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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Vegas R3D color grading

Miguel "Macgregor" De Olaso

Miguel "Macgregor" De Olaso

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I don´t really know what vegas is doing when trasncoding the colour space from redcode files, but whatever it is doing:
- looks different than redcine
- looks better than in any other application. I have Scratch here at my side as well as FCP. The images i´m getting out of Vegas look better. I´m still figuring why this is happening.
 
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That is certainly surprising... what settings are you using? Any chance of posting a few example still frames side-by-side?
 
Color Grading in Vegas

Color Grading in Vegas

I have been experimenting with Vegas a bit. Here are three frames I opened in vegas and did basic adjustments to. Levels, Curves, Color Corrector, and Sharpening. Critiques anyone?
When Vegas is in 8-bit mode, the hue does appear to shift, causing everything to look purple. I've noticed that when you preview a .R3D from the explorer window it previews in 8-bit mode no matter what mode your timeline is in, then when you drop the file into the timeline it turns into the bland look typical of raw files.

To my eye, Vegas seems to do a good job using all the data from the original Raw file. In the picture here with the old cars, the sky seems very un-banded compared to what I would have expected with a file like DVCPRO HD.
 
I can smell immediately that somebody here on this tread is a SONY Boy "Scooter" like a secret agent

THAT IS just employed (HERE) to "seduce" all of us to buy some of those products, or...,... just curious and kiding of course !!! :rofl: ...
 
One of the reasons i changed to Sony Vegas five years ago was that i discovered it was the only editor that wouldn't clip Superwhite and Superblack information from my DV footage (Old good DVX100 days). Most people didn't even know what i was talking about back then and i am sure many don't even now...

I still believe Vegas is the best editor around with the best sound editing capabilities. I haven't tried it with RED footage yet as i am still using Vegas 8 but i will upgrade soon to version 9.

I believe what macgregor sees because i know Vegas.
 
I will not make my final decision until I have a pro monitor hooked up through Red Rocket and I can turn to ask a pro colorist with 20+ years of experience what they think. But...

Sanjin, have you ever used Vegas 9? Otherwise please don't scare me.
 
Miltos Pilalitos said:
One of the reasons i changed to Sony Vegas five years ago was that i discovered it was the only editor that wouldn't clip Superwhite and Superblack information from my DV footage (Old good DVX100 days). Most people didn't even know what i was talking about back then and i am sure many don't even now...
Click to expand...

I just want to say that Avid does not clip superwhites/blacks.

It is very aware of thier existence and gives excellent control over how they are handled every step of the way: from import or capture, to export or laying off to tape.
 
I tend to think my images have too much blue...Even the factory defaults are a little too purply for me. But I treat it as a new grade and don't reference REDCINE at all. I also like the fact that you can go as low as 50 ISO and there are more intervals of ISO to choose from. What does suck is the fact that you can't save presets...that for me is quite an obvious stuff up. I have 5 takes that need the same grading but now i have to write it on pen an paper....kills me.
 
Nicholas Costaras said:
What does suck is the fact that you can't save presets...that for me is quite an obvious stuff up. I have 5 takes that need the same grading but now i have to write it on pen an paper....kills me.
Click to expand...


Indeed... completely insane.

I feel fairly confident that they will fix this though... I mean all they have to do is copy whatever code they already have written for the rest of the stuff over to this section, right?
 
"I have 5 takes that need the same grading but now i have to write it on pen an paper"

try this ... in Vegas PROJECT MEDIA window choose the 5 clips ( hold down ALT and select clips by left clicking mouse ).after you have selected your 5 clip ...then right click on one of them and choose file format properties - the Red window will pop up .. now enter your adjustments ..
NOTE: be sure to have your curser in the TL selected to one of the 5 clips - the clip that is showing in the Vegas preview window is the one you'll see as you change the settings
when finished hit OK and Vegas will apply those setting to the 5 clips ...
the UNDO does not work on the above
to UNDO you'll have to again select the 5 clips and then select either reset to clip or factory default...
 
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Are there any plug-ins that let you do better power masks in Vegas? I have been playing around with the cookie cutter and it is pretty weak. Also, have people had good luck with color grading RAW in vegas. I am trying it out for the first time. I have installed Magic Bullet Looks and this plug in, ColorLab, which is pretty incredible. (http://aav6cc.blogspot.com/) How does this line up compare to Apple Color?
 
donatello b said:
"I have 5 takes that need the same grading but now i have to write it on pen an paper"

when finished hit OK and Vegas will apply those setting to the 5 clips ...
the UNDO does not work on the above
to UNDO you'll have to again select the 5 clips and then select either reset to clip or factory default...
Click to expand...


Thanks...
 
Masks is the only remaining tool for heavy color grading in Vegas. Other than that you can do basically everything.
I also just installed Color Lab and i was impressed. I had been using the older 6way color correction plug in but the new color lab plugin just does what amazing stuff considering its price ($0) ;D.
And the fact that it is powered by GPU makes it even more powerful.
Grading R3D files in vegas delivers excellent results (i´m even considering for a film project). They only need to solve the stabiliy problems.
 
Miguel, do you mean masks as in rotoscoping for compositing?

[RANT!!]I HATE the horrible feather to blend the edges... instead of making it disappear it adds a dark edge instead?!?! I can't stand it, especially because it seems it is otherwise ready to go. If only I could make the edges disappear with a soft feather.[/RANT!!]

Also, Miguel, do you get good speeds on R3Ds using Color Lab on the GPU? If so what fps and what card are you using? And at what resolution? And finally... :) Can it be set to run on the CPU?
 
Yes, i mean the usual circle, elipse, recntangle and free masks that you find in any grading software.

I can´t get real time with r3ds unless i´m going to very small preview window. I´m using a 2008 8core 3.0 Ghz mac pro and the best i get is like 20-22 fps.

Color lab does not seem to affect playback performance, which is great. Nvidia 8800.
 
I see... I just downloaded it and boy it is a sexy little plug in! Very sweet. And it is FAST! No playback issues at all for me when using it either and I only have a GX2 (dual 7950's).

Does anyone do compositing in Vegas? It it possible to do any compositing without seeing the edges?
 
Roberto Lequeux said:
[RANT!!]I HATE the horrible feather to blend the edges... instead of making it disappear it adds a dark edge instead?!?! I can't stand it, especially because it seems it is otherwise ready to go. If only I could make the edges disappear with a soft feather.[/RANT!!]
Click to expand...

I don't have Vegas here with me, so please excuse the vague instructions.

In the event fx window of the clip that has any number of effects on it, click on the triangles at the bottom left of the window to reverse their direction. They're located to the left of the mini keyframing timeline.

tut6.jpg


You'll probably need to do some fooling around to make the edges blend like you (and I) would expect them to, but it should work. Let me know if you can't make it work.
 
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