Sony Vegas Pro Instruction Manual

Serial number for product registration:

To register on-line with Sonic Foundry, please follow the steps outlined in the registration wizards upon installation of this product.

Registering your product will provide you with technical support, notification of product updates, and special promotions exclusive only to Vegas Pro registered users.

Registration is required within 7 days of installation or your product will expire.

Sonic Foundry product registration helps protect against software copyright infringement and allows us to provide support exclusively to registered users.

If you do not have access to the Internet, registration assistance (in English) is available (Monday through Friday, 7:00 am-10:00 pm CST).

• In the North America, phone: 1-800-577-6642.

• From outside North America, phone: 800-000-76642.

• Fax in the US: 1-608-256-7300. Fax outside the US: 001-608-256-7300.

Sonic Foundry, Inc.

754 Williamson Street Madison, WI 53703

Sales/Customer Service Only (in North America): 1-800-57-SONIC Technical Support: 608-256-5555 Fax: 608-256-7300

Sonic Foundry Europe

PO Box 2903 2601 CX Delft Netherlands

The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not represent a co mm i tme nt o n the par t of Soni c F oun d ry. The software descr ibed i n this manual is provid ed under t he term s of a lic ense a greement or non-dis closur e agr eement. T he software license agreement specifies the terms and conditions for its lawful use. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means f or any pur p ose other than the p urchaser’s personal use, wit ho ut wri tte n p erm i ssi on from Sonic Foun d ry, Inc.

Sonic Foundry and Vegas Pro are trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. All other products mention ed in th is manual are tradem arks o r regi st ere d tra d ema rk s of the ir respective holders.

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Welcome to Sonic Foundry Vegas Pro™. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

System requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Web site support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Email support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Fax support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Telephone support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Installing Vegas Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Starting Vegas Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Using the shortcut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Using the Start button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Serial number and activation code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Registration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Registering online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Registering via the telephone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Using the online help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Accessing help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Main window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Marker bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Ruler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Track List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Transport bar controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Scrub control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Window Docking Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Keyboard command reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Signal Flow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Media Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

What type of media can you use?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Starting a project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Finding media files to use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Previewing a media file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Placing a media file on a track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Placing a event on the Video Ruler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Audio event basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Moving events along the timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Track navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Track Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

View buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Track FX button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Bus assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Arm for Record button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Mute button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Solo button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Scribble Strip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Volume fader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Multipurpose slider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Video event basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Moving the video event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Removing the video’s audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Playing back the project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Play back within Vegas Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Previewing to media player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Using project properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Saving the project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Saving your project the first time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Renaming or rendering a project (using Save As...) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Rendering a Vegas project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Getting the tutorial folder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Using the Explorer window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Placing the video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Displaying the Video Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Playing back the video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Placing the new voice-over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Aligning new voice-over with video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Editing the voice-over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Locking the original audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Editing a time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Splitting an event using time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Editing an event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Aligning the remaining voice-over events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Grouping the voice-over and video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Working with the music bed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Placing the music bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Adding a volume envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Setting the volume envelope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Adding equalization (EQ) to the voice-over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Saving a Vegas project (*.veg). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Rendering the project as an *.avi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Setting the format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Applying compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

General Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Using the cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Editing event and time selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Selecting multiple events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Selecting a time range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Selecting events and a time range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Basic event editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Copying events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Pasting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Cutting events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Trimming/Cropping events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Deleting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Using the Undo and Redo commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Undo command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Redo command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Clearing the edit history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Using project markers and regions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Working with markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Working with regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Working with command markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using a sound editor program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Setting up the sound editor program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Opening the sound editor from Vegas Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Advanced Audio Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Snapping events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Using the event snap offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Snapping to grid lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Snapping to markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Disable snapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Splitting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Using the Ripple Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Cutting events in ripple mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Deleting events in ripple mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Pasting events in ripple mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Accessing event properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Changing the active take’s name. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Using the pitch shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Setting event switches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Using event switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Muting an event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Locking an event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Looping an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Normalizing an event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Using event envelopes (ASR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Setting an event’s volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Setting an event’s fade in and out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Crossfading events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Automatic crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Manually setting a crossfade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Changing crossfade curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Grouping events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Creating a new group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Removing an event from a group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Clearing a group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Using the Trimmer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Showing an event in the Trimmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Working in the Trimmer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Opening the sound editor from the Trimmer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Using the Edit details window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Viewing the Edit Details window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Customizing the Edit Details window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Working with Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Track basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Adding an empty track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Duplicating a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Deleting a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Naming or renaming a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Organizing tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Reordering tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Changing a track’s color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Changing track height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Working with tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Using the track fader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Muting a track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Soloing a track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Assigning a track to a bus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Assigning a track to an auxiliary bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Assigning tracks to an Assignable FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Setting up to record into tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Using Track FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Creating a track plug-in chain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Arranging the plug-in’s chain order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Removing plug-ins from a chain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Saving plug-in chains as presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

Vegas Pro plug-in reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Using the Equalization (EQ) plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Using the Compression plug-in. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Using Noise Gate plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Using the Dither plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Using track envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Adding a volume envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Hiding the volume envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Removing track volume envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Adding a panning envelope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Hiding the panning envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Removing track panning envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Mixing multiple tracks to a single track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Using the Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Using the Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Viewing the Mixer window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Using the Mixer tool bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Using the Mixer Preview fader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Using busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Adding busses to the project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Deleting busses from the project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Routing busses to hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Working with busses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Adding plug-in chains to busses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Arranging bus plug-ins on the chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Deleting plug-ins from the bus chain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Using Assignable FX controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Adding Assignable FX controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Arranging Assignable FX plug-ins on the chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Routing Assignable FX to busses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Working with Assignable FX controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Working with preset plug-in chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Creating new preset plug-in chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Editing preset plug-in chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Organizing your plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199

Setting up your equipment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Basic setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Setup with mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Setup with digital multitrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Arming the track for recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Using the Sound Mapper for stereo or mono recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Assigning tracks to input devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Starting and stopping recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Recording into an empty track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Recording into a time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Recording into an event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Recording into an event with a time selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Working with multiple recorded takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Previewing takes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Choosing an active take after loop recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Renaming an event take. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Deleting an event take. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Specifying where recordings are stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Saving and Rendering projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Saving your project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

Creating a copy of a project (using Save As...). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Rendering projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Rendering to an audio format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Rending to a video format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Rending to a streaming media format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Using rendering format controls and templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Using *.aif controls and templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Using *.wav controls and templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Using *.mp3 controls and templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Using *.wma controls and templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Using *.avi controls and templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Using *.asf controls and templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Using *.rm controls and templates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Customizing Vegas Pro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Dockable Vegas Pro windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Docking a window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Using the Explorer window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Managing your media files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Using the Explorer window Transport bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Changing the Explorer window views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Changing the Ruler settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

Grid spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Working with the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Moving the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Resizing the Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Hiding and displaying the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Reordering the Toolbar buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Adding buttons to the Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Removing buttons from the Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Using the Time Display window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Changing the Time Display window’s settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Changing the Time Displays colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Setting the Time Display to monitor MIDI time code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Working with project properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Using the Summary properties tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Using the Audio properties tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Using the Video properties tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Using the Ruler properties tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Using Vegas Pro preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Viewing the Preferences dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Using the General preferences tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Using the Routing preferences tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Using the Audio preferences tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Setting advanced audio preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Using the Sync. preferences tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Setting advanced Sync. preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

Why are some of my DirectX plug-ins not working correctly?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Why do I hear gaps in my audio playback? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Why can't I get my other DirectX plug-ins to work as Track effects? . . . . . . . . . . 283

MPEG and Quicktime Video Audio/Video Synchronization Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Some AVI's that open in Windows Media Player don't open in Vegas Pro . . . . 284

Why does a mono event increase 6 dB

when panning a track hard to either side? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

CHAPTER

Introduction

Welcome to Sonic Foundry Vegas Pro™

Sonic Foundry introduces Vegas Pro, an innovative and advanced multitrack media editing system. Vegas Pro was designed to create an efficient audio/vi deo production environment without sacrificin g the quality and processing power that you expect from Sonic Foundry.

Vegas Pro removes the barriers commonly found between your creativity and sophisticated multitrack recording and editing. Whether it’s the standard and familiar Windows navigatio n co mm an d s, or the cl ea n and uncl u tte red interface thro ugho u t, you’ll find Vegas Pro a tool that will be mastered in minutes. But don’t let that fool you. Beneath the Vegas Pro unique and customizable interface, you’ll find a product so powerful and flexible, you’ll forget you’ve just completed your project in half the time.

This table lists some of the features available in Vegas Pro, the perfect multitrack media editing system for your studio or production environment:

Non-destructive editing Unlimited tracks Unlimited undo/redo Multiple file formats (.wav/.aif) on a single track Automatic crossfade functionality EQ and compressor inserts available on every track Quick-edit media trimmer with direct link to *.wav editor Loop recording Plug-In manager Real time event resampling 32 assignable DirectX FX sends Audio/video scrub control DirectX Plug-In support Video preview window Dual processor support Edit detail list management Multiple I/O support 24-bit/96 kHz MIDI Time Code generate & chase 26 Auxiliary outputs Dual monitor support Internet streaming file authoring (Windows Media Technologies 4.0 and RealNetworks G2) Imports: .wav, .aif, .avi, .mov (using Microsoft DirectShow), .mpg (video), .bmp

CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION

Simultaneous multitrack record & play

Ability to incorporate timeline metadata (markers/ captions) for Internet content authoring Exports: .wav, .aif, .avi, .wma, .asf, .rm, .mp3 (with optional plug-in)

System requirements

Your system’s components affect how well Vegas Pro per form s.

Common

• Micros oft® Windows™ 9x or NT 4.0

• CD-ROM drive

• 20 MB hard -di sk space for program inst al la tio n

• Windows-compatible sound card

• Internet Explorer™ 4.0 (included on CD-ROM) or later to view online help

Minimum

• 200 MHz processor

• VGA display

• 32 MB RAM

• DirectX Media 6.0 (included on CD-ROM) or later

Technical Support

If you experi en ce p rob le ms or hav e q uestions while us in g Vegas Pro, there are a few ways to get the information that you need fr om Sonic Fou ndry: Web site support, Email support, Fax support, and Telephone support.

Web site support

Visit our Web site at www.sonicfoundry.com/support. You will find technical information, reference information , pr ogra m updates, tips and tricks, and a Frequently Asked Questi ons (FAQ) archive.

Email support

Send your questions or comments to support@sonicfoundry.com. Our Technical Support Departm en t wi ll res pon d to you withi n 3 6 busi ne ss ho urs.

INTRODUCTION CHP. 1

Fax support

Send your quest ions or comments via fax 24 hours a day at (608) 256-7300. You will receive a response with in 36 busi n ess ho urs.

Telephone support

Our technical support representatives are available Monday-Friday from 8am to 7pm (CST) at (608) 256-5555.

Before You Call Support

Before you contact our technical support department, we ask that you do the following:

• Check to see if your question may be answered in the manual or online help.

• Use a telephone that is near the computer where V egas Pro is installed.

• Make sure you have regi st ered the prod uct. For more information, see Registration on page

15.

Installing Vegas Pro

Before you install Vegas Pro, we recommend that you exit all open programs and temporarily disable any virus protection.

Insert the Vegas Pro CD-ROM. The Vegas Pro Installation screen appears (if CD-ROM AutoPlay is enabled).

If the CD-ROM AutoPlay is disabled, click on the button and choose Run.

In the Run window that appears, type the CD-ROM drive’s letter and add

:\setup.exe.

Click the OK button to start th e in stal lati o n.

Click Install Software. The installation process begins.

Follow the screen prompts and enter the necessary information when required.

•Use the button to continue the installation.

•Use the button to suspend the installatio n and review previous screen pro mpts.

•Use the button to terminate the installation process.

At the last screen p ro m pt , clic k the b utto n to conclude the installation.

CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION

Starting Vegas Pro

Starting Vegas Pro is exactly the same as starting most Windows programs that you may use already. After Vegas Pro has been installed on your computer, there are two ways to start the program.

Using the shortcut

You may have noticed a new icon on your desktop ( ) upon completion of the installation procedure. This icon is a shortcut to the Vegas Pro program located on your hard drive. By

double-clicking on this icon, you will start Vegas Pro directly from the desktop.

Using the Start button

The second method to start also allows you to start Vegas Pro right from the desktop. This procedure is exactly the same as other Windows-based programs.

Click the button on the task bar. The Start menu appears.

From the Start menu, choose Programs. The Programs list menu appears.

This graphic displays the default location where Vegas Pro was installed. If you specified a different directory during installation, then navigate to that directory via this menu.

From the Programs menu, choose Sonic Foundry Vegas. A sub-menu appears.

From the sub-menu, choose Sonic Foundry Vegas to start the program. The registration dialog window appears. (Once you register Vegas Pro, this dialog will not appear again.)

Enter either the serial or activation code here

Enter either the serial number or the activation code and click to start using Vegas Pro. (The serial number is located on the title page of the manual.)

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Serial number and activation code

The first time yo u start Vegas Pro, the regi stra ti on dial o g app ea rs. You need to enter either the serial number or the activation code. Either number will start Vegas Pro so that you may immediately begin your first project.

The serial number allows you to run Vegas Pro for 7 days. After the 7 days expire, Vegas Pro will time out. If you purchased Vegas Pro, you can receive your activation code by registering either onlin e or by telep h o ne.

Note:

If you have started a project and Vegas Pro times out, you will not lose the project. It will be available when you start the program after you have registered, received, and entered your activation code.

An activatio n code is based on the Com puter ID number where Vegas Pro is loaded . Each computer has a unique number, similar to a license plate. An activation code is created based on that unique number. W hen you register V egas Pro, Sonic Foundry will generate an activation code for you. Once the activation code is entered, Vegas Pro will not time out; it is yours. Because the activation code is based on the Computer ID, it is important that you have Vegas Pro loaded on the computer where you will be using it.

The Computer ID is a utomatically detected and provided to you when you install Vegas Pro.

Registration

The registration dialog that appears when you start Vegas Pro allows you to quickly and easily register to get your activation code. Y ou may register via the Sonic Foundry web site or via the telephone.

Registering online

When you register online, your activation code is sent to your email address within minutes after you complete and submit the online registration form.

To regist er o nlin e, do the f ollowing:

Select the second radio button labeled I would like to register online.

Click the but ton. Your internet browser automa tical l y star ts (if it is not alre ady running) and the Sonic Foundry online registration form app ea rs.

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Fill in the form’s required fields, which are indicated with an asterisk (*). You will notice that some o f the inform ati o n is alr ead y inserted for you, most no tab ly the Computer ID numbe r.

Make sure that your email address is entered correctly. This address is where the activation code will be sent.

Submit the form to register. In a few minutes, your activation code is sent to your email address.

Copy the activation code from the email message and past e it into the registrati on fiel d on the V egas Pro Registration dialog.

Click the button to activate Vegas Pro and become a fully registered customer.

Registering via the telephone

When you register via telephone, a Customer Service Representative will help you to obtain your activation code.

To register via telephone, do the following.

Select the third radio button labeled I would like to register over the phone.

Click the button. A new dialog will appear with a field where you will enter the activation code. Your Computer ID number appears below this field.

Enter activation code

Computer ID number

When the Customer Service Representative gives you the activation code, type it in the field.

Click the button to activate Vegas Pro and become a fully registered customer.

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Using the online help

Vegas Pro includes HTML online help. To view the online help, you need to have Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher loaded on your syste m (included on the Vegas Pro CD-ROM).

Accessing help

The online help is available in two forms: in a Main help window or What’s This? help window. Both forms are available via the keyboard or the

Main help window

The Main help window is accessed either by choosing Contents and Index from the Help menu or pressing the key. This window has three tabs that you can use to find the

information that you need.

Toolbar Contents

tab

Information pane

Help menu.

Index tab

Search tab

The

Contents tab provides a categoriz ed listing of available help topics. Click on the book

( ), then on the topic page ( ) you want information about.

Index tab provides a comple te lis tin g of the help topi cs avai l abl e. Use the scro l l bar to

The scroll through the lis t of avai lable topics or type a word in the text field to quickly locate

topics related to the word. Sele ct the topic and click the button. The

Search tab allows you to enter a keyword and display all of the topics in the online help

that contain the keyword you have entered. Type a keyword in the text field and click on the button. Select the topic from the list and click the button.

What’s This? help

What’s This? help allows you to view pop-up window descriptions for Vegas Pro menus, buttons, and d ia log bo x es. Choose

What's This? from t h e Help menu or press the

Shift + F1

keys, and then click on any Vegas Pro item. To use What’s This? help in a dialog box, click on the question mark ( ) in the upper -rig ht hand c orner of t he dialog box, then on an it em.

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Tip of the Day

The Tip of the Day displays functional tips to increase your productivity with Vegas Pro. T o view and scroll through the Tip of the Day messages, choose

Tip of the Day from the Help

menu.

PDF manual

There is a mor e cu rren t ma nu al av ai lab le on the Vegas Pro CD-ROM. The PDF man u al contains information that was written during this manual’ s press time. T o view this manual,

you will need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader (also included on the Vegas Pro CD-ROM).

Help on the web

Additional Vegas Pro help and in formation is available on the Sonic Foundry web site. Choose

Sonic Foundry on the Web from the Help menu to view a listing of web pages

pertain ing to Vegas Pro and Sonic Foundry. If your browser is not already open, Vegas Pro will autom ati cal ly start it for you.

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Overview

Vegas Pro is designed to be an easy-to-use program with many tools that provide power and flexibilit y when creating and working wi th media files. As you w ill learn, many of the Ve gas Pro operation s, m enu it em s, and sho r tcu t k eys are co mm o n to oth er po pul ar softw are applications.

Vegas Pro is a unique and powerful program that gives you tremendous flexibility. The following section s are a graph ical tour of the Vegas Pro work area. Please tak e a mom ent to get familiar with the Vegas Pro interface. Many of the procedures in this manual use terminology found in these sections.

Main window

This is the window that appears when you open Vegas Pro. The work area is primarily three frames: the Track List, the Track View, and the Window Docking Area. The other parts of the interface are tools and features used while working with your project.

Window Docking Area

Menu Bar Toolbar

Time Display

Track List

Scrub Control

Explorer (shown) Mixer (shown) Trimmer Video preview

Video Ruler

Marker Bar Ruler

Track View

Transport Bar

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Toolbar

Marker bar

The Toolbar allows you to quickly access the most commonly-used functions and features in Vegas Pro.

Create new project Redo command

Open existing project Enable snapping to grid lines

Save project Automatic crossfades

Open project properties Ripple edits

Cut selected events or time range Edit tool

Copy selected events or time range Envelope tool

Paste items from clipboard into project Selection tool

Undo command Zoom tool

The Marke r ba r is the area wh ere info rm ati o na l tag s may be pla ced, nam ed , an d po siti on ed along the project’s timeline.

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Ruler

The Ruler is the timeline for your project. You may specify how the Ruler measures time: seconds, meas ur es and b eat s, fr am es, etc.

Right-click on Ruler

Track List

This list identifies the track order in your project. Each track’s controls are also available in the T rack List.

Track Number

Track controls

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Click

Track View

All arranging and editing is done in the Track View . This area contains all the project’s events.

Transport bar controls

The Transport bar co nta in s the playb a ck and cu rso r pos it ion in g but to ns freq uently used while working on your project.

Track View

Record into track Stop playback

Loop play back Move cursor to start of project

Play back from beginning of project Move cursor to end of project

Play back project from cursor position Move cursor left at grid increments

Pause project playback Move cursor right at grid increments

Scrub control

The Scrub control is us ed to play your pro ject forward or backward for editing purposes. You may adjust p layb ac k spee d by set ti ng th e Sp eed C ontro l Ma rk er loc ate d beneath the Sc rub control.

and drag either forwar

or backward for playback

Set playback speed

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Window Docking Area

This area allows you to keep frequently-used windows available, but out of the way while you are working with a pr oject. To dock a window, simply drag and drop it to the Docking Area. This area has three regions in which a window can be placed: right, middle, and left. As a result, the Do cki ng A rea ca n disp l ay up to thr ee windows at a time.

When windows are docked, they will either be displayed on top of the other windows, or each window’ s ta b will appe ar above the ta sk bar. Simply click the window’s tab to bring it to the top.

One window display

Two window display

Three window display

These windows are fully scalable to suit your needs.

Click a window’s tab to bring it to the top.

Explorer window

The Explorer w indow works similarly to the Windows 9x and NT file management Explorer included with your operati ng sys tem. Use the V egas Pro Explorer window to select media files to place into your projects.

Select drive or folder

Preview selected media file before you place it in the project

Select media to place in the project by dragging and dropping or double-clicking

CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION

Video Preview window

This window displays a project’s video event during project editing and playback. If a video event is not a placed in the project, you will see “--No Video--” in the center of this window.

Right-click to change Video Preview settings

Video will appear during project playback or as the cursor is moved during editing.

Trimmer window

The T r immer window is a good place to edit an audio event. When an event is placed in the Trimmer window, you may take portions of the event and place them on separate tracks by dragging and dropping. For more information, see Using the Trimmer window on page 120.

Trimmer window Transport bar

Mixer window

The Mixer window gives you access to your project’s properties, bus assignments, output levels, and plug-in chains.

Right-click on a meter to change its settings

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Keyboard command reference

Vegas Pro keyboard commands are shortcuts that you can use while working with your project.

Project file commands

These commands refer to the overall project.

Description Keys

Create new project Ctrl+N Open existing project or media file Ctrl+O Save project Ctrl+S Open project’s properties Alt+Enter

Window view commands

These commands display and hide the dockable windows included with Vegas Pro.

Description Keys Description Keys

Track view Alt+0 Edit Details Alt+4 Explorer Alt+1 Plug-ins Alt+5 Trimmer Alt+2 Video Preview Alt+6 Mixer Alt+3

Edit commands

These comm and s ref e r to the event ed i ting that you can use wh ile you are wo r king on a project.

Description Keys Description Keys

Undo Ctrl+Z or

Alt+Backspace

Redo Ctrl+Shift+Z Restore selection Backspace Cut selection Ctrl+X or

Shift+Delete

Copy selection Ctrl+C or

Ctrl+Insert

Paste from clipboard Ctrl+V or

Shift+Insert

Select all Ctrl+A Open in Sound Editor Ctrl+E

Unselect all Ctrl+Shift+A Mix to new Ctrl+M Delete selection Delete Mix to preview Ctrl+Shift+M Select left by grid marks Shift+Ctrl+PageUp Make a selection during play back I (in) and O

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Select right by grid marks Shift+Ctrl+Page

Down

Paste repeat from clipboard Ctrl+B

Split event(s) S

Trim/Crop selected events Ctrl+T

(out)

Cursor placement commands

These com mands refer to cu rsor nav i ga ti on wi th i n the Track View.

Description Keys Description Keys

Go to beginning of selection or view (if no selection) Go to end of selection or view (if no selection) Go to beginning of project Ctrl+Home Move left to marker(s) Ctrl+Left (arrow) Go to end of project Ctrl+End Move right to marker(s) Ctrl+Right (arrow) Move left by grid marks Page Up Move left to event edit

Move right by grid marks Page Down Move right to event edit

Go to Ctrl+G

Home or W Center in View \

End or E Swap on selection Num. pad 5

Ctrl+Alt+Left (arrow)

points including fade edges

Ctrl+Alt+Right (arrow)

points including fade edges

Playback commands

These com mands refer to the p layb ac k con trol s, wh ich are also found on the Transport bar.

Description Keys Description Keys

Start/stop playback Spacebar Pause Enter Stop playback Esc Record Ctrl+R Looped playback L Play back from any

window

Ctrl+Spacebar or F12

Event commands

These com mands refer to mo vi ng sel ec ted even ts.

Description Keys Description Keys

Move selected event(s) one pixel

Move selected event(s) one pixel Move selected event(s) up one track

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Right (arrow) number pad

Left (arrow) number pad Up (arrow) number pad

Move selected event(s) down one track

Move selected event(s) right on grid Ctrl+Right (arrow)

Move selected event(s) left on grid Ctrl+Left (arrow)

Down (arrow) number pad

number pad

Track view commands

These comm and s ref e r to edi ting f u nct ion s rel ated to the tracks in your proj ect .

Description Keys Description Keys

New audio track Ctrl+Q Group selected events G Enable/disable snapping F8 Mark in point I or [ Snap to markers Shift+F8 Mark out point O or ] Snap to grid Ctrl+F8 Insert/Remove track-volume envelope V Ripple edit mode Ctrl+L Insert/Remove track-panning envelope P Auto crossfade mode X Insert Region R

Edit tool selection D Insert Marker M Normal edit tool Ctrl+D Insert Command Marker C New audio track Ctrl+Q Group selected events G

View commands

These commands refer to magnification of tracks and the events contained on them.

Description Keys Description Keys

Increase track height Ctrl+Shift+Up

(arrow)

Decrease track height Ctrl+Shift+Down

(arrow)

Zoom in time (incremental) Up (arrow) Zoom in vertically Shift+Up (arrow)

Zoom out time (incremental) Down (arrow) Zoom out vertically Shift+Down (arrow)

Zoom out large increments or selection (if one exists) Zoom in large increments or selection (if one exists)

Ctrl+Down (arrow)

Ctrl+Up (arrow)

Miscellaneous commands

These commands allow you to access help related items and refresh the screen.

Description Keys Description Keys

Online help F1 Popup menu Shift+F10 What’s This? help Shift+F1 Refresh screen F5

CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION

Signal Flow

Audio event

Auxiliary send

ormalize event

Track FX

Pre/Post vol.

Track fader

Pan track

Mute track

Pre/Post vol.

Event ASR

Assignable FX send

Assignable FX

Input

Output

Chain

Mute

Bus Assign.

Bus Control

Master Fader

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Mute

Hardware output

+ 282 hidden pages

Sony Vegas Pro Instruction Manual

Introduction

Welcome to Sonic Foundry Vegas Pro™

System requirements

Common

Minimum

Recommended

Technical Support

Web site support

Email support

Fax support

Telephone support

Before You Call Support

Installing Vegas Pro

Starting Vegas Pro

Using the shortcut

Using the Start button

Serial number and activation code

Registration

Registering online

Registering via the telephone

Using the online help

Accessing help

Main help window

What’s This? help

Tip of the Day

PDF manual

Help on the web

Overview

Main window

Toolbar

Marker bar

Ruler

Track List

Track View

Transport bar controls

Scrub control

Window Docking Area

Explorer window

Video Preview window

Trimmer window

Mixer window

Keyboard command reference

Project file commands

Window view commands

Edit commands

Cursor placement commands

Playback commands

Event commands

Track view commands

View commands

Miscellaneous commands

Signal Flow