[Carlton Rahmani]

The rule I look at in terms of aspect ratio is 2.39 for your REALLY epic stuff. . .like Star Wars, English Patient, stuff like that. For other things, like short films due to their subject matter, I’d recommend 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
It’s up to you.
It’s convenient, too, since it’s close to 16×9, and you don’t have to worry about really thick black bars if you’re playing it on a widescreen tv.
To get the aspect ratio in Vegas, go to the project properties. I picked 2k in the template, then adjusted the pixels so the WIDTH is 2048 and the height is 1138.

[Carlton Rahmani]

Thanks for the input about editing HD. What kind of laptop are you using anyway?
As for the heat issue, that’s something I’ve been well aware of, even with my old laptop, BEFORE I tried my hand at editing. I would always prop the rear of the laptop up on top of my wallet. And there’s been times where I put my laptop outside in the cold–around 30F–just to help keep it cool while rendering. I’m particularly very cautious about this with the new laptop, since heat has been one of the issues reported.
But, just to moreorless round off my initial point of inquiry, I went ahead and purchased the Asus g51 model I was talking about.
I’ve had it for about a week–I wanted to wait at least that long before I relate anything about my decision, for objectivity’s sake–and I gotta say I LOVE IT.
I haven’t done much with it–only edited, as a test, some videos using footage captured on the built-in webcam and some of Vegas’ generated media–and can only offer so much in terms of expertise, since the only other computer I’ve edited on was my old (Gateway 2gb) laptop, but I CAN say with a degree of confidence that THIS COMPUTER IS SOLID!
Truth is, after reading some of the recent forums, I’m more concerned about the direction Vegas seems to be heading.
I’ve done some work with V9–the downloadable trial, until I get the cash for purchase–and haven’t had any problems yet. But so far my tasks have been minor, and not intensive at all.
One encouraging thing I’ve seen with V9 is that it recognizes some of the AVIs that Vegas 7 wouldn’t.
As for the other problems that people are reporting: I’ll stick with Vegas as long as it delivers. . .actually, I’m ‘rooting’ for it.
Only, I wish I could feel as confident with it as I did up till a few weeks ago.

[Carlton Rahmani]

(I posted a very similar question to this myself, and here’s the conclusion I came to:)
I was looking at the G73 myself. Seriously awesome computer, from the look and feel of it, PLUS the fact that it upgradable to 16GB ram. BUT, no firewire, eSata, or USB 3.0. . .which, from what I can tell, is probably what you’re going to need if you require so much computing power in the first place.
I’ve even written Asus a few times on this issue–and I’ve seen other editors lament this fact–but I haven’t heard much from them.
I went ahead and purchased an Asus g51-series–the g51jx-x5 from B&H, to be exact. I just got it, and haven’t yet done anything ‘graphical’ on it, but so far it’s a MONSTER. Just SOLID. The screen’s a little smaller–15.6″–and it’s only upgradable to 8Gb. But, in my opinion, it’s not a bad choice if you’re keeping portability in mind. I think I’d rather lug around a somewhat smaller machine and have a high power desktop for really extensive functions than have a laptop so big that it’s a pain to carry anyway.

Actually, from reading off the Vegas forum, I’m more concerned about Vegas 9 these days than I am with the laptop.

But, like I said, I still gotta run some tests on it. But unless I have any problems (which I doubt, and will post if I do), consider this to be my recommendation.

[Carlton Rahmani]

So you’ve actually produced FEATURES (movies) using Sony Vegas? If so, what were they? I, along with a lot of other people, want to know.

[Carlton Rahmani]

I’ll admit that I’m talking way out of my league here. . .but I’ve been thinking about your issue–how to go about editing the film: all at once, or in takes/segments–for a couple of weeks now, and consider this:

After hearing that it can take days to render a feature film–which makes complete sense when you think about it–and considering a dilemma similar to yours, I’ve been wondering, Why not just render small, finished segments at a time, have those transferred to film individually, then splice those segments of film together for your final product?
Oh, yeah. . .I understand that this is probably cumbersome, and that there are matters of continuity that you gotta be concerned about, like color. (It sure would look weird to have a dude’s green shirt shift from ’emerald’ to ‘seaweed’ in the course of a couple of frames.) But I also figure that people who know what they’re doing know how to ensure such things without having to reference one point to every other one throughout the film.
And even though I am a newbie–I really am–I HAVE spliced together separately edited moving sequences rather seemlessly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx1EutTUXaA

The titles and intros and ‘epilogue’ and what not were all edited/animated separately, but in the main body the material before and after ca. 0:50 were two separate projects which I rendered individually, then ‘spliced’ together in the final project. (I also did the audio in another program, just because I was new to Vegas and didn’t know really how to work with it like that.) Unless you’re looking real hard, you can’t really tell.

I’m not boasting here; I’m just saying that I’ve done it and haven’t been disappointed by the results, particularly since the scene/shot is identical. And I believe that if you take your time and know what you’re doing (unlike me), you’ll come up with even better results.

I followed the link to your trailer, and the only criticism/piece of advice I have to give is that you try and tweak your effects–the ‘TV’ and ‘beam’ effects–a little bit so they don’t look so ‘default.’ I like Vegas and its effects, but it kind of bugs me when I can instantly tell, with my relatively untrained eye, that This was produced with Sony Vegas. Maybe that’s the case with all post-oriented applications and I just don’t know enough about them to spot the difference. I dunno. . .

And again, I’m pretty new, so take of this what you will.

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[Carlton Rahmani]

Let me know how this works out for you, since I’m looking to try putting a ‘feature’ together using Sony Vegas myself. (I mean: If it can handle 4k, why not?) And Kudos to you for not being afraid to take a risk.
As for other features. . .according to Wikipedia, “Paranormal Activity” was edited on Vegas. There’s also this other movie called “Cavite” that was edited on Vegas 4, I believe. I haven’t seen it yet–it’s on my netflix queue–but the reviews I’ve seen for it are pretty good, particularly owing to its ‘gritty’ style.
And seriously: good luck to you. The more I read and work with Sony Vegas, the more I think it’s getting a bum rap, particularly in how FCP is coming to dominate the more ‘independent’ markets. But not because it’s so much better, but just because everyone’s falling for this hubbub about What a ‘great’ program it is. Figure it’s time for some intrepid people to demonstrate this isn’t the case.

[Carlton Rahmani]

Hey Norman,

Thanks for the advice and dropping some more information for me. Just to let you know, I went ahead and purchased the Asus g51 I was talking about, and will put an update on this thread after I get it up and running.
The issues you brought up were valid, though, and I appreciate the input. I think this will work for me as a semi-intermediary, since it’s gonna be a while before I start doing anything in true HD–I still love working with this cheapy $50 digicam I got at walmart–and will probably have a nice desktop setup for myself by the end of the year. But my last laptop was an old gateway I UPGRADED to 2Gb ram (its max.)with a 5,400 rpm internal hard drive. Obviously I pushed that sucker a lot–didn’t know any better–and never was too disappointed with how things went. So I’m pretty eager to see what I can do with this upgrade and proper configuring.
Heat will be a concern I figure, so I’m already devising ways I can look to reduce it, particularly for the real heavy work.
I’m still on a learning curve, though, so anyone else have any suggestions or input, I’m open.