A Needed Warning Message ...

ClipMan wrote on 1/25/2006, 11:28 AM
I had two video tracks in the project. One track had clips at the starting point and the other had clips at about ten minutes in so if you were looking up close at one, you couldn't see the other. So, OK, it's late and I wanted to clean up some tracks and of course, I delete the track I think is empty because I can't see the clips down the line. I only realized my mistake after I saved everything. WHAM! All gone. There should have been a warning that said ...

"Hey, stupid., you got clips on the track you want to delete and if you don't want to spend a year hunting down the original clips and re-trimming the whole project, the Sony Team suggests you get your finger off the delete key, you idiot."

... or something like that. I think the real problem is that the developers think they're dealing with a sane, rational and clear-thinking person. This is a HUGE mistake on their part. The deeper I get into video, the more I want out ...

Comments

Former user wrote on 1/25/2006, 11:40 AM
You would lose lot of productive time if everytime you added or deleted a scene, you would have to click an OK option.

Better to make Backkup project files and pay attention to your timeline and project.

Dave T2
ClipMan wrote on 1/25/2006, 11:48 AM
" .... and pay attention to your timeline and project ... "

It would have been great if you were there beside me at the time so each time my eyes closed, you could have slapped me awake ... :-)
dand9959 wrote on 1/25/2006, 12:00 PM
I think he is asking for a confirmation message when deleting tracks, not individual clips. Not a bad idea, I think. Deleting an entire track is rare (relatively speaking) and drastic. A good candidate for confirmation.

Or maybe have a visual indicator in the track header (on the far left of the interface) denoting whether a track is empty or not.
ClipMan wrote on 1/25/2006, 12:37 PM
" ... have a visual indicator in the track header ..."

.. that's a GREAT idea ...
filmy wrote on 1/25/2006, 12:44 PM
You do know the reverse (?) of this is true - if you delete something from the media bins you get a warning that what you are trying to remove is being used on the timeline and that if you continue it will affect your project.
BrianStanding wrote on 1/25/2006, 12:51 PM
Do you have "backup project files" checked in the preferences box? If not, you should. Then, if this ever happens again, you can look in the same folder as the .veg file and you should find a file with the same name and a ".veg.bak" extension. This is the version of the file BEFORE the last time you saved it. Simply delete the ".bak," and re-open.
ClipMan wrote on 1/25/2006, 12:59 PM
I must have saved twice because I did just that and it was too late ...
BrianStanding wrote on 1/25/2006, 12:59 PM
Bummer, dude.
mbryant wrote on 1/25/2006, 1:29 PM
I've thought this same thing myself - when I delete a track I get very nervous, even though I check, that I might be deleting a track with something on it. True you don't want too many "are you sure" questions, but deleting a track is fairly drastic and not something you do a lot.

Mark
GaryKleiner wrote on 1/25/2006, 1:56 PM
Just a workflow tip:

If you want to check to see if a track is empty or not, just expand the timeline all the way out by double-clicking the scroll bar along the bottom.

Gary
dmakogon wrote on 1/25/2006, 2:13 PM
Didn't realize you could double-click the scrollbar - just tried it - very cool! Except (at least in Vegas 4) you can't double-click again to return to your previous timeline scaling..

As far as a delete confirmation, I would like the confirmation only if the track is non-empty.

Now... as for a wishlist item: maybe a track properties menu item, or mouseover balloon-help style popup, showing general track info - total events on track, first event start time, last event end time. Add to this a double-click on the track info area and the timeline scales itself from begin-time of first event to end-time of last event based on the track clicked...

David
winrockpost wrote on 1/25/2006, 2:23 PM
good idea of some sort of "hey you there is video on the track you are about to delete". No help now ,but if you leave an edit details window open you can see what is on each track without scrolling all over the place.
JJKizak wrote on 1/25/2006, 2:31 PM
It would be nice if Vegas had those real nice sounding female voices for warnings like "carefull, you are going to delete data on track #4 if you proceed" "You do not have enough memory to complete this render sweetheart". or you could select the formidability of the warning such as in a male voice "do you feel lucky punk?"

JJK
johnmeyer wrote on 1/25/2006, 4:15 PM
Here's a script that will do what the original poster wanted. Just copy the script text into a word processor, and then save as a TEXT file, with the extension ".js"

Put the resulting file in your script folder, assign a key to it, and you have a one button way of deleting a track, with a confirmation.
/**
* This script adds red generated media to the selected track.
* It then asks if you want to delete this track.
* If you say no, the red media is removed, and your project is left untouched.
* If you say yes, the track is deleted.
*
* This ain't purty, but it works.
*
* By John Meyer 1/25/2006
*
**/



import System;
import System.IO;
import System.Windows.Forms;
import Sony.Vegas;

var evnt : TrackEvent;
var videoEvent : TrackEvent;
var TrackZeroTime : Timecode = new Timecode("00:00:00.00");
var mymedia : Media;
var count=0;

try {

//Find the selected event
var track = FindSelectedTrack();
if (null == track)
throw "no selected track";

var eventEnum = new Enumerator(track.Events);

while (!eventEnum.atEnd()) {
evnt = TrackEvent(eventEnum.item());
eventEnum.moveNext();
count = count + 1;
}

CreateGeneratedMedia("Sony Checkerboard", "Plaid");

var garbage = mymedia.KeyString;
var videoStream = mymedia.Streams.GetItemByMediaType(MediaType.Video, 0);
videoEvent = new VideoEvent(TrackZeroTime, Vegas.Project.Length);
track.Events.Add(videoEvent);
var videoTake = new Take(videoStream);
videoEvent.Takes.Add(videoTake);

Vegas.UpdateUI();

if (count == 0) {
var msgBoxResult = MessageBox.Show("Delete this empty track?", "Make Choice", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo);
}
else {
var msgBoxResult = MessageBox.Show("Delete this track along with " + count + " events?", "Make Choice", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo);

}
videoEvent.Takes.Remove(videoTake);
track.Events.Remove(videoEvent);
Vegas.Project.MediaPool.Remove(garbage);

if (msgBoxResult == DialogResult.Yes) {
Vegas.Project.Tracks.Remove( track );
}

Vegas.UpdateUI();


} catch (e) {
MessageBox.Show(e);
}



function FindSelectedTrack() : Track {
var trackEnum = new Enumerator(Vegas.Project.Tracks);
while (!trackEnum.atEnd()) {
var track : Track = Track(trackEnum.item());
if (track.Selected) {
return track;
}
trackEnum.moveNext();
}
return null;
}

function CreateGeneratedMedia(generatorName, presetName) {
var generator = Vegas.Generators.GetChildByName(generatorName);
mymedia = new Media(generator, presetName);
if (!mymedia.IsValid()) {
throw "failed to create media; " + generatorName + " (" + presetName + ")";
}

return mymedia;
}
FrigidNDEditing wrote on 1/25/2006, 8:01 PM
how long did it take you to write that john? - good grief - your dedication to us is much appreciated though.


Let me also state that having an indicator on the track that it is empty (or not empty) would be an EXCELLENT idea) - so much so that I'm going to post it as a separate post so that it gets the attention that it deserves.

Dave
johnmeyer wrote on 1/25/2006, 10:18 PM
how long did it take you to write that john?

Longer than it should have. It was almost done in less than 20 minutes, and then I couldn't figure out how to remove the red generated media (that I use to "mark" the track) from the media pool. That took longer than it should have. Problem is, I don't do this except once every few months, and I therefore have to re-learn the syntax each time.

riredale wrote on 1/26/2006, 10:44 AM
John, is there some way to add a zoom-out to the timeline, so that not only is the specific track highlighted, but also it is fully zoomed out, making it possible to see if there is any clip anywhere?