Sony Vegas: Timeline Cropping

[mltwitz]

Vegas lets me insert time into the timeline, but how can I crop out time from a timeline? The cut or delete command only removes content from the timeline but does not actually crop time away from it. It seems to be a mute point as you can slide events on the timeline thus filling up empty gaps, but I have a 10 minute gap in between events comprised of many small snippets some are grouped with audio some are not, therefore it would be very difficult to select all those events and slide them to the left on the timeline. It would be much easier to select the empty gap and crop it such that the events to right line up seamlessly to the event on the left.

[zoobie]

see that magnifying glass? thats the zoom tool...you can easily select and slide over whatever
any editor takes a little time to understand
for example, MSP has an option to simply find any blank spots and delete them

[guns1inger]

Turn on Ripple Editing (look it up in the help file) and when you remove a section of a clip, the time line will shift to fill the gap, keeping all subsequent edits in place. Similarly, if you insert a clip into the middle of the timeline, everything after than point will shuffle along with it.

[mltwitz]

Very cool, thanks so much, both methods actually helped me accomplish what I wanted, i.e. 1) use the "selection edit" tool (next to the magnifying glass) to select a broad range of events (grouped or ungrouped) and slide on the timline, 2) use the ripple editing to always fill gaps when trimming.

[guns1inger]

I find ripple editing to be one of those mixed blessing tools. Learn the short-cut for it (ctrl+L by default) because you will be turning it on and off all the time

[javaguy]

I've got a related Q. I'm just starting with a download copy of Vegas Studio 9. I'm evaluating it vs. (other programs). I took a DVD track and trimmed all but about 30 seconds from it and added an overlay text, just for fun. OK and good.

The timeline shows the length to still be 28 minutes, the original track length. My snip occupies the first bit. If I hit the Play button, my selection plays and then the status line continues on its merry way.

I already know I can make my snip a selection and then the status line, and playback, is constrained. But what I'm concerned about is the likelihood that the project is going to want to say "I'm a 28 minute video, mostly blank".

The Magix software has a place where if you click the timeline shrinks to encompass just your current content -- a 30-second timeline. So how do I get a 30-second timeline in Sony Vegas (Studio 9)?

Thanks,
javaguy

[Silvas]

Double click on your timeline and it will automatically adjust the project length to the length of the timeline.

[javaguy]

I see that double-clicking causes the timeline to zoom, but that isn't the same as what I need.

After double-clicking there is a selection that completely wraps the non-blank content of the timeline. But the total length of timeline is unchanged. The remaining 29 minutes is merely off-screen.

For example, in my sample I've a 30-second clip from a half-hour show, and the timeline is still a half-hour long. One way of telling that things are still not good is to preview the timeline. After showing my 30 seconds the player keeps going, into the vast blank space to the right in the timeline.

Any more ideas?

[guns1inger]

If you double click above the top timeline (between the timeline and the menu) it should set the loop region for the project (double-clicking on a clip sets it for that clip only). Ctrl+Shift+L turns on looping (the loop region should change colour as well). Now when you play back inside this region it will loop when it reaches the end.

I know of no way to get it to stop at the end of the region though.

[xsoulseerx]

There is an option after you click on render video.....a check box for "render loop section only" or something like that. Check the box and render the video...it will only render the hi-lighted looped section. Took me 2 hours to figure that out...at least in an older version of Vegas.