[Robert Browne]

I’m coming in WAY late here, but use keylight. You’ll be able to fix it up pretty well. Use the matte choker as well, and soften it up in keylight.

I regularly shoot interviews against a green screen in my TINY studio, with the subject about three feet away from the wall, with less than optimal lighting, and I can pull very good keys using keylight even when the background is uneven. It’s an amazing plugin. You just need to work with it a bit.

Also, check out Aharon Rabinowitz’s SUPER TIGHT JUNK MATTES video (here on the Cow) for a great way to get better keys, and also videocopilot.net for Andrew Kramer’s tutorials on keying.

[Robert Browne]

Yeah, I never use the trimmer either. I guess it’s a good thing, but I’ve never found much use for it. Should I be using it? …. 🙂

[Robert Browne]

Thanks! I guess it helps to actually read those readme files.

[Robert Browne]

Unfortunately, I’ve tried that. It doesn’t work. I not only reinstalled the Aav6cc plugin, I reinstalled the Debugmode plugs and still nothing.

It seems odd to me that this should happen after a simple update to 8c, not to mention that I can’t even see the plugs in Vegas 6 anymore either.

So I think this is something more than it “happens.”

Anyone else?

[Robert Browne]

Thanks, guys. I’ve learned something new and that makes it a good day. I’ll check it out as you’ve suggested.

[Robert Browne]

That’s actually a great idea. But what I think I’ll do is use an mpg to avi converter like mpeg mediator and see if the avi files work any better.

Thanks.

rgb

[Robert Browne]

Perhaps it’s this mini-DVD camcorder stuff. I have no idea why anyone would ever use one of these things — the footage looks generally bad — but I’m stuck with it.

rgb

[Robert Browne]

The audio capabilities of Vegas are among the best you can find. I’ve produced a number of audio only projects using Vegas and the sound quality is excellent.

Don’t be seduced by the Pro Tools “industry standard” sales job. Pro Tools is essential a DAW — which is different than Vegas — and it’s not one of the best out there. It’s main focus is straight audio and it offers you little more than Vegas in that regard. It’s MIDI implementation is not the best.

If you’re interested in an audio program that can handle MIDI, VST instruments and plug-ins, samplers and the like, then you’re probably better off getting Cubase or Nuendo (Cubase’s big sister) for the PC, or —

Logic for the Mac. I recently switched from Nuendo on a PC to Logic Express 8 on a Mac for my DAW needs and can tell you, hands down, that Logic is far and away the best DAW I’ve ever worked with. And the program, out of the box for $150, is the best deal you’ll find anywhere for audio production. It includes an amazing amount of effects and samples instruments, as well as a ton of loops (if you’re into that kind of thing).

That, with an investment of about $600 for a Mac Mini and another $50 for a HarmonyAudio Firewire interface, has given me a killer audio workstation that is extremely easy to use. I’m saving a TON of time now, when working on music.

But if all you’re interested in is straight audio, you can’t go wrong with Vegas. I still use it along with Sound Forge and love them both.

[Robert Browne]

Thanks. But I’m curious to know why Vegas has so much trouble handling mpg files when it handles huge hdv files beautifully.

rgb

[Robert Browne]

I selected Best/Full but I see the same problem with Best/Auto or Best/Half.

The media is HDV green screen composited footage, rendered as uncompressed avi. Everything is set to progressive.

I do all kinds of resizing of clips, but the footage I see most of the difference in has not been resized and there’s no cropping/motion applied. Everything gets slightly blurry on that particular clip.

Looks great in preview mode, but in best/whatever the quality is degraded. I can live with this if it’s only a preview issue and not a rendering issue.