envelope

charmion wrote on 9/16/2009, 11:28 AM

I am still learning the ins and outs of Vegas. My problem is that I don't understand what they mean by the term envelope. When do you use it and how exactly do you use it?

Thanks in anticipation.

Comments

Tim L wrote on 9/16/2009, 5:40 PM

Look at the screenshot of Vegas Movie Studio on this page:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/images/image.asp?img=/images/ss/lg/moviestudiopp_main.jpg

(original on this page: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/moviestudiopp )

In the top video track (with mountain and a sliver of blue sky) you can see a curvy line that is overlayed. This is a composite-level envelope.

An envelope is like a graph that shows how a particular control setting changes over time. *You* create settings (nodes) at various points in time, and the "envelope" is basically a line or graph to connect the nodes you create.

Composite level is how solid or transparent the video will be. A value of 100% all the way at the top of the track indicates the video is completely solid/opaque. A value of 50% at the middle of the track would indicate the video will be half-way transparent. So in the example picture you can see that at the left edge of the window the video track starts out about 50% transparent, then rises to maybe 80% (more solid) a short time later, then drops to about 25% (more transparent), etc.

If you look closely you can see the little squares which are the user-created control points for that envelope.

If you look really closely, you can see that the audio tracks also have envelopes applied to them (pretty hard to see). This is probably the most common use -- to control the audio volume. If you have a video where some people talk at a good level, and others talk too quietly, you could add a Volume Envelope to that audio track and then adjust the volumes up and down as needed throughout your project. Double-click right on the envelope line to add a new node point, then drag that node up or down as needed.

To add an envelope, right click in an empty part of the track header and about halfway down in the pop-up you will see "Add/Remove Envelope". In Movie Studio you can add Composite Level and Fade-To envelopes to video tracks. You can add Volume and Pan (left-right balance) envelopes to audio tracks.

There is also a specialized Node Edit tool in the toolbar at the top -- the third icon to the left of the Make Movie button.

Tim L

charmion wrote on 9/16/2009, 6:20 PM

Thanks Tim for your detailed explanation of "envelope". I now understand what it is all about. I wish they had explained it as you did, in the manual. I should have asked about it a long time ago, but since no one had asked about it in the forum, I thought it was a silly question to ask. From now on, I will be asking questions no matter how silly I think they are.
Thanks a million.

mike_in_ky wrote on 9/16/2009, 7:50 PM

charmion...

I suggest you download the Vegas Pro version of the manual. Anything that can be done with VMS is covered in detail. Many things in there, however, you can only do with the Pro version. A much better quality manual than the VMS version.

mike_in_nc

Eigentor wrote on 9/17/2009, 5:18 AM

That's cool. So to put it in rookie terms, the "nodes" are like key frames. They set the degree of overlay at that point in time. Where the top track (2) has a node set at 50%, then the lower track (3) would show through by 50%. It would be like holding to transparencies of each track in together and looking at the resulting picture. I assume that like keyframes, I can choose how the graph forms between them (smooth, linear,...)? There is a button on the track header for "child/Parent", is this some how related?

charmion wrote on 9/17/2009, 2:51 PM

Thanks Mike. I shall look into the Pro version manual and hope to find answers to other questions that come up in the future.

Thanks again.

Eigentor wrote on 10/27/2009, 5:49 AM

Can this be done on a clip only, or must it be applied to an entire track? I looked for the envelope option on clips and couldn't find it.

I guess a work around would be to apply it to the track, but only tweak it on the specific clip.

jetdv wrote on 10/27/2009, 7:04 AM

Some envelopes are track only. Some are event only. An then a Transition Envelope would only apply to a transition. So various envelopes get applied in different ways.