Track Moton and Pan & Crop

dan-hedrick wrote on 5/11/2007, 5:50 PM

I have three questions that I hope someone can help me with. I am using VMS 6.
1. How do I get a "preview window" for the Track Motion window, so I can preview changes as I make them....rather than AFTER I make them.
2. How do I get a Track Motion window for an invidual event if I already have on event on the same track is already using this feature? Do I have to have a separate track for each event that I want to use Track Motion.
3. I have two different photos with a "common feature". I would like to show the first photo in it's entirety and then zoom in on the common feature. Then I would like to zoom out from the common feature to the second photo. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

lcdrdan

Comments

CDB wrote on 5/15/2007, 6:40 PM

Hi again, lcdrdan. Saw you on videohelp.com some time ago.

Again, I have VMS 7 Platinum, but I think it should work the same as VMS 6.

Question 2 first. Track motion is for the whole track, not just one event on the track. You generally use pan/crop for individual events, track motion for a whole track. That said, if you return track motion to it's default settings just after you end one event, then you can pick them up and change them later for later events. This gets messy if you'r doing a lot of adding, resizing, deleted etc of events on a single track. Note also that if you do NOT reset track event parameters to default after the end of one event, then all subsequent events on that timeline track will be affected by the final settings you left track motion at when you finished working on the one event you used it for.

Question 1. The preview window is the preview window. As you adjust your settings in the track motion window you should see the changes immediately in the preview window.

Select the event you want to apply track motion to. Ideally double click it to select the event in it's entirety, or click and drag a section and then click on the loop button.

Click on the track motion button to open it's window. The mini timeline you see at the bottom of the track motion window mirrors the main timeline.

If you move the track motion window so you can see the main control buttons for the timeline (loop, play, pause, stop etc) AND the main preview window at the same time, then you can click the play button and see the play head/line move simultaneously on both the main program timeline and the mini timeline inside the track motion window, and see the effects of your track motion adjustments in the preview window. You can also drag the play head within the track motion window and see the one on the main timeline move at the same time, and see the preview window change, though at the manual rate at which you are dragging the play head, not normal playback rate.

Between these two methods of moving the play head you choose where you want track motion to change, and then change the settings within the track motion window. As soon as you do, Vegas adds another keyframe diamond on the timeline within the track motion window.

Question 3. I would put the two photos on separate tracks, with the second photo on the upper track, and use pan/rop to adjust the first. Then drag the leading edge of the second/upper track just over the first, and adjust the transparency on the upper track so you can see through it to the lower (already zoomed) track. (Hold mouse cursor at the top of the track until it turns to a pointing finger and tip says "opaciticy is 100%. Click and drag down, see horizontal line appear and tip changes to show lowering opacity/increasing transparency.) Then adjust the pan/crop on the second/upper track until the common feature is in EXACTLY the same place on each. Make the preview window as big as possible so you can see clearly then the two images are perfectly aligned. After they are, THEN move the second/upper image down on the same track as the first image and butt the first frame of the second image up against the last frame of the first image.

Put in another keyframe on the second image so the focus holds on the common feature far a bit before zooming back out.

If you can't match the common feature exactly, overlap the two photos by a few frames to create a transition between the two.

Good luck.

OhMyGosh wrote on 5/15/2007, 10:29 PM

Just wanted to say thanks CDB, and everyone else that takes the time to help. I went to your user profile and saw that you and several other people were nice enough to respond to my (I'm afraid to say it again, or they will take it off, but apparently wtf doesn't mean What's The Format to some people, like it does to me). Oh well, live and learn. As for the track motion, I have been fighting with the concept that once you use it on a track, that seems to be it for the whole project and that track is useless for anything other than track motion. Having only 4 video tracks, it is really hard. I have rendered in pieces, and reinserted them, but thought there might be an easier way. I loved trying that effect you explained. Way cool :) Thanks again. Cin

dan-hedrick wrote on 5/16/2007, 6:00 AM

CDB..Thanks a million. You spent a lot of time and effort to answer my questions and I really appeciate it. Hopefully, someday, I will be able to contribute more to this forum than just asking questions.

lcdrdan

CDB wrote on 5/16/2007, 6:06 PM

You're both very welcome. I spent several years just reading and asking questions on forums, and I am glad to have finally learned enough to be able to give back in the way that other people helped me.

If you actually want more tracks (and you may have read this post in other places I've put it), for only $99 you can get the full version of Vegas 6.0 with unlimited audio and video tracks at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/434966-REG/Sony_SV6000DVD_Vegas_6_Video_Editing.html It's the program CD only, not even a box, but what a deal.

OhMyGosh wrote on 5/16/2007, 11:10 PM

Thank you CDB for the link. I think for the money that is the best deal I could hope for. Thanks again. Cin