This is HUGE NEWS! and can't wait to have the final build.
We'll see you in Vegas, Dennis!

I'm so impressed with SoFo - You are the only company to truly listen and give the consumer what they want...

This is hands down THE BEST NL EDITOR ON THE PLANET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Veasna: according to the Yahoo! article, it will be available for download on Monday the 7th.

Thanks, for the info. I was so excited I didn't even click and read the article on yahoo until after I sent out my inquiry. This is awesome work, SF!! Congratulations for all your fantastic and consistent excellence in your product!

-Veasna

very good news, one problem now... SPOTs gonna have to add some more pages to his book!!! =P

Brian
www.influx-media.com

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-DOOOOOOOOOOGGGGGGGGGGGIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


You folks rule.


mph

Sonic Dennis,

This sounds great, but I need a little enlightenment on this point:

"Also, Vegas 4.0b can now to render 24p MPEG-2 (with TFF and RFF pulldown flags) for DVD, which DVD Architect can burn to disc with no recompression. This is 20% more efficient than compressing to 60i, and that savings can be used for additional footage or higher bitrates (better quality)."

Would rendering to 24p MPEG-2 be generally recommmended for all DVDs to be played on set top players, or only for those projects originating as HD progressive footage? How would a 24p DVD be displayed by a TV? don't all TVs displays fields?

Also, from that press release, what does the first number mean in "1080/60i" if its not the frame size?

"Support for HD editing and rendering of high-definition video to .avi, .mov, MPEG-2, Windows Media 9 Series, RealVideo 9, .png, and .jpeg sequences, at 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p, 720/60p, 720/30p and 720/24p, all with frame sizes of up to 2048 x 2048."

Thanks for the info, and thanks for the update.

G

<Also, Vegas 4.0b can now to render 24p MPEG-2 (with TFF and RFF pulldown flags) for DVD, which DVD Architect can burn to disc with no recompression. This is 20% more efficient than compressing to 60i, and that savings can be used for additional footage or higher bitrates (better quality).>

Does this mean if my footage is on minidv I can convert it 24p MEPG-2 in DVD Architect and render it that way?

Q: Would rendering to 24p MPEG-2 be generally recommmended for all DVDs to be played on set top players, or only for those projects originating as HD progressive footage?

A: I would recommend only using the 24p DVD template for 24p projects using 24p source media. Note that you can use 24p DV source media; it doesn't have to be HD to be 24p.

Q: How would a 24p DVD be displayed by a TV? don't all TVs displays fields?

A: The MPEG-2 decoder in the player repeats fields as necessary to create 60i output; it effectively does pulldown insertion on-the-fly. Higher-end so-called "progressive" players can use the 24p MPEG to better create a 480p progressive output (although most of those players can also deal with 60i MPEG that has had pulldown inserted before rendering).

Q: Also, from that press release, what does the first number mean in "1080/60i" if its not the frame size?

A: 1080 is the number of lines, there are 1920 pixels wide. Likewise, for the smaller HD resolution (720), there are 1280 pixels wide.

///d@

Q: Does this mean if my footage is on minidv I can convert it 24p MEPG-2 in DVD Architect and render it that way?

A: If it's AG-DVX100 24p footage, then yes, by all means use the new 24p DVD MPEG-2 template. If it's (standard) 60i or 30p footage, I would recommend sticking with a 60i or 30p project and rendering that to the regular MPEG-2 template.

There are ways of converting 60i (and sometimes even 30p) footage to 24p, but you may lose vertical detail. We mention a method in the online help.

///d@

I am still new to this 24p stuff, does that mean I don't have to use the programs
such as DVFILM Maker or BLADE?

I suppose support for PAL 25p DVX100 was there from the start? If not, is it there now? Cam is soon to be released in Europe.

Q: does that mean I don't have to use the programs such as DVFILM Maker or BLADE?

A: Correct, you won't need them, Vegas will read the 24p DV as 24p and can write it back out.

///d@

Q: I suppose support for PAL 25p DVX100 was there from the start? If not, is it there now? Cam is soon to be released in Europe.

A: For the most part, yes, the existing PAL support would have (theoretically) worked with the 50i/25p version of the DVX100, with the only problem being that Panasonic didn't mark the 30p footage as progressive, so I'm guessing they made the same mistake with 25p. With the previous version, you can use the Media Properties settings to treat the mis-marked streams as progressive, but with the new version (4.0b), Vegas now detects all variants (25p/50i/30p/60i/24p/24pa) using the special Panasonic coding in the DV headers, so it will work without messing with the media properties. Again, I've never tested with the PAL version of the camera, but we coded it so 25p/50i should be properly detected.

///d@

Thank you, Dennis, this is very good news, and another push for this excellent program over here in Europe! A.

Congraturation for a big step forward!

I am interested in D1 I/O capability. Can Vegas Video 4.0b now capture and output D1 10 bit?

Very recently, Black Magic DeckLink Pro came out and Acard released 4 channel IDE RAID card. By two things combined, D1 work can be done in Final Cut Pro at incredibly lower cost than before. (DeckLink Pro: $ 1300, 720 GB RAID 0: $900) DeckLink Pro can I/O SDI, analog component, DV out directly to SDI and ananlog component, online-quality MJPEG, realtime CC in FCP... and the D1 10 bit codec known to be the best on the earth.

As I know, Black Magic is trying to support PC, too. Acard 4 channel RAID card supports PC already. So, if Vegas Video 4.0b can support standard QuickTime architecture, it could do the same thing that FCP can do. Blue Fish (PC version of DigitalVoodoo) is another contender. Since QuickTime is the standard middleware so far, supporting it is very important. Microcosm codec is another cool thing, too, that requires QuickTime.

I'd like to know how Vegas Video 4.0b is dealing with D1 10 bit or QuickTime architecture. Thanks in advance...

Q: I'd like to know how Vegas Video 4.0b is dealing with D1 10 bit or QuickTime architecture.

A: Vegas 4 (as did Vegas 3) can read and write QuickTime using most any QuickTime codec. A while back with Vegas 3, using a VideoPump card, I read 8- and 10-bit 4:2:2 files in QuickTime format captured with that hardware. I was able to render 8-bit files (there is currently no advantage to rendering 10-bit files). The 8-bit files also read on a system without the VideoPump codecs installed, using the "Component Video" QT codec.

///d@

I dont want to sound stupid but Im sure others like myself who dont know are wondering the same thing. With regards to 1080i, etc... If I capture my footage from minidv at 720x480, if I convert my final project to 1080i/p, wont my footage degrade?

I just spent $3k on a gl2 for high quality and am getting this feeling that I wont be able to take advantage of this 1080i that seems to be the rage, nor can I take advantage of the 24p.

Hi AS,

You're on the right track, a conversion from DV to 1080i might look like good DV or bad 1080i...

On the other hand, you can use Vegas to convert yor GL2 output to 24p if you like the look (720 or 1080).


HTH, MPH

AcidSex, <-- now where did that name come from?

Currently there isn't a good method of distributing high definition video to the masses. So your Canon GL2 is going to be fine as far as your audience can tell. Even if you did have an HD camera, if you reduce the resolution for DVD output or VHS, then it's going to look almost the same as what your GL2 will put out.

There are a few methods of playing back HD video (digital VHS for instance), which is good for large projection screens and such, but for wide spread distribution there's no good way to do it. Yet.

JBJones

Actually the name came from my days of djing in the clubs. Sounded catchy and made most people stop and take a second look. DJ AcidSex.

Ah, I was a club DJ too. Always good to meet a fellow jock.

Mark
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