VegasVideoHelp.com » Tip of the Week

Keeping the Beat

Rob Strobbe — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:00:39 +0000

Did you know that Vegas has a built-in metronome? Once you to to Options > Metronome to turn it on, Vegas will keep time for you based on the ruler settings for your project. To adjust the parameters for the project, and thus those for the metronome, go to File > Properties and choose the Ruler tab.

Explorer Window

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:00:53 +0000

The Explorer window in Vegas isn’t just for adding media to your project. It has most of the same functions as the standard Windows Explorer — cut, copy, move, rename files, right there in your Vegas interface.

Zoom Selection

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:00:06 +0000

There are a few ways to zoom in on the timeline. If you’re working on a specific section and want to zoom just enough so that it fills the visible area: Make a selection, right-click within it, and choose Zoom Selection. Alternatively, make a selection and hit Ctrl and the Up Arrow on the keyboard.

Expand Track Layers

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:00:26 +0000

When events are overlapped on the timeline, it can be kind of difficult to access elements in the crossfade area — event-level envelopes are especially tricky. To get passed this, right-click the track header for this event and check Expand Track Layers. Vegas will display events alternating between an A an B track. Uncheck the same option to get the display back to normal.

Play/Pause

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:00:20 +0000

You probably know that hitting the spacebar starts playback of the timeline, and that hitting the spacebar again stops playback — sending the cursor back to where it started from. What you may not know is that the Enter key behaves similarly except that a second time pauses playback — leaving the cursor where it is.

Z, Shift+Z

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:00:03 +0000

To mute / unmute the selected track, hit “Z” on your keyboard. Hitting Shift+Z does the same but also unmutes all other tracks.

Paste Repeat

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:00:15 +0000

Need several copies of the same event? Select it, Copy it, and then go to Edit > Paste Repeat. In the resulting dialog, you can enter the number of copies you want pasted and can even specify the amount of space between each copy.

Slider Controls

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:00:38 +0000

Sliders are used throughout Vegas for numbers based parameters. This is handy, but it is not always easy to get exactly the value you want. Fit smaller increments, hold down Ctrl as you drag a slider.

Dragging Time

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:00:29 +0000

If you have an existing time selection (aka loop region) that you’d like to use somewhere else on the timeline, just hover the mouse between the In and Out points (the yellow flags at the top of the timeline), click, and drag it to a new position. Its size will remain the same.

P, Shift+P

Rob Strobbe — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 05:00:07 +0000

For audio tracks, hitting “P” on the keyboard adds a panning envelope to the selected track if there isn’t one or toggles the visibility (of all panning envelopes) if there is one. Shift+P removes an existing panning envelope from the selected track.