Hello, welcome to this video! We are going to see in a short time the
very basic features of the newest MAGIX Vegas Pro 15!
Vegas Pro 15 is one of the most professional video editing products
available on the market, which can be used to create customized film-like
videos, outstanding slideshows and video intros with special effects and
transitions inside.
We are going to check the very basics to start as a beginner, but do not
forget to check our full guide to discover all the advanced features!
We are also running a very special giveaway for Vegas Pro 15! Leave us a
comment in the video description by the 15th of November, explaining why
you would prefer Vegas Pro 15. The best comment will get a free full copy
of this software!
When opening Vegas Pro, the whole workspace opens, divided in two main
parts. On top you have several useful windows, such as the effects list,
the samples list and the Video Preview. In case you miss any of these,
you can reopen one by going to View and then to Window.
At the bottom of the workspace you have the project Timeline, which is
where you are going to work and manage your video.
To start working, you have to import all the needed files first, such as
videos, pictures or sound files. You can import these by dragging and
dropping them directly on the project Timeline, from any computer folder,
or from the Explorer window inside Vegas.
All the imported files are listed inside the Project Media window above,
and are represented as rectangular blocks called clips (or Events) inside
the Timeline. These are collected inside several rows, such as Video
Tracks, that welcome videos, pictures and text; and Audio Tracks, that
collect sound, music, speech and recordings. You can quickly insert new
Tracks, or remove one by right-clicking on a Video or an Audio Track.
All the clips are shown with their file name and with a background that
has the same color of the Track that contains it. They also show several
useful icons we will see through this guide. Right below the file name,
you get a quick representation of the clip, such as frame thumbnails for
videos and pictures, and one or more sound waveforms for sound files,
depending on the number of stereo channels. You can check these better
by zooming in and out with your mouse wheel.
To get a clear preview of the Timeline content, you have to use the Video
Preview window. This shows what your project looks like exactly where the
main playhead is placed on the Timeline. So you can check a particular
frame by clicking right above the Timeline, or check your project frame
by frame, by clicking and dragging the playhead.
To playback both frames and sound, you can use the player below the Video
Preview, or use the Enter and the Space bar keys.
Above the Video Preview you have some useful buttons. Use Project Video
Properties... to regulate the resolution and the frame rate of the Video
Preview. Consider that these settings will affect just the preview, and
not the final video you are going to render.
You can use the second button to preview in Fullscreen mode.
Use Preview Quality to regulate the preview quality. Make sure to set it
according to your computer specs: the higher the quality is, the slower
the preview may become.
You can use the last button on the right to export the actual video frame
as an image.
It is very useful to playback a particular part of your project
continuously in loop, especially while editing it. This is done by using
the Loop Region.
If you click and hold on while you drag, right above the Timeline, you
will create a blue highlighted region called Loop Region, which selects
a particular part of your project. So, when you enable Loop Playback at
the bottom, Vegas will playback that part continuously, as long as the
main playhead stays within in.
The Loop Region can be used to preview your project very quickly. In fact,
while you define the Loop Region, the playhead moves as well, so you can
check your project carefully through the Video Preview while editing,
although with no sound.
Now let's see how to edit clips with the most used Normal Edit Tool.
To move a clip in time within the same or on another track, just click and
drag it. You can also select multiple clips to move all of them in one
shot. To select multiple clips, you can click on each clip while holding
CTRL down, or use the Selection Edit Tool if there are a lot of clips to
select. In this case, just click and drag to create a selection area, that
will select all the clips that fall within it. To deselect, just click
elsewhere on the Timeline.
If you have videos with audio, you will move both frames and audio, since
they are grouped together. You can make them independent by selecting
the whole clip and then pressing the U key. When you move frames or audio,
these will be colored in red, highlighting that there is any time shift
between these, represented by the left red dialog box. To relink frames
with audio, just select both and use the G key.
When clips overlap in time, you have to pay attention to the Tracks order.
In fact, when two clips overlap, the clip that stays on a higher Track
is shown above all the clips that stay on lower tracks.
To split a clip in two, just place the playhead first, and then use the S
key.
To cut, copy and paste a clip, just select it, and use CTRL+X, CTRL+C and
CTRL+V respectively. You can cut a clip to remove it fast.
When you select the clip, you will cut or copy it entirely. If you want to
cut or copy just a part of the clip, you have to create a Loop Region on
such part, select the clip, and then cut or copy.
If you make any mistake, you can use CTRL+Z to undo your latest actions.
You can also use the Undo and the Redo buttons in the top left corner to
go through your past actions or redo others done.
If you need to regulate the duration of your clips, you can act either on
the clip content, or on its playback rate.
When you approach any of the clip edges and click and drag, you will
stretch or shorten the clip through time. This can be done on pictures
with no problems, but in the case of videos and sound files this affects their
content. When you shorten clips, you will cut part of their content; when
you stretch these over their original duration, these will be put in
loop every time you see a black down arrow.
If you want to stretch or shorten without affecting the clip content, you
may need to use the Time Stretch feature.
If you stretch or shorten clips by holding CTRL down, you will change the
clip duration in time by acting on its playback rate, without affecting
its content. This means that, if you shorten clips, these will be played
faster; if you stretch clips, these will be played slower and so will
last longer without any loop.
To learn more about Slow and Fast Motion, check out the related video of
this guide!
If you want to slide or slip a clip in respect to its content, you can
use the Slide and the Slip Tool next to the Normal Edit Tool.
Now, let's see some more advanced editing on clips.
On both visual and audio clips, you can click and pull down a line right
between the clip file name and its preview. On visual clips, this
regulates the percentage of the Opacity level, in order to make the clip
more transparent. On audio clips, it sets the Gain level, which is the
Volume level of the clip, measured in deciBels (dB). You can hold CTRL
down to set the line more carefully.
With Vegas Pro you can also apply amazing visual and audio effects on
your clips. On the Video FX window, you can browse for different visual
effects, that you can add on a video or a picture by dragging and dropping
one on it. You can add visual and audio effects by using the Event
FX... icon on each clip as well.
To know more about special effects inside Vegas Pro, check out our full
guide!
Besides effects, you can also apply amazing transitions, which are visual
or audio effects used to introduce a clip or make it end in a cool way.
Visual transitions act on the clip as a transparency fade, whereas audio
transitions affect on the clip volume instead. To apply visual or audio
transitions, just hover one of the top clip corners, and click and drag
these on the internal side, as much as you want it to last in time.
Moreover, the Transitions window collects several visual transitions with
different effects. You can choose one, and drag and drop it right above
the Transition fade.
You can also apply Transitions between two clips, in order to go from
the first clip to the second one with a great effect. If you have
Automatic Crossfades enabled at the bottom, and you overlap two clips on
the same track, you will automatically create a fade transition between
them. Then, you can drop another kind of Transition from the Transitions
window as seen previously.
Another important feature is the Event Pan/Crop..., which is used to set
the basic appearance of the visual clips. By moving, scaling and sizing
the rectangle you see, you will zoom on the clip and crop it as you like.
To know more about this feature, check out our related video in this guide.
On the extreme left, you have several useful Track options.
Both Video and Audio Tracks have the Mute (M) and the Solo (S) buttons.
The Mute button is used to hide the whole content of a Track. This means
making transparent all the clips inside a Video Track, or making silent
all the clips inside an Audio Track.
The Solo button is used to mute all the other Tracks (of the same kind)
rather than the interested one, very useful to check just its content in
particular.
Besides these buttons, you also have several bars. All Video Tracks have
the Level bar, which sets the transparency level of all its clips. All
Audio Tracks have two bars: the Volume bar, used to set the volume of all
its clips, and the Panning bar, used to balance the left and the right
stereo channel.
Audio Tracks also have a deciBel meter on the right. This indicates the
volume level of the Track output time by time. Make sure this never gets
red, or you may get sound distorted.
With Vegas you can also record audio from your microphone. To start
recording, just click on the Record button at the bottom, and choose
where to save your recordings. At this point, you will start recording on
a new Audio Track, armed for this purpose. To stop recording you can
either use the Record, the pause or stop buttons.
You can save your Vegas project by going to File and then to Save As....
In this way, you will save your project as a .veg file, in order to be
able to open it later and change anything inside, including any clip
position, editing and effects.
Whereas, if you want to extract and export the final video created, to
playback and upload it online, you have to render it, by going to File and
then to Render As....
In the new window, choose the basic video or audio format to use on the
left, and the ready-template on the right. Then set the destination
Folder and file Name at the bottom, and go to Render!
Check out our video to know the best render settings to upload in YouTube!
By default, Vegas renders the whole project content, from the beginning of
the Timeline, to the end of the last clip in time. If you want to render
just a limited part of your project, just select it with a Loop Region,
and choose Render loop region only inside Render Options.
Thanks for watching this video! Check out our full guide for Vegas Pro 15
to check all its most useful and advanced features!