Is Sony Vegas too complicated?

[Miner_Guy]

I have just started making a video on one of the new vegas, it includes multiple segments of different videos put together, pictures, word text, special effects and slow and fast motion. I have read on the internet sony vegas is very complicated, i am no video expert. So is vegas too complicated for the stuff i want to do? If so what should i get instead (cost isnt a problem)?

[Jonanananas]

I have just started making a video on one of the new vegas, it includes multiple segments of different videos put together, pictures, word text, special effects and slow and fast motion. I have read on the internet sony vegas is very complicated, i am no video expert. So is vegas too complicated for the stuff i want to do? If so what should i get instead (cost isnt a problem, i would pirate it)?

 

Well, I'm far from a video making expert as well and until now only have worked with two programs, Sony Vegas(9&10) and Magix Video deluxe(17). They both need some time to get familiar with them, but I think that's the case for any serious editing program that wants to offer more than just the most basic options.

 

Between the two programs, I've found that Sony Vegas was superior with video effects, Magix video had more&easier to access options with audio(Depending on what you want to do, you might want to do the audio in a specific audio editing program though). Overall, I would recommend Sony Vegas.

 

Depending on what you want to do, you can just get trial versions for 30 days ;)

[Gandorf61]

Sony Vegas is a very powerful and complicated program but it's fairly simple to learn how the basic tools work and go from there. I've used Vegas 7 many times for school projects and found that simple editing was quick to learn and anything slightly more complex can usually be solved through a youtube tutorial. I'd recommend using it.

[Fleetsy]

Vegas is complicated because it was designed for professionals in mind. I suggest checking out various different tutorials on YouTube, or just Google "Vegas (Version Number) Tutorials" and there's bound to be a few around. I learnt most of what I know on Vegas via trial and error, so it's all about experimenting. In theory, the more you use it the better you'll get.

[Miner_Guy]

I recorded some footage off youtube. I want the music in the background, so i ungrouped the video from the audio and deleted the video. But there are separate bits of audio, one is the music the other is commentary. How can i ungroup them so i cant delete the commentary?

[Fleetsy]

I recorded some footage off youtube. I want the music in the background, so i ungrouped the video from the audio and deleted the video. But there are separate bits of audio, one is the music the other is commentary. How can i ungroup them so i cant delete the commentary?

 

I'm not too sure what you're actually asking here, but if you don't want the commentary in the footage, you need to record from a different source, as the audio is from that particular YouTube video and can't be edited separately.

[Jonanananas]

I recorded some footage off youtube. I want the music in the background, so i ungrouped the video from the audio and deleted the video. But there are separate bits of audio, one is the music the other is commentary. How can i ungroup them so i cant delete the commentary?

 

Ohh, that's difficult. You only have one audio stream where the original two streams(music and commentary) are overlapped. Usually you won't be able to seperate them properly unless are somehow able to get access to the original file where you can seperate the original streams.

 

You can try playing around with audio editing programs (or I guess with vegas too, though I am not too familiar with sound editing there) and try to separate them through using equalizer and other audio stuff(For example, I once did a synch of a series where I used the original episode soundtrack. The voices were mainly center, so I was able to suppress them by only playing the stereo parts which weren't center) but this is not going to work well(I didn't with mine as well) and will most likely make the music sound weird if you are even able of suppressing the commentary. Is there no way for you just to get the original audio track of the music?

[Fleetsy]

I recorded some footage off youtube. I want the music in the background, so i ungrouped the video from the audio and deleted the video. But there are separate bits of audio, one is the music the other is commentary. How can i ungroup them so i cant delete the commentary?

 

Ohh, that's difficult. You only have one audio stream where the original two streams(music and commentary) are overlapped. Usually you won't be able to seperate them properly unless are somehow able to get access to the original file where you can seperate the original streams.

 

You can try playing around with audio editing programs (or I guess with vegas too, though I am not too familiar with sound editing there) and try to separate them through using equalizer and other audio stuff(For example, I once did a synch of a series where I used the original episode soundtrack. The voices were mainly center, so I was able to suppress them by only playing the stereo parts which weren't center) but this is not going to work well(I didn't with mine as well) and will most likely make the music sound weird if you are even able of suppressing the commentary. Is there no way for you just to get the original audio track of the music?

 

If you're looking for an audio editing program, try out Audacity.

[Miner_Guy]

I recorded some footage off youtube. I want the music in the background, so i ungrouped the video from the audio and deleted the video. But there are separate bits of audio, one is the music the other is commentary. How can i ungroup them so i cant delete the commentary?

 

I'm not too sure what you're actually asking here, but if you don't want the commentary in the footage, you need to record from a different source, as the audio is from that particular YouTube video and can't be edited separately.

What i mean is that i have downloaded some footage off youtube. In some cases there are two audio tracks, one is the commentary the other music. I want to separate them so i can delete one but not the other but i cant do that that atm as they are grouped. I got mixed up with my last post, i want to delete the music but no the commentary

 

@Johannas, there are two audio tracks though, im not sure one might be the music and the other the audio?

[Jonanananas]

I recorded some footage off youtube. I want the music in the background, so i ungrouped the video from the audio and deleted the video. But there are separate bits of audio, one is the music the other is commentary. How can i ungroup them so i cant delete the commentary?

 

I'm not too sure what you're actually asking here, but if you don't want the commentary in the footage, you need to record from a different source, as the audio is from that particular YouTube video and can't be edited separately.

What i mean is that i have downloaded some footage off youtube. In some cases there are two audio tracks, one is the commentary the other music. I want to separate them so i can delete one but not the other but i cant do that that atm as they are grouped. I got mixed up with my last post, i want to delete the music but no the commentary

 

@Johannas, there are two audio tracks though, im not sure one might be the music and the other the audio?

 

Oh okay, interesting, I didn't think you were able to get seperate tracks from youtube.

 

Anyway, if I understand you correclty, you have two audio events on two tracks, right? First, just mute one of them to see if it's audio or commentary. It's been a while since I last worked with vegas, but as far as I remember, if you right click on the audio event, there should be one menu point for "grouping" or something along these lines. If you hover over that, there should be an option to ungroup those two events.

[Mirror]

Imported clips of any prosumer editing software usually is imported with one video track and two audio tracks. The audio tracks are normally imported in stereo (Left and right tracks) and thus why you have two audio tracks. Since I don't know the conditions of your project without seeing and being able to play the clips/audio, I can't do much more than assume in this position.

 

If it's just the footage from youtube and you're providing your own music/commentary audio tracks, then I don't see the main issue, because they should be different files and audio tracks. If the music and the commentary are on the SAME file, then you're not going to be able to separate them using a video editing tool. It'll take some work in a audio program to do that.

 

Like I said, without seeing what's going on, I just have to provide this generic information about non-linear editing. Hopefully it helps.

[Avid43]

Vegas is very easy to use, I watched a few Youtube videos to learn the basics and then taught myself the rest.

 

To really master the software I am sure it is extremely complicated but anyone can use it for basic editing.

[Miner_Guy]

Well this is a picture. As you can see there are two audio tracks in one slot.

[Jonanananas]

Well this is a picture. As you can see there are two audio tracks in one slot.

 

That should just be left and right for stereo. You can mute one half of that, but that would be pointless, as both music and commentary will be on both sides. That's no feasible way to get the music(or commentary) on its own, unfortunately.

 

As said, you could get an audio editing program, play around with it a bit and try to make one of them a bit more quiet, but I doubt you're going to be able to seperate them completely.

[Fleetsy]

Well this is a picture. As you can see there are two audio tracks in one slot.

 

That should just be left and right for stereo. You can mute one half of that, but that would be pointless, as both music and commentary will be on both sides. That's no feasible way to get the music(or commentary) on its own, unfortunately.

 

As said, you could get an audio editing program, play around with it a bit and try to make one of them a bit more quiet, but I doubt you're going to be able to seperate them completely.

 

Can't you just mute the track that has the commentary on it? Or am I just overlooking something really simple and being stupid.

[Gandorf61]

Can't you just mute the track that has the commentary on it? Or am I just overlooking something really simple and being stupid.

 

If you download a video from youtube you won't be able to separate music tracks and commentary because the video has been rendered all together. You can mute the whole track that goes with the video but you can't delete the music track and leave only the commentary because once rendered and uploaded to youtube the sound is all mashed together. You'd need the original project file and source files from the person who uploaded it in order to edit out specific sound tracks.

[Jonanananas]

Well this is a picture. As you can see there are two audio tracks in one slot.

 

That should just be left and right for stereo. You can mute one half of that, but that would be pointless, as both music and commentary will be on both sides. That's no feasible way to get the music(or commentary) on its own, unfortunately.

 

As said, you could get an audio editing program, play around with it a bit and try to make one of them a bit more quiet, but I doubt you're going to be able to seperate them completely.

 

Can't you just mute the track that has the commentary on it? Or am I just overlooking something really simple and being stupid.

 

If I understood him correctly, only one of the audio events in the project is the sound file from the youtube video, and that one event has both music and commentary in it.

[Mirror]

Yeah, sadly, there is nothing that can be done to do what you wanted to accomplish. The issue I am seeing is that Sony Vegas is using a single Audio track for a stereo sound file (Aka mono audio track trying to play stereo). I do not know if that's an import issue or just a sony setting that is what they like to do. If you want a L or a R track, I'd suggest panning hard one direction, copying the audio clip and panning that the other way and layer it however you would like, but that's just offering a suggestion to answer a possible question. I'll just rambling now so I'll just stop talking now :P

[Miner_Guy]

Ok i realise now i wont be able to separate them. I have one last question about recording or downloading certain videos of the web it is in another topic on this forum, it would be great if you could help me with that.

 

Thanks for all the help, you guys have been as helpful as ever :thumbsup:

[Miner_Guy]

How do you outline someone with a glow on Sony Vegas Pro 10? I want to put a glow around a football player in a video when he scores a goal, the player doesnt move that much. Is it possible and if so is it really complicated. I searched it on google and could only find people doing it with pictures

[iSharkMan]

Sony Vegas is really simple imo, I love it. There are some harder things to do on vegas but they aren't exactly rocket science or anything lol. I'm actually planning to make a video with my friend next week. If I do make it I might post it. =D

 

Just trying to find the right music. xD

[Piu]

If you're not going to be using much of the higher-end tools, you might as well use Camtasia. It was suggested by a RSMV maker awhile back. It's basically Sony Vegas stripped down of it's professional tools.

[Miner_Guy]

How do you outline someone with a glow on Sony Vegas Pro 10? I want to put a glow around a football player in a video when he scores a goal, the player doesnt move that much. Is it possible and if so is it really complicated. I searched it on google and could only find people doing it with pictures

[iSharkMan]

Research into masking. =)