[Jeff Schroeder]

It is for 3d footage. There is no software that can make 3d out of 2d.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

Jerry,

It looks to me like you have your preview quality set to something other that “Best”. Try changing this before you take the snapshot.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

Mike pretty much nailed it on the head there. With over 200 video formats and all the variants floating around the ether, Vegas Pro does a superb job at handling ‘Professional’ formats. You could have spent $2800 on an Adobe Suite only to find that you still can’t load that xvid video. AT least Vegas permits you to install additional codecs.

Besides that, unless you’re trying to edit an illegally ripped DVD, why would you want to use XVID?

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

I just upgraded today. I selected the Vegas Seminar Series. I am quite happy I did. There is a wealth of information in it and I can’t wait to get into all of it. This looks like the best upgrade they have had so far.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

I’ve tried 3 screens for a while. I just couldn’t get used to the mouse travel. Right now I have 2 workstations that have a shared folder that acts as my go between. My main computer has 2 1920×1080 monitors and runs Vegas and DVD Architect (when needed). The other computer has 2 1680×1050 monitors and serves up Vegas and After Effects. Both have Photoshop. I keep saying I’m gonna set up network rendering but I haven’t gotten to it yet. (slacker!) I never dock my pan/crop, video preview, track motion or generated media windows. I’m probably undisciplined, but I get the job done.

I do occasionally run out of monitor space because I like the largest preview I can get. I don’t know if this helps.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

I key my AVCHD all the time. I also have exceptional lighting.
Give it a try and if it is not so good go the CineForm route.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

I had a similar problem. I re-installed windows 7 three times, along with Vegas 32 & 64. Each time Vegas would work for a while then the while would get less and less until it crashed within seconds of opening it. The final time I wiped out the drive and re-installed Windows 7, I did not connect it to the internet until I had disabled Windows automatic updates, (I also disabled the service). Surprise, Vegas has been up and running 6+ months – not one crash.

When you get tired of trying to figure it out, try this and let me know if it works.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

Mary,

I don’t know how you would read the color values ‘live’ during a shoot, other than importing a test shot and taking a frame capture and checking the rgb.

I looked at some of my chroma footage and found a range from 103,190,117 on the bright side to 71,141,83 on the dark side. This was all from one frame on one camera. I don’t recall having too much trouble keying this. I use New Blue’s chroma key instead of the one supplied with Vegas.

One thing I can say is that you want your screen lit as evenly as possible. Mine is cloth that hangs from 9 feet up, curves at the floor and extends about 12 feet from the wall. I use 3 -500 watt halogens with a softener on each. They are about 3 feet above my screen and about 2.5 feet in front of it. My talent is about 6.5 – 8 feet in front of the screen and lit from 2 points. I do not use a hair light or a back light, because of the huge amount of light already behind the talent.

You want to be careful of shadows because they can be hard to work around. I recreate all my shadows from a silhouette of the keyed footage.

I hope my 2-cents worth helps you in some way.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

In the pan/crop window (click the square box on the event) you can specify width, height, x center, y center, all along the left side.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com

[Jeff Schroeder]

I’m with John on this one. The triple channel memory make a difference, I have 12 GB, with an i7 920 on a similar (Asus) board. The second hard drive is a must, even if you use a real small one for your C drive. My C drive is 64 GB because it is an SSD, it raised the price but is worth it.

Be sure to cool that CPU well, the stock coolers that come with the 920 boxed edition are not up to it. I don’t remember what cooler I used (I’m at home at the moment), but I can fully recommend mine on Monday.

Jeff

http://www.narrowroadmedia.com