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Firewire converter and Sony Vegas skew
I have various projects that I would love to use a “skewing” feature which Platinum addition doesn’t have. Is there a way that I can buy a unlock code for this or is there a way that I can get by with out it?
Also My camera manual states that the image coming out of the firewire port is better than the composite port. Is there an affordable way that I can convert the firewire to a more clearer composite signal or s-video for a live capture? (canon ZR900 consumer grade camera)
Thanks for any help that you can offer.
-Greg
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5 Replies
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> I have various projects that I would love to use a “skewing” feature which Platinum addition doesn’t have. Is there a way that I can buy a unlock code for this or is there a way that I can get by with out it?
I have no idea what “skewing” is but you cannot unlock individual features. If this is something Vegas Pro has then you need to buy Vegas Pro.
> Also My camera manual states that the image coming out of the firewire port is better than the composite port. Is there an affordable way that I can convert the firewire to a more clearer composite signal or s-video for a live capture? (canon ZR900 consumer grade camera)
The firewire port is a bit-for-bit file transfer of the video from the miniDV tape. It is identical in every way and therefore the best quality that you can achieve. You can capture live right through the firewire port. There is no reason to ever use composite of s-video unless you want to playback the tape on a TV.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
John, thanks for your reply.
As far as the skewing……I would describe it as a 3D angle tool. I work on a weekly cable access program and would like to show two screens angled opposite of each other with a background. One screen would show the video footage and the other would show text. Could I do it with just the 2D editor? Yes. But I really want to try this. Maybe there’s a plug-in that will do this.
Second, to better explain the firewire to s-video thing. I have a couple of cameras and they all have firewire outs as well as composite. I would like to use the firewire outs and then input into the video mixer (mixer has composite or s-video inputs) we have and then capture into a computer (and VCR for redundancy)
Hope this clears things up.
Thank you for time.
-Greg
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Hi Greg
If I understand you correctly, what you’ll need is something like the Canopus (now Grass Valley) ADVC 110 or 300 analog/digital converter box. I have the old ADVC100. It has Firewire – Composit and S-Vid both in and out. I use it for printing from the timeline directly to VHS tape (no more lately – VHS is all but dead) as well as powering my NTSC monitor. If you capture analog though you’ll have to do it manually. Only firewire has the camera control.
There’s a few other manufacturers making the converter box, I just prefer the Canopus one. Difference between the 110 and 300 is the 300 has a TBC but it costs close to $500.
Just Google Analog/digital converter and you’ll see what’s available.
Allen
ASX Media Group, Inc.
https://www.asxvideo.com -
> I work on a weekly cable access program and would like to show two screens angled opposite of each other with a background.
It sounds like you want to use 3D Track Motion. Yea, that’s a Vegas Pro function but no worries… you can do that right in Vegas Movie Studio without using Track Motion at all.
Let’s face it… the video is 2D. You just need to give the “illusion” of 3D. Place your two videos on two tracks above each other. Use Pan/Crop or 2D Track Motion to make them smaller and place them side-by-side in the frame. Now to add the illusion of 3D space, add the Sony Deform FX to each video. On the left video set Amount: 0.500, Left: -0.500, & Right: 0.500. On the right video swap the left and right values (Amount: 0.500, Left: 0.500, & Right: -0.500)
The videos should now look like they are tilted slightly back in space and facing each other.
> I would like to use the firewire outs and then input into the video mixer (mixer has composite or s-video inputs) we have and then capture into a computer (and VCR for redundancy)
OK. There is no need to use firewire. Just connect the S-Video out’s from the camera into your mixer and be done with it. S-Video is S-Video. Whether you take the S-Video directly from the camera or convert it to firewire first and then back to S-Video, all you will ever have is S-Video quality. So just take it directly from the camera. That’s as good as it gets for an S-Video signal.
Firewire is only better if you remain in the digital domain. Since you need analog, take it directly from the camera.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
John-
Wow! Thanks for the tip. IT WORKS!! It is exactly what I was looking for. You saved me some money.
As for the camera, it doesn’t have a S-video out. Only a 1/8″ jack for video/L/R. The only reason I mentioned it was because if I could convert the Firewire signal, Component would be nice but S-video would be more of a probability. I thought that this could be a back door way of getting a better signal. Of course I could just record on to DV tape and then capture the tape later. But that would defeat the need for a mixer and add a lot of work.
However, that being said, I know that the pro version of Vegas will do multi-camera editing. How well does this work? Maybe it would be worth the $. My projects 99% of the time will work best with a Mixer. But there could be a time where I would be making a music video for a choir. I’m almost sure that a better way would be with editing in Vegas later.
Cheers and thanks again.
Greg
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