Vegas Movie Studio PLUS DVD

Kevin4580 wrote on 10/7/2004, 12:05 PM

Hi
I am interested in purchasing this software. Can anybody tell me how good is it in allowing me to layer 2 video images on top of each other. One of the images would be shot over a "green screen" and then superimposed through the software.

How well does it handle hair blowing in he wind??

Is there another software that has a betterCapture, Edit (chromakey) and Burn feature for the same money??

Thanks

Kev

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 10/7/2004, 12:32 PM

I think almost everyone on this forum will agree that this is the best product of its kind under $99. It's stable, loaded with features and makes efficient use of your resources.

And you bet it will do chromakey! In fact, I think it was the first under-$100 program to offer it.

As it's available on the web for as low as $70, it's a lot of bang for the buck!

djcc wrote on 10/7/2004, 1:53 PM

Download the free trial version and check it out for yourself. I doubt you will be disappointed.

vitalforces wrote on 10/7/2004, 3:03 PM

There's also a $99 product said to have good chromakeying and multiple video tracks, Canopus' "Let's Edit," but it doesn't have the audio features that--well, no one but Sony has (in the same GUI).

Kevin4580 wrote on 10/8/2004, 11:03 AM

Thanks for your feedback...it certainly seems like the right product.

With respect to the chromakeying... are there any tips you can share with me as to what to do to get the best results..for example lighting , distance, etc??

Kevin

Steve Grisetti wrote on 10/8/2004, 11:44 AM

Well, naturally the cleaner the color contrast between what you want removed and what you don't want removed will make for a cleaner chromakey.

If someone is standing in front of a green wall, for instance, and their shadow falls on the wall or the tone of the color is uneven, you'll get an uneven key. By the same token, if your foreground object contains colors that you're trying to key out, the foreground will become transparent in spots.

Green (or sometimes blue) are used most often for chromakeys because they don't appear in fleshtones. The weatherman, though, has to make sure he doesn't wear a green shirt in front of his green screen or he will appear as a floating head!

But I'm sure you already know that.

Just use a flat, consistent, unusual color for the background you want to remove. (Vegas lets you designate any color as your key color.) And use contrasting colors for what you do want to keep. Make sense?

Beelzebob wrote on 10/8/2004, 12:29 PM

Is there an audio editing feature I missed in MS 3.0? I see that VMS 4.0 lists 'audio restoration tools' as a new feature. I downloaded the Sony Audio Studio 7.0 Trial and ran the 'vinyl restoration' filter on my whole project. I was just hoping it would attenuate some clicks and pops, but it completely eliminated every one of them - I was really impressed. I even think my entire audio sounds better - peoples' voices seem more clear, although maybe that's because I've heard each line 500 times now. If the new audio cleaning tool in VMS 4.0 is similar to what I used, that alone is worth the upgrade, or initial purchase, IMHO. Again, I am very impressed.

Bob