Since I use two cams in most my work I have made the switch from Roxio Creator 10 to Sony Vegas 8, but am having a hard time, I have been reviewing the tutorials online, purchased Douglas Spotted Eagle Vegas Pro Editing Workshop book, but that is way over my head. So I am hoping to get some info from this forum and get some immediate answers that will help me learn this program.

1. Once I capture and drag file to Timeline, how do i split it?

2 How do i synch two camera files on the timeline.

3 I think its called cross fading, but how do i go from one track to the next?

Example..I am trying to make a "how to video" on repairing a product. I have one camera 6 feet away the other camera close up showing the product. I want to be able to switch back and forth showing closeups without splitting and moving one clip from camera b to camera a timeline. Does this make sense?

This is all for now...

Anyone want to be my Vegas 8 mentor? Suggestion on training books, DVD's, online courses, etc... heck id even travel to a basic training session somwhere. I have looked at the VAAST collection, but confused as to which ones i need...Doug if your reading this suggestions?

I knew there was going to be a learnign curve, but WOW!!!

Thanks

some quick answers for ya...

1) to split a track position the timeline cursor at the point you want to split and hit "s" when the clip is selected. Quick tip if you are using a mouse with a wheel you can zoom in and out with the wheel for more precision.

2) Syncing two cameras on a timeline. If audio has been captured on both cameras find a point where there is a loud short sound on the clips. Zoom into the sound and place a marker there "m". Now slid the second track to line it's audio track to that same sound, inline with the first track. Loud short sounds work best for this as they make distinctive audio waveform peaks. Depending on the cameras there may also be drift in the video and audio tracks. It's beyond a quick answer to suggest solutions to this but can be dealt with as well. Try the syncing by audio method first and see if that gets you going.

3) Cross fades are the simplest thing in Vegas. Simply sliding on clip over another on the same track in the timeline will create the basic video/audio crossfade. You can get far more advanced and choose specific fade envelopes or drop in transition effects to this crossfade.

As for a good resource....start with the Vegas documentation. It's quite good, it's not a hard read and it explains several of the features and work methods in vegas. Lots of other resources from DVD's, books and of course this forum. Spend some time with it and within a few solid days of study and practice you'll have answered so many questions you will be amazed with the software and it's logical method of editing.

All the best,
James Hooey

David, you might want to take a look through my newsletters (http://www.jetdv.com) as well. There are many basic editing articles (the Beginner's Corner series starting in the 4th issue) and articles covering specific topics (such as multiple ways to do multi-cam).

David, you might want to take a look through my newsletters (http://www.jetdv.com) as well. There are many basic editing articles (the Beginner's Corner series starting in the 4th issue) and articles covering specific topics (such as multiple ways to do multi-cam).


Thanks for the link ET -
Great site ! !

Thanks Guys....Im slowly learning...I try to learn one new thing a day...

...I try to learn one new thing a day...

Words to live by...