Subscribe Feed (RSS)Introduction to Keyframes
January 27th, 2009 by Rob Strobbe | Filed under Tutorials.The Keyframe Controller
Figure 1 is an image of the keyframe controller in a Video Event FX window. On the left is a list of elements for which you can edit keyframes. To the right is the keyframe timeline, one for each of the items listed. And below that is a series of buttons you can use to create, delete, and navigate keyframes for the currently active keyframe timeline.
Figure 1: The Keyframe Controller
(If you don’t see the keyframe controller in a window, Vegas has probably collapsed it into the bottom of the window. Hover your cursor over the bottom of the window until it becomes two horizontal bars with small arrows pointing up and down. Then click and drag up to reveal the keyframe controller.)
The very first icon is the Sync Cursor button. When this is enabled, Vegas will synchronize the cursor on the keyframe timeline with the cursor on its main timeline. As you move the cursor in the keyframe controller, the main timeline’s cursor will also be moved, and vice versa. This makes it easier for you to see in the Preview window the effects of the keyframes you have set. Note that this button is completely disabled in the Video Media Generators window.
The next four buttons are used for navigating the keyframe timeline. They’re fairly self-explanatory — First keyframe, Previous keyframe, Next keyframe, and Last keyframe. Worth knowing, though, is that First Keyframe and Last Keyframe will move to the outer extremes of the timeline if the respective keyframe is already selected. This is a handy way to jump to the very end of the keyframe timeline.
The last two buttons are where the action takes place: Create Keyframe and Delete Keyframe. To insert a keyframe, click the timeline to place the cursor where you want the keyframe and hit the Create Keyframe button. To delete one, click the intended keyframe to select it and hit the Delete Keyframe button. Note that you can also hit Insert on the keyboard to create a keyframe and Delete on the keyboard to delete a keyframe.
Also note that you can create a keyframe by placing the the cursor in an empty spot on the keyframe timeline and simply making the changes you want for that point in time. Vegas will automatically insert a keyframe with the new settings. This capability can be problematic sometimes, though, especially in conjunction with the sync cursor button. It is very easy to accidentally set the “right” settings in the “wrong” place because you didn’t realize the cursor was where it was.
Finally, to the right of all those buttons is a timecode display that shows the cursor position on the keyframe timeline. The format of that display will depend on that of your main timeline (i.e., does it show time and frames, seconds, just frames, etc). And like the main timeline’s timecode displays (the ones on the bottom right of the timeline, not the top left), the one in the keyframe controller is editable. Double-click the timecode there and enter a new one to jump to that point on the keyframe timeline. Or if you want the cursor to move ahead 2 seconds, double-click the timecode and type “+2.0″ (no quotes).
If you find, as you’re working, that the keyframe timeline is too small for you to add keyframes as close together as you need or that the arrow keys move in increments too large, you can zoom in on it just as you can with the main timeline. Use your mouse’s scroll wheel if available or click the plus sign beneath the keyframe timeline.
Tags: basics, fx, generated media, keyframes, pan/crop
Excellent path, logic and very easy to understand and it was successful in helping me…
Thanks, Mike! I’m always glad to hear that these little articles of mine are helping someone.