[Marlen Mathers]

(John) That was before Vegas Pro 10 added support for GPU rendering. I would now recommend that you buy the most powerful CUDA card you can afford for Vegas pro 10 and beyond.

So, you think the GTX470 is good for Vegas requirements or would you recommend the Quadro 2000 (or others) if your budget permitted. Like you said in your post, you doubt that doubling the price for the system mainly on the cost up the video card is going to double your performance, but what is optimal trade off for performance/cost for Vegas. (I know it’s somewhat a subjective question, but I do value the thoughts of people like yourself in this forum)

Marlen

[Marlen Mathers]

I hear you on that. I actually was using “Ultra Key” when I first started and was happy with the results., but after I saw Keith’s article, I tried Vegas. I mostly work in a very controlled lighting environment, so I normally can get a very good key and I’ve gotten so comfortable with Vegas that it’s my “Default” keyer under those conditions.

[Marlen Mathers]

Excellent Mike – thanks for the response. I learned how to do my first “green screen” from an online tutorial Keith posted a few years back. I like his postings. I’m going to look into his specs and see where I end up on the price side of things…

[Marlen Mathers]

John – any thoughts on the DIY 8 from videoguys? I used their specs back when DIY6 (?) came out and have been happy fo a lot of years of SD editing.

Now with the need for more power for HD, I’m thinking again of building. The only hesitance I have is that this DIY8 build references AVID and Adobe, but no Sony Vegas. Their previous work did. I also recall (I think it was you) that said their reccos for video cards were a bit overkill for Vegas and that Vegas could handle the work with a less powerful card. The card seems to be what I’m wavering on, as their recommendation is quite pricey.

Here’s the link, any thoughts for us guys using Vegas 10 pro?

Thanks again.

Marlen

[Marlen Mathers]

Looking to upgrade to 10, but had a question on installation. I run Vegas 8 on both a laptop and a desktop (never simultaneously. In the past I used a hard copy CD for installing on both machines. How would I do that if I chose to “download” the product instead of taking the “reduced packaging” option?

Thanks in advance.

Marlen

[Marlen Mathers]

John –

I went ahead and downloaded the trial version of GearShift. I’m wondering if you could save me a little time, as I have been experimenting with the proxy files, but don’t know what would be the best proxies to use for final mastering.

I shot the footage as 29.970 fps interlaced, 1920x1080x12, AVC (mts streams from the Sony HDR-SR12). I’m editing in Sony Vegas Pro 8.0C and will output the work onto a standard Definition DVD-R.

What are your thoughts s to getting the best quality output?

Again – your help is greatly appreciated…

Marlen

[Marlen Mathers]

I would recommend using Cineform NeoScene if your system can handle the files but if it can’t, you can use VASST GearShift to convert the files to DV Widescreen before you edit.

Thanks for the response John. I have a Pentium 4 (3.2GH) with 3.25GB RAM running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3. I went to the NeoScene site and it looks like I may be at the “minimum” requirements to run the software – but sometimes even with the minimum, performance is a problem. They have a “7 Day Trial”, so I’ll give it a shot and if things run a bit sluggish, I’ll switch to VASST GearShift. In either case, this was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the help.

Marlen

[Marlen Mathers]

Quick question to John (or any others with info) – in your post you asked why I did not shoot the original footage in HD. I failed to ask you if it would make any quality difference in my final render to NTSC DV 16:9 Standard Definition.

I still have not upgraded my editing equipment, but will be shooting another short film this weekend – and would like to shoot in HD if:

#1. It would improve the quality over my SD capture that I am using with my Sony HDR-SR12. The output will be a 4.7GB DVD

#2. I can find a way to edit these HD files in an “intermediate” type format that will allow my older system to handle the mts files, but can still produce high quality at render time.

Is there a tutorial or information on working with Intermediate files. I found something in the Sony Manual that gives some direction and I’ve experimented with some files, but have not seemed to pull this off.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

Marlen

[Marlen Mathers]

I’ve got a couple I can share, but not sure how to post them here..

[Marlen Mathers]

“I would start with added a Sony Color Curves and make a nice ‘S’ shaped curve to crush the blacks and pop the highlights. Then use the Sony Color Corrector and push the saturation up a bit. Also the Sony Film Grain can help add some grit to the image. All of this is subjective. Experimentation is the key. Find a Hollywood film that you like the look of and pull apart why it looks that way. “

Outstanding! This is helpful. I have used Sony Color Corrector Sony Film Grain in this way and loved the results. And as you suggested – it was done through “experimentation” that I got that result. I’ll try the “S” shaped curve next as that one is new to me.

As for lighting and DOF it’ll be a ways before I get there….but it’s on the list! Thanks again for the tips.