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CHAPTER
6
Working with Tracks
141
Tracks contain the media events on the timeline of a project. There are two types of tracks in a Vegas® project: video and audio. Each type of track has its own features and controls. While tracks can be organized and mixed in any order, track hierarchy can be important in determining the final output for video. Because tracks are containers for events, effects that are applied to a track apply to every event in that track.
Managing tracks
Once you have added a track to your project, you may perform basic editing tasks on it such as duplicating, deleting, and renaming.
Inserting an empty track
Tracks are created for you when you drag events to empty spaces in the timeline. You can also add empty
(eventless) tracks to a project. You can record into these tracks or use them as placeholders for specific media that you will add later. For example, you may want to create an empty track and then record a voiceover directly into a project.
1.
Right-click in the track view or the track list to display a shortcut menu.
2.
Choose Insert Audio Track or Insert Video Track .
You may also add an empty track from the Insert menu by choosing Audio Track or Video Track . An empty track is added at the bottom of the track list.
Duplicating a track
You can duplicate a track in your project including all of the events contained on it. When you duplicate a track, the duplicate is placed directly below the original track. You can duplicate one track or select multiple tracks to duplicate.
1.
Click the track that you want to duplicate. To select multiple tracks, click each one while pressing to select adjacent tracks or
Ctrl
to select nonadjacent tracks.
Shift
2.
Right-click and choose Duplicate Track from the shortcut menu.
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Deleting a track
You can delete a track from your project and all of the events contained on it. You can delete one track or select multiple tracks to delete.
1.
Select the track that you want to delete. To select multiple tracks, click each one while pressing select a range of adjacent tracks or
Ctrl
to select discontinuous tracks.
Shift
to
2.
From the Edit menu, choose Delete .
Tip: You can also delete a track by selecting it and pressing
Delete
.
Naming or renaming a track
Every track in your project has a scribble strip where you can type a name for the track. The track name may be up to 255 characters long. If the scribble strip is not visible, you may need to increase the height or width
1.
Double-click the scribble strip. Any existing name is highlighted on the strip.
2.
Type the new track name.
3.
Press
Enter
to save the track’s name.
Double-click and type track name
Organizing tracks
Vegas software is flexible in how tracks can be organized. You can arrange and resize tracks to fit your particular needs.
Reordering tracks
When you create tracks, they are arranged in the order that they were added. It is a simple process to reorder tracks to fit your needs. You may reorder one or more tracks at a time.
Note: Track hierarchy can be critical in video compositing.
For more information, see Compositing on page 248 .
1.
In the track list, place the mouse pointer on the track that you want to move.
2.
Drag the track to the new position in the track list.
Tip: When moving a track, you may want to place the mouse pointer on the track number when dragging. This helps avoid accidental modifications to other track list controls.
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Changing track color
When you add a track, it is automatically assigned a color. This color is easily changed. This feature is useful if you want to use color to organize similar tracks.
1.
In the track list, right-click a track to display a shortcut menu.
2.
From the shortcut menu, choose
Track Display Color
, and choose a color from the submenu.
To change the available colors, use the Display Tab in the
Preferences dialog.
Changing track height
You can control track height by dragging the bottom edge of a track in the track list. You can also change track height by clicking the buttons on the track list.
Action
Minimize/
Restore
Track Height
Button Resulting Track height
Restored Track Height
Maximize/
Restore
Track Height
You can also use several different keyboard shortcuts to change all track heights at once:
• Press
Ctrl + Shift +
Ctrl + `
or
Ctrl + Shift +
to change the height of all tracks in your project at once.
• Press
`
to minimize all tracks. Press the key again to restore the tracks to their previous height.
• Press to make all tracks the default height.
Resizing a track
You can resize a track by dragging its bottom or right border. Place the mouse pointer at the bottom of the track. The cursor turns into an up/down arrow ( ). Drag up or down and release the mouse to set the desired track size. You can resize the width of the track list in a similar way.
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Drag to change track height...
...or to change track list width.
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Using the track list
Each track in your project has its own controls, faders, and sliders that are contained in the track list on the left side of the track. You can work with these controls to affect the events on the track.
The controls in the track list can function as trim controls or automation controls for track volume, panning, assignable effects send, and bus send levels. Adjusting the trim control affects the level of the entire track.
When a track does not use envelopes (or when the track automation mode is set to Off), the trim level is added to the track fader. For example, setting the track volume fader to +3 dB and the trim control to -3 dB produces a gain of 0 dB.
When a track uses envelopes, the trim level is added to the envelope so your envelope is preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -3 dB has the same effect as decreasing every envelope point by 3 dB.
To adjust trim levels, click the
Automation Settings
button and verify
Show Automation Controls
is not selected. When
Show Automation Controls
is selected, the volume fader and multipurpose slider adjust automation settings.
Note: The Automation Settings button is not available in
Vegas Movie Studio and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum software. In these versions of the software, the Volume and
Pan controls in the track header always function as trim controls for track volume or panning envelopes.
Using the volume fader (audio only)
The fader in the track header can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall volume of the track, or it
The trim level is added to the volume automation settings so your envelope is preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -3 dB has the same effect as decreasing every envelope point by 3 dB.
1.
Click the
Automation Settings
button and verify
Show Automation Controls
is not selected.
Note: The Automation Settings button is not available in
Vegas Movie Studio and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum software. In these versions of the software, the Volume control in the track header always functions as a trim control for track volume envelopes.
2.
Drag the
Vol
fader to control how loud a track is in the mix. If multiple tracks are selected, all selected tracks are adjusted.
As you drag the fader, the volume level displays to the left of the fader. Double-click the fader to set it to
0.0 dB, or double-click the current volume value to enter a specific number.
Drag to change volume.
Double-click the fader to set to 0.0 dB.
Double-click the current level to enter a value.
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Tip: Press
Ctrl
while dragging or use the mouse wheel for finer control of the fader. You can also move the fader by using the right or left arrow keys.
Using the multipurpose slider (audio only)
This slider controls several features, including panning, bus send levels, and assignable effects send levels. The options for the multipurpose slider depend on what your project contains
(e.g., busses, assignable effects, etc.). You can select what the slider controls by clicking the slider label. Each item’s slider position is independent from the others.
Click the slider label to select a control
Tip: If you do not see this slider on a track, increase the track
height. For more information, see Resizing a track on page
You can move the slider by pressing arrow keys.
Shift
+the right or left
145
Adjusting stereo panning
The multipurpose slider in the track header can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall panning of
The trim level is added to the pan automation settings so your envelope is preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -9% left has the same effect as moving every envelope point
9% to the left.
1.
Click the Automation Settings button and verify Show Automation Controls is not selected.
Note: The Automation Settings button is not available in
Vegas Movie Studio and Vegas Movie Studio Platinum software. In these versions of the software, the Pan control in the track header always functions as a trim control for track panning envelopes.
2.
Drag the Pan slider to control the position of a track in the stereo field. If multiple tracks are selected, all selected tracks are adjusted.
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You can further control the panning by right-clicking the multipurpose slider and selecting an option from the shortcut menu:
• The
Add Channels
panning model is most useful for panning stereo source material. This model makes the stereo image appear to move as a unit between the speakers. As the fader is moved from the center to a side, more and more of the signal from the opposite side is folded into the side you are panning towards, until at the extreme, both channels are fed at full intensity into a single channel. This panning model uses a linear panning curve.
• The
Balance
panning model is most useful for adjusting the relative signal levels of the right and left channels in stereo source material. In this model, moving from the center to a side, the opposite side starts at a base dB level (either 0 dB, -3 dB, or -6 dB) and decays to no signal level. The signal in the side you are panning towards starts at the base dB level (either 0 dB, -3 dB, or -6 dB) and increases to 0 dB. This panning model uses a linear panning curve.
• The
Constant Power
panning model is most useful for panning mono source material. As you move the fader from side to side, this model creates the illusion of the source moving around the listener from one side to the other in a semi-circle. This model uses a constant-power panning curve.
Assigning audio tracks to assignable effects chains
This feature is available only in the full version of Vegas software.
Assignable effects chains are made up of one or more plug-ins that are used to add audio effects to a track’s signal. You can adjust the level of a track that is sent to an assignable effects chain using the multipurpose slider in the track list. The multipurpose slider can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall
1.
Click the Automation Settings button and verify Show Automation
Controls is not selected.
2.
Click the label on the multipurpose slider to display a drop-down list.
3.
Choose the assignable effects chain that the track will use.
4.
Drag the slider to adjust the level of the track sent to the assignable effects chain.
Note: Assignable effect sends are post-volume by default.
To change to pre-volume, right-click the multipurpose slider and choose Pre Volume from the shortcut menu.
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Assigning audio tracks to busses
If your project contains multiple busses, you can assign a track to a specific bus.
This feature is available only in the full version of Vegas software.
1.
Click the
Bus
button ( ) in the track list to display a drop-down list of available busses. This button
2.
From the drop-down list, choose the bus for the track’s output.
Select a bus for playback
Adjusting bus send levels
When a track is routed to a bus, you can control the level of tracks sent to the bus using the multipurpose slider. The multipurpose slider in the track header can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall send
1.
Click the Automation Settings button and verify Show Automation Controls is not selected.
2.
Click the label on the multipurpose slider and choose an assignable effects chain from the menu.
3.
Drag the FX fader to control the level of the track sent to each of the assignable FX chains that you have created. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume.
You can hold
Ctrl
while dragging a fader to adjust the setting in finer increments, or double-click the fader to return it to 0 dB.
If multiple tracks are selected, the trim level of all selected tracks is adjusted.
Note: Bus sends are pre-volume by default. To change to post-volume, right-click the multipurpose slider and choose
Post Volume from the shortcut menu.
For more information, see Adjusting a bus send level on page 186
or Assigning audio tracks to assignable effects chains on page 188 .
Note: Multiple busses and assignable effects are only available in the full version of Vegas software.
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Adjusting the composite level (video only)
The Level slider in the track header determines the opacity of the video track. The slider can function as a trim control that adjusts the overall opacity of the track, or it can adjust track composite level automation
settings. For more information, see Adjusting the composite level automation settings on page 161 .
The trim level is added to the composite level automation settings so your envelope is preserved, but with a boost or cut applied. For example, setting the trim control to -3% has the same effect as decreasing every envelope point by 3%.
1.
Click the Automation Settings button and verify Show Automation Controls is not selected.
2.
Drag the slider to control the transparency or blending of each track. Left is
100% transparent and right is 100% opaque. You can also double-click the percent to enter a specific value.
Selecting the compositing mode
Click the
Parent Overlay Mode
or
Compositing Mode
button and choose a mode from the menu to determine how the transparency in a video track is generated. Since lower tracks show through higher tracks, it is the compositing mode of the higher track that determines how much of the lower track shows though. The compositing mode of the lowest video track adjusts its transparency against the background.
For more information, see Compositing on page 248 .
Parent Overlay Mode
Compositing Mode
Bypassing motion blur envelopes (video only)
This feature is available only in the full version of Vegas software.
If you applied a motion blur envelope to your video bus track (available only in the full version of Vegas software), this envelope affects all tracks. You can select specific tracks to bypass this envelope by clicking a track’s Bypass Motion Blur button ( ). For more information on motion blur envelopes, see
Adding a motion blur envelope on page 162
.
Using track motion (video only)
Use the Track Motion button ( ) to move a video track over another track (i.e., picture-in-picture). For more
information on adding track motion, see
Adding track motion on page 281 .
Phase inverting a track (audio only)
This feature is available only in the full version of Vegas software.
The
Invert Track Phase
button ( ) inverts the audio track at its baseline, in effect reversing its polarity.
Inverting a track, while creating little audible difference, is occasionally useful for matching transitions when mixing audio on separate tracks or fine-tuning a crossfade.
You can also phase invert an audio event. If an event on a track is inverted and you invert the track, the
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Muting a track
The
Mute
button ( ) in the track list temporarily suspends playback of the track so that you can focus on another track. When a track is muted, it appears grayed out on the track view. You can mute more than one track at a time. The
Mute
To mute a track, click the Automation Settings button and verify Show Automation Controls is not selected. Next, click the Mute button.
To mute several tracks, select the tracks and click the Mute button on any of the selected tracks. Click the
Mute button again to restore the track(s).
Tip: Press
Ctrl
and click the Mute button to mute only the selected track (and restore any other muted tracks). If the selected track is already muted, press
Ctrl
and click the
Mute button to restore all tracks.
When you have multiple levels of parent and child tracks, clicking the
Mute button on a parent track mutes the parent track and its compositing children.
In the sample track list, muting track 1 will mute tracks 1 through 6. Muting track 4 will mute tracks 4 through 6.
Muting all audio or video tracks
You may mute either all audio or all video tracks in a project. From the
Options menu, choose
Mute All Audio
or
Mute All Video
.
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Soloing a track
The Solo button ( ) in the track list isolates a track’s events for playback. This allows you to focus on a track’s contents without the distraction of other tracks. You can solo more than one track at a time.
To solo a track, click the Solo button on that track. To solo several tracks, select the tracks and click the Solo button on any of the selected tracks. Click the Solo button again to restore the track(s) for playback.
Tip: Press
Ctrl
and click the Solo button to solo only the selected track (and restore any other soloed tracks). If the selected track is already soloed, press
Ctrl
and click the Solo button to restore all tracks.
When you have multiple levels of parent and child tracks, clicking the Solo button on a parent track solos the parent track and its compositing children.
Other nonsoloed tracks at the same compositing level are bypassed.
In the sample track list, soloing track 1 will solo tracks 1 through 6.
Soloing track 4 will solo tracks 4 through 6. Tracks 2 and 3 are bypassed, and tracks 1 and 7 play normally.
Setting default track properties
You can use the settings of a selected track to determine the default settings for all new tracks in your project. Properties that can be set appear in the Set Default Track Properties dialog.
1.
Set up a track in your project with the properties to use as default settings for new tracks.
2.
Right-click the track number and choose Set Default Track
Properties . The Set Default Track Properties dialog appears.
3.
Select the check boxes that you want to set as defaults.
4.
Click OK .
Any new tracks created in the project will have these defaults. To return to the original settings for new tracks, select the Restore original defaults check box in the Set Default Track Properties dialog.
Track automation envelopes
Track automation envelopes allow you to control volume, audio panning, opacity, and fade to color effects of
a particular track over time. For more information, see Working with track envelopes on page 163 .
Note: Automation recording is available only in the full version of Vegas software. In Vegas Movie Studio and Vegas movie Studio Platinum software, you can insert volume, mute, and panning envelopes and edit the envelopes in the timeline.
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Using audio bus tracks
This feature is available only in the full version of Vegas software.
From the View menu, choose Audio Bus Tracks to toggle the display of audio bus tracks at the bottom of the track view. An audio bus track exists for each bus or assignable effects chain in your project and serves as a timeline representation of each bus or assignable effects chain.
Adding envelopes to an audio bus track
Adding volume, panning, and effect automation envelopes to a bus track is just like adding an envelope to a
standard track. For more information, see Composite level automation (video only) on page 161 .
Adding effects to audio bus tracks
Click the Bus FX button ( ) in the bus track header to add or edit bus effects. If there are no effects on the bus, clicking this button displays the Plug-In Chooser. If an audio bus already has effects assigned, clicking this button displays the Audio Plug-In window.
Clicking this button has the same effect as clicking the button on a bus control in the Mixer window or the
Video Preview window.
If the bus effects chain includes plug-ins with automatable parameters, the Bus FX button is displayed as a
.
Muting or soloing an audio bus track
Click the
Mute
( ) or
Solo
( ) button in the bus track header to mute or solo a bus.
Clicking these buttons on a bus track has the same effect as clicking the buttons on a bus control in the
Mixer window.
Resizing audio bus tracks
You can drag the horizontal splitter between the track list and bus tracks to increase or decrease the space allocated to bus tracks. Perform any of the following actions to resize individual bus tracks:
• Drag a bus track's bottom border to set its height.
• Click Minimize ( ) to minimize a track vertically.
• Click Maximize ( ) to zoom in vertically so a bus track fills the lower portion of the timeline.
• After minimizing or maximizing a bus track, click either button again to return a bus track to its previous height.
• Press
Ctrl
+
Shift
+ / when the bus track area has focus to resize all bus tracks at once.
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Using video bus tracks
This feature is available only in the full version of Vegas software.
From the View menu, choose Video Bus Track to toggle the display of the video bus track at the bottom of the track view. A single bus track exists as a timeline representation of the main video output.
You can use bus tracks to animate video output effects using keyframes, add motion blur envelopes, or video supersampling envelopes.
Adding keyframes to the video bus track
Adding keyframes to the video bus track is just like working with any other video track. Use video bus track keyframes to animate video output effects. For information on adding keyframes, see
Using keyframe animation on page 273 .
Adding envelopes to the video bus track
You can add fade-to-color, motion blur amount, and video supersampling envelopes to the video bus track to
affect your video output. For more information, see Working with track envelopes on page 163 .
Adding effects to video bus tracks
Click the Video Output FX button ( ) in the bus track header to add or edit video output effects. If there are no video output effects, clicking this button displays the Plug-In Chooser. If you've already set up video output effects, clicking the button displays the Video Output FX window.
Muting the video output
Click the Mute button ( ) in the bus track header to mute all video output.
Bypassing video effects and envelopes
Click the Bypass FX and Envelopes button ( ) in the bus track header to bypass all video output effects and bus track envelopes.
Resizing video bus tracks
You can drag the horizontal splitter between the track list and bus tracks to increase or decrease the space allocated to bus tracks. Perform any of the following actions to resize individual bus tracks:
• Drag a bus track's bottom border to set its height.
• Click Minimize ( ) to minimize a track vertically.
• Click Maximize ( ) to zoom in vertically so a bus track fills the lower portion of the timeline.
• After minimizing or maximizing a bus track, click either the Minimize or Maximize button again to restore a bus track to its previous height.
• Press
Ctrl
+
Shift
+ / when the bus track area has focus to resize all bus tracks at once.
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Rendering to a new track
Rendering or mixing multiple tracks to a single track can be a good method of decreasing the complexity of a project and speeding up future renders. The original tracks and their events are unaffected when you render
(mix) to a single track.
Typically, you would use this feature when you are finished refining a few tracks and want to combine them.
When you render multiple tracks, any envelope or track effects that you have applied are rendered into the new track. The original source files remain unaffected and the new track(s) are saved to a new file.
Working in DV format on page 234 .
Note: Every video render that uses compression results in a loss of quality from the original source material. To minimize loss of quality, minimize the number of video renders that use compression.
1.
Click the Solo button ( ) for the tracks that you want to mix down. If no tracks are soloed, the rendered track will match the Master Bus output. Create a time selection if you want to mix down a portion of your project.
Video tracks will be rendered into a single video track, and audio tracks will be rendered into a single stereo audio track.
2.
From the Tools menu, choose Render to New Track or press appears.
Ctrl + M
. The Render to New Track dialog
3.
Complete the dialog as follows:
• From the Save in drop-down list, select the drive or folder to save the new media file.
• Type a file name in the File name box.
• From the Save as type drop-down list, choose the file format (e.g., .wav for audio or .avi for video).
• From the Template drop-down list, choose a format from the template list. Alternately, click Custom to
• Select Render loop region only if you only want to render the time selection area.
• Select Stretch video to fill output frame size (do not letterbox) to adjust the aspect ratio so the output frame is filled on all edges. When the check box is cleared, the current aspect ratio is maintained and black borders are added to fill the extra frame area (letterboxing).
4.
Click Save to render to a new track.
As the tracks are being rendered (mixed down), a small dialog appears displaying the progress of the render. A status bar also appears in the lower-left portion.
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Tip: You can cancel the rendering process by clicking the
Cancel
button on the status bar.
After the new track is rendered, it appears at the top of the track view. If you render the entire project, you may delete (or mute) the other tracks from the project, since they are all contained on the new track.
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Key Features
- Real-time video preview
- Advanced audio editing capabilities
- Multi-camera editing
- Motion tracking
- Color correction and grading
- DVD and Blu-ray authoring
- Support for a wide range of file formats
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