More Vegas bugaboo's

arcorob wrote on 8/19/2004, 10:50 AM
First, if you don't know it, I do love Vegas. But what I loved about V4 (Consistancy) is just not there in V5.
EXample, my prior post on how that thrid part codec behaved. Now true, I had to say IGNORE THIRD PARTY CODECS but I had already checked use VEGAS DEFAULT CODEC, etc..It gives the appearnce of asking you the same question twice.

Other glitches

when doing simple crossfades, click 4 times to the right on the timeline to do a cut. It may move 4 frames, clicks moves whatever, or iit may move only 3 in which case, I don't have the overlap I want and have to undo and do again.

Bezier masks...where do I start ? How hard is it to design a trace tool ? Instead I have to anchor, move, anchor, move, ooops, messed up, cant fix so have to erase all and start again. The instructions would be great if they worked.

Tried 24P...wonderful ! Excpet I have to render as a 24p avi because a 24p mpeg doesnt take audio ...ummm..and why praytell ? Sio I drag the avi to DVDA and it renders as it builds and who knows what it is rendering as ..

Just alot of klugy things.....Anyone have fixes for these please let me know especially the bezier masks...I can't get that dang tool to work right for nothing.

Comments

jetdv wrote on 8/19/2004, 11:00 AM
The two options are:

Ignore third party DV codecs (should be checked)
Use Microsoft DV codec (should NOT be checked)

There is no "Vegas default codec" option.

I am not following you on the crossfade problem.

The bezier masking points can be adjusted individually without having to delete. You can also switch between curved and straight very easily. Just change between the various tools down the left side of the dialog box.

For MPEG files, you should be rendering your audio to a separate AC-3 file anyway.

Chienworks wrote on 8/19/2004, 11:22 AM
I think we need more information on your crossfade problem. I can't figure out what you are doing from your description.

Why can't you render MPEG files with audio? I didn't look at every last MPEG template listed, but all the ones i did look at either include audio or let you include it, even the 24p templates. I just now rendered a DVD 24p MPEG2 file and included the audio with no trouble.
db wrote on 8/19/2004, 11:24 AM
ignore 3rd party codec's is there because some codec's will install themselves as defaults ( as in over writing all other programs pointers to their own codec like Vegas) ....

don't understand the crossfade ??

bezier masks is time consuming and it has a higher learning curve compared to other fx's .. it takes time and patience ... this was NOT meant to do rotoscoping ... more for cutting out shapes and to use on photo's like the film - the kid still in the picture !! you can roto but for easier roto work you would use motion tracking software - then roto it - then apply the tracking data back to the clip.

DVDA is rendering the avi to mpeg and the audio to AC3 .. if you want to render a 24fps mpeg in Vegas with audio .. you use the mpeg 2 template DVD NTSC .. then click on custom - video .. change frame rate to either 24 or 23.976 .. or 23.976+pull down .. your choice ...
arcorob wrote on 8/20/2004, 7:56 AM
Thank you all for the replies...To elaborate

I have tow matched films. One over the other, synced. I want say a 20 second piece from timeline 2 and to put it in timeline 1. I set my markes. clip the second timeline AT both markers. To get a cross fade, I clip the top timeline just slightly IN from the markers, 4 in from the left, 4 in from the right. When I say 4 in, I mean 4 right arrow in, 4 left arrow in and do my cuts.

I then drag the 20 second piece from below, paste it in and viola, i have the crossfade, etc. But the problem I am encountering is on the 4 clicks of the right or left arrow. Sometimes it does not move for 1 click so I wind up OFF a bit.

As to the rendering, thanks for the custom tip..duhh I should have thought if that but on the pull down templates, there is no MPEG 2 24P with sound. It is DVD NTSC 24P Video MPEG 2 but unlike the avi, it doesn't include sound.

I will try the other method.

So you all say take off USE MS DV CODEC and leave on Ignore third party ? Thanks, thats great !! The ignore third party fixed that darkening problem...that one should be in support notes somewhere
rs170a wrote on 8/20/2004, 8:19 AM
So you all say take off USE MS DV CODEC and leave on Ignore third party ?
That's what it says on p. 264 in the manual.

that one should be in support notes somewhere
Read all about codec issues (and much more)
here.

Mike
Chienworks wrote on 8/20/2004, 8:28 AM
The left & right arrow keys move by screen pixels. Depending on how far you have zoomed in to the timeline, this could be tiny fractions of a frame or whole minutes. This is not a reliable way to judge time increments. Alt-arrow will move in single frame increments no matter how far you've zoomed in. However, a single frame is a very short amount of time so you'll probably have to do a lot of Alt-arrow presses to get the amount of time you want. We may have to examine other cursor positioning methods to meet your needs.
jetdv wrote on 8/20/2004, 9:19 AM
If you need to precisely extend the beginning or end of a clip by a few frames, you might want to look at using the Numpad keys. These are detailed in the latest issue of my newsletter.
db wrote on 8/20/2004, 9:54 AM
" It is DVD NTSC 24P Video MPEG 2 but unlike the avi, it doesn't include sound"

just to be clear - this is no DVD NTSC 24p template .. there is a DVD Arcitect 24P NTSC video stream template and as you have notoice there is no audio.

if you want mpeg2 at 24fps with audio ...
use the DVD NTSC template ..go into custom - video - then change the frame rate to your choosing 23.976, 24 , etc ....
arcorob wrote on 8/20/2004, 10:10 AM
Thanks to ALL for the answer !!!

vegas is like the galaxy..just when you think you've gone really far, there is always another stellar technique to learn.......:-)