Lens correction on v16 - which plug-in?

peterh337 wrote on 12/6/2018, 4:38 AM

I've been using Vegas since v11 (on winXP then) and had the NewblueFX kit which (in the Essentials) has a thing called Lens Correction.

I have just done a series of videos in v16 where I used the Magix Deform FX instead of this, adequately, but I thought I would try the old lens correction one. It is still there, still works, despite being dated 2014.

Is this right?

On a XPS13 laptop which only ever saw v14 and v16, I see only Newblue Elements and that doesn't include Lens Correction.

I probably still have the Elements install package somewhere... I have noticed that it goes online to check the license so it probably still works. But is this right to have in v16, compatibility-wise?

I have noticed that the Lens Correction FX makes Vegas preview run much faster than using the Deform FX. Even rendering is 1.3x faster.

The NewblueFX Lens Correction fx has the old bug, reported at the time, whereby the GPU disable checkboxes don't show the tick :) You have to just believe you ticked them :) I had various emails with Newblue at the time; I think they basically gave up on trying to fix it. On my PC (Nvidia card) I am ok with the default config but on a XPS13 laptop the GPU needs disabling, much as was the case in years past on every machine I had.

I am pretty sure the Essentials kit came bundled with Pro 13. The installation file is April 2016 and is called NewBlueVideoEssentials6VegasPro13ForWindowsSetup30.exe

My notes show that there was no serial number ever supplied, but somehow it just worked.

Should I try installing this on the win10 XPS13 Pro 16 laptop installation? How will it pick up the license? The laptop doesn't have Pro 13 on it, only 14 and 16.

Comments

j-v wrote on 12/6/2018, 12:20 PM

No problem for me, I normally don't install the NB stuff (while sometimes it's slowing down and sometimes stops my Vegas Programs), but to help you I installed for a moment the Fx's I have from former Vegas versions. As you can see no problem to use it in VPro 16 without a problem

peterh337 wrote on 12/6/2018, 12:48 PM

Thank you.

I contacted NBFX and they gave me a new file
NewBlueVideoEssentials6ForWindowsSetup30-140723
with a serial number.

That installed ok but crashed v16 every time I start it with a project which invokes the NB lens correction.

This is weird because the package showing as just installed in the Control Panel is Newblue video essentials VI for windows v3, but when I look at that in v16, there is no lens correction there.

In fact it's really confusing. For example on the XPS13 I see these installed in CP:

Newblue elements 3 ultimate
Newblue video essential for windows

but v14 sees none of them, while v16 sees something it calls Newblue Elements (and no lens correction there).

On the PC it is more complicated... showing six groups of NB products. Lens correction is found under Essentials but adding the FX doesn't actually add it. It just drops it when I click OK to add it.

So I deleted newblue* in Program files, program files (x86), Programdata, and likewise uninstalled all in CP. Now v16 starts ok, even with the project which invoked the lens correction.

I might try reinstalling just the one file they gave me today...

I think it is obvious that only some of these products appear in the CP program list, and some are incompatible with some versions of vegas, and there is no system for loading only the compatible ones.

j-v wrote on 12/6/2018, 1:03 PM

I think -as your other problems- it has to do with your hardware or installed drivers or Windows version a.s.o.
I cannot trigger all the problems you have with my Vegas 14,15 and 16, all latest builds and W10 version 1803 and uptodate.

peterh337 wrote on 12/6/2018, 1:17 PM

Interesting.

I don't need any of this stuff anyway. I deleted everything nb* but v16 still shows the six groups of NB fx. Where are these stored?

Edit: I did it by doing the 2-finger start of v16. Now nothing NB is shown.

j-v wrote on 12/6/2018, 2:01 PM

There is no need to do a Ctrl-Shift start of Vegas if you

- delete all from C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VEGAS Pro\?????
- delete the NB stuff from C:\Users\username\AppData\Local
- delete the NB stuff from C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\
- delete the remains from C:\Program Files
- delete the remains from C:\ProgramData
You can also delete the remains in the register editor but there is no need for not showing up ever

peterh337 wrote on 12/6/2018, 2:11 PM

OK; thank you. I got there in the end :)

I also uninstalled v13, leaving just v14 and v16.

The main issue with lens correction is that most of the products on the market support only a simple spherical correction, while most action cams produce a complex distortion pattern. Some come with software which does lens correction and that does it correctly but these are not plug-ins for Vegas.

My main requirement for lens correction almost went away when I started using the Sony X3000 which produces much less distortion than all the other action cams. It still does a bit of a curved horizon though, just a few % but it is visible. So I use the Distort FX to fix that...

The feeling I get is that v16 comes with so many plug-ins that these 3rd party ones are just not required unless you are doing something special. The projects I do are pretty basic...

I have stripped out nb* on the XPS13 also, just to make sure.

peterh337 wrote on 12/7/2018, 5:58 AM

Is there a generic lens correction FX for v16 which can be calibrated for an arbitrary correction?

Years ago when I started looking at this, I was using the Sony X1000 camera which distorted quite badly (not as badly as the go-pro ones though) and I found a standalone program (mp4 in, mp4 out) which applied a geometric correction according to a transformation matrix, which you could construct by taking a photo (with the said camera) of a pattern of equal size squares. So any lens could be corrected.

peterh337 wrote on 12/7/2018, 8:02 AM

A further update, in case anyone reads this in the future. I got this from NBFX:

VE6 does not have Lens Correction. That effect was in VE2 and is now in Essentials 5 Ultimate:

https://www.newbluefx.com/products/essentials/essentials-ultimate/

or the smaller Essentials 5 Volume 2:

https://www.newbluefx.com/products/essentials/volume-2/