[Mike Kujbida]

You didn’t say what the total cost of this would be.
If it’s around $250, then definitely take a look at this deal from B&H.
It includes an installation CD for Vegas 6 as well as the upgrade disc to Vegas 7.0+DVD.

[Mike Kujbida]

I’m confused. In your first post you say I have vegas 3 and the serial number works for an upgrade disc for Vegas 7 + DVD at the sony vegas site.
Then you go on to say …my vegas 3 has not yet arrived…

First of all, according to Sony, if Vegas 3 was used to do an upgrade to any newer version, it won’t work.
If it was never used for this (and it sounds like it wasn’t), then you’re OK.
If you’re still uncertain, then an email or phone call to Sony customer support should help clarify things for you.

Next, I started off with Vegas 3 and DVD Architect 1. I’ve successfully upgraded version by version to Vegas 7 and DVDA 4. Just make sure that you install the necessary utility apps (Microsoft’s .NET Framework, DirectX, etc.) and there shouldn’t be any problems.
As a side note, until recently I had all versions on my computer (a now lowly AMD 2200) and there was never a conflict.

[Mike Kujbida]

I had a similar issue with an (external) M-Audio Firewire 410 audio box.
The solutions were (#1) to disable ALL Windows sounds and (#2) to buy another firewire card and put the M-Audio box on it’s own dedicated port.
Problem solved 🙂

[Mike Kujbida]

Do you have your Vegas project properties set up properly for playback?

[Mike Kujbida]

“Will the software prompt me to break up the project in some way?”

Nope. You have to figure out that for yourself.
In the math tutorial example I gave, I put chapters 1-5 on disc one and chapters 6-11 on disc two. Each disc came out to around 1 hr. 45 min..
I’m a big fan of customizing my MPEG-2 settings depending on the project length.
Once I knew how long each disc would be, I used a bitrate calculator to determine the optimum settings. Audio was default AC-3.

“Can I have separate menus for each disc?

You sure can. Because each disc is completely separate, you can do whatever you want. For consistency though, stick to the same layout style.

Anything to watch out for?”

Not that I can think of. Let us know if you have any more questions as the project progresses and we’ll do what we can to help you out.

[Mike Kujbida]

Sony is obviously sensing that you have a new hard drive (i.e. new serial number for it).
The easiest (and simplest) solution is to re-register.
If you do it online, it’s quick and painless.
BTW, Sony has no problems with you doing this unless you’ve done it numerous times. Then it’s a quick email/phone call to Customer Support explaining the situation and you’re back in business.

[Mike Kujbida]

Can the project be easily split into different segments?
If so, that’s what I’d do.
For the stuff you’ve edited so far, start a new instance of Vegas and do a copy/paste of one section. Save it as a separate veg file. Then delete it from the master timeline. Repeat as necessary.

As an example, I did a multi-part (11 parts as I recall) math refresher tutorial last year.
Each segment was edited separately and combined only when I was ready to burn the master DVDs.
Made things much easier on both me and the computer 🙂

[Mike Kujbida]

“File-Import-Media”

And select the box that says Open still image sequence.

[Mike Kujbida]

There’s a script available (sorry but the name escapes me right now) that allows you to save a video sequence as a series of frames (PNG format, as I recall). You can then bring these frames into Photoshop and do a batch action as required.

[Mike Kujbida]

Unfortunately Vegas, like most NLEs, can only see 2 audio channels.
If you want all 4, check out Scenalyzer.
A demo version is available.