[John Rofrano]

How big is your DVD Architect project? (it tells you in the lower right-hand corner of the interface) and how much free space is on your hard drive? You could need up to double the project size. So a 4.3GB project could need up to 8.6GB of free space. Make sure you have enough free space.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

> Well, my plan is placing it to the internet. I also want to put it on DVD, but it doesn’t let me record with 5.1 surround sound, I suppose I have to render both things separately.

Yes, you need to render separately for each output type. When rendering for the web use the dimensions I gave you (873×480).

> Today I tried to render the video in AVI with the default settings of the NTSC template.

What do you mean “default NTSC template”? You should be using the NTSC DV Widescreen template if you expect to get 16:9 output.

> I realized one thing: it doesn’t let me record the 5.1 surrond sound together. Guess I have to render it apart.

That’s right. DV doesn’t support 5.1.

> The result were unfortunately the same! What’s wrong with avi since it’s not getting 16:9?

What are you using to determine it is not 16:9? Maybe your player is wrong?

> Right now I’m going to try on MPEG2. I’ll write you later.

When rendering for DVD you must render the Video and Audio separately if you want 5.1 surround. Render the video as MainConcept MPEG-2 using the DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream template and the audio as Dolby Digital AC-3 uwing the 5.1 Surround DVD.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

Sounds like a corrupt installation. There should be about a dozen templates under Windows Media Video V9. I would re-install Vegas.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

Here what you want to do: Drop the one long video onto your DVD Architect menu. Ctrl+Drag the button as many times as you want to make a copy for each chapter you want to string together. (it sounds like you need to do this 30 times). Double-click on each chapter button and set the in and out points to just play that chapter.

Let’s say that what you want in the end is 4 buttons: 1) Play All 2) In The Studio 3) Music Videos 4) Live Performances.

Here’s the tricky part. Insert a new menu but remove the navigation to it. This will be a hidden menu for the 26 buttons you don’t need to see. Determine which 4 buttons will be the starting points and drag all of the other buttons to the other menu. Now start with the first chapter for “In The Studio” and double-click on it to navigate into. Go to End Actions and set the Link to whatever the next chapter/button is for studio footage. Then double-click on that button and set it’s end action to the next button, etc. This is how you can build chains that navigate in any order you want.

I show you some of how to do this in VASST Absolute Training for Vegas+DVD, Vol. 3 “Getting started with DVD Architect”. In particular I show you exactly how to do what the ER DVD you mentioned does. I don’t show you the hidden menu piece but it’s pretty straight forward and is only needed when you need to jump over sections of video. Each jump needs it’s own in and out point.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

It should be noted that most consumer HD camcorders use AVCHD compression which is a bear to edit on even the most powerful PC’s. Personally, I would stick with an HDV camcorder but they cost a little more and use miniDV tape which I like because it gives me a safety backup but some people like tapeless memory card cameras. It’s up to you.

3CCD is not as important as it once was now that CMOS chips are being used. My Sony HVR-A1U has a single 1/3″ CMOS and it cuts will with my 3CCD Sony HVR-Z1U.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

Wind is mostly a low rumble so you want to EQ out the low end. Open the Track FX on the audio track and select the Track EQ that is already added for you. The first point is already set for Low Shelf, which is what you want. Set the Frequency (Hz) to 300 and the Gain (dB) to –Inf (all the way to the left). Now listen to a loop of your audio and adjust the frequency to filter more or less of the wind. The audio may sound thinner but that’s the trade-off.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

> Yes, and I forgot to mention, I was rendering to AVI (with XviD).

Well knowing what codec you are using adds a lot of light to the subject. 😉 When you said you were rendering with the DV Widescreen template I assumed you were rendering DV.

I beleive Xvid is the problem here. It is a “web” codec and so it assumes viewing on a PC monitor which always has a PAR of 1.000. If you want this codec to work, you will need to render your video as 873×480.

I have to ask: What are you trying to achieve? I thought you wanted to make a DVD. DVD’s require MPEG2 video.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

OK, so you’re rendering to AVI. I thought you were rendering to MPEG. The NTSC DV Widescreen AVI template will correctly make a widescreen video. there is nothing more you need to do. If you drop it back into Vegas it should show as 16:9. What makes you think it is not 16:9?

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

> but was wondering about other products like Stacktraxx, Sonicfire Pro and Cinescore. You folks must have used many of these before…what are your suggestions/comments?

I’ve got them all. Here’s my take on them:

Stacktraxx: This is royalty free music that you said you didn’t want to use. It’s great stuff (I use it) but you said “I’m not interested is basic royalty-free music ” so this is not for you.

Sonicfire Pro: This is royalty free music that is variable in content and has a clever editor that can cut a piece of music to the exact time you need with no musical knowledge on your part. If you want to compose your own music this really is not for you.

Cinescore: This is a royalty free music generator that allows some flexibility and hints that you can give the composer tool when it generates your music. It also allows you to add ACID Loops to mix things up a bit which is a nice touch. A clever tool aimed at videographers who are not musicians… again, if you want to make your own music, this isn’t really for you.

ACID Pro: This a DAW just like Nuendo that you have but it focuses its capabilities around loops and loop composition. I believe that this would be a great tool for you to try. Download the 30-day trial and check it out. Since you already have Vegas and Nuendo you might not need it though. That’s why I say try it out first.

Vegas: Now here’s a sweet little DAW that just happens to be ACID Loop aware. This means you don’t have to buy any software if you already own Vegas. Just get yourself some Cinematic ACID Loop libraries and compose your music right in Vegas. It doesn’t have some of the more eloquent features that ACID does but it does a good job with ACID loops.

> It seems that Acid may be the way to go, but I have been reading some worrying comments on various forums that suggest that Acid may soon be discontinued. Why do you think that would be?

Hmmm… Because someone who hasn’t a clue was making the post? Seriously, Sony has already stated that ACID Pro 7 is on it’s way. ACID isn’t going anywhere. It’s just getting better and better.

Bottom line:

Here is my recommendation: Go to the Sony ACID Loops site and listen to the samples from some of the cinematic loop libraries. Find some that are close to what you want and then buy them and have fun composing your own music in Vegas. if you’d rather use ACID you can start with ACID Music Studio which is a very capable program that is light on the budget. Music Studio doesn’t have some of the nicer features of Pro but Sony has a great comparison chart on their web site so you can see what you’d be missing.

All the other software mentioned is just variations on royalty free music for non-musicians. There’s nothing wrong with that. Like I said, I own StackTraxx, Sonicfore Pro, and Cinecore and use them all the time when I don’t have time for or the project doesn’t warrent composing my own music. It’s great stuff and very usable. But if you have your heart set on composing something that is your own, ACID or Vegas with ACID Loops will get you there.

~jr

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

[John Rofrano]

You can insert a Velocity Envelope on the clip (right-click | Insert/Remove Envelope | Velocity) This will allow you to speed it up more (by 300%) and slow it down to a stop (or even -100% which is backward at full speed). If you need more than that, simply speed it up, render the clip at the new speed, insert the rendered clip back on the timeline and speed it up some more. You can do this indefinitely.

~jr

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