Sony Vegas Pro 8 rendering problem

[johunn]

Hello, I am quite new to the terms that are being used in video editing so if I get something wrong don't hit me :p

I was having troubles with rendering a video file in Vegas Pro. I'll start off with what I initally wanted to achieve. I had a 10 second video clip and about 5 seconds of it in the middle I wanted to play in slow motion. The easiest thing I could figure out was just to cut the video into three pieces and just put them one after each other while stretching the middle part to the desired length. In the program it all seems to work fine and the sound clip that I added plays perfectly as well, but when I want to render the clip then only the middle part of the video gets rendered. The first and third pieces are just black. Sound however works fine, both the added sound clip and the sound that was on the original video work fine. Ive tried different settings and always the same outcome. I can't figure out where am I going wrong.

Just to mention.. while starting the project I had few layers for the different cuts, but I've added all of them on the same layer now. I also haven't used any video FX effects or transition effects. At least not deliberately.

Totally puzzled

[Paul LS]

What format are your source files?

And when you say render the clip... do you mean render to export it? And if so what format are you exporting too?

[johunn]

Video: 640x480x24, 30.000 fps progressive, XviD MPEG-4 Codec
Audio: 22.050 kHz, Mono, QDesign MPEG

That is what Vegas says about that video clip. I wanted to export it with the same quality.
It has been filmed with a Samsung digital camera.

[Paul LS]

Hi Johunn, I think your problem may be that you are not time stretching your middle section... when you cut it and stretch it all you do is unreveal the part that you cut off. To apply slow motion you need to hold down the Ctrl key as you stretch the clip.

I wondered if your problem may the Xvid file, but I tried with an Xvid file and had no problem applying slow motion and exporting using the method above.

By the way what format are you exporting to?

[johunn]

I held down the ctrl key so I got the middle part stretched and that is the only part that gets rendered as well. The first and the third part that are not in slow motion don't get rendered. I am trying to render to the same quality as the original video file.

[Paul LS]

Is it that only the slow motion part is rendered/exported or that the other sections are rendered/exported as black video?
Have you dragged the yellow work bar over the clips/sections that you want to render/export out?

[johunn]

The whole length gets exported/rendered but the first and the last part are black. Sound still plays on the black part as well. Only the middle section that is slow motion actually shows the video. The yellow bar covers the whole clip.

[Paul LS]

Ummm, strange that only a part of the clip that has been time stretched is fine and the untouched sections are black. It has to be something to do with the Xvid codec. You might have better luck converting the Xvid clip to DV-AVI and importing this into Vegas.
If Windows Movie Maker can play the clip you could export it as DV-AVI.

If you are using XP. In MovieMaker go to "Finish Movie > Save to my computer", then in "Show more choices > Other settings" select DV-AVI.

If you are using Vista. Select File then Publish Movie, select This Computer and click next, name the file and location and click next, choose the settings for your movie, select More Settings, select DV-AVI, click the Publish Button

[johunn]

I have about 100 of these little video clips... do i have to convert them all to create a video out of them? Is there a way of converting them all at once? And if a streched video clip could be rendered, maybe there is something that can be done to the others in Vegas as well?

[Paul LS]

MPEGStreamClip can batch convert files. However before you try to convert them all you could try to reinstall the codec used for playing the clips. Did you get software with your camera, this is where the codec probably came from. But first download Gspot from http://gspot.headbands.com After installing it open your clip with it, at the top right what does it say for codec? And does it say the codec is installed?

If it is Xvid you could try to install an Xvid codec from here:
http://www.digital-digest.com/software/ ... id=0&did=1

[johunn]

took a screenshot of gspot... everything seems to be ordinary

http://johunn.planet.ee/codec.jpg

[johunn]

And just to add... also while rendering I am able to see the preview on the right hand side. And that shows exactly the same thing. Beginning black, then I can see the part in slow motion and then black again. I also tried to add another clip in the end. That also did not give any results. Just black. However with a different .mpeg file it worked fine.

[Paul LS]

Hi Johunn, definately sounds like a codec issue, even though it says the codec is installed. It really depends if Vegas is accessing it. Strange why the slow motion section is fine. Down in the bottom left of the GSpot window can you click on the 1 in a box under "Vid"... the proposed decoder to be used should be shown in the window to the right.

I have the latest DivX codec installed and Vegas uses this for rendering and I have no problems with Xvid.

[johunn]

Newest Divx codec did not help either... :S
I don't know what else to try.

[Paul LS]

Hi Johunn, sorry lost track of this thread.

If all else fails then probably best bet is to convert to DV-AVI with MPEGStreamClip that can batch convert multiple files.

How to convert with MPEG Streamclip:
- Go to this page: http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-win.html download "MPEG Streamclip 1.1 Windows XP/Vista - Free download".
- Go to this page: http://www.filehippo.com/download_quick ... tive/?2615 download "KL Quictime Alternative 1.81"
- Uninstall Quictime on your computer if you have it.
- Install "KL QuickTime Alternative". It includes MPEG-2 decoding in the "Additional plugins". When you install it, be sure to enable the checkbox "Additional plugins", otherwise the MPEG-2 decoder will not be installed. You can choose either the full or the lite version.
- Install "MPEG Streamclip 1.1"
- Start MPEG Streamclip
- In MPEG Streamclip open the file you want to convert
- Select the export format "AVI" option, then in "Compression" select the Apple DV/DVPRO_NTSC codec. For "Field Order" select Lower Field First. Then change the default sound settings from "MPEG Layer 3" to "Uncompressed".
- Export your video