Nationalsolo

Hi I think a lot depends on the original speed of movement in the frame. Fast subjects or using big speed reductions will result in bigger movements between the missing frames and so the action will appear jerky and the crossfade in these cases will not help things either. See the references to still ghost images between normal clip-clip crossfades. It's a bit of a catch 22 situation as often its the fast motion clips that you might want to slow down. With slower subjects with smooth motion (particularly if panned) e.g. sailing dinghys, VP gives excellent results. Nat

Hi You are trying to change the icon for the program not the file. (or files) Some programs come with several icons and clicking the program icon (not the file icon) and then "Properties" will open the program icon folder displaying other optional icons. If other icons are not available, or if you browse for one of your own, you can open the system 32 root icon folder (which you seem to be displaying) and select one from many others that Windows has available. Doing this for VP can associate file types used by VP to that icon. If no icon has been selected or set up for the program then Windows will display a generic icon similar to the one you are highlighting. Don't delete it. Just choose another. Nat

Hi I don't know if later versions of Windows behaves in the same way but in Vista you can change the icons displayed for a particular file type by simply right clicking the file with the incorrect icon and then taking the "Properties" option. Click the Modify button to the right of the "Opens with.." prompt and select a suitable program that you want the file to open with. This will change all the icons for the selected file type to the icon of the program chosen. (Assuming that the program is capable of opening it.) i.e. Clicking an mpg4 file which has a VP icon and then Selecting the VLC program will change all the mpg4 files to the striped road cone icon of VLC. Its unusual to see a file open in a program not associated with its icon. VP v4.21 did not produce any problems here. Nat

Hi "Nat, you don't need to relick dialog because length of transition can be changed visually by dragging orange line between clips. And you can easyliy adjust transition without opening dialog." Thanks for pointing that out. NCH have re-implemented it! Hadn't noticed as last few versions had it disabled. (Earlier ones did allow it.) Mind you, using the ends of the transition bar to adjust the length now keeps it centred on the clip join. Previously you could drag either end into any position relative to the join so transition length on each clip could be varied.This was useful from time to time. But then I still think the control for the duration should be available at the time the transition is applied. Remember that the default value iunder Options will change if you enter a different value in the transition selection window. I mentioned this in a previous post. The changes made in the transition selection window should only affect the particular transition selected ..not the default vale as well. If you back arrow the transition change, the default value doesn't change back either. Transitions for multiple clips/images.... "Just select clips you want add transition by holding SHIFT + Click in top menu choose Transition and chose transition you want to add In popup dialog choose Apply to all In Options dialog on Editing tab you can set parameter Default transition duration" I am aware of the default transition setting but forgot about "Apply to all.." from the top menu option as .. 1) The specific dialogue box doesn't come up until you have clicked about a bit...(not readily apparent) and.... 2) I forgot it WAS there! (C-major mentioned it some time back in response to a question.) Must remember where it is. It's very easy to forget where some of the options are now. Nat

Hi Borate Your method will result in the image being moved overwriting the image to its right. True, it wont cut the audio track and the moved slide will "snap" leaving a gap in the video track to be filled by the inserted slide. You will have to link all the images to the right of the insert point using Shift before you can move the track to the right keeping Shift down. However, athough this highlights and moves all the slides selected they now don't "snap" to the end of the insert slide on track 2 at the first pass. So drag them past, release and then drag them back. They now "snap." Simple insert is probably better even though the audio is split. Jump cursor to the insert point using >II or II<. Select slide to insert from media list and add to the sequence at the cursor position. Close the gap created in the audio track. Nat

Hi I have to agree with Borate. Anything that makes a beginner aware of what the effect might look like can be helpful, and, yes. OK have the option to switch it off if it may make some users annoyed. I wouldn't mind the transition properties to be visible when choosing a transition.......it's more annoying than a small animation to have to re-click the transition to bring up the dialogue box in order to change its duration. Similarly I wouldn't mind being able to add even a single transition between multiple clips, or random transitions between multiple clips. Nat

Hi You can almost get what you want if, in sequence preview you simply write the time position you require into the current cursor position value which is just above the <> sequence display control buttons.and beneath the preview screen on the left. i.e. Left click this and enter your value. Even if the sequence line is zoomed completly in and you enter a value that would place the cursor off the screen, the sequence line is moved to the left so that the cursor line is placed at the right hand edge of the screen at the time selected. It just requires a slight touch on the scroll wheel to zoom back the sequence and leave the cursor in a better position on the screen. It's probably quicker than using Shift+g and entering a value and quicker than using Shift+g and dragging the scroll bar, as being zoomed in makes the scroll bar very sensitive. Nat

Hi Older versions of VP would open the two control screens associated with the virtual dub Deshaker stabilization settings. These were not particularly easy to understand however. (I could print the guide out here.. but it's a bit long ) VP now presumably uses the best settings for each of the two passes that are required and does the stabilization using these. Personally, I think it works pretty well. If your video is VERY shaky you may have borders appearing as the plugin attempts to line up very agitated frames. If this happens you would have to crop the affected clip afterwards Nat

Hi Editing in Clip preview. Left clicking the clic in the media list will open it in the Clip Preview window. You can now move the cursor line or play the clip to the point where you wish to start your edit. Click the IN marker button. The IN marker (red) is set at the cursor. Move the cursor line to the end of your edit and click the OUT marker button. The blue OUT marker is set at the cursor line. The selected section is now highlighted in the thumbnails under the window. Click the green down arrow to place your selection on the sequence line. Now the the display now becomes the Sequence Preview. The clip in the media list now retains the IN/OUT points and in effect remains the same as the selection you added to the sequence line. However you can RESELECT IT from the media list when it will appear once more in the Clip preview window with your IN/OUT selections. You can reset the IN/OUT points to different values or return the clip to its original length by sliding both points to their respective starting positions. The section that you placed on the sequence line is not changed by this and will retain the IN/OUT values you originally set. Note that every time you change the IN/OUT markers or select to Clip Preview the green down arrow appears as this will enable you to place your selection on the sequence line. In the previous versions of VP before 4.11 you could also edit in this way using Sequence preview screen but this now seems to have been discontinued as it led to complications. The sequence preview screen is just that. Editing in Sequence Preview You can edit the sequence line directly by placing (dragging) the red cursor line (or playing the sequence) to the start of your edit (or end of your edit) and then using the split button. This is followed by moving the cursor line to a different part of the sequence and splitting the sequence a second time. The section between the cuts is then deleted leaving a gap. You can click on the gap and select to close it from the menu. The sequence preview is used to determine the positions of your edit points. The two cuts can be done in any order. This a more intuative way to edit your film..very similar to cutting and splicing real film. Note that if your edits are done on either side of a join you will create two "pieces" of film to be removed as the join is aready in effect a "cut" Unlike editing in Clip preview where your IN/OUT points are retained by the media list clip until you change them, the media list clip in this case remains in it's original state. Both methods are equally effective but editing in Clip Preview would allow you to add multiple edits of the clip one after the other simply by reselecting the clip and pressing the green down arrow. etc. Nat

Hi Sam The problem here is that having set the default duration of still images at the start to a value under options...say at 2.00 seconds. You can add the first selection of images from the media list to the time line where, indeed, they will all have the duration set at 2.00 seconds. That works for singly added images or block added images. So far so good. Now if you change the default duration to say, 4.00 seconds all further clips from the media list (that were already there) will still be added with the 2 second value. It will not have changed. It seems changing the default value from it's initial setting will have no effect on the duration of images that are added later from the same media list content. "Properties" of images in the media list will all remain with the original 2.00 duration setting. However images added to the media list after the default duration option change will have the new setting. Obviously the work around for this seeing as you can't "block change" the duration of a set of images, is to add the images to the media list with one default setting. Change the setting and then add the next set of images to the media list which will then arrive with the new default value. This isn't the best way to work it IMHO. It means you can't use the first set of images with the new setting unless you re-add them to the media list where they will have a diffent name as well as double up the list.. I feel what should happen is that all the images on the media list should retain the CURRENT default duration and when this is changed they are all updated en bloc. In other words "Properties" should always show the current default image duration value. This way you can add a block from the list with say, 2.00 seconds then add the same ones again or different ones with a different value. Nat

Hi The upper track always plays over (obscures) a lower track. If you want to move a video to a higher or lower track, you can just grab it and drag it to the new track. Note that if the space is insufficient for the clip which is moved then clips on the recipient track will be moved to the right. Nat

Hi As you can simply repeatedly click on the keyframe line for any parameter at any point along the line and create a keyframe position (as many times as you require) you can pretty well create smooth curves, particularly as you can also drag them about to change the curve. e.g. Would these be any different from the point of view of how they play to spline curves? I'm not against the idea - smooth curves could be useful- :-) Nat

Hi Just checked a short mpeg2 clip with multiple zooms added as keyframes as well as a total reverse of the clip with the various keyframe zooms on mixed axes. All worked and exported ok on a Vista machine. Nat

Hi It's always difficult shooting into the light to get the exposure correct for a foreground subject. Most camreras withh try to compensate and a lot depends on the type of exposure setup the camera has. Videopad can allow you to make some correction by using the "Brightness/Contrast/Gamma" effect This is the sort of result you can expect..... but a lot depends on the actual footage. This clip was split and the right hand section had the brighness and contrast adjusted to bring out some of the underexposed detail. Obviously if there is just total black or silhouettes of the subject then it may not work;there must be some detail to pull out. You may find that altering (increasing) the brightness will bring out something at the expense of the contrast,(and the already bright background) but bringing up the contrast may result in a very hard image. You will have to experiment. Nat

Hi Sam "I presume now that splitting and editing will have to be done in the preview pane as the timeline doesn't play and just shows thumbnails?" Errrr... No.... I didn't understand that myself either!... . Please ignore it. It all works fine. "Do you mean the Export Video button? It remembers the last choice from the drop down menu so you can select it with only one click (after the first time)." OK. I can see that now...........but If I use the green "File" button and choose "Export" the three options in the Export Video window remain inoperative. Nat

Hi Sam or NCH I have started editing a new project in version 4.11 and thought I would try the VP Text to Speech option under the Audio tab to add some commentary. I usually either pre record this or occasionally do it direct, both of which never seem to come up to expectations. Microsoft Anna is the "voice" on my Vista PC and "She" actually works quite well once you get used to the way "she" interprets the text. (She is better than Sam!) VP allows you type in a phrase or commentary passage and convert it to speech. That's pretty good, but if the outcome is not clear or words are mis-pronounced, you have to delete thefaulty audio file from the media list and re-type the passage-perhaps with different spelling etc. This is a bit annoying as a block of speech might be several lines (or even more) that only require a few small changes to a couple of words to make them clearer. It would be very useful if VP could temporarily save the input text and then allow you re-load it back to the input window in order for changes to be made so saving you the effort of re-writing the whole block, (which you may have forgotten!) I am sure that this could be done fairly easily....either saving ALL the text blocks or simply only the last one which is overwritten once a new block is started. As an alternative, which might be better....What about keeping the text visible in the window and allowing the converted speech to be played within the window - altering the text until it sounds OK and then transferring it to the media list? Any thoughts? PS. Just had a quite amazing demo here.... http://www.lumenvox.com/products/tts/ VP definately needs something like this! Nat

Hi Sam Just started a short and rather straight forward project and so far this version seems to be great! You've even changed the Split icon to a pair of scissors. :-) so it doesn't look like a pair of batteries and removed the sound track scrubbing machine gun! Added effects to the media list thumbnail don't change the sequence line clip but remain a property of the thumbnail which I rather like. Nice deep blue clip selection colour. The big Export Video tab on the toolbar doesn't work though. It's drop down menu arrow does but not the Menu Wizard option. No doubt something will crop up...... :-) I'd like to see the Transition properties prompt on the initial selection screen so I can set the duration when the transition is first selected. Currently it is greyed out and you have to click the orange arrow again after the transition has been added to set the duration you require which seems a bit daft. Reversing a clip seems to lose the sequence line thumbnail leaving a blue frame...you need to zoom in to get it to come up although it was there at the original zoom level. I presume now that splitting and editing will have to be done in the preview pane as the timeline doesn't play and just shows thumbnails? Nat

Hi Borate You're right - with 4:3 and 16:9 which you tried it work OK. But I used the default "None" for the AR. However, I found my mistake and it's when "None" is selected or left as the default. It's an inconsistancy in the behaviour of the green crosses. In some effects like Zoom, when "None" is selected or the default is taken for AR, just clicking the top cross sets all the lines with a keyframe marker at the values shown irrespective of the AR setting, but when doing this for Scale it just sets the top marker if "None" is selected. That's why there was a distortion; the 100% changed to 300% all the way along for one of the axes when I scaled up the end of the clip. I hadn't noticed either that the blue line moved up horizontally for that axis..Doh! I just clicked the top cross as usual as I force 16:9 normally and that sets all the lines in an effect at the values shown. Perhaps there ought to be some consistancy across the board.. Nat

HI Further to this...... Perhaps NCH could check this please.... A portrait image will correctly be fitted top to bottom of the frame. In the preview window of the Scale effect you can set the first key frame as 100% on both axes.(i.e Leave it alone but set a keyframe) You can then go to the last frame of the clip with the cursor and set the scale on each axis to 300% The image in the effects preview window correctly Zooms in on both axes. Click Apply and preview the sequence in the normal way and you see that the image only scales in the horizontal axis and consequently deforms. The program to fit the image to the height of the screen still appears to remain in force although the scale effect should enlarge it in height to 300%. This means that the image becomes stretched horizontally. It should "zoom" in like the preview seen in the Effects window. I think this is the cause of the problem outlined by the original post at the top. Nat

HI I don't think this works correctly either at least not in the way I would expect which was ,as you say effective in the earlier version.. Zooming with anything other than 16:9 results in a deformed or stretched image. Of course I am probably missing something here........ ...............? A moving Crop does not pan....but a movement behind a crop might... So try this (or a variation of it) Click the FX button on the thumbnail and add the Position effect. Set red cursor to start and make horizontal offset 12 (A smaller amount might be better but this is for a trial) Click green cross to set keyframe. Slide cursor to end of clip and set horizontal offset to -12. Click Apply. The image should now scroll. Click FX and add the crop effect. Move the red cursor line left and right to set the left and right edges of the image to the corresponding edges of the crop Click apply. As the offsets chosen are the same the crop will be central. The image should now pan keeping the AR you set. Obviously you will need to experiment with the offset values as your image is already narrow being portrait orientated. Nat

HI If you are new to video editing and VP, it's best to keep it simple. Here are the basic moves that you can try... Add all your video clips to the media list. (They will be found in the Video File bin) Add your background music to the media list. (It will be found in the Audio File bin) Add any image files to the media list. (They will be found in the Image File bin) Add your video clips and images to the sequence line in the order required. (Drag and drop them there or use the menu options seen when you right click them) You can edit them there as you add them (split and delete unwanted bits) or edit them from the Clip preview window using the IN/OUT markers, and add them with the green arrow. Click on and close any gaps you have produced. Click the loud speaker icon at the left end of Audio track1 to mute the complete track. Drag and drop your Audio File to Audio Track 2 below the muted track and move it L/R to play where you want it to. Your video should now play with this audio track. This the simplest construction. If you mute individual clips instead of the whole track (by using the speaker icon shown on each sound clip,) the tracks you don't mute will play with, (mix with) your main added sound track. As you can see VP has a huge number of options available and it takes time to find out out how they all work. The above suggestion is just a way to start. Remember to save your project regularly as you work (Use Save as if you want to save slightly different versions) Best of luck Nat

HI "Do I have to purchase to get the filters working? I am new to video pad so maybe I am missing some step?" No, the filters should work. The limitation in the free version is in the ability to export after the first tries. Normally.......You right click the timeline clip (or left click the FX box on the thumbnail) or right click the media list thumbnail and select "Effects" Apply the effect you want, monitoring the effects preview screen. Click the "Apply" button and the effect is then applied to the specific thumbnail or clip you selected. i.e. If you applied the effect to the media list thumbnail, the thumbnail will show the effect and any clip belonging to it on the timeline will also show the effect.Transferring from the media list to the timeline will also retain the effect. If you applied the effect to the timeline clip only (using left click or the FX box), the media list thumbnail will remain unaffected and any later transfer from it will not have the effect applied to it. Exporting the clip should show the effect you applied.........It does here with 4.10 Nat

Hi A 9:16 clip rotated in Preview screen is corrected to 16:9 in both the preview screen and a few seconds later in the media list thumbnail. When added to the timeline from the media list it presents as expected i.e. All the thumbnails and preview are corrected. Saved as project file and then reopened, everything is correct. This is in version 4.10 It exports and plays correctly. Nat

Hi Sam "In v4.10, you can right click on the clip, select Flip->Horizontal." As noted above, this option is only available in the Media list window. Nevertheless the flip effect transfers to the timeline thumbnail as well as the timeline clip if it has been added. But why has it been incorporated in the Media list menu and not the timeline clip right click menu, as now we have a conflict? Imagine you want to invert a clip....No problem...You can do it as you suggest and Flip the thumbnail vertically in the media list. Sure enough the thumbnail and your clip if added to the sequence line does the same, (or you can drag and drop it in its inverted state from the media list.) Now, let's say, a little later during editing and you want to add the same clip again but this time the correct way up...You can't re-flip the media list thumbnail as that will re-flip the clip that you initially inverted and placed on the timeline! Your only option now is that you will have to add it again but this time in its inverted state and then reflip it....Ah!....But...that means using the rotate effect on the inverted clip since the menu flip option doesn't appear for clips on the timeline. So why not make it a rule that Effects can only be added to clips already on the timeline? Or if that's not possible -- I personally think it is more logical -- , why not incorporate the flip option in the timeline clip right click menu? Nat

Hi A tab with a drop down menu would mean two key presses to access your clips each time. Note also the the Sequence bin differs from the others in that the contents are transferred to it from the Timeline and are not imported from external files like images, audio and video clips (although some VP functions do create copies to these bins). The latter are used to create your timeline where you can edit them and arrange them etc. but then, once you have created a section in this way you may feel the need to save it-or "put it to one side" so to speak. To allow this, the whole edited section can be transferred to the Sequence bin by clicking the + sign that follows "Sequence 1 X" on the left. This clears the timeline for editing further images and clips. The edited sections now in the Sequence bin will behave as complete clips as they have-so to speak- been exported, and can be stored there one at a time as editing is done. At any time they can be added to the ongoing timeline as normal clips or to an empty timeline in order to assemble the finished article. It's logical when you think about it. Nat