Nationalsolo

Hi Borate That's odd..... I have just created a title using a graphics package that outputs (with many others,) a CIS (.gif) format image. This arrives as a .gif in the PC destination folder. If I load this .gif into VP using Add File it arrives on the media list as an .avi....... with a duration of 0:00:00:010 (actually shorter than I mentioned in my first post) which is a bit useless..in fact you can't see it unless you zoom in or use Storyboard mode and the value can't be altered or the timeline TN be pulled out longer. OK..I could have created a .jpg etc, but I wanted to test a single .gif. Another point is that I can create .gif images with transparent areas but as VP converts these to .avis of useless duration there is no transparency either. )Unfortiunately my graphics package can't output .png images .) However I have now just checked an actual animated .gif (created with Microsoft GIF animator) that loaded OK as .gif. file to the media list and it also played OK but without looping obviously That's why I wondered if VP could be altered so a single .gif could be loaded to the media list like a png with transparency properties and with the default image duration that could be controlled. Even as a jpg it would be better than a useless .avi. See a previous post here... http://nch.invisionz...-image-problem/ Nat

Hi I know VP converts GIF images to .avi frames, as the procedure is generally used for adding animated gif files to the media list ("Add images as video" option). However, there are times when it is useful to add an actual GIF image as a single item. Unfortunately (unless I have missed something) when you do this, it arrives as a single .avi frame with a duration of 0.1 second. As this is not now an image file this duration cannot be altered and in this form is quite useless. Is it possible to include an option that enable the user to add a single gif image as an image..even if is converted to a png (and perhaps retaining any transparency properties,) or at least a jpg? Nat

Hi You can make a pseudo outline. It would probably work best for short titles and won't be perfect. However... Just create two identical texts...Say "THE END" make one in red and the other in green. Place the green text on the main track and the red text exactly above it on the overlay track. The preview will now only show the red text as the identical green version is hidden underneath. Now add a SCALE effect to the green text. Make the horizontal value 105 and the vertical value 130. Play with the values a bit until it looks reasonable. OK...It's not 100% as the spacing between letters is enlarged with SCALE but it might be a useful stopgap until NCH make the change, short of using a third party program to develop a PNG image as Borate suggests. You might also try different font sizes, or a bold font with a normal one etc. Nat

Hi Ivan It's Balloon font. I have several hundred fonts I could use that list up in VP and came with vista.You could always add more to the font folder. It's one reason why I suggested they could be listed in VP text entry with each written in their actual font instead of ariel, (like they do in the forum here...although there is only 9 to choose from) That way you could pick any you think are cool without having to try each one beforehand to find out what it looks like. Nat

Hi Sam Yes, sorry you did mention it before. I agree it is a bit confusing. However my first point re: the media list text TN not showing the text you enter with its attributes is valid. I feel that this should update correctly as it doesn't involve the timeline. I would suggest that addition of any effects should, perhaps, be restricted to the timeline clip only . That is to say the media list TN would there simply for reference and preview in the raw state. Of course this may not be to everone's taste and there may be programming restraints on this idea. I have to say that personally I add effects to the clip on the timeline and not the media list. Nat

Hi Read my post re: scaling problem with 4.05. I think method 1 should work for you as the scaling does seem to be reflected in the sequence line even if the media list thumbnail doesn't change. Trying to re-scale the thumbnail a second time with method 2 seems to provoke a crash (or at least a whitish screen here) as the program must have a conflict being told to do something that has been done. (possibly) I think NCH will note these posts and have a look at it. Scaling texts worked OK previously but the text input area has been changed a bit in this latest version. Nat

Hi The first fault is probably just cosmetic but still need to be addressed. If I add a text it appears initially as a chequered "T" in the media list and a chequered blank frame on the timeline and a chequered blank frame in the Clip Preview screen. Video track 2 is highlighted. So far this seems OK. At this point I can add text in two ways but the final result differs Way 1 I can click the text input box and enter some text. "ABCDEFG" I have chosen large bold yellow centrally placed text on a full black background. The Clip Preview screen now shows the yellow text on a black background. Nothing further happens until I click outside the text entry area when the thumbnail image on Video track 2 reproduces the text on the black background and the Sequence Preview pane shows the same.. However the thumbnail on the Media list remains a blank chequered area. Shouldn't this thumbnail also reflect the text on a black background? If I click the thumbnail on the media list the Clip Preview window shows the text but the thumbnail does not, it simply highlights blue. Way 2 I select the Media list thumbnail first and then enter the text. The text appears correctly now both on the timeline and the media list. Both methods should end up the same. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adding a SCALE effect has a problem. Having added my text as above I can click the timeline and scale the text horizontally by say, 200% This plays correctly but if I have chosen method 1 to add my text the media list thumbnail does not change it remains blank. It should change to reflect the scaling. More importantly if I select Method 2 to rescale the text, the media list thumbnail now reflects the changes but the sequence line does not. As can be seen here... Media list shows the horizontal scaling but the sequence line image remains unscaled. It seems this is a bug. Nat

Hi Version 4.05 I replied to your other post but I do see a problem here. I have applied a text to the timeline overlay track and then used SCALE to expand it lengthwise (as you seemed to have tried) The text in the media list thumbnail expanded but the overlay text remained the original size. The media clip preview showed the expanded text but the sequence preview showed the unexpanded text. Nat

Hi The effects should only take a few seconds to generate. I had another look at your uploaded images and note that in no 2 you seem to have a blank black frame positioned in front of the png (which may also have been split) and as the red cursor line is positioned on this black clip the preview doesn't show the video clip as it is hidden. I would delete the black clip as well as the png image (or the two bits if it was split) Drag the png from the media list and deop it onto track 2 above the video clip and position the red cursor line in the centre of the png. You should now see png image, the red IK circle, superimposed on the video clip. This is what one of your other uploaded pictures showed. Right click the png and choose Effects. Select the SCALE effect. The Effects Preview window should show the red IK circle positioned over the background video. Change the scale values and then the Apply button. Thats all I can suggest for the moment I think you may have inadvertantly inserted a blank frame . Nat

Hi again.. I have loaded a .png file with a transparent background to Track 2 and a video clip to Track 1... I then scaled both x and y axes in the .png to 50%. There was a very slight delay with a black frame showing as VP rendered the result but it seemed to work OK.. vis... So I can't see a problem here. (apart from the one I noted re. gif images) I am using the latest version 4.05 BTW. Did you wait long enough for the image to render??? Nat

Hi Your second image looks OK. The .png image with transparent background is on Track2 and the clip is on Track1. You should be able to apply the scale effect to that .png.......... It shoudn't turn into a black frame as shown in your third image. Seems like it may be a bug. I may also have found one.........I didn't have a .png to try this out so used a transparent background .gif. As an image it would have had a default duration of 5 seconds but VP converts a single gif image to an .avi file which has a duration then of 0.1 seconds.Presumably as it thinks it may be an animated file that I was loading instead of a single image. But here it was a single image and I haven't found a way of altering the duration yet....... so I am going to look for another png file as those I generate don't have a transparent background. Will come back..... Nat .

Hi Put your video on Track1 and your image on Track 2 (overlay) and move it above your clip. (You seem to have a black, blank frame for your image) At this point the clip on Videotrack 1 will not be visible as your image will cover it being an overlay. Right click your image on Videotrack 2 and select the SCALE effect Set your values for x% and y%. (Note: At least one of these must be smaller than 100% if you want to see anything of the clip underneath.) The effects preview should show the result if the red cursor line is within the clip region. e.g. A 50% scaled black blank over a clip should look like this....... You can also scale the clip on Videotrack 1 in a similar way..but don't make it smaller than the image or again, it will be covered up. Nat

Hi Sam Thanks. I for one would find it useful. I recently completed a short video about fireworks and displays and a suitable font for the titles (which were animated) took a bit of finding by trial and error as I have a fairly big font list,, settled on Matisse eventually. Nat

Hi all I have sent this previously as a suggestion to the developers... as well as again just now.. :-)) When entering text I feel it would be quite useful to be able to see an example of the font before you start to type. So why not make the drop down list show the fonts actually as they are. It would make it much easier to choose the style required for your titles etc., rather than to have to type something and find one by trial and error. Here is an example of what I mean from a graphics program I regularly use. In the drop down list the fonts appear "as is" not simply in Arial. Does anyone else think this could be useful? Nat

Hi That's a very clumsy way to crossfade sounds between several clips IMHO. Just place clip 1 on Track 1, then clip 2 on Track 2 but pulled back a couple of seconds so there is an overlap. Right click the soundtrack for clip 1 and "Fade out" for two seconds. Right click the soundtrack for clip 2 and "Fade in" for two seconds. Sound tracks now crossfade. Add the next clip to Track 1 again but again pulled back a couple of secds from clip 2 Add the Fade out and Fade in as before for the overlapped area.. Repeat with next clip on Track 2 etc. You only use 2 tracks and the sound track fade/in/out lines are visible all the time so you can line them up correctly. If you want to cross fade the visuals as well just use the transparency effect at the start and end of each clip. There really no need to use all those tracks. Nat

Hi As I understand it...transitions between clips work OK...yes? However I am not too clear on what you see happening with the text you are adding, particularly when you say ".in the final product it takes longer and longer each time and its covering up important parts of my video." What is actually taking longer and longer....the duration of the text??? Under normal circumstances If you place an image, (e.g. a png) between the clips (on Video track1) it will behave like an inserted video clip and you can add a transition to it in exactly the same way as a clip. The difference with an image (text or otherwise) is that you have to set its duration by changing the default value under "Options/Media". (You can also change the duration of an image by simply grabbing and pulling out the ends along the track.) Another difference is that when placed on Video track 2 there is not normally a following clip which means if you add a transition to it, the WHOLE transition duration will be added to the text clip. (Normally it would be divided between consecutive clips.) The default value you have set in Options will also apply to your text image as well, which will automatically be placed on Video track2 as an overlay, although you can move it down to a lower track if you wish to. If the text image happens to be of longer duration than the image beneath it then it will spill into the following clip. Provided you haven't changed the duration of the text(s) they will all be of the same length. Under normal circumstances what is previewed is what is exported. Post again with a bit more detail Nat

Hi Of course in the interim you could always export your work to your PC and upload the file directly to your facebook page. Nat

Hi I can't see why you would want to do this as there is already and Exposure filter which goes from -1.0 to 1.0, 0 being the normal default. The "exposure" can be varied during the playback time of the clip in the normal way by setting keyframes. It would seem that you want to use the RGB effects filter (Curves) to emulate the same effect but using the three channels. Over or under exposure affects all three channels so for a simple over exposure effect you can use the composite RGB channel screen and drag the black dot up to the top of the first vertical line and down about 1/3 of the square and for simple under-exposure, drag the dot down to the bottom of the third vertical line and then up a shade, I presume you could do the same using the all three RGB screens but the effect you get only you can judge as obviously the remaining complmentary colours will come to the fore...i.e. reduce Red will accentuate Green etc. If you want to make some sort of comparison between "Exposure" and the Curve effect you can load a test clip to the sequence line and then apply the Exposure effect to it, e.g. over expose the clip. Now create an image of the result by clicking the camera icon. Now remove the effect from the clip so it back to the normal exposure.. Place the copied image onto the overlay track above the clip and crop it so areas of both can be seen in the preview screen. e.g. the LHS is the normal exposure clip on Video Track1 , and the RHS the overexposed clip image on Video Track2. You will now be able to apply your curves to the normally exposed clip (LHS) to emulate the overexposed image on the RHS. Unfortunately the Curve effect cannot be animated like the Exposure effect. Nat

Hi I am pretty certain that the "black flash" you see is an artifact and only visible during playback in preview when playing over sections of different speeds. When speeding up a clip VP plays intermediate frames to get the speed increase, or duplicates frames to slow the clip down. To my mind when the preview is played, VP has to "stop" momentarily to reset the rendering of the frames from, say, 200% to 100%. (I presume). During this instant the frame goes black..literally flashes black. It may not be seen in a faster PC...I don't know. What I can say is that it is not always seen during previewing. I have just repeatedly played over a split set up as described and I don't see it every time. Zooming in and dragging cursor line very small increments (less than the next frame interval of 0.04 sec) shows nothing untoward I have checked several times to see if there is black frame in the exported version and can't find one. This is with version 4.00. There was a glitch, I believe with an earlier version that placed a blank black frame at the end of a clip but this problem has been resolved. Nat

Hi Either export your project with different resolution settings as Borate suggests, so choosing a smaller format or you could use a third party Video converter such as the free Any Video Converter Output format such as Flash swf or flv are generally smaller that .avi. This free software can convert a large number of formats and resolutions. http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/ NCH also have a video converter called Prism for doing the same thing. You would have to reduce your video quite a bit for mailing as there is often a file size limit for attachments. e.g. With AVC ....A 7 min MPEG4 1280 x 720 avi file was 167 Mb. This converted to a 320 x 240 swf clip of 27 Mb. Still a bit big. With VP........The same avi exported to a 320 x 240 swf file of 18Mb Nat

Hi all I have got this to happen as follows.... in version 4.00 Place 2 clips on video Track1.......They play OK with no problems. They both play OK with no black frames or "black flashes" Change speed of clip 1 to 200% They still play OK with no black frames. Now split Clip 1 There is a "black flash" where the split was made in Clip 1. (When played in the preview) Both parts of Clip 1 remain at 200% Oddly, stepping through the split area frame by frame, nothing untoward is seen. Now split Clip2 and make the left hand section speed 200%. There is another "black flash" where this 200% goes back to 100% at the split. Exported .avi played in VLC was OK, however. Could it be just an artifact only visible in the preview and linked to fps and PC rendering speed? Nat

Hi You must unlink them first. e.g. Drag and drop (or add in the normal way) your clip to the timeline. Right click either the Audio track or the Video track and select to "Unlink from Video" or "Unlink from Audio" depending which track you have chosen. This will separate the two tracks. Both can now be moved about independantly. (Note that if you choose to split either of them and they overlap then both will split at the cursor point. If you want to split them indpendantly use the options provided from the down arrow to the right of the split button.) Clicking the Lock button will only lock the track selected as shown by the cross hatching. If the video and audio have not be unlinked both tracks will show cross hatching and both will remain together. If you have unlinked them, items on the selected track will remain fixed in place. e.g. If the audio is locked the unlinked video can be moved about. If you lock the video track, the unlinked audio can be moved about. Nat

Hi Once loaded to Facebook you can step through several thumbnails which are automatically picked from your video at regular intervals, one image being the start. Any one of these may be displayed as the thumbnail to be shown as the album image. Unfortunately you can't choose any other images except the ones Facebook select. To change your thumbnail image,......In the Facebook video album, click the pen icon at the top right of the current thumbnail and in the menu that comes up select "Edit video". You can click through the available thumbnails. Unfortunately, you can't add a title to the those album images for the video, they only show the album name. However if, right at the start of your video (without fade in) you add a title screen, one of the facebook thumbnails will include this first image, i.e your title. Unfortunately the Facebook image only shows the centre of the frame and consequently most of your title text would not show unless you made it very small within the frame. I don't think the Facebook implementation is actually very good as, without reloading your videos, you can't change the order that they appear in the album. i.e if you load part 1 of a two part video followed by part 2 (which seems logical) the album shows part 2 before part 1. An earlier version allowed one to move them about within the album. This does work (I think) for images but not for videos. Nat

Hi Sorry to to add my tupennyworth.. .....I have to disagree... c_major writes... "I've done the test and didn't find any 30fps restriction, preview and export are both in 60fps. But when you click "Next/Previous Frame" button on the preview panel, the cursor always step by 40ms. This's a known bug to be fixed." If you load a 60fps clip of a moving object and then step through it frame by frame using the "next frame" button, the video display does indeed, move on an image every step and the time shown under the sequence preview pane does increment for each image by .04 seconds This is therefore indicating the clip is being shown at 25 fps even though the acutual clip is 60 fps. At 60fps the increment should equate to 0.016 seconds This may or may not be a bug as c-major suggests but.. "If you use the mouse drag the cursor you'll able to see every actual frame." This is not the case IMHO. Although you can zoom in and manually move the red cursor line an increment of less 0.04 and which is shown under the preview image, the image does not increment until the 0.04 seconds interval has elapsed. You don't see any other images between these points. At 60fps one would expect to see the image change every 0.016 seconds since.. 1) The subject of the clip is a moving object like a car which should show changes in position every 0.016 seconds) 2) You can drag the cursor line to these positions 2) Your clip is shot at 60fps and should show changes at this frequency. This does not happen and indicates that the preview IS 25 fps. and you cannot, in fact, "see" any frames between these increments. What then happens if you export this at the original 60fps setting? Are frames duplicated or are the ones you can't see during editing still there? Nat

Hi Did you keep a copy of the original vppsetup.exe file? If you have then you can simply uninstall the version you have now and run the original .exe file, entering the old registration number (which you say you have) when prompted. You may be able to get another copy of that version if you contact NCH with your registration number, indeed, following this post they may contact you. Nat