How to edit in the timeline

You will need at least one media clip in the Project Media Window.

We will be moving video from the “Project Media” window down into the area in the bottom half of the screen, referred to as the timeline. This process of editing is a lot like moving paragraphs around in your word processor. We will be selecting a file (represented by the thumbnail in your “project Media” window), dragging it to the timeline and sliding it into place. Editing with Sony Vegas is a very tactile experience, and you will be using your mouse or trackpad extensively.

Making the first edit

1. Select a video clip from the “Project Media” window and drag it to the track marked Video. This is likely to be named track 3 in your timeline.

2. To move a video clip in your timeline click in the center of the clip and drag it left or right.

By dragging events left or right in the timeline, you can make them occur earlier or later in your movie. For example, moving the video to the left will make the clip appear nearer the start of your movie. To the right it moves more to the end.

You can also drag events from one track to another, but for now leave the clip on track 3

You can change the duration of a clip a number of different ways, but most often you will either shorten one end of the clip by dragging the end, or cut off the excess by splitting a clip into two segments and removing the unwanted section.

Note: Below I go into detail about the process of splitting a clip and removing the end. I also touch on the process of using the trim tool, but for a detailed tutorial on trimming your shot please see the next lesson (Managing Video Tracks and Layers).

You can adjust the length of your video clip by trimming the beginning and/or end of your file in the timeline.

3. Move your cursor to the beginning of a clip on your timeline and hover over the starting edge of the clip. Your cursor should change from an arrow to the trim tool tip. It looks somewhat like an arrow straddling a box.

4. Click and drag the leading edge of your clip to the right. You are not trying to move the entire clip, but shorten the beginning. You will see the length of your clip grow shorter in the timeline. The duration of your clip is getting shorter.

Note: Don’t be fooled by dragging the end of the clip beyond the start or end thinking you are extending the shot longer than what you captured in the field. Vegas does not have the supernatural power of creating media that does not exist. If you are at the end or beginning of a clip and there is no media available, Vegas will either repeat the shot from the beginning, creating a loop, or freeze the first frame.

5. Adjust the end of the clip by hovering over the end of the shot in the timeline and dragging back the end until you have an edit that works for you.

One confusing aspect of editing software is the lack of agreement for common terms. This is particularly true with the common function of breaking a video file into two pieces on the timeline. This is a very common function and can be used for breaking a long clip into smaller sections, isolating important phrases from an interview, or trimming the bad parts out of your clip.

Avid refers to the process as “Add edit”, Apple’s Final Cut Pro calls it “razor” and Sony Vegas calls it “Split”.

When you Split an event you divide it into two separate events. This is useful when dividing a video into two separate videos or to remove unwanted parts of the video.

6. To split a clip first highlight the clip you would like to adjust by clicking inside it.

Position your playhead (the long white line in your timeline that shows your position in your video) where you would like to make the edit. The split will happen exactly on the frame where you have stopped your playhead so accuracy is important. You can fine tune the edit point using the left and right arrow keys .

7. To perform the split you can select Split from the drop down Edit menu, or take the easy route and press the S key.

Splitting does not affect the original video file; it is merely affecting how the file is played in your sequence. Your source file lives in its entirety on your hard drive. You are merely changing the instructions on how much of it you want included in your final video.

8. Now that the event has been split into two events, you can move them independently, left or right, if there is space on your timeline.

9. To remove one of the segments you have created highlight the clip you do not want and press the Delete key (or CTL-x).

This will remove that section of the clip from the timeline.

Using split and delete is a quick way to trim a shot. A common practice is to drop a clip into your timeline, move the cursor to the point in the shot where you would like it to begin, split the clip, delete the excess and then perform the same task with the end. Once the length is right you can move it into place on your timeline.

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© 2012 StoryGuide | Drew Keller