Outputing Vegas to HD Monitor

[John Rofrano]

[Ken Bennett] “I do have a GTX-470 graphics card for dual computer monitors, if that might be a way to go… if it would display my images correctly.”

Yes, this is what the Windows Secondary Display option does. It uses the second display on your graphics card. I would make sure you use a good LCD display and that you use a hardware calibration device like the Datacolor Spyder 3 to keep it calibrated properly.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Ken Bennett]

Would I get smooth playback as apposed to the ever changing playback options within the Vegas interface?

THX

Ken Bennett
Video Adventures
Capturing Your Life’s Adventures!

[Danny Hays]

You have a Gtx, NVidea card I gather. That card supports GPU processing with Pro 10. I think it doesn’t help with preview, only rendering. But with a cheap i7 quadcore I get smooth preview with 1080 60p AVCHD .mts files. What speed is your computer?

[John Rofrano]

I agree with Danny… it doesn’t matter what setup you have for monitoring, it’s not going to affect playback smoothness. You either have a processor that can playback your footage smoothly or you can’t. There is no accelerated preview regardless of how you monitor.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Tom Pauncz]

Ken,

Notwithstanding what the others here have said, I use a BlackMagic Decklink Studio 2 card and output to a Sharp Aquos LED-LCD 32″ HDTV.

Works fine directly from the Vegas t/line and the playback is smooth as silk.

I use Win-XP SP3 (32bit) running on an i7-860 processor (2.80Ghz). I monitor to the TV in ‘Best-Full’ resolution and my HDV clips play back at the full 29.97fps rate.

Added benefit is that I can simultaneously monitor to an SD monitor, automatically letterboxed so I can see what my video looks like downconverted to SD.

Couldn’t be happier.

Cheers for now,
Tom Pauncz
(30WEST MEDiA GROUP)

[Ken Bennett]

Sounds great Tom. I’m running a dual Xeon 2.83MHz, 8 core, 16GB, GTX-470 card in WIN 64-bit. I’ll check out the BM card.

Thanks.

Ken Bennett
Video Adventures
Capturing Your Life’s Adventures!

[John Rofrano]

[Tom Pauncz] “I use Win-XP SP3 (32bit) running on an i7-860 processor (2.80Ghz). I monitor to the TV in ‘Best-Full’ resolution and my HDV clips play back at the full 29.97fps rate.”

Tom, just to be clear… does the BlackMagic Decklink Studio 2 card contribute in any way to the smoothness of playback because I don’t think it does? HDV plays back smoothly on my aging QuadCore on my Secondary Display so I don’t want to people to think that buying a BlackMagic Decklink card will somehow solve their playback problems. Or will it?

The other reason I ask is because I’m thinking of building a new system and wondering if I should include a Blackmagic or Aja card in the build.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Tom Pauncz]

John,

I’d say you are spot on. The only way the BM card would affect playback (IMHO) is if your video card can’t handle it – as well as processor power, to be sure.

I chose to go the BM route as neither of my dual display monitors is capable of HD resolution and prefer the real estate, stretched across both, when editing.

I would most certainly include either of those in any new system.

I should add, that for my purposes, the BM Intensity pro would have been a cheaper alternative, if all you need is external monitoring.

However, (and I don’t wish to open a can of worms here), the only way I can get 4CH audio into Vegas from my S270 is to use the BM card for capture via SDI-in. As well, I use the BM ASIO driver for audio for both Windows and Vegas.

Skype me if you want to chat about this.

Cheers for now,
Tom Pauncz
(30WEST MEDiA GROUP)

[Danny Hays]

I have the Shuttle from Blackmagic but I dont use it for playback as my second DVI out works fine. Smooth HDV and AVCHD. I’ll check it with some effects and see if it help with preview, I don;t believe it will though.

[Ken Bennett]

So after all this feedback, I’m at another crossroad. My computer monitor is a Dell U2410. My graphics card is a GeForce GTX-470 dual output with dual Xeon 2.83s (8 cores)and 16GB RAM. With Vegas monitor set to Best Full, I get great images but smooth playback is intermittent and limited especially at transitions. Preview Auto gives the smoothest playback but the image quality is low. And if my Dell is not calibrated correctly for color, you won’t know exactly what you’ll get until you preview the DVD.

What is my best option? Get a second Dell monitor for my GTX470 to supply the signal from Vegas or get a BM card and studio monitor?

If I need to adjust the refresh rate or something on the Dell to fix this, let me know. With my other NLE of 15 years, I’ve always used an external monitor so I know what I’m getting during edit and how it will look on the final DVD.

BM? 2nd computer monitor??

Thanks

Ken Bennett
Video Adventures
Capturing Your Life’s Adventures!