Timeline adjust

AFSDMS wrote on 10/15/2003, 9:16 PM
Vegas 4.0D is the topic. I set the 00:00 point on my timeline at about 1 minute into the project. This is so color bars and some other stuff could be before the project but the real start time would still be at 00:00.

When I go into any of the effects on the keyframe timeline, it seems my changing the timeline zero point has messed up the timeline for all effect timelines. Each effect or Pan Crop dialog begins at -01:15, the same value that has become the beginning of myu project!

It seems like something is broken here. Any help appreciated.

Wayne

Comments

PeterWright wrote on 10/15/2003, 10:11 PM
Not quite clear what you are saying ...

Presumably you are talking about applying FX at Track level, in which case Vegas will give you the ability to apply these from the beginning of the timeline, no matter what number you've assigned

- or are you talking about FX you'd already applied before changing the timeline - if keyframes get moved after re-setting the timeline numbers, this would be a problem and needs looking at.
AFSDMS wrote on 10/16/2003, 5:48 PM
"Not quite clear what you are saying ..."

Don't worry Peter, sometimes I'm not clear about what I'm saying either :-)

Let me try and do a better job. I think there is something wrong with the application code here.

Have a Vegas 4.0d project. I go to the main timeline, put the cursor exactly where my video is to fade in for the main part of the project. This would be after color bars, academy leader, etc. I want to be able to look at the timeline or the display and see exactly where I am in the running time of the project.

With the cursor set I right-click on the timeline (above the tracks) and go way to the bottom and choose "Set Time at Cursor". I set the time to be 00:00:00:00.

All is cool, everything before the cursor point is negative and this is also reflected by the timecode window I'm burning. In my case the beginning point of the project, time at the far left, is showing at -00:01:15.00.

Now I place an event in a video track anywhere after 00:00:00.00. FWIW, I see the same behavior whether the event is live video or, as I have in many places in this project, a digital image that I will be animating with Event Pan/Crop.

I click the Event Pan/Crop icon at the end of the event and the control dialog pops up. At the bottom of the dialog is the event timeline that allows me to set the keyframe points. Normally this timeline would start at 00:00:00.00 at the far left and extend to the length of the event, typically 5-15 seconds.

Now, returning to the Event Pan/Crop dialog that I popped up. The timeline for the event (and every darn other event I check) has assigned the value of
-00:01:15.00 at the far left, where the value should be 00:00:00.00. I find I use this timeline reference a lot when adjusting Pan/Crop movements and it bugs me that I need to try and mentally correct the number.

(To specifically answer your question, I am NOT applying at the Track level. I am working with Pan/Crop at the Event level. The timeline that should pop up in the properties dialog, based on past experience, should reflect the length of the event on which I am working.)

I hope I got it clearer this time. It was a long day yesterday.

Any help appreciated!

Wayne Munn

AFSDMS wrote on 10/16/2003, 5:57 PM
BTW, I just went back to my project and reset so that the beginning of the project is at 00:00:00.00.

Sure enough, all the Event FX like Pan/Crop have the correct timeline starting point.

I think this is a bug.

Wayne
PeterWright wrote on 10/16/2003, 8:05 PM
Wayne, thanks for the full description.

Just replicated everything and I agree that this is a bug.

Event level effects should always start at zero - that's what event level means, so changing the timeline ref. should have no effect.

For the time being I would leave the timeline numbers untouched and keep in mind that the actual vision starts at 30sec, 1 min, whatever.

I tend to work this way anyway - that's why I'd never come across this problem ....
vitamin_D wrote on 10/16/2003, 8:39 PM
...or perhaps someone at Sony can explain to us why it should work this way?
AFSDMS wrote on 10/16/2003, 8:52 PM
Thanks for the confirmation. Since setting the Zero point is very easy, I have just set it back to the very project beginning because it does make the way I work with Event FX a lot easier. Just the way I work. But I would like to see this on the fix list, unless like Vitamin_D said, there really is a reason why it works for some folks. Wouldn't be the first time I've uttered DUH :-)
PeterWright wrote on 10/16/2003, 9:12 PM
To make sure it's addressed, click on Support > Product Suggestion above this thread and repeat your detailed post above ...
John_Cline wrote on 10/16/2003, 10:30 PM
Wow, an actual bug reported in detail by a calm, articulate, reasonable human being.

Zippy, if you're reading this thread, this is how reporting a verifiable issue should be done.

John
AFSDMS wrote on 10/24/2003, 8:27 AM
Thanks for the vote of confidence John! I guess it helps when you've been on the other side of the user/developer fence and even 'developed' a few of your own bugs.

Wayne
AFSDMS wrote on 10/24/2003, 8:28 AM
Will do Peter. Just got back in town.

Wayne
farss wrote on 10/24/2003, 9:07 AM
Not directly related to the bug but I good tip I sort of picked up.
Don't set program start to TC 0. Negative TC either doesn't exist or is very confusing. Set it to something like 10:00:00:00. This is standard practise at the BBC and elsewhere.

You should be able to avoid these issues by not putting the leaders in front to start with. Why not render out and then in a new project add the bars etc.

No downside that I can think of.