Import/Export Markers Script

Sol M. wrote on 12/31/2005, 5:00 AM
This is my first "functional" script. I decided to learn JScript today, and I was surprised to find out how easy it was :)

I use markers for so many different things-- DVD Chapter points, camera syncing, beatmatching, etc. I wanted a way to quickly and easily save the markers on the timeline to a file so that I can clear up the timeline for my next task (kinda hard to set a slideshow to markers if I've got my DVD chapter markers on the timeline as well).

Export Markers - exports the markers on the timeline to a text file.
Import Markers - imports markers onto the timeline from a text file.

The exported markers are formatted in the same way as if you copied a group of markers from the Edit Details window, so if you've copied markers to a text file in this way, you can re-import them using the Import Markers script.

Currently, if there is a marker already on the timeline for a marker you're trying to import, the script leaves the marker already on the timeline alone and moves on to the next marker in the file. If someone has a suggestion for a better way to handle this, I'm all ears.

Any comments or questions are welcome.

Download it, Unzip it, and Go! (Icons Included)
Get it here

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 12/31/2005, 1:54 PM
I played with the export script a little, and it may be useful if I modify it to do the same thing with Regions.

However, for Markers, as you probably know, you can click on the "button" at the intersection of the rows and columns in the Edit Details/Show:Markers dialog, and then press Ctrl-C to copy everything. If you paste this into Notepad, you will get the same thing you get with your export script. You can then edit this, copy it back to the clipboard, and with everything selected in the Edit Details/Show:Markers dialog (as noted above), press Ctrl-V to paste. All your edits will be back on the timeline, just as they are with the Import script.

Unfortunately, there are bugs in the copy/paste for Regions and therefore this same procedure doesn't work for Regions. Therefore, I may adapt your script for Regions to overcome this problem, which will be very useful to me, and which I could not do without having your scripts as a starting point.

Sol M. wrote on 12/31/2005, 6:49 PM
Right, like I said in my first post, that's actually why I have the script format the exported files the way I did (to match the format that markers copied from the Edit Details window have). This way, they could paste the files into the Edit Details window if they wanted to, but even more useful (IMHO) is that they can use the import script to import any markers they may have previously copied and saved via the Edit Details window.

Basically, this is just meant to be a faster way to switch between different marker setups (for different purposes, such as camera synching, DVD chapter layout, etc.) so that markers for other purposes don't get in the way of what I'm trying to currently do in a project without having to clear and lose those markers from an earlier phase in the project, or take the multiple steps to copy and paste the markers from the Edit Details window before being able to move on.

I am planning to add more features soon, one of which would be exporting/importing regions. As I'll be adding other features that will give the user the ability to customize the import/export of markers/regions, I think I'm going to work on creating a GUI, rather than creating multiple scripts with different functionality.

As far as exporting/importing regions goes, do you think it would be more useful to export all markers/regions to one file or just export/import ONLY markers or ONLY regions? Of course, once the GUI is setup, I would just want to give the user the ability to choose any combination of those choices from a single interface.
Sol M. wrote on 12/31/2005, 8:13 PM
Here's a set of scripts for exporting/importing Regions in Vegas.

It's based off the import/export markers scripts, but I tested it and it works. Let me know if there are any problems.

Get it here
Hurtman wrote on 1/16/2006, 6:22 PM
Good stuff! Thanks. You made my day. I was litterally pulling my hair out looking for this. Thanks!
Sol M. wrote on 1/21/2006, 12:26 AM
Glad you found it useful :)

More to come... ;)