond that's so close to the first one that they look like only one.

Now, you won't believe this ..... it's really bad but really good ..... ;-)

My 20-year old son just walked in as I was typing this up. I told him of the problem and switched to Vegas with the current veg that I'm working on. I showed him the text media and then created a new one further along the same track. I quickly entered a new name, font size, and black outline around the text. Then I said, "Now watch me change the name." It changed, of course, working well, as intermittment faults always do. I explained that it is always often to repeat errors (which he already knew, as he works in IT) and deleted the demo text media. I then said, "Here, watch me try to change the name of the current person." I was expecting it to work as it is supposed to ..... just because someone was watching. Voila! I changed it right before his eyes and it didn't change on the preview screen! I also exited the text media containing the new name, re-opened it and there was the old name, stubbornly sitting there!!

So ..... really bad that it's happening, but really good that I had a witness that I'm not crazy (not yet, anyway).

Regards,
Noggle

Rory Cooper wrote on 2/25/2010, 10:32 PM

Noggle , I am not a psychiatrist or a doctor but I have tried to replicate your problem and have some bad news for you (:

The good news is you will fit in quite well with the rest of us.

Rory

Grazie wrote on 2/25/2010, 11:32 PM

I think lurking amongst all this is that, as with ALL GenMed stuff, there isn't a Sync Cursor option - it's greyed-out. What this means for me, when I get this "ghosting" is that I haven't played the GenMEd to observe the changes. I can MAKE changes but not see them in the Preview. John alluded to this too. When I do GenMed stuff and am wanting to see my changes in realtime I set the GenMed PLAY-LOOPING and as I make changes they are apparent within the Preview.

Also if I stretch or change the length of GenMed stuff then I can get anomalies too - which doesn't help. See if you have any repeating "Notches" on the Event.

No, you ain't bonkers - but then again that's coming from me!

Grazie

farss wrote on 2/26/2010, 2:27 AM

Just my two Bob's worth here seeing as I don't think anyone has mentioned this so far.

When you copy GenMedia either by Ctl+Drag or Ctl+C, Ctl+V you are asked if you wish to make a copy or create a reference to the original media. Now get this wrong and you cannot change the media unless you go back to the original. I think Noggle says he hasn't done this. Possibly true and also maybe Vegas got mixed up but there is a way to check this.
Have a look in the Project Media. Each time you create a copy it is appears in the project media as say Sony Text 1, Sony Test 2 etc. If you simpy create a reference then it does not create new media.
What I'm suggesting Noggle should do is check if the count of Text Media in the Project matches the number of text events he has on the time line. This might provide a vital clue to what's happening.

Bob.

BudWzr wrote on 2/26/2010, 7:28 AM

No, you're not crazy. Maybe the old image got burned in to the preview window. Is it a plasma? <<<just kidding, this is a tough one.

xberk wrote on 2/26/2010, 8:43 AM

the "opacity" of the text media event is at zero
I am using the Text Media Generator to put text in a lower third, not the Protype Titler.

Every image "event" in Vegas has opacity. An event can be a title, a video clip, a still image -- whatever. I'm not refering to ProType Titler's opacity. Check your title to make sure that the opacity is not at zero percent. Hover your mouse at the top of the title event on the timeline and you should see the opacity reading pop up at 100%. If you do not see this, then see if there is a white horizontal line running across your event. Hovering the cursor over this white line will show the opacity. If you left click and drag the opacity line downward, you can pull it all the way down to zero percent. This would cause the title to show up on the timeline thumbnail but not in preview or renders. If your opacity is at zero (or close to zero) there would be a white line across the bottom of your title event.

Two other questions.

1. Can you reproduce this behavior on a new veg file using a new "text" title?

2. Is the single keyframe (diamond) at the very end of the text media timeline or at the beginning? Or is there a keyframe (diamond) at the beginning and at the end?

2. Are you sure you are using Version 9.0c? Check Help/About for verison you are using. - Paul