Help with Syncing to Beat

Funniguy wrote on 8/21/2017, 1:11 AM

Hi, I'd like to use Vegas as a leisure activity. I want to make some videos where I can sync some pictures to beat.

I can sort of do it on songs like "Eye of the Tiger", since the beats are spread apart.

But take for instance, "Darude Sandstorm". That song has very, very tight beats. And if I were to want to have the video be a black screen, except show a certain picture on every beat drop, how can I do that?

Example: Black, (BEAT DROP), flash of picture, Black, (BEAT DROP), flash of picture, Black.

Thanks!

 

Max

Comments

NickHope wrote on 8/21/2017, 2:16 AM

My method is to tap on the M key while the timeline is playing so that it puts a marker on every beat. Then you can snap events to those markers. Sometimes the exact position of the markers needs tweaking.

Gary James came up with an automated script to do it. I think it works fully only up to Vegas Pro 13 and his website seems to be down now: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/automatically-place-markers-on-music-beats--96812/

Funniguy wrote on 8/21/2017, 1:46 PM

Ah, ok. Is that the only way? Seems to work just fine. Got a few more questions though.

Say if I want to change the location of the marker, what do I do?

Second question, how can I paste an image into Vegas after I copied it? For example, I put an image into Vegas, copy it, and then what?

Last question is, in fast beat songs like Darude Sandstorm, how can I make it so the timeline doesn't move so fast?

And I guess one more.. How can I change the duration of a still image other than just dragging it?

Thank you so much!

NickHope wrote on 8/22/2017, 3:54 AM

Say if I want to change the location of the marker, what do I do?

Zoom into the timeline (mousewheel works well for this) and drag the top of the marker left or right. Visually aligning with the beats on the waveform preview can help, as can measuring the time between markers by dragging the selection area between the markers and looking at the duration figure bottom right of the timeline. Note that you might not necessarily want them at exactly equal intervals, especially if the original beats in the song were not quantized. That's why I prefer to get in the groove and trust my "drumming" finger more. If you do want markers at exactly equal intervals then Vegasaur can do that for you automatically, and there may be free scripts that can also do it.

Second question, how can I paste an image into Vegas after I copied it? For example, I put an image into Vegas, copy it, and then what?

Select next marker and paste it, which I get from the right mouse button, but you can also get from the Edit menu or CTRL+V.

Last question is, in fast beat songs like Darude Sandstorm, how can I make it so the timeline doesn't move so fast?

Rate slider at the bottom left of the timeline. I never do this myself. I just keep playing over the section of the timeline until it's how I want it.

And I guess one more.. How can I change the duration of a still image other than just dragging it?

View > Window > Edit Details > Show: Events

For the default duration: Options > Preferences > Editing > New Still Image Length

Funniguy wrote on 9/1/2017, 3:35 PM

Thank you, so, so much! I got some more questions, and I would be very grateful if you could answer them!

I've been syncing my audio to video by beat through the time line. Sadly, the audio waves are too small to make precise measurements.

When I right clicked on the audio timeline, and pressed m, it opened up a whole new world for me. It's called the trimmer, but not the regular trimmer.. This shows increments of ridiculous small times.

Is there anything else that is even similar like this? Because this is awesome.

And whenever I add a marker in the trimmer, how do I make sure it appears on the timeline? I pressed "overwrite timeline". But in the trimmer, you can either do the video or the music, and whenever I switch from music to video my markers are gone.

Starting to LOVE Vegas. Just not so much rendering time (even with my i7 4790k) and the stk files are annoying

 

ChristoC wrote on 9/1/2017, 4:58 PM

I don' know anything about Markers in the Trimmer, but maybe this helps you see the beats?

With the normal timeline in focus, Shift + Up Arrow increases the height of the audio waveform, and conversely Shift + Down Arrow decreases the height.

Also Mousewheel will increase or decrease horizontal Zoom.

NickHope wrote on 9/1/2017, 10:10 PM

Funniguy, I don't think you need to use the trimmer for this.

Use the controls that Christo suggests, and also:

  • You can zoom the timeline with your keyboard up and down arrows.
  • You can drag the border of the track header, at the left of the timeline, to make the track taller.
  • You can press CTRL+SHIFT+up or down arrows to make the tracks taller/shorter.