The following Users Guide describes all of the features found in the Timeline Tools Utility program.   Timeline Tools is a utility that, for the most part, works with open Vegas Projects.   If a project isn't open, or you are working with Media but have not yet saved it to a Project, most of the programs features are disabled.  This is also the case  while Vegas is opening up a large Project.   Once loaded, all the features are enabled and the main Event display Table will be filled with information about Events on the selected Track.

Briefly, Timeline Tools is a Vegas Command Extension.   This means you can start the program and dock its window in the same spaces occupied by other built-in Vegas windows; such as the Project Explorer and Project Media windows.   Timeline Tools displays information about your Vegas Project and lets you manipulate Events, Markers, Envelope Points, and PlugIns.  You can configure external editing tools that can easily edit your media files.  You can search for Media by name, look for multiple references to the same Media file, display Events in the Timeline that are missing their associated Media files, or display only Generated Media such as Text Events.  You can also search for gaps in your Events based on a user specified gap width.   Timeline Tools can automatically remove or add gaps, and remove or add overlap between Events.  If you are adding overlap, you can also specify the overlap fade curve type.  You can remove or add Video FX PlugIns and Transitions to one or more Events,  and Remove Pan / Crop, Rotation and Aspect Ratio settings of a group of selected Events.  You can automatically add Markers to all of your Events, and export your Marker positions to a text file.  The program also lets you move, or adjust the value of one or more Envelope Points with a single mouse click.   And you can get a quick overview of all of the current project Event groupings.   The program also lets you save a set of comments or notes that are stored in a Rich Text Format file in your Vegas Project subdirectory.    Lastly, all of the changes that Timeline Tools makes to your Vegas project, are completely reversible using the built-in Sony Vegas Undo feature.

Most of the Timeline Tools features operate on selected Events or items that are highlighted in the Track Event Table, or listboxes that appear in the programs different tabbed pages.   Menu items and action buttons will clearly state if the action will be performed on either selected Events or highlighted items.

After downloading and installing the Timeline Tools Vegas Pro Extension, you start the utility from the Vegas Pro View Menu.

To start the program select: View / Extensions / Timeline Tools.

To make it easier to run the utility in the future, you can add the Timeline Tools icon to the Vegas Pro toolbar.

To do this select: Options / Customize Toolbar...

This brings up the Customize Toolbar form.   Scroll down the list at left of Available toolbar buttons until you see Timeline Tools; then select it.   Select an entry in the Current toolbar buttons list at the right, then press the Add -> button.   This installs the Timeline Tools icon on the toolbar just ahead of the item you selected in the list at right.

Note: you may have to restart Vegas Pro after installing the Toolbar Icon for it to become visible.

• Track Event Info
• Track Tools
• Markers & FX
• Track Extras
• Vegas PlugIns
• Project Notes
• About

Timeline Tools is primary designed to work with open Vegas Projects.   If you start up Timeline Tools without a Vegas Project currently loaded, the main window will display the message shown below.   After that, if you either Open up a project, or Save the current Vegas configuration to a project, Timeline Tools will automatically switch to its normal project display mode.

When you start the Extension from within Sony Vegas Pro, the Track Event Info tab is selected by default.

The Track Event Info tab (Fig. 1) consists of 5 separate sections.

Note:  Some keystrokes used by Timeline Tools are the same as those used by Sony Vegas Pro.   For example, the Spacebar is used in Sony Vegas Pro to Play/Pause video Playback.  In Timeline Tools, it toggles the Vegas cursor position between the current and last timeline position.   The logic that determines which application processes keystrokes is simple.   If you click your mouse anywhere in the Vegas application itself (giving it focus), then Sony Vegas will handle all subsequent keystrokes.   If you give focus to Timeline Tools by clicking on the main Event grid, Timeline Tolls will process the shared keystrokes.

Figure 1

Section (1) is where the Track of interest is selected.   If your project contains more than one Video Track, an All Video Tracks selection becomes available.  This is also true for Audio Tracks.   Once a Track is selected, the display Table fills up with information about all the Events on the selected Track(s).   You can press the Refresh Table button to update the Table should anything change in the Vegas Project that did not cause the Table to be updated automatically.   If the Include PlugIn Info checkbox is checked, any PlugIns associated with Video Events will be included in the Table.   This section includes a checkbox that can lock all of the programs Track selection controls to follow the Track selected in the Track Event Info Tab.   Note: some Track selection controls only allow a Video Track selection.   If an Audio Track is selected in Section 1, the other controls remain unchanged.  Note: Changing the selected Track will reset any Events stored in the Move list.  Move operations are only available when a single Track is selected.   Note: If an All Tracks option is selected, you will not be able to perform a Move or Reverse Move operation.

Section (2) The drop-down list allows you to filter the list of Events by Media Type.   You can select from the following filter types:

If a Media Type Filter shown in blue is selected, an optional parameter can be supplied to further refine display filtering.

Show Media with Plug-Ins.   If this Filter is selected, an optional search string can be entered into the parameter input box below the drop down filter list.   The search string is not case sensitive, and returns a match for any Plug-In listed in the Plug-Ins grid column that contains the search string.   For example: entering color as the search string will return a match for any event that has either the Sony Color Curves, or the Sony Color Color Balance video Plug-In applied.

Show Wide Media,  Show Narrow Media,  Show Square Media,  Show Small Media, Filter by Size Expression.   If any of these Filters are selected, an optional Boolean expression can be entered into the parameter input box.    The expression will be applied against each Event, and if the result is true, the Event will be displayed in the grid.   The optional expression recognizes the following Operators and Constants:

Filter by Media Tags.   Enter the media tag you want to use to filter the main display.   As you enter the tag name, a drop down suggestion list of possible valid tags appears.   The more letters of the tag name you enter, the more refined the list of suggested tags becomes.   Tags are case-insensitive.   To provide additional filtering, you can enter more than one tag.   Multiple tags must be comma separated.   Note: suggestions only are available for the first tag entered.

• Math operators: *  /  +  -  =  <  >  !=  (  )
• Boolean operators:  And, Or, Not
• Constants:  Width, Height, ProjWidth, ProjHeight, ProjAspect, PixelAspect.

The Constants that are available for use in boolean expressions are not case sensitive, and are described as follows:

For example: 

• Entering the expression: (width > 1600) will refine the display to only show Events that contain media that has a width greater than 1600 pixels.
• Selecting the Show Wide Media filter and entering the following expression: (width < projwidth) and (height < projheight) displays Wide Media that is also Small Media.
• Entering: not (width = 1600) displays all Events whose width is not equal to 1600 pixels.   This could also be achieved with the expression (width != 1600).

The parameter input box is capable of storing many search strings or boolean expressions.   Simply complete your entry and press the Enter Key.   Later, if you enter the first letter of any previous entry that was entered into the input box, a drop-down suggestion list will appear containing all the previous entries that start with that letter.    In the lower right hand corner of the suggestion list, there's a handle that you can use to adjust the width of the list.

Section (3) allows you to further refine your display filtering by letting you specify search text for the Media Name in each Event.   All filtering is case insensitive.  You can choose to either turn this option Off; Specify text for an exact Match; Specify text the Media Name Contains; or use Regular Expression (RegEx) pattern matching.   If you select a Match filter, this means the Media Name is exactly the same as the filter text.   A Contains filter means the Media Name contains the filter text.   For example: if the filter text is "pla", and a Media Name is "Airplane", this will be a match and the Event will be shown in the Table.   Regular Expression searches are beyond the scope of this user guide.  But there are a few web sites that cover the topic fairly well.  Here are  three sites that do a good job of explaining Regular Expressions:  A, B, C.

Section (4) allows you save any number of Vegas Cursor positions to a stack in the utility.   Typically people use Markers for this.  But using Markers to save cursor locations can become unwieldy when the Project itself requires the use of many Markers.   The Cursor Position stack can be viewed in a drop down list, and you can move directly to any position in the list.   Right-Click on the Drop down component for a context menu describing other options for the Cursor Stack.   You can also save the current Vegas Cursor location to the stack by pressing the Add Vegas Cursor Position button, or delete all of the entries in the stack by pressing the Clear Stack button.    *Note - The Cursor Stack does NOT save selected Track or Event information.   Items in the stack are simply timeline locations in your project.

1. Sort Cursor Stack - This rearranges the Timeline positions in the stack so they can appear sorted as earliest to latest, or latest to earliest.
2. Add Vegas Cursor position to Cursor stack - This does the same thing as the Add Vegas Cursor Position button.
3. Create Timeline Markers from Cursor stack - This will place a Vegas Marker on the timeline at each location stored in the Cursor Stack.
4. Select Events at locations in the Cursor stack - This will Select all timeline Events that are at the locations stored in the Cursor stack.
5. Add Events at ALL Cursor Stack locations to the Move-List - This adds all of the Events at the locations in the Cursor stack to the Move-List.   This is handy if you want to move many non-contiguous Events at once.
6. Delete Selected Cursor Stack entry - Deletes the item in the Cursor stack is currently highlighted.
7. Delete ALL Cursor Stack entries - This is like the Clear Stack button.  It deletes ALL items in the Cursor Stack.
8. Toggle Last & Current Cursor positions (or press SPACE) - Refer to Fig. 2 explanation of this function below.
9. Open Event under Vegas Cursor using external tool - Refer to Fig. 2 explanation of this function below in the section titled: Open selected Event using external tool.

Section (5) contains the Track Event Table.   The Table shows information about all of the Events in the Track(s) selected in Section (1).   The action taken when an item in the Table is selected, is determined by the Timeline Tools Option settings found in the Track Tools tab.    If the "Vegas Cursor tracks the selected Event table item." option is enabled (the default setting), selecting an item in the Table automatically positions the Vegas Cursor to that Event.   If the "Tracking positions Vegas Cursor to center of Event." option is enabled (the default setting), the Vegas Cursor is position to the center of the Event, rather than the start of the Event.   This is useful if your Events are overlapped and you want to view the Event in the Preview window.   Right-Click on the Table for a context menu of additional Event Table features.    If you are displaying the PlugIns column, you will see Video Event PlugIns listed when a Video Track is selected, and Audio PlugIns if you have an Audio Track selected.   Video PlugIns that have "(Ts)" after them are Transitions that are assigned to the Start of an Event.   Video PlugIns that have "(Te)" after them are Transitions that are assigned to the End of an Event.

Sections (6) is the status message line.   This line contains information about the current state of the program.  It displays information about tasks being performed, and any error messages that may result.

[Top] [Tab Index]

The Track Event Info tab Right-Click context menu for the Track Event Table (or Grid) (Fig. 2).

Note: Several items in the Event Grid Context Menu operate on either Highlighted Event items in the Table, or Selected Events.   Highlighted Event items refer to Events displayed in the Event Grid that are Highlighted in blue.   The grid allows you to Highlight one or more Events.   Selected Events are those Events that are Selected in the Sony Vegas Timeline, and are identified in the Event Grid with a checkmark in the Selected Column.

In the following screen shot we can see Three Selected Events, and One Highlighted Event.

Event Grid Context Menu:

Figure 2

Autosize Table columns to fit contents.   This automatically sizes the Table column widths for a better view of the contents.   You can also manually change the individual column widths by placing the cursor on the column separator in the column header, then drag the line left or right.    Any changes you make to the column width settings will be maintained and restored the next time you start Timeline Tools.
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Highlight all Events in the Table.   This selects all of the Table entries.   The next two menu options work with items highlighted in the Table.

Select all highlighted Events in table (or dbl-click item ).  This Selects the Events represented by the highlighted table items.  Other Selected Events are unchanged.   You can also Dbl-Click an item in the Table to toggle the Event Selection state.

Select all highlighted Events in table (deselect all others ).  This Selects the Events represented by the highlighted table items.  All other Events are deselected.
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Deselect Events highlighted in table.   Deselects the Events represented by the highlighted table items.

Deselect all Events in the Track.   Causes the Selected state of all Events in the Selected Track to be cleared.
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Go to highlighted Event.   This is the manual method of doing what happens automatically if the "Vegas Cursor tracks the selected Event table item." option is enabled.

Go to First Selected Event.   Brings the first selected Event into view in the Timeline Tools main display grid.

Add Highlighted Events to Cursor Stack.   Adds the starting position of the Events represented by the highlighted table items, to the Cursor Stack.

Toggle Last & Current Cursor positions (or press SPACE ).   This is a very handy feature that lets the user temporarily move the Vegas Cursor to a new position, and by pressing the SPACE BAR, it will return to its previous location.   To use this feature do the following:

• Have Timeline Tools opened up.
• Click directly on an Event in the Vegas Timeline so it gets selected.
• Then Click directly on another Event in the Vegas Timeline so it gets selected.
• Then Click on the last selected Event entry in the Timeline Tools Event Grid.
• Then either press the SPACE BAR, or select the menu option to toggle the Cursor locations.
• Clicking on another Event in the Timeline makes this position the newest position.  Repeat the above process to toggle between the last two Events.

Note: Vegas has a limitation.  Only when you click on an Event, will Vegas inform Add-Ins and Extensions like Timeline Tools, that the Vegas cursor has been moved.  If you click on a Gap between Events, Timeline Tools is not informed of the move, and can't track the change.
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Edit Move-List.  The Move-List provides an alternate method of selecting one or more Events that you want to move around on the Timeline.   This is useful when you need to move several Events that are widely spaced in a Project containing hundreds or more Events.    The Edit Move-List menu selection brings up the following form.   From here you can view and alter the contents of the Move-List.    Right-click on the grid to bring up the context menu where you can Autosize the columns to fit the contents.

The Edit Move-List form gives you the ability to:

1. Remove ALL entries from the list.
2. Remove selected entries from the list.

In addition to the above, if you have the Cursor tracks selection checkbox checked, as you move through the Event list the Vegas Cursor will follow.  This allows you to preview the Events that have been added to the Move-List.   Any changes you make to the Move-List will be accepted if you close the form by pressing the OK button.   If you press Cancel, your changes are discarded and the Move-List remains unchanged.    When the Move-List form is closed, the Vegas cursor will be restored to the position it was at when the Move List form was opened.

Add highlighted Events in table to Move-List  ( or ~ ).   This menu item adds all of the currently highlighted Events in the Events table to the Move-List.   You can also press the Tilde Key (~) to add the highlighted Events to the Move-List.

Add selected Events to Move-List.  This adds the currently selected Events in the Vegas Timeline to the Move-List.

Move x List entries to the Highlighted Event location.   This moves all Events that were added to the Move-List, to the position in the Vegas timeline represented by the currently highlighted Event table item.  After Moving the Events the Move-List is automatically cleared.   To move Events using the Move-List, perform the following steps:

• Choose the Event(s) that you want to move by Highlighting them in the Timeline Tools Event Table, or by Selecting them on the timeline.   Right-Click on the Event table and chose to add either the Highlighted Events or the Selected Events to the Move-List.
• Repeat the previous step as many times as needed to select and add all of the Events you want to move to the Move-List.   These events can be anywhere on the Timeline, but must all be from the same track.
• Highlight a single Event in Timeline Tools Event Table.   This Event location will be the insertion point where all the Selected Event(s) will be moved.   If you added more than one Event to the Move-List, these Events will be moved and be placed consecutively at the insertion position.
• Right-click the Event table and select the Move x List entries to the Highlighted Event location menu item. 
• Moved Events will maintain their Overlap and Envelope Fade Type settings when moved.   Also, Events on a different Track that are grouped with a moved Event, will also be moved (e.g. an Audio Track will be moved  with its grouped Video Track).

Note: ALL Event Move operations are only available when a specific Track is selected in the Track Event Info Tab.   Cross track moves are not supported in Timeline Tools.   This must be done manually from the Vegas timeline.

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Move Selected Events to the Highlighted Event location.   This is another method than can be used to move one or more selected Events from their original location to another location in the Timeline.   To use this feature do the following.

Three Events are selected and ready to be moved ahead of the Event named 020930-0-9999G-015

• Select the Event(s) on the same track that you want to move, either by selecting them from the Vegas Timeline, or by Highlighting them in the Timeline Tools Event Table and clicking the Select all highlighted Events in table (deselect all others ) menu option.
• Highlight an Event in the Timeline Tools Event Table.   This will be the insertion point where the Selected Event(s) will be moved.   If you Selected more than one Event, these Events will be moved and be placed consecutively at the insertion position.
• Click on the Move Selected Events to the Highlighted Event location menu item.
• Events will maintain their Overlap and Envelope Fade Type settings when moved.   Also, Events on a different Track that are grouped with a moved Event, will also be moved (e.g. an Audio Track will be moved  with its grouped Video Track).

The Events after the Move operation.   Note:  This can be reversed using the Vegas "Undo" feature.

Note: Move operations are only available when a specific Track is selected.

Reverse order of Selected Events.   This is used to Reverse the order of Events as they appear in the Vegas Timeline.   For example, if you have 10 Events in the Vegas Timeline, and you Select Event numbers [2], [4], [7], and [10].   After invoking this option, the Events will be ordered like this:  [1] [10] [3] [7] [5] [6] [4] [8] [9] [2].     If you Selected Events [8], [9] and [10]; after invoking this option they would be ordered: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [10] [9] [8].   To use this feature do the following:

• Select the Event(s) that you want to reorder, either by selecting them from the Vegas Timeline, or by Highlighting them in the Timeline Tools Event Table and clicking the Select all highlighted Events in table (deselect all others ) menu option.
• Click on the Reverse order of Selected Events menu item.
• Events will maintain their Overlap and Envelope Fade Type settings when moved.   Also, any Events on a different Track that are grouped with a moved Event, will also be moved.

Note: Reverse operations are only available when a specific Track is selected.

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Open highlighted Event using external tool.   This allows you to open up an Event's associated Media File with an external editing program.  This could be either the default program associated with the Media file extension type, or by selecting an external editing program that you previously configured in the Track Tools tab.    You can also choose to open up the Media File Location in Windows Explorer.   Note:  This feature only works if you have enabled the Sony Vegas Option described below.
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Export Event Table Data.   This option allows you to export information displayed in the Event grid to a text file.   It can also generate a DOS Batch file that can be used to move all of your active project media to a new file location.   When this menu option is selected, a form appears that lets you choose options for exporting Event data.   Only Events displayed in the table are exported.  If you have filtering applied to the Event Table, such as a Text Search or Media Type filtering, only the filtered results can be exported.   To export ALL table data, remove all filtering that would reduce the number of Events displayed in the table.

From this form you can select:

• Which Event Table columns you want to include in the export (including those that may not currently be visible in the main Event table).
• Whether or not to include a column header row at the beginning of the text file.
• Whether or not to include information about Sony Generated Media such as Text, etc.
• The character to use as a column delimiter.
• The location and file name where you want to export the data.

Press the Export Event Table Data button when you have made all your option selections.

To create a DOS Batch file that can move your media files, perform the following steps:

• Make sure all of the media files you want to move are included in the Events displayed in the main Event table.
• Select the menu option to Export Event Table Data.
• Select the As a Batch File Tab at the top of the form.
• Enter the location and name of the Batch file that will be created.
• Enter the location where you want to move your Project Media files.
• Choose if you want to create a Batch File that warns about potential file over-writes.  This can prevent the loss of your media files if your project contains multiple media sources from different locations that all have the same name.   Moving all of these files into the same location would cause file over-writes if this option is omitted.

Press the Create DOS Batch File button when you have made all your option selections.   Timeline Tools will skip over media files that are already located in the target location.   When finished, a Message box will inform you of the results of the action.   If no errors were encountered, and a Batch file was created, after closing the Message box Timeline Tools will open up Windows Explorer to the location of the Batch File with the Batch File automatically selected.   If you double-click the Batch File it will run and automatically move all of the included media files.   When you click back on Sony Vegas Pro, you'll see a Message box warning you about missing media files.   Select the option to specify a new location.   When Vegas opens up the file selection form, enter the name and new location of the requested file then press OK.   Finally, tell Vegas to use this location for ALL missing files.

Note:  The above steps can only be performed if you have the following Sony Vegas option selected.   This option tells Vegas to close all open media files when Sony Vegas Pro is not the Active program (the program with focus).    Running the DOS Batch file takes focus away from Vegas allowing the Media files to be moved without causing a File In Use error.   The same is true if you use the Timeline Tools feature to edit Project Media in an external editor program.

Sony Vegas Option that must be selected to use an external Media Editor program, or execute the batch file created to move project media files.

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Add Points to Selected Events.  This option allow you to automatically add Points to the selected Envelope of the Selected Track.    Points are added to the Selected Track and Envelope that bracket the Selected Events on the Track chosen in the Track Event Info Tab.    As an example:  If I click on the Track Info Tab and select the "2 Audio:" Audio track.   This selects the track that contains the Selected Events that will be examined to determine where the Envelope Points will be placed on the Track chosen in the the Add Points to Envelopes within Selected Events form.   Typically you would select the same Track in both places, but this is not mandatory.

The option dialog contains the following settings:

• Target Track:   This dropdown list shows all of the Vegas Tracks that contain at least one Envelope.
• Track Envelopes:   This dropdown list shows all of the Envelopes that are available for the selected Track.
• Skip Overlap Area:   If checked, when Points are added to the selected Envelope, the points will be located in the non-overlapped section of the Selected Events.   Otherwise the points will be added at the start and end of the Selected Events.
• Optimize Adjacent Event Points:  Normally four Points are added to each Selected Event.  Selected Events that are next to each other do not necessarily need all four Points.  Instead only two Points per Event will be created.   Creating Points to adjust the overall volume level of Adjacent Events is one example where you would not want extra Points.
• Apply Event left offset:   If checked, the amount of offset in frames given in the +/- Frame offset bracketing Event input box is added to the left edge of the Event in deciding where to place the Points on the Envelope.
• Apply Event right offset:   If checked, the amount of offset in frames given in the +/- Frame offset bracketing Event input box is subtracted from the right edge of the Event in deciding where to place the Points on the Envelope.
• +/- Frame offset bracketing Event:   The number of frames to grow or shrink the point positions that will be created on the Envelope.  A positive value will move the points apart.  A negative value will move them closer together.
• [The Value input Box for the Selected Envelope]:   The value of the Envelope that will be created by the bracketing Points.   The title of this input box will change depending on the envelope type selected in the dropdown.   The value entered will also be in units that are appropriate for the selected envelope type.

The following example demonstrates how a Motion Blur can be assigned to Events on the project video track.    The project contains four graphic images that have a one second overlap.   The video Track is selected in the Track Event Info Tab.   Also, the projects Video Bus Track has been made visible using the Vegas File / View / Video Bus Track (Ctrl-Shift-B) menu option.    A Motion Blur Amount envelope has been added to the Video Bus Track using the context menu shown below.

Static graphic images like those in the above project would not normally require a Motion Blur effect.   But, if you will be adding Pan and/or Zoom Keyframes, some images will produce a herringbone interference effect if that image contains tightly grouped patterns such as closely spaced lines, or small objects with sharp edges.   Pictures that contain grass, tree bark, gravel, and clothing with small closely spaced striped or checked patterns can all cause a herringbone distortion effect while the image is transitioning from Keyframe to Keyframe during a zoom.    The following image is a picture of a rug with a tight weave.   You can download this image to see the effect.   (1) Download the image.  (2) Add it to a project.  (3) Set the image length to 6 seconds.  (4) Add a Keyframe to the end of the image that produces a zoom effect.  (5) Playback the image and you'll see the distortion effect.

Low Resolution Images that contain the above mentioned patterns are especially susceptible to the effect.    One way I've found to minimize this zoom action distortion, is to apply some Motion Blur.   This was the primary  purpose of adding this feature to Timeline Tools.

In the above project, select Event number two.    Right-click the Timeline Tools Event Grid and select the Add Points to Selected Events menu option.    In the Add Points to Envelopes within Selected Events form, make the following selections:

• Select the Video Bus Track as the Target Track.
• Select the Motion Blur Length Envelope.
• Check the Skip Overlap Area checkbox.
• Uncheck the Optimize Adjacent Event Points checkbox.
• Enter 0 in the +/- Frames offset bracketing Event input box.
• Check both the Apply Left and Apply Right checkboxes.
• Enter a value of 10 into the Number of Frames input box.

When done press OK.

Events are butted end-to-end	Events are overlapped

Four points were added to the Motion Blur envelope that bracket the entire Event.    If you overlap your Events, the Skip Overlap Area checkbox will place the points so they bracket just the non-overlapped area of the Event.    This option is useful if you will be using transition effects in the overlap area.   Your rendered video will suffer from undesirable side-effects if you perform Motion Blur over a number of images that contain both image frames and transition effect frames.   This prevents the transition effect frames from being included in the blur.   You can have finer control of this by using the +/- Frame offset bracketing Event feature.    This allows you to specify additional Frames that you want to add to, or subtract from the transition area.

Overlapped Events with Overlap area skipped, and bracket width reduced by 7 frames.	Close up view of the 7 frames removed from the bracket.

Above you can see the effect that the -7 frame offset value had on the placement of the envelope points.  The width of the envelope bracket has been reduced by 7 frames at each end.    If you will be using a large number of frames for your Motion Blur, you will need to skip over additional frames of video following the transition to insure that transition frames are not averaged into your Motion Blurred video.

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Edit Project Media Tags.   This menu option brings up the project Media Tag Editor form.   Media tags are project level tags that can be assigned to any Event present on the timeline.    Media Tags are saved in an XML file in the subdirectory where your Vegas project .veg is located; and have the same base name as the .veg file with an XML extension.    Media Tags allow you to assign labels to the media used in your project, and can be used to filter the list of Events displayed in the Main Event grid.

Note: The Media Tag feature supported by Timeline Tools is completely independent from the Media Tags provided in the Sony Media Manager.   Media Manager uses an SQL database that is common among all Vegas projects.  The Timeline Tools Media Tags are unique to each project.

The Media Tag Editor form is modeless; meaning it can be opened, and you can continue working with the Timeline Tools utility windows.   The Media Tag Editor supports the following features.

• Add New Tags.   Enter the Tag in the input box and press Enter, or press the Add Tag button.  As you enter letters into the input box you will see a list of Tags that already have been created for your project.  You can select from the list, or continue to enter an entirely new Tag.
• Update Tag.    This lets you edit a previously entered Tag.   Select the Tag from the list that you want to change.  Enter the replacement Tag in the input box.  Then press the Update Tag button.
• Delete Tag.     Select the Tag from the list that you want to delete.  Then press the Delete Tag button.
• Reset Tags.    This deletes all Tags from the Event.
• Close.    This closes the Media Tag Editor window.

Tags that are added to or deleted from the indicated Event, are done so immediately.   You do not have to Apply them or Close the Editor window.    While the Media Tag Editor window is open, highlighting new Events in the main display grid opens the Event in the Media Tag Editor.    This allows you to quickly move from Event to Event to add new Tags.

Finally, you can right-click on the Tag list window to bring up a context menu that lets you Copy and Paste Tags from one Event to Another.   This copies all of the tags assigned to one event into another.

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Close Menu.   This essentially does nothing except clear the context menu from view.   An unwanted side effect in Sony Vegas Command Extensions is that normal form navigation and menu operation that people are familiar with, is unsupported.   Pressing the Tab key does not move to the next control in a Tab sequence.  And Menus that are displayed but not clicked, remain in view until they are clicked on.   This menu option gives you something to click that does nothing, but remove the menu from view.   This is something that Sony should fix in the future.

[Top] [Tab Index]

The Track Tools tab (Fig. 3) consists of 6 separate sections.  Features on this tab allow you to adjust Event Size, Gaps, Overlap, Fades and Fade Curve type.   You can also review and change program options, and define one or more external editing programs that can be called up to edit Event Media.
 

Figure 3

Figure 4

Section (1) allows you to select the Track where Event modifications will be applied.   If the Lock Track Selections checkbox in the Track Event Info Tab is checked, the Track selection will automatically follow what has been selected in the Track Event Info Tab.    However, this does not prevent you from changing the selection manually.

Section (2) lets you search the selected Track for Gaps or Overlap between Events that are greater than, or equal to the specified Min Gap Width value in seconds.   A value of zero simply jumps the Vegas Cursor to the next Event on the Track.   A non-zero value will move the Vegas Cursor to start of the next gap that is greater than or equal to that value.  A Negative value will search for an Overlap amount that is greater than or equal to the absolute value of the specified time.

Section (3) gives you some quick actions you can perform on the Events in the selected track.   If the Selected Events Only checkbox is checked, only the selected Events on the Track will be affected.  If the Ignore Gap Removal checkbox is checked, Timeline Event Gaps will NOT be removed.   If the Ignore Leading Gaps and Selected Events Only checkboxes are checked, Gaps will be removed between Selected Events on the Timeline, but Gaps that exist ahead of the first Selected Timeline Event will be preserved.   Note:  The Ignore Leading Gaps checkbox can only be selected if the Selected Events Only checkbox is also selected.

Remove Gaps, Overlap & Fades.  This adjusts all targeted Events on the selected Track and moves them adjacent to each other without any Gap.  There will be no Event Overlap, and any Event Fade In/Out settings will be cleared.

Remove Gaps & Overlap.  This adjusts all targeted Events on the selected Track and moves them adjacent to each other without any Gap.  There will be no Event Overlap, and any Event Fade In/Out settings will be retained.

Section (4) Adjust Gaps, Event length, Overlap & Fade.  This is the meat & potatoes option that gives you the most flexibility in modifying your Track Events.   The first thing to do is decide how to make your adjustments.   Either in Time, or by Frames.   This affects all changes to Event size, Overlap or Gap length, and Fade In/Out duration.

• Relative Event size change.   If unchecked, the Event size value will be used to set the absolute length of the Event in Time or Frames.   If checked, Event size will be increased by the length of the specified amount of Time or Frames.  Entering a negative size value reduces the length of the Event by the specified amount.
   
• Force no Event Overlap.  If checked, Events will not be overlapped and the Overlap size input box will change to Fade In/Out size allowing you to set the length and type of the Event Fade In/Out curve that will be placed at the start and end of each Event.   If unchecked, the Overlap size value will set the amount of overlap between adjacent Events.   Fade In/Out curve type is set using the Fade Type drop down list.

Adjust Events.  This button applies the Event configuration settings in Sections (3) & (4) to the targeted Events on the Selected Track.

Section (5) (Fig. 4) lets you configure external media editing tools.  These are tools that can be invoked to edit Media files used in a Vegas Project.  You can add tools and specify the Media types they work with; either Audio or Video.   You can also delete any of the tools you've added to the lists, or change the tools settings.   Configured Tools must be capable of opening up a Media file passed to them on the command line, or they will not function properly when used here.   Most editing programs support this.

To add a tool, press the Add Tool button.  In the form that appears you must enter: The tool Name, The file path where the Tool is located, and the type of Media this tool edits.   The Tool Name is the name that appears in the list of external Tools in section (5).

To edit a tool that is already in the list, simply double-click the tool item in the listbox.

The Video Tools, and Audio Tools radio buttons let you filter the list to show the tools you have configured for those Media types.

Section (6) is where you make changes to the Timeline Tools option settings.   The options are as follows:

1. Vegas Cursor tracks the selected Event table item.   When checked (default True), selecting an item in the display Table in the Track Event Info tab, automatically positions the Vegas Cursor to the associated Timeline Event.
    
2. Tracking positions Vegas Cursor to center of Event.  This option is used to refine the positioning of the Vegas timeline cursor if option (1) is enabled.   When checked  (default False) selecting an item in the display Table will move the cursor to the center of the associated Event.   If unchecked, the Cursor is moved to the Start of the Event.   This is useful if you have overlapped Events.   Because positioning the cursor to the start of an Event will actually display the previous Event in the Vegas preview window.
    
3. Always keep Vegas Cursor visible in Timeline Window.  When checked (default False) any action that moves the Vegas cursor in the Timeline will also tell Vegas to scroll the Timeline window, if needed, to keep the Vegas Cursor position in view in the Timeline window.
    
4. Configuration settings Loaded and Saved by Project.  If checked (default True), all of the Timeline Tools settings (except options and external tools) are saved in a Timeline Tools configuration file in the currently open Vegas Project subdirectory.   This makes all of these settings Project specific.   If not checked, all settings are saved in the Timeline Tools data directory and are global to every Project.  This could lead to some unexpected results, so I strongly suggest you use the default setting to keep the program Configuration Settings Project Specific.
    
5. Check for newer version of program at startup.  When Timeline Tools is first started, either from the Vegas Toolbar button or automatically if it was running when Vegas was shut down, the program will check for the availability of a newer version of the program than what is currently installed and running.   If found, a message will be displayed showing both your current version, and what is available for download.   If you want to download and upgrade the program, you must first shut down Sony Vegas before running the Setup program
    
6. Dbl-Click Event Table item deselects all other Events.   Allows you to double-click an Event Table item, making it the sole selected item in the Table.   This is useful if you will be making adjustments using any other Timeline Tools feature that operates on selected Events.
    
7. Cursor stack selection highlights Event table entry.   This causes the Event table item that's associated with the Cursor Stack position to be highlighted and scrolled into view when the cursor stack item is selected.   This is useful for moving Events from one location to another that are greatly separated.   Find the target Event where you will be moving the source Event(s), and add it's position to the Cursor Stack.   Then find the source Event(s) and select them.   Use the Cursor Stack dropdown to move back to the target Event.   Then right-click and choose the Move Event option.
    
8. Make Leading and Trailing Random Transitions different.    If you will be adding Random Transitions to the Start and End of your Events, this will tell the program that you want the two Transitions to be different.   A Random Transition will be generated for each.   If this option is disabled, both the Start and End Transitions will be the same.
    
9. Enable Project Notes Editor.   When checked, the Project Notes Editor is enabled and will open and save a Project Notes file in the Vegas Project subdirectory.   The Notes file is a standard Rich Text Format (.RTF) file.
    
10. Lock Envelope Points to Events.   This option behaves similar to the Vegas toolbar button labeled "Lock Envelopes to Events".   If enabled (the default state), moved Events will also bring along any Points on any Envelope that are present within the Event.    Timeline Tools follows the same rules used by Vegas.   If Events are overlapped, Points that exist from the start of the selected Event, to the start of the following overlapped Event will be moved with the event.   Points in the overlap area of the selected Event and the following Event are considered to be located in the following Event.

The following option settings control which Columns are shown, or hidden in the Event Table in the Track Event Info Tab.   This allows you to change the display to only show information that interests you.

11. Show Track Number in Event Table.   (default True)
     
12. Show Event Number in Event Table.   (default True)
     
13. Show Event Take Number in Event Table.   (default False)
     
14. Show Event Start Time in Event Table.   (default True)
     
15. Show Event Length in Event Table.   (default False)
     
16. Show Event Selection State in Event Table.   (default True)
     
17. Show Event Locked State in Event Table.   (default False)
     
18. Show Event Media Name in Event Table.   (default True)
     
19. Show Video Event Media Size.   (default True)
     
20. Show Event Plug-Ins in Event Table.   (default True)
     
21. Show Event Media Path in Event Table.   (default False)
     
22. Show Event Media Tags.   (default False)

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Section (1) lets you make changes to Events to remove or restore Pan / Crop and Video FX settings.

You can choose to completely remove All Pan / Crop Keyframes.  Or you can be selective and remove or apply specific settings in the existing Keyframes.    The types of selective changes you can make are:

• Remove Pan / Crop.   This removes all Pan / Crop Keyframes from the selected Event(s).   This effectively removes All Pan / Crop attributes.
   
• Remove Video FX.   This removes all PlugIns that have been applied to the selected Event(s).
   
• Restore Media Size.  This restores the Media to the way it was appeared when it was first added to the project.   All Pan & Zoom will be removed.  And the Media aspect ratio will be returned to its original size.
   
• Match Output Aspect.   This sets the Media aspect ratio to match the project aspect ratio.   Simply stated, this zooms in on the media to eliminate the vertical or horizontal black bars that you see if the media size doesn't exactly match the project size.
  
  Wide media only.    This option is enabled only when the Match Output Aspect option is selected.   This further modifies the behavior of the Match Output Aspect option by only modifying Wide Media.   Wide Media is any media that has greater Width than Height; or an aspect ratio greater than 1.0.
   
• Don't fit small media.   By default, when Vegas adds Media to the Timeline it automatically re-sizes the Media so that the largest dimension exactly fits the Project dimension.    For example, a large image is effectively reduced in size so that its largest dimension, either width or height, exactly fits the Project dimensions.   Likewise, a smaller image is effectively expanded in the same way.   The problem is, if your media size is substantially smaller than the Project size, blowing it up can result in an unacceptably grainy picture.   This option will restore small media (media that is smaller than the Project size) back to it's original dimensions on screen.   You can later use Pan / Crop to adjust it if necessary.
   
• Reset Rotation.   This simply removes any rotation value assigned to the Keyframes in the selected Event(s).

Section (2) lets you make adjustments to the Vegas Timeline Markers.   In this section you can:

• Export the Marker positions to a text file in the project subdirectory, either as Frame Numbers or Timecode.  This is useful if you use a DVD authoring program that accepts input from a text file for the creation of DVD Chapter Points.
   
• Copy the marker positions to the Cursor Stack.
   
• Include Media Markers in the list.   These are Markers that are added to the Media file itself in the Vegas Trimmer window.
   
• Create new Timeline Markers from Media Markers.
   
• Re-Sequence Marker numbers so they start at 1 and continue in an ascending numerical order.
  
  Note:  Vegas appears to share the assignment of numbers to Markers and Regions.   If you've created 3 Markers, then 3 Regions.  The Markers will have the numbers 1, 2, and 3.   And the Regions will have the numbers 4, 5, and 6.   If you add another Marker and then try to re-sequence them.   The Markers will be assigned the values: 1, 2, 3, and 7, because the Regions are still using the numbers 4, 5, and 6.

Section (3) lets you add new Markers to the Timeline based on the starting location of the Events on the selected Track.    You can add Markers to the Start of all Events, from the Start of the First Event to the End of the last Event.   Or you can add Markers to the Start of all the Events, except for the Start of the First Event, and the End of the last Event.    This option can be useful if you're using Markers to create Chapter points for the production of a DVD.

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Section (1) lets you see a list of available Tracks and BusTracks, and the Envelopes and Envelope Points that are associated with them.    You first select the Track, then select the Envelope type assigned with the Track.  This shows you a list of all points added to that Envelope.    If you double-click a point in the list, or right-click on the list, you can move the Vegas timeline cursor to the selected point.    If you have Cursor tracks selected point checked, clicking on a point in the list will automatically move the Vegas cursor to that location on the timeline.

This section also allows you to filter the list of displayed points based on the filter setting and a value entered in the input box that's also used to modify point values.    In the example shown above, the > Greater Than filter setting was selected, and a value of 0 was entered in the input box.   For the Video Bus Track Motion Blur Envelope, values are entered as numbers of frames.   In the example shown we are configuring the filter to display a list of points that have a Motion Blur setting of Greater Than than 0 Frames.    To apply this filter, first select the > Greater Than filter setting.   Then enter your filter value; in this case Zero.   And finally press the Refresh Points button to refresh the list of filtered points.   The resultant filtered list of points can now be selectively highlighted and their values modified if desired.   Note:  The Update Point Values and Delete Points buttons are disabled if the filter selection is anything other than None.   Reset the filter selection to None if you need to delete or modify the filtered points.

In the above example, If you select the Only list Event Envelopes option, the Select Track dropdown list shows both the Track and Event on that Track, that contain Event Envelopes.   Select the Track/Event pair to view the list of Envelopes assigned to that pair.

If you right-click on the Point List, you will see the popup context menu shown below:

• Move Vegas cursor to first Selected Point in list.   If you are not automatically tracking the selected point, this menu option will move the Vegas cursor to the location on the timeline of the selected point.

• Highlight List Points contained in Selected Events.   If you select Events in the timeline by clicking on them directly or by selecting them from the main display table in the Track Event Info tab, selecting this menu option will highlight any points in the list that exist on the timeline in the timeframe occupied by the selected events.   In other words, it will highlight points that are coincident with the selected Events on the timeline.

• Select all Track Events that contain Points highlighted in the List.   This is the reverse of the menu option just described.   This will selected all Track Events that are coincident in the timeline with the points that are highlighted in the list.

Context Menu for Track Extras Point List

Section (2) allows you to change the location of the Envelope Points you selected in section (1).   You can move a single point, or groups of points together with a simple mouse click.

First, select the Point(s) you want to move; two buttons allow you to select all or none of the Points.   You can also select the Points directly by highlighting the Points displayed in the Envelope Points listbox.

Next, choose how you want to move the Points.   Your options are to: (1) Shift points to the Vegas Cursor position, (2) Shift points by a number of Frames, (3) or Shift points by a number of Seconds.   If you selected by Frames or by Seconds, enter a value in the selected units of frames or time in seconds.    If you selected Shift points to cursor you must position the Vegas Cursor to the position in the timeline where you want to move the points.   The following rules are followed when shifting points to the Vegas Cursor.  We'll assume the Shift Left button has been pressed:

		If the Vegas cursor is to the left of all the selected points on the timeline, and the Shift Left button is pressed.   The Leftmost point (excluding point 0) is shifted left to the Vegas Cursor position. along with all of the other selected points.  All points maintain their original relative spacing, and their amplitudes are unchanged.   The same is true if the Vegas Cursor is to the right of all selected points.  The Rightmost point is shifted to the cursor, along with all of the other selected points.
		If the Vegas cursor is placed within a group of selected Envelope points, and the Shift Left button is pressed, the following rule applies:   The utility starts looking at selected points and compares their positions to the Vegas cursor.   It skips over points left of the Vegas Cursor (points 1 & 2).   When a point to the right of the cursor (point 3) is found, the program calculates the difference in position between the point and the cursor, then shifts all the points left by that amount. This same algorithm is applied if the Shift Right button was pressed.   Points are skipped until one is found to the left of the Vegas cursor, then the difference in position is applied to all the selected points, shifting them all to the right.

 If you selected by Frames or by Seconds, simply click the Left or Right arrow button to shift all the highlighted Points left or right on the Timeline by the amount of Frames or Seconds entered in the Seconds / Frames input box.

Note:  Point 0 is special in Vegas and can not be shifted.   If selected, it will be ignored.   Also, points cannot be shifted past the first or last frame of the Envelope.   For normal Envelopes this is the first and last frame of the project.   For Event Envelopes, this is the first and last frame of the Event.

Section (3) allows you to make changes to Point magnitudes.   First select the Points you want to modify in the listbox.   Then enter a new value for the selected Point(s) in the input box.   Finally, press the Update Point Values button.

For Volume Envelope Points enter the string -Inf in the entry box for a -Infinity level.   For a Mute Envelope, enter 0 for Muted, and 1 for Not Muted.   For Motion Blur Points enter a number of frames.   For Super Sampling enter the number of Samples.  For all other Points, simply enter the numeric value of the Point, without any units such as "db", or "%".

Section (4) provides you with a quick overview of all the Event Group assignments that Vegas is currently using.   This allows you to make decisions on how you may want to alter these Event groupings.    To refresh the list, press the Refresh Event Group Display button.

Section (5) allows you to set a time interval at which your Project will be automatically saved if you had made changes to it since the last autosave interval.   This feature does NOT overwrite your current .VEG project file.  It renames your current open .VEG project file with the current Date and Time appended to the base Project file name, followed by a regular Save action on your project.    In this manner you will end up with a series of .VEG files providing a history of the state of your project at each autosave action.    When your project is ultimately finished, simply delete any of the autosave .VEG files that you no longer wish to keep.    Selecting the Make Global option, will make the current Auto Save settings the default for all Vegas Projects opened in Timeline Tools.   Note:  This feature only works if Timeline Tools is open and running.

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The Vegas PlugIns Tab displays a tree view of all Vegas Plug-Ins that have been installed on your computer.   It also allows you to select and apply one or more Video PlugIns to selected Video Track Events.

Section (1) filters the list of PlugIns that appear in the tree.   You can view All available Vegas PlugIns, only Audio PlugIns, or only Video PlugIns.    Video only is selected by default.

Section (2) allows you to select a PlugIn of interest.   Note: only Vegas plug-ins that are shown in blue can be applied to an Event.    If you select a Blue colored item in the PlugIn list then right-click on it, you can have that particular PlugIn removed from All or the Selected Events in the Track selected in Section (4).

Section (3).  When you select a PlugIn from tree at left, a list of available Presets for that PlugIn appears in the dropdown list of Presets.   If you selected an FX PlugIn, select a Preset, and enter a Time value in seconds where you want to create a Keyframe of the PlugIn and Preset.   If you selected a Transition PlugIn, select a Preset, and enter a Time value in seconds for the duration that you want the PlugIn to run.  And finally choose if you want to apply the Transition to the Starting end of the Event, or the End of the Event.    You can only have a maximum of two Transition PlugIns assigned to an Event; one at each end.   Therefore you can not enter more than two Transitions into any single PlugIn Chain.   Transitions can be identified by the "(T)" suffix on their name in the tree.

• Press the Add PlugIn to Chain button to add the PlugIn to the Selected PlugIns chain.   If you Right-Click a PlugIn node in Selected PlugIns tree, a context menu appears that allow you to edit the selected PlugIn or make changes to the list of configured PlugIns.   You can also bring up a PlugIn for editing by Double-Clicking the node name in the tree.
• To delete a PlugIn from the chain, select the PlugIn name node in the tree at right, and press the Delete PlugIn button.
• To delete ALL PlugIns from the chain, press the Delete All button.
• You can also automatically load the PlugIn Chain list by telling the program to grab the Events PlugIn settings from the selected timeline Event.  To do this first select the Track in the drop down list, then select an Event on the timeline.  Then press the Grab Event PlugIn Config button.
• You can also Save and Load PlugIn configurations using the Load and Save buttons.   These configurations are stored independent from the PlugIn chain visible in the tree.   The PlugIns visible in the tree are saved along with the project configuration settings.   The Saved PlugIn chain configurations are saved in user named files.

Note:  Grabbing the PlugIn configuration directly from an Event will not display the Preset that may have been used to configure a Keyframe.   You will need to manually edit the Event list and supply the appropriate Preset.  This is also true for Transitions that have been grabbed from an Event.   This is a limitation of Sony Vegas.  

In Section (4) press the appropriate button to Apply the PlugIn chain to the appropriate Event(s) on the selected Track.

Section (5) allows you to add Random Transition Effects To one or more Events on the selected Track.    Check the Include Random Transitions checkbox, and select where you want to place the Transition effect; at the Start and/or End of the Event.  Next select how long you want the Transition effect to run.   Select your input value in Frames or Seconds.     Finally, press the appropriate button to Apply the Random Transitions to the appropriate Event(s) on the selected Track.   If you only want to apply Transitions, without also applying the displayed PlugIn Chain, check the Do not include PlugIn Chain checkbox.   Note: if your events are overlapped, Sony Vegas will ignore a Transition at the end of an Event.  The Transition at the Start of the next Event will be seen instead.

Using Random Transitions

This feature allows you to automatically apply Random Transitions to ALL, or selected Video Events in your timeline.    Transitions are Effects that can be inserted into the Envelope areas at the leading and/or trailing edges of a Video Event.    Transitions provide special effects as Vegas moves from one piece of media to another.   These effects include Swirls, Wipes, Dissolves, etc.    Timeline Tools creates Random Transitions with Randomly selected Presets on the Transitions.    These can be applied alone, or with the currently displayed PlugIn Chain FX.

1. If you choose to add Random Transitions to your Events, this will override any Transitions that may be present in the selected PlugIn chain.
2. Check the Include with Chain checkbox in the Random Transitions group at the bottom of the Vegas PlugIns Tab.
3. Check the appropriate check box to apply Transitions to Event Leading and/or Trailing edges.
4. Specify the duration in Seconds that you want the Transition to run.
5. If you Only want to add Transitions, and not change any existing Event FX settings, delete all of the displayed FX in the PlugIn chain list.
6. Press the appropriate Apply button to modify just selected Events, or ALL Events.

Notes:  Sony Vegas Transitions have some quirks that you should be aware of:

• Transitions can be applied to both the leading and trailing edges of and Event, but if you have your Events overlapped, leading edge Transitions have precedence over the trailing edge.
  
  In the above image Two non-overlapped Events have had random Transitions applied to their leading and trailing edges.

• In the following image the second Event was dragged left to overlap with the first.  As you can see, the leading edge Transition of the second event is the one that's displayed as the images transition from the first to the second Event.
  

• Now a strange thing happens.  If you drag the second Event back away from the first, so the Events are no longer overlapped, the trailing edge Transition of the first Event, and the leading Transition of the second event appear to have disappeared.   But this isn't the case.  They are still there, but their envelope lengths have been set to zero.   You can drag the second Event so it again overlaps the first, and you'll again see the leading edge Transition of the second Event reappears.   To restore the Transitions to what they looked like in the first example above; simply drag your envelope as you would when you want to create a normal Fade In or Fade Out.   And you'll see the Transitions reappear.
  

• The following image shows the envelope window being dragged open, restoring the Transition name that appears in the envelope area.
  

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The Project Notes tab consists of 2 separate sections.

Timeline Tools gives you the ability to save a unique set of notes (or comments) for each project you work on.   Your project notes are saved in a Rich Text Format file that has the same base name as your .veg Project file; and is saved in the same subdirectory where your Vegas .veg Project file is located.   This is the same method used by some other tools that provide similar functionality.

There are 21 items on the Project Notes toolbar.  Here is a description of what each item does.

1. Save Project Notes.   This manually saves the contents of your notes to the Project Notes file.   Notes will be saved automatically when your project is saved, or the Timeline Tools extension is closed, or when Sony Vegas Pro is shut down.
    
2. Font Selection list.   This is a drop down list of all of the available fonts you can use in your project notes.   If you select some text in your notes then select a new font in this list, the selected text will use the new font.   This also displays the font of the text under the text cursor.

3. Font Size list.    This is the list of font sizes that are available for the selected font.   This also displays the font size of the text under the text cursor.

4. Select Font dialog.    This button display the Font Selection dialog box that allows you to select multiple Font attributes at once.

5. Toggle Bold.   This toggles the Bold Font setting on and off.   This can change the bold state of selected text, or set the Bold state of newly entered text.

6. Toggle Italics.   This toggles the Italics Font setting on and off.   This can change the Italics state of selected text, or set the Italics state of newly entered text.

7. Toggle Underline.   This toggles the Underline Font setting on and off.   This can change the Underline state of selected text, or set the Underline state of newly entered text.

8. Align Left.   This can change the text alignment of selected text, or set the alignment of newly entered text.

9. Align Center.   This can change the text alignment of selected text, or set the alignment of newly entered text.

10. Align Right.   This can change the text alignment of selected text, or set the alignment of newly entered text.

11. Select Font Color.   Brings up the Font Color selection dialog box.

12. Increase Indent.   Increases the Indent of selected text.

13. Decrease Indent.   Decreases the Indent of selected text.

14. Toggle Bullets.   This toggles the selected text state between normal paragraphs and a bulleted list.

15. Insert Picture From File.   Lets you import a graphic image from a file into the note at the position of the text cursor.

16. Zoom In.   This allows you to zoom into your notes by increasing the document magnification level by 20% every time the button is clicked.

17. Zoom Out.   This allows you to zoom out of your notes by decreasing the document magnification level by 20% every time the button is clicked.

18. Zoom Percentage.   This displays the current document magnification level.   100% is Normal magnifications.   You can also change the magnification level by entering a number into this field.

19. Insert Timestamp.   This inserts a Timestamp into the note at the position of the text cursor.

20. Insert Vegas cursor location.   This inserts the Timecode position of the Vegas cursor into the note at the position of the text cursor.

21. Save notes and open in Wordpad.   This button saves your notes to the project note file, then opens up that file in Microsoft Wordpad.

In addition to the Project Notes toolbar, right-clicking on the editor window brings up the editors context menu.   This provides the same functionality of the toolbar, with the addition of a few more options.   Here is a description of the additional features included in the context menu.

• Open Note File  -  This allows you to import the contents of a Rich Text Format (.RTF) file into your Project notes.    This replaces any content that you may already have in your project notes.
• Save As  -  This lets you save your notes to a Rich Text Format file other than the project note file.
• Set Vegas Cursor to Timecode  -  This menu item works with text you have selected in the notes.   If the selected text can be interpreted as a valid Vegas Timecode, this menu option becomes enabled.   Selecting the option interprets the selected text, converts it back to a Timecode, and sets the Vegas cursor to that position on the Timeline.   This is the reverse of pressing the Insert Vegas cursor location button on the toolbar.

If you have another tool that performs this task better than the one provided in Timeline Tools, you can disable the Project Notes Editor from the Timeline Tools Option Settings.

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The About tab gives information about the utility program, and lets you manually check to see if a newer version is available.

[Top] [Tab Index]