[Nigel O’neill]

Remy

Vegas, like all editing programs, is non-destructive to the source media. Is your system fairly old or is your hard disk aging/failing?

What anti-virus program are you using? Perhaps it is treating the .mov as a possible threat and is attempting to ‘clean’ the file when you access it, and in doing so, is corrupting it.

BTW, the .sfk and .sfl are proxy files that Vegas uses:

Audio Peaks (*.sfk): These small files are created by Vegas Pro software when a media file is opened for the first time. This file stores the information regarding the graphic display of the waveform. This file is stored in the directory that the media file resides in and has a .sfk extension. These files may be deleted at any time; however, if they are deleted, Vegas Pro will redraw the graphics, creating a new .sfk file. So it is recommended that .sfk files be deleted when projects are deleted.

Media Markers (*.sfl): These files are metadata files that store information about media markers. Media markers are created in Trimmer. If the selected file type cannot save the markers internally, Vegas Pro will save the metadata to an external file with an .sfl extension (using the same base name as the media file). Be careful when deleting these files, because Vegas Pro does not re-create them automatically! Delete .sfl files only when deleting projects.

Audio Proxy (*.sfap0): Audio Proxy files are created for nested projects. When a nested project is imported, Vegas Pro will render a temporary file with the .sfap0 extension that contains the audio from a nested project. To avoid building proxy files, delete audio from nested projects and use the master project to create your audio.

Project Backup (*.veg.bak): When a project is saved, .veg.bak files are created in the project folder to allow a return to the project’s last-saved state. These files may be deleted at any time; however it is recommended that they be deleted when a project is deleted.

You can safely delete .sfk and .sfl files. Vegas will regenrate them.

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]

Have you tried to temporarily shut them both down to see if DVDA then fires up?

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]

Allan

You have to put up with the long render times if you want to use Neat Video. You can reduce the render times by tweaking/reducing some of the smoothing settings, but the trade-off is a little more noise gets back into your video.

I did have a 90 minute wedding reception in which I tried it, but I ended up not using Neat Video. Although the noise was very noticeable in blu-ray, once it got crunched down to DVD, the noise was not as noticeable. The client wanted DVD only, so I left it at that. I did find that the 5 o’clock shadow on men tended to be emphasised by Neat Video, making them look like Fred Flintstone in the old cartoons!

I have applied it to VHS tapes and the effect can cause an over smoothening to the video.

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 was going to suggest a system roll-back to an earlier date, but I am not sure if all the uninstalls/re-installs would have obliterated that. It is worth a try.

You might want to check if your firewall or antivirus program has accidentally isolated the DVD architect executable.

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]

3.) What’s the procedure for creating a Slide-show in DVDA, or is this something that is better done in Vegas, then exporting the resulting video?

You need to do that in Vegas.

4.) What is the procedure for having all the videos in the “Scene Selection” menu play seamlessly in the “Play All” menu?

Create a playlist

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]

Steve

What are your system specs in terms of CPU and RAM? Vegas preview relies heavily on the power of your CPU.

Is this a multi-cam edit by any chance?

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]

Wesley

This could be due to your choice of monitor profile in your preview device settings under Vegas Preferences. Perhaps it is set to something your monitor cannot support, and Vegas is auto selecting.

You also need to let Windows extend your desktop in your display properties.

If you have set things up correctly, you should be able to click on Identify Displays in Vegas and see a number 1 and 2 show on separate screens

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]

This plug-in is not a silver bullet by any means, and you need to be selective when choosing your reference colors. You also need to white balance your clips as closely as possible before you start. There is a bit of trial and error involved at times, just like there is with Sony’s color corrector or white balance plug-in when it does not look ‘quite right’.

I have had good results using color match, and I stand by my comments.

If Frederic were to use other color correcting plug-ins to complete the correction process such as color curves or adding brightness, he would be falsely advertising his product.

Given that it is version 1 of his color match plug-in, I would suggest you send Frederic some footage or screen grabs and see what he can do, like I did. He may even be able to share the settings with you, or take you through what he did in particular.

[Nigel O’neill]

Comodo Internet Security. Runs full-time, but I can shut it down as needed.

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]

Theo

I provided the reference clips Frederic used and can comment. There has been a slight loss in saturation, but nothing a bit of Sony’s saturation adjust in Color Corrector cannot overcome. You do need to do a tiny bit of tweaking afterwards, but the two clips on the bottom now more closely match, compared to the two on top. The two on top were the best I could do to match them. If I got the dresses right, the sky turned a bit green, or the skin tones went right off.

The footage came from an EX1 and a Z1P. Both cameras were white balanced identically, but ended up looking quite different, as per the top two clips. I had a very experienced Edius editor have a go at matching the two clips (it was his EX1) using Edius, but we could never match the sky AND satin dresses AND skin tone. He mumbled something about gamma not matching, had a go at correcting it then failed, and then said that was the best he could do, and we left it at that. Frederic’s plugin offers the best compromise IMHO. It may mean matching track A to track B, but also track B to track A, if that makes any sense.

I am using it for an ice skating shoot where I had 3 different cameras (FX1 (3CCD Super HAD), Z1P (3CCD Super HAD) and NX5 (EXMOR 3CMOS)). By using his color match plugin, I am able to quickly match the footage from all 3. The emphasis is on quickly and simply.