[Nigel O’neill]

Thanks Guys

Agree with everything you say and appreciate your advice.

The NX5 shoots in NXCAM, the next generation of Sony AVCHD.

I forgot to mention I live in PAL land, and am not shooting in 24p.

I have done long projects in HDV and output to DV, but I had to either compress in DVD architect or reduce the bit-rate in Vegas. I was unsure if the latter would introduce strange artefacts, and will bring out the bit-rate calculator.

Thanks

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

Mike

I use a Z1P and an FX1 and we might also have an NX5 in the mix. It’s a Flamenco dance concert with stage lighting, so I am expecting that lighting will be good.

I have done a concert with zooming as you described to crop the image of a remote cam, but there was noticeable strobing on fast movements. Perhaps I cropped a bit too much.

So, are you saying that down-converting is a path worth considering? Was you spring play edited from downconverted HDV?

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

Ken

In addition to John’s suggestions, I would also try:
– opening the project on another PC with Vegas.
– Uninstalling and re-installing Vegas

You did not mention which Vegas product and version you were using.

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

Scott

What do you eventually end up delivering to the client? DVD, bluray, broadcast quality file?

The reason I ask is that for the theatre work I mainly do, the client wants DVD, so component+XLR out from all the cams to a vision mixer which is then recorded on a deck that receives an audio feed from the sound desk is sufficient. We recapture to PC and edit the best of 2 performances.

We have shot both in SD and HDV, but once crunched down to DVD, the difference is a slight improvement. Where it is noticeable is when there is a poor quality cam in the mix. We have used mainly Z1P’s, but next year plan to use P2. It helps when most of the team works for broadcast A/V product retailers and organisations with high quality A/V departments :-).

I am with Danny that a good quality cam that records AVCHD in HD 1920 at a data rate higher than 24 mbps may give you the results you are seeking. I am not sure the barrel cam with manual controls is suitable for your work, but I guess you have to try before you buy. For me, I have live operators controlling focus, zoom, iris and gain. We work in a live theatre environment, and with 12x to 20x zooms, get up a personal with the stage performers.

When my Z1P or FX1 goes into retirement, I’ll be looking at replacing them with something like the Sony HVR-NX5U which records simultaneously to card and the HXR-FMU128 memory unit. If my budget (and missus) allows it, perhaps I can dream of an EX1/EX3 or a Panasonic P2… * sigh *

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

Scott

I use an FX1 and Z1P for live video work including concerts and weddings, with an HC3 as backup. I have avoided AVCHD as the data rate on the earlier cams was around 17 mbps, compared to 24 mbps for HDV. The quality difference was noticeable, especially when you mixed AVCHD and HDV. That is no longer true as some new cameras show.

The second factor to consider is manual controls. The smaller barrel type cams often have fiddly zoom, iris, gain and focus controls. Live shoots with rapidly changing lights and action tend to demand manual control. I would have thought this would have been your leaning.

The third factor to consider is the lens/sensor combination. Smaller cams tend to compromise on this for the sake of compactness. The ability of a camera to work in low light is not generally governed by the fact that it is an AVCHD camera. A good high quality fast lens backed up by big sensors is a must in low light conditions.

The type and size of sensor, CMOS or CCD needs to be considered. CMOS tend to work better under low light, but suffer from rolling shutter. Personally, I prefer CCD over CMOS, but they can sometimes be considered to lean towards offering a ‘cooler’ image. It comes down to personal preference. Manufacturers prefer CMOS as they are cheaper to produce and often have some smarts built in to the sensor, such as super high quality slo-mo.

Next is impression. Some clients like to see big gear! I know it may sound trivial, but psychology and perception to prospective clients does need to be considered when buying your next cam.

Next thing to consider is form. True shoulder mounted cameras work well for live video work. If properly balanced on your shoulder, you could use one for long periods of time. The smaller camcorders or palmcorders tend to suffer from the motion of your arms, your breathing and trembling of your hands during handheld work, and hence need supports and other paraphernalia to literally help you hold the camera.

Yet another to consider is inputs/outputs. I use the XLR inputs on the Z1P and a break out box on the FX1 to get a feed off the sound desk. Cheaper cams tend to use proprietary hot shoes or 3.5mm inputs which are not as robust as XLR connections. Headphones are a must for monitoring sound, yet some cams don’t offer them.

Hope this helps.

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

I think not. Before I purchased the upgrade, I had to agree to the licence agreement. I vaguely recall words suggesting it could not be installed on more than 1 computer, or words to that effect.

I haven’t installed it yet to check it (I just wanted to take advantage of the $139 price) and probably will not do so until the end of the year when I have my jobs out of the way and can afford downtime to address bugs.

There is no reference to network rendering in the manual as you have determined. Interesting… .

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

I have yet to get the email from Sony, but following the link from Mike appears to be sufficient once I login as myself and enter a qualifying serial number…

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

John

What is the make and model of your camera? It may assist us in providing the right advice.

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

Paul

I regularly record long sequences such as concerts, and may have some advice to offer:

I have observed this behaviour when scene detection has been enabled during the capture process from tape. I have also experienced audio drop outs of 1-2 frames between scenes when joining those scenes together on the timeline. When I do not perform scene detection during tape capturing i.e. capture it as a continuous stream, I do not see these drop outs or thumbnail issues.

I also use an AVCHD hard disk camcorder as my safety cam and I have observed similar behaviour with my footage. Unfortunately, my camera automatically creates 2 gb files (does not stream continuously), and it is at the join points I notice 1 or 2 dropped frames or frames carried forward/backwards. The way I work around this is to crop the footage by 1 or 2 frames. It can get quite cumbersome with 20 or 30 clips, and causes syncing headaches every 15 minutes or so when trying to do a multicam edit, but I have been unable to find a more elegant solution.

Hope this helps.

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1

[Nigel O’neill]

Jim

Try the render without the two-pass setting. I have had similar strange results when rendering to DVDA DVD NTSC templates.

Intel i920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 9 (X64), Vista x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S 4.1