Simple way to do fade to blacks between multiple events? at DVinfo.net

Tony Rockliff · August 3rd, 2006, 08:42 PM

I have a project that needs fade-to-blacks followed by fade-ins from black at numerous points in the timeline. Is there a simple way/key command to create fade-outs followed by fade-ins without having to do them all by hand/mouse. Maybe creating one and copying it over as an effect?

Tony

Don Bloom · August 3rd, 2006, 09:08 PM

Do you mean something other than pulling the upper corner of the clip left or right for fade in or fade out?
I can't think of anything easier or quicker than that. Any preset would be more work.

Don

Tony Rockliff · August 3rd, 2006, 09:14 PM

Yes, right now I have to do that over and over and over. I'd like to do it once and then be able to apply that to multiple clips (like you can with audio fades).

Tony

Mike Kujbida · August 4th, 2006, 04:21 AM

View - Video Bus Track will show you the "master" video fader.
Right click on this track header and insert the "fade to color" envelope. Add points and drag down/up as desired like you would on an audio track.

Tony Rockliff · August 4th, 2006, 06:44 AM

Thanks Mike, I'll try that. What I was hoping for was something like drawing one fade out-in and then saving that action as a preset and pasting it into all other places I needed fade-outs/ins.

Tony

Edward Troxel · August 4th, 2006, 07:40 AM

You might look at scripting. A script can create fades for you. Then you could simply select the desired events and run the script to make fadeouts on all those events.

Tony Rockliff · August 4th, 2006, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

You might look at scripting. A script can create fades for you. Then you could simply select the desired events and run the script to make fadeouts on all those events.

Thanks Edward, that's more what I was looking for. I have Excalibur and Ultimate S and looked in those but wasn't able to find such a script. Do you know of any such video fade-creating scripts or anywhere I could look for one?

Tony

P.S. Never mind, I just found one at VASST that was just posted recently!

Edward Troxel · August 4th, 2006, 08:33 AM

Excalibur can do it. Just look at the Fade tool. You can specify whether to control the Fade In,Fade out, length of fade, type of fade, etc... It's the first tool on the Event tab.

Tony Rockliff · August 4th, 2006, 08:40 AM

Thanks Edward, I'll check it out. I just tested the one I found at VASST and it works great too. I put it on a key command so it's very fast to use.

Tony

Paul Kepen · August 4th, 2006, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

Excalibur can do it. Just look at the Fade tool. You can specify whether to control the Fade In,Fade out, length of fade, type of fade, etc... It's the first tool on the Event tab.

Hi Edward, What and where do you get/ find out about Excalibur. Must be some sort of plugin I suspect?

Unrelated, but I've been working on a HDV project (it has some SD clips mixed in too). It all looks good in the preview (even the SD part). When I leave this project and go back to ANY of my SD projects - they are all extremely blurry. I've checked settings for project and clips. They are all DV widescreen 720x480-they were shot on panny gs400 in widescreen. Restarting Vegas and the computer do not help. Have you ever seen this before? Thanks - PK

Edward Troxel · August 4th, 2006, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Kepen

Hi Edward, What and where do you get/ find out about Excalibur. Must be some sort of plugin I suspect?

Yes, it's a script plugin that can be found at http://www.jetdv.com/excalibur

The other script tool mentioned by Paul, Ultimate S, can be found at vasst.com

Simon Wyndham · August 5th, 2006, 03:33 AM

Note that the Video Bus fade to colour envelope is the only way to fade to digital black with Vegas.

The lack of consideration for digital/broadcast black in Vegas is one of the things that I think is a major issue. All it would need is a Digital black baseline option to be ticked in the project properties.

As it is I get rather fed up of having to bring things back into legal range manually when I shouldn't really need to.

Edward Troxel · August 5th, 2006, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Wyndham

Note that the Video Bus fade to colour envelope is the only way to fade to digital black with Vegas.

That's not necessarily true. Although the standard method of fading will, technically, fade to "transparent", you can always add another track at the bottom of your project, add a solid color generated media, and set the color however you wish - including "broadcast black".

Douglas Spotted Eagle · August 5th, 2006, 07:57 AM

Of course you're right Edward, but Simon's point is dead on. If you have 30 tracks of composite, you have to manually fade all 30 at the same point via one method or another, to fade to a track. It would have been much more simple on the user to have Setup added in Prefs, IMO. It's certainly been requested.

Simon Wyndham · August 5th, 2006, 08:47 AM

Edward, aside from the extra points that Doug makes, there is another reason why adding a separate broadcast black track is not desirable. Try adding the Magic Bullet Misfire Vignette filter for example and then fading the clip to the broadcast baclk track beneath it. You will see the effects of some absolutely hideous banding as it fades. Not only that but the vignette itself doesn't look very good either even before fading. This happens with other methods of vignetting too.

I've had all sorts of problems in the past when I've tried that.

For serious use in broadcast Vegas really does need to make such things as easy and as painless as possible.

August 3rd, 2006, 08:42 PM	#1
Tony Rockliff Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dunedin, Florida Posts: 70	Simple way to do fade to blacks between multiple events? I have a project that needs fade-to-blacks followed by fade-ins from black at numerous points in the timeline. Is there a simple way/key command to create fade-outs followed by fade-ins without having to do them all by hand/mouse. Maybe creating one and copying it over as an effect? Tony

August 4th, 2006, 07:40 AM	#6
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	You might look at scripting. A script can create fades for you. Then you could simply select the desired events and run the script to make fadeouts on all those events. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

August 4th, 2006, 08:33 AM	#8
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Excalibur can do it. Just look at the Fade tool. You can specify whether to control the Fade In,Fade out, length of fade, type of fade, etc... It's the first tool on the Event tab. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

August 5th, 2006, 07:57 AM	#14
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Of course you're right Edward, but Simon's point is dead on. If you have 30 tracks of composite, you have to manually fade all 30 at the same point via one method or another, to fade to a track. It would have been much more simple on the user to have Setup added in Prefs, IMO. It's certainly been requested. __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

August 3rd, 2006, 09:08 PM	#2
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	Do you mean something other than pulling the upper corner of the clip left or right for fade in or fade out? I can't think of anything easier or quicker than that. Any preset would be more work. Don

August 3rd, 2006, 09:14 PM	#3
Tony Rockliff Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dunedin, Florida Posts: 70	Yes, right now I have to do that over and over and over. I'd like to do it once and then be able to apply that to multiple clips (like you can with audio fades). Tony

August 4th, 2006, 04:21 AM	#4
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	View - Video Bus Track will show you the "master" video fader. Right click on this track header and insert the "fade to color" envelope. Add points and drag down/up as desired like you would on an audio track.

August 4th, 2006, 06:44 AM	#5
Tony Rockliff Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dunedin, Florida Posts: 70	Thanks Mike, I'll try that. What I was hoping for was something like drawing one fade out-in and then saving that action as a preset and pasting it into all other places I needed fade-outs/ins. Tony

August 4th, 2006, 08:40 AM	#9
Tony Rockliff Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Dunedin, Florida Posts: 70	Thanks Edward, I'll check it out. I just tested the one I found at VASST and it works great too. I put it on a key command so it's very fast to use. Tony

August 5th, 2006, 03:33 AM	#12
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Note that the Video Bus fade to colour envelope is the only way to fade to digital black with Vegas. The lack of consideration for digital/broadcast black in Vegas is one of the things that I think is a major issue. All it would need is a Digital black baseline option to be ticked in the project properties. As it is I get rather fed up of having to bring things back into legal range manually when I shouldn't really need to.

August 5th, 2006, 08:47 AM	#15
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Edward, aside from the extra points that Doug makes, there is another reason why adding a separate broadcast black track is not desirable. Try adding the Magic Bullet Misfire Vignette filter for example and then fading the clip to the broadcast baclk track beneath it. You will see the effects of some absolutely hideous banding as it fades. Not only that but the vignette itself doesn't look very good either even before fading. This happens with other methods of vignetting too. I've had all sorts of problems in the past when I've tried that. For serious use in broadcast Vegas really does need to make such things as easy and as painless as possible.