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How to Use Scripts in Sony Vegas Software By Douglas Spotted Eagle

Sony Vegas Software has offered a powerful user-controlled function since Sony Vegas 4.0 known as "scripting." Scripting allows Visual Basic/Javascript-savvy users the ability to develop custom tools that work inside Sony Vegas, drawing on the tools and resources found inside the Vegas software application. For example, a script might take dozens of mundane or repetitive tasks and put all tasks under a single button push, making it a single step to accomplish several tasks at once. A good example might be the Normalizing script, which allows users to select a single or multiple audio events and normalize all of them at one button selection. Another excellent example of scripting is the Aspect Ratio script, which will take images of all aspect ratios and apply the proper Pan/Crop aspect to the images or video so that they match the aspect ratio of the entire video project. This alone can save hundreds or thousands of individual keystrokes, which results in saving tremendous amounts of time. If a single script shaves a few minutes from a single project, over the course of a year this can result in the savings of hundreds of hours. As an example of a purchased script-based tool, Ultimate S from VASST will:

• Match Aspect Ratio of all video, graphics, or stills to the project aspect ratio regardless of source aspect ratio
• Place said matched images on a marker so that the images can match cut points or beat points in music
• Pan/Crop/Zoom, add motion to stills, graphics, or video with user-specified targets
• Automatically insert specified or random transitions to every image
• Grab files from Timeline, Bin, or Windows Explorer location
• ....all with the selection of one button. Imagine being able to process 9,999 video clips or still images that fast! This is just one small example of what can be done with scripting inside Sony Vegas software.

Scripts come in a couple flavors; there are free scripts that are downloadable from a variety of sources, and there are assembled scripting tools that are for-purchase.

Scripts are not difficult to create if you have an understanding of Visual Basic, Javascript, or tools associated with this sort of code work. There are literally hundreds of scripts available for Sony Vegas, and there are dozens of script writers that can author custom scripts for a specific workflow need or functionality. Here, you'll find lots of free scripting options for Sony Vegas. However, you might find that your quite satisfied with the dozens of free or purchased scripts that have been created by a number of authors, rather than diving into the learning curve of Visual Basic or Javascript.

The scripts that may be downloaded from various websites are often packaged as .txt files for purposes of avoiding challenges with various browsers, email clients, or download restrictions, because scripts, as .js files, can be used for harmful or malicious purposes if you don't know the author or contents of the script. This tends to confuse some users of scripts, as they don't know exactly how to manage scripts if they're found in .txt format. Have no fear, dealing with these .txt files is easier than you might think. Before using scripts in Sony Vegas, you'll need the latest version of Microsoft's .Net application, which should have been installed prior to installing Sony Vegas. You can also download the .Net software from the Microsoft website.

Installing a Script to Vegas:

To use scripts that are stored on the web as .txt files, do the following:

1. Download the script in its .txt (text) format.
2. Right click the file and choose "Open With" and designate Microsoft Notepad as the application to open the script.
3. In Notepad, the text will open up and you'll be able to read the contents. Be sure that the contents are related to Sony Vegas, and you'll usually see the words "Sony Vegas" somewhere in the first few lines of the script text.
4. In Notepad, browse to File>Save As, and save the .txt file as a .js file, rather than a .txt file format. Save this file in your C:Program FilesSonyVegas6.0 (or Vegas 5.0) Script Menu folder. This will allow Sony Vegas to see the scripting information, and it will then be visible in Sony Vegas, and available for your use. You can also save the file to the desktop or other location, and then copy/paste the .js file to the Sony Vegas Script Menu folder

Downloading Scripts
When you download a script, it is usually either a .zip file, a .js file, or a .txt file. If you open the unzipped file, the .js file, or the .txt file, you'll see something like the simple script for removing all timecode,  found below:

/**
* This script will remove all effects of a particular type from items
* in the project's media pool.
*
* Revision Date: Jan. 30, 2003
**/
import System.Windows.Forms;
import Sony.Vegas;

// This is the full name of the plug-in associated with the effects
// you want to remove.
var plugInName = "Sony Timecode";

try {
var mediaEnum = new Enumerator(Vegas.Project.MediaPool);
while (!mediaEnum.atEnd()) {
var media = mediaEnum.item();
var effectsEnum = new Enumerator(media.Effects);
while (!effectsEnum.atEnd()) {
var effect = effectsEnum.item();
if (plugInName == effect.PlugIn.Name) {
media.Effects.Remove(effect);
}
effectsEnum.moveNext();
}
mediaEnum.moveNext();
}
} catch (e) {
MessageBox.Show(e);
}

In this folder, there are both free and purchased scripts. the free scripts are single scripts that are not executable files, but rather .js files that Vegas simply sees as part of the Tools>Script options.

If you wish, you can copy/paste the script text seen above, opening it in Notepad, and saving it off as described above. In fact, in the Sony Vegas forums, you'll often find custom scripts posted as part of a thread, and you'll want to copy/paste that text information to Notepad so you can save it for later use in Sony Vegas. 

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