Sony Vegas Pro Issues

[John Rofrano]

Brandon, I would add that you seem to be underpowered in RAM for the rendering you are doing. (John, would you agree?) 4GBs on a 64bit W7 machine seems like the low end of the range. If you can even afford to bump to 6 GBs you probably will find things go faster. 8GBs would be my recommendation.

I would agree that 4GB is the lower limit for a QuadCore. I like to have 2G per core so for my 4 cores I have 8GB of RAM. If the AMD has dual channel memory I would not bump it to 6 because you will loose dual channel which requires that memory be upgraded in multiples of 2 DIMMS so 8GB is next after 4GB.

~jr

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

[Brandon S. payne]

Once I am able to find a job again, I’ll upgrade. ‘Til then, I’m kind of limited. :/

Thanks for all the constructive advice, guys!

[Brandon S. payne]

John, I wanted to thank you again for your help a few months ago with the rendering and such. I was wondering if you could help me one last time, though, and I apologize for messaging you once again through a reply to your post. I never did see a private message option. Anyway, I was wondering how I could get into the business of this digital editing. What courses do I need to take? Stuff like that. ^^ Also, is it a viable career, or more of a hobby?

Many thanks, even if you don’t get this, John!

~Brandon

[John Rofrano]

[Brandon S. Payne] ” I was wondering how I could get into the business of this digital editing. What courses do I need to take? Stuff like that. ^^ Also, is it a viable career, or more of a hobby?”

It is certainly a viable career especially if you get a job at a post production facility where someone else worries about the work coming in and you just edit. Doing it on your own is tougher and probably the toughest of all is being a videographer where you have to go out and shoot weddings or other events. That’s very high stress for very low pay IMHO.

As for what courses to take, if you are thinking of going to college to learn then find one that has a good video production curriculum. They will take you through what you need to know. The mechanics of editing are only a small part. Learning what looks good, timing, pacing, what works and what doesn’t is the hard part.

If you are doing this on your own, I would start with what job you want to do. Click on the SERVICES tab here at the COW and look at job postings and see what they are expecting. There is an Interns section for people starting out. StudioDaily also has a Job section. If they are mostly looking for Final Cut editors, then you’ll need to learn FCP to compete. Likewise for Avid. Unfortunately, you’re not going to find a lot of jobs looking for Vegas Pro editors. 🙁 But all NLE’s use the same concepts so you can easily learn another once you know one. There are lots of training courses for all of the major editors. You can attend classes or just purchase instructional DVD’s. Whatever it takes to learn.

Then look at what experience these jobs require and try and find an apprenticeship that will get you that experience even if it means working for free just to learn from the people in the field. School is great… but working in the industry is where you really “learn” your craft. You may have to create a demo reel to get that apprenticeship. People are going to want to see what you can do. You may have to volunteer your services to independent film makers to get that experience. There are lots of indie shooters who would love to collaborate for free (‘cuz that’s about their budget). Take advantage of this and work on someone else’s project for free. Then put that work in your demo reel.

There is no “one path” or “right or wrong”. I’m a big believer in apprenticeship. For me, learning from someone who knows their stuff is better than any classroom can give you, but you need to have a good foundation of the basics first so that you can understand what they’re trying to show you.

I’m not sure if any of this helps. If you want to contact me off-line, my contact information is on my web site which is a link at the bottom of my posts. Good luck!

~jr

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

[Brandon S. payne]

Mr. Rofrano,

Thank you very, very much for your reply! As always, you are most helpful, sir!

I took a look at the links you provided for the jobs and internships, and I must say that I am not qualified for any of it. :/ I am willing to learn any program, and have a few Adobe things as well, though I have absolutely no idea how to use them, yet. I don’t have enough money at the moment to buy FCP or Avid, but I will work on that as soon as possible.

This is the unnecessary, though not pointless part:

All of my short life, I’ve had to overcome tremendous obstacles that have deeply impacted me.I come from neither a wealthy nor privileged background, and I have succeeded as an individual. Those who know me, think highly of me. I’m charismatic, easy on the eyes, and I learn fast at anything I have an interest in. If I am interested in “A + B = C”, then ultimately I do not care about “C”. Why? ‘Cause I get so into learning that if I know everything there is to know about “A” and “B”, then reaching “C” is always easy, regardless of the differences in the equation.

I’ve moved around in search of jobs since I don’t have a co-signer for a loan for college, and haven’t had any luck. I’m 20 years old, and all I ever hear is how I have the potential to do anything in the world, and I hear this from friends all over the world, and family alike. This is painful to me, as I have done nothing with my life, only with myself. I have been so focused on fixing and better myself that my life has fallen by the wayside. In this world a man’s worth in the eyes of others is determined by his accomplishments in life, and so I find myself in a bit of a predicament. I’ve recently moved back home after being unable to make ends meet on my own.

Not only is this a huge blow to my self-esteem, but as well as a strain on my parents’ finances. They really want me to move out ASAP, though I’m unsure how that’s going to work right now. I am in the hole myself, financially, though not by much. There has been much pressure for me to join the military from my parents, though there has been much opposition to that from my friends and I, simply because my heart is not set on it, and my friends think that potential I have would be wasted, as do I. I’m not saying I can change the entire world, but what I have been doing for a long time is helping change the world around me by helping people the best way I know how, often leaving myself behind.

When it comes to emotions, I am very knowledgeable. I post on a Web site called https://www.ExperienceProject.com and I just help people cope with some serious issues in life. The flip-side to this is that I know virtually nothing of the business world. To make matters worse, I have no car and the nearest job opportunities are an almost 2 hour walk away, though I have been trying anyway.

I’ve always been huge on music and such, and ever since making that little YouTube video, I’m kind of hooked by it all. I LOVE to create things, and I HATE limitations… the limitations I see for creativity lie only with myself in this particular field, which I love. I don’t know. It really calls out to me. You know, you’re everything I want to be. I always wanted to be a musician, programmer, song writer, etc. Hell, I’ve written many songs myself, but never really share them with anybody. I looked at all you do, and really. All of them are my top interests as well. I guess that’s why I asked you for help in the beginning of it all. Haha.

My point to this absurdly long post is that my opportunities right now are highly limited… I have no experience in this, other than a simple YouTube video. I have no money, no car, and no real support [aside from emotional support] from anywhere else.

I have my heart set on this type of work, John. Regardless of the program! If you have any advice on my situation, it would be greatly appreciated.

Apologies for dropping all of that on you, but you seem to have such good advice. Something you said really stood out to me.

“Never forget where you came from, for you were once a newbie too.”

Many thanks, and my sincerest apologies,

~Brandon S. Payne

[John Rofrano]

Hi Brandon,

We’ve gotta stop meeting like this… 😉 As I said in my previous post, feel free to contact me privately via email though my web site.

Since you answered here let me make a few comments but do feel free to continue this conversation via email:

All of my short life, I’ve had to overcome tremendous obstacles that have deeply impacted me.I come from neither a wealthy nor privileged background, and I have succeeded as an individual. Those who know me, think highly of me. I’m charismatic, easy on the eyes, and I learn fast at anything I have an interest in.

So by your own admission you are successful as an individual and others have confirmed that. Not bad for the first 20 years! I have every reason to believe that you will continue to be successful because you have the right attitude and attutude is half of the battle.

In this world a man’s worth in the eyes of others is determined by his accomplishments in life, and so I find myself in a bit of a predicament.

In my world, a man’s worth is measured by his good deeds. It sounds like you have done many good deeds in helping others with their problems. That is an accomplishment that many “seemingly successful” people NEVER obtain! You have to keep in perspective which accomplishments are most important. Don’t worry about how others judge you and be fair when judging yourself. I’m sure that to the people you have helped, you have accomplished a lot. Accomplishments that impact other lives in a positive way far outweigh those that only impact you.

You know, you’re everything I want to be. I always wanted to be a musician, programmer, song writer, etc. Hell, I’ve written many songs myself, but never really share them with anybody. I looked at all you do, and really. All of them are my top interests as well. I guess that’s why I asked you for help in the beginning of it all.

Well… let’s keep this in perspective… I’m over 50 years old and you’re 20. (yea, the picture here at the COW is from when I was 40) You have another 30+ years to catch up to me. (that’s your 20 year lifetime and a half all over again!!! just think of what you can accomplish in that time!) When I was 20 I had not written a book, I had not edited a video, I had no knowledge of computers (ok… ok… so… when I was 20 there were no personal computers!) I had quit college and was a keyboard player and singer in a rock and roll band playing 5 nights week at the top clubs in the NY tri-state area and I was convinced that I was going to be the next Beatles. My band was opening for acts like Patty Smyth, Twisted Sister, Papa John Creach, clearly we were on on way to stardom… well… thing’s didn’t quite turn out the way I planned and at 27 I went back to school and learned computers. Video editing didn’t come until 10 years later and my first book wasn’t until 5 years after that.

You have a long, long, way to go will probably pass me up by the time you’re my age because you have something that I didn’t have. You have the good sense to ask someone “how to make it”. I never did that! I thought I was going to be “discovered” and looking back, there is so much more that I could have done to make my name in the music industry… but I “didn’t get it”. You “get it”… you understand that you have to make your own success and not let anyone or anything stand in your way.

I know virtually nothing of the business world. To make matters worse, I have no car and the nearest job opportunities are an almost 2 hour walk away, though I have been trying anyway.

And don’t stop trying! The internet has changed all that. When I edit video for someone, they mail me a hard drive and I mail them back their hard drive with the edits. You can have business meetings via Skype. I realize that you may not have the tools to work from home right now (and that your home is in flux) but if you keep making small steps in the right direction you will eventually reach your destination.

Something you said really stood out to me. “Never forget where you came from, for you were once a newbie too.”

Or put another way… “When you get to be one of the big dogs, you have an obligation to the dog community to help the small dogs down the same path”

You should really email me so that we keep in touch.

I’m gonna leave you with my all time favorite cartoon by Peter Steiner. It had no profound message when he published it back in 1993 but it has come to symbolize that the Internet is the great equalizer:

Be who you want to be… Hope to hear from ya’ via email,

~jr

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