Vegas pro has a beats and measures but I don't know about Movie Studio.

Movie Studio has them too, but how to use them?

It's just a grid which does not react to a beat. It's a visual help. You would need to move your events to that grid beat but if the beat of the music isn't 100 % accurate this won't work on the longer run.

Have you tried http://www.focusonvegas.com/music-video-sync-v2/   ?

The download contains all you need, except the VASST apps, including a PDF with a description of the method I use.

My (free) tool is video editor independant (no script) but is optimized for (Sony / Magix) Movie Studio (!) and Vegas Pro. The workflow uses the VASTT FasstApp’s: “Marker Maker” and “StillMotion” (about 10 dollar each or € 12 tax included). Music Video Sync uses in the background audio analyser software (Sonic Annotator with Beatroot-vamp plugin) of Queen Mary, University of London.

The basic workflow:

1. Detect beats in your music and export Markers for some beats with Music Video Sync V2 (my tool).

2. Import the Markers in Movie Studio or Vegas Pro with the extension (app) “Marker Maker” from VASST.

3. Move and change duration of video events according the placed Markers (beats) automatically with the extension (app) “Still Motion” from VASST.

The best solution would be if this functionality was built in Vegas Pro / Movie Studio as a dedicated flexible function (for that I want to pay), but for me this method is second best and cheap (if you still have to buy the VASTT apps) or free (if you already own these).

I was developing a Vegas Pro script that replaces the need of the VASST apps for markers and timeline manipulation, but probably I won't publish it because only few people seem to be interested in this subject, the VASST apps are good and cheap and it cost me a lot of time to develop and to support scripts (language differences, Windows 10 dll blocking etc.).

Marco, I just found a work around by myself.

1. Detect "Beats per Minute" (bpm) with a tool like BPM Analyzer from MixMeister (free)
2. Set the detected bpm in Project Options Ruler tab.
3. Activate and set Grid snapping.
4. Start editing and trimming your events according the grid snapping.

It`s more accurate than expected and much faster than detecting beats and marking them manually.

the VASST apps are good and cheap

Indeed but note this re VASST FasstApps.

@FocusOnVegas I remember your workflow, which sounded rather complicated. For the moment I´m glad that I discovered this option directly in Moviestudio without needing external apps or tools (exept BPM analyzer). It would be nice if Movie Studio had an internal option to detect bpm and setting the ruler accordingly.

Match your edits to your music, not the other way.

I memorize my music, then tap "M" during realtime playback wherever I want a cut. Here is an old example.

Worth noting that the publisher dropped their encumbrance by virtue of good closing credits.

Match your edits to your music, not the other way.

I memorize my music, then tap "M" during realtime playback wherever I want a cut. Here is an old example.

 

That's the way I did before, manually tapping "M" during realtime playback.

I was looking for something more accurate and with snapping to the measure instead of markers, which I found now in the described workflow above.

By the way, your old example doesn't demonstrate the kind of bpm I'm working with normally.

Here is an old example from me:

It's easy working with electronic music that uses a fixed beat.

Before I "developed"  my tool "Music Video Sync"  (MVS 2) I did some "research" and observations.

1. Basically I wanted a tool that assists me with (automatic) editing video to the beat.
2. Doïng it manually is possible but is a lot of work to get it right.
3. Music can contain changes in tempo (doesn't always have a fixed beat). To sound more "human", beats are often placed not on the same time interval (on purpose).
4. Simple automatic onset (peak / beat) detection algorithms don't give reliable results for different kinds of music. Sophisticated algorithms like the "Beatroot" algorithm (from the Queen Mary, University of London) give better results.
5. Vegas Pro and MovieStudio don't come with a (sophisticated) beat detection algorithm for the audio.
6. The only way to import "detected beat data" in Movie Studio is with the VASST Marker Maker app (Magix seems to regulate which company has access / permission for making extensions for Movie Studio).
7. The only (?)way to automatically "edit" clips on the timeline on the markers (beat) is to use the “Still Motion” app.
8. Onset (peak / beat) detection gives standard a lot of markers that aren't necessary; in practice you don't want a video cut on every beat, but f.i. on every 4 th beat, starting with the 3 th beat.
9. In practice you want to edit with video frame accuracy; you don't want markers (cuts) between video frames. So it is necessary "to align" the beat data on the video frames (that is why MVS needs the frame rate of your project).
10. Sometimes you want to (random) slide around the beat locations with some videoframes f.i. to make your editing more "human".

MSVS is based on this information. It encapsulates beat detection and it makes it possible to import only the (beat) markers you want at the right place.

My main workflow (details as selecting the right tracks are here not described):

1. Place the video clips you want in your edit on the timeline.
2. (optional) Edit the left side of the clips for the "right" start positions of the clips.
3. Place your music on the timeline and save your project.
4. Start MSVS, select a music file and let it analyse the beat data (onsets).
5. Select in MSVS the right (project) video framerate, beat interval and beat offset and save the markers ("write VASST Marker Maker file").
6. Import the markers with the Marker Maker app (extension) in Vegas Movie Studio / Vegas Pro.
7. Check if the choosen beat interval and beat offset are right for you. If not, undo the marker import, change some settings in MVS, write the markers and (re) import the changed markers.
8. Use the Stillmotion app to place the clips automatically on the marker positions (on the beat; right sides of the clips 'll be trimmed).

Complicated? Maybe, but in my opinion sophisticated as well. I can now do this kind of edits in minutes that costed me hours before.

The best solution would be if Magix would integrate this functionality in Vegas Movie Studio and Vegas Pro or if a third party (like VASST) would make an app (extension) based on this.

FocusOnVegas, I appreciate your research and almost fully agree with your findings, but for the moment I'm very glad with the possibilities VMS offers, instead of working with markers, I use the grid snapping option and the grid spacing by measures. This gives me the possibility to edit and trim very fast video events to the measure of the music without external tools (I only need to know the bpm of the music). I just once line up the music to the measure grid, then throw a bunch of videoclips on the timeline and start editing and trimming according the measure grid showing on the videoclips (with active auto ripple). This goes just very fast and accurate, a great tool, that I discover now after more than 10 years working with Vegas, never too old to learn.

I often edit to the beat of the music by first setting the markers manually to the beat, while listening to the music.

It is possible to set the ruler format to measures and beats and with a bpm analyzer I´m able to find out the bpm of the used music title, but then....Is there a tutorial or can someone explain to me how I should work further?

 

While you can set the BPMs in MS to the same value as the song, and align some obvious drum hit I never really bother.

That's for two reasons: first, because with any well mastered piece of music (which does have a definite beat), the location of the hits will be obvious from the waveform. So simply make the waveform track high enough and zoom in enough to have a clear view of the hits (typically snare and kick will be the loudest, and hence the highest) and you'll have a perfect reference for your clip changes.

Secondly, while where to put the changes is surely dependent from the beat, that dependency is seldom straightforward. The length of the transitions with respect to the music, for example, is what really gives a certain feel to the video or a section of the video. So even if you align everything, you cannot but watch the video in its entirety several times to spot anything that doesn't feel right. That means you have to watch as a viewer, not as a maker - taking notes along the way every time you feel something's off. Then you go back and fiddle with the transition until it feels exactly right. You'll find that often the transitions don't match exactly the beat - just like instruments other than bass and drums play around the beat, and seldom just over it.

Since you need to do that no matter what, the grid is not a critical tool.

was searching how to mix beats in vegas and found this older topic. Is mixmeister still a good tool to do this? I made a aftermovie a few weeks ago (in vegas pro 17, now I have 21) and I did it with time stretching the song so the beats accord. (was the only method I knew) See (listen) at 1m22sec. Because I have again a big project coming soon (carnival) and I wanna mix different songs into it. (not always electronic music)

I've no knowledge of Mixmeister, but I have successfully used Vegasaur's Beat Detector a few times in recent years. Vegasaur has lots of extensions especially designed for Vegas Pro: https://vegasaur.com/Vegasaur and https://vegasaur.com/beat-detector

I've no knowledge of Mixmeister, but I have successfully used Vegasaur's Beat Detector a few times in recent years. Vegasaur has lots of extensions especially designed for Vegas Pro: https://vegasaur.com/Vegasaur and https://vegasaur.com/beat-detector

I compared Mixmeister (free) recently with Vegassaur's Beat detector (not free) and for me Mixmeister is still favorite. Also I still use the Method as I describe above, setting Grid to the measure of the beat and snapping to that grid (instead of markers).

A recent project: Result:

@3point: I watched your video. The scenes change on the beat of the music. So the video is nice edited on the music. But in fact I do this manually. For the aftermovies I make my cuts would even be faster than in your example. When I listen do a song I feel when I have to change the footage. My question is about mixing 2 audiotracks on the same tempo (like a dj). Mixmeister can tell me the tempo of the song and I can set this in ruler - beats per minute. But this affects the project on the timeline. So if my second song is slower/faster (detected by mixmeister) I can't do this again in ruler - beats per minute because this will effect the previous song if I understand this correctly. So that's why a timestretched the song and looking at the audiopeaks on the timeline if they match. Sometimes I made a song faster or slower but I couldn't find it to match them together on the same beat. So is there a easier way to do this?

You can make individual projects for each song and join them together by nesting. Ofcourse you can do also everything manually and feel the beat yourself but not everybody feels the beat...so Mixmeister is handy tool.