Solved Three issues with Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 14 I can't find support material on

Hi,
The folks at Vegas (who are apparently too busy being rude and condescending to actually help customers) told me to come here.
After 15 years of complete bliss (and two Emmy nominations) of using Vegas 4.0, the computer we used and our copy of the software were stolen during a move.
So, we made the incredible mistake of purchasing Vegas Platinum Movie Studio 14... which has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.
Here are the issues I am having--none of which seem to have support materials.
1) When you try to undo the aspect ratio and snap-to-center guides on generated media, on 4.0 you could turn both off independently. On 14, you turn one off, and the other stays on;
2) On 4.0, when you created generated media (text or color blocks), a separate editing window would crop up and you were able to edit that track separately, including moving it around on the screen. There is no editing window, nor any means of manipulating generated media on 14.
3) The video for 14.o shows that you can move text around the video window using the cursor. That has not been my experience.
Being an old school auditory learner, YouTube videos are a real struggle for me. I somehow get the feeling that all of this could be resolved in five minutes over a phone call using GoToMyPC or TeamViewer, but so far, everyone's been too busy criticizing me for asking for help to... you know, help.
Can someone help me here, please?

rjdickens wrote: 2) On 4.0, when you created generated media (text or color blocks), a separate editing window would crop up and you were able to edit that track separately, including moving it around on the screen. There is no editing window, nor any means of manipulating generated media on 14.

Hi rjdickens,

I have Movie Studio 15 Platinum, but it should be the same in version 14. I placed a legacy text on a video track above my video source media clip. A window pops open and I type in my text. I then select the 'Placement' tab. The window content changes and present a hand pointer. I left click the hand on the text and it grabs ahold of the text and I can then move it around the preview display and place it wherever I like. To the right is a dropdown to select the 'Safe Area' you like if needed, and at the bottom is a button to select animate mode if I want to animate the text movement.

If I have misunderstood your question my apology. Others will be here soon to help with your other questions. I feel your frustrations, but there is help on the way.

On text, it does work like that, but you can't really move it from side to side like you say. As we used to day in the newspaper business, you get about an en space worth of movement.
It will not work at all on solid color frames.
I really wonder if this could be just a bad install.

Hi rjdickens and welcome to the MSZ forum.

Obviously Vegas has changed dramatically since version 4.
I didn't start using Vegas Movie Studio Platinum until version 9, and that version still functions pretty much the same way as version 14.
So it sounds like the program changed somewhere between v4 and v9 - that's a very long time ago now!

Everyone on the MSZ Forum is extremely friendly and will help you.
Please be as specific as possible when describing problems, because it will help speed up the process.

Question #1
You have mentioned Generated Media - which specific media are you talking about ?
Are you talking about Solid Colour, Text, etc...?
Why are you trying to undo the Aspect Ratio of your generated media ?
If your Project Properties have been set correctly before your begin adding media, there should be no need to change the Aspect Ratio of your media, unless you are trying to create custom rectangles of solid colour events.

You said "On 14, you turn one off, and the other stays on"
Which window are you actually looking at ?
It would be great if you could upload a screen shot of the window you are referring to, then I will know exactly what you mean.
If you don't know how to take a screen shot, read instructions here:
www.moviestudiozen.com/forum/welcome-to-msz/1541-how-to-take-a-screen-shot-of-your-desktop-and-upload-it-to-the-forum#7660

Question #2
It sounds like your Questions #1 and #2 are related to the same topic.
I'm going to take a stab in the dark and assume you are talking about the Event Pan/Crop window and/or the Track Motion window.

I recommend you watch this tutorial on creating Multi-Screen video effects.
It will show a practical use of using the Event Pan/Crop and Track Motion windows.
The theory taught in this tutorial, can be equally applied to any Generated Media.
www.moviestudiozen.com/free-tutorials/sony-vegas-pro/546-multi-screen-video-fx-sony-vegas-pro

Event Pan/Crop



Let's quickly look at Event Pan/Crop first - this window is best used for changing Aspect Ratio, Zooms and Pans
1. The are different Aspect Ratio resets you can apply from the drop down selection.
2. Turn OFF Lock Aspect Ratio if you want to free form move the window.
3. Drag corner to reshape.



Track Motion
Let's quickly look at Track Motion - this window is best used for creating different shapes (rectangles) and making the video frame smaller, like Picture in Picture effect.
Press Track Motion button in track control box to open (screen shot #1 at top of page).
1, 2 & 3. You need to turn OFF all 3 of these controls to create free form shapes.
4. Drag corner to re-shape.

Tip: Right-click centre of any window to RESET back to defaults.



Question #3
There were BUGS in the earlier build versions for VMSP14.
Make sure you have installed the latest build version!
Go to Help/About to find build version.
The final build released was #148.
If you don't have #148, you can download it from here:
www.moviestudiozen.com/doctor-zen-faq/610-vegas-movie-studio-14-update-history

You must have the Text Control window open to see scalable window controls in the Preview Window.
If you still don't see this after installing build version #148, it probably means your computer's Graphics Card does not have the correct Driver installed and/or Microsoft .NET Framework on your computer needs updating or repairing.

You can still Scale and Reposition Text manually, but using the Slider and opening the Location controls.





Beginners Guide for Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 14
I also recommend you watch this beginners guide tutorial for version 14.
www.moviestudiozen.com/free-tutorials/sony-movie-studio-platinum/584-beginners-guide-vegas-movie-studio-14-platinum

I will also be releasing new tutorials for Vegas Movie Studio Platinum, very, very soon.

Regards
Derek (aka Doctor Zen)

p.s.
You can book a private training session with me online, via Skype here:
www.moviestudiozen.com/store

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't wait to get to the office and try your suggestions. I will also upload some screenshots, now that you have given me specific information as to what is needed.
I knew something had to have changed. I had a co-worker for a while who used Vegas 6, so the changes must have occurred after that.

I'm sorry. I tried all the suggestions to the best of my ability. Absolutely nothing happened.
I was finally able to get the aspect ratio and scale to center to both stay off at the same time, but the color block still cannot be edited down from the sides, and when I tried keyframes like you suggested, nothing happened. period.
I have enclosed screenshots. They probably won't be helpful because nothing happens.
I'm sorry I'm clueless, but I am just frustrated, angry and confused beyond words.
My kingdom for a copy of Vegas 4.0...

Hi rjdickens,

Looking at your screenshots, the one where you have the "play head" showing at the 2 Second and 7 Frame mark (00:00:02:07), not the one with the "Track Motion" showing, on the 4th video track down, which has the "Blue" either background or media generator, that track is "Solo'ed". Try clicking on the "S" on that track, as it is the only thing you are going to view, since you basically said "Not to View" the other tracks by doing this.

Though I could be wrong and you meant to do this?

Mike "The Chief" O'Sullivan

Just for the heck of it, I downloaded 11.0 and I am having exactly the same issues. I'm sorry that I am unable to communicate my issues in a way anyone can understand.
Perhaps someone has a version of 4.0-6.0 they could sell me?

I know exactly what the problem is !!!!!

Are you trying to create a Lower Thirds element to display at the bottom of the screen ?

Please upload a copy of your .vf project file to the forum.
This file is very small and contains no videos, but it will show me all of your settings and media generated elements.
I can then fix your problems and send the .vf project file back to you, so you can see exactly what to do.

The Chief is correct - you have turned on the Solo! button.
Be careful with turning this on and remember to turn it off.

I found a copy of 9.0e. Works better, but you still can't crop the sides of a color box