[John Rofrano]

> Why can’t Vegas find the codec just like Media Player does?

Vegas will only use certain codecs. Just because a file can be played back in various media players doesn’t mean that Vegas will know how to edit it. Playing and editing are two different things.

What I would do is download a little utility called GSpot. Open the AVI file with it and it will tell you what codec is being used for both audio and video. Then try and find a utility that will convert from whatever codec is being used for audio into a WAV file that Vegas can understand. You can then drop the WAV file on the timeline and it should line up fine with the video.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

The simplest way to achieve that effect is to make two sets of titles. One white and the other a color. Then just use a Linear Wipe transition to move between them. The color will appear to wipe on.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

What you would do is have three tracks. Track 1 (top) is your mask track. Track 2 (middle) is the media you want to mask and Track 3 (bottom) is the background media that you want to show outside the masked area. Make track 2 a child of track 1 and change the track 1 compositing mode to Multiply (Mask). Now anything that is white on track 1 will show track 2 and anything that is black on track 1 will show track 3.

You can use the Mask Generator to create black and white media for track 1 or you can just add a Generated Media Solid White and use Pan/Crop/Mask to create a mask by drawing with the pen tool. If you just want to stamp out a circle, square, rectangle, etc. you can also use the Cookie Cutter. In fact, the Cookie Cutter can do this with only two tracks because is automatically masks the event/track it is applied to. (see I told you there were lots of ways of making masks) 😉

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

Yes that’s it. I usually add a Generated Media Solid White to the upper track and cut the mask out of that, then change the composite mode to Multiple (Mask) and make the track under it a child. This sounds like what you did. This keeps the mask independent of the event it’s masking.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

There are lots of ways to do masking in Vegas Pro. Are you talking about the Mask option in Pan/Crop? First you have to select it (check mark next to Mask and highlight the little keyframe track) then use the pen tool to draw your mask. Select the first point to complete / close the mask. That’s it!

I have a short tutorial on my web site called Using a Mask to create a Split Screen effect that should give you a good start.

You can also create a mask on another track above your media and change the composite mode of that track to Multiply (Mask). There are also tools like the Mask Generator that will help you make a mask out of your video.

Having more information about what you are trying to accomplish will determine the best way to create the mask.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

If you want the mask to remain in the same place and move the video under it then you might want to make the mask a separate track. This will allow you to move the video any way you want while maintaining the mask in the same position.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

Place an EQ on the main audio bus and cut some of the lower frequencies. If this is a 5.1 surround project and the low rumble is just coming from the LFE, cut some of the signal going to the LFE or EQ some of the bottom out on the LFE track.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

> The problem is to have the clip moving (left and right) within the mask (to have the working man always in the middle of the mask) without moving the mask over the frame.

There is no way to avoid this. If the subject of the mask is moving, the mask must move along with it. You need to keyframe the masks movements to maintain the mask over the subject. Tools like Boris FX have motion tracking which will help you do this but with Vegas alone you need to create this motion manually yourself.

If you created the mask using the Mask tool in Pan/Crop this shouldn’t be to hard to do. Turn Sync Cursor on in the Mask timeline. Then just move the mask as the subject moves and Vegas will create new keyframes.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

> Is there a keyboard shortcut to send an edited clip from the trimmer to the timeline?

Yes there is:

• (A) will add the trimmed section to the timeline at the cursor position and move the cursor to the end of the new event.
• (Shift+A) will add the trimmed section before the cursor position (i.e., the end of the new event is at the current cursor position and the beginning is where ever it needs to be in order to fit). The cursor stays where it is.

There are also two buttons at the bottom of the trimmer with icons that look like [|->] and [->|]. If you hover your mouse over them they will remind you of the short-cut keys.

> Am I missing a better workflow?

Possibly. I don’t know many Vegas editors that use the trimmer unless they came from an NLE that forced them to work that way. Most Vegas editors work right on the timeline cutting, slipping, and trimming clips as they go because it’s so much easier than the old 3 point editing way. But that depends on what you feel comfortable with.

I rarely if ever use the trimmer. Usually only to add embedded markers to make it easier to line things up on the timeline where I do most of my work.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[John Rofrano]

Do you have the latest Quicktime 7.5 installed? Perhaps is a codec compatibility issue. What HD camcorder produces Quicktime files?

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com