[Xdirect]

Do you have nested projects in your workflow? If so, try rendering each project then doing a replace on the .veg files in your final project. I had a bad interlacing problem that resulted, inexplicably, from vegas and nested projects. Hope this helps.

[Xdirect]

I would be careful when nesting projects. I had problems with Vegas screwing up the interlacing when rendering the final project in the nest. I fixed it by rendering each project then importing the render instead of the vegas project. just an FYI.

[Xdirect]

These are the results as I see them.

When nesting projects, vegas has difficulty rendering mixed field projects. Vegas will not let you know there is an interlacing problem. You will just notice strange artifacts and color problems in the rendered video. The work around, albeit not a very efficient one, is to render every project that has a problem. Then instead of nesting the project in a larger one, import the rendered video instead.

On feature length projects like mine, its a pain, but still less time than I’ve spent trying to figure this out.

[Xdirect]

thanks for all the advice. you are correct, it is a large project and it has now resonated with me that I have a lot of property changing to do (100+ projects) or a lot of rendering.

Either way, this seems like a work around like you said, maybe an update to vegas will fix this interlacing problem. It would be helpful to have a message that lets us know when property values conflict.

thanks again, i will test this out and post the results.

[Xdirect]

UPDATE

After using a program called ReStream, I found that the files are all upper field. When I set a project to upper field, it works fine during render. Then I nest that project into a larger project, with a bunch of vegas projects pre-edited. When I set that project to upper and render, I get the same dark output. The idea is that I create a bunch of sections of a larger chapter, then add each section to the chapter project and render as one file. That chapter file is what has the issues with dark scenes and such.

Does vegas use the project settings when nesting one project in another? or does it ‘render’ it with default dv settings? We are getting close to figuring this out.

[Xdirect]

thanks for the reply. yes 7e (see subject line). using hdd camcorder, no need for capturing. check out the benefits of a hdd based camcorder and be amazed, no tapes, no capturing, no nonsense. i think i forgot to mention this is a standard definition set of video files (implied with dvd). so, the vegas 7e avchd bit is a non issue.

you are correct, the pixel ratio needs to be .9091 for the dvd. i had it set to 1.00 for the promo. this does not affect the interlacing though.

i will check the manual, see what i find. it is strange that some files get corrupted in vegas while others dont. same camera, same settings, same vegas. different output

[Xdirect]

Thanks for the reply.

1. The source files came from my Sony HDR-SR1, a hard drive based camcorder. No capture needed, just straight mpeg from the camcorder.

2. I am using DVD Architect, but that doesnt seem to be the problem. The rendered files show the odd clips when viewed with a software based video player too (media player, quick time). I just posted that am burning to DVD so you know what my end goal is. When these problem clips are burned to a dvd, they are dark as well, but also choppy and full of artifacts.

Project Properties:
– Field Order: Lower field first
– Pixel aspect: 1.00 (square)
– Deinterlace method: Blend

Render Template:
– Default Mpeg2
– only changes, video quality high, field order lower field first.
I have tried adjusting these settings to find the magic combo, but have not found it yet.

3. The same clips have the problems. I recently made a promo trailer where the clips that had problems in the main dvd had problems again in the promo. However, I can look at the source clips in media player without rendering in vegas and they look fine.

My work flow is as such:
After filming, transfer files from camcorder’s hdd. Edit in vegas with several clips per project. Some panning and cropping, but not on all the problem clips. Render to mpeg2 using properties above. For the dvd, add files to architect project and burn disk. The promo mentioned earlier is for a web site, so the only difference is the conversion to flash flv file instead of using architect.

The problem occurs somewhere during the vegas render. The camcorder settings did not change from clip to clip. Some of the problem clips fall between two working clips filmed no more than 2 minutes apart with same lighting and settings. I’m grasping at solutions and running out of time for this project.

[Xdirect]

nothing?