Virtual Camera in Video Editing Software

December 18, 2007 5:14 AM

How can I create a virtual, movable camera in a video editing software?

We're working on a video for one of our clients and we'd like to have a grid of videos / still images sort of like this:



We'd then like to be able to move a virtual camera of sorts through the grid, stopping at different videos/stills that would then expand to fill the whole screen.

How can we do this? What software would be used? We currently have Sony Vegas 7.0, but we're open to any possibility.

It doesn't need to be too involved, but if you know of any cool 3d way to do it, that would be fine too!

posted by fvox13 to media & arts (2 comments total)

Bah, the image showed up in preview but not on this page.... just picture a 5x4 grid of squares with a little padding around each one.
posted by fvox13 at 5:36 AM on December 18, 2007

You could do this in Vegas (with an oversized sequence... - I think.) Creative Cow would be the place to ask that question.

But the easiest way would be to do this in After effects. You'd create a 'composition' of the total size...somewhere around 5 screens wide (5x720 = 3600) and 4 screens tall (4x480=1900) plus a little bit of padding.

Then next that into a 720x480 comp (put the big full resolution item, into a smaller item 'screen sized' and move the bigger item around inside of the little item.

Or....you could create all of this in 3d in AE and pan a camera around.

Both methods will work pretty well.
posted by filmgeek at 6:07 AM on December 18, 2007