Applying filter to regions

taliesin wrote on 7/20/2002, 2:36 PM
There is one thing I really do miss in VegasVideo.
I sometimes have to do color corrections to a finished video.
In my NLE "CineStream" I capture this video, take a color-correction filter and put it on a separated fx-track below the video-track. Then I pull the lenght of the filter to make it fit a region which should be affected with this filter. Where there were cuts, I take a new filter.
In the end I usually have almost as much filters as there were cuts in the video. All the filters in one single fx-track.

Now in VegasVideo I can't find no way to apply a filter only to a region of a clip. It always affects the whole clip.
Only way I found to manage it is to use keyframing for different regions what at least is very unusual to what I have done before. Another disadvantage is that if there are keyframes where nothing should happen to the clip (and where there would be no filter at all in my other NLE), there must be done rendering anyway which takes time and storage.

Or I must split the whole video whereever there are cuts, but for most of my videos have hundreds up to more than a thousand cuts this is very time consuming.

Another case where it is useful to have filters applied to regions is if one filter setting should cover several clips instead of one single.

So is there any way to apply a filter only to a region of a clip instead of applying it to the whole clip?

Marco

Comments

kkolbo wrote on 7/20/2002, 3:24 PM
I don't know that I completely understand. I split the video where I need to change the color correction. That is the most accurate. I save the color correction settings if I need to apply it to other sections, which I usual do. Then I just apply the settings again a lickity-split it is done. The key is to save the settings so that you can use then for other clips that are from the same reel and that need the same settings. That saves a lot of time.

I actually prefer to do the color correction as a last step before I render the project. That way I apply the correction to the media pool or to the acutual clips on the time line. The media pool is the fastest.

Just for the record, I only color correct the down and dirty projects in Vegas. Anything high end I have a colorist do it.

K
FadeToBlack wrote on 7/20/2002, 3:35 PM
BillyBoy wrote on 7/20/2002, 4:32 PM
You can easily apply filters to "events" by just dragging and dropping the filter on the video track you want to effect. No need to create a new track, each event can have unique sets of filters and/or settings while on the same track.

Any event can be whatever length you decide to make it by chopping up your source files by clicking on EDIT, then SPLIT which will create "events" which is SoFo speak for regions or scenes or whatever you prefer to call them.

I typically start out dropping FX filters on a raw source file at the very start of my editing, before I do any splitting which gives me a preliminary correction. As I work through the source file I split where the material needs correction other than what I already have going back and fine tuning each event as needed. The process is simpler than it sounds and moves along rather fast. I think this is one of the best features in Vegas which makes applying a wide range of filters at different setting very straight forward allowing for very exacting adjustments.

One trick I use often is to set a filter at near zero setting near the start of some event, making a key frame and then move the filter setting up a good deal then set a key frame near the end of the event. By looping the event you can see how a gradual shift in the filter settings effects the file. By stopping the preview where the best effect is achieved, I simply reset the full event to whatever values it is at 'where it looks best' and use those values across the entire event. This serves as a automatic what-if generator which sure beats entering every possible value one setting at a time over and over.
taliesin wrote on 7/21/2002, 7:01 AM
So what I see out of your infos is that there actually is no way to apply a filter DIRECTLY to a smaller region of a clip or DIRECTLY to several clips.

On the other hand the methods you described work well. I think this might be only something I have to get used to.

Thank you all for the input. Much appreciated!

Marco
Cheesehole wrote on 7/21/2002, 11:24 PM
marco,

you make a good point, there is no direct way to do that, but once you get the hang of keyframes, I think you'll find them to be even more powerful and more flexible than the separate track method.

on the other hand, I'd love to see something like photoshop's "adjustment layer" where you can add a layer that does nothing except affect all child layers with some sort of keyframeable 'effect' or series of effects. this would be extremely useful for audio as well.

it's probably more of an Afterfx type feature, but to me Vegas is almost a substitute for AfterFX that just works a lot faster!
taliesin wrote on 7/22/2002, 6:49 AM
>on the other hand, I'd love to see something like photoshop's "adjustment
>layer" where you can add a layer that does nothing except affect all child
>layers with some sort of keyframeable 'effect'

Don't know how that works in Photoshop but I think you actually can have something similar in VegasVideo. Try this:

Before you apply a filter to a clip expand the track layer of that clip to have the A/B-mode.
Then drag the filter from the video-fx window into the B-track of your clip layer.
Now a very small new keyframe track opens below the A/B-track which contains nothing but the keyframes of the filter.
You can move, delete and insert keyframes there.

Marco
Cheesehole wrote on 7/22/2002, 7:40 AM
>>>Before you apply a filter to a clip expand the track layer of that clip to have the A/B-mode. Then drag the filter from the video-fx window into the B-track of your clip layer. Now a very small new keyframe track opens below the A/B-track which contains nothing but the keyframes of the filter.

hey thanks for the tip!
Tyler.Durden wrote on 7/22/2002, 8:14 AM
I could be mistaken, but that looks like TrackFX to me...

When I drop FX into the B track and the keyframe track appears, the icon for the Track FX turns green and the plug-in is applied to the whole track.


HTH, MPH
taliesin wrote on 7/22/2002, 8:32 AM
> that looks like TrackFX to me...

mmh, yes, that's it.

Marco