Suggestion for new feature

MHampton wrote on 8/13/2001, 2:41 PM
I posted this in the "request a feature" section, but thought I'd ask here to see if I was off my rocker for wanting this.

I would like to have a way to print a text version of my film that I could write on, make notes about what to swap/cut. It could look something like...
. . . . . .V I D E O T R A C K 1
TimeLine ClipName TimeIn TimeOut
00:00;00 Clip1.avi 05:25;10-06:10;20
00;45;10 Clip1.avi 10:15;02-11:01;05

If they wanted to get fancy, they could even have the first frame of the video clips printed out as well.

I haven't seen this in any of the programs that I've used so far, but I've wanted it a few times when laying things out.

Anyone else find something like this useful?

Michael

PS: This message editor kind of messes up the format, but I think you can get the idea.

Comments

wvg wrote on 8/13/2001, 4:02 PM
Have you tried making notes using the Marker Bar which shows above the timeline?

I tend to work with comparatively long videos for a home enthusiast that typically start out in the range of 20-40 minutes. My own personal preference is to break this source file down into more manageable chucks on scenes using the split event feature of VF. Doing so also makes it easy to remember where you want to add crossfades or transations.

Depending on how much editing I'm doing I may split the scenes into seperate files which I render seperately after doing rough editing. I then reassemble the whole bunch on the timeline one at a time, previewing as I go, tweak as necessary then adjusting the crossfade or transitions, slowly building up the whole final video. Last I add any special effects, perhaps a musical background. While somewhat tedious since I'm probably looking at the video several times, at lease key sections, I find this preferable and more creative than referring to notes which in my mind would distract me from the creative process if I were to look at the video, check my notes, go back to the video, back to the notes. One nice feature about VF is the multiple undo/redo which allows you to experiement. It has been my experience that my first idea rarely is as good as my second, third or forth. So I tend to do and redo a lot. Did I mention I'm a world class nitpicker?
MHampton wrote on 8/13/2001, 7:47 PM
Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm thinking more along the lines of a way to review the video layout while not starring at the monitor. After looking into a monitor for 8-10 hours a day writing code, I like to rest my eyes every once in a while. :) A simple report like this could be just the thing for insomnia. :) Just seems like a program like this should have this.

Michael
discdude wrote on 8/13/2001, 9:48 PM
What you are basically refering to is an EDL (Edit Decision List). EDL's have been used in video production for years. High end video editors (like Avid and Premiere) have this feature. I don't remember if Vegas Video has it, but if it doesn't, it should.

If you think about it, all Video Factory saves in its project file is a fancy EDL (that is why project files are so small). It shouldn't be too hard for Sonic Foundry programmers to write a program that parses the project file and returns a nice EDL that humans can read.
MHampton wrote on 8/14/2001, 8:36 AM
That's exactly what I was thinking. Although, as a programmer, I hate writting reports. :)

Michael
steveh wrote on 8/14/2001, 10:01 AM
As a programmer I also hate writing reports...
(But given the file layout I'd be happy to put something together in Visual Basic.)

However, I would like the ability to actually programmatically generate a video, or at least change some of the settings.

A big case in point would be the length of each clip. Video Factory defaults to 5 seconds for stills, and you cannot change the default (that I know of). So if I pull in 50 slides and want them all 10 seconds, or 2 seconds, I need to apply that change one at a time. What would be cool would be to pop up a program window, view the un-encrypted .vf file, do a global search and replace to change 5 seconds to 2 seconds, then 'recompile' the file.

I know and understand Sonic Foundry's attitude: Vegas Video has more features, VF is entry level; and they probably don't want users using outside software to modify their .vf file because they don't want to have to deal with any resulting problems.

Just wishful thinking...

But yes to the original idea - a printout of the project would be very handy.


MHampton wrote on 8/14/2001, 12:12 PM
I hit upon the same thing when making a "slide-show" video from a bunch of stills. Not only the length of the clip, but I wanted to select all of the clips and say "Make them all overlap by 1.5 seconds with a cross-fade transisition." :) Didn't happen. Same with setting the croping to 16x9. Had to do it one clip at a time. Bummer.

Michael
screen wrote on 8/16/2001, 2:48 PM
If you want to change the default lenght of a still, do this:
While holding down the shift button, select the prefereces dialog from the options menu entry.
This will bring the preferences dialog with an extra tab for internal preferences. In the "show only prefs containig:" type "stills" this will show you the entry for the default still lenght. Change this value to your tastes.

There are many more settings in this dialog, some of them will cause the program to misbehave. So do not fiddle with them unless you know what you are doing and if you do bust something then reset the settings at startup.
discdude wrote on 8/16/2001, 7:17 PM
Wow! Where did you learn this? This will make some people very happy since you can make the trimmer and playback rate controller from VF 1 reappear.

Surprisingly, Sonic Foundry wrote up some real basic help files for this "feature" (click on the little question mark in the top right hand corner).

MHampton wrote on 8/16/2001, 7:31 PM
Very Cool!! Lots of settings. Now, if I can just not screw everything up. :)

Thanks
Michael