[Nigel O’neill]

Vegas 9 used to support network rendering, but that disappeared in V10. So, since Vegas 8, we have lost native Cineform support (version 9) and network rendering (version 10). Usually products are meant to get more feature rich, not lose them :-). In Version 11 we got GPU rendering but are constantly advised to disable it to get a speedy render. What the?

I disagree with spending more dosh on a GPU as it tends to have limited benefit as code has to specifically address it. Games are a prime example, and Vegas 11 specifically benefits if you edit in AVCHD only. For example, I have a high-end Nvidia GPU and a high-end i7 CPU, but as I edit in in HDV, MXF and AVCHD mixed on the timeline for multicam shoots, I get zero benefit from Vegas’ GPU acceleration during previews or rendering.

Possibly because I also use Vasst Ultimate S (for my multi-cam work) which is not optimised for GPU’s, I do not get reap the benefit of the GPU accelerated code.

I went from an i7 920 to an i7 970 CPU and I am now able to edit (most of the time) in ‘preview’ where previously I was stuck in ‘draft’. The i7 970 is no slouch in the performance stakes, but it does struggle.

To achieve nirvana I think I have to use Gearshift when ingesting my media or edit everything in AVCHD, which means completely refreshing all my camera gear. Not a cheap or practical proposition.

One thing I did have in an older system was Western Digital Caviar drives that spun at 10,000 RPM in a RAID 1 and RAID 0 configuration. That did seem to have a positive impact on render times.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

And in response to David’s response, if you are paranoid (like me), get two (2) drive for your source files (which includes your project files) and mirror them (RAID 1)

RAID 0 for your output is fine because you can always recreate from source. Note: RAID 0 is also known as striping, in which a single volume of data spans two physical drives, therefore 2 500GB drives striped give you 1TB of capacity. However, lose 1 drive, and you lose everything.

RAID 1 (mirroring) maintains a copy, so therefore 2 500GB drives give you only 500GB of capacity. Lose 1 and you still have a copy.

Alternatively you could RAID 5 and use 3 drives + 1 hot spare, but you effectively have the capacity of 2 drives as 1/3 is lost to maintaining parity.

And if you really want to do your head in, and are super concerned about maintaining uptime, you can implement RAID 10 which is a.k.a a ‘stripe of mirrors’, using 4 drives + 1 hot spare.

Whatever you end up doing, you will need a motherboard that supports your multiple drive connectors, has enough power headers and has a power supply capable of supporting your system.

If you plan on getting a u-beaut video card, I would budget for at least 750W or even consider 850W. Make sure you choose a quality brand from Antec or Thermaltake

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

And do not turn off the external enclosure with the eSata cable, EVER, while the computer is on. I ended up having two hard drives crashing needlessly this way.

I have been using eSATA with SATA drives and powering off and on whilst the computer is on for several years now without incident. If you use a separate SATA controller such as a Promise controller in your system (other than the one on the motherboard), most of the time Windows lets you ‘Safely remove hardware and eject media’ just like a USB drive.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

Somewhat. I copy what I need into my project folder structure so the project is completely independent from a media perspective. Whilst it means duplication of media and thus, uses up loads of disk space, it does allow me to archive the projects to a hard drive and use them years later. With the cost of HDD’s being so low nowadays and the capacities in the 2+ TB range, it is now possible to store all your projects ‘as is’.

I know of at least one editor who buys 1 hard drive per project and gives that to the client with a full copy of the project. If the client wants changes done in future or wants to reuse media, they need only produce the HDD. He does risk them taking the work elsewhere, but he tells me that that has not happened yet.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

Glad to hear. Thanks for the update.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

Mike

I couldn’t agree with you more. I have been doing it ever since I started editing.

I have noticed that Premiere and FCP tutorials refer to the creation and maintenance of media libraries/bins, but neglect to mention if the PC has issues and needs to be rebuilt, you lose the lot. It happened to an editor friend of mine who was editing a 2.5 hour multicam shoot when he got hit by a nasty computer virus that wiped out his PC. He lost almost all his media assets.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

I use Mike’s method, but it does mean you have to be disciplined and store all your project assets/media in a project folder with subfolders. My typical folder structure is:

Project Name
Veg
Video
Images
Audio
Documentation
DVD Architect
Art work

For this method to work (and to be machine independent), you cannot rely on image libraries, for instance, as they may not be available or the same on a different machine.

I have had limited success with the copy media approach when saving projects. In all my attempts, Vegas has crashed.

Mike’s approach is KISS, and it means you can pass off the work to another Vegas editor. I recently did this on a large job in which I was given multicam project on an external HDD to complete. I did all the colour grading, some changes to effects, pan & crop fixes, and all I then had to do was send the original editor the latest .veg file.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

Frank

1) Download the latest build of Vegas. If you already have that, go the opposite way an use an earlier build
2) Try installing and opening the project in a 32 bit version of Vegas and rendering. You can have both versions on Windows x64.
2) You can also try defaulting your Vegas settings. Hold down CTRL and SHIFT when starting Vegas and it will reset (almost all) settings back to their factory defaults.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

Dave

I do my handheld work with a monopod that I use both collapsed and extended. I attach the zoom controller to it. It is not very big as it is quite a basic controller. It is pretty inexpensive when compared to others. I guess you could always attach it to the handle of your camera… .

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Nigel O’neill]

In your project properties, select the deinterlacing method to blend. Tick match project settings to media as well.

I suspect that you are using the standard HD 1080/50i template which defaults to none.

I assume that your media is 1920×1080 to begin with.

Don’t forget to select reduce interlace flicker for your images on the timeline,

Hopefully your Australia Day celebrations were a bit drier than mine in Queensland.

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10e (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6