UAC

User Access Control has been causing me fits.
With UAC on, if you attempt to open a registry key in the LOCAL_MACHINE hive and you specify WRITE permissions, it will fail (that was a bug on my part).
Something else to consider is that processes of different  integrity levels cannot send/post messages to each other.  This post has a good explanation of that and a work around.

Facebook Places

This week,  Facebook opted everyone into a new feature they call Places.  It allows you to easily post to your wall where you are. It also allows others to post that they saw you at a particular location.  I’m recommending you Opt-Out of this feature and I have created this webpage to show you how.  If you’re wondering why this is a bad idea, check out this PleaseRobMe website.

Recommended HD Render options for Sony Vegas

I’ve been struggling to find the best settings to use to save my edited videos.  My video camera takes 1280×720 HD footage and I edit with  Sony Vegas.  There are many formats to choose from and I want  a balance of low disk usage and high quality.  I  found this post and the settings recommend appear to be work well.  After selecting Sony AVC I select the “Internet 16:9 HD 30p template and verify the settings as described (except Audio  format is ACC).

File>Render As>
Save as type “Sony AVC”
Click “Custom”
Project Tab:
Video Rendering Quality: Best
Video Tab:
Format: AVC
Frame Size: Custom
Width: 1280 Height: 720
“Uncheck” Allow source to adjust frame size
Profile: Main
Entropy Encoding: CABAC

“Uncheck” Allow source to adjust frame rate
Field Order: None (Progressive)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.0000
Bitrate (bps): I recommend anywhere from 4,000,000 to 6,000,000 for Vimeo. Only go below for longer videos.

Audio Tab:
Format: AVC
Sample Rate: 48,000 Hz
Bit Rate: 128,000

System Tab:
Format: MP4

RESULT: quality indistinguishable from the original. and if you wanna push it even further, add a ‘light shrapening’ effect to your footage, and the outcome will be EVEN BETTER than your original MTS file quality.

SIZE you ask? between 45 to 60% of the original MTS size.

The output format is the perfectly universal and usable MP4.

Sanyo Xacti HD Video Camera

I bought a new HD video camera this summer to replace my Canon DV that was dieing a slow death.  I LOVE the Sanyo camera I got and the bundle that included a nice case, a 1g memory card, an EXTRA battery, and a HDMI cable,  all for under $200.  $180 to be exact.  I ordered it from Best Buy online.  Fry’s had it but it was over $200.  The camera shoots 1280×720 30fps.  That’s the introductory size of HD, most camera’s now offer 1280 x 1080.  I’m happy with 1280×720 and it will help with file sizes of the video.  The camera has a nice 3″ LCD screen and 30x OPTICAL zoom!  It also has a photo taking mode.

Here is some sample footage that shows you the powerful 30x zoom: