Strange problem with Trimmer in Studio 12 64bit

Jillian wrote on 11/18/2012, 2:03 PM

I started using Studio 12 64 bit about a week ago, so an still learning the differences with Studio 11 32 bit.

First, let me say I hate the Vegas Trimmer but use it frequently since that is the way I feel comfortable putting clips on the timeline. I set my timeline so it shows about two minutes of video events across my monitor and as I trim newly imported clips I send them to the timeline. In Studio 11 this worked fairly well.

However, In Studio 12 I find that as I send clips to the timeline, the "timeline view" begins to expand so that after a few clips have been loaded the timeline now only shows about 25 seconds across the entire monitor. Most of the time it then stops expanding the timeline (making the clips longer and longer) but once or twice it has expended all the way to a nine second view at which point Studio closed.

Is anyone else experiencing this action? Is it a "planned feature" or a "bug"? Is there some setting I have overlooked. At first I kept resetting the timeline to two minutes, but I discovered Studio gets confused if you change the timeline length too frequently.

I would appreciate any help, observations or comments.

Thanks!

Comments

Jillian wrote on 11/21/2012, 4:44 PM

It appears I am the only person who uses the trimmer in Movie Studio 64bit, which probably explains why Sony hasn't felt any need to fix its many bugs and usability issues.

Anyway, I have discovered if I only import 100 AVCHD clips at a time and use the trimmer to put them on the timeline, Studio hasn't been shutting down. The timeline view still expands to about 25 seconds, but this seems to be how Studio 12 64bit works since I have found no switch or setup which affects the action in any way.

Well, actually, if you enter a clip longer than 25 seconds from the trimmer, the timeline will change to accommodate whatever length clip you enter. But, as soon as you enter a clip shorter than 25 seconds the timeline expands once more.

Since I rarely use clip longer than 10 seconds, I had not noticed this before.

vkmast wrote on 11/22/2012, 5:38 AM

Jillian,
this is what's new in MSP 12
Usability improvements for adding media to a project:
This is different in version 11 (or Pro 12b367), as it shows the whole project on the timeline.
I didn't repro some of this long/short clip from trimmer behaviour you get, though I didn't test it (in MSP 12b575/576) as thoroughly as you or with >100 clips imported. It might well be you are seeing bugs related to these new MSP 12 "improvements".

Markk655 wrote on 11/22/2012, 1:39 PM

Jillian,

I'd have to agree with Vkmast.I added in about 10 clips, each around 30s. The displayed timeline stayed at ~2 mins. I'm now on MSP12 64 bit, Win 8 I use the trimmer as well. I don't see your behavior with the short clips. The displayed timeline seems to be constant.

Jillian wrote on 11/22/2012, 4:41 PM

Thanks for the response.

VK,

I think you've hit the nail on the head! This is a new feature, not something wrong with my setup.

What I'm seeing is explained perfectly by point 2. When I add a ten second clip to the timeline, Studio is scrolling and expanding (zooming) the clip/event so it's more visible. After I've added a dozen five and ten second clips the timeline has zoomed way out. If I add a rare (for me) one or two minute clip, Studio shrinks the timeline so the new clip will also fit.

I read that Studio would do this if you double-clicked to add a file to the timeline, but I've set up to send a double-click to the trimmer and did not make the connection that Studio would do the same thing with a clip from the trimmer as from the Media Bins or Explorer. My bad, but this has been driving me crazy trying to keep my timeline where I like it.

Mark,

I think we are seeing different actions because you are adding 30 second clips and I usually add two to ten second clips. Obviously, Studio is happy with a two minute timeline and thirty second clips, where it is not happy with tiny two second clips scrunched up at the end of the timeline.

It looks like I'll have to learn to live with an expanded timeline while I do my trimming, then re-set the timeline where I like it for the editing.

Thanks again,