multicam problem

[Mike Kujbida]

Tools > Multicamera > Create Multicamera Track.

[Mark Waldo]

Before you select the multicamera option, you need to ctrl-select all of the video and audio tracks you want to include in the multicam. If you select more than one audio track, they will be combined. If you want only one audio track, make sure not to select the others. In fact, you should mute them.

After selecting the tracks you want included, then select Tools->Multicamera->Enable Multicamera Editing, then select Tools->Multicamera->Create Multicamera Track.

As you watch the resulting video, select between cameras by pressing the 1 and 2 keys, or to fade between them, ctrl-1, ctrl-2. You can do this in real time or stop the viewing and do it. You can always hit ctrl-Z to undo a camera switch. You can read what little more there is to say about this on the Vegas Help screen under multicamera.

I have been using multicamera for two months now. The one thing I very much dislike about it is that it hides each track you have selected and you can edit only the one multicamera track that is created. There is no way to unhide the tracks in case you made a mistake somewhere down the line and have not totally synced all the tracks. You have to start over. So the most important thing to do before using multicamera is to make sure all of your footage is lined up.

What I do is, once I believe I have everything lined up, I save that veg file. Then when I am editing the multi-camera track, I save the project as a different veg file so that I can always return to just before I set up the multi-camera option and can edit the individual tracks.

Once the multicam track has been edited between the cameras, I save the resulting video as an .avi file and start a new project with that file to fine-tune any other editing and special effects I need to do.

I hope this saves you hours of frustration that I have had with it.

Mark

[Joe Mantaratz]

I’ve not had a whole lot of luck with the multi cam selection. Before that was an option and still today all I do is create using track motion a template that divides up the preview window into the amount of cameras I have. Might not be the most efficient way but it certainly is easy and avoids the very issue you are talking about.