Vegas Pro - music video

Eddy Bee wrote on 5/14/2012, 12:43 PM
I recently shot and edited this music video for a client:

It was shot with a Panasonic GH2 and edited in Vegas Pro 10. Effects used were from Sony, NewBlue, and ProDad Vitascene.

While editing, I learned a few things about working with multiple effected HD tracks. One of the more surprising discoveries I stumbled upon was that by explicitly soloing the tracks I wanted to include, as opposed to muting unwanted tracks, previews seemed to play slightly smoother and renders took slightly less time. I didn't make a scientific study of it, so I can't vouch for this with certainty, but it was noticeable enough for me to always be sure to keep my relevant tracks soloed, even when any unwanted tracks were buried many layers deep and not visible anyway. I'd be curious to know if anyone else has noticed this phenomenon.

Bear in mind, I'm still using an old 32-bit quad-core machine. This particular project required lots of effected layers (the miniature band at the bottom of the screen alone, is a composite of 5 separate green screen tracks) definitely convinced me that it's time to invest in some new hardware.

Comments

Laurence wrote on 5/14/2012, 1:26 PM
How did you do the lit up fingers on the musicians?
Woodenmike wrote on 5/14/2012, 2:32 PM
Very nice job...bought the CD after watching this! Good to see David Freiburg in action! That retro San Francisco blues/jazz/rock vibe with an out of sight singer...what a great gig to dig into!
farss wrote on 5/14/2012, 3:50 PM
Excellent.
A couple of niggles.
I would have lost the colored light rays behind the head shot of the singer, I think just leaving the entire background frame black would have been more effective.
Her lips vanished into the glow, maybe add another track with just the red keyed to keep them.

Bob.
Eddy Bee wrote on 5/15/2012, 9:22 AM

@Bob
I appreciate your comments. Agree about the lips, but not so sure about all black on the headshot. Originally had all black throughout most of the edits, but it seemed to want more. But I must confess, that shot does bother me compositionally - I should've moved the head more to the left to balance the frame better.

@Mike
Hey thanks, I'll pass that on to the band! And BTW, not only is that David Freiberg on rhythm guitar, but the keyboard player is David Kaffinetti, aka Viv Savage of Spinal Tap. "Big Bottom" is a staple of the band's live shows and DK has great fun delivering it.

@Laurence
I had the band members wear little LED finger lights that are commonly found at toy or party stores. A Vitascene light effect further enhanced the radiance of the LEDs.

Thanks for watching.
Woodenmike wrote on 5/15/2012, 2:42 PM
I love the finger lights concept! I've used glow in the dark make-up in the past, but it doesn't have the same kick as a real light...brilliant! Some of the Vitascene FX are nice once you get them dialed in properly.
charles-mcguyer wrote on 5/15/2012, 4:34 PM
Very good. Enjoyed that. Very good audio track as well.
farss wrote on 5/15/2012, 9:07 PM
"I had the band members wear little LED finger lights that are commonly found at toy or party stores."

Very clever idea. I'd kind of figured that's what you'd done. So great so see someone doing something in front of the camera to enable doing something in post. I tip my hat to you sir.

Bob.