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Boon's guide to fanediting with Sony Vegas

boon23

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I am way no expert in Vegas yet, but I thought it might be helpful to write up a guide how I use Vegas for fanediting.
This guide will cover the following subjects:

1. Ripping the DVD, getting your sources ready
2. Vegas settings
3. Vegas title creation
4. Vegas image editing
5. Vegas audio transitions and using other audio sources
6. Rendering your movie
7. Rendering your audio
8. Encoding with CCE (or other encoders)
9. Authoring a DVD with DVD Lab Pro

Software I use (there are newer versions and their use is probably slightly different):
DVD Fab Decrypter (newest version)
Headac3he for 2.0 audio, Cinematize 2 Pro for 5.1 audio
Virtual Dub 1.88 (with mpeg-2 plugin and lagarith codec installed)
Adobe Audition 1.5
Sony Vegas 7.0 E (with ac-3 plugin)
DVD Lab Pro

It will take me a while to write up all the guides, so I will add one by one and reserve the posts for that.
 

boon23

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1. Ripping the DVD, getting your sources ready
To rip the DVD use dvd fab decrypter.
you can find it here (freeware): http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVDFab_Decrypter
Nothing much to say about dvd fab decrypter. It's free and easy to use.
Copy the complete DVD to your HDD, best to the drive and folder, from which you want to work with your project.

Next you launch pgcdemux.
you can find it here (freeware): http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PgcDemux
PGCdemux can extract video, audio, subtitles and chapters from a ripped DVD. Video and audio will be in their source format, which is .m2v for video and usually .ac3 for video. Each video file will simply be named "VideoFile.m2v", each audio file simply
AudioFile_80.ac3 and if there are more audio files "AudioFile_81.ac3", "AudioFile_82.ac3" etc.
To extract the main movie you need to find it in your VIDEO_TS folder. If you change the view to details, you can see the filesizes of the ifo files (that is what pgcdemux reads). The biggest one usually contains the main movie.
With VLC (videolan client) you can preview the vob files from you ripped DVD. If you are looking for additional material (like deleted scenes), this is the way to find it.
you can find VLC here (freeware): http://www.videohelp.com/tools/VLC_media_player
PGCdemux settings for main movie extraction: by PGC is marked. Titles is marked.
pgcdemux1.jpg

browse for a folder to save the files to. You need a new folder for everything you extract or pgcdemux will overwrite the files. It is very helpful to rename the files after pgcdemux has saved them. This way you will later on much easier find them.

To work with 2.0 audio you need to convert the 5.1 ac-3 audio to 2.0 PCM.
The best program to do that is the freeware tool headac3he.
You can find it here: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/HeadAC3he
It's fast and simple and never gets the channels wrong, which can when using other programs lead to background noises being too loud, voices too quiet.
Select the source file, give it a destination and start. You'll get a great pcm .wav audio file.

The next step is to create a lagarith avi from the video file and multiplex (combine) it with the audio. Some faneditors work with audio and video seperated, which you can of course also do, but I for one prefer them as one file for 100% syncronicty. Lagarith is a lossless codec that uses only a third of the space of the space of uncompressed avi. Still the file is HUGE. (about 20-30GB per hour). Vegas can work VERY well with lagarith avi and you will not lose any quality or run into the strange bugs when using other codecs or formats.

you need virtualdub for that. I am currently using virtualdub 1.88 and the mpeg-2 plugin for that.
the things you need:
virtualdub 1.88 (freeware): http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Virtualdub
lagarith lossless codec (install it by right clicking on the dll and click "install")(freeware): http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Lagarith ... ideo_Codec
virtualdub mpeg-2 plugin(freeware): http://home.comcast.net/~fcchandler/Plu ... index.html
if you want to use filters to alter your video, you can find a huge collection for free here: http://www.thedeemon.com/VirtualDubFilters/
I recommend RGBequalizer, Smart Deinterlacer (if your video is interlaced and you want to change that), Red/Green/Blue Adjustment.

1.load the m2v video into virtualdub.
file --> open video file
video --> compression --> lagarith
1.1.if the video is interlaced, you may want to use a deinterlace filter.
note that some NTSC interlacing comes from pulldown flags, so you may want to get rid of these by using dgpulldown:
load dgpulldown
insert your m2v video
settings: custom 23.976 to 23.976 (top field first setting can stay or not)
convert
return to step 1
1.2.since I prefer working with muxed video, we now include the audio:
audio --> browse for audio... --> select your pcm audio
2. file --> save as avi
(this will take a while and create a huge avi file)

done. You now have a video file in prime quality that vegas can work with really well.
 

boon23

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2. Vegas settings

we are working with a 23.976fps lagarith avi and pcm wav audio.
use this template:
NTSC DV 24p Widescreen (720x480; 23,976 fps)
width: 720 height: 480 field order: none (progressive scan) pixel aspect ratio: 1.2121 (NTSC DVD widescreen) frame rate: 23.976 (IVTC film)
full resolution rendering quality: best
motion blue type: gaussian
deinterlace type: none

audio:
resample ad stretch quality: best
low pass filter quality: best

ruler:
I usually make no changes there and leave it to 29.97, but you can and probably should use 23.976

the program:
to have it properly sized, right click on the video stream --> properties:
vegas_settings_1.jpg

--> tab: media --> pixel aspect ratio: 1,2121 (NTSC DVD widescreen) , field order: None (progressive scan)
--> ok

now if you work from a muxed source audio and video will be grouped. This means that all cuts affect both video and audio. If you like that: good.
If you don't: right click on either the video or audio --> group --> remove from
this will ungroup video and audio and allow you to edit each on its own without affecting the other.
Advantage: better control, less video and audio tracks needed to take care of.
Disadvantage: you can easily get out of sync if you by accident move the audio.

This is it, we are now ready for editing.
 

boon23

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3. Vegas title creation

introduction:
creating titles and credits is a very important aspect of fanediting. If your fanedit has no custom title and credits, your audience will suspect (and rightfully so) that you are either lazy or don't know how to do it. Custom titles and credits are in my personal opinion a MUST and are a huge underlining of the overall quality of the fanedit.
Champs like Uncanny Antman are masters of syncing cool titles and credits to music. This effort is totally worth it and leads to the audience even more enjoying the thing they are watching.
Always remember one thing: You as the faneditor must accomplish a truly tough task: to let the audience watch a movie and NOT a fanedit.
Explanation: if the audience watches a fanedit,they will not get into the flow, they will search for changes and things that are not working. Fanedits will always have the reputation of being amateurish (and most are), so this is the one thing you must avoid by all means: to have it look like the work of an amateur who dares to hack a professional work of art into pieces.
Now if you create custom titles, they have to look great. If they don't, you will just make it all worse. Cheap is cheap. No doubt about it. A movie usually starts with the titles, so this is the first thing people will see and how they are supposed to get into the flow.
I for one have grown tired of very long starting credits, usually no matter how well they are done. 2 minutes of text in a movie, when it starts, bore me and make me want to skip this part, because I want to watch a movie and not read, who of the people I don't know, has done what.
Titles are where the pacing starts, where the magic starts. Take a look at the movie you like. Learn from what the pros did and create your own style by even improving on that.

Now Vegas comes with a lot of possibilities, when it comes to text creation. I will not explain them all, but give a few examples from the things I know.

Getting started:
text in Vegas uses its own video track, so the first step is to create another video track:
this can be done in several ways, but the best is to switch to the end of your video, right click behind it (where the track is empty) and click "insert Video Track". This will create another video track above the one you just selected.
Vegas has an order of showing the top track first (or only, if there are no transparent parts and it uses the entire screen).
In the new and currently empty video track, right click and select "Insert Text Media"
vegas_title_1.jpg


Basic text options:
The title creation window opens and shows as defaul "Sample Text" in 2 lines, font is Arial, size is 72, text decorations is bold.
Mark the text and change the settings to your liking.
As you can see in the example you can change the settings for each marked part and mix styles just like you want to:
vegas_title_2.jpg

The "placement tab" allows you to put the title wherever you want on the screen.
The "properties tab" can be used for a variety of things, including a background and text coloring.
Text color will be used for the entire text and not just for the marked parts, so you cannot use different colors in one text window. If you want more colors, create a new text window for that.
Background color is by default set to transparent. If there is no video, the background will appear by default as black. If you want the text on a colored background, use the color selection tool and the transparency scroll bar to select that.
Tackling will stretch and shrink you title horizontally. This can also be used to create a movement, where the letters stretch or shrink over time. I will explain that later.
Scaling alters the size and can also be used for movement to let the title grow or shrink.
Leading changes the line spacing, if you have more than one line of text. It can also be used to create a movement between the lines.
The "effects tab" allows the use of more fancy stuff and can also be used to have an effects movement. I played around with this a bit to give you an impression (and it is intentionally ugly, just to be obvious):
vegas_title_3.jpg

Personally I hardly ever use the "effects tab" because the result usually looks cheesy and cheap. Also it has the disadvantage of allowing just 1 deformation effect. If you want a more sophisticated deformation look, use a .png image with a transparent background as basis.
The "effects tab can also be used to create a movement for effects (e.G. moving shadow, growing outline, growing deformation).
To use the title, just click on the right upper corner X to close the window. The title will be created in the track you have selected at the cursor point on the timeline.

Time:
the default setting is 5 seconds. 5 seconds is a good compromise, but can in some cases be too long or if you have more text, not long enough.
To increase/decrease the time move the mouse to the end of the title. Stay in the middle of the track. A symbol with 2 arrows <--> will appear. Left click and hold. Now drag the title to the right to increase the length and to the left to decrease the length.

addition: If you have movement effects set, you should change the time setting in properties to the correct time.
double click on the title --> it will be selected and you can see the time of the title
Now click on the green symbol (Generated Media...) to open and edit the title tool for this specific title.
Correct the time to the proper value. If you don't it will loop.
vegas_title_4.jpg



Fade in / fade out:
There are various ways to present your title and credits all depending on the mood you want to cause. The default setting is to have a non visible fade in / fade out, but for a nice title you may want to change this setting.
I will now explain to you as an example a slow fade in.
Move the mouse to the upper left corner of the title track. A symbol will appear that has 2 arrows and a quarter circle. This is the fade in / out tool. If you use it on the left end it will select a fade in effect, if you use it on the right end it will select a fade out effect. Left click on the symbol and hold. Now drag the fade effect into the title as much as you want to. This can of course later on be easily altered.
vegas_title_5.jpg

There are various fade effects in Vegas. The default is a curved fade effect, which is pretty good, but the various others may also be worth checking out.
Right click in the fade area --> fade type --> select your desired fade type.
vegas_title_6.jpg

please note that the fade effect also affects the background, so if you have set a background this will fade as well.

!!! advanced: finally if you do not like the presets there is of course also the chance to do it all manually:
From the upper tab select "Insert" --> Video Envelopes --> Track Composite Level
This will let a purple line appear on top of the track. The line can be moved with the mouse up and down.
Top means no opacity. If you move it to the bottom you change the opacity to 100%.
By double clicking on the line you can set dots, which will allow you to use a certain degree of opacity flowing from one dot to the next.
Create a number of dots and move them so the fade effect is exactly as you want it. By right clicking on the line you can set the fade type between the dots.
vegas_title_7.jpg


To be continued...
 

boon23

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4. Vegas image editing
 

boon23

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5. Vegas audio transitions and using other audio sources
 

boon23

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6. Rendering your movie
 

boon23

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7. Rendering your audio
 

boon23

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8. Encoding with CCE (or other encoders)
 

boon23

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9. Authoring a DVD with DVD Lab Pro
 

reave

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Double bump. Finish this bitch up, please. :p
 

white43

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Boon - please!

I'd love to migrate to Vegas after seeing all the great works you guys do....
 

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You can also rip a Vegas-editable file using Handbrake, I'll post my ideal specs when I start editing DVDs again.
 

Aztek463

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Some info on exporting with CCE would be nice too :D
 

Metrostar

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I'd really like to see steps 6 and 7 completed please.
 

boon23

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me too, get to work, boon, the community needs you! ;-)
 

boon23

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I think he is just lazy.
 
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