Maybe I am missing the obvious or maybe I didn't explain it right. Here's a super simple example:

I have project1.vf open. I want to "append" project2.vf to the end of it and then save it as a new "combined" project1and2.vf.

How to do it? If I choose File Open Project, the previously opened project is closed and replaced by the new project. I want to COMBINE them or APPEND them together?

Thanks!
John

Hmm... I don't think you can combine or append projects. I was referring to multiple videos or more precisely multiple scenes you combine into a single project, not multiple projects with different attributes. I think we're mostly talking semantics.

To my way of thinking a project is after all just how you want a video or series of videos to turn out. What frame size, rate, etc.. In other words I view a project as the sum of whatever I'm doing to make a final video.

Unless I'm not understanding what you want the method I find most useful is just to drag each video in turn to the timeline. If you're doing extensive editing I fine it simpler to work on one video at a time.

For sake of example lets say I start out with a raw video of 5 minutes. I drag it to the timeline. I do my editing, filtering etc. I render as a AVI. This become file A-1. I work on the next raw clip. This becomes file A-2. The third is A-3 and so on. When I'm done I maybe have 10-50 clips of varying lengths. I shut down Video Factory. Before I do I save as a project.

Now to finish up, one at a time I drag these mini videos to the timeline. I do any fine turning, cross fades, transitions, etc..

Maybe I just do it different than others. Only the accumulated clips regardless how many become a project. I've build 40 minute videos this way from dozens of mini clips all on the timeline at once amounting to over 30 GB. Hope I'm not confusing you further.

Hi,

I understand what you're saying. Here's my situation:

I have three different one hour tapes. Each was digitized separately into three files. Each file was worked on independently (as a separate project). They're edited with music, titles, transitions, the works. All three projects are great. Now here's the problem...

When I render each one to tape, I end up with a separate MPG file. I have to output each file one at a time to video tape when making the final output tape. This means I have to play the first one, stop/start the tape, play the second one, stop/start, and play the third and finally stop. It means I can't just hit "play" on my video out card and record on the vcr and let it rip. I have it broken into three separate projects which of course create three separate output files.

Ideally, I'd like to combine those three .VF files into one and have one BIG project with all my clips and render a single MPG file that I could output.

I guess I could render each into an AVI and then put them together into a final MPG, but heck each one is like 15 GB and 3x15 = 45GB and I'm out of room!

Would be neat if cut/paste worked with the timeline across projects, or if it had a File / Insert (or Import) Project!

Thanks,
John

OK, now we're getting somewhere. I can definately relate to the wanting
to start recording to tape and walk away thing.

What program are you using to play the MPG files? I've used both
Media Player 7 and PowerDVD with good results. Both of them (and
probably many others as well) allow you to create play lists, which are
a list of more than one file to be played in succession. In Media Player
you use the Open File window and simply Ctrl-click on additional files
to add them to the play list. Then when you click the play button, all the
files will be played one after the other, with about 2 to 10 seconds blank
in between. PowerDVD has a menu much more like WinAmp, but still
accomplishes the same thing.

Will that cover what you want to do?

This can be done, and it is actually very simple. All you have to do is open Video Factory twice so that you have two Video Factories running simultaneously, and then you can copy and paste between the two. If you want to move an entire project to the other window, use the selection tool or Ctrl+A to select all events and then copy and paste. This also works in Vegas and Acid.

Ted

Hi Ted,

I tried that. I read in the Vegas forum about that trick and tried it in VF2. I can't get it to work!

Whenever I launch the second copy of VF, it simply "switches" to the first copy. I'm running Win2k and even tried creating a shortcut and checking the "Run As User" option and running it as a different user, but the darned thing keeps switching to my currently running copy. :-(

Is it failing because of Win2k? Can anyone else do this?

This would be great and would solve my problem.

As far as the suggestion of making a "playlist", my video in/out card is a Dazzle DVC II. It only outputs a single MPG at a time and I can't get it to stream two or three in a row.

Thanks for the input all.

John

Sorry, VideoFactory is single instace only. Meaning you can only have 1 copy open at a time. How about rendering 1 project and adding the resultant file to the 2nd?

Hi,

Thought about that. Just didn't want to render a whole additional generation for the purpose of combining.

Hey, does Vegas Video read and write VideoFactory files?

I have an older copy of Vegas I can use to do the combine if it will work?

Thanks,
John