Short Introduction to the Sony Vegas Movie Studio 15 editing software

1. Preparation: Put all the documents to use (photos, voice etc.) into one separated folder and keep
them there during the whole process.
2. Launch the software
• New (project)
• chose the ‘Europe/Asia PAL’ option and the Internet Video / Internet (HD)
• ’name’ the project
3. The program’s windows

1., Project media – all medias’ (audio, video, photo, title) bin

2., Screen

3., Timeline – space for edit (video, audio, text tracks)

4. Import media elements (audio, video) into the project

• click to the ADD MEDIA button and add all the files you need (audio, image, video)

5. Insert audio into the timeline

•grab audio element (.mp3, .waw etc.) and pull onto the ‘audio’ track
•activate the element with a click on it (active element has a colour, inactive is white)
•for play, pause or stop the audio: use the ‘play, pause, stop’ buttons or the ‘enter’ and/or the ‘space’
for play/stop
•move the active element on the timeline with your mouse (audio only on the audio track, video only
on the video track)
•for a better, standard audio quality: right click onto the audio element and chose: ‘switches’ then
‘normalize’ seeing the audio waves
•you can modify the volume level with the ‘volume slider’ (see red circle)
6. Insert video into the timeline
Same move as for the audio, but use only the video tracks.

7. Movements on the timeline

•the vertical marker shows the actual time/position of the playing
•for the play, you can use the buttons under the screen, or use the ‘enter’ and/or the ‘space’ for
play/stop the element
•you can move the marker also with the mouse
•for seeing the timeline in details or in total, you can zoom in and out using the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttons or
scroll on your mouse (the smallest unit: 1 frame)

8. Audio editing

• play the active voice element and stop on the editing point (using the buttons under the screen or
press ‘enter’), for the fine tuning use the left/right arrow buttons (frame to frame)
• split (‘cut’) the active element pressing the ‘s’
search for the editing point and press ‘S’ for split activate the following element than search for
the next editing point and press ‘S’ for split again

delete the element what you would like to cut out pull the two parts together
of your story

9. Image editing
After having the completed and edited voice, we can start to put images above the voice track, you
can insert and move the images the same way as with the voice elements:
•you can move all the images you need from the project media bin onto the timeline
•for modification the length of an element, click to the beginning or the end of the element, find a
‘↔’ sign (trim event start/end), click on it and you can prolong or reduce the length of the element
(for a still image/photo: as long as you need, for a moving image and audio until the original length of
the element)
•if you pull the image onto the previous element, a cross fade automatically activates
•you put all the images onto the video track in the order you planned in your storyboard and you can
modify the length of the images according to your story
•if you delete any element from the timeline it still stays in the bin, you can reuse it later
•in the beginning and end of your movie or in dramaturgical important momentum you can use the
fade in / fade out effect:
•click to the right (for fade in) or left (for fade out) angle of the element and pull the fade in offset /
fade off offset until the length you need

10. Modification / movement inside the image

You can modify the still images to make your film a bit more eventful, you can zoom in a chosen point
or make some move inside an image.
•click into the image you want to modify
•click on the ‘event pan/crop’ sign in the right top corner of the element and a new
window will open with the chosen image
 The first marker will indicate
the beginning of your
modification action

Put other marker(s) indicate

the end of your modification.
Put the cursor on the marker,
where you want to make the
modification and then click
on one of the picture’s
angles, you can modify the
image.
•click inside the frame and move the focus point of your image if needed

If the markers indicate different

“plans” (image frames), a motion
process will be generated
automatically. With moving the
markers on the scale, the motion
will be faster or slower.

•closing the pan/crop window the

attributes will be saved
automatically
•examples for the basis motions:

1. original frame 2. zoom in

1. start position 2. vertical motion from right to left

11. Creating title
You can put a title element in your film, with a black or colour background or overlay an image.
Click to the ‘insert’ then ‘text media

A window will pop up where you can write your text.

Highlighting the text you can edit it the same way as
in the ‘word’ program (change fonts, text colour,
background colour, outline etc.). After closing the text
editor, you can move the text element as an image on
the video tracks (you can use the fade in/out as well)

The text media creates a same kind of image as any

other video elements. If there is no image on the
video track under the text element, the basic
background is black. If you put the text above to an
image element, the text will be shown in the foreground of the image.
12. Finalize your movie

This trial version allows only a 2 minute movie to finalize!

When you are finished with the editing process, you have to make a movie file from the work you
have done to be able to play it out of the Movie Studio.
•check your film if all the elements in the right position and there is no space between them
•check the whole timeline if there is no remained, not used, ”leftover” element on it
•click: ‘make movie’
•chose the ‘Save into my hard drive’ option
•click ‘next’
•chose format: ‘mp4’
•give a name for your movie file
•browse a place on your hard drive to save your movie
•click ‘next’

Advices:
•It is useful having a 3-5 second “black” section before your film starts
•the length of the cross fades should be more or less the same during a film unless if there is any
special reason or purpose
•don’t forget to save (Ctrl+S) as often as possible during the work
•if you close the Movie Studio and you intend to continue to work on your film later, don’t change the
files ‘ spot, position and name you use in your movie (keep everything – voice, photos etc. – in one
folder) otherwise the program won’t find the changed elements.

Good luck for your movie!