VideoStudio 10+ / 11+ / X2 Pro: Fade in Montage.

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VideoStudio 10+ / 11+ / X2 Pro: Fade in Montage.

Post by sjj1805 » Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:43 pm

The following is an extract forwarded to Corel and passed to me for a response.
Well I just wanted to thank you for putting up such great tutorials I just wanted to say keep up the good work ... but my next project involves me using my back ground picture and also adding little theme pictures to it and then fading them in to make it look like a collage ..if you could make a video for this I would highly appreciate it or if you could just explain it through a message then that would work just as fine and again thank you and keep them coming.
Firstly let us define \"Collage\"
Wikipedia
Chambers Dictionary
Webster Dictionary
Wiktionary

Briefly a collage is a collection of pictures on one sheet of paper - or in this case a number of pictures all on our screen at the same time.

Commencing with VideoStudio 10, VideoStudio comes in two versions
[Standard] - One overlay track
[Plus / Pro] - Six overlay tracks.

This means that if you have a standard version you can have one background picture (The Video Track) and superimpose one picture on top. This is termed a picture in picture effect. If you have the Plus (now termed (Pro) version then you can have one background picture and up to six pictures on top.

Both the pro and the Standard Versions will allow you to apply certain effects to these overlay tracks including fading in and fading out, you can also make the pictures appear to float in from a side or a corner and float out again. It is also possible to make the pictures spin.

What I shall do is to firstly show how to apply these effects to just one picture. The same procedure will apply to all of the other pictures you choose to include.

It is recommended that you resize your pictures with an image editor such as PhotoImpact or Paint Shop Pro. Suggested settings for a static full screen picture are:

PAL.
4x3 --- 768 x 576
16x9 --- 1024 x 576
HD (Progressive) --- 1280 x 720
HD (Interlaced) --- 1920 x 1080

NTSC
4x3 --- 720 x 480
16x9 --- 864 X 480
HD (Progressive) --- 1280 x 720
HD (Interlaced) --- 1920 x 1080

The above screen sizes are suitable for perhaps a backdrop that fills the entire screen. Your aim is to create a collage - a collection of photographs that will fill smaller bits of the screen.

VideoStudio 8 had the ability to place a clip on an overlay track, it was also possible to specify movement where a clip could enter from a certain side and leave by the same or another side. Alternatively you could get the clip to fade in or out or both. However you could not control the point or duration that a clip was frozen in a certain state.
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This was improved in VideoStudio 9 which included the ability to apply a pause

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Unfortunately there was still only one overlay track, this was greatly improved with the arrival of VideoStudio 10+ which contains up to 6 overlay tracks. The time line although improved was a little cumbersome because you could only see and work with a few tracks at a time and had to scroll the screen up/down.

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This was further improved in VideoStudio 11+ where a new button now allowed you to fit all the overlay tracks onto the screen at the same time.

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A further improvement has been made in the current version VideoStudio X2 Pro where it is now possible to include transitions (overlaps) in the overlay tracks.

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By default only one overlay track appears when you open VideoStudio.
To activate additional overlay tracks you must click the overlay track manager:

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Then add a tick against each additional overlay track that you wish to include in your project:

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Commending with VideoStudio 10+ it is now possible to create a collage where up to 6 individual pictures can glide in and/or fade in - all independently of one another. You can also choose how these pictures then exit the screen. They can glide out, fade out or simply cut away.

I only need to demonstrate one overlay track - the procedure is the same whatever track is being used. All that needs to be taken into account is that a higher numbered track appears in front of a lower numbered track. You can see this here:

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Now let us look at how we can manipulate an image on an overlay track.

[Enter] - [Pause] - [Exit]

You can specify that a clip enters the screen from one of 9 directions by clicking on an arrow in the set items in the left hand box:

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Don't forget the centre square :o

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Similarly you can specify how a clip exits the screen by clicking on an arrow in the set of items in the right hand box.

Pause.
Not so obvious is how to pause a clip - this is controlled by a blue line and two sliders below the preview screen

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The grey area to the left determines what happens when the clip enters.
The grey area to the right determines what happens when the clip exits.
Whilst in the blue area the clip remains static.

You can drag the sliders to increase or decrease these durations.

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Fade.
What is less obvious is that instead of or in addition to controlling how a clip glides in or out, you can also fade a clip in and/or out.

This is set by clicking the toggle buttons below the direction arrows.

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If you depress the fade in button then the image will do as the button states \"fade in\" it will reach full opacity upon reaching the blue bar.
If you press the fade out button then whilst in the area defined by the blue bar the image will be at full opacity and start to fade out where the blue bar ends.

Size and Positioning.
An overlay image can be resized so that it is so small that it cannot be seen, it can also be stretched beyond the boundaries of the screen thus providing a zoom effect.

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There are two main methods of using the overlay track to display your video. There is hardly any difference in how we create these effects.
In fact all we do differently is to either use a video on the video track to achieve a PIP or alternatively use a colour clip (normally black) on the video track to achieve a split screen.

1. Picture in Picture (PIP)
These are often seen in sports videos where you get a close up of a piece of the action, or a view from another angle. You could use this method to display a map in a corner of the screen, or you could be using it for a close up or instant replay. You can choose to have the PIP with or without a border.

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2. Split screen.
This is a popular effect seen in programs like \"24\" with Kiefer Sutherland who plays Jack Bauer. Again you can do this with or without a border

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For an interesting variation to the above, rather than a solid black background on the video track you could instead use a still image.
In this example I created a picture of the corner of a room and then placed a video on the left of the screen and a slide show on the right of the screen. to complete the effect I placed an image across the bottom of the screen depicting the back of a settee facing the wall.

I used the distort feature to make the two screens appear to be projections onto the two walls forming the corner of the 'room.'

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(You can view this video on You Tube)

I will now describe how to do the above distorted split screen as it will describe how to use overlay tracks.

First step is to open up a few more overlay tracks using the overlay track manager:
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Now add the required number of overlay tracks for your project by ticking the box(es) in the left hand column
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When you drag a video onto an overlay track it is by default set to 1/4 the size of the preview screen and also in the centre.
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Move your mouse over the image in the preview screen then hold down your left mouse button and you can drag the image about the screen.
Here I have moved the image to the top left corner
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You will now see that by dragging further copies of that clip down onto the next 3 overlay tracks, I can drag them into the other 3 corners of the screen

In versions of VideoStudio prior to 11+ Not all of the overlay tracks may be visible and so you have to use the scroll bar at the right hand edge of the timeline.

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VideoStudio 11+ (and higher) Users have an option that enables them to display all of the overlay tracks at once to make editing easier.

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To select a clip to work with you must click the clip. You will see the currently selected clip is outlined on the preview window
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You will see that the currently selected clip has 8 yellow boxes, These are termed resize handles.

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Grab a handle by moving your mouse pointer over one of the yellow boxes and then holding down your left mouse button you can drag the handle. When you let go your clip will be made larger or small as desired.
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You can distort the image by dragging the distort handles located in the 4 corners of the clip
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Fade in/out

Compare these two images:
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and you will notice that the overlay on the left suddenly appears/disappears but the one on the right fades in/out
This is because with the one on the right on the attribute tab I have clicked the fade in/out buttons (2 & 3 in the below screen shot)

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Buttons 1 & 4 will cause an overlay to spin in/out

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For a more detailed explanation concerning this effect please view
Using a Cross-Fade Transition in an Overlay Video Track

Enter the screen / pause / exit

You will also note the direction buttons that control how a clip will enter / leave; here is an example of something coming in from the top left corner and leaving at the bottom right corner

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You will see that there are 3 phases, Enter, Pause and Exit.
You alter the duration of each phrase by moving the trim handles below the preview screen.

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Anchor the video 'oxo' style

You can quickly position your overlay clip in one of 9 OXO style positions by right clicking it on the preview screen

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Grid lines
You can also display grid lines on the preview screen to enable you to position your overlay clips more accurately.

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You can alter the number of grid lines by clicking the grid line options button.

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Notice that when you right click the overlay video on the preview screen you get further options to quickly resize your clip to fit the screen, return it to the original size, reset a distorted clip etc.

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Safe area

When you view your video on a computer screen you will see all of the Video just as you created it. However Television screens will crop of the borders of the video due to the way televisions work. To make sure that you do not lose the tops of peoples heads, or to prevent your text falling off he edges of the screen, you must observe the TV safe area.

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