Stephen Mann
Forum Replies Created
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Your first mistake is letting DVDA do the re-encoding of your video. Shrink-to-fit is for people in a hurry and would rather trade speed for quality. Shrink-to-fit is not an option in DVDA – where are you seeing it?
The correct process it to make the MPEG and AC3 files in Vegas using the DVDA template. You adjust the bitrate to get the desired file size. It’s not the fastest process, and you may have to fine-tune your bitrate and encode again because all bitrate calculators only an estimate. When you import the MPEG file into DVDA, ignore the filesize reported by DVDA. It’s notoriously conservative.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
Here’s a new tool I am trying out. It’s a screen capture program that’s absurdly cheap, but works fine for demo videos. The audio is crappy because I used the mic in my PC. No, it’s really crappy because it’s my voice….
It’s called a hard limiter because of the fast attack time, but some fast loud sounds can still get by.
Anyway, this is how I add the -6dB hard limiter.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
Actually a BluRay disk will be slightly better looking than a DVD. Because you have more room, you don’t have to compress as much and you enjoy a higher bitrate. Compression and lower bitrate for a DVD compromises the overall quality.
Just find a DVDA template in the Main Concept section of the “Render As” dialog. If you find one with the = next to it, then it’s a match for your media and will be the best to use. Otherwise, pick one that is the closest to your media.
Don’t forget the AC3 audio file.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
Here’s some descriptions that may help:
Normalize tries to increase the volume of quiet audio and decrease the volume of loud parts. It’s imperfect but it works best in dialogue, worst in music.
Compression just works on the loudest parts, attempting to keep the peaks at a preset level. I use compression more than normalization with a hard limit to -6dB on the master bus. It’s also not perfect and sudden loud sounds can still exceed 0dBm and clip, but you can fine tune those with an additional duck in the volume envelope.
Equalization lets you adjust for frequency response problems. For example if you are using a cheap or on-camera microphone, you may want to use equalization to boost the bass.
Noise Gate is virtually useless.
Dialog Normalization (I.E. Dialnorm) is a different bird altogether. Many people, including me, don’t completely understand it. But I try.
First, it only works on Stereo AC3. Further it only works on the center channel. On almost all Hollywood DVDs, all dialogue is in the center channel – mono. All music is stereo. SFX and only SFX is in the surround channels. If there are no surround channels the SFX is in the stereo mix.
So, summarizing, Dialog Normalization only works on the dialogue – the mono center channel (thus the name Dialnorm). It does not touch the music or SFX. Yes, you are wondering, I only have two speakers – what is the center channel? The center channel is the audio that is exactly identical in both the left and right channel.Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
Correction…
AKA Dialog Normalization
Dialnorm controls the overall volume of the audio but you won’t hear DialNorm changes in preview, it’s strictly a Dolby AC3 thing. DialNorm works intuitively backwards. Some feel that the default of -27dB the dialog audio is too low when compared to other DVD’s. It really depends on your content. Run a few tests and see for yourself. Try -31dB. If that’s too loud try -30dB.It’s called Dialog Normalization in Vegas, I suspect, because Dialnorm is a trademark of Dolby.
You get to it in the Customize Settings in the Dolby Pro template.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
just don’t cross 0dB. It’s digital, so anything over 0dB is bad. Normaly. When you make the DVD the audio (assuming Dolby AC3) will be normalized at -31dBm by default.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
I’m not sure you’re describing what you’re seeing. When you move the mouse wheel to zoom the timeline, the cursor does not move – the timeline moves so that the cursor is in the center of the screen.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
To your first question, no, you can’t import AE projects. You can import a ppj project into the Vegas timeline, but if there is an AE embed in the timeline, you will still need AE.
Why don’t you just buy a Ready2Go for Vegas volume? You may find it nice to have for your own projects.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
Why don’t you just get “Ready to Go” templates for Vegas?
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com -
“I won’t lose any of my edited footage if i re-install?”
No.
You actually haven’t edited your footage. In fact Vegas never touches the footage. It’s a non-destructive editor. All of your editing instructions are on the VEG file, which you should backup occasionally.
Steve Mann
MannMade Digital Video
http://www.mmdv.com
