Right Render Size For VHS

JimMSG wrote on 3/11/2003, 7:46 AM
I have nearly a three hour video ready for a client, and have to make a VHS master of it. I am using the ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 7500, and have no difficulty hooking up to the VHS machine. What I am having difficulty with is getting the picture the proper size for the TV. I assume I need to render as MPG1, but what size do I need to specify. All my attempts so far have returned the same results, a small border around the edge of the frame that is visible on the TV. Playing back other files I haven't made to a TV look just fine, so what am I doing wrong? What do I need to tell Vegas 3 to do, to create the right size frame for VHS and TV?

Jim

Comments

jetdv wrote on 3/11/2003, 9:19 AM
Why not just print directly from the timeline, through the firewire port, through your camera/convertor/deck to the VCR/TV?
TheHappyFriar wrote on 3/11/2003, 10:37 AM
He's like me and can't afford the DV 2 Alonog converter. :) I do the same thing.

I render as a Divx AVI 640x480. You can actuatly use whatever video file plays well on your computer, but Divx works best for me. Render in 640x480. It helps to make your project in that size too (when you start). When you render, make sure you have the "Stretch video to fill output frame size (do not letterbox)" and you'll be A-OK. That solved all my problems with black bars when playing on my TV. Just remember that the video you make is actuatly bigger then the viewable area on the TV screen.
Bear wrote on 3/11/2003, 6:17 PM
Well that is three of us that do it that way:-)
JimMSG wrote on 3/12/2003, 2:46 AM
I'm not sure there is enough hard drive space left on the drives to handle the necessary rendering, but more importantly, Vegas stopped outputing via firewire, and I haven't figured out why. It can capture just fine, but print to tape and print from the timeline don't work anymore. Can a firewire cable work in just one direction? Is there any way to hook it up to an ohm meter to test it?
JimMSG wrote on 3/12/2003, 2:51 AM
Can you render to Divx AVI from Vegas? I know the Divx files I have won't open in Vegas, and assumed I couldn't render to that either. I know that the Divx files I do have, though, fill the screen and would do the same on VHS. I'll have to look and see if I can figure out how to render to that format.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 3/12/2003, 7:15 AM
If you have vegas 3, you can't use Divx. Divx only works in V4. Try Windows Media though. That should play nice.
JimMSG wrote on 3/12/2003, 8:27 AM
Okay, I didn't think V3 did divx. Rats! I am planning on getting V4, but I'm trying to swing it so I can get DVD Architect as well. Media player won't provide me with a full screen picture on a TV or VHS tape though, will it? What I've been using is File Player which came with my ATI card. I do have some utilities and codecs that aren't from SF lurking in my system. I'm not sure, but it seems to me one of them will generate divx format files from other formats. What would you recommend I render the video to first if I do have something like that? I doubt it would interface with Vegas or work from a .veg file.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 3/12/2003, 9:05 AM
Media Player supports full screen. When your video is playing, hit the ALT+ENTER keys. It will go full screen, but... The tv-out on the Radeon will automaticly convert your video to full TV screen. Well, mine does and I have the Radeon 8500 LE. I'm not sure about the video out on the AIW though.
jthor wrote on 3/12/2003, 9:10 PM
You guys are way beyond me. I had strange things going on when my WD Firewire seemed to NOT do things I was sure I did before (since I am still learning). It was only 3 months old. Got a replacement and all was well imediately, especially print to tape. Still, it is a chore to go thru replacement just to see unless your store will take a return, like Fry's.
JimMSG wrote on 3/13/2003, 7:49 AM
I know the feeling so well. When I first starting using Vegas, a client came in with a mini-DV he needed on a Digital 8. Another client had left their mini-DV with me so I could load her stuff into the computer. This was the first time I used the video portion of Vegas. In fact, the only reason I was putting in lady's video was because it was the only source of some audio she needed me to fix.

Anyway...I dropped the other clients mini-DV into Vegas using capture, and then popped it onto a digital 8 tape with print to tape. I know it worked in the past, and can't imagine why it should stop. What I don't know enough about is firewire. I am hoping it can partially work, and the outbound video portion has somehow gotten busted. Replacing the cable would certainly be the easiest thing to fix.
JimMSG wrote on 3/13/2003, 7:59 AM
Yes, I was able to make it work too. There were a couple of gotchas involved, but I think I may have learned where the problem needs to be addressed. First, a three minute video took 17 plus minutes to render into divx 5.0.3 (I must admit, I'm not sure if I totally understood all the various settings. Perhaps if I used something other than best it would speed up, but as this is a client project I'm making a duplication master for, I have to make it as high a quality as I can.) so this would mean my client's 2:47:28.23 video is going to take close to 18 hours to render.

Still, that could work except for one thing. When I played back the divx test clip I had made, it didn't fill the whole screen. A little more experimentation, and I learned that none of the files or players I have will fill the entire TV screen. I'm using the TV as an extended desktop. This is wonderful for Vegas because I can move the preview window off my mixer desktop, and make it bigger. Looking closely though, the desktop itself doesn't cover the entire composite monitor or TV screen.

I don't know what I can do to try to correct this either. I have somehow lost a bunch of the controls I used to see when I opened the video properties advanced settings. This seemed like a good excuse to check for upgrades, and download them. Haven't had time to install them yet, but I'm hoping they will help. Any clues on how to get the desktop to completely cover the TV screen?