Monitoring Video on a TV Monitor from the Timeline

masmedia wrote on 12/2/2007, 3:03 PM
Dear Ladies and Gents,

I want to use my camera as a bridge to monitor video on my timeline. I just read through my camera manual, and it says my iLink 1394 firewire port/cable will do this: in/out transmit/receive, in other words, pass through. I have my RCA cables hooked into my TV monitor, and it works with whatever tape I have in the camera. I have my firewire hooked up from my PC to my camera.

In Vegas, I have "OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394/DV" as my selected device in the Preview Device tab in Preferences. From what I read in the Vegas Help, this is all I need to do in the program for this to work, however, it does not.

Is there something else I need to adjust in Vegas? Could it be a camera issue? I went through all the menus in my camera, and all is OK, and according to the manual, I shouldn't have to change anything on it to do this.

I really appreciate your advice and help!

mas

Comments

marks27 wrote on 12/2/2007, 3:20 PM
Mas,

You can toggle the display to the secondary monitor. Above the preview window there is a button which looks like a small TV screen. Press that. It may take a few seconds for the change to be detected (I don't know why that is).

I think that shoudl set you right.

Ciao,

marks
Bill Ravens wrote on 12/2/2007, 3:20 PM
Is your camera in VCR mode?
Terry Esslinger wrote on 12/2/2007, 3:24 PM
There should be a menu item in your camera that goes something like DV>analog out. That needs to be set right. Also the little TV GUI above the preview window needs to be pushed. The preview will disappear on your monitor replaced by a little notice that it is inactivated while you have the tv monitor activated. Or something like that.
masmedia wrote on 12/2/2007, 3:30 PM
thanks, Marks. Yes, that's basically it. I now have my timeline video in my camera by doing this, but not in my monitor... I'm off to where-ever the camera forum is! (yes, it's in vcr mode!)

thank you,


mas
masmedia wrote on 12/2/2007, 3:35 PM
got it! on my sony vx2100 it's vcr set, a/v dv out has to be off.

thanks for all the help!

masmedia wrote on 12/2/2007, 4:34 PM
p.s. what do y'all use for video monitoring while editing in Vegas? How do you have it set up?
masmedia wrote on 12/4/2007, 4:33 PM
Guys and Gals,

The reason I ask is when I got my timeline video into my TV monitor, it looked pretty bad...granted, it's just a crappy TV, not a pro monitor (oh, Santa! are you listening?).

I then tried putting my timeline video in a second, nice, computer monitor, and although the video itself looked OK, it wouldn't display effects smoothly, even if I had rendered/pre-rendered.

Can Vegas do this? Can I get my video from my timeline into a TV monitor that will look as good as the final rendered product? Every project I do looks about ten times better after it's all done and played on the DVD master, which is a good thing, I suppose. I wouldn't want it the other way around!

However, I'd like to be able to see how it's actually going to look while editing... I know I'll have to render portions of it to see the effects. What is the best way to pre-render just to see how an effect is going to look?

I also work on a big fancy Avid at my day job, and on that I can see how my project will actually look with very little pre-rendering. However, their budget and mine are from different planets!

Also, when I color correct, and I get that split screen of the corrected side and the original side, is there a way to see it full screen corrected? I'd also like to be able to see this on an external TV monitor.

I know, I know, there's lot's of stuff I'd "like". Oh, Santa, are you reading this???

Thanks!

mas
masmedia wrote on 12/10/2007, 5:30 PM
Not to be tedious, but I had the opportunity to borrow a pro Sony video monitor today and I run into basically the same issue.

My pans and some effects are chunky, although perfectly smooth after the final render and burn to DVD.

Is it possible for Vegas to accurately display video w/effects from the timeline into a monitor?

thanks
Chienworks wrote on 12/10/2007, 6:00 PM
If you're working in DV then yes, this method can produce exactly the same result as the finished render, perhaps even better if you're eventually rendering to MPEG for DVDs or some other highly compressed format. What you're doing this way is essentially the same as a print-to-tape. Make sure you have the preview set to best/full. Of course, this will slow the frame rate down in some cases. You can do RAM prerenders of small sections in order to see them full speed.
masmedia wrote on 12/10/2007, 6:03 PM
thanks. What is the most accurate way to prerender? Looks like there are a few different options.
Chienworks wrote on 12/10/2007, 6:17 PM
A RAM prerender uses the current project settings except that it matches the preview frame size. So, with preview set to best/full, a RAM prerender will be the same as your final output. Highlight the section you want to preview and press Shift-B. After it's done that section will play back full frame rate.
masmedia wrote on 12/10/2007, 6:35 PM
Beautiful! That's what I've been missing. Thanks tonnes!

mas