Joystick control to pan/zoom 4k footage to 1080. is this possible?

j-m wrote on 4/11/2017, 8:45 AM

hi.. I am interested in shooting 4k footage and then editing on a 1080 project and using the extra resolution of 4k to be able to add zoom and pan during editing.. I am wondering if there is anyway to use a joystick to control vegas motion so the forward/back and left/right movements of the joystick could write write key frames to control the track motion ? also if joystick buttons could control zoom in and out ?

I havent been able to find much info on this.. does anyone know if it is possible ? even if it means adding a plugin ?

the ability to edit this way would be very handy.. you could have multiple (stationary) cameras at an event and then create movement during editing.. not only that but you have precise control of each camera rather than relying on operators to get it right.. I know this can be done by manually editing key frames but its a very cumbersome process when you have multiple cameras with an hour running time..

ideally I would like to load up footage from three or four 4k cameras on different tracks.. arm some automation and then let the timeline roll for the entire length using the joystick to manually pan/tilt and zoom on the fly.. repeat this across the other 3 tracks and then finish with other editing such as crossfades and video FX etc as normal.

I know vegas has joystick control for some audio stuff (surround panning i think ?), a joystick would be ideal but even if it was a midi controller such as faders that it would be manageable.. I would also settle for the ability to record movement, render the file and re import on a 1080 timeline.. the primary goal is to take static 4k footage from an event and make it look like the camera was operated.

If vegas isn't capable of this now could it be added in the future ? also (hope this question isn't out of bounds) if vegas cannot do this, is there any other application that anyone knows which may be able to help achieve this ? Thanks..

Comments

Former user wrote on 4/11/2017, 4:14 PM

AFAIK Vegas does not currently support this, but honestly it is an interesting idea. Could save a lot of fiddling with a mouse to get zooms and pans the way you want. I would support it.

3d87c4 wrote on 4/11/2017, 5:40 PM

I've cropped and panned 2K GoPro footage & it should work with 4K too, but you may have to use proxy files.

Joy stick control is a whole 'nuther matter.

IAM4UK wrote on 4/11/2017, 8:51 PM

I've made static 4k shots look like dynamic 1080 shots, but via mouse... I don't think a joystick is supported as you inquired.

j-m wrote on 4/11/2017, 10:27 PM

thanks... im not having any luck finding a solution so far, I would have thought a plugin or even another bit of software would have implemented it somewhere, seems obvious and would be very useful especially when editing long running times.. Would love to see it in integrated natively into Vegas down the line..

set wrote on 4/12/2017, 8:57 AM

If joystick control feature is implemented, I'm thinking this will be producing too much shaking and movement... the situation will be very rare for this one... but, again, this is just my personal opinion.

Marco. wrote on 4/12/2017, 9:40 AM

There is a basic joystick support in Vegas Pro which custom configuration supports Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback, Logitec WingMan Extreme Digital 3D and Eliminator Precision Pro, each with its own profile.

The given profiles are primary meant for color correction and sound panning. See the Vegas Pro help menu for some information.

Besides the three given profiles, using a different joystick should automatically generate a default profile (to be found in the subfolder "Joystick Profiles" of the Vegas Pro program folder) which can be edited to add more functionality.
I'm not sure because I never tested this, but from what I see from these profiles and from the readme file I would assume it should be possible to configure a joystick the way it even controls Pan/Crop features.

It's interesting taking a look into the files of the "Joystick Profiles" subfolder. The INI files can be opened (and edited) with a text editor.

j-m wrote on 4/23/2017, 4:41 AM

still trying to find a solution for this.. if anyone has any ideas would be keen to hear..

I know vegas has basic Joystick support for some features and I had a look at the ini files but I couldn't get any grasp on how to enable pan/crop as the function the joystick controls.. this would be a really handy function to get happening if possible..

Marco. wrote on 4/27/2017, 12:46 PM

I now tested a cheap SpeedLink joystick and I was able to use it in Vegas Pro 14 for what it's meant for (Color Correction and audio panning and leveling) and also to do some very basic modifications to the ini file which I manually created by copying and renaming an existing one.

I thought "Focus 4" would maybe serve your needs as this is called "Placement Control" but it's also labeled as "reserved/not implemented" and actually it does nothing. It really looks like there is no way to get access to control the Pan/Crop or TrackMotion window via joystick.

Also I think there is no way to automate the Pan/Crop or TrackMotion controls at all, no matter whether you would use a joystick, a MIDI or USB controller or the mouse. so there would be no chance to record the movement.

j-m wrote on 5/1/2017, 9:34 AM

thanks for the efforts Marco.. you are right there doesn't seem to be a way to achieve this within vegas.. Ive also had no luck finding a solution from another application so far, though I'm hopeful something turns up... it would be really great if this function was added to vegas in the future.. if anyone from Magix is listening maybe ??

TheHappyFriar wrote on 5/1/2017, 10:34 AM

You can use a touch screen to do the same thing. Maybe a driver that will tell the PC to treat joystick as a touch screen input?