A Collage iof Stills in Vegas 6

solarblast wrote on 11/4/2006, 4:17 AM
I have about 90 stills that I would like to put onto the screen in 145 seconds as a collage. It's easy to do this if the stills are shown individually for a few seconds at a time. However, I want to blend these images one into the other. There is no intent to let viewers to clearly identify each still. Undoubtedly, they will, but that's of no matter. Is there a way to do this without spending a lot of time producing fades for each still.? For example, is it possible to easily drop these stills on the time like and specify that I want to insert a squeeze, barndoor, or spiral effect inserted between each of them?

I suppose I could put 45 (60) on one video track and 45 (30) on another, and let them overlay each other as they are shown. That, or a variation, has the disadvantage that there would never be a time when a single still would be completely visible on its own.

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 11/4/2006, 4:42 AM
> Is there a way to do this without spending a lot of time producing fades for each still.? For example, is it possible to easily drop these stills on the time like

You can change the duration and overlap in the preferences of Vegas. Then drop the files on the timeline and they will be automatically overlapped. Go to Options > Preferences > Editing tab then change New still image length for the length of each still and check [X] Automatically overlap multiple selected media when added and adjust the Cut-to-overlap conversion Amount to overlap for the duration you want.

> and specify that I want to insert a squeeze, barndoor, or spiral effect inserted between each of them?

If you select all of the events and drop a transition on one of them they will all get the same transition. If you want random transitions you cannot do this and thankfully so because all you will do is give everyone a head-ache. IMHO, it is the worst editing decision anyone can make. The only exception is to use variants of one transition like "wipe left, wipe right, wipe up..." etc. because they are all variants of the same transition family.

You can also use a script like Still Motion by VASST which is designed specifically for Photo Montage work and makes a lot of this possible in a few mouse clicks. (disclaimer: I work at VASST so don't take my word for it. Download the 14-day free trial and see for yourself)

~jr
solarblast wrote on 11/4/2006, 7:14 AM
Yes, random transitions would drive anyone nuts. As you suggest, left, right, up, ... are more reasonable. My question then is how does one do this either for every still, or mix it up for each still? In the first case, how do I assign something other than the default transition? In the latter case, how does one propogate and repeat a r(ight), l, u, d sequence?

Just looked at the VAAST plug-in you mentioned. It looks intriguing for this purpose, but I'll see what I can do with the simpler approach I've started on first.
rs170a wrote on 11/4/2006, 10:56 AM
...how does one do this either for every still,...

Click on the first image, shift-click the last one and apply the desired FX to the first dissolve. All transitions will now have that FX.

...or mix it up for each still?

I think you have to do it the hard way (i.e.one at a time) but if someone knows an easier way, please feel free to tell us how.

Mike
solarblast wrote on 11/4/2006, 5:30 PM
I've set up 5 stills of 4 seconds each. I click first and last frame as you indicated. I then drag a transition preset into the crossfade area betweent he first and second stills (Events). It's the only one that gets transition. If I do it between the 4th and 5th, it works fine. So there we are. It looks like there are some bood possibilities here. I'm trying to blend pictures of two families in a way that makes it look like they are coming together as one or a group. A dissolve between stills I hope suggests that. The occassion is a marriage.

Thanks.
solarblast wrote on 11/5/2006, 8:56 AM
Another thought I what I'm trying to accomplish. Is it possible there might be some plug-in that takes each still and pastes it into a matrix of pictures. For example, one might see 4 stills and as each one finishes it flies off. After the fourth one flies off it shows a 2 by 2 matrix of the four. Another possibility would be like the above but the final (fifth) still would be something like a scattered pile of the stills.