preview on external monitor... plz help!!

nico2112 wrote on 8/4/2004, 9:57 PM
I've been using Vegas 5 for a while now... It's wonderful... especially when u compare it to premiere for windows... I have a ATI 9600 Pro 128 mb for now... this card comes with 2 multipin plugs, an rca video out and a s video plug in the middle. I noticed a function in the software, when i push this button... i can see my edit on an external monitor... can i do this with this card? will i loose one of my monitors? I do need both so i can put my scopes on the 2nd one... and the monitor to see the results for tv viewing.... where is my problem... and do i need to buy something else in extra to allow me to do this... thanks in advance

Comments

stepfour wrote on 8/4/2004, 10:18 PM
The preview is coming back out of your IEEE-1394 (Firewire) so you need to use DV camera or other converter to make that an analog signal and plug the analog into a monitor, tv, or whatever will accept it.
nico2112 wrote on 8/5/2004, 7:56 AM
thx for answering... but i'm curious about one thing... since in the pfd manual, they talk about plugging a monitor, they don't mention having to go through a analog converter... why is that? And i was told that since i have a s video plug out, i could directly plug that cable into the monitor... and we all know that a s-video cable offers a lot more quality than firewire... so is there anything i can do about this that would allow me to use a s-video into a monitor? Additional card maybe... or...???
stepfour wrote on 8/5/2004, 9:17 AM
Unless you have a monitor that you can input IEEE-1394 directly to, then you have to convert the signal using a DV camcorder or some other A/D or D/A converter. Manuals are always written with the end result in mind and rarely tell all the "requirements." A lot of manuals are just more marketing materials. A good DV camcorder and most any A/D converter will have an s-video port so you can use s-video on your s-video capable monitor.
JL wrote on 8/5/2004, 10:04 AM
“…since in the pfd manual, they talk about plugging a monitor, they don't mention having to go through a analog converter... why is that?...”


“…Manuals are always written with the end result in mind and rarely tell all the "requirements." A lot of manuals are just more marketing materials…”


Actually the downloadable manual (pdf format) provides a fairly comprehensive reference for how to connect and use an external monitor. It can be found under the subject heading of “Using an External Monitor” on page 266 of the Vegas 5.0 manual (page 232 if you have the Vegas 4.0 manual).

JL


galt wrote on 8/7/2004, 11:27 PM
okay, so I see in the online help how they show the use of a 1394 pass thru device like a camcorder. But now I do not understand why they require this. I think I have a Radeon 7500 graphics card in my Gateway 600XL notebook running XP Professional. I have a second monitor connected to the external monitor port, and use an extended desktop for my windows apps. This means my desktop is twice as wide as normal.

Today I plugged in my baby Sony TV thru the RCA jack in the back of my computer. I fiddled with the config until I got a wallpaper image on the TV. This TV now displays the identical image as the second computer monitor.

So if Microsoft/Gateway/Radeon can get an image to the TV, why is Sony forcing me to use a DV device to do get my editor preview image to the TV, and why are they making me use the firewire port to do it?

Inquiring newbie minds want to know...
farss wrote on 8/7/2004, 11:49 PM
Because what comes out of that port may not be the same as what you'll see in the final render which is the whole idea of an external monitor. The video on the timeline is DV25, this can be reliably fed down a firewire connection to an external device that converts it to a composite/S-Video/component video signal to feed an external video monitor.
Vegas isn't 'forcing' you to do it that way. You may well find that because of the way Windows handles video streams you can get what you're trying to do to work however there's no way the Vegas developers can be assured that :
a) You're going to be getting a properly interlaced signal
b) Colorspace and gamma issues have been correctly addressed.

In other words if it works for you, great. But if somethings not the recommended way of doing things and you start getting subtle problems who are you going to blame or turn to for help. Restrictions like these are not usually made lightly.

Bob.
galt wrote on 8/8/2004, 12:22 AM
Okay, so where can I buy a cheap passive 1394 conversion box, like a DV camcorder without the cam, without the corder, and without audio circuits? Sounds like it should cost about $20, right?
farss wrote on 8/8/2004, 1:27 AM
For starters it will not be passive!
The one I have, the ADVC-300 is around $600 but it does a lot more than convert from firewire to analogue so it may be overkill unless you want to capture from VHS tapes.
The ADVC-100 is a bit cheaper but probably your best bet would be a second hand Digital 8 camera. It's perhaps slightly better than the ADVC-100 as it has time base correction and digital noise reduction, very usefull for capturing from VHS.
There are other things around but I'm not that familiar with them. Bear in mind they're invariably designed not just for going from firewire to analogue but also the other way.
If you're serious about this game you'll find that's a capability you'll need. If you think these boxes are expensive, they're peanuts compared to good studio monitors. And unlike most things to do with PCs A<->D converters don't get superceded, in fact as VHS slowly wanes they'll be more work for them than ever.

Bob.