Trying to figure out what I can do with vegas...

liquid wrote on 2/11/2003, 10:00 AM

I posted about a week ago, asking people to give me examples of stuff that was done using vegas. I've got to honest here folks, I'm kind of disappointed with what I saw. The videos were short, low quality, and just generally uninteresting. The quality seemed to be extremely armature. Now what I'm wondering is that just because the files were on the web, and were extremely compressed? Or is it that that's all one can do using vegas? I'm really new to all of this, and I just have no clue. I want to get into it since I've bought a beast of a computer to do music. But before I invest in vegas, and a dv camera, I want to know that I'll be able to do high quality stuff. For example, the video I make, will it be possible to watch it on a TV screen? Once I've imported it from my camera into the computer, edited it and output it to vhs, will the quality be more or less the same as it was on the camera? Or will have to sacrifice in order to edit effectively?
If anyone has some good quality videos that they've done using vegas I'd love to see them!

Comments

Former user wrote on 2/11/2003, 10:09 AM

If you output to VHS, the quality won't be as good. If you have a digital camera, you will want to output to digital.

Vegas can produce very high quality video. Many people use it for broadcast work. The videos you see on the web have to be poor quality and short because of the file size that a good quality video produces would be hard to download or stream.

Download the demo and try it. Then you can see for yourself. If you don't have a digital camera for the demo, borrow or rent one. It would be worth your time and money.

Dave T2

Richiedude wrote on 2/11/2003, 10:14 AM

You can do alot - checkout some of my work . . .
http://umtv.info

Everything edited with vegas - effects are with vegas and after efects.
Again, video/audio quality is lower to make files viewable on the web!

mikkie wrote on 2/11/2003, 10:55 AM

"I want to know that I'll be able to do high quality stuff."

WElll.... there really isn't a short answer... It all depends on your expectations.

If you want pro broadcast quality you're not going to get close without spending thousands on a camera. If you want to create intros similar to what you see on broadcast, you'll have to invest in something like After Efects Pro & Boris & probably a 3D app for $1000+ itself. And then you've got the audio end of things where you can easily spend upwards of $20,000. At that level you wouldn't even consider anything VHS.

On the other hand, if you get a DV camcorder & learn it's weaknesses, you should be able to shoot some decent video. I mention the weakness part, because IMO a lot of dissatisfaction comes from folks not giving much thought to what works well, & what won't when it comes to lighting, the way your scene's set up, even the way it's framed. That's just the nature of DV which by design makes some compromises in order to deliver it's quality level digitally for the price to a form of tape that's cheap and easy to handle.

Once you get some footage you like, it's transferred into your PC for editing, somewhat like ripping a CD it's just a digital data transfer. [You can even skip that step using a portable hard drive that captures from your camera as you shoot]

Then you edit the video, cutting out the parts you don't want, arranging things and so on. This part can be done in virtually any editing software, though we prefer Vegas because of the way the program's laid out & the way it works. If you want to do color correction, add FX, put in some fancy scene transitions, Vegas does all that too as well or better then anything else you'll find re: NLE software.

When you're all done with your project you can output it back out to tape if that's your destination. The quality of the video that went through the process unaltered, is just the same as what you put in. When you add stuff like FX, then the video has to be re-rendered (re-compressed) and every time video goes through this compression process some generational loss is going to happen. IF your original video is decent quality, you should generally be able to go through 1 or 2 generations (or re-compressions) without being able to notice much if any quality loss. This is true for any editing you do in most any NLE.

If you go back out to tape the final result will be partly determined by the quality of your equipment and the format of the tape. In most situations it should look about the same as routing the video from your camera directly to tape. Going to VHS you're limited already, and a cheaper VHS deck & tape can limit the quality further. At the same time, the quality of the digital to analog convertor in your camcorder can cause some noise issues, as will the quality of the cables, how they're routed etc.

Tyler.Durden wrote on 2/11/2003, 11:29 AM

Hi liquid,

Vegas can do just about everything but 3D.

FWIW, I don't think you need AE or Boris, depending on what exactly you want to do. Users are working with footage acquired from VHS to HD... Obviously, the better the acquisition, the better the end product. Vegas' processing is very transparent.

You can do plenty of broadcast work with Vegas. As stated above, the whole chain of production through post needs to have integrity - Vegas could be your strongest link, not the weakest.

HTH, MPH

Tips:
http://www.martyhedler.com/homepage/Vegas_Tutorials.html

Jay Gladwell wrote on 2/11/2003, 1:13 PM

I agree with Marty. Anything you want to accomplish can be done/handled/achieved with Vegas (except 3D). It will provide you with broadcast quality material everytime, assuming you start with broadcast quality material.

A short, but true tale told by film editor Ralph Rosenblum. Many years ago some young, big shoot director shot a film that was a disaster. It just wasn't cutting together. They feared the worst. Someone suggested bringing in so-and-so (I've forgotten his name) editor who had the reputation of having the "golden touch." There wasn't anything he couldn't fix.

They brought him in, sat him down, and showed him the all footage. When it was over and the lights came up, he simply stood up, put on his jacket and started to walk toward the door. Terrified, the producer jumped up and stopped him. "What's the matter? Where are you going?" the frantic producer asked.

"I'm going home. There's nothing I can do here," the wise editor replied.

The producer pleaded, "What do you means there's nothing you can do? Why can't you fix it?"

The editor turned and headed for the door saying, "From shi* you get shi*."

Nothing in this business/art could be more true!

Grazie wrote on 2/11/2003, 2:20 PM

Tried your umtv.info link - didn't work. I'd love to see your work with VV.

Grazie

BillyBoy wrote on 2/11/2003, 3:29 PM

Hint: It isn't the tool, its the person using the tool. Like anything else some people are better suited to some things others are horrible at. I freely admit I'm all thumbs when it comes to doing anything mechanical under the hood of a car, painting or trying and failing to do a decent job will plausterboard or other simple around the house project no matter how many times somebody tries to show me. Do I blame the tools, no, its just me, with that kind of stuff I'm a klutz. However I can do almost anything with any kind of software. <wink>

Vegas is one of those rare applications that performs well at a elementary level and excells if you master it. Its what you put into the effort. The learning curve isn't that steep, but to get past the basics does require some practice and unlike me messing with things I can't do that well, like I mentioned, those things don't have a undo button, Vegas does. All I'm saying is practice makes perfect. READ the manual. Read the tips people offer here and in other forums. I'm still learning new things.