Two extra 'tracks added to a track

[Renton Maclachlan]

I've had this happen before, but can't remember what the cause was, nor its solution. I've search my posts but can't identify the one that addressed it...

Sooo...I hit something and two extra (for want of a better word) 'tracks' appeared inside another track., so that now in the one track there are three 'tracks. The top one is what I've normally been seeing. The next one down is a narrow one with a sort of 'x' in it, and the third one down has 'B' in it.

Also my preview window now shows two copies sie by side of where the cursor is and the cursor point has a red sideways right facing U on the 'B' 'track'.

I don't know what this feature is and have never used it...thus don't know how it came up, nor how to remove it.

Anyone help?

Thanks.

Renton

[Renton Maclachlan]

Ok I found 'track layers' in the track header drop down menu and have got rid of the other two 'tracks'. However the red sideways U is still there and the double preview...never seen this before...

Renton

[Juris Lielpeteris]

Try numpad "5"

[Duane Adam]

I've created these extra tracks by accidentally double clicking on the edge of a video clip. Doing the same reverts it back. Didn't know about pressing "5" but that seems to work too.

[Ian Stark]

This is called A/B Roll editing or expanded edit mode.

What happens is your video track is expanded into three different layers or subtracks: the A roll, the B roll and a third layer which contains the transition between the preceding and the following clip (which might be a cut or any other transition).

It's a very useful way of precisely trimming clips and lining up transitions and it is great in multicamera situations, for example when you want to cut from one angle to another while making sure the action in the outgoing and incoming clips lines up properly. It's a more visual way of trimming and lining up clips and where they transition into each other.

Although I don't use this feature every day, once I got what it was all about (and the help text ain't enlightening!) I found more and more situations where it became invaluable. When it first appeared in Vegas I remember there being outrage from people who didn't understand what it was all about! I highly recommend you get to know how to use it. It might not fit with your workflow (and let's face it, how many of us ever get beyond using the normal edit tool) but you just might be surprised!

[Ian Stark]

Useful tutorial:

Sony Vegas Pro Basics THIRTY: Expanded Edit Mode - YouTube

What I forgot to mention in my previous post was the very useful aspect of being able to see the entire clip on the timeline - both the part that is being used and the 'tail' - the part that is not used - which normal edit modes you can't see. Very helpful!