Vegas 7.0e - One More Bug?

Cunhambebe wrote on 12/16/2007, 2:13 AM
I see a lot of people complaining about Vegas 8.0, etc, etc... most of them, people who work with video productions and who have certain deadlines.
Well, I'm not one of them for sure. I use Vegas at home because I just like the software, but sincerely, how many versions Sony must release of each version in order to fix all or most of the BUGS? Vegas 7.0 had 5 versions from a to e and... I've just found another BUG. Is it normal to realease 5 versions of the same software in less time than one year or so? I guess Adobe doesn't do that.
Anyway, I've tested some TARGA files with a new QuadCore 6600 2.4 (sequence files redered in Lightwave, a 3D application), dropping some of them in the timeline, working in layers and trying to make a video compositing with the alpha channel enabled, choosing among the presets: add, 3D, etc..
Well, I was surprised to see that the preview window looked like a horrible TV transmission. There were lots of video noise, and an error message popped up (the application crashes as you try to render the file). Still, , trying to make a simple fade among those sequence files showed the same problem but this time the applicantion didn't crash and the file could be rendered, even though showing those same artifacts already described.
Sony - anyone?
Thanks in advance :P

Comments

farss wrote on 12/16/2007, 3:20 AM
Unfortunately as 7.0e was the last build and V8 Pro is released no work will be done to fix bugs in it.

I'd suggest you try downloading the trial of V8 and see if that fares any better. The normal compositing mode for what you're doing I would assume is Source Alpha but also you more than likely will need to force the correct alpha channel in the media itself which is going to be one heck of a pain as you'd have to manually change it for each frame unless there's a script to do this or maybe if you import as an image sequence you might avoid this as image sequences might just appear as one object in the Project Media.

Also I've found with Alpha = Premuxed choosing the correct premuxed color seems to make a difference.

With a bit of luck V8 might do better for you in 32bit mode as well, don't know if it'll read 16 bit sources as yet though, would be nice if it read dpx files too.

Bob.
Grazie wrote on 12/16/2007, 3:23 AM
"Unfortunately as 7.0e was the last build and V8 Pro is released no work will be done to fix bugs in it."

is that right Bob? I didn't know that. I'll keep that in mind.

Grazie
Chienworks wrote on 12/16/2007, 3:41 AM
Yep. Sony people have said that several times in here.
Cunhambebe wrote on 12/16/2007, 5:50 AM
Hi there and thanks to all of you who took time to respond.

Reply by: farss

I'd suggest you try downloading the trial of V8 and see if that fares any better.

-Thanks for the suggestion.

The normal compositing mode for what you're doing I would assume is Source Alpha...

-Yes, you're right.

...but also you more than likely will need to force the correct alpha channel in the media itself which is going to be one heck of a pain as you'd have to manually change it for each frame...

-Sure, I agree with ya ;-)

...unless there's a script to do this...

-I don't think there's one available on the web.

...or maybe if you import as an image sequence you might avoid this as image sequences might just appear as one object in the Project Media.

-Importing.. hmmmm sounds as a great idea. I'll try it - thanks a lot.

Also I've found with Alpha = Premuxed choosing the correct premuxed color seems to make a difference.

-I always choose black - those are space scenes showing stars rendered in LW. Anyway, thanks a lot for taking time to write, Bob!

Grazie. congrats for buying a new QuadCore. Hope you have fun! Thanks for writting, Chienworks!

Well, let's see if this kind of BUG will be fixed now with the new version. Anyway, you all might agree with me: Sony should think very seriously before releasing a new version because after 5 updates, the software still does not work properly. I like Sony Vegas so much and I don't intend to change it for Premiere or whatever - but that'd be nice of Sony fixing the BUGS before releasing a new version, I guess :)
Thanks to all again and my wishes of a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Cheers,
Mark
rs170a wrote on 12/16/2007, 5:58 AM
Mark, I've imported numerous Targa sequences from Lightwave and other 3D apps and never had any problems.
I just tried a 300 frame sequence (on Vegas 7.0e) and it worked just fine.
I changed the alpha channel to Premultiplied and it keyed as expected.

Mike
Cunhambebe wrote on 12/16/2007, 9:36 AM
First of all, thanks for taking time to write, Mike. That was very nice of you.
Well, things are not working here - at least Vegas... ;-(
I've tried evrything and it is not working properly. Some sequences show those artifacts such as a bad tv receptor... you know what I mean, don't ya? And... as you choose rendering the project as MPEG2, the final file shows the same thing. Someone would say I am kiddind.. I wish I were.
One more thing: my processor is a QuadCore. Would that be the problem? What do ya think?
Thanks in advance ;-)
Cunhambebe wrote on 12/18/2007, 7:59 PM
I've tried everything and nothing seemed to work. The only one woraround I see for this problem is to render all sequence files as AVI uncompressed. Sony should think very seriously on fixing the software since working in layers and with the alpha channel is mandatory.
farss wrote on 12/18/2007, 10:08 PM
Did you try V8?

Is it possible these are 16 bit targa sequences?


Bob.
rmack350 wrote on 12/18/2007, 11:26 PM
Hmmm. I was just playing with a Targa sequence of a few hundred images exported from Quicktime. No troubles there. Seems to me I've read one other complaint about Lightwave's TGA files, though.

How many updates have I had to photoshop CS2? I'm on 9.02 so I guess this is the third rev of it.

Since Vegas 7.0 is out of production now I doubt that you'll see any fixes.

Rob Mack
rmack350 wrote on 12/18/2007, 11:31 PM
The description sounds like what a 128-bit uncompressed AVI looks like...


Rob Mack
Cunhambebe wrote on 12/21/2007, 5:28 PM
Hi there! Thank to all who took time to respond!
Wait a minute folks! There are absolutely no problems with LW, neither with its TAG files. How can you explain Vegas 6.0 worked out very well with these sequences and then all of a sudden, both Vegas 7 and 8 crash while you're moving the cursor on the file, back and forth? - And if the application doesn't crash, then you see a lot of artifacts on the video window as well on the rendered MPEG2 file? Just in time: the sequences are TGA 32. Sometimes there are absolutely no problems; some other times, the artifacts are there! Sony???????????????
farss wrote on 12/21/2007, 5:44 PM
Do you have the very latest version of QT installed?

I think Vegas uses QT to decode TGA and I recall there being the odd bug in some QT releases for the PC.

Bob.
Cunhambebe wrote on 12/22/2007, 5:24 PM
Hi farss...
It's been a long time since the last time we talked! Good to "see" ya again :-)
My QT version is 7.1.6 (not the last one). Thanks for your suggestion. I'll upgrade QT and post a message as soon as I get the results. Thanks a lot and have a Merry Christmas!
Mark
Cunhambebe wrote on 12/23/2007, 2:57 AM
Hi Bob,
I've just installed the latest verion of QT - nothing happened. Same thing. That's definitely not a problem with QT, but with Vegas. Sony should fix this bug. Some other people who have Vegas around here, have told me they've found the same BUG in both versions 7.0 (through all updates, FROM a to e!!!) and 8.0a. What a pity! Vegas 6.0 worked great for for video compositing, and there were no problems at all dealing with the alpha channel. Can you please download, install and register the trial version 8.0a? You'll get the software for a period of 30 days. I'm sure you'll find out the same problem.
Thanks for everything.
Cheers and have a Merry Christmas!
Mark
farss wrote on 12/23/2007, 3:33 AM
I've already got the latest version of 8.0a but no tga files with alpha to try it with. I'd really suggest you file a bug report. To be honest I'm not 100% happy with how Vegas appears to handle alpha channels regardless, just something doesn't seem quite right and I don't think I'm alone but unless we complain it'll never get fixed. You've obviously got some good examples so send them off to SCS.

Bob.
rs170a wrote on 12/23/2007, 7:30 AM
Mark & Bob, this link is to a (40 MB.) sequence collection of 300 images in TGA format (with alpha channel) that was done for me by one of my college animation instructors. I believe he used Maya for this.
I've brought this in as an image sequence in Vegas 6.0d, 7.0e & 8.0a.
Other than having to change the file properties to recognize the alpha channel, it worked as expected.

Mike
Cunhambebe wrote on 12/23/2007, 5:10 PM
Thanks a lot for the link and thanks for the suggestion, Bob. The problem begins when you make a transition between a set of sequences and another set. I mean, there's absolutely no problem at all when you import the media (one set of sequence files) or open it with Vegas... Anyway, thanks for you help, Mike - and thanks a lot for taking time to respond. I really appreciate it.
Merry Christmas.
Cheers,
Mark