Is it uncompressed preview with firewire?
Do you have to render when using xrossfades and color corrections on video? + other fx´s

It's DV output, and DV is compressed. But that's what you asked about. DV is always compressed.

You don't have to render, but the frame rate will drop depending on the complexity of the effects, filters, and number of tracks. You can always get a realtime preview no matter what, but you may need to render more complex areas to get full frame rate for fluid motion.

And... for some critical transitions you can easily "ram render" the segment which will allow you to quickly see a full frame rate view of the area.

Bottom line is that you never <have> to render any part of your timeline in order to see it out on the external preview.. you merely get a reduced framerate.

Do you know how canopus Acedvio works with vegas? Can I use realtime monitor preview with it?

Pretty well any firewire -> analogue interface will work with Vegas. What you get will be roughly the same performance as you get on the internal preview.
Bob.

So far, only stipulation with RAM built renders, any SYNCed Cursor locked within the PanCrop Keyframe timeline, you need to unlock it, otherwise you only get 2 frames of RAM built Preview.

Somtimes I pre-render over a complex and processor intensive section - lotsa FXs and borders and masking - prior to "Render As".

Vegas is "Hardware Agnostic", it hasn't gone down the dedicated Card route - I guess the developers decided that if they keep the "system" lean and mean they could assure people that not having to need a card they could also say that the issues over card compliance/drivers - I think others have isses here { yuck yuck ] - aren't part of a "problem". And to para phrase Kelly above, Mobos, CPUs and RAM have become faster, thereby making the "need" for cards becoming less and less an issue. And this maybe another reason why the developers recognised how unnecessary having a separate card would finally become.

The ACEDVio? My expereince has been that I can't keep the firewire video stream device connected - cammie or deck - while previewing. You have to disconnect the firewire I/O video stream. Then you can see the Preview. We had a discussion about this in the last 2 months .. . read it up .. .very valuable. The only thing I use now, on the ACEDVio, is the f/w socket. I use a Pannie DV deck as my switching device, this in turn is connected to a VHS Pannie VCR.

Grazie

'Vegas is "Hardware Agnostic", it hasn't gone down the dedicated Card route '

Hey Grazie.... that's one of the better coined phrases I've seen in a long time.

Then you've missed a LOT of Vegas marketing collateral.
Format Agnostic/Resolution independent
Resolution Agnostic/Format friendly
Hardware Agnostic/Realtime processing
Format independent

Are all part of various Vegas marketing collateral for the past 5 years.

"Format Agnostic/Resolution independent"

That's my favorite one. I tell that to users of other NLE's, and they have to stop and think. Then they'll say, "But what about....." and they stop, and think, and realize that almost any question or rebuttal they have is answered in that phrase. Beauty!

The other day I had a guy scold me for not having a whiz-bang video card. "You mean all the video editing you do, and you don't have a 3-D card?" (He's an Adobe guy, only because he doesn't know any better)

And I told him, you don't need it for editing.
him (very slowly, as if I"m 3) - "Oh yes, you do"
me - "Not with Sony Vegas"
him - "You have to have a high end graphics card to render to the screen"
me - "Not with Sony Vegas"

etc etc.

There are so many misinformed people out there. I just joined a local Houston PVA. We had a meeting at a vendor's shop, and they were all about Adobe, Liquid Edition, and Macs. Absolutely zero Vegas (the vendor, not the user group apparantly).
And I'm the new guy, right? So I don't say a whole lot, preferring to listen to the vendor-guy tout his wares. And he was good, but then he got into HDV and how no other system but Edition could process it.
me - "Vegas can"
him (nicely) - "I don't think so, not natively"
me (confused) - "uh.....I think there's a capture utility you have to download..."

I lost that one, cause I don't do any HD.

Then he said "All NLE's crash" and I"m like "Grrrrrrrr.... Vegas doesn't"

Anyway....I'm OT enough as it is. I can only hope that I can spread some Vegas cheer amongst the group, maybe get an expert in there or possibly bring some of their questions back to the forum.

Sorry for the OT slant ...

"Hardware Agnostic"
err... then I can run it on a Mac or a 286? :)
"Format Agnostic"
I'm trying to edit some old 8mm footage... should I place it in the the floppy drive or the cup-holder thingy? :)

"Format Agnostic"

till you hit the 2048 x 2048 limit .. :(

Basically, i feel that one of the major factors actually slowing Vegas promotion and acceptation in semi-pro and pro world is the fact that it doesn't support hardware solutions.

Maybe because it is not scalable as Avid or Final Cut are, but also because video hardware resellers have no interest to push it as a solution.

They just prefer to convince their clients that they have to buy dedicated hardware accelerators, approved turn key PCs, and the support that follows to make professionnal video work...

It is a damn shame more users are not asking the same question? When is Sony going to speed up the render. If they are not going the way of the hardware board accelerator how about setting vegas up to take full advantage of dual processors and ram. 15% increase using dual processors to render is only 15% faster than slow. All this said it is a joy to use vegas having experienced the Hell of Canopus/ premiere.