Plugin for overlay in second monitor?

Sebaz wrote on 9/10/2009, 3:06 PM

I wonder if it's possible to write a plugin or some kind of extension to force Vegas to send the second monitor preview to the overlay so that it's accelerated by the graphics card and it can display interlaced HD properly in the second monitor, when the second monitor is an HDTV. As it is, Vegas displays the timeline as progressive in the second monitor, even after rendering to RAM. The same footage, if burned to a blu-ray disc or DVD in blu-ray format, and then played in a software player that takes advantage of the graphic card's overlay, shows interlaced just fine, and it's easy to tell also because when the graphics card is processing the video you can adjust color settings from its own control panel, but adjusting the color settings there doesn't change anything in Vegas' second monitor output.

Maybe for someone who knows how to do it it's not so hard, it would be great to have that ability.

Comments

JJKizak wrote on 9/10/2009, 4:26 PM

Matrox has been doing this for years with the Parhelia card. I used to have all my preview to go out component wise to the HDTV.I can't even remember how to do it anymore and I still have the card in #3 computer. I got really pissed at the new 500 dollar 8800 Nvidia card that could only output to two 1920 x 1080P monitors. Now you need two video cards. I used to have 4 monitors, now only two with a lot of switching. But I do believe the HDTV was only 1080i which I switched to mom's computer.
JJK

Former user wrote on 9/10/2009, 6:11 PM

Bottom of this list might be what you want.

http://www.mikecrash.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=13

Sebaz wrote on 9/10/2009, 6:58 PM

Thanks for the tip, but I downloaded it, installed it and it doesn't appear in the list of filters, which is what it's supposed to be. Maybe it was done for an earlier version of Vegas than 8.

Former user wrote on 9/10/2009, 7:30 PM

I just installed it on another computer running V8 and it works fine. Shows up in filters just as it should.

When you ran the EXE did you install it to the correct filter folder. (If you have more than one version of Vegas installed, it might find the wrong folder).

Otherwise, it appears to work fine with Version 8 for me.

added: also make sure you restart Vegas. It won't show up if you are running it while you install the filter.

Dave T2

Sebaz wrote on 9/10/2009, 8:38 PM

I finally made it work, but it's not useful. Whether I apply it as track filter or an event one, it slows down the playback quite a lot, and if I do either a RAM preview or a pre-render, it won't show the loop that I just sent to RAM or pre-rendered. It seems to be that something like this shouldn't be designed as a filter, but rather as a different type of plugin that will go in the "Video Hardware Drivers" in the Vegas folder.

albert_kes wrote on 9/11/2009, 2:53 AM

DaveT2, good plug-in TV OUT, only I will not understand - he needs to be bought or not?

Former user wrote on 9/11/2009, 5:50 AM

I have not played with it much. Did you try applying it on the Final Output (where you switch the monitor out).

Albert, these filters are free.

Dave T2

megabit wrote on 9/11/2009, 6:51 AM

I might be wrong, but my impression has always been the secondary display IS actually using the overlay (at least with ATI hw / Catalyst sw).

If you uncheck "Use color management" in the Windows Secondary Display property window, you can use Catalyst to adjust the picture.

I don't know about displaying interlaced, as I work 100% with progressive.

Sebaz wrote on 9/11/2009, 3:02 PM

If you uncheck "Use color management" in the Windows Secondary Display property window, you can use Catalyst to adjust the picture.

It doesn't work that way for me. I have a HIS Radeon 4850 1 GB with the latest Catalyst drivers and whether it's checked or not, it doesn't use the overlay. If it were, I could adjust the color settings in Catalyst (provided of course, that "Use application settings" is unchecked) as I do with any other software that uses the overlay. But in Vegas this has no effect. I can only adjust the color settings in Catalyst if I use the TVOut plugin, but I can't use it because of the reasons I stated before.

megabit wrote on 9/12/2009, 1:20 AM

Strange. I also have a HIS card, just an older model (HD 3870), and I can use Catalyst to adjust the color, after unchecking the "Use color management" option in Vegas...

Are you running your 2 desktops in Theater mode?

Sebaz wrote on 9/12/2009, 9:14 AM

Are you running your 2 desktops in Theater mode?

I tried with and without Theater Mode, it really doesn't make a difference.

megabit wrote on 9/12/2009, 9:19 AM

I tried with and without Theater Mode, it really doesn't make a difference

Well, it should. Vegas can use the secondary monitor in either mode, but some systems don't - e.g. Edius will only display its monitor window full-screen if you configure Catalyst into Theater mode.

And from the configuration dialogs of Edius, I'm almost certain it uses the secondary display's overlay...

Sebaz wrote on 9/12/2009, 10:30 AM

I think what you must be referring to as being able to adjust the color settings is the desktop settings, but not the video settings. There are separate settings in Catalyst for the desktop such as hue, saturation in one panel and then Gamma, Brightness and Contrast in a different panel (mostly because the ATI programmers are a bunch or morons that never learned how to make things accessible) and then there's the "Avivo Video" panel, where you adjust everything that goes to the overlay.

Now, I was just reading that for Theater Mode to work, the application has to send the output in overlay mode, so I tested it with GOM player, in which you can select Overlay or the VMR7 and VMR9 modes. Theater mode only works when Overlay is selected in GOM. The problem with Overlay mode is that Windows 7 switches to Basic, which is annoying, and incredibly ugly. But whatever Vegas uses, it's not overlay mode. I doubt that it is WMR7 or 9 either, because other software like Windows Media Player, TotalMedia Theater and VLC use graphic acceleration but theater mode doesn't work with them, you can only drag the window to the second monitor and make it full screen.

megabit wrote on 9/12/2009, 11:26 AM

Yep - you're right; I was trying the desktop settings; sorry for the confusion.

JJKizak wrote on 9/12/2009, 3:25 PM

The overlay will work if you use Nero or media Player to play back your previews automatically. However, your video card will do any two but not three at the same time---"two monitors" or "one monitor and one overlay". And it depends on the software supplied with your video card. The Matrox Parhelia video card will do two monitors and one overlay at the same time. But the ovelay is only 720P.
JJK

Sebaz wrote on 9/12/2009, 6:21 PM

The overlay will work if you use Nero or media Player to play back your previews automatically.

What do you mean play back previews automatically?

JJKizak wrote on 9/13/2009, 5:00 AM

I should have said using preview to ram, not playing from the timeline. Playing from the timeline will go to the second monitor and preview to ram to the overlay HDTV via Nero Showtime or Media Player. My old setup had the CRT as secondary monitor for playing from the timeline, LCD as primary monitor, HDTV as the overlay monitor (component output) and another LCD picking off the ADVC 300.
JJK

Sebaz wrote on 9/13/2009, 7:19 AM

How do you make the RAM preview go to the overlay?

JJKizak wrote on 9/13/2009, 7:43 AM

The Matrox software does it with their Parhelia video card. As I recall you just select some options in the Matrox software. The rest is automatic. I don't think that any other video card can do this. Their card can control three monitors at the same time. I had to upgrade to an EVA NVIDIA 8800 ( controls two monitors at the same time) to pass the Bluray stuff or I would still have the same setup with Matrox. I still have the card in an older computer and will check it out today.
JJK