V
Contents
VariCam
Sony Vegas
Vidclip and what makes these files
Viewer
Viewer not Updating
Virus protection
VariCam
VariCam records at 59.94 (60fps) PERIOD. It "flags" the frames the DP selected to keep, in your case 23.98 (24fps.)
You have to either:
- Run the footage through Panasonic's Frame Rate Convertor and spit out true 23.98 footage on a new tape (which now becomes your camera original).
- Ingest the footage with a AJ-1200a HD deck via firewire into a FCP system, with the free plug-in from Panasonic and transcode the footage to then send into the DS or:
- Change the settings in the 1200 deck to be 24/25 fps and up convert to 1080p and capture into the DS from the deck in a 1080p 23.98fps project.
VEGAS
(Added 08.02.2007 from the List MH)
Vegas does Multi-cam editing and also edits with multiple takes. For more on MultiCam, see
Creative Cow's article on Timothy Duncan. Suppose that you have a container on the timeline. In that container you have multiple video tracks. Suppose that you could switch out the activeness of each layer with a key command on the fly while playing the timeline so that you could quickly preview many differently trimmed shots one at a time leaving the one you want active. That is essentially what "takes" are in Vegas. They work for audio and video. If you send audio out to a 3rd party wave editor, it comes back automatically as a "take." This way you can always get back to your original and you can preview several different FX quickly. The way I do it now is stack up several video layers and then turn them on/off until deciding (or getting a producer to decide) on a shot. When you can just do that with every clip on the timeline with ease and still leaving FX in place and transitions, it makes for a very creative decision making time that is stress free.
Vegas will "play nice" with any frame rate and frame size, for example SDI to 1394 converter for digitizing DV with original TC.
Should you decide to export video from Vegas to import to DS, then use QT with TGA codec (this assumes 32-bit). This way you bypass the AVI 1 file size limitations in DS. Please note, AVI 2 files are now usable with DS version 8.0 and up.
Vegas does 5.1 sound with ease. Export OMF¹ from DS, then convert with EDL Convert Pro to a Vegas project. Then mix and export final wave files to bring back to DS for print out. Cui Bono Soft offers
EDL Convert v4™, an EDL translation tool for audio sequences.
Vegas will convert just about anything you need so that you can get it into DS. Plus -- it edits HDV and MXF beautifully. You could use Vegas to ingest HDV and MXF then do your editing, exporting QT files to bring into (32-bit) DS. This way you can always get back to the raw files or footage if need be when the client comes back later for changes or re-edits. (Plus DV, of course).
Keep in mind the level differences between RGB and YUV (computer and studio video). As long as you know this and treat it accordingly, you'll be fine. (Vegas allows you to setup the scopes based on codec type, 0-255 or 16-235). DS uses 0-255.
Notes:
¹If you have file based audio in a sequence and want to create an OMF your first step should be to generate a new clip using the "Timeline to Clip" function. You can then drop that new clip into a sequence and successfully output file based audio to OMF (but it must be in chunks smaller than 2GB).
Vidclip and what kinds of files these are in video storage
I was just in the process of doing some media management on the system (clearing out some vidcache files…safe to delete, yes?...I know requires a rerender if I want them back) and I came across some .gen files that start with "vidclip". What are they and can they be safely deleted as cache files are?
These files are the result of Timeline to Clip and similar functions. You can delete them but it's really your call as to whether or not you will have trouble restoring a Timeline to Clip function (especially if the timeline you brought in is from another project).
(Thanks to Roy Janke and Tony Jover)
VIEWER
DRAG a clip into viewer to view.
Hit F12 for full screen.
Animation keyframe controls at lower right corner.
Viewer Properties: Allows custom presets to viewer modes.
S/W Display switch toggles between hardware viewing mode and software viewing
mode. DS will switch in the background to software viewing mode upon panning and
zooming of the viewer.
A small (!) icon appears when software viewing mode is
active.
The display and capture of video as fields is a hardware-supported function of DS.
•
Z zoom. Hold Z and drag zooms. Shift Z shrinks image based on magnification
rectangle.
•
Z-L-Click Reset Zoom
Better Zooming---Z-drag right mouse…nice zoom in and out.
•
X pans the viewer
•
X-click resets pan
•
XZ-click resets all viewer parameters.
COMPARISON BUFFER
In viewer,
R-click and Turn on COMPARISON BUFFER. R-click again, and
use
GRAB to grab current frame.
Shift and Drag the viewer next to itself and use X to pan the viewer. This allows for
a side by side comparison.
Or
Use DUAL VIEWER to watch switch between both pictures on SDI monitor/wfm
The
square pixel switch toggles a view to the actual media file on the hard-drive,
displayed in the full 1.0 pixel aspect ratio. It is used as a comparative viewer.
Onion Skin—averages previous and next frames for viewing only.
Choose field or frame display to eliminate jitter (in viewer only)
Command Tip: The R-mouse button presents an interactive menu of options for most
every command and interface function.
Viewing top timeline (final result) while
working in a container or on a graphic: Add
a bogus clip effect to container in timeline (i.e. a blur, with zero blurriness). R-Click
effect, “Open Viewer”.
A floating viewer will appear. “Pin” the viewer to keep it
around.
If you are working on an effects tree, you can right click the output node to open a
viewer. If you a working on a graphic clip effect, you can open the viewer by rightclicking
on the graphic effect.
Viewer not Updating
Problems where the source and/or record viewers are not updating to show the current frame of video. Some users have reported a problem with the viewer not updating when the Logmein application is installed. The fix for this is either uninstalling Logmein or uninstalling the Logmein "mirror" driver. The following information on uninstalling the mirror driver comes from the Avid Knowledge Base article,
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Troubleshooting/en432671
Avid Knowledge Base
Various GPU or ACPL Errors on launch (WIN PC)
Last Updated : February 2, 2012
Products Affected : Avid_DS, Media_Composer, NewsCutter, Symphony
Why am I getting various GPU or ACPL errors when I launch my Avid Software that will not let me start the application? (WIN PC)
In addition to checking your configuration and varifying that you have the correct or supported NVIDIA Driver, we have found that the Logmein Mirror Driver may cause this issue as well.
Logmein is an application commonly used that allows control of your computer remotly by another computer.
Here is how to remove the mirror driver if in fact you are seeing this issue:
For 64 bit Windows 7:
1. Type "cmd" in the Windows 7 search box to launch the command line
2. At the command prompt, type: cd c:\program files (x86)\logmein\x86
4. Once there, type: logmein uninstallmirrordrv
If prompted to update logmein on restart deny it. It will just reintall the mirror driver once again.
Or use this technique from the Avid Knowledgebase (the link includes pictures), http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/troubleshooting/LogMeIn-Mirror-Driver-instead-of-NVIDIA
Avid Knowledge Base
LogMeIn Mirror Driver instead of NVIDIA
An issue that can potentially affects Avid DS performance
Last Updated : July 5, 2012
Products Affected : Avid_DS
After experiencing some operational problems with Avid DS, you run V.I.E and you notice that the Graphics Card Description is not showing the NVIDIA but rather a LogMeIn Mirror Driver.
What are the steps to solve this problem?
Click the Start menu (Windows icon).
Click "Search programs and files", type cmd and press Enter.
In the opened Command Prompt window, type cd %programfiles(x86)%\logmein\x86 and press Enter.
Type logmein uninstallmirrordrv and press Enter.
Restart the system.
The LogMeIn Mirror Driver has been removed and VIE should display the NVIDIA driver normally.
Avid DS operates normally.
Revised: Jul 25, 2012 11:26 am