ADD VFX
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AT 4 DIFFERENT LEVELS
IN TIMELINE

The simplest, easiest, and most intuitive way to add effects is at the event level. It makes the most sense at first because you’re directly adjusting the exact event on the timeline you want to add effects to.

In the Video FX plug in window, click the desired effect.

✓ Drag the preset thumbnail which best fits your needs and drop it directly on the event. The Video Event FX window opens and the effect controls appear. Make your adjustments, and see the adjustments take effect in the Video Preview window.

You can also access and add effects in two other ways.

✓ Click the Event FX icon on the event, or right-click the event and choose Video Event FX from the context menu. Either way, the Plug In Chooser – Video Event FX window opens.

✓ Click the effect you want and click Add. You can also double-click an effect to add it. When you’re done adding effects, click OK. The Video Event FX window opens, and your effect plug ins appear in a chain at the top of the window. Click the effect you want. The effect is in its Default preset state. Click the preset drop-down to choose a preset.

Dragging and dropping presets directly from the Video FX window instead of manually adding effects and choosing a preset from the drop-down menu is obviously the quickest way to add effects, but you do have the other options if you wish.

You can add up to 32 effects in the event effects chain, so you can have a vast and complex combination of effects.

An advantage to adding effects at the event level is that you can copy and paste effects from event to event, so if you want to add the same effects and adjustments to another event or multiple events, you can.

✓ Right-click the first event and choose Copy. Select another event or multiple events.

✓ Right-click on the event or one of the selected events, and you have two options for pasting.

✓ Choose Paste Event Attributes and all attributes of the first event will be pasted to the selected events. This will include envelopes, crop/pan adjustments, playback rate, and other attributes, so if you only want to paste the effects, choose Selectively Paste Event Attributes. A dialog box opens and you can click which attributes you want to paste.

To add effects which apply to the entire project, drag the desired effects preset and drop it on the Video Preview window. Additionally, like events and tracks, you can click the Output FX button above the preview to open the Plug In Chooser - Video Output FX window. Add effects as with the other levels.

These effects will be layered on top of any effects at the track, event, or media level. This effects chain can also contain up to 32 effects, so it’s theoretically possible to apply 128 effects to a single event if you max out the effects chains at every level. It is very unlikely you will ever do it, though, and the limits of computing power would make it practically impossible.

✓ In VEGAS Pro, go to View>Video Bus Track. The Video Bus track appears in a sub-window at the bottom of the timeline. It’s not a video track; you can’t add video events to it. But what you do in this track applies to the entire project, every track, every event. Click the Output FX button. If you’ve added effects to the Video Preview window, the Video Output FX window opens with the effects controls visible. If you haven’t, then the Plug In Chooser – Video Output FX window opens and you can choose effects to add.

You control the entire video output from this bus track. If you click Mute, the entire project video is muted. You can add envelopes like fadesand motion blur. The Video Bus track is a great tool for precise control your video at the master level.