VT | The Power of Zooming and Scrolling Through Time

Concept: The Power of Zooming and Scrolling Through Time
Module: VT-Edit
Assets: None
Time: 5 minutes

Many times, there are wonderful shots that need to be emphasized by lingering on them, and slow motion is just one of many real-time features included in the VT that is easy to accomplish.

To change any video clip's speed, just click on VT-Edit's Edit button (the blue E at bottom) and click on any clip in the Storyboard. The Edit properties panel appears where we can make many real-time modifications to any media.

In the middle of the window, you will notice a Speed setting, which defaults to 100%. You can set that value to anything you wish. In this case, typing in a value of '65.5' set the speed to 65.50%. Clicking the Play button above the middle icon, you will discover that VT happily plays back any clip at any speed you wish, without the need to render first. The 'R' button next to the value allows you to Reset to defaults at any time.

That's not the only way to set speeds in VT-Edit, however. In the upper window, change views by clicking the Timeline tab, and you will see that everything done so far in our Storyboard has been constructed in real-time in our Timeline as well. To see the whole project view, press the '\' key (above Enter) to auto-fit the project in the window.

Let's bring in a new clip in the Timeline by selecting File Bin in the lower view, and drag a new clip down below all the others in a new layer. To change the speed of this clip in the Timeline view, just hold down your ALT key and grab the side of the clip. Your mouse icon will change, and you’ll be able to visually drag out the clip to the desired length. If you’re having trouble grabbing hold of this clip (and you probably are), you can quickly change the view of your project and zoom in to fine tune your slow motion.

Just scale your clip size by left-dragging the magnifying glass in Timeline – just like you can do in the Storyboard view.

What’s more, in Timeline view, since clip lengths are proportionate, you can also zoom horizontally, and view more clips in the same area. To do this, place the cursor in the Time Track at the top of the Timeline, and while holding down the right mouse, drag up or down. The same right-mouse will drag the Timeline if moved left or right. Thus, a combination of the two moves, essentially moving the mouse at an angle, allows you to very quickly zoom AND scroll through the Timeline – Cool, eh?

So, armed with this new power, it is now really easy to zoom in on our new clip at the bottom. If this clip is selected, the Enter key will also zoom to fit the selected region into the window. Now, holding down the ALT key in Timeline over the edge of a clip, the cursor changes from In or Out to display 'Stretch'. You can now interactively drag this clip out to stretch it. Dynamic tracking has never been easier.