Vegas 5 newbie....am I doing it right?

[Joven OHara]

Hello all-
I have neked vegas 5 and just bought another book (instant vegas 5)...hope to get it soon. I am new to NLE editing. Tried V5 and was able to come up with a 5 minute edited video. just wanted to know if I did the steps right. Please help...
1. Downloaded footage from camera to computer.
2. Opened footage on V5 timeline.
3. Watched footage and everytime I like a segment...I will split it and cut-out the part I did'nt need.
4. Continue with this process until done with footage.
5. Add effects on the edited footage. Some....1 clip at a time.

Am I doing it right?

[DJ Kinney]

That's about right, yep. It gets more complicated later, of course, with learning what all of the variables in the project properties mean, but that's later.

You'll know you've done everything right when you output to some final form and your audience watches it and you feel proud. That'll be a good day.

[Patrick King]

Originally Posted by Joven OHara

2. Opened footage on V5 timeline.
3. Watched footage and everytime I like a segment...I will split it and cut-out the part I did'nt need.

Joven, as a technique you can use the Trimmer function, and this is only one technique because the one you did is a successful technique also.

1. Open the video segment in the Trimmer by right-clicking the clip in the Project Media list and selecting "Open in Trimmer", and then hit play.
2. As you are watching the video keep your finger on the M button on the keyboard. When you see the start of a section of video you want, hit the M key and a Marker will be placed on the timeline at that point.
3. Continue watching and hit another M when you want that clip to stop.
4. Stop the playback and move the markers a little if necessary to get the in-point and out-point exactly where you want them.
5. Double click above the timeline between the Marker numbers to 'select' the segment you've created with in and out points defined by the Markers(shown with little yellow triangles). You should see the video and audio segment shaded indicating it has been selected.
6. Right-click the segment and "Create Subclip" and give it a name.
7. After you created all the subclips you think you need, just drag the named subclips to the timeline from the Project Media list.

Just another technique and isn't necessarily better than the one you used.

[Edward Troxel]

I find it easier to just chop it up on the timeline. The trimmer does have it's uses (and I do use it from time to time) but I mainly just use the timeline.

[Bob Costa]

Hey!!! I work like Ed !!! I feel smarter already.

I usually start a project by dragging all my clips to the timeline. Then I watch and chop. Anything really outstanding gets pulled to a second timeline. So after once thru all the clips, I have chopped away all the bad footage (focus, foot shots, etc). I have also pulled the "core" of the story to another timeline. Then I start assembly.

[Joven OHara]

Thanks for the response. Nice to know I was doing it right as far as chopping footage. Transistion is easy enough but now my question is about the effects.

1. Being the chopped scene normally is only on average 6 seconds.....I would add whatever effect I liked to every scene. Is this correct?

2. Are there any advice you can give to a newbie like me? I read thru Edwards newsletters. Been reading on this forum for a long time and found alot of info.

3. What's the difference between a scipt and a plug-in?

4. Any tools out there that would give my video an "ummph" factor?

That's it for now being I have so many questions. Big fan of Glenn Elliott's work. Really like the color he gives his videos. I will be shooting a wedding this coming saturday and excited to see what I can come up with. I kinda got ahead of myself being I bought all this equipment during the past few months. I hope I can make it as a part-time wedding videographer. Thanks all!!

[Edward Troxel]

1. Being the chopped scene normally is only on average 6 seconds.....I would add whatever effect I liked to every scene. Is this correct?

Yes. Just add whatever effect whi whichever event you desire.

2. Are there any advice you can give to a newbie like me?

Parctice - Experiment - and ask questions.

3. What's the difference between a scipt and a plug-in?

A script is a "Program" you can run that will automate tasks (and can add new features simply through that process). For example, everything a script does, you can also do manually - it might just take a LOT of steps and be very time-consuming.

A plug-in will add new abilities you probably could not manually achieve. For example, all of the effects are "plug-ins".

4. Any tools out there that would give my video an "ummph" factor?

Well... that's really up to the editor and your definition of "uumph" for any particular section. and the type of video you're making. Really tough to answer this one as it can vary so much.

[Bill Porter]

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

I find it easier to just chop it up on the timeline. The trimmer does have it's uses (and I do use it from time to time) but I mainly just use the timeline.

This may seem like a dumb question but do you mean chop as in, highlight a selection and use Cut?

[Edward Troxel]

I usually simply place regions around the areas I wish to keep and then use Extract Good Clips in Excalibur. However, I also sometimes simply split at the cursor location and delete the pieces I don't want.

[Matt Brabender]

1. Being the chopped scene normally is only on average 6 seconds.....I would add whatever effect I liked to every scene. Is this correct?

Unless it's something you want to treat all of the clips with, then you'd use the track effects. For instance, say your footage is all from the same shoot and it all has a blue tinge to it. You've edited your timeline already so doing single event effects would be a long process. That's when you'd dive into the track effects for a colour correction of whatever and treat the entire track.

[Edward Troxel]

There's multiple ways to handle the "apply the same effect to multiple clips" issue. One is to apply it to the first one, copy that event, select all the OTHER events that need this correction, and then "Paste Event Attributes".

Alternately, these events could all be on their own track and the effect could be added to the track.

If the entire media needs the same change, the effect could be added to the clip in the Media Pool. (Or Project Media in Vegas 6)

Finally, effects can also be applied to the entire project.

Look at vol 1 #12 of my newsletter where I discuss "Scope of Effects".

[Bill Porter]

Thanks, Edward.

As long as we're in a newbie thread I have two more newbie questions:

1) When you guys chop/trim/split out good clips, do you tend to do your editing then? Or do you chop a bit on the large side so you can tune the in/out points later?

2) If I select a portion and use Cut, when I Paste it I only get the Video or Audio track, never both. I've tried selecting both the Video and Audio tracks at the same time, and looked in Help and searched the forums. I know I'm doing something basic wrong but I guess I can't parse my searches right or the answer is too simple! :/

[Edward Troxel]

1) When you guys chop/trim/split out good clips, do you tend to do your editing then? Or do you chop a bit on the large side so you can tune the in/out points later?

It doesn't matter. Even if you initially split it SMALL, all you have to do is make it larger to get the pieces back that you split off. It's non-destructive either way. Now, the exception is if you make SUBCLIPS. In that case, you might want to "chop a bit on the large side". You can still get it back but it takes more steps.

2) If I select a portion and use Cut, when I Paste it I only get the Video or Audio track, never both.

If both were selected when you copied, you should get both when you paste. I just placed a clip on the timeline, split it a few places, selected one segment's audio/video pair, CTRL-C, moved to a new place on the timeline, and CTRL-V gave me both pieces.

[Bill Porter]

Originally Posted by Bill Porter

2) If I select a portion and use Cut, when I Paste it I only get the Video or Audio track, never both. I've tried selecting both the Video and Audio tracks at the same time, and looked in Help and searched the forums. I know I'm doing something basic wrong but I guess I can't parse my searches right or the answer is too simple! :/

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

If both were selected when you copied, you should get both when you paste. I just placed a clip on the timeline, split it a few places, selected one segment's audio/video pair, CTRL-C, moved to a new place on the timeline, and CTRL-V gave me both pieces.

Thanks, Edward. Yes, that works, but like I was saying, selecting and Cutting (rather than select, split, Copy) doesn't always work. I know the answer is to just do what works of course, but I do wonder why selecting and cutting (not selecting and splitting) both audio and video tracks, sometimes loses the audio track when pasting. Seems so strange. Must be my system!

[Joven OHara]

Additional question please......

Currently "trying" to edit a wedding I did using 2 cameras. Before I decide to buy excalibur to make it easy being I intend to do 2 cam shoots in the future, I would like to concentrate on vegas 5 first (just learning). I need to know if this is the correct way of editing a multi-cam shoot.
1. Sync events from both cam on timeline (Audio/Video).
2. split/cut (video only)

Now, how do I place a transition on the cuts without affecting audio? Do I just extend the in/out points when I cut?

Help please!!