[Rob Franks]

Actually you shouldn’t have to pay anything. If you’re running Vegas 8 (Pro) with DVDa5 then the Pro encoder should already be included.

The difference between the Pro and studio encoders is that the pro encoder is certified by Dolby Labs. It’s a real encoder while the studio encoder is not. The studio encoder is good enough for dvd…. but not blu ray.

[Rob Franks]

Let me guess… you’re using the “studio” encoder… which is no good for Blu Ray work. You must use the PRO encoder.

[Rob Franks]

I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting. Encore doesn’t even support uncompressed 5.1 at this stage.

I use DTS hd for Blu Ray and TSmuxer (free download) will accept DTS-HD (and uncompressed) and create Blu Ray folders for burning. The only downer is that you can not create menus.

[Rob Franks]

I believe the latest version is 4.1 and it is backwards compatible with vegas 7

Scripts are an absolutely amazing part of Vegas pro and can speed up your work substantially. ULT S is a script based extension that is so good it should actually be PART of Vegas. There is another one too much like ULT S called EXCALIBUR. I have both and would not be without wither for a second

Edward Troxel is responsible for Excalibur and it just so happens he has a site filled with tons of free scripts. It’s also the home of Excalibur (not free but does come with a trial period)

https://www.jetdv.com/vegas/forum/index.php?sid=4f729d75369fb22ac324955ca13ca5d0

[Rob Franks]

Well the lack of a video card standard seems to be lacking, which is what I was pointing out. It seems that the nature of this threaded discussion has flattened out some of my points, being that my power supply works just fine thanks,

You just don’t seem to be getting this!?! There is no video card spec in Vegas BECAUSE IT’S NOT IMPORTANT TO RUNNING VEGAS. No matter what video card you use, it won’t make a difference to how Vegas runs.
And your power supply:
This is from your video card’s troubleshooting site:

• 300 WATT minimum recommended for most ATX form factor systems.
• On high end systems with fast video card, fast CPU, RAID HD array may require a larger power supply such as a 350 watt

In other words, with that card you should be using an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM of 350watts

So you guys are saying that if I have a VGA monitor I’ll be able to drive HDMI 1080p just fine with my ancient VGA display adapter? Come on, something’s missing in the translation.

NO, NO, and NO!
If you wish to drive a hdmi 1080p monitor then you will need the proper card for it…. but this has NOTHING to do with Vegas! Vegas doesn’t care what card… or monitor you use. It’s completely irrelevant to the inner operations of Vegas.

I’m very sorry that there seems to be some sort of communication problem here, but I assure you that the comm problem is at your end and I just don’t know how to make it any clearer for you. I suggest maybe you pick up some books on the subject and do some reading.

[Rob Franks]

“Sony, give us the reference platform, tell us which cards work and which don’t. You can clearly state that for SV stuff, you can get by with a simple machine, but that if you want something that works, buy one of these cards, a machine with a power supply at least 600 Watts, and if you use Windows 7, this much RAM, etc. You’ll sell more software. “

SWony has already given you what you’re asking for… from the Sony Website:

System Requirements

* Microsoft® Windows® XP 32-bit SP2 (SP3 recommended), Windows Vista™ 32-bit or 64-bit (SP1 recommended), or Windows 7
* 1 GHz processor (multicore or multiprocessor CPU recommended for HD)
* 200 MB hard-disk space for program installation
* 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended)
* OHCI-compatible i.LINK® connector*/IEEE-1394DV card (for DV and HDV capture and print-to-tape)
* USB 2.0 connection (for importing from AVCHD, XDCAM EX, or DVD camcorders)
* Windows-compatible sound card
* DVD-ROM drive (for installation from a DVD only)
* Supported CD-recordable drive (for CD burning only)
* Supported DVD-recordable drive (for DVD burning only)
* Supported Blu-ray recordable drive (for Blu-ray Disc burning only)
* Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0
* QuickTime® 7.1.6 or later

As for the rest, Sony Assumes you have a stable machine with a proper power supply. It seems to me that you’ve been tinkering around under the hood without quite knowing what you’re doing. I don’t see how Sony… or “PC” can be held responsible for that.

By the way… i would not be using an external drive either, particularly not usb ones…. that just adds to the complication. If you absolutely must use an external drive then it should be firewire and not usb. Firewire has pretty much straight through-put whereas the data for usb has to be processed first.

[Rob Franks]

John, in looking at your specs, about the only thing that sticks out to me as a major difference is your power supply.”

Are you kidding me??
Come on… no offense but you started this whole thing stating that you know and understand computers pretty well. If your power supply can not deliver the proper voltage then you will get BSOD’s just about all the time. It’s pretty important to have the right supply. You bought a smaller video card (which uses less power) and as you state… it works. Your power supply is a large part of your problems.
===================================================
“I don’t understand what you mean by saying it doesn’t use my video card, it’s driving video output in a variety of formats that are clearly labeled just underneath the window.”

What John means is that Vegas operates almost purely on CPU and memory and uses the video card as a product of output only. Therefore you need nothing special in terms of video cards. A simple on-board video card (the video output section built into your motherboard) will work just fine

[Rob Franks]

Yes, this issue has in fact been fixed in version 9 (pro).

[Rob Franks]

“I have found a MacPro fully configured on Craigslist and chatted with the guy, agreed to buy it Sunday. But it’s not going to happen today. Today, since I was driving by my local PC store, I stopped in and bought, for $89, an MSI N9400GT Graphics Card (since they allow me to return this stuff occassionally). This card has 1GB DDR2 RAM on it, is built on the NVIDIA chipset, and seems to have cured the problem (!). The driver no longer bluescreens while copying a 5 GB folder structure. ”
=================================================================

This is exactly what I meant above.
Macs tend to APPEAR to be more stable because there are less hardware/software configuration possibilities to screw up on

You’re running a PC with a stupidly small power supply and jamming any old card in, to get you through. It’s not a wonder you’re having PC issues.

PC’s are extremely stable machines. No more or less stable than macs. PC’s simply give you a MUCH larger choice in supplied hardware and therefore a much better opportunity to foul up if you’re unsure on what you’re doing.

As for computer manufacturers… HP is not “PC” but rather one who simply manufactures PC’s…. and they do it cheaply. If you want a good machine… then build it yourself.

If you’re unsure of the hardware then there are many computer stores available that will assist in building a PROPER machine for avchd editing.

[Rob Franks]

I’m trying to think back… and if I remember correctly 4.5 does NOT support Blu ray