Make Your
Internet Movies Using Vegas
Video 4 -
By
Mark Richards
If you are
looking for a powerful and full featured
video editing program to create Internet
movies, as well as all other types of video
productions, you have to consider Vegas
Video 4.
If you are
looking to make a video that requires
exceptional audio and music functions, there
may be no better choice than Vegas
Video.
Sonic
Foundry had a strong history of digital
audio expertise before they moved into
digital video with their Vegas Video
products.
Recognized for excellence, Vegas
Video’s basic video editing code has been
adapted as the underlying technology in Nova
Development’s Video Explosion Pro and
Sony’s new MovieStudio program.
Note
- Sonic
Foundry's desktop video products have been
bought by Sony.
Vegas
Video 4 enables video makers to easily
capture clips from camcorders and other
video sources, trim and edit those clips on
a timeline to create a movie, and to add
effects, transitions, titles and audio to
create a highly professional and fully
featured finished production. If you have a
DVD burner, Vegas Video 4 also offers
“professional” DVD authoring and burning
capabilities. You can also output your
finished videos as DV-AVI for burning back
to tape, RealMedia, Windows Media or
QuickTime for streaming, or MPEG 1 or
MPEG2 for burning to DVDs or electronic
distribution.
As
this is a software only package, the
rendering of complicated effects is directly
linked to the speed of your computer’s
processor, the RPM of your hard drives, and
the total amount of RAM on your system.
The
minimum specifications to run Vegas Video
are a 400 MHz processor or better, running
Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP, 128 MB of RAM,
and a 7200 RPM hard drive. Of course, you
also need a CD or DVD burner if you want to
make CDs or DVDs of your finished projects,
audio card, 24-bit color display and an OHCI
compliant IEEE 1394 DV capture card. If you
want to work with analog video (VHS and 8mm)
you’ll also need an analog video and audio
capture card.
Remember,
these are the minimum specs. I tested using
a 1.4 GHz P4 with 384 RAM and I didn’t
have enough horsepower to really push the
software. The more processor horsepower and
RAM, the more effects and layers you will be
able to preview and output without having to
wait for rendering.
Capturing
Video
The
capture window GUI is well thought out and
easy to use. SEE CAPTURE.
You can capture directly from a DV
camcorder attached to your computer via a
standard OHCI compliant IEEE1394 input
connection or you can capture analog video
and audio via an analog video capture card
or external unit. You can set your capture
parameters to include a variety of frame
rates and screen sizes, including both PAL
and NTSC.
You
can capture individual clips in a video on
the fly or use the automatic feature that
captures all the video and separates it into
separate clips for ease of editing.
If you are using a DV camcorder, you
can use batch capture, where you go through
your DV tape and punch in time codes for
individual start and end times for series of
video clips. Like most other modern editing
software programs, you can remotely control
your DV camcorder. Vegas Video provides a
on-screen shuttle bar - the more you move it
left or right, the faster the video will
play while rewinding or fast forwarding.
Vegas Video also supports third party
shuttle and tape control devices.
As
Vegas Video captures video as AVI files, you
will need to make sure you have enough spare
computer hard drive space available before
starting.
Editing
Video
You
can import and edit video files captured
from your camcorder as well as a diverse
range of other types of files including
QuickTime, MPEG and Windows Media – both
wmv and asf files. Very few other programs
can import and edit all these types of files
together. (I am not saying you would want to
do this – but you can…). These files then live in the media pool.
If
you are planning on creating your movies for
Internet distribution, you can start by
capturing as a streaming video file (wmv or
asf) and then edit in that format.
The
media pool is where you store and access the
various components of your production. This
includes video and audio clips, video
effects, transitions, backgrounds, etc. You
can also use this as a Windows Explorer
window to find and retrieve media files on
your computer or network. If you are
connected to the Internet via a broadband
connection, you can even directly connect to
various online sources of multimedia
materials for direct download into your
project. Pretty cool.
You
can create various bins to store and
organize your source files.
Some of Vegas’s cool media storage
capabilities include search for media files
across bins and on the timeline. You can
select a clip in a bin and then find where
you have already used it in your project.
You can also select a clip on your edit
timeline and then find where is stored. The
program also keeps track of how many times
you have used specific clips. These are
great features if you are editing long or
complicated video projects.
You
can set the media pool to display your clips
as icons, thumbnails or data. The data view
can be very helpful. In addition to
listing the size and technical details of
each clip, it also lists how many times the
clip has been used, what source tape it came
from, data rates, bit depth, pixel size,
etc.
Bella
Video Editing Keyboard for Vegas Video
The
editing GUI is where all the magic takes
place. When you first launch Vegas Video,
the top third or so of the screen is taken
up by the editing timeline. It opens up with
just one video track and one audio track.
However, it is easy to add additional video
and audio tracks as needed. The bottom of
the screen is taken up with your media pool
and by the preview/monitor window.
You can move the windows around and
re-size them to create a customized editing
space.
Between
the media pool and the monitor window, you
will find your audio volume controls that
include warnings for when you are peaking or
distorting sound levels. Below the editing
timeline and above the media pool, you will
find the scrub bar that enables you to
quickly “scrub “ backwards or forwards
through your project, while being able to
hear the audio.
To
build your project, you can simply load one
clip after another on the main video track
and assemble it that way, or you can load
the clips on alternate tracks and build your
program checkerboard style.
You can trim your clips by using the
Trimmer Windows or by moving the ends of the
clips while they are on the timeline. Vegas
enables you to set up automatic dissolve
transitions so if one file overlaps another,
it will do a standard dissolve.
As
expected, you can also move the clips
around, inserting, deleting and splitting as
needed to build your program. Vegas Video 4
has added improved shuffle and ripple
editing that moves the entire project, or
pieces of the project, backwards or forwards
along the timeline whenever you add a new
clip or element.
If
you don’t like using your mouse, Vegas
enables you to use the keyboard number pad
instead. You can shift your clips frame by
frame in order to get very exact frame edits
for trimming clips. The new cursor preview
is extremely cool. By pressing “0” on
the keypad, Vegas automatically creates a
playback loop around your curser that plays
back most recent edit.
The default is a two second loop but
it can be adjusted between 20 seconds and a
tenth of a second.
Layering,
Effects & Transitions
One
of most fun parts of editing video is adding
transitions and effects to your videos.
Vegas 4 has added a bunch of new effects and
transitions including new background
patterns, new fly-ins and 3D transitions,
and new filters like film grain, TV
simulator, channel blending, bump maps, etc.
By
the way, Vegas Video has a special video bus
mode track that enables you to easily add
effects to your entire video, rather than
clip by clip. Imagine you have finished the
film and later you decide you want to add an
old time movie look to the whole thing. The
bus mode allows you to do it with only a
single command.
Transitions
are inserted by a simple “selection and
drag” action to the appropriate location
on the time line. Of course, the transitions
have various controls for direction,
intensity and other controls. You add titles
by creating a new video overlay track first.
By using the Media Generator with the Text
plug-in. You can control placement, fonts,
colors, shadows, and various effects like
squeezes, curves, etc.
You
can layer titles on top of transitions on
top of filters. The only limit is your
creativity and your computer’s processor
and RAM for real time preview and playback.
Even if you have an older machine
with limited oomph, you can still use Vegas
Video for complicated effects – you’ll
just have to render some of them.
Editing
Audio with Vegas Video
Vegas
provides an amazing range of audio for video
editing features.
For example, you can set up your time
line to measure segments by beats.
This can make it very easy to create
music vides where cutting to the beat is
very important. You can add an unlimited
amount of audio tracks and then fade and mix
between them. Each audio track allows you to
adjust volume, panning, surround channels
and levels, phase, assignable FX send
levels, and bus send levels. You can
also add a wide range of audio special
effects and controls such as reverb, flange,
pitch shift, etc.
You can even stretch and squeeze the
length of an audio file to match available
space on your time line without overly
distorting the sound.
Outputting
Video
You
can use the Main Concept plug in to render
your finished files as MPEG 1 or MPEG 2
files for Internet use or for burning to a
DVD. You can also output to DV tape directly
from the timeline. Alternatively, if you
prefer, you can render the final production
as a finished file and then play it out to
your DV camcorder or DV recorder.
What
else is new and cool about Vegas Video?
 In
addition to the new DVD authoring module,
improved ease of use functions, and new
transitions and effects, in order to better
monitor and control your video quality and
color accuracy, Vegas has also added
videoscopes and improved color filtering and
correction functions. If you are planning to
go to broadcast, having a choice of various
videoscopes makes it a lot easier to ensure
that your finished video means all technical
standards. You can choose from a standard
vectorscope,
waveform monitor, histogram, and RGB
parade. You can even have all four of them
operating simultaneously.
Who
is Vegas Video For?
Vegas
Video is targeted for Internet producers,
video professionals and prosumers who can
utilize its powerful suite of features.
Vegas Video 4 lists for $499. Vegas
Video DVD+ that includes the new DVD
Architect application, lists for $799.
However, see below for special deals.
For
newbies and weekend video producers, they
may be better suited for the less expensive
but still powerful Vegas light versions
offered by Sony’s MovieStudio” and
Nova’s “Video Explosion Pro” products.
I
found Vegas Video difficult to master –
maybe I am an old dog who can’t learn new
tricks. I had to constantly go to the
electronic Vegas Video manual to figure out
how to do the most basic editing functions.
Then again, each time I opened up the
manual, I found new capabilities that really
impressed me.
If
you have the time to learn the program, and
you need outstanding audio and video editing
capabilities and/or plan on editing
productions to music, then Vegas Video may
indeed be the best choice on the market for
a reasonably priced yet powerful
professional featured editing solution.
for more info and to buy Vegas Video 4 -
Just $349.95 from B&H Photo Video!
for more info and to buy Vegas Video
4 with DVD - Just $499.95 from B&H Photo
Video!
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