Screen Capture AVI file

John C wrote on 1/20/2011, 10:32 AM
Hi All:

I took a screen capture using Snagit 10 to create an AVI file. The file looks very good when viewed directly.

When I bring the file into Vegas Pro 10 and open it in the trimmer it still looks pretty good.

But when I put it on the time line the quality drops and when I render the result is poor.

Have tried different frame rates and 30 looks better but still poor. Is there some way to avoid losing the quality.

Thanks John

Comments

Silverglove wrote on 1/20/2011, 11:02 AM
Just curious, are you just trying to create a still image from the timeline? If so, there's a much easier way
John C wrote on 1/20/2011, 11:51 AM
Hi:

No, it is not a still image but a video of a software screen in use. That is one of the reasons we are puzzled. One would think that an .avi file that looks good outside of Vega Pro would integrate smoothly since we are rendering to a .avi file in Vegas Pro. But, for some reason when we put it on the timeline, the quality goes to the dogs.

Don't understand what is happening. Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks john
jabloomf1230 wrote on 1/20/2011, 12:10 PM
I haven't used SnagIt for a few versions now, but does it still use a proprietary codec for video screen capture? I could never make it work properly with Vegas either, so I resorted to using something like VirtualDub to transcode the AVI to either uncompressed or a lossless codec, depending on the clip length.
frederick-wise wrote on 1/20/2011, 12:40 PM
I use CamStudio for recording my screen. It seems to make very clear AVI files and I even moved a file into Vegas and it rendered fairly clearly. Camstudio is free the last time I looked.

http://camstudio.org/
Dave_OnSet wrote on 1/20/2011, 12:50 PM
Are you capturing the same pixel dimensions / shape as those for your Vegas project settings? If not, try limiting your capture area to the size of your Vegas project.
ChristoC wrote on 1/20/2011, 1:15 PM
Hi John. When you select the file in Vegas Explorer tab, what does it tell you about the file properties? e.g.

John C wrote on 1/20/2011, 3:48 PM
Hi All:

Thanks for the tips from everyone. I may try CamStudio or the one of the others. Will also take a look at the pixels and file info.

Thanks John