Michele Gaggia - Vegas Video Editing - Lesson 1

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Vegas Overview

Before you begin, you should learn about the Vegas user interface.

To learn about the main window panels, tools and functions, open the Vegas Help ("F1") and select:

You should also be familiar with the Vegas Docking Area:

Video Capture

Workaround for the Video Capture Bug

The "video capture" issue we encountered ("Capture completed without errors. No Video was captured.") was as I imagined a small bug in the capture application when it captures in PAL DV mode. Fortunately there is an easy workaround:

  1. Open the Video Capture application (Vegas 3.0 menu "File > Capture Video"; or click the Video Capture symbol from the "Media Pool" tab)
  2. From the "Options" menu choose "Preferences". The Preferences dialog appears.
  3. Click the "Capture" tab.
  4. Clear the "Minimum clip length" check box (deselect the option)
  5. Click "Apply" to apply your changes.
  6. Click "OK" to close the Preferences dialog.

I found this information on the SONY support website, where you can also look for additional information in case you have any problem with Vegas 3.0 LE (http://www.custcenter.com/cgi-bin/sonypictures.cfg/php/enduser/entry.php) 

Video Capture Settings 

Remember to set the desired recording disk in "Options > Preferences > Disk Management"! It is recommended to use a separate partition for your audio and video recording (by no mean record on your system partition!).
If you are using an analogue Videotape-Recorder (not a DV-Cam) you should also go to "Options > Preferences > Capture > Analog device options" and set the "Custom frame rate" to 25 fps 

Step by Step Capture Guide

  1. Connect your DV-CAM to the computer with the FireWire cable.
  2. Switch your camera into "video-playback" (not video recording!) mode.
  3. In Windows XP a dialog box should appear automatically offering you to "Capture Digital Video" - choose Vegas 3.0 LE.
  4. In Vegas 3.0 LE start the capture application (File > Capture Video).
  5. Check that the video properties are correct (see section before).
  6. Use standard Capture (advanced capture with batch processing is only available in the full version).
  7. Give a name to your tape when prompted.
  8. Using the tape controls move the tape to the desired position. You can also choose the "Goto" command (Strg+G) and enter a time value (provided your recorded tape has a valid SMPTE timecode without interruptions).
  9. Click on "Capture Video" to start capturing.
  10. Make sure the "drop frame" indicator remains to 0 during capturing! Do not do any other action with your computer during this operation. Your computer will need all the CPU and disk resources to ensure trouble-free capturing.
  11. Click on the "stop" button to stop capturing. The "Capture Complete" dialog box should appear, showing a thumbnail of the new clip. Choose the option "Add captured video to Media Pool".
  12. NOTE: if the "Capture completed without errors. No Video was captured." message appears instead, refer to "FIX CAPTURE BUG"!
  13. When you have captured all clips, close the Video Capture application.

To know more about video capture, open the Vegas Help ("F1") and select:

Vegas Video Settings

Make sure that when you capture, work in the project or export your file you use everywhere the correct video settings!The standard settings for European standard PAL: PAL DV (720x576; 25 fps), pixel ratio 1,0926 (PAL DV)or, for PAL Widescreen mode (anamorphic): PAL DV Widescreen (720x576; 25 fps), pixel ratio 1,4598 (PAL DV).If you leave the project at the standard settings it will work in NTSC mode. This will result in reduced performance, distortion of the image and loss in quality with jerked playback when exporting!

Main Preferences

  1. From the Vegas "Option" menu choose "Preferences".  The Preferences dialog appears.
  2. Click the "Video" tab and increase the "dynamic RAM" settings (about half of your RAM should be OK)
  3. Click the "Audio" tab and choose the desired soundcard (Vegas 4 and higher support ASIO)
  4. Click the "Video Device" tab and choose "OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394/DV if you are using a standard DV-Cam.
  5. In the same tab, set the video output option to "PAL DV" or "PAL DV Widescreen"

Project Properties

  1. From the Vegas "File" menu choose "Properties" (Alt+Enter)
  2. Click the "Video" tab and choose from the dropdown menu PAL DV or PAL DV Widescreen
  3. Here there is also an option to blend the two Fields into one Frame: set "Field order" to "Progressive Scan" (in Vegas 4 you can also decide what kind of blending or interpolation between fields should be applied)
  4. Click the "Audio" tab and select 48 KHz (standard for DV-Cams), 16-bit and "best" quality for resampling
  To know more about working with projects in Vegas, open the Vegas Help ("F1") and select:

Importing Media In Your Project

During Capturing you can choose "Add clip to media pool" to place them in the Media Pool. You can import additional media (Audio, Video and Images) into the Media Pool using the Vegas Explorer (also per drag and drop from the Windows Explorer). 

Supported Audio Formats

Preferred formats: WAV and AIF 48 kHz uncompressed 

Supported Video Formats

Preferred project format: AVI uncompressed
Preferred export format: AVI, MPEG 1 or 2

Supported Image Formats

Preferred import formats: BMP, TIF, PSD, PNG - or JPG with low compression  

Adding Media Clips To The Timeline

Adding the whole media clip to the timeline

Method 1
  1. Select a track in the timeline (for example, track 2 for adding a video clip with sound). To do so click in the track header section (it will change color).
  2. Place the playback cursor at the position where you want to add the media clip.
  3. Double click the desired video, audio or graphic file in the Media Pool or in the Vegas Explorer to place it at the cursor position. You can later reposition and resize the clip as desired.
Method 2
  1. Drag and drop the media clip directly from the Media Pool or the Vegas Explorer into the timeline.

Adding just a clip selection to the timeline

Method 3
  1. Right-click the desired audio or video clip and select "Open in Trimmer". The trimmer window appears.
  2. In the trim window use the mouse wheel to zoom in or out. Use Shift+Wheel to scroll horizontally.
  3. Select the desired section in the trimmer dragging horizontally with the mouse.
  4. You can place the cursor start frame precise using the keyboard arrow. You can use Shift+Click to change the lenght of the selection frame by frame.
  5. The selected start or end point is displayed in the preview window on the right
  6. When done, drag the selection with the mouse into the timeline

IMPORTANT:

To know more about adding clips to the timeline, open the Vegas Help ("F1") and select:

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© 2005 Michele Gaggia - all rights reserved