Finding media in Explorer + Trimmer editing

jcarstenm wrote on 6/30/2013, 2:18 AM

Hi Everyone,

I have a couple of questions. Would greatly appreciate someone taking the time to answer any or all of the below. :)

Question 1

I'm trying to get in the habit of selecting media from the project explorer instead of File > Open. When I get to the folder I want to select my videos from however, I can't actually see the media. Do you know how to display the window that shows all the media in a given folder?

Question 2

Here's a question for the trimmer users out there (there doesn't seem to be many!). I wish to move away from performing my initial editing in the timeline. For me, it becomes too messy with the volume of footage I have. What I want to start doing is using the trimmer to create sub-clips (highlights), which I can then enter into my timeline as and when I see fit. The functionality to do this though seems extremely poor...

I watch the footage in the trimmer, then when I see a highlight, I create a set-in point, playing until the end of the highlight, after which I create a set-out point. I then hit "Create Subclip", which puts the hightlight into the project media. So far so good! This is when my troubles arise though. One of two things happen:

1. After I've created the sub-clip, I want to keep playing my footage from where that previous highlight just FINISHED. Every time I press play again though, it plays from the START of the highlight I just created. This leads to me re-watching every sub-clip, which is a huge waste of time. Is there a way that, once I've created a sub-clip in the trimmer, I can remain watching my footage from where that sub-clip has ended?

2. After I've created the sub-clip, when I click play again in the trimmer (or press enter) it only plays the sub-clip I've just created, then stops.

I don't think it's much to ask to be able to create a sub-clip, then continue watching your original footage in preparation of the next sub-clip to create an eventual group of highlights. It doesn't seem easy to do though?

Any help is hugely appreciated. Thanks again.

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 6/30/2013, 8:00 AM

What model of camcorder is your video coming from and what resolution and format is it? How did you get it from the camcorder to your computer?

What operating system are you using? Have you ensured you have the latest version of Quicktime, per the program's requirements?

Finally, you should never add media to a project using File/Open. This will open Vegas project files -- not media files. Media should be added using the capture workspace, the Device Manager or, if it's already on your computer, the Project Media's Import tool.

Arthur.S wrote on 6/30/2013, 11:19 AM

My work flow with the trimmer is to set in/out points like you are doing, but then drag it to the timeline. To continue and set new in/out points on the same clip, just place the cursor at the previous out point, and play or drag through.

rmack350 wrote on 6/30/2013, 11:44 PM

1. In Vegas, open the Vegas Explorer and browse to the folder containing your media files. You *should* see the files listed if they're there. If not, right-click in the Vegas Explorer and select "View => All Files". Presumably, Vegas Explorer was only showing you files it could open in Vegas, but Vegas Explorer may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, if you get my drift.

2. Ah, subclips vs regions. Regions came first and was favored by it's maker. Subclips came later at the request of users and was implemented only grudgingly.

I think you should mark Regions into your clips in the trimmer. This will give you marks showing where they begin and end, and you can use common keypresses to get to the ins and outs of them and then continue playback. In fact, even if you make subclips, mark them as regions first. You'll find it comes in handy sometimes.

The good thing about Regions is that you can see and browse them in Vegas Explorer. This is especially useful with very long clips (like long interviews) where you know there's some good moments in there. The bad thing about clip regions is you HAVE TO browse them in Vegas Explorer. You can't see them in your project media window, so you might very well need to have both windows open, which isn't a great use of screen real estate.

Some users skip the Project Media window and just use the explorer, making real filesystem folders and sorting media that way rather than using Bins.

Grazie wrote on 7/1/2013, 12:17 AM

Regions are Global - Subclips ain't.

G

xberk wrote on 7/1/2013, 1:59 AM

>> After I've created the sub-clip, when I click play again in the trimmer (or press enter) it only plays the sub-clip I've just created, then stops.

After setting the out point to make your selection for the sub-clip, save the sub-clip, then click on the blinking trimmer window cursor which should still be at the out point. This will remove the selection (the blue color will disappear) Now when you press play it will play the trimmer timeline from the out point you just clicked on. IF you don't remove the selection (the blue colored area) Vegas will play the selection again from the in point to the out point. You need to understand selections.

rmack350 wrote on 7/1/2013, 2:04 AM

Regions are Global - Subclips ain't.

Right. If you use the clip in another project the regions will still be there. Subclips have to be copied from project to project. I think that's been improved but once upon a time that didn't work properly if you had tried to rename your subclips.

Also, subclips have defined heads and tails, Regions can be dragged out longer if there's more media in the master clip.

Rob