Newby composite env. question

BPB wrote on 4/27/2004, 8:59 AM

Hi
i have a 5 DV camera shoot of a lip synced rock band song. I have (using Spotted Eagle's book example) aligned all the tracks (nearly) by camera audio flew in the CD track and am doing my camera shot selection and transitions by using the composite level envelope. I think I'm cool so far. As I try to fine tune the syncing I'm having problems with jerky playback on my DELL 3.0 P4 which makes it dificult to actually see what the sync really is.

Should i pre render or mix to a new track, check my sync and fly in corrections...I'm looking for advice on the best way to proceed from here.

Thanks

Comments

jetdv wrote on 4/27/2004, 9:02 AM

Either pre-render or RAM render will help get the previewing back up to speed. If you create a selection area and just let it loop, it will also slowly increase to full speed (depending on the length of the loop area).

BPB wrote on 4/27/2004, 9:29 AM

Thanks jetdv

is there any advantage to deleting portions of the 5 dv tracks on the timeline not being viewed. Does Vegas "play" the track even with its composite env. at zero if it remains on the timeline?

bb

jetdv wrote on 4/27/2004, 9:36 AM

If the composite envelope is at zero, the track is, basically, ignored. However, deleting the sections that are at zero *may* speed up the previews. I'm partial to the "Master Track" method and use Excalibur to create the Master track.

BPB wrote on 4/27/2004, 9:40 AM

Jetdv I see another purchase in my future :-) ....could you describe the "master track" advantage in Excaliber.

jetdv wrote on 4/27/2004, 10:10 AM

Take a look at Vol 1 Issue #9 of my newsletter or look at the demo video at http://www.vegastrainingandtools.com

thrillcat wrote on 4/27/2004, 10:15 AM

I've been doing this quite often recently for bands. I'm currently working on a dvd for Tesla, with the Nadas and Jefferson Airplane to follow. Here's how I do it:

Lay your cd track into the timeline.
Add your first camera to the timeline & sync it to the cd track.
Mute both audio & video from Camera 1.
Add the second camera track to the timeline.
Shampoo, Rinse, Repeat until all tracks are synced to the cd audio.

All cameras should now be in sync with the cd track.

Now, unmute all your cameras (not the audio) and use track motion to put them each in an area of your preview monitor so you can see all tracks.

Set your video preview setting to draft and play the track, watching all your shots at once. You can now use markers on your timeline to select where you want to cut to a different camera. Then, using the brilliant Excalibur plugin, follow their instructions for naming tracks and markers and you can use their "multicam wizard" tool to make your edits for you, and it places them on a master track.

Now, solo up the master track and slip any edits that need to be adjusted, add any plugins or effects you want, and render that track to a new .avi.

I cut an entire 7-camera, 17 song dvd for Tesla in two days using Vegas & excalibur.

Quick note: if you're having problems getting your cameras to sync up perfectly to the cd track, you may want to turn off the "quantize to frames" option. This will allow you to edit down to the sample level, instead of the frame level.

Hope this helps. Excalibur is a GREAT tool for this purpose.

BPB wrote on 4/27/2004, 10:34 AM

thrillcat
thanks for the great explanation. That is exactly what I wanted to know.

jetdv thanks, I'll head over to the demo.

bb

johnmeyer wrote on 4/27/2004, 10:40 AM

For faster, smoother playback, although at lower resolution, you can temporarily change your project properties from 720x480 (for NTSC) to 360x240 (i.e., exactly half in both directions). Set the preview quality in your preview window to Draft. The display will be smaller, but the video will preview either at full 29.97 speed, or much closer to it. Remember to set your project back to 720x480 before you do your final render.

BPB wrote on 4/27/2004, 11:11 AM

thanks johnmeyer..great tip.

Jetdv..just watched the video demo...and to take it chapter by chapter..

WOW..WHOAH..COOL..GREAT...I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST ME...HOLY COW..
VERY COOL

I'm a believer..just about every obstacle I've run into is perfectly addressed in this plug.

Thanks

bb