is there any way to get or use an animated type template? i was thinking of a border that frames a video. in particular a border of cartoon (or real) snow --- actually falling if possible. i've seen this done but where would you get such a template with a transparent center for overlaying?
Getting the transparency on a still image is easy, but having it animated is another story. You'd have to design it in Flash or in Photoshop or any other app that can deal with frames one by one, or an animation package, and then export it with transparency for Vegas. It's not exactly Vegas' job to do this kind of thing.
Well, if I understand what the OP wants, it wouldn't need to have a Alpha channel. Just lay the main video over the animation and reduce it's size so that the animation shows on all edges.
Download this Snowy Night Loop Freebie video, place it on the timeline. Place your video on the track above and as suggested, use pan/crop to make your video smaller so the lower track appears as a border.
For a while VMS 9.0 came with NewBlue [i]Cartooner[/], which is an effect that makes cartoony looking stuff from your footage. I have it but I must confess I have never used it.
If you already have footage of a snowboarder then you could apply such an effect, but that is not the same as having real animation like the kind you would see in Southpark or Bugs Bunny.