how do I recover details in the highlights, in vegas pro ?

[codemaster]

I understand that some camcorders capture tones that exceed the "legal" video levels limit of 235. I understand that this has the advantage that it allows the possibility of the recovery of lost detail in the highlights.

Question 1: In Vegas Pro, if a clip contains information below level 16 and/or above level 235, than that information is lost after I render the timeline to .avi using lagarith in rgb mode ? And if I don't want that information to be discarded, then I have to bring it within 16 - 235 before rendering to .avi using lagarith in rgb mode ? Or, everything above 235 and below 16 is lost after Vegas Pro imported the clip from the camcorder, therefore I have to bring it within 16 - 235 before importing the clip into Vegas Pro ?

Question 2: In Vegas Pro, what is a method that I can use to detect if there is any information above 235 and below 16 ?

Question 3: In Vegas Pro, if a clip contains information that exceeds 235, and if that information will be lost after rendering to avi, using lagarith in rgb mode, then what is a method I can use in Vegas Pro to bring the information above 235, to below 235, without reducing the contrast too much, and without modifying the colors too much (so that, for example, "almost white" does not become "too gray") ?

[JVRaines]

1. I don't think Lagarith messes with video levels. It's not transcoding but just compressing what comes out of Vegas. On the import side, though, it depends on the decoding software installed on your computer. Some decoders clamp everything above 235 and/or below 16 and once that happens, the data is gone.

2. Use the waveform scope and RGB parade to see the levels in your clip. Leave "Studio RGB" turned off to see the true range of values.

3. Again, I don't think this is a concern with Lagarith. But with any coder that needs studio range (16-235), you can apply the Sony Levels effect "Computer RGB to Studio RGB" preset.