I have a hour long video that i want to edit down to 80 mins

Umm... 60 to 80 would be UP. You're adding 20 minutes?

I keep cutting it and it's still too short!

Mario

Good catch, Edward. I read it as 80 mins to an hour, not the other way around. Oops.

oops i meant to say a 4 hour video :)

wow...auto rippling is cool, i'll be using this often now.

i still wonder...is there a post script that will auto ripple the entire file after we have finished cutting and deleting.

Watch out. It can screw you up, too. You have to know when to shut it off or you may be sorry.

I'm not aware of a post script that will auto ripple everything, but there is a post gap removal on the VASST site. Do a search for "Ripple" and grab the script from Klaymen.

jest a little more about ripple...

bkground - I've been editing non-linear since the year "1" -

Ripple is DANGEROUS - I have turned the icon off, permanently.

If you ripple by mistake, in any way, you can knock the sync out of a whole project, and not realize it for dozens of other cuts - it's a horrible mess. In the heat of editing, I'd continually forget to turn the Ripple Icon OFF after using it - after 10 minutes, I'd discover the mess - YIKES.

But ripple is also one of the best tools around - I use it continually - how??
Well the design crew at Vegas were decent enough to implement a key shortcut to ripple with (learned this neato trick at a VASST edit seminar - made the whole trip worthwhile).

Split the front and the back of the stuff you want to eliminate.
Double click the "bad" stuff to select.
Delete the selection.
Type "F" to close up that track and everything behind it. (a simple track ripple)
or
Type "CTRL-F" to ripple everything behind the selection on EVERY track - this maintains sync throughout the show. (multi-track ripple)
or
Type "Shift-CTRL-F" to ripple all tracks plus all markers and any other garbage you may have on the timeline.

Personally, I'd never use a script to ripple a whole show - too many chances for cumulated errors - AND - if you've got a lot of "ripple" work to do, make sure you continually "Save As" with version numbers: ie, Job v-1, Ripple, ripple ripple, Job v-2, etc. Rippling is an awesome time saver, but it can be fraught with disaster, and so you always want a way to step back in time.

Hope this is all understandable - definitely check it out.
v.

I use ripple to move blocks of things on the T/L, to make some space on the right so I can build my thing block by block.
More like a "wipe tool", constantly turned on an off.
My next step would be to give it a different keystroke combination because I need my two hands to type ctrl+L... I'd like it just to use the left hand to switch it on and off.
In fact, I'll do it right now since I've been thinking about it the whole week, always procrastinating because I was in a session... :)

Edit: oops... impossible to assign new key combo to Auto Ripple. Just to Edit Ripple...

I definitely agree with Vic here. You must be very selective with the way in which you utilize it. Here's a specific example of how you can get in a REAL big mess.

Track motion keyframes!!!

You might move a clip and then do a FULL ripple. Perhaps this clip (or one affected by the ripple) has some track motion keyframes. There are many times I'll have some keyframes just slightly before the start if a clip (one to keep the track motion steady from the prior setting and one to set the next event up ready for it's new position). Unless you are very careful what will happen is that you'll end up with keyframes in some unexpected positions. The result can be chaos.

I DO use post edit ripple a lot... but I very carefully check on all the tracks for keyframes that might just get messed around with prior to doing things. Many times I'll temporarily move the keyframes past the post-edit ripple effect point so they end up staying with the clips I need them to stay with (if you get what I mean). then after the ripple I go back and move the keyframes manually where I need them again. This sounds like a lot of work (but mostly that is probably because I am not really explaining this well :-)