Absolute Vegas Newbie...Stumped.

[Wayne Reimer]

I hope you can help me, and I apologize in advance for asking dumb questions.

I agreed to do a short video presentation for an organization that, at first blush, seemed pretty straighforward...something even I could manage to hack out.

As I should have expected, the magnitude of the project has grown, with media from several different sources, different formats, etc. all needing to be combined into the same project.

I've begun to edit some of the footage I have available, but I'm having difficulty with workflow; what's the most effective way to edit a clip, save it in edited form ( i.e. pulling a 8-10 second comment out of a 5 minute interview), and merge it into a project master file?

I've tried a couple of different methods with varying success; I can edit the clip, but when I try to move just the usable material to another file, I wind up with the entire unedited interview, and not the 10 second pice that I need.

I know...what a stupid question.......I think I've got a brain freeze happening here....I just can't figure out what I am doing wrong..

PULEEZE.......Help me!!!

[Don Bloom]

Some questions before we can help.
What version of Vegas?
What format are the source files? DV-AVI, MPEG, HDV, AVCHD, Etc.

The easiest way in MOST cases is to open up 2 instances of Vegas, one with the source files and one blank. Edit your source file, copy and paste into the blank instance of Vegas. Keep doing that until all your edited source files ore on the timeline of the "blank" version of Vegas. Then finish edit, add audio etc until done. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes...no wait thats something else ;-)

Thismethod works in most all cases even with mixed source files but be sure to set the properties of the project to match the source files.

HTHs

[Chip Gallo]

I like to make "subclips" using Trimmer. Open the clip in Trimmer. Select the area you want and click "Create Subclip" on the Trimmer menu bar. Give it a descriptive name and it will be available in the Project Media pane to be dragged onto the timeline in this project. I have only done this from AVI or M2T files so I don't know if there is a downside in mixed source media situations.

[Garrett Low]

Wayne, it sounds like what you're trying to do is use only certain parts of various clips to make your presentation. To do this, don't think of it as having to make a bunch of edited clips, then pull them into your NLE (in this case Vegas). All you need to do in most cases is have the correct setting setting for your project, then pull each complete clip onto your timeline. Then, you can set the "in" and "out" points of each clip so that you use only those sections you want.

Vegas can have various formats of video on a single timeline so there is no need to convert to a single format. The best way t think of it is that you are going to tell the program which parts of each clip you want to use. Then put those parts into the order you want and add whatever transitions, text, etc. you want. Then when you "render" the project it will create the new video pulling only those parts you specified. Vegan never touches or changes the original clip. It just pulls the necessary parts that you specified when making the final video (or rendering it).

Vegas can also have multiple tracks so if you want to put each source on a separate track you could. I like to work with as few tracks as possible but it does help sometimes to keep the various sources on separate tracks.

Not sure if that helps but if you have more details on your project as said, you probably will be more helpful suggestions.

-Garrett

[Wayne Reimer]

Thanks for all the info! I should have mentioned I am using HD platinum version 10. the media mix is AVCHD, 720p and mpeg4, plus some old digitized footage from VHS. The use of start and endpoints to quantify the individual clip durations is EXACTLY what I was looking for; I was working on the assumption that the edit was destructive in terms of the original source material....knowing that it's non-destructive makes me LOTS more relaxed!

The final production is in tribute of a long time radio announcer, so I have a ton of audio clips with different formats, some old video stuff, some stills, as well as new footage in AVCHD that I shot with a Sony VG10. The older material was sort of critical to set the mood, but I didn't want to destroy the integrity of some of this stuff; In a few cases I've got the only existing copy.

In terms of workflow, you suggest minimizing the number of tracks I'm working with; since I'm trying to limit the use of fancy transitions and effects in the end product...is it reasonable to work it through on a single video track, a voice only audio track and a background music track, or should I be spreading the project audio out more? some of the audio is 40 year old AM braodcast quality...fuzzy, noisy and full of hiss, but all of it characteristics I want to retain..

Also, one last dumb question; am I better off rendering it progressively ( i.e. an end of day render for the work done) or leave the entire project un-rendered until it's complete?

Thanks again...you've been a HUGE help!

Wayne

[Garrett Low]

Originally Posted by Wayne Reimer

The final production is in tribute of a long time radio announcer, so I have a ton of audio clips with different formats, some old video stuff, some stills, as well as new footage in AVCHD that I shot with a Sony VG10. The older material was sort of critical to set the mood, but I didn't want to destroy the integrity of some of this stuff; In a few cases I've got the only existing copy.

I would create a copy of the original digital source material you have now just in case. That would make me feel more comfortable since it may not be recoverable if something happens to your your hard drive.

Originally Posted by Wayne Reimer

In terms of workflow, you suggest minimizing the number of tracks I'm working with; since I'm trying to limit the use of fancy transitions and effects in the end product...is it reasonable to work it through on a single video track, a voice only audio track and a background music track, or should I be spreading the project audio out more? some of the audio is 40 year old AM braodcast quality...fuzzy, noisy and full of hiss, but all of it characteristics I want to retain..

I generally I try to minimize my video tracks but you'll probably not be able to get away with only one. I always have text and or stills on their own track as it's easier to do motion or color on those elements when they are not on the same track as my video. I haven't worked with Sony HD Platinum so you might have to do a little more research on some of the details. For audio, it really would depend on how much work the audio needs to make it sound good. I usually keep a lot of the audio separated because it goes out to post production audio after picture lock. That way I can send my audio guys separate tracks aligned on the timeline so they can do their magic to clean up each track and do the final mix so it all sound good. Audio tends to have a lot more overlays so it simply necessitates more tracks. But for quick projects I do have the sound for various sources on the same track. Vegas is a very good audio editor so I would not have any problems using it to do final audio mixes. My workflow is more because most of the sound guys I work with don't use vegas so I have to give them separate audio tracks to pull into their sound programs.

Originally Posted by Wayne Reimer

Also, one last dumb question; am I better off rendering it progressively ( i.e. an end of day render for the work done) or leave the entire project un-rendered until it's complete?Wayne

As they say, there are no dumb questions except the one you didn't ask. The only reason to render at the end of each day would be if you were going to preview it on something other than your computer (i.e. burn a progress DVD for review on a TV). If you want to keep previous versions of your edit you could always just do a "save as" for your new version and save the Vegas project. Since the actual Vegas files are very small compared to the videos, you can easily save multiple versions.

-Garrett