Okay--thanks! I'll try that. I realize there's also the "shot match" feature that could do this too-right?

I'll have to try them out. It doesn't seem as simple as just effecting a whole track globally, but it does seem easy enough to get used to. Thanks again.

@steveunkles

Hi Steve,

I was in a hurry, so I didn't give you details. MEP does not have track effects; it's much more powerful than that.

Shot match is not the same thing and, unless the clips are fairly similar, may not work. Also, remember that effects can be anything, including Size/Position commands with keyframing.

For the really good stuff, when you're in the effects tab and you have something like Brightness/contrast on the screen, and you've applied some effects to the clip, click on the dropdown button at the top right (second from right) of the effects dialogue window. There, you'll see many possibilities. Copy the effects - same as the shortcut that I mentioned, select the effects that you want to copy. Then, click on the dropdown again. You have 2 possibilities:

1. Apply video effects to all - this applies your effects to all objects
2. Apply video effects to all of the following objects - this applies your effects to all objects on the track to the right of the selected object, almost the same as applying the effects to a track.

Why is this better than applying to a track? You may not want everything on the track to have the same effects.

You can also save and reuse the effects in different projects.

John CB

@steveunkles

@browj2

If you have applied effects to one clip you can right click the clip and scroll down to video effects and choose 'Apply to All' and it will apply the effects to any clip on that track.

Thank you for those ideas. So if I understand correctly, this last suggestion from CubeAce will essentially do what I'm looking to do, although it probably won't effect clips added to the timeline after I "Apply to All"(?).

I'll have to try it. I still prefer that I could designate a track as having certain properties automatically applied, but as long as I can get the same result without too many steps or stuff to keep track of, it should be fine.

John CB doesn't mention that "Apply to All" is track-specific, but apparently global to the whole timeline, so does it really work in all 3 ways described above (2 ways by John CB, and 1 more by CubeAce)?

@steveunkles

Hi Steve,

Do a right click on the object as Ray suggested and you'll see exactly the same options as under the dropdown: Apply to all, and Apply to all of the following. There is also Copy effects and Paste effects. MEP often has more than 1 way or place to do the same thing. A third location is under Effects in the top menu, Video object effects.

As for Track effects, I think that this is something that came from DAWs where you have one instrument or recording per track. And, these programs probably don't or didn't have the same flexibility as MEP - you couldn't copy selected effects to be pasted; it was all or nothing. I could be wrong, but I did ask about this on another forum for another video program and they were jealous of this MEP feature - but, they had track level effects.

I would most likely never use track effects unless it was for audio, and even then...

I use a lot of transitions and overlays (PiP). Transitions are done by overlapping 2 sequential objects on the same track (usually). If I wanted effects on the first clip and different ones on the second, I couldn't use track effects. In fact, I keep almost all video material on tracks 1 and 3 (audio on 2 and 4).

As for what you saw in the manual about multi-cam, think about how that works. When you do multi-cam, say 4 cameras with slightly different brightness or colour, if you don't adjust the videos of the cameras first, then when you start switching cameras, each selection puts a piece of the selected camera on track 1. Now you have 48 clips, 12 from each camera, say, all mixed together on the same track. You now have a nightmare of having to put the same effect on each of the clips from the individual cameras. You couldn't use track level effects. You have to apply the effects before cutting up into multi-cam. You could argue that you could just apply different effects to each track, but usually you only have 1 clip on each track, that is, one per camera. If more, you just apply the effects from the first clip to everything on the track. It's unlikely that you'll add any more material to these tracks. Thus, Track level effects are pretty much useless for multi-cam.

As for workflow, I leave effects until close to the end when everything is on the timeline. I wouldn't want to have to think about putting clips on a particular track because I might have common effects on those clips; his would be a nightmare and slow down editing. I do effects on some clips and copy and paste them where I want. I can see in the title part of the clip which clips have effects. Or, I save effects that will be used often and then apply them as needed.

That said, track level effects would be interesting, but probably not used much.

John CB

Thank you for your thoughts on that. It's good to know there are solutions at hand. The takeaway for me is that I'll just have to get more familiar and comfortable with the program. I've had versions of MEP for many years but it's always been a 2nd or third choice. I've always found it a bit quirky if not buggy, especially early on. The 2019 version I have is quite good though, and I think will get better with practice on my part. Thanks again.

Steve

I just remembered something. MEP has track level effects for audio. This is done through the mixer.

John CB

Wow--that's great news--I'll definitely check that out. I'll sometimes need to apply compression to a whole track of audio, such as an interview, just to keep the levels in check or even balance them somewhat between individuals. I'll look into that for sure. I wouldn't think to look in the mixer for that, so thanks so much for that tip!!

Hi Steve,

I just remembered another one this morning. Strange, as I used this yesterday; must be senior's moment.

There are some overall Movie effects under the top menu, Effects, Movie Effects Settings, that you may want to look at.

Edit: I see that John EB just beat me to it.

John CB