Presets

Using the Preset dropdown list for most Vegas tools, you can quickly choose predefined settings. In fact, the windows for choosing some of these tools display thumbnails that represent the effect they will have on your video. But an underused capability available to Vegas editors is to create and use their own presets.

After adjusting the settings for any of these tools, if you think you’ll need those settings again later, type a new name into the Preset dropdown and click the Save Preset button to the right. Not only will it be added to the Preset list, but if it’s for a transition, media generator, or video FX, it will also get its very own thumbnail.

Render Templates

When it’s time to render / encode your project to a file, each file type has several render templates available. Render templates tell Vegas in one click what video and / or audio settings to use for your rendered file.  If none of the installed templates are quite what you need,  you can click the Custom button on the Render As dialog and adjust the settings as needed.

But if you expect that you’ll need those custom settings again, don’t just click OK to accept the settings this one time. First, save those settings to your own render Template by typing a new name into the Template dropdown and clicking the Save Template button. Vegas will add it to the list of Templates for that file type so you can select again anytime you want.

Plug-In / Filter Packages

When you add an FX to anything — a piece of media, an event, a track, or the project itself — Vegas creates a plug-in chain for that object. Every FX that’s added to that same object gets added to the chain. If the chain you come up with is something you think you’ll need again, you can save it as a package.

To do this, start by clicking the Plug-In Chain button. Vegas will open the Plug-In Chooser dialog. There, click Save As, type in a name for your Plug-In Package, and click OK. From then on, your Plug-In Package will be availble in the Filter Packages folder of the Plug-In Chooser. (I don’t know why Sony named it “Filter Packages” instead of “FX Packages” or “Plug-In. Packages”). The package won’t appear in the dockable Video FX window since it’s not a preset, but you can click the Plug-In Chain button or a standard FX button to get the Plug-In Chooser dialog again and Add it from there.

Replace Plug-In

The Vegas interface uses the term “Plug-In” for several elements, but obviously they can’t all have the same options. Video FX are considered “plug-ins,” as are Transitions and Media Generators. But there’s no such thing as a Transition Chain or a Media Generator Chain — for them, it’s strictly one item per customer. And yet, they both have that familiar green button. Why?

Well, if you open up an existing transition or generated media and hover over that little green button, you’ll get a hint. In this context, it’s labeled “Replace Plug-In.” Click it, and you will be presented with the Plug-In Chooser dialog where you can a plug-in (of the same type) to replace the one you already have. You won’t be able to carry over any of the settings from the previous plug-in, but any cuts you’ve made, FX you’ve applied, track motion you’ve done… all these and other changes will remain.

Reuse Your VEG Files

Many programs have wizards or templates with predefined objects. For example, a video template might already have an audio tracks, four video tracks, a common background, a logo graphic, and a title overlay already set up. Vegas doesn’t have such templates or even an automated way to create them, but it’s simple enough to create your own. Create a boilerplate project with the most essential tracks, media, FX, transitions, and all the settings that you need, and save that to a Vegas project (VEG) file.

When you need to create a project using that template, open it, save it as a new file, and customize it for your current project. Your template project can even include temporary content in the form of generated media. When you’re working on the “real” project, go to the Project Media, select that piece of generated media, and choose Replace. Vegas will let you browse for the video or image that you want to use instead.

In fact, you can reuse such templates — as well as completed projects — within other projects if you are using Sony Vegas 7 or higher. In that version, Sony introduced the ability to nest VEG files. Dragging an existing VEG onto a Vegas timeline adds it as an event just as though you had rendered it to a file. And any changes you make to the original VEG will be reflected in the projects in which it’s been nested. (Sorry, nesting is not available in Vegas Movie Studio at this time.)

Do you have any suggestions on reusing work you’ve already done in Sony Vegas?