Sony Vegas 5 Manual

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Adding a plug-in from the Video FX or Plug-In Manager window
1.
If the Video FX or Plug-In Manager window is not currently visible, choose either Video FX or Plug-In 
Manager
 from the View menu to view the appropriate window. 
2.Drag a plug-in from the window to one of the following locations:
file in the Media Pool
event
track list or empty section of a track
Video Preview window (video output effects)
3.Modify the effect in the Video FX window and close the window when you are finished. For help on the 
different controls in the Video FX window, click the 
Plug-In Help button ( ) to access online help. 
						

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Working with video effects plug-in chains
You can apply plug-ins in chains of two or more for even greater flexibility. A plug-in chain is a sequence of 
all of the plug-ins to be applied to a media file, event, track, or project. The same plug-in can be added to a 
chain more than once. Use the same steps to add additional plug-ins to a chain as you use to add a single 
plug-in. For more information, see Adding a video effects plug-in on page 208.
After you apply a plug-in chain, the video is processed by each plug-in in order. The plug-ins are cumulative 
so, in some cases, you may want to rearrange their order to achieve the desired effect.
To view and work with a plug-in chain, click the 
Video FX button ( ) for the event, track, Media Pool file, 
or Video Preview window to open the Video FX window.
Bypassing plug-ins
Video effects plug-ins can also be temporarily bypassed (turned off) by deselecting them (clearing the check 
box on the plug-in). Since the effects are rendered very quickly in the Video Preview window, turning a 
plug-in on and off allows you to see the results of the plug-in on your project.
Changing the plug-in order
Video effects plug-ins are applied in the order that 
they appear in the chain. You can change this order 
by dragging a plug-in to a new location in the chain. 
Alternately, you can click the 
Plug-In Chain button 
( ) in the Video FX window and reorder the plug-
ins in the Plug-In Chooser dialog. 
In the following illustration, you can see how the 
order of plug-ins is important.
Clear the check box
on a plug-in to 
bypass the plug-in.
Drag a plug-in
to move it
within the chain. Plug-in chain
Click a plug-in to 
modify its settings
in the lower part of
the window.
Plug-in chainShift Plug-In Left/Right 
						

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The goal of the above example is to use video effects plug-ins to create a very high-contrast mask out of a 
video clip of fire. In the image on the left, a Brightness and Contrast plug-in is applied first and then a Black 
and White plug-in. In the image on the right, the Black and White plug-in was applied first, removing the 
color, and then the Brightness and Contrast plug-in was applied. The mask created by the second example is 
much cleaner, even though all of the settings of the two plug-ins are identical.
Processing plug-ins on events with panning or cropping
When you add a plug-in to a video event that has panning or cropping applied to it, you have the choice of 
processing the plug-in before or after the pan/crop. For example, you might want to apply a Radial Blur plug-
in before the video is cropped and then a Noise plug-in is applied after the cropping is complete. 
You can choose whether an effect is applied pre- or post-pan/crop in the keyframe controller at the bottom 
of the Video FX window. Click the 
Before/After Pan/Crop button to the left of the effect name to determine 
whether the effect is processed before ( ) or after ( ) Vegas software pans or crops the event.
Removing a plug-in
1.
Click the FX button ( ) on the event, track, Media Pool file, or Video Preview window that has the 
plug-in applied to it. The Video FX window appears. 
2.Click the plug-in that you want to remove.
3.Click the Remove Selected Plug-In button.
Here, the Deform plug-in is 
applied before the pan/crop. 
The Glow and Color Curves
plug-ins are applied after
the pan/crop. 
						

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Modifying a video effects plug-in
Video effects plug-ins are highly customizable. You can select from a variety of presets or adjust the settings 
for custom effects. You can also save custom settings to be used again as a new preset.
1.Click the FX button ( ) on the event, track, Media Pool file, or Video Preview window that has the 
plug-in applied to it. The Video FX window appears. 
2.Select a preset from the Preset drop-down list or adjust the parameters as needed. For help on the different 
controls in the Video FX window, click the 
Plug-In Help button ( ) to access online help.
Changes you make are automatically updated in the Video Preview window, using the current cursor 
position as the example. To see the effect as applied to the video in motion, create a time selection (looped 
region) and preview in loop playback.
Saving custom plug-in settings as a preset
1.Click the Preset text box. The name of the current preset is highlighted.
2.Type a new name for the preset and click the Save button ( ).
Tip: To use a saved custom preset, simply choose it from the 
drop-down list.
Using keyframe animation with plug-ins
You can use keyframe animation to control a plug-in over time. Keyframes are added to the keyframe 
controller at the bottom of the Video FX window. Since a number of plug-ins can be added to a single event, 
track or project, click the plug-in’s button in the chain and modify the particular attributes and keyframe 
controller for that plug-in. For more information, see Using keyframe animation on page 237 and Animating video 
effects plug-ins on page 243. 
						

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Using generated media
Generated media plug-ins are a special class of plug-
in that creates virtual media files contained in 
events on the timeline. These virtual files are stored 
in the Media Pool, where their properties can be 
viewed and modified.
Generated media provide an easy way to add text, 
backgrounds, or test patterns to your project. You 
can view the generators by choosing 
Media 
Generators 
from the View menu to display the Media 
Generators window.
Generated media events can be animated using 
keyframes. For more information, see Using keyframe 
animation on page 237 and Animating generated text on 
page 244.
Adding a generated media event
You can add a generated media event by choosing Generated Media from the Insert menu. This adds the 
event at the cursor position in the selected track. However, perhaps the simplest way to add generated media 
is through drag-and-drop.
1.From the View menu, choose Media Generators. The Media Generators window displays.
2.Drag a generator from the Media Generators window to the project. The mouse cursor changes to indicate 
when you can drop the generator.
3.Modify the generator in the Video FX window and close the window when 
you are finished. To modify settings at a later time, click the 
Generated Media 
button ( ) on the event. For help on the different controls in the Video FX 
window, click the 
Plug-In Help button ( ) to access online help.
Tip: A generated media event is ten seconds long as a 
default. However, you can trim the event to any length. For 
more information, see Trimming an event on page 67.
Generated media Description
CheckerboardCreates checked and striped patterns.
Color gradient Creates gradient colored events to be used behind overlays, as 
masks, or for fades.
Credit rollCreates events that format your text into credits. Text can be 
formatted within the Video Event FX dialog in Vegas software, or 
pasted into this dialog from a word processing processing 
program.
Noise texture Creates realistic-looking textures.
Solid colorCreates solid colored events to be used behind overlays or for 
fades.
Test pattern Creates standard test patterns that can be used to calibrate your 
video output stream. Many studios and broadcast facilities require 
a color bar pattern at the beginning of your video so that 
engineers can calibrate their equipment. 
Te x tCreates events containing text for titles or simple credits. Text can 
be formatted with color, shadows, and other effects.
Generated
Media
button 
						

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Duplicating a generated media event
Once you have added a generated media event and modified its settings, you can duplicate it. For more 
information, see Duplicating events on page 67. 
When you duplicate a generated media event, you have two options: 
Select the 
Create a new copy of the source media radio button if 
you want the new event to be modified on its own. The new 
event is completely independent of the original event.
Select the 
Create a reference to the original media radio button 
to keep the new event linked to the original generated media 
event. Any change to either event is mirrored in the other.
Compositing
Compositing is the process of mixing visual elements together into a final output. In Vegas software, this 
means mixing tracks together vertically. Masks, generated text, and chroma keying all involve compositing. 
Understanding how compositing works is important to understanding these and many other video track 
mixing techniques.
Understanding the parent/child track relationship
The key to understanding overlays, masks, transparency, and compositing is to 
understand the parent/child relationship between tracks. In general terms, the 
parent track is the highest track in a group of tracks (often only two) and the 
behavior of the child tracks (i.e., how they are composited together) is 
determined by the parent track. 
You can also produce complex compositing by creating nested parent/child 
groups with compositing parents and children at various levels.
When you have multiple levels of parent and child tracks, clicking the 
Make 
Compositing Child
 button ( ) moves the track in one level and clicking the 
Make Compositing Parent button ( ) moves out one level.
Hold   while clicking the 
Make Compositing Child button to move a track 
and all its child tracks in one level.
The following three examples demonstrate different compositing relationships.
The first example shows two independent tracks. The top track contains a 
generated text event that has a transparent background. The second track 
therefore shows through the transparent areas in the Video Preview window. 
Since the second track does not have any transparent areas, any tracks below it 
would be completely obscured.Ctrl 
						

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In the second example, track two is the child track of track one (the parent track), and the compositing 
mode of track one is set to 
Mask. This parent/child relationship was set up by clicking the Make Compositing 
Child
 button ( ) in the track list for track two. This makes the text in track one act as a mask over track two, 
allowing the fire to show through the mask (i.e., the text). The region outside of the text is still transparent, 
but there is nothing below these tracks, so it appears black.
Parent/child video track grouping using the 
Make Compositing Child button is only available in the full version of Vegas 
software.
In the third example, a generated media event was added to the track below the first two tracks, which are 
already paired in a parent/child relationship. The color gradient event in track three shows through the 
transparent area of the top two paired tracks. 
Selecting compositing modes
The Compositing Mode button ( ) determines how the 
transparency in a video track is generated. Since lower tracks 
show through higher tracks, it is the compositing mode of the 
higher track that determines how much of the lower track shows 
though. 
Note: The compositing mode of the lowest video track is a 
special case. Selecting a mode for the lowest track affects its 
transparency against a black background.
To select a compositing mode, click the 
Compositing Mode button and choose a mode from the menu that 
appears, or choose 
Custom to customize compositing with a 2-to-1 transform plug-in.
Make Compositing
Child buttonParent track
Child track
Click to choose a compositing mode 
						

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The sample below uses a generated text event that is partially transparent. For more information, see Using 
generated media on page 213.
The following table shows how these two sample tracks are blended using each of the compositing modes. 
Compositing mode Sample Description
AddAdds the overlay color values to the background.
Subtract Subtracts the overlay color values from the background.
Multiply (Mask)Multiplies the overlay color values by the background color values. This 
makes overlay colors stronger and more present and results in a darker 
video image. The opposite of this mode is Screen.
Source Alpha Uses the alpha channel to determine transparency in the overlay.
This compositing mode is based on the alpha channel characteristics of an 
event or media file. If no alpha channel is present in the overlay, the Source 
Alpha compositing mode has no effect.
CutCuts out the overlay color values from the background.
Screen Multiplies the inverse of the overlay color values with the background color 
values. This makes overlay colors weaker and less present and results in a 
lighter video image. The opposite of this mode is Multiply.
Set compositingmode for 
overlay track
Overlay track
Background track 
						

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Adjusting opacity with the composite level slider
You can precisely control the transparency or blending of the overlay with the 
composite level slider. Left is transparent and right is 100% opaque. You can 
also double-click the current value to enter a specific numeric percentage.
OverlayHeightens contrast by using Multiply mode on darker colors and Screen 
mode on lighter colors.
Hard Light Adds overlay colors as if the overlay were lit by a bright, focused spotlight.
DodgeBrightens the background based on the overlay color values.
Burn Darkens the background based on the overlay color values.
DarkenCompares the overlay and background pixel by pixel and selects the darker 
color value for each pixel.
Lighten Compares the overlay and background pixel by pixel and selects the lighter 
color value for each pixel.
DifferenceCompares the overlay and background pixel by pixel and subtracts the 
darker color value from the lighter color to generate a new color value 
(difference).
Difference Squared Remaps color values along a parabolic curve. The color values of the layers 
in the composite group are subtracted, and then the subtracted values are 
squared.
The resulting image will have less extreme changes in color values as the 
colors approach black (RGB 0,0,0) and more extreme changes in color 
values as colors approach white (RGB 255,255,255).
Compositing mode Sample Description
Composite level slider 
						

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Using a 2-to-1 transform plug-in to customize compositing
Click the Parent Composite Mode () or Composite Mode button and choose Custom from the menu to use 
plug-ins to control how the parent track modifies the tracks in its composite group. 
The included Displacement Map, Height Map, and Bump Map plug-ins can create interesting lens, mirror, 
water, fire, and other light-bending effects. These plug-ins are explained below:
Displacement Map: Uses the parent image as a guide to offset the pixels in the composited child tracks 
along the horizontal and vertical axes. The X and Y offsets are independently encoded in the image color 
channels.
Height Map: Uses the parent image as a guide to offset the pixels in the composited child tracks. The 
gradient of the image in the parent track is used to determine the amount of offset for the image displayed 
at that location, much like how light bends through a lens.
Bump Map: Uses the parent image as a guide to add texture and lighting to the composited child tracks. 
The texture of the bump map is applied to the composited child tracks: light sections of the map represent 
high areas, and dark sections represent low areas.
3D Compositing
With 3D compositing, you can move video tracks anywhere in space to simulate realistic motion and 
lighting. 
Single-track 3D motion
1.Click the Tr a c k  M o t i o n button ( ) on the track that contains the overlay that you want to animate. The 
Track Motion window is displayed. 
2.From the Compositing Mode drop-down list, choose 3D Source Alpha.
3.Choose a setting from the Layout drop-down list to choose the workspace display that you want to use. The 
Layout setting allows you to see your track from various points of view.