Creating SMPTE reference for Vegas projects.

MattinSTL

MattinSTL

Sound Modulator
This may have been covered... or maybe this is really simple and pointless to add this post, but I did a quick search and didn't find it so I thought I'd share. It only took me about 5 minutes to figure this out in Vegas, just by assuming that there should be a logical way to do what I needed to do, but this might really help somebody else out.

If you have a better way to do this then set me straight. I love to learn.

I've been working on a local tv show that's due to air as soon as some things fall into place, but my responsibilities on the show are almost overwhelming. Some people have felt they would be well-served by a storyboard, but the show is supposed to be infotainment talk... so I see no point in that. What I needed to do in Vegas is create some edits that could train my talent to understand the shot-clock... and improve their skill in reacting to my direction... so that they can wrap up segments smoothly... thinking on their feet.

I decided the best way to do this is to show them, through the time-code... when the signal is given, and how much time they used, and how they used it.

Bottom line is that I can't totally script/direct/produce a weekly show... they have GOT to be able to figure some of this out based on each week's experience.

The solution, as best I can figure, is to give them a show with visible TC... to go with the written shot-clock... so that perhaps they can grasp what I'm needing to do in the edit. The other benefit of this is that it helps ME to do the edit... according to the shot-clock myself.

What I'm doing is creating a new video track in Vegas... that's the top track... then go to Insert > Generated Media... > Sony Solid Color...

Then choose any color (doesn't matter) and use the left slider to move it all the way down to transparent (shown by the alpha checkerboard)... and make that as long as the total content needs to be... in my case it's :29:50:00...

Next go to Tools > Scripting > Add Time Code To All Media...

OK... you're done! Your top track in Vegas is now a transparent track of constant TC running across your entire project. As you need to see the real TC that's on the actual clips... you can simply turn off the top track of TC and the real TC will show.

Simple.

If you have a better way or another way... feel free to post it. If this has been covered before then my apologies... I couldn't find anything in the archives.
 
I believe you can just add the timecode effect to the preview window for a master clock of the timeline. To turn it off, you click the little green cross above the window and uncheck the effect. Or, if you have no other global effects there, just right-click the cross and disable all effects.

I also think it's not a bad idea to go into the media generator/solid colors and create a transparent card, as you described, and save it as a preset. Can be useful for adding certain effects to multiple tracks without having to add them to the whole project, or for 3D track motion purposes, etc.
 
The method you describe in the preview window... will that put the SMPTE on the output?

The reason I brought this up is because I need to output to DVD... a "show" to instruct the talent on what the shot-clock really means... and doing it the way I mentioned displays the SMPTE onto the actual rendered video output... so that you can cut the video... seeing the actual tape TC... and then once the video is edited and :29:50:00 long... render out the project so that it follows the shot-clock (visually) rather then displaying various blocks of recorded TC... then once the show is ready to render out for tv, you can delete that track or simply turn off the TC display for everything.

Will the other method still display a project TC that reflects the NLE as a whole? Or does that only provide the reference for the TC that's part of individual clips?... and finally, if you use that will it put that TC directly on the output (as you would want in my situation, or perhaps for checking dailies?)
 
Applying an effect to the preview window is the way you apply an effect to the entire project. It's just as much part of the output as an effect you apply at the clip or track levels.

The timecode shown when you do that is the timecode of the global project. And like any other effect, you can can disable it by unchecking it in the effects editor.

Remember, too, that in the effect editor, you can move around the position of the timecode, so you can show the global timecode and the clip timecode at the same time.
 
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