FrameServing from Vegas 9 to MeGUI

[Kit-10]

I've been trying to get the DebugMode FrameServer to work properly, but it seems no matter what setting I try the AVI signpost file it creates isn't readable by anything. I've tried VirtualDub, AVIDemux, MeGUI, and even just plain Ffmpeg, but everything tells me it's not a valid file. I tried creating an AVS script, and when I load it in anything that supports AVS it says the file cannot be found. It does seem like Vegas is locking the file while it renders to it, though I can't imagine that actually being a problem or else these programs wouldn't be around in such a way that it seems like everyone's got them to work. >< I can't find any info on how to use FrameServer from Vegas to encode to H264 using MeGUI, but I've seen a lot of people say they did it/used to do it. I figured this is probably the best place to ask, as I'm completely out of ideas as to what the problem could be. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this. ^^;

Update: Is a dialog supposed to appear? I've seen some old screenshots of FrameServer where a dialog shows up asking for format, but I'm not seeing any dialog, just the standard Vegas rendering thing I get with any other render as option...

[poisondeathray]

Works ok for me. Maybe try uninstalling / reinstalling ? If you don't see the debugmode dialog pop up (where it asks for color space and audio), it probably isn't installed correctly

You can export a lossless intermediate as a temporary workaround (e.g. lagarith, huffyuv, ut, etc..)

[Kit-10]

Thank you tons for the quick reply. I had suspected it might not be installed correctly on account of the fact I didn't actually shut down Vegas when installing the FrameServer, I assumed because it showed up that means it was working, but if I'm supposed to be getting a dialog I obviously didn't install correctly. I'll try installing with Vegas shut down, despite the fact that that means I'll have to stop the encoding process I was running in the background in case this didn't work, but since this seems to be the only way I'm gonna be able to test this I'll just bite the bullet and restart the other encoding thing before I go to sleep if it doesn't work. I'll post the results here.

[poisondeathray]

You use file=>render as , select save as type "debugmode frameserver", and this dialog should pop up:

[Kit-10]

Hm. Does Vegas have a control panel to enable or disable plugins? I literally just installed Vegas two days ago, so I don't know it that well yet... In any case, all that I see in the "Save as type" are what was there before I installed FrameServer. Nothing at all to do with FrameServer in the Save As Type drop-down, but if I save as AVI and then select a codec that shows up as "DebugMode FSVFWC (Internal Use)", that gets me the result I've been getting. I just thought that was how FrameServer worked, as a codec. But if there's supposed to be a "Save as type" entry, I'm suspecting maybe the plugin isn't installed or enabled correctly.

Edit: It might help if you know where exactly FrameServer is supposed to put all the plugin files so that they can be read by Vegas. I opted to put the Shared Plug-in folder inside of the Vegas folder in the install because I didn't think I needed a seperate Sony directory just for shared files, so maybe that's botching things? I'll try installing the plugin to the regular Shared Plug-in folder while you respond.

Update: Nope, that didn't work either. Still not seeing it in the "Save as Type" drop-down, and whenever I select it as a codec it just starts rendering like it's a normal AVI file, even though I know it shouldn't be. Though, oddly enough, the filesize of the AVI doesn't grow, it acts like I'd expect the file FrameServer would create, but it still is unreadable in anything. >< Okay, I'm now -sure- the problem is that the plugin isn't in the right folder or something. That codec box still showed up even when I unistalled the Vegas plugin, meaning the codec is from the core. Not sure what I did wrong in the installation, but I certainly need help sorting this out. Already tried moving the plugin .dll to a bunch of different folders, no change. Even renamed the standard AVI plugin and put this in in place of that, and not only did it not show up in the Save File As dialog, neither did the AVI plugin. Expectedly, I suppose, but does that mean I somehow have a broken install, or does 2.6 not work with Vegas 9 after all? I'm really puzzled here, this seems like it should be such an easy thing. No idea why I'm having so much trouble. x.x

Update again: Found a file in the FrameServer install directory called dfscVegasV2Out.dll, as opposed to the one in the Shared Plug-ins directory that didn't have the V2. Tried putting it in the Shared folder and it didn't recognize any better, but I'll keep looking around until someone solves it for me. xD;

[poisondeathray]

The AVI signpost is supposed to be tiny, a few kb

Did you use the latest debugmode frameserver version? Even the debugmode homepage says it's verified to work with Vegas9 and I can confirm it works ok. I think I installed everything in default directory. Is your vegas version registered? If it's a trial there might be a limitation

The drop down menu should have a separate entry for debugmode frameserver, and as soon as you push save, the dialog box should pop up. Once you push next, nothing should be rendered, just the dummy AVI. The rendering actually occurs when you frameserve the dummy AVI with avisynth.

If everything is as described above, maybe your avisynth install is broken? Try re-install that

[Kit-10]

Using Frameserver 2.6 and Vegas Pro 9.0c registered. Vegas 9 was installed in the directory C:/Program Files/Vegas Pro 9.0 with shared plugins installed in C:/Program Files/Vegas Pro 9.0/Shared Plug-ins. Frameserver was installed to C/Program Files/FrameServer, and yes I have reinstalled FrameServer multiple times. Should I think about reinstalling Vegas? Oh, and the plugin dll itself appears to be sitting in C:/Program Files/Vegas Pro 9.0/Shared Plug-ins. Is it supposed to be somewhere else?

[poisondeathray]

The PC I have it installed on is XP x86, and the directory is root directory for vegas, not a subdirectory. Make sure you checkmark that option for vegas in the install
C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 9.0

It should also install some files for debugmode 2.6 here:
C:\Program Files\DebugMode\FrameServer

[Kit-10]

Okay. Reinstalled everything to default directories, and now the save as FrameServer type shows up, but when I press save, instead of a dialog popping up, Vegas shut down quite abruptly. Any more ideas? You've certainly gotten me further than I was. xD I'm gonna try restarting my computer. Seems too simple to work though. xD I'll update here if it does.

Update: Nope, still crashes whenever I press 'Save'. ><