[Bruce Quayle]

Hi Cade,
I met the guys from Hoodman at NAB last week and they have a new alternative to the SxS cards that they say allow complete overcranking as per the Sony cards. I am having a couple shipped out to me and when I get them I will let the forum know how they perform. I believe they cost around $200 each for the 32gb card.
Cheers,

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Hi Guys,
There appears to be nothing on the horizon on the Sony front concerning the possibility of harnessing the GPU power for Vegas. Unfortunately, from my perspective, Divide Frame is a non-starter as I am not using AVCHD. This means that NeoScene is also out of the question and I am left with the very much more expensive NeoHD product that is designed for the EX1r codec (amongst others).
I will be attending NAB this year and will chat with the Sony and Vegas reps concerning this issue. I don’t hold out much hope though.
I really can’t understand why Sony, with its powerhouse of technical brains at its disposal, can’t make this work. Surely it is a no-brainer to allow the software to tap into whatever processing power is available in its host computer?!
I think you have a very good point Roger – If Sony can’t make their editing software work smoothly with the formats in which their cameras record the data, then perhaps it’s time that they got out of the editing business.
Cheers,

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Hi Bob and John,
Thanks for your input here. It is interesting that Kristian and myself appear to be at opposite ends of the technical spectrum, but have similar questions.

Yes John – your “How To” videos are exactly what I believe people like me are looking for…and I have really appreciated them. I just would really like to see a comprehensive compilation of this sort of thing so that I don’t have to spend hours looking around for the effect, transition or composite I need. I would pay good money for a DVD with all this stuff on it. Now by ‘transition’, I don’t mean a simple wipe or dissolve, I mean something using an explosion or a matt as a transition. Now, we Luddites aren’t completely lacking in lateral thinking – I mean we can see when a specific transition can be used with different sources and therefor, make the necessary changes to achieve our particular goal. This means these How To lessons don’t have to cover every imaginable circumstance.

I suspect that, if you think parent-child is the “big” issue that is not fully explained, that you have not yet begun to grasp the capabilities of Vegas. There is a LOT to understand…

Exactly my point Bob. I will be the first to admit that I haven’t grasped the capabilities of Vegas…but I just want to be able to use it as a professional tool.

I once owned a production house with very expensive edit suits and hired editors to do what I can now do myself (within reason) on a laptop. The industry has changed to such a degree that this is now possible.

I’m simply suggesting that folks like myself (the technically disabled) would benefit enormously from “How To” videos rather than the excellent in-depth tutorials that are available.

We don’t want to know how it gets done – we just want to know how to do it!

Thanks again for your input.
Cheers,

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Hi John,
Thanks for your input on this confusing issue.
Now, I speak purely as a retired producer/director/writer (who can never retire) and now has entered the field of independent documentary making:
If I’m not mistaken, we independents (not necessarily retired) are a large proportion of the Vegas community, who have turned to a professional quality – consumer priced editing system, in order to facilitate our dreams.
It baffles me that, with all the really clever people who work for *The Sony Corporation* (or even you ‘Gurus’ at VASST), nobody has yet compiled a comprehensive and comprehensible “How To” manual for the technically disabled. I’m not talking about your great “Basics to This”, or “The Beginners Bundle to That”, I’m talking about a “How To” guide…not a training guide.
Seriously – guys like us just want to know how to create a composite using, for example: one source as a shape and another as the fill with a bg of something else…or how to add rain to a scene without using an additional plug-in…or what settings to use to add a deep and purplish look to a sunset…or how to create a night look out of something shot during the day?
We are not technically brilliant editors searching for a “new” look, we are simple-minded creative folk trying to put our ideas into shape.
If this is a pipe-dream, then what about a glossary or dictionary of terms? Only The Lord knows why every manufacturer of editing systems (and even cameras) have to each have their very own terms for commonly used events or actions. Parent/Child is a great example. I am confident that Avid and FCP both have different terms for this. Maybe…just maybe it would be an idea to include the glossary at the back of the manual with a description (and the various other industry-recognised terms) of, say, ‘Child’ and ‘Parent’, to name but two!
Please forgive my minor rant…it’s actually more of a plea!
And thanks so much for your explanation to Kristian. I gained a lot from that.
Cheers for now,

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Thank you for posting these questions Kristian.
The parent-child track thing has me stumped as well. I do what “The Gurus” tell us to do to achieve a specific result, but alas I do so in ignorance of how it all works. This is very unproductive as it doesn’t allow for any creativity on my part in this important area.
Like you, I have researched it as much as possible with little illumination.
Sorry that this post doesn’t help your cause, but I wait in the hope that someone out there can put us one the path to true understanding.
Cheers,

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Hi Chris,
Sorry for the delay in replying to your most excellent and detailed explanation. I really appreciate your clarity. I certainly understand the GOP concept better now. I guess editing with GOPs creates a similar problem we used to have (back in the olden days…), when we lost quality every time we went down a generation during the VT editing process. I’m of the old school as you can see.
I’m heading to NAB next month and following your lead will explore this option further. Sounds like Cineform will be a sound investment for my project.
Thanks again for the time and effort you put into your explanation – I really appreciate it!
Cheers for now,
Bruce
PS: Hope your boys are doing well in the Super 14 this year!

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for your advice. As I mentioned, I’m ignorant technically, but am concerned that the quality of my pictures will suffer when I encode/decode them for editing purposes. I imagine that Sony would not include this application if there was any degrading of the material, so it sounds like the answer.
I doubt if my material will require any compositing, but colour correction is always necessary. Do you think 4:2:2 is essential for this, or could I stay in 4:2:0?
Once you complete your edit, what file type do you use to export your finished product? I’m guessing this will depend on what platform you use for distribution, but if I needed to distribute on three different platforms (HD Broadcast, Internet and DVD/BD), how would I be exporting my finished product?
I am preparing for an extended period offshore and need to have as many of these details cleared up as possible before I leave.
Thanks again,

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

I agree Roger. This is indeed a great group of folks who give of their time and experience for no reward other than to lead us out of the dark jungles of ignorance into the sublime light of knowledge! …and a decent final product.
Thanks guys!

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Hi Norman,
I have contacted the manufacturers of Divide.Frame and given them my details and situation. I’ll let you know what they say.
Cheers,

Bruce Quayle

[Bruce Quayle]

Thanks for the info and suggestions. I still think that any processing power available should be used – especially when one considers that the GPUs of today are at least as powerful as some of the CPUs we used to have as our core processors.
Unfortunately my particular situation requires me to be in the field for months on end and I can only use a laptop. Although most of the material will be rough-cut at this point, there is still some that is required to be in close to on-line condition. I hope the HP Pavilion with i7-820QM processor will be sufficient for my purposes. Now if I could just make use of the 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M….
Thanks again,

Bruce Quayle