Using After Effects on MPEG-2 Created by Vegas

Wisconjon wrote on 9/19/2007, 12:32 PM

I'm trying to get my organization into using more video (on the web, in small videos used for recruitment/retention of members, etc.)

So far I've gotten them on board enough to let me use Vegas w/ Sorenson Squeeze for online videos. I've also created some shorts that we can use.

Generally, we use footage that's already been rendered...

Now, I want them to get a DV/Mini DV Player so we can capture video, some podcasting gear, and...After Effects CS3.

For obvious reasons, I'm looking at CS3. We've got the Web Premium Suite already and I'm cool with Adobe's work.

However, I know very little about titling software. For our uses, we'll want to add some dynamic titles that look good, as well as using it to focus in on photos that will be used like B-Roll.

The question I have is:

1) Is this a good use of company funds to invest $1,000 if I'm currently somewhat ignorant to the full uses of After Effects (but am willing to learn, if only from a Visual QuickPro guide or the like)?

2) Will After Effects interact fine with the output from Vegas?

3) Is there another option that might work better?

Just so ya know, money is not really an issue, but I don't want my company to buy $1000 in software that I'm not conversant in, and then have it be really impossible to make it work well. Also, I've been using the promo copy for a couple of days and it won't import MPEG-2's that I rendered in Vegas. Thus the concern about whether the full version will work.

Thank you :-)

Comments

rmack350 wrote on 9/19/2007, 1:46 PM

mpeg2 is much better for finished products than it is to edit with. It's designed for distribution. Still, if that's what you've got...

I don't know how AEFX performs with mpeg2 footage. I'll bet there's a trial to download.

1 Is it a good use of funds? Consider that they should put some money into training as well. A subscription to Lynda.com might be a very good investment because you get ALL the videos.

AEFX does an awful lot and you might find it does more than you really need. Vegas can do many of the most common things you'd want AEFX for.

2 Will AEFX interact well with Vegas? The drill with Vegas is to export footage in a usable codec or in a still image sequence. You do the same in AEFX to bring it back to Vegas. Premiere Pro currently has a better workflow because the two are more integrated, but the way you'd have to work with Vegas is the way everyone has had to work for years. It's manageable.

3 AEFX is an all-around tool. You might find other tools that do specific things, or you might try a competitor like Red. You might also find that you can do all you need with Vegas and Photoshop.

I've heard that the DV Rebel's Guide gives great insites into using AEFX as a finishing tool. Might want to get that onto your bookshelf.

Rob Mack

Wisconjon wrote on 9/19/2007, 2:00 PM

Thanks! This is very helpful.

So, if I capture using Vegas, is there some other way to bring it into AEFX that will work better? Is there a tutorial on this somewhere?

I read your comments about how to bring this into AEFX in a usable codec or still image sequence, but might need more direction on how one does that (what is a usable codec? How do you bring a series of stills into AEFX?)

rmack350 wrote on 9/19/2007, 2:12 PM

DV AVIs are certainly usable but maybe you'd want to watch your video levels because Vegas uses it's own internal DV codec and AEFX will use Microsoft's.

There are lots of tutorials on afterFX. You might try here for free stuff: http://wikivid.com/index.php/After_Effects.

You might check to see if AEFX can import an AAF file. That could get your basic edit structure into after effects. Otherwise you're looking at renders from Vegas.

Download a trial and test.

Rob Mack

Wisconjon wrote on 9/21/2007, 10:08 AM

again...much thanks!

MPM wrote on 9/22/2007, 10:25 AM

FWIW as Rob says, mpg2 is a delivery format... If you need to use it in AE, see if AE has avs file support like Prem Pro... Using DGIndex and AvySynth is a well known workflow to get quality editing out of mpg2 footage.

If all you're doing is online shorts, you might want to look at other hardware/software as well. One of the 1st lessons folks learn doing 3D FX, is that useless resolution is, well, useless. Add in the transition/titling restrictions of web format encoding, and a lot of fancy stuff becomes a liability -- not an asset.

Also, if you want to so something more involved, you might want to check with your web site folks on the possibility of using something other than flash (which I assume from the Squeeze -- apologies if I'm wrong). The limited fps in Flash might make it harder for you to pull off what you want.