Vegas Video muzzle flash?

Sayhi · Post by **Sayhi** » Sun Nov 23, 2003 11:34 pm

How do I make muzzle flashes in Vegas Video 4.0? Stills, but if you also know about moving or have any moving ones to give me it woudda been great but I really want to know about still (targa, jpeg etc.) overlays in Vegas. Thanks.

U.S.Amateurfilmaker · Mon Nov 24, 2003 12:58 am

Cool, another vegas user! I gate when I can't help anyone because they have Premiere. Anyway, first, find a TGA of a muzzle flash. You can create one by taking a muzzle flash pic, cutting the flash out with a phot editor, and save is as a TGA on a transparent background. After you've done this, open vegas, and put your gun foorgae on track 2. Then, open the TGA and put it on the media pool. Drag that on track 1. Then, go up to options>grid spacing and make sure "frames" is selected. Then zoom in on horrizantally until each of the greay grid lines represents a single frame (scheck this by clicking on each of them and looking in the lower right corner at the frame count.

After this, take the TGA (make sure you right click on it>properties>media tab> and select the alpha mode as "straight unmatted" to get it to appear as a flash on a transparent background) Now click on the track motion button on the label box to the left of track one. Just do a mouse over, and it will tell you which one it is (it has two overlaping boxes). Then, open this window and rotate and move the bullet around the screen untul you have it in the perfect position at the gun's muzzle.

Then, make the bullet clip about 3 frames in length, (it will stay on a tad longer if you are using PAL instead of NTSC, but they should be about the same) and copy and paste it and put the new 3 frame clip about 4 frames away, or however far away you want the 2nd muzzle flash to be on the timeline. (this is all assuming you are going for an automatic weapon, as opposed to a pistol or rifle in which case you would on;y have one or two more spaced apart).

Continue this, and the zoom out and play the timeline. You now have muzzle flashes!!!

Hope that helped. Forgive me if you don't use Vegas 4, as I have no idea of the differences vetween The 4 interface and its earlier versions.

foxwood · Post by **foxwood** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 3:23 am

Wow, I didn't know that, I'm going to give it a try and see if that works in Three, but I have this feeling that it won't, damn I need Vagas 4.

Sayhi · Post by **Sayhi** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:21 pm

Thanks. I asked cause I remembered there was a Vegas fan in the forum. Vegas is a really good and stable video editing suite. I am making parts of my current production in it but I'm doing the compositing in Pinnacle Studio (you work VERY fast there but it's extremely unstable). I like Vegas very mutch up til now and I think my next (Cristmas production) will be 100% edited in Vegas if I like the Title Deko.

I have a lot of muzzle flashes in TGA from photoshop (I was using them in Studio).

Everone else: I have tried Premiere 6.5 and MediaStudio Pro 7 and Vegas is better (Pro interface but not dull like MSP 7 and a lot of capabilities. The speed of work done in 1h using Vegas is 150% more than the one done in 1h using Premiere- TESTED)

Try it!
Thanks again.

foxwood · Post by **foxwood** » Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:36 pm

Dump pinnacle and just cut in Vagas, because its a very frinely enviroment to edit in, also the titles are really good, once you get all the menues down, i found them a bit frustrating at first but them lots of fun once I understood them, and used them to great effect with some good vagas trasnstions, to get them fading out into clouds.
Vagas has the power of premerare and the simplisty of Pinnical which is what makes it such a great program.

Carnage7p · Post by **Carnage7p** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 1:20 am

yes i agree that pinnacle is very very unstable. i have used to use it but now i have been a strict premiere user for close to a year now and will never go back. i can do nearly anything with premiere and after effects. except for CGI of course.

U.S.Amateurfilmaker · Post by **U.S.Amateurfilmaker** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:45 am

I heard that debugmode.com is coming out with a 3d titler for veghas that will be out soon as a plugin, which should really start to put the pressure on Adobe.

[Edited on 25-11-2003 by U.S.Amateurfilmaker]

firebreathnfish2 · Post by **firebreathnfish2** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 8:02 am

i lvoe vegas video hey if you need some video clips of muzzle flashes ion fron tf a black backround which can be keyed out go to this site http://www.detonationfilms.com/ they have mussle flashes/ explosions

Epsilon · Post by **Epsilon** » Sat Jun 12, 2004 8:35 am

Yeah, Detonation Films is a pretty respected and popular site here.