[Bruce Bernard]

Thanks very much – will do.

Bruce

[Bruce Bernard]

Hi Michael – thanks for the suggestion. I had read posts by others that they had tried that and couldn’t get the image to move enough. My solution ended up being rather simple, however it probably won’t work for everyone. I gave my HP C5280 to my daughter and bought an Epson RX680. From now on I’ll only buy Epsons, at least until I decide to go with a Primera or something similar. The Epson Print CD program is far better than what HP porvides. That should be a lesson to the manufacturers that the software does factor into buying decisions.

Printers have become like razors, and the ink like blades. They are practically giving away the printers just to sell the ink. You can get the RX680 right now direct from Epson for $129 including shipping and some other free goodies they throw in. I even saw at Tiger Direct if you buy a digital camera at the same time they give you an additional $70 rebate.

The RX680 had some not too great reviews but I like it. It copies, scans, prints DVDs and has a duplexer to print 2-sided without feeding the paper back in. That’s a nice feature not usually found on printers at this price. In fact, only a few years ago a printer with these features likely would have been $500-600.

I didn’t intend this to be a printer review but it seems like a nice printer for anyone looking to print DVDs. I had used an Epson Stylus 960 previously, which did a nice job. The RX680 seems to be a nice replacement for that and saves a lot of space because I got rid of my scanner and document printer.

[Bruce Bernard]

Hi Dave,

You are correct that the settings were the issue – I had the compression type set to DV/DVCPRO. Once I changed it to ‘Animation’ and ‘Millions +’ I was able to import to Vegas and have it look the way I expected.

Thanks again for all your help,

Bruce

[Bruce Bernard]

Hi Dave,

I did as you suggested and I still have the same problem. You are probably correct that it’s my render settings. Could you please provide the render settings that you are using so I can try them?

Thanks again,

Bruce

[Bruce Bernard]

Will do. It’s the latest version. Using the stand-alone engine. Thanks very much.

[Bruce Bernard]

I always make 3 files – an MPEG with audio, a video file and a separate AC-3 file. My problem of course was with the combined file. I like to have a combined file in order to play it in Windows Media Player, etc.

BTW, for the video stream I use the DVD architect default parameters. Is it better to use the 2-pass encoding with that setting?

Thanks again,

Bruce

mrbb, PA

[Bruce Bernard]

Hi Gary – thanks for the quick response – on New Year’s day yet!

I solved the problem but the whole episode is still quite puzzling. As I said earlier, previews plays fine within Vegas so I concluded that the problem was in the encoding of the MPEG file. I had been using a custom template I created that started with the default template and just made it best quality with 2-pass encoding. It had worked great until recently. I tried the basic default template, no problem. I then recreated my 2-pass template, no problem!

I can only conclude that somehow my custom preset file became corrupted. Hopefully if anyone else has this problem occir this will make it easier for them to trace it.

I started with Vegas about a year ago – I made the change with some encouragement from folks on this board and I am glad I did.

Thanks again.

mrbb, PA

[Bruce Bernard]

I just built a new system and had planned on using Plextor PX 716A’s, but based on advice in this forum I decided against them. Instead I went with NEC ND-3550A drives and they are awesome, and the best part is you can find them for under $40. They read everything, burn double layer etc, and they are very fast. I put in 3 for less than what one Plextor would have cost.

mrbb, PA

[Bruce Bernard]

Hi Brian – I am new to Vegas and am setting up a new system and ran into a similar situation with a PNY Quadro 540 with a breakout box. Here is what I learned the hard way, and if I had known what I now know I would not have bothered with the extra money for the box. Even though the card advertises simultaneous outputs from the TV connectors, if you read the nVidia docs only 2 of your 3 outputs can be active at one time. I don’t consider that simultaneous!!

In order to get the output to the TV, you have to make sure Vegas is setup in the preferences to use the additional monitor. Then right click on your desktop and select “nVidia properties.” There will be a button to press that says something like “Configure TV Display”. When you press that button, the Forceware Driver software will ask you to choose which 2 of your 3 displays you want to use. Select the TV and one of your other monitors.

What gripes me is that, as you say, you can only see the desktop on the TV monitor, which is a rather fuzzy and useless picture. I thought it would output the video signal.

The bottom line is that you are much better off using a firewire camera or deck. You get a nice clear video signal that way and can stil use both of your monitor outputs. Here is the connection path:

Computer 1394 Connector –> DV Device 1394 connector
DV device composite or S video out –> NTSC monitor or TV

Be sure to press the button on the Vegas preview window that looks like a TV in order to send the output to the firewire – Vegas does not support simultaneous display in the preview window and external display.

I have been using the above setup to capture video with Scenalyzer. This enables me to view the video on the monitor while capturing. I don’t think the Vegas capture program supports the external monitor while capturing, but I don’t think that’s too important anyway.

I don’t see any use for the video outputs on the Quadro cards except possibly for HD stuff which I have yet to get into. I got a better picture from my old analog capture device.

Good luck.

mrbb, PA

[Bruce Bernard]

Thanks Edward – the main reason I locked tracks in Premiere is that razoring affects all tracks unless they are locked. I guess there is no real reason to do so in Vegas, except perhaps to prevent auto rippling where it’s not wanted, as you point out.

mrbb, PA