Using the Trimmer

Choose View | Window | Trimmer to toggle the display of the Trimmer window. The Trimmer window allows you to select portions of a piece of media that can be placed into events on tracks.

You can also create subclips in the Trimmer window. Subclips expand on the notion of media file markers and regions: just as you might save markers or regions in a media file to indicate an area of interest, you could create a subclip to mark a portion of a media file. A subclip is available in the Project Media window and can be created as a reversed clip so you can create events that play backward on the timeline.

When a media file is placed in the Trimmer window, any regions or markers that were previously stored in the media file are displayed in the Trimmer.

Trimmer Transport Tool Bar

By default the Trimmer Transport tool bar shows the Play, Pause, Stop, Add to timeline from cursor, Fit to Fill, and the More button.

To access additional buttons click the More button and click the button you wish to access.

To add a button to the Transport Toolbar:

1. Click the More button.

2. Click Edit Visible Button Set.

3. Check the box next to the button to you would like to add, and click OK.

   The button will now be visible each time you open the application.

To remove a button from the Toolbar:

1. Click the More button.

2. Click Edit Visible Button Set.

3. Uncheck the box next to the button to you would like to remove, and click OK.

Opening a media file in the Trimmer

Drag a file from the Windows Explorer, VEGAS Pro Explorer, or Project Media window to the Trimmer window. This method is sometimes more convenient than placing the entire media file on a track and then editing the event.

Opening an event in the Trimmer

Right-click the event and choose Open in Trimmer from the shortcut menu.

If you want to open the original media file that was used to create a subclip in the Trimmer, right-click an event and choose Open Parent Media in Trimmer from the shortcut menu.

NOTE The entire media file—not just the contents of the current event—will be opened in the Trimmer.

Choosing Trimmer preview options

When you're editing in the Trimmer, you can choose to display video in the Video Preview window or in a video monitor within the Trimmer.

• If you want to display the Trimmer cursor position in the Video Preview window, right-click the media file in the Trimmer window and verify Show Video Monitor is not selected and then right-click the media file in the Trimmer window and select Show Video in Preview Window.

  When you click to position the cursor in the Trimmer window, the frame at the cursor position will be displayed in the Video Preview window, and the transport controls in the Trimmer window will play the current file in the Video Preview window.

• If you want to display a dedicated video monitor in the Trimmer window, right-click the media file in the Trimmer window and select Show Video Monitor. When the video monitor is on, you can -click the media file in the Trimmer window and select Show Video Frames to show or hide video frames in the Trimmer timeline.

• If you want to display the Trimmer cursor position on an external monitor, select the Trimmer on External Monitor button .

  If external monitor is enabled for the Trimmer and the Video Preview window, focus will determine which source is sent to the external monitor: click in the Trimmer window to send its video to your external monitor; click the timeline or track list to send its video to your external monitor.

TIP If Show Video Frames is selected, press Ctrl+Shift+Up to give more space to the video and Ctrl+Shift+Down to give more space to the audio. You can also right-click the audio or video timeline and choose Video Height Larger, Audio Height Larger, or Video and Audio Equal Height from the shortcut menu.

Choosing multichannel/multistream audio options

When you're working with multichannel or multistream audio in the Trimmer, you can choose whether you want to add multichannel/multistream audio to the timeline when creating events.

Right-click the audio waveform in the Trimmer and select Use All Streams and Channels to allow VEGAS Pro to determine which audio streams and channels to use:

• When using surround AC3 or Windows Media, the stereo downmix stream will be used when adding media to a stereo project. When adding media to a 5.1 surround project, the surround stream will be used.

• In other cases, all streams and all channels will be added to the timeline.

When Use All Streams and Channels is not selected, only the stream and channels displayed in the Trimmer will be added to the timeline.

TIP When the Import stereo as dual mono checkbox is selected on the General tab of the Preferences dialog, two-channel audio files will be added to the timeline as separate mono audio events on separate tracks. For more information, see General Tab

The audio events are grouped, and tracks that are created by adding media will be panned hard left and hard right. You can right-click the waveform in the Trimmer, choose Channels, and then choose a command from the submenu to choose which channel is used for that event.

Moving frame by frame in the Trimmer window

As you navigate through a video file in the Trimmer, the exact frame that the cursor is over in time is displayed as in a thumbnail image under the cursor. When using the left and right arrow keys, this allows you to edit with frame accuracy.

You can also click the Previous Frame and Next Frame buttons to navigate frames in the Trimmer window.

TIP Click and hold the Previous Frame and Next Frame buttons to move the cursor multiple frames.

Using hover scrub to navigate a clip

When Enable Hover Scrub is selected in the Trimmer shortcut menu, you can hover your mouse over the Trimmer video monitor to preview a specific part of the clip. When you start dragging, you start a selection (see next section).

TIP Hover Scrub is enabled by default. Right-click the Trimmer window and choose Enable Hover Scrub to turn hover scrub off or on again. When hover scrub is off, you can still scrub the clip by dragging the cursor in the Trimmer timeline.

Selecting data

Perform any of the following actions to select data in the Trimmer window:

• Use the transport controls to play your media file. Press I or [ to mark the beginning of the selection, and press O or ] to mark the end of your selection.

• Drag in the Trimmer timeline or in the Video portion to select a range of data. When you drag from left to right you set set the In Point first and drag to the Out Point, when you drag from right to left the first click sets the Out Point and you drag to the In Point.

• A double click on the Trimmer window resets the In and Out Points to the beginning and end of the clip.

• If you know the timecode of the beginning and end of your selection, double-click the boxes at the bottom of the Trimmer window and type timecode values.

NOTE To select only the audio or video portion of the media, right-click and choose Select Audio Only or Select Video Only from the shortcut menu, or you can press Tab or Shift+Tab to cycle the selection among audio only, video only, or audio and video.

TIP If Show Video Frames is selected in the Trimmer shortcut menu, press Ctrl+Shift+Up to give more space to the video and Ctrl+Shift+Down to give more space to the audio. You can also right-click the audio or video timeline and choose Video Height Larger, Audio Height Larger, or Video and Audio Equal Height from the shortcut menu.

Adding media to the timeline

TIP When the Import stereo as dual mono checkbox is selected on the General tab of the Preferences dialog, two-channel audio files will be added to the timeline as separate mono audio events on separate tracks. For more information, see General Tab

The audio events are grouped, and tracks that are created by adding media will be panned hard left and hard right. You can right-click the waveform in the Trimmer, choose Channels, and then choose a command from the submenu to choose which channel is used for that event.

Dragging a selection to the timeline

1. Open a media file in the Trimmer.

2. Select the portion of the file that you want to use.

3. Drag the selection to the desired track. The selection becomes a new event on the track. If the media file includes both audio and video, each is placed on a separate track.

   IMPORTANT Because media selection is also performed by dragging it is important that you start dragging vertically to not accidentally destroy your selection.

Three-point editing

1. Open a media file in the Trimmer.

2. Mark the in and out points in your media file to create a selection:

1. Click the Play button in the Trimmer to start playback, or click to position the cursor in the Trimmer timeline.

2. Press [ or I to mark the beginning of the selection.

3. Press ] or O to mark the end of the selection.

   TIP You can also select two points in the timeline and a single point in the Trimmer to perform three-point editing. In this mode, ripple editing is not applied.

3. Position the cursor in the timeline where you want to add the event.

4. Click the Add to Timeline from Cursor button to insert the selection after the cursor position in the currently selected track, or click the Add to Timeline up to Cursor button to insert the selection before the cursor.

Four-point editing (using a Trimmer selection to fill a timeline selection)

1. Open a media file in the Trimmer.

2. Select the portion of the file that you want to use.

3. Select the portion of the timeline where you want to use the Trimmer selection.

4. Click the Fit to Fill button . The Trimmer selection is time-compressed or stretched to fill the timeline selection.

Overwrite timeline events with the Trimmer selection

The standard behavior of the Trimmer is to perform punch-in edits on the timeline: when you add media to the timeline, the events created by the Trimmer are laid over existing events on the timeline. You can delete or move the events you create with the Trimmer without changing the underlying events.

If you want to replace the contents of the timeline when creating events from the Trimmer, select the Enable Timeline Overwrite button . When Enable Timeline Overwrite is selected, ripple editing is not available.

Using the Trimmer History list

The drop-down box at the top of the Trimmer lists files and events that have been opened in the Trimmer.

To open a recently used file, choose its file name from the Trimmer History drop-down list.

To sort the list, click the Sort Trimmer History button . The files in the drop-down list are sorted in alphabetical order. To sort in reverse alphabetical order, hold the Ctrl key while clicking on the Sort Trimmer History button.

To clear the list, click the Clear Trimmer History button . All files in the history drop-down list are removed.

To remove a single file from the list, click the Remove Current Media from Trimmer History button . The media file is removed from the Trimmer History drop-down list and the Trimmer window is blank.

Using markers and regions in the Trimmer

Adding markers or regions

1. Position the cursor or make a selection in the Trimmer window.

2. Press M (or click Insert Marker ) to place a marker or R (or click Insert Region ) to place a region.

   Trimmer markers and regions function identically to timeline markers and regions.

Saving Trimmer markers and regions

Click the Save Markers/Regions button . All markers and regions in the Trimmer are saved back into the file.

If you want to automatically save markers and regions to the file, select the Automatically save Trimmer markers and regions with media file checkbox on the General tab of the Preferences dialog. For more information, see General Tab

Viewing media markers and regions in events

From the View menu, choose Event Media Markers to toggle the display markers (including XDCAM essence marks) and regions that are saved in a media file. These markers are displayed in the timeline in events that refer to the media file.

Media markers and regions cannot be edited within the event. However, when you edit the markers in markers and regions in the Trimmer window or in an external audio editor, the event will reflect your changes.

Media markers/regions visible in Trimmer window

Media markers/regions displayed in event

Opening audio in an external audio editor

Right-click the audio waveform and choose Open in Audio Editor to start your selected audio editor and open the audio event or audio portion of the file.

To change the default sound editor, click the Browse button next to the Preferred audio editor box on the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog.

Using subclips

Creating a subclip

1. Create a selection in the Trimmer window.

2. Click the Create Subclip button . The Create Subclip dialog is displayed.

   TIP When an event has been trimmed or split so it plays only a portion of an event, you can also right-click the event in the timeline and choose Create Subclip from the shortcut menu to create a subclip using that portion of the media file.

3. In the Name box, type the name you want to use to identify the subclip in the Project Media window. By default, the file name is used with a subclip number appended.

4. Select the Reverse checkbox if you want the subclip to be played backward when you add it to your project.

5. Click OK to create the subclip. You can then create events from subclip via the Project Media window.

Selecting a subclip in its parent media

1. Right-click a subclip in the Project Media window and choose Open in Trimmer from the shortcut menu.

2. Right-click the Trimmer window and choose Select Parent Media from the shortcut menu. The subclip's original media file is opened in the Trimmer, and the portion of the media that represents the subclip is selected.

TIP If you want to open the original media file that was used to create the subclip in the Trimmer, right-click an event on the timeline (or a subclip in the Project Media window) and choose Open Parent Media in Trimmer from the shortcut menu.

Copying the current frame to the clipboard

Right-click the Trimmer window and choose Copy Snapshot to Clipboard from the shortcut menu to copy the current frame to the clipboard.

Saving the current frame as a file

Right-click the Trimmer window and choose Save Snapshot to File from the shortcut menu to save the current frame as an image file.

The Save Snapshot to File dialog is displayed to allow you to choose the format and location where you want to save the file. The file is automatically added to the Project Media window.

Opening files in the Trimmer by default

You can automatically load files into the Trimmer window by selecting the Double-click on media file loads into Trimmer instead of tracks checkbox on the General tab in the Preferences dialog. For more information, see General Tab

When this checkbox is selected, no events are created when you double-click a media file in the VEGAS Pro Explorer or Project Media window. Instead, the Trimmer is displayed to allow you to choose the portion of the file you want to use.