Keyframe now too marginal for still photo work

johnmeyer wrote on 8/18/2004, 10:41 AM
There have been several threads about the step backwards in the keyframe interface in Vegas 5.0:

event pan/crop used to show line

Recap : List of things missing from Pan/Crop/Track Motion

Pan/crop keyframe doesn’t show path in V5

I am sure there are other threads.

I hadn't done a still photo montage for sometime, and I didn't realize how much worse 5.0b is than 4.0 (and it was marginal to begin with).

One of the biggest problems is that the keyframe for the motion of the center of the frame cannot be programmed independently from the motion for the size of the frame. For instance, if I start zoomed in on a part of the photo near the edge, and then want to zoom out to see the entire photo, many of the intermediate frames will have black edges because the computed intermediate keyframes get larger before the center of the keyframe moves towards the center of the picture. As a result, the pan/crop extends beyond the edge of the picture which defaults to the background color (black).

The first step in helping this would be for Sony to restore the path line that was present in 4.0, so at least you can see where the keyframes are going to be computed. In addition, the "Linear," "Smooth," "Fast," "Slow," etc. controls and the "smoothness" setting need to be completely re-thought. What is needed is something closer to what was introduced in 5.0 for transitions, where you can actually create the "move" while the video is playing, with simultaneous controls for direction, size, and rotation.

At the very least, if there is going to be a 5.0c, the path needs to return. If not, Ken Burns wannabees are going to have to look somewhere else to do serious still photo work. I've done lots of it, and Vegas 5.0 is no longer up to the task.

Comments

RexA wrote on 8/19/2004, 2:37 AM
John, keep keeping them honest.

I haven't had time to do any real editing since 5.x so I don't have any direct experience, but these basic problems sound bad. (You did report them besides just in this forum I hope.)

The term 'regression testing' comes to mind.

I hope the bugs in this release are an anomaly, and quickly repaired.
JJKizak wrote on 8/19/2004, 5:50 AM
I assume that some of those keyframe changes were done to correct some nagging instabilities with the older keyfrrame operation in V-4. I noticed in V-5 that the keyframe operation is rock solid and doesn't throw anomalies at you especially at the very beginning and end of the clip or picture. Of course, I only use specific operations and not all of them that are possible.

JJK
farss wrote on 8/19/2004, 5:51 AM
John,
I have to agree. I find the whole of that area has become significantly harder to work with. As you said it was far from great in V4.0 but now it's so bad as to border on unusable. I'd like to know if anyone has found any of the sliders that have crept into V5 useful, the adjustment is so coarse it's easier to just try pot luck typing numbers in. DVDA seems to suffer from the same problem to, there's one slider in their to select the thumbnail that lest you scroll through the enture clip in a few cms and no way to move frame by frame.
BrianStanding wrote on 8/19/2004, 7:42 AM
As for the sliders, hold the Ctrl key down while your dragging the mouse to allow for fine adjustments.