From Camcorder to DVD with Video Studio - Editing Phase.

VideoStudio

Moderator: sjj1805


User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:15 pm

Introduction

This article is part of the major tutorial From Camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio. The editing stage is the largest module of the entire process which is effectively made up of 3 major phases.
  1. The capture phase.
  2. The editing phase.
  3. The authoring phase.
VideoStudio -v- MovieFactory
Phases 1 and 3 (capture & author) are very similar in appearance to VideoStudio's sister program MovieFactory and so those modules would also benefit users of that software.

The major difference between VideoStudio and MovieFactory are the editing functions.
MovieFactory has almost no editing abilities but editing is the main purpose of VideoStudio.

VideoStudio -v- MediaStudio
Another often asked question is the comparison between VideoStudio and MediaStudio.
There is a thread here video studio v media studio? where this has been briefly discussed.

Although it may appear that the gap has closed between the two items with the introduction of more overlay tracks in VideoStudio 10+ in fact there are several more differences between the two products. The more expensive and more powerful MediaStudio comes with a bigger learning curve.

VideoStudio is a good stepping stone if you decide at some future date to move up the video editing ladder. What you learn from using VideoStudio will be carried over to its big brother.

VideoStudio is aimed primarily at the Domestic User / Casual User market who primarily want to get their holiday videos onto DVD. It is good enough to also be used by professional users (such as wedding photographers) who do not have the time or funds to delve into the more complex MediaStudio Arena.

MediaStudio is for the professional or serious hobbyist. The former group can pass the costs involved onto customers. The second group are prepared to pay the extra costs involved anyway.
Bignosetw wrote:Here are two video clips you can see, that might give you some idea of the difference between the two programs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXYttIgC ... h=betelnut

This is a documentary promo/trailer I produced with MediaStudio Pro 8, using the Smart Compositor for the opening sequence.

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid ... ime=171301

This is a little demo I cut together from HDV footage, using VideoStudio 10.
Hope this would be helpful.
Cheers

Tobie Openshaw
MarCom Dept.
Ulead System Taiwan
VideoStudio -v- DVD Workshop
DVD Workshop is essentially a DVD Authoring tool. The editing functions of DVD Workshop 2 are even more limited than the almost non existent editing functions of DVD MovieFactory.

With DVD Workshop you can create a DVD Menu from a blank screen and add as many thumbnails as you wish (up to the DVD specification maximum). Place the thumbnails anywhere, rotate the thumbnails. Create Text only menus or a mixture of text & thumbnail. Create unorthodox play lists and in fact you can mimic almost any commercially created DVD menu.

Having said this it must also be pointed out that at the time of writing DVD workshop although very powerful is now considered by the user forum as being in need of a service pack or a new version. This is to bring it up to date with recent developments such as 16.9 wide-screen format. Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio, amongst many other suggestions made by forum members.

The purpose of this tutorial
In this tutorial I hope to show new users how to use the various editing tools built into VideoStudio. Most of this tutorial should be of benefit to Version 9 users as well as version 10. Where routines only exist in Version 10, this will be clearly marked.

Our more experienced members are invited to join in by writing their own editing tutorials - these can be short or long and posting them into this forum. I shall endeavour to cross reference this tutorial to those.


Image
Last edited by Administrator on Sun Oct 29, 2006 2:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:16 pm

User Interface layout

Image

Video Studio 10+ offes a choice of 4 different layouts. the default layout is the one shown at the bottom left of this picture:

Image

I shall use the default layout throughout these tutorials for ease of use.
If you wish to use one of the other layouts then click
File | Preferences | UI Layout.

Image

You will notice at the top of the screen a set of tabs - these are termed the 7 easy steps.

Image

Step 1 [Capture] has been discussed in this article.
We are now going to look at step 2 - [Edit] This is the screen you first see when you open VideoStudio Editor.

Lets look at the interface in more depth
Below the 'Easy 7 Steps' you will find the following toolbar:

Image

Lets see what these items are:

Image
From this drop down list you choose the library that you wish to work with
  • Video
  • Image
  • Audio
  • Color
  • Transition
  • Video Filter
  • Title
  • Decoration
    • Object
    • Frame
  • Flash Animation
Image
This opens up a Windows Dialog box so that you can navigate to the files on your computer to add them to the currently selected library.

Image
  • Sort Thumbnails by Name
  • Sort Thumbnails by Date
  • Delete selected Thumbnail(s) from the library
    (Hold down the shift key to be given an option to delete them from the Hard Drive)
Image
This open up the library manager where you can create/delete your own libraries For more information Click here

Image
  • Web Page
  • Email
  • Greeting Card
  • Screen Saver
Image
When minimized only two rows of thumbnails are displayed.
Image

When enlarged the options panel is hidden to make more room for the library:
Image

The Navigation Panel.
Image
  1. Play Mode
    Select whether you want to preview your project or only the selected clip.
  2. Play
    Plays, pauses or resumes the current project or a selected clip.
  3. Home
    Returns to the starting frame.
  4. Previous
    Moves to the previous frame.
  5. Next
    Moves to the next frame.
  6. End
    Moves to the end frame.
  7. Repeat
    Loops playback.
  8. System Volume
    Click and drag the slider to adjust the volume of your computer's speakers.
  9. Timecode
    Allows you to directly jump to a part of your project or selected clip by specifying the exact timecode.
  10. Mark-in/out
    Use these buttons to set a preview range in the project, or to mark the start and end points where to trim a clip.
  11. Jog Slider
    Allows you to scrub through the project or clip.
  12. Trim Handles
    Allows you to set a preview range in the project or trim a clip.
  13. Cut Clip
    Cuts the selected clip into two. Position the Jog Slider to where you want the first clip to end and the second one to start, then click this button.
  14. Preview Window
    Click to increase the size of the Preview Window. You can only preview, not edit, your clips when the Preview Window is enlarged
Toolbar.
Image
  1. Storyboard View
    Shows image thumbnails of your movie on the timeline.
    Image
  2. Timeline View
    Allows you to perform frame-accurate editing of your clips.
    Image
  3. Audio View
    Shows the audio waveform view, allowing you to visually adjust the volume levels of your video clips, narration or background music.
    Image
  4. Zoom controls
    Allows you to change the timecode increments in the Timeline ruler.
    Image
  5. Fit Project in Timeline Window
    Zooms in or out to display all the project's clips on the Timeline.
  6. Insert media files
    Displays a menu allowing you to place video, audio or image clips directly into the project without importing them into the library.
  7. Undo
    Lets you undo a previous function.
  8. Redo
    Allows you to redo an undone function.
  9. Smart Proxy Manager
    Creates working copies of your HD videos with lower resolution.
  10. Batch Convert
    Converts multiple video files to one video format
  11. Overlay Track Manager
    Allows you to create multiple overlay tracks.
    The following tracks are available:
    • Video Track
    • 6 Overlay tracks
    • Title Track
    • 2 Audio tracks (named)
      • Voice Track
      • Music Track
  12. Enable/Disable 5.1 Surround
    Enables you to create 5.1 Surround audio tracks.
Options Panel

This display changes depending upon the mode you are currently working in. It contains the various controls available to customize the current item.

Image

We will learn more about the user interface as we progress through the topic.

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:17 pm

Simple cuts

Before we progress into this topic let us stop and think about why we would wish to cut material from our video footage. You've perhaps just returned from Holiday and are eager to 'get it all' onto a DVD to show your friends and family. Perhaps you've just filmed your sports team in a competition etc.
Why would you want to throw some of it away?

I was fortunate that I began my Home Movie Hobby several years ago before the arrival of Home Computers and camcorders. I had a Super 8 Cine Camera. This used very expensive 3 minute cassettes (as a teenager - almost a weeks wages) which had to be sent away to be developed and then played back in a Cine Projector.

My editing consisted of a cutting and splicing block, film cement and larger tape reels so that I could get about a half hours worth on one reel!

What that taught me is things had to be kept short sharp and to the point.
Today you can pick up a Digital 8 Film Cassette from your local supermarket and easily record a hours worth of video for the price of a couple of loaves of bread. It is so easy to get carried away and film everything.

Now Imagine being at one of those famous after dinner speeches where the speaker goes on and on \"Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to thank the cook, the waiters and waitresses, the gardner, the guy who delivered the milk, the tea maker and the tea makers apprentice and....\"

I think you get the picture, it gets boring.

If Hollywood blockbusters involve months of filming how come the finished item lasts about 2 hours? That is because of the EDITOR and as far as your home made productions go that person is YOU.

Out of all of the editing functions built into VideoStudio the pair of scissors is THE most important. Forget the end credits - want proof? Go to your local cinema and watch a film. when it finishes how many members of the audience remain in their seats at the end of the film and read to see who
\"Key Grip\" and \"Best Boy\" and Old Uncle Tom Cobbly and all were?

Forget Transitions. How often in a professional production do you see extensive use of a clock spiral between scenes?

Forget Titles. Often they pop up about 5 minutes into a film by which time you want to watch the film not see who is the Star and Co-Star etc.

I don't mean forget the above items completely, we will of course be covering all of these aspects further on in this tutorial. The point I am making is that the biggest impact of your completed video is determined by what you leave OUT.

Here are two interesting links:
Home Videos - Filming Tips Good vs Bad Movies
How should I go about doing 6 tapes of editing?

We will now start off by taking a look at a tutorial created by forum member Trevor Andrew
Navigating Video Studio 8 Cutting and using the Scissors Very little has changed since Version 8 in respect of cutting a clip in two. Despite these minor differences Trevors Tutorial is still relevant to the latest version of videoStudio.

Next take a look at a tutorial by forum member BrianCee
Edit in Timeline V9

There is an excellent video tutorial by forum member (Graham) skier-Hughes
Basic Editing One - Please select the Tutorial entitled Basic Editing One.

In this video tutorial Graham is using Windows Movie Maker. Interestingly the procedure and also the User Interface is very similar to VideoStudio.
Minor Differences:
  • The toolbar command clip | split has a videoStudio equivalant of clip | cut clip
  • You cannot use [ctrl]+[L] to cut the clip
  • Movie maker handles transitions in a different manner to videoStudio
  • The page up/down keys do not zoom in/out
Despite these minor differences the video tutorial by Graham explains the cutting procedure extremely well.

How to cut a clip in two.
Open VideoStudio.
Display the timeline view.
Drag the sample clip V12 (the test card) from the library to the timeline.
Image

If you play this clip you will see that it lasts for 10 seconds and contains a timer
Image

Now move your pointer (1) across the timeline until you reach the point where the counter changes from 5 to 6 (3)
*(or type in a value in the timecode box (2)
Move the zoom slider (4) to the right so that you have zoomed into each individual frame.
Image

Use the navigation panels buttons 4 & 5 to make any minor adjustments to your pointer position. Now click the scissors (13) and you have cut the clip into two parts.
Image

If you now switch to storyboard view (button 1)
Image

You will now see two thumbnails instead of one.
To delete one of these clips you select the unwanted clip and press the delete key on your keyboard to remove it. You can repeatedly cut these clips at your desired locations and delete any unwanted material.
You can also drag the thumbnail(s) up to the library manager so that they can be re-used at a later time.
(Providing you do not delete the source video). You can also re-arrange the order of the clips by dragging - this is best achieved in storyboard view. For extensive cutting of clips you will find the next few items of this thread \"Multi-trim\" \"Ad-Zapper\" \"Split by Scene\" are perhaps more appropriate.

The actual video file on your computer has not been changed. What has happened is that VideoStudio has kept a note of your proposed changes so that later when you render (create) a new edited video file, VideoStudio will know what to do. In this case cut the clip V12 at the 5 second marker point.

This set of instructions is kept inside a roject file/b]. The project file is like a large notepad file or Word Document which says to the program
Place file V12 on the timeline and cut it into two pieces at the 5 second marker and then delete the unwanted clip.
Now do this
Then do that
And then do this other thing

You would be surprised at how many users think the project file is a video file and then delete the original video clips.
Oh dear. :oops:

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:18 pm

Multi trim

The article above simple cuts is fine if you are only making a few cuts or for making fine adjustments to the results of this procedure multi trim. Where you have several cuts to make then you will find multi trim much friendlier to use. To activate multi trim you must first drag the clip to be cut to the timeline. The previously greyed out [Multi Trim video] button can now be selected.

Image

The multi trim interface

Image
  1. Invert Selection Normally you select the parts you wish to keep. click this to mark the parts you wish to delete.
  2. Quick Search Interval Use the Forward / Backward Buttons to quickly step through the clip by the amount specified in the interval selection box (Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Frames)
  3. Mark Start / End To mark a Start or End of a segment click these buttons or [F3] for Start [F4] for end.
  4. Ad-Zapper This will be discussed in the next Article.
  5. Play Trimmed Video
  6. Delete Selected Clip Remove a segment
  7. Thumbnails Thumbnails of all of the extracted segments.
  8. Zoom Slider Drag the slider up or down to zoom in/out of the clip for frame accurate trimming.
  9. Playback Controls Play - Stop - First Frame - Previous Frame - Next Frame - Last Frame - Loop (Repeat Play)
  10. Jog Wheel Use like a thumbwheel to scroll back and forth along the clip.
  11. Playback Speed Speed up or slow down the Playback Preview of the clip
  12. Timeline Just like the normal Timeline - you can zoom into individual frames for accurate cutting.
  13. Timeline Position Enables you to see your current position in relation to the entire clip.
  14. Playback Window
How to use the Multi Trim function.
  1. Find the first frame that you wish to KEEP by dragging the slider (13) until the approximate position is displayed in the preview window (14).
  2. Fine tune your position by dragging the jogwheel (10) left or right.
  3. Home in on the exact frame by clicking the previous frame / next frame buttons of the Playback controls (9)
  4. Mark this start position either by pressing [F3] on the keyboard or the start icon (3)
  5. Find the last frame of the section that you wish to KEEP by repeating steps 1 - 3 above.
  6. Mark this end position by either pressing [F4] on the keyboard or clicking the end icon (3)
  7. A thumbnail should now appear along the bottom of the display (7)
  8. To extract another portion of the video repeat steps 1-7 above. This will generate a further thumbnail along the bottom of the display (7)
  9. When you have completed extracting all of the sections that you wish to KEEP then click the [OK] button at the bottom right of the screen.
Your extracted thumbnails will now appear on the timeline. Select the Storyboard view to see the extracted thumbnails.

Image

TIP: You can drag these thumbnails to the library so that they can be used at a later date.


Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:19 pm

Ad-Zapper

The Ad-Zapper as the title suggests is used to remove the commercials from a TV recording. You activate the Ad-Zapper by dragging a clip to the timeline and then selecting the multi-trim option (the same way as the previous article in this thread.)

Instead of going through the video and marking start and end points, you simply click the Ad-Zapper Icon. Now wait whilst VideoStudio examines your video and then it will create a number of thumbnails as shown in this example:

Image

You will notice that each thumbnail has a small flag at the bottom right corner [P] for program or [C] for commercial. This is to indicate what VideoStudio thinks the thumbnail contains. You can change the flag by right clicking a thumbnail and an option box appears.

The purpose of the flag is so that the thumbnails can be grouped together.

Imagine this scenario: There is a TV program being broadcast called Steves Video Editing Tips. After about 15 minutes the commercials come on. There are about a dozen commercials shown and then part two of Steves Video Editing Tips comes back on. After 15 minutes there is another commercial break and another dozen adverts appear. We then get part 3 of Steves Video Editing Tips

If our Ad-Zapper routine works correctly we should have a series of thumbnails marked
[P][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][P][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][C][P]

Now if you tick the box marked [Merge CF] you will see that all the Commercials Found will be merged into one thumbnail. and the above list will now appear like this:
[P][C][P][C][P]

Now you can simply click a thumbnail marked as a commercial [C] and press your delete key to remove them.

Press the [OK] button at the bottom right of the screen to move your extracted clips to the timeline.

Although the Ad-Zapper appears to work extremely well you must remember that there are no hidden signals in a TV Broadcast that say \"Advert begins\" / \"Advert ends\" and so you should check the start and end of the trimmed clips after they have been moved to the timeline and then use the Simple Cuts Procedure to tidy up the ends where necessary.

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:20 pm

Split by scene
The split by scene function was previously mentioned in Part 3: Capture Stage.

If you right click a thumbnail in the library you will see an option split by scene.�

Image

A drop down box [Scan Method] gives you two choices:
  1. DV Recording Time Scan
  2. Frame Content
DV Recording Time Scan
This will split a DV video where the camcorder was turned on/off
Frame Content
This will split any type of video where changes to the image and/or sound suggest a new scene - this works in much the same way as the Ad-Zapper.

Upon selecting this you will see a box will appear showing all of the detected scenes

Image

Any scenes that you do not wish to import as thumbnails can be deselected by unchecking the box to the left. Press the [OK] button to generate your scene thumbnails.

The very first thumbnail will be the entire video � you will see that it is identical in the library to the second thumbnail which is the first scene. You may therefore wish to delete that first thumbnail � or move it into another library folder.

Image

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:21 pm

Split audio

Sometimes you may wish to seperate the audio from the video.
This procedure is very easy. Simply right click the video on the timeline and an option appears to Split Audio:

Image

Image

There is an article here using this method to rectify an out of synch video when all other methods have failed:

VS & MSP: Fix for Out of Synch Audio/Video

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:22 pm

Reverse Video

Another fairly simple procedure to explain, but what is its use?
OK there is the comedy effect of a broken glass of water rising back onto a table and back into one piece. There are other practical uses as well.

Near the top of this thread I mentioned how it is easy to get carried away with a camcorder and film too much. Oddly enough there have been times when I have found that I hadn't held onto a scene long enough!

This could be because during the editing stage I found a need to add some titles or something I hadn't noticed during filming caught my eye during playback and required to be shown a few seconds longer on the screen.

There are 3 methods to stretch out a scene that is found to be too short.
All 3 methods will also require some editing to be done to the audio track - either snatch some background noise from a nearby scene or replace the sound with music.

Method 1: Alter the playback speed. Sometimes though slow motion doesn't quite fit and it looks false and noticeable.
Method 2: Freeze frame - However this again doesn't always work.
Method 3: Play a short sequence forward then in reverse then forward again. Done correctly you don't notice the change in direction.

The method chosen depends upon the content of the material being worked with. Sometimes none of the above will fit.

To make a video play backwards simply select the clip and then tick the [Reverse Video] Option.

Image
Notice the preview window is now showing the timer reading 10 but the play head is on the far left of the timeline!

To achieve that smooth forward backward forward effect mentioned above.
  1. Using a simple cut extract a portion of video suitable for the procedure
  2. Place the clip on the timeline an odd number of times (3,5,7 etc)
  3. Mark every other clip (The even numbered clips of the sequence) to play backwards
Image

The end of a clip is the same frame as the start of the next clip and so you will not notice the change in direction. Obviously this method does not work with things moving across the screen such as people walking or a vehicle passing by.

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:27 pm

Rotating clips

A clip can be rotated in steps of 90 degrees by clicking one of the two buttons shown here:

Image

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:28 pm

Save as Still Image

You can easily grab a frame from your video and use it as a still image.
This is useful for a variety of reasons such as a backdrop for your DVD Menu.
You could use the still image as a freeze frame in the video or you may just simply want a copy to add to your photograph collection.

The first step is to decide the format and quality of the image.
Select File | Preferences | Capture Tab.

Image

You can now choose to save your still images as Bitmaps or JPG Images.
If you choose JPG you are given a further option relating to the quality of the JPG image. 10 (Lowest quality) to 100 (Highest Quality).

To save a still image of a frame firstly display the frame in the preview window. Select the clip on the timeline and this will make the [Save as Still Image] button active.

Image

Now click that button to add the image to your library and also to your hard drive.

The image will be saved to your working folder. This folder is set on the [General] tab of your preferences.

Image

You can also establish the location and filename of the still image by right clicking its thumbnail and selecting [Properties]

Image


Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:29 pm

Re-arranging clips

You can move clips to another part of the video by simply dragging with the mouse. The easiest way is to switch to Storyboard View.
(Button 1)
Image

Before:
Image

After:
Image

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:30 pm

Video Duration

The duration of each clip is shown below its thumbnail

Image

You can specify that you only want the first 'x' amount of a clip by selecting it and then entering values into the Video Duration timecode box:

Image

The format is H:MM:SS:FF (Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Frames)
This is like making a simple cut.

There is another option Playback Speed which as the names suggests enables you to speed up the video or play things in slow motion.
This can be activated by clicking the button shown above or by right clicking a clip and selecting the playback speed option:

Image

This will display the following dialog box where you can now speed up or slow down the video:

Image

This will also have an effect upon the audio track and so you may need to split the audio from the video - and bear in mind synchronistation issues.

There is an article here showing how to re-align out of synch audio/video using the Video Duration function.

Image

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:30 pm

Clip Volume

On the option panel you will see the following:

Image

The four Areas Marked are
  1. Clip volume
  2. Mute
  3. Fade in
  4. Fade Out
If you click the drop arrow next to Clip volume (A) then a slider appears to enable you to adjust the volume from 0 (off) to 500 (5 x the original volume) The original volume = 100. Adjustments made to the Volume at this point will affect the entire clip.

Image

Item Mute will turn off the sound to the whole of that clip.

The values for items [C] and [D] fade in/out are set in your project preferences:

Image

To demonstrate volume adjustment please place a clip on your timeline and adjust the clip volume to 300%. Now switch to Audio View and you will see the following

Image

In the above screenshot you can see a thin blue line - This is the overall Volume now set at 300%. Switch back to Timeline view and adjust the volume to 25%. Take another look at Audio View and you will notice that the blue line has now moved down.

Image

Notice the left edge of the two screenshots above. Now switch back to Timeline view, click the fade in button and move back to audio view.

Image

Notice now how the red line slopes upwards This is your sound fading in. When it reaches a small square marker the volume levels out. this small square is termed a key frame. Carefuly move your cursor below the red line and a black arrow will appear:

Image

Left click and this will add a new key frame. You can then drag the key frame up - to increase the volume or down - to reduce the volume.
Here is an (over the top) example of adjusting the volume with key frames:

Image

This technique is termed rubber banding.

User avatar
Administrator
Site Admin
Posts: 334
Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:45 am

Post by Administrator » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:37 pm

Video Filters

Video filters are a collection of VFT plug ins (Video Fidelity Tools).
Ulead VideoStudio 10+ comes with a collection of 48 Video Filters but you can increase your collection by obtaining more such as FX Bench by forum member Stefan Burger. FXbench is FREE and comes with 193 predefined filter definitions that can be used out of the box, without any further knowledge of the programming language

There are also plenty available for purchase such as Moving Parts by Stagetools. When searching for extra VFT plug-ins make sure that they are compatible with VideoStudio. Many of these plug-ins require a higher end Video Editing Program such as MediaStudio.

With VideoStudio you can apply a maximum of 5 Video Filters to an individual clip. The filters are applied to the video in the order in which you add them. Compare these two pictures - they are the same frame:

ColorShift filter followed by Clouds Filter:
Image

Clouds filter followed by ColorShift filter:
Image

Some video filters have very little or even no available adjustments to the filter:
Image

Some video filters have a lot of available adjustments:
Image

Some video filters have a number or preset effects that you can choose from. This example is the cropping filter:
Image

When you click on customize
Image

You will see a two video windows 'Original' and 'Preview', a toolbar and a timeline:
Image

Keyframes:
If you take a section of video you can mark various parts of it where you wish changes to take place. These marks are termed key frames. A section of video (or audio for that matter) will always have at least two key frames [START] and [END] To describe how a keyframe works let us consider that we have a photograph of a number of people outside of a church following a wedding. A typical keyframe sequence might be as follows.
  1. START - show the photograph full screen
  2. Zoom in to the person at the far left
  3. Pan across towards the right
  4. Pause when you reach the bride
  5. Move right a bit more
  6. Pause again on the Groom
  7. Pan over to the right until you reach the last person
  8. Zoom out to full screen
We have just brought a simple photograph to life with animation, not just random animation but deliberate and thought out animation. We achieved this by making certain frames on our timeline 'keyframes.'

Let us now look in closer detail at these items:
Image
Here we have the toolbar at the top (Items C-N) & the timeline at the bottom (A-B)
  1. The diamonds are keyframes. Red signifies the active keyframe or in other word the one currently being edited. Any values you set in the various filter options are being set in relation to this particular keyframe
  2. Any other keyframes are shown in white
  3. Goto previous keyframe
  4. Add another keyframe at this timeline position
  5. Delete this keyframe
  6. Reverse the timeline so that the first keyframe is now the last keyframe. In our wedding photograph example it would be as though we had chosen to start off on the right and work our way over to the left
  7. Nudge the keyframe to the left
  8. Nudge the keyframe to the right
  9. Goto the next keyframe
  10. Playback Control- Goto the start of the video clip
  11. Playback Control- Goto the previous frame
  12. Playback Control- Current Timecode position on the timeline
  13. Playback Control- Goto the next frame
  14. Playback Control- Goto the end of the video clip
There are more controls to the right of the above:
Image
  1. Play the clip so that you can preview the effect of this filter
  2. Play speed
    • Normal
    • Fast
    • Faster
    • Fastest
  3. Enable Device - This activates the next icon
  4. Change Device
    • View on the dialog box Preview window
    • View on the project Preview Window
    • Select an External Playback Device
      • No Device
      • DV Camcorder
      • Dual Head Device
  5. Zoom in/out of the timeline
  6. Show or Hide the various filter options/settings
Creating a 'Ken Burns' effect with the Pan and Zoom Filter

Wikipedia Encyclopedia wrote:Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 29, 1953. He is a graduate of Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1975, and went on to be one of the co-founders of Florentine Films.
In his documentaries, Burns often gives life to still photographs by slowly zooming in on subjects of interest and panning from one subject to another. For example, in a photograph of a baseball team, he might slowly pan across the faces of the players and come to a rest on the player the narrator is discussing. This has been called the Ken Burns effect.
[/size]
Let us now use the pan and zoom filter to bring the following photograph to life (Thats me - top right!)

Image

We will start full screen, zoom to the bottom right person, pan over to the left, move up a row, pan over to the right, move up a row, pan over to the left, move up a row and pan over to 'me'. We will then finish off by zooming back out to full screen.

Image

We start off by adding the image to the timeline. We also need to display the image for quite some time in view of the panning and zooming we are going to perform. At this point just make an educated guess, you can adjust the timing and also the positions of the keyframes later.

Image

We then drag the Video Pan and Zoom filter onto the clip and then choose the customize button.

Image

The following dialog box appears

Image

If you look at the left side (original) screen 'A' you will see a red cross and 4 yellow handles at the corners of a dotted overlay box. The red cross is the centre of the selected area. The dotted box is the area now displayed in the right hand side Preview Screen 'B'
You can alter the zoom ratio by either dragging the yellow handles or adjusting the zoom value 'C'.

For most pan and zoom effects you can simply centre the red crosshair in box 'A' by clicking on the OXO cube style anchors at 'D'.

We wish to start with the full picture. The first keyframe is already selected by default and so we now click the centre anchor point and adjust the zoom to 100%.

Image

Next task is to zoom into the person at the bottom right of the group.
At the moment we are using guesstimates for our timings which can be adjusted as the model builds up.

Image

You can see in this picture that I have moved the playback head 'A' to the 1 second mark (identified at 'C') and then created a new keyframe by clicking the add button 'B'. You can also see that this new keyframe is also the active frame.

Image

Image

HINT: you may find that when you try and select the crosshair the active keyframe keeps changing to another one nearby. To overcome this problem select the keyframe and then use the OXO anchors to position the crosshair away from the rest of the group and then drag it into position.

Create further keyframes as follows:
Up to row 2 at 5 second mark
Right hand side of row 2 at 9 second mark
Up to row 3 at 10 second mark
Left side of row 3 at 14 second mark
Up to row 4 at 15 second mark
Right hand side of row 4 at 19 second mark
Set the end keyframe to 100% and dead centre using the same method as the first keyframe.

Image

Image

Now play the animation to see how it looks and adjust any timings that you feel necessary.

Alternative Pan and Zoom.
The pan and zoom shown above was selected from the library manager drop down box. When you add a still image to the timeline you can also activate pan and zoom from the options panel.

Image

Although it works in the same way as the method described above, it contains an extra option 'Logarthmic interpolation.'

Image

OK so what is this 'Logarithmic Interpolation' ? - put simply its mathematics and is designed to give you a smoother pan and zoom.
There is a good explantion in simple language that even I can understand here: http://www.activeservice.co.uk/video/zoompath/

Post Reply