Preview goes out of focus

Leopardman wrote on 1/21/2010, 2:18 AM

I have encountered a strange problem the last couple of days specifically with MPEG HDV (1440x1080) m2t files. I have tested it against XDCAM MXF files but do not seem to have the same problem/issue.

When I preview the timeline the image displayed in the preview window goes out of focus. If I stop and restart, it wil start off in focus but after a couple of seconds it will go out of focus again. My setting for preview quality is always Best(Auto) and I never had problems before. Lowering the preview quality only makes it worse.

System configuration is as follows:
OS Windows 7 64-bit
6 GB Ram
Intel Q6600 2.4 MHz Core 2 Duo Quad
Vegas Pro 9c 64-bit and 32 bit (problem occurs in both versions)
Nvidia 8500 GT 512MB DDR2 Graphics card
2 x Philips LCD monitors, Preview window max size on 2nd monitor
Samsung HD LCD external monitor connected via HDMI and Black Magic Intensity Pro card.
2xRaid0 discs video only.
Seperate SATA drive for OS
Seperate SATA drive for rendered project files.

Thanks

Comments

Grazie wrote on 1/21/2010, 2:35 AM

Eh? Might you have gotten a "BLUR" Fx on the Track or Media or somewhere. Indulge me for a second and do a FX By-pass on the Preview window - please?

Grazie

ushere wrote on 1/21/2010, 3:15 AM

exactly which philips monitors?

i had a strange 'thing' a few years ago with a philips lcd - it worked for a while then went 'fuzzy'. never figured it out and never bought lg / philips monitors again.

farss wrote on 1/21/2010, 3:16 AM

It could be that auto adjust preview quality setting, that'll do it for sure.

Bob.

Grazie wrote on 1/21/2010, 3:23 AM

> could be that auto adjust preview quality setting,

I thought so too Bob, but then reading this doesn't make it too clear - bit "fuzzy":-

> My setting for preview quality is always Best(Auto) and I never had problems before. Lowering the preview quality only makes it worse.

Grazie

farss wrote on 1/21/2010, 4:18 AM

Yeah but the title of the thread says "goes out of focus".
No matter what you have the Preview quality set to once you enable that Auto thing it can drop down to Draft and with EX footage it will look pretty fuzzy / out of focus / soft, choose whatever word you like, compared to Best/Full.

Bob.

Leopardman wrote on 1/22/2010, 12:56 AM

Thanks for the responses, with further testing I noted the following:

As indicated in my original posting I do not experience any focus issues with MXF clips, this is primarily due to the fact that I do not have to apply any FX to any clips, the quality that I get from my Sony EX3 is superb; i.e. colour, contrast, sharpness of picture etc.

Clips shot with my V1E I get the focus problems when previewing, specifically when I've applied the following FX, Color Corrector (normally Saturation only) and/or Sharpening (light), Black and White and then I've recently acquired some of the 64-bit NewBlueFX.

What is interesting to note is when previewing a project that contains MPEG(m2t) clips, the preview settings automatically adjusts dynamically for each clip, depending on the FX used. As I indicated I normally set Preview to Best/Full, as the cursor moves along the timeline it will dynamically adjust the preview from Best Full to Auto/Quarter and back again depending on the clip and FX used.

I don't know if this is something that SCS recently changed, it is only with the last 2 projects that I've noticed it. During this time I made the following changes to my system:
Upgraded OS from Vista 64-bit to Win 7 64-bit.
Upgraded RAM from 4GB to 6 GB
Installed latest Nvidia 64-bit driver for Vista and Win 7 64-bit.

In addition I found some other "funnies" between Vista 64-bit and Win 7 64-bit. Some of the software that I use, I had to redownload (exactly the same version!!) as Win 7 would not let me install the software if downloaded whilst I was running Vista. When downloading it with Win 7, even though everything appears to be the same (i.e. release and version no.), the icons of the .exe files differ between the Vista downloaded version and the Win 7 downloaded version. I tried to regress to an earlier version of the NVidia drivers, even though its says that it is for Vista-64 bit and Win 7 64-bit, Win 7 would not allow me to install the "Vista" downloaded version. I had the same problems with NewBlueFX, had to redownload it to be able to install for Win 7. It somehow appears to have something to do with how Vista and Win 7 "recognises the "certificate".

Eddie
-------------------------------------------------
Sony EX3, Sony V1E

farss wrote on 1/22/2010, 1:17 AM

"What is interesting to note is when previewing a project that contains MPEG(m2t) clips, the preview settings automatically adjusts dynamically for each clip, depending on the FX used. As I indicated I normally set Preview to Best/Full, as the cursor moves along the timeline it will dynamically adjust the preview from Best Full to Auto/Quarter and back again depending on the clip and FX used.

Yes, this is something new added in V9 and you can turn it off.
R Click the Preview window and untick "Adjust size and quality for optimal playback"

Bob.

Grazie wrote on 1/22/2010, 1:41 AM

Bob wont do it, so I'll have to do it for myself I guess.

Just where in this post DID you say that you had had placed any FX on those clips? Hmmm? It wasn't prior to when I asked if you had added some?

So Bob and I were BOTH correct. Adding an FX onto an Event WILL automatically, if Vegas needs to, put your Preview into a lower quality Preview to try and sustain for you the FPS you need to Preview IF you have this feature engaged.

I was on the correct road with you too! You weren't just showing plain ole clips. You were showing clips that had had FXs added to them too. Now, dear heart/friend, do a test and remove ALL the FXs see what happens? Yes? See if you get your full quality and fps. If you do, then good for you. If you DON'T - and here IS my point - then you may have a problem.

The first lesson I learnt doing any science was to set up a control experiment and adjust ONE parameter. Yeah yeah yeah, it's more complex than that, but it has held me in good shape since.

Grazie