Is there a 'quick edit' (sequence) feature?

laer wrote on 3/21/2008, 1:44 PM
I'm wondering if there's a quick way to automatically edit a series of clips with a common sized crossdissolve in Vegas.

In AfterEffects, there's a handy feature called 'Sequence' where you put a series of clips in the timeline (separate layers), select 'sequence', and it automatically staggers them in time, putting a cross dissolve between each one.

In Premiere, you had a Storyboard mode where you could easily sort the shot order, and then automatically transfer that to the edit timeline.

Does Vegas have anything like that, where you can quickly assign a shot order, then have it automatically set all the clips up in the timeline, complete with crossdissolves?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 3/21/2008, 2:48 PM
Sort of. Under Options / Preferences / Editing you can specify an overlap length. After that, you can select a bunch of clips in the explorer window and drag them to the timeline. They'll end up in the order they were listed in explorer, all on one track, with crossfades of whatever duration you specified for the overlap. Also, if you add clips individually by double-clicking them in explorer they'll automatically get added to the end of the track with that same overlap. This way you can add them in any order you choose.
jetdv wrote on 3/21/2008, 8:36 PM
You can also add all the clips to the timeline in the order desired and then run a script that creates the overlaps between each event.
laer wrote on 3/22/2008, 10:39 AM
Hi, guys...

Jetdv, the only problem with that method is that is still requires you to manually place each clip, one after the other in the timeline (requiring you to scroll through and place them right after each other)... so you might as well just overlap them then and there.

I'm thinking more of a thing where you can just dump the footage without having to place it, and it then arranges it. Or, similar to the Storyboard mode in Premiere, a 'bin' where you have a single frame icon of each clip, and you arrange the order of the clips, and then click a button to automatically transfer those clips, in that order, into the timeline.

What Chienworks is suggesting is pretty similar, so I'll give that a try.

Thanks
Redio wrote on 3/22/2008, 6:47 PM
You can use Windows Explorer to sort your events.

Set Windows Explorer to show large icons.

When you have sort your events in the sequence you want, click on the last event first and then shift click on the first event and pull them to timeline.

Rune
laer wrote on 3/23/2008, 9:41 PM
Can you actually sort the order of the clips in Windows Explorer?

I tried using a bin, thinking that was the point of it, but it doesn't let you rearrange the order at all.

It's a real shame they don't seem to have a similar 'Storyboard Mode' like Premiere. It was great to edit the whole project based on just the shots (without worrying about in/out points) first, then dump that into the timeline, and then do the in/out point editing.

Then again, I just found out that version 8 Pro, which I just bought, crashes if you use high def footage! Egad, I'm starting to really question switching over to Vegas so far...
rmack350 wrote on 3/23/2008, 11:28 PM
What's the source of your HD footage? Some formats have been troublesome, others not.

Is your footage coming from a Sony HDV camera? Is it XDCAM? Red? DVCProHD? Xacti? Lots of possibilities and most of what I just listed won't work well or at all in Vegas.

Rob Mack
laer wrote on 3/24/2008, 7:36 AM
Hi, Rmack... It's actually just sequential .tiff files I made in AfterEffects... so no codec or anything unusual. Footage seems to play fine in Vegas, but the software freezes soon after... possibly as the result of me trying to do something after scrubbing. Sometimes seems like it's caused by a right click.
rmack350 wrote on 3/24/2008, 8:45 AM
Tiff sequences actually are a problem because Vegas has to go out to quicktime to read each frame. A targa or PNG sequence might be a bit better, PNG for sure, tga might also lean on Quicktime.

It'd be nice if SCS mentioned this in their docs but they don't. I think tiff requires licensing, which might explain why Vegas doesn't support it natively.

Rob
bStro wrote on 3/24/2008, 9:00 AM
Can you actually sort the order of the clips in Windows Explorer?

Depends on how you're viewing the folder. In Filmstrip, Thumbnail, Tile, and Icon view, you can rearrange files. Soon as you switch back to Detail or List view, everything will be back to normal and you can only sort by columns. As does exiting Windows Explorer.

Rob
laer wrote on 3/24/2008, 9:12 AM
Interesting... Ya, I normally use Targas, and only used TIFF's for this one project.
Chienworks wrote on 3/24/2008, 10:00 AM
Targas are fine. I've imported sequences of 10,000+ 1920x1080 targa images and Vegas doesn't skip a beat.
laer wrote on 3/24/2008, 10:21 AM
Cool. I hope that's the case... Thanks... Targas are my normal format.

Now, I just have to get over my disappointment of the lack of 'Storyboard Mode' like in Premiere. I'll try everyone's suggestions as workarounds.

I still have to try the whole DVD authoring thing... which is actually the main reason I bought Vegas.