Getting started in Vegas

wbtczn wrote on 5/21/2004, 3:06 PM

I've downloaded the trial version of Vegas 5.0. I am a novice to video editing, so I don't know if this is just too much tool for me or not. The problem is, I don't know how to figure out what I need.

I've transferred a video from my Sony camera into Vegas, but now what do I do? It transfered fine. However, when I hit the play button I hear a beep in the audio every five seconds or so.

Are there any places on the web that can tell me how to get started in editing this video? My eventual goal is to write it to a DVD.

I'm suffering from information overload!!! Please help!!!!

Thanks!

Comments

jwall wrote on 5/21/2004, 3:22 PM

You'll find Vegas is quite simple to learn. Begin by exploring the manual. If that's too intimidating, pick up a few tutorials:
These are especially good.

Redio wrote on 5/21/2004, 4:31 PM

I agree with jwall. Edwards newsletter will help you.

But I bought Gary Kleiners DVDset and have learned a lot from them. The only thing I did wrong was that I bought them 1 year after I bought Vegas.

Douglas has also some good learningDVDs have I heard.

You can find link to those here http://www.jetdv.com/tts/forums.htm
with links to all the other Vegas resourcer om the Web.

Hope it can help you.

Rune

Hunter wrote on 5/21/2004, 4:47 PM

The beeping you here is coming from Vegas, it's part of trial. Full version will not have the beeping.

Hunter

wbtczn wrote on 5/21/2004, 6:44 PM

Thanks for the input...I looked at the manual. It tells how to do some things, but not why. For instance - why you would write out an MPEG file vs. an AVI (or whatever). Or what the different settings mean.

Hunter -- thanks for the heads up on the beeping. Would that stay in the recording if I rendered it?

anthony-chiappette wrote on 5/21/2004, 8:04 PM

Depending on what you plan to do with the rendered video (the end result), you can save it to different formats. The basic rule of thumb I follow when I want to capture my home videos for creating DVD's is

1) Capture to DV-AVI (highest quality digital format AFAIK). Vegas only captures to DV-AVI anyway, and it's the best format for editing your videos. It also uses the most hard disc space.

2) When I make all my edits, titles, etc, I render (save) it to an MPEG2 file. The advantage to this is that MPEG2 video files are the DVD standard format. When using your DVD burning app, the video portion of the file will not have to be re-rendered again.

Generally, if you are not sure of what the settings mean, you should always pick the predefined templates to render your files. For instance, if you want to use your videos to create a DVD, use the NTSC DVD (or PAL DVD) setting and don't change anything.

There are other formats for saving files, with vastly different quality results and files size types. Generally, the smaller the size of the file, the lesser the video quality.

busterkeaton wrote on 5/21/2004, 10:11 PM

http://www.blue7media.com/vegas/

Is a list of Vegas related web pages. You may want to start looking around the web to find basic video tutorials. As noted in your other post, Screenblast may be better for you than Vegas.

You should also check Screenblast.com which is a subscription service from Sony to learn how to use your software, talk with other users, post your videos, get tips and tricks from pros, download files and templates. You should check it out. They are currently offereing a free 30-day trial.

http://www.screenblast.com/main/content_assets/html/rID_000000_lm.html

garo wrote on 5/21/2004, 10:39 PM

IMO - D.S. Eagle "Vegas 4 Editing Work Shop" makes Sceenblaster redundent since you get into Vegas very fast .... even if it's not V5 you can pick up on the new features here in this forum.
Specific questions are always the best. Play with the program and when you hit the curb or run into a bump let us know and w'll all jump in and fix it!

//Garo

wbtczn wrote on 5/22/2004, 1:26 PM

Busterkeaton -- thanks for the reference to the Screenblast site. I'll go there next.

Garo -- thanks for the guidance, too. I know specifics are better. I've got to get to the point where I'm not feeling so overwhelmed...then I can get my thoughts together to ask better questions!!!