[Drew Tanner]

My PC specs are similar to yours (worse actually, Q6600 with 4gb RAM), but there’s a simple tip I picked up here that allows me to edit AVCHD.

In your project properties, set the template to NTSC DV widescreen while editing. I use this in conjunction with “preview” quality and get mostly fluid playback. I still have to use RAM preview for transitions sometimes.

[Drew Tanner]

Hey, I have a background in Final Cut Pro and Vegas too (although version 8). I actually went the opposite way as you did, starting in vegas.

The spacebar thing can be changed in the options, but you can also use ENTER, which will start/pause the video at its current location.

As for navigation, you can drag the timeline from the timecode strip at the top. Mousewheel scrolling + SHIFT does the same thing. Mousewheel + CTRL moves the timeline up and down (if you’re dealing with a lot of tracks).

And finally, if the playback is choppy you can try setting a lower quality on the preview window (above it in the drop down list). Or you can select an area of timeline and use SHIFT + B to do a quick render to memory. This is a kickass feature if you have a lot of tracks/compositing and want to see it play back smoothly.

As for the phone video, I don’t know. I suppose you could always use something like virtualdub to export it. Hopefully somebody more knowledgeable about formats can help you.

Vegas is great once you learn its little quirks. Btw, speaking of quirks, if you have trouble pinpointing a place in the timeline to edit: CTRL/SHIFT + click on the event. This always annoyed me until I figured it out. Because sometimes you want to highlight the track to cut and the cursor moves slightly when you click. This always annoyed me until I figured it out. good luck 🙂

[Drew Tanner]

Do you mean background as in what you see as transparency? If so, just lay another track below the one you’re working on and stick a solid color there (media generator). You can also use those to do a colored fade. I dunno if that answers your question.

[Drew Tanner]

Hi,

I’ve been lurking this forum a lot lately and have had basically any question answered for me, except this one. I’m also curious if there’s a way to make panning/cropping smoother in vegas. If not, I guess there’s always after effects…but I prefer keeping everything in one application if possible. It would be great if there’s something we’re overlooking. Anyone?

Thanks,
Drew