Nationalsolo

Hi Sam "Do you mean the zoom slider on the left of the scroll bar? I can't get this to happen." Yes...I can zoom with the mouse wheel until the slider reaches the extreme RH end where it stops but I can continue to zoom in further with the wheel. If I choose to click the + for move the slider then it will move to the right right in steps until it reaches the end where it stops but I can continue to zoom by clicking the + another 5-6 times. Seems the slider bar is too short. How would I "resync" it...and, yes, it's always been like that. (Note: I don't normally zoom in so much,Mainly just enough to reveal and isolate sound peaks when I need to match sound tracks. In this case it was Lou's post that intrigued me and I wanted to see what size his clip bits were and why he couldn't find them on the timeline. As I discovered, at maximum slider position, obtained by using the slider; no use of the mouse or + button clicks, they only appeared as a blue line) "VideoPad generates a frame for every 0.04 sec (25 fps) while editing. We allow the cursor be moved in between frames because conceptually the time line is continuous(each step is 0.001 sec). i.e. The frame position will change if the frame rate is changed(when export), but the operation (split, insert etc.) position on the timeline will not change. " Having used VP a great deal I was already aware of the 25fps the program uses during editing as I sometimes shoot at 60fps and wondered where the extra frames went to. and although I mentioned in my post that I could shorten a clip to 0.001 sec duration by entering the value when in storyboard mode, the shortest I could get in my test above by splitting was 0.002 sec. But, as you point out though, this was to the left of the join. Following your post I can confirm that to the right of the join it will split at 0.001 seconds. It's all academic anyway I think and if it's a bug I don't think it's a very important one. I'm more interested to find out how Lou generated them during normal editing. Nat

Hi Do you think this might be related to the length of the transition and the framerate that VP uses? I think you may be seeing a "still" frame for this reason... VP goes frame to frame at 25 fps. If your transition does not accomodate a whole number of frames you will see (sometimes) what seems to be a duplicate frame. e.g. Place your two clips on the time line and add a fade of 3 seconds between the clips. As you say correctly the fade-in fade-out plays OK. and if you step through the transition there doesn't appear to be a still frame. But it seems to depend on where you start stepping frame by frame from. If you zoom in using the slider and place the red cursor line exactly at the start of the yellow 3 second transition bar and step left a couple of frames and then step frame by frame to the right may see that the first frame after the start of the transition shows no movement. Which is, I think what you are seeing and interpreting as an extra still frame. What I think is happening here is that with a 3 second transition the start of the effect is 1.5 seconds before the join. At 25 fps it means 37.5 frames before the end of the first clip.....which can't be done if you start stepping exactly at the beginning of the transition... VP therefores shows no new frame at the start as it would be missing out a frame or jumping the half or to the middle of a frame so the frame is shown again until the step catches up. If the clip is played normally though the frames are complete each time and a still frame is not seen. It's just an idea as I suppose the software simply divides things up mathematically and then rounds up or down the values. If you change the transition to a 2 second fade there will be exactly 25 frames from the start of the transition to the join at the midpoint and you won't, therefore see a still "duplicated" frame. It may be the same for the keyframe settings, if the points chosen don't match a whole number of frames at 25 fps. Also, something similar might happen if your output fps is set at 29.97. Is it any better if you output at 25 fps? I am only guessing BTW. Nat P

Hi Sam Using 3.81 I have tried to create as short a clip as possible using normal videopad editing steps by placing two clips onto the time line and then zooming in fully to the join. Zooming in was done by using the mouse scroll wheel as it goes further than the zoom slider. VP will step frame by frame in large leaps (0.04 secs) across the join at this zoom level but one can move the cursor bar by much smaller increments by dragging it. I tried splitting off small increments by moving the cursor bar left from the join into clip 1 by manually dragging left. Two manual increments of dragging the cursor line to the left were needed before a split could be made. One increment did not allow a split. Switching into storyboard mode at this point showed that the segment was 0.002 seconds in duration as shown under the "frame" in that mode. The segment was also easily seen in timeline mode at the mouse wheel zoom level used. I then set up a sequence of a 7 sec clip - a 0.002 second clip - a different 7 sec clip The tiny segment was not noticed on playing the three clips. At maximum mouse wheel zoom the small segment was easily visible in timeline mode and I am sure Palazzo whould have had no difficulty in selecting it and deleting it. . However,... zooming out from here using the - button on the zoom bar reduced the tiny clip to a thick blue bar BEFORE the zoom slider showed any movement from maximum. (Took about 6 clicks) This means that Palazzo would not have been able to see the tiny clips using the zoom slider if he did not have a mouse button to increase the zoom past the slider limit. At maximum slider position they would not have been visible in timeline mode except as blue lines. However he would still have been able to find and delete the offending clips from the storyboard mode even when so short. I don't think it's a problem myself but why he had such small clips left during editing I can't say. I hope he replies to your post. Nat

Hi Palazzo Glad you solved it. Obviously it was the tiny clip bits which caused your transitions to behave incorrectly. If it happens again you should simply switch into Storyboard mode when even the smallest of clips will show up as a "slide" with the duration printed beneath. Just click and delete them. Oddly you can enter a VERY short duration manually e.g. 0.001 seconds in this mode and still see the clip on an very expanded zoomed in normal timeline, so you could still delete them there. However, you won't see them play but they will mess up a transition. Nat

Hi Palazzo I can't see why you need to do that. Version 3.81 works OK. For your 1.5 seconds fade.... Put your 3 second clip on the time line (Track1) and follow it by clip 2 ...... (which must be more than 1.5 seconds long) Click the transition square at the end of clip1 and select Fade. Set the duration of the transition to 3 seconds. (As I mentioned in my earlier post, you may have to re-click the square on clip 1 a second time once you have put in a fade in order to re-set the duration to 3 seconds if it's not the default value as the duration box doesn't appear the first time around ) When you now play the two clips in sequence you will have a fade-out to black from clip1 of 1.5 seconds, and a fade-in from black to clip 2 for 1.5 seconds. Isn't this what you want? Doesn't this happen??? Nat

HI I think Borate means this....If you add a clip to the sequence line (videotrack 1) and apply a transparency effect. (I have the default at 50%) The thumbnail on the timeline becomes 50% transparent with a chequered background as you would expect. If you review the clip preview screen, it appears the same. The sequence preview screen however shows a normal, apparently 0% transparent clip. That the clip is 50% transparent is easily shown by dragging it up to Videotrack 2 and dropping a second (but different) clip underneath it. The sequence preview shows both clips (as it should)... Track 1 ghosting through the 50% transparent track 2. This behaviour is seen in both 3.81 and 3.79. I don't think there is a problem here as even a 90% transparent clip will appear normal in the sequence pane (i.e. 0% transparent) as the background is naturally black, its only when it's on the overlay track with another clip under it that the transparency will show up. Nat

Hi Tried..... and it works exactly the same with VP 3.81. The only difference I can see in storyboard mode is that the orange transition bar of 1.5 seconds is now visible, but that is not the problem you seem to be having. The clips also look and play the same in timeline mode. Adding another 3 second clip to end makes the previous 1.5 second fade divide across the join as normal. So no apparent problem with this version. However..if, for example your 2 clips are each 3 seconds long and you add a 4 second fade to clip 1, (i.e. between them) all will be fine and each clip will get a 2 second fade (2 sec OUT and 2 sec IN) . But this will leave only a 1 second portion on clip 2 for any further transition. If you now add a third 3 second clip and try to add a 4 second fade to the end of clip 2 you will get the message you did regarding shortening the transition as you can't put 2 seconds of the transition into the 1 second space left of clip 2. (In previous 2.xx versions you could divide the transition unequally between clips but not now...the transition is divided equally between the clips.) Borate's observation is correct so check your default values. (Note: You should be able to use a transition of up to 6 seconds duration between two 3 second clips. (totally filling the space of the clips...so not a third clip) and a maximum of 3 seconds duration between any number of 3 seconds clips. It's unfortunate that the transition duration box doesn't appear before you apply the effect and what you add takes on the default value. Previously you could set the duration before adding, now you have to reset it afterwards. Nat

Hi I can't get this to happen. (VP 3.79) I have placed several 3 second jpg images onto the timeline with manually added FADE transitions of 1.5 seconds between them. They played as expected. Go into Storyboard mode and check what you have. The FADE is divided between clips but I do notice that the final FADE is not showing the orange band (of 1.5 seconds) although it plays. Normally I find you can extend the duration of the transitions until they actually touch. (Note the final transition bar is blank [not orange] and is 1.5 seconds duration and entirely within the last clip....it's not divided.) Nat

Hi I am not sure that you can. A 60 fps mpeg4 clip steps through the editor using the Next Frame buttons at 25 fps. (0.04 sec intervals) and a 30fps clip also steps through at 25 fps, and this may the limiting playing speed for the editor so I don't think you can do very much about it. Nat

Hi Version 3.61 The FADE option only works for the end of a clip and is meant to be used as a fade out it will work for text and images as you have noted but to apply a fade in you should do this.... Create your text (it will appear in the image bin) and place it onto Video Track 2 in the position where you want it to play. It will be an overlay on anything on Video Track 1. Select it by right clicking and select the effect option from the menu. Click the Add Effects button (the green cross) and select the Tranparency effect (Ought to be labelled Opacity .) If you move the slider left and right you will see the blue line move up and down showing OPACITY levels from 0% to 100% Make sure the red cursor line is at the extreme left (the start of the text clip) and set the slider to show 0% opacity.(i.e. 100% transparent) The blue line will move down to the bottom of the box. Click the green cross to set the first keyframe of the title clip.This will put a marker on the blue line. Move the red cursor line a short distance along to the right (about 3 seconds or so.....your fade in time.) Move the slider to show 100% opacity. This will drag the blue line up in a slant to the top of the box) Move the red cursor line along to about 3 seconds or so from the end of the title clip.....the bit left will be your fade-out time. A keyframe marker will appear as you move the cursor along. Click the green cross again to fix the next keyframe position at this position, 3 seconds from the end. Move the cursor line to the end of the title. Move the Opacity slider back to 0%.opacity. The blue line will now slant down to the right and finish at the end of the clip. Move the cursor line back and a last keyframe marker will be left at the end of the title clip. See below.... Click the Apply button. When you play your sequence now, the title will fade in from 0% opacity to 100% opacity (3 seconds) and at the end fade out from 100% opacity back to 0% opacity.(3 seconds) If the times for the effects are not exactly as you wish them to be you can simply open the effects pane again for the clip and shorten or lengthen the slope of the blue line by dragging the second and third small square keyframe markers to new positions but keeping them at the same height. Nat

Hi 1) It seems you can't jump to the start of a selected clip that is on the sequence line automatically ,although you can in the clip preview screen. However you can quite easily select the last frame or first frame of a clip. Justs place the red cursor line at the join, zoom if you need to. Use the sequence pane step forward or backward buttons to select the last frame or the first frame. 2) If I am understanding exactly what you are saying...You can't add a project file (.vpj file) to another project file.....only import the component clips which you would then have to re-edit. I would suggest that you should have saved your previous work as sequences within the current project using the + sign after Sequence 1 X to the left of the timeline. This would have placed your first edited version in the sequence bin of the media list where it would behave like a complete clip for later re-editing. It would leave the timeline clear for creating further sequences even using the same original clips. The whole work being saved as a single project from time to time. Alternatively you could have exported your edits as stand-alone avi (or other type) files and then load them back when finished. 3) You can use the clip preview pane to select a point at which to split the clip but this place is only referenced to the clip not the sequence line. In fact the selected clip may not even be on the sequence line and your idea wouldn't work. If it is on the sequence line then you can just as easily select your split position by refering to the Sequence preview pane and using the main line cursor. I think the clip preview pane is really envisaged for splitting/selecting sections of a clip prior to placing it onto the sequence line with the green down arrow. I think we may be trying to make a more complex situation here from something that can be achieved by simpler steps. 4) You could use the overlay track to add the "device screen" image as a scaled or cropped image positioned carefully over the area required in the lower track, but I don't think it would quite produce the effect you want but worth playing with. A lot would depend on the size and shape etc. A masking tool as mentioned would be useful but would have to be pretty flexible. Best of luck with your project. Nat

Hi If you saved your individual sequences as projects (.vpj files) you won't be able to load them back sequentially to form a new combined single project. A project IS the single entity, but it is not a videoclip. Projects can't be combined per se. You can load files from a saved project into a current project but in your case this is not what you wan't. What you should have done is to create your first edit and then save it within your project as a sequence by clicking the + sign after the prompt on the left "Sequence 1 x" this would have put your edit into the sequence bin of the media list in the forma of a new clip and emptied the timeline for your second edit session. This is then added to the sequence bin when completed in the same way. The bin would have ended up with all your separate edited sequences. You could have then loaded your edited sequences back to the timeline as individual clips for combining. This is done in the same project. If you have done what I think you may have done, you will need open VP and load your first project (.vpj file - i.e. edit 1) and then export it to your PC as a complete videoclip. (e.g.avi) Then load project 2 (.vpj file - i.e. edit 2) and do the same, repeating the procedure for all your edits. Now you will be able to load these clips back into VP and edit them together. Nat

Hi If you have a single clip, or are fading out the last clip, then the fade time you set will be what you get. A 2 second fade will be 2 seconds. If you are applying the fade effect between two clips then the duration you set will be split between the end of the first clip and the start of the second clip. This means that if you set it for 2 seconds there will be a 1 second fade out and a 1 second fade in. If you want a longer fade simply set a bigger duration. Fades between clips work correctly in version 3.79 If you want to fade in the start of a clip you should add a blank black frame before the clip and apply the fade transition to this. You can use the transparency effect as Borate suggests, placing your clip (or clips) onto the overlay track (Videotrack 2) with a blank black frame beneath on Videotrack 1 at the fade points. Use the keyframe setting to alter the transparency level and duration of the transparency effect so the correct length of the clip appears and disappears against the black frame below. This is more complicated than using the straight forward Fade transition. Nat

Hi The latest version is 3.79 and there are many new features betweeen this version and 2.41 Your best bet is to download the latest version and try it out.. http://www.nchsoftwa...ad/vppsetup.exe Make sure you still have your vpsetup.exe file from version 2.41 before running the new version, so you can reload it again after trying 3.79 out. Save the vppsetup.exe file (2 ps) from the link above to your PC and double click it to install. When you have finished trying it out you can revert back to 2.41 by double clicking its vpsetup.exe file (1 p) It should reload as a licenced version. Note that this is a demo version with no export functions enabled,but otherwise it has all the newer features - Multiple overlay tracks, more and enhanced effects, more transitions,enhanced preview screens......etc. Note also that projects (.vpj) files created with the 3.xx versions of VP will not load to 2.41 so you couldn't ,for example use 3.xx to edit and 2.41 to export. You would need to purchase the software to fully use it. If you uninstall your 2.41 version via the control panel, (keep your original vpsetup.exe file so you can reload it in the event of a problem) there should be the option given to you to try or upgrade to the latest version. Nat

Hi If you find that you cannot remove a watermark because it is incorporated in the actual clip you are using and is not on a higher overlay track then you may be able to eliminate it, depending on its position of course by cropping the clip. Inevitably this will mean losing some of the frame. This is the simplest solution if the mark is small and near the edge or corner of the frame As an alternative if the background to the watermark is a fixed colour you could add a cropped blank frame with the same colour to the overlay track so it covers it up. Matching the colour is the problem here. Another option which may work - a lot depends on the clip contents, is to place the clip on the sequence line and crop to an area as close as possible to size of the watermark and as near as possible so it has the same,or very similar background...eg sky/clouds etc. Move this cropped area so it should cover the position of the watermark..you can adjust it later. Pull the cropped clip up to the overlay track. Now select the clip once more from the media list and drop it onto track 1 below the cropped clip. With adjustment the cropped clip can be positioned over the watermark and if the colours etc are similar it can actually be quite effective. Worth a try Nat

Hi Borate Thanks for the link. I don't think they need the blue translucent band at the top of the display area now,it's a bit encroaching on the image. I am sure they could put the clip name in the space next to the tabs; there does seem to be room. BTW...Where do you put your images to incorporate in a post and how do you get it to work? I can put an image (jpg) onto a site like Pictr.com OK and I then have a link to it, but entering the URL on the forum post screen for adding images, it says that that format can't be loaded even though itrs a jpg or bmp. The link works OK though. Just noticed that the blue bar fades out when the clip/sequence is played. Nat

Hi I just checked out a few settings using a similar firework clip of mine in 1080 MPEG4 H246. Using crop to reduce the frame to 4:3 with zoom and about 70% height and your settings for output, the resulting output did look pixelated. I suggest that you still crop to your 4:3 ratio (if that is what you want) but output at a larger 4:3 setting using custom resolution of 1600 x 1200 (at least as near to the original as possible) instead of 640 x 480. I think you should find the result much better. If you still find it pixellated more than you would like then set the quality value lower...say around 10. It will lengthen the rendering time however...always a tradeoff. Note that If your initial clip was 16:9 and you crop to 4:3 you will have bars to each side of the output as VP still outputs your image in a 16:9 frame. Nat Nat

Hi As I see it now from your image, you have a soundtrack on A2. This is independant and presumably you are keeping it. The gaps you want to reinsert are in V1 with its sound on A1 and muted. If this muted track is not required then select it all, unlink it from V1 and ripple delete it. You should now have your soundtrack on A2 and your video (with gaps) on V1 Select all the video clips with their gaps and drag them up to V2 (overlay). This will leave V1 and A1 empty. You can insert your replacement clips V1 to fill the gaps left in V2. Once you have replaced them you can mute A1. As Borate says, video track 2 will play over videotrack1. In effect you would "see" Videotrack 1 where the gaps are. Imagine you are looking from above onto your tracks, the ones on higher tracks will cover up ones on lower tracks except where the gaps are. Nat

Hi Thanks, I can see where you are coming from now. and fairly sure this is a bug and mentioned previously on the forum where clips on the sequence line are returned when the project is reloaded without the video and with just the soundtrack showing. Although you are using an earlier vewrsion of VP, the problem remains with version 3.74. There are several ways of editing in the clip preview pane but this way in particular has problems IMHO. If you use the cursor line in the clip preview pane to split your clip, it will produce two NEW clips on the media list. For example, If the original clip was 8 seconds duration and split at 3 seconds from the start, it will produce a 5 second clip with a (1) after the original name and a 3 second clip with the original name in the media list. Why that way round I have no idea. The original 8 second clip will not be there. (As the split occured using the OUT (blue) marker which automatically jumps to the cursor when the split is made, one would have thought that the original 8 second clip would have remained on the media list and the 3 second section labelled (1) would have been added.... but it doesn't......it produces 2 new clips) Now, if you drop the 5 second (1) clip to the timeline and save the project then close VP and reload the project, the 5 second(1) clip will load back without the video track. The two clips that resulted from the split are also reloaded to the media list but this time without the (1). The missing video track is obviously a bug and is what has happened to you project. Presumably you used the (1) bit of clip each time for these areas. If you use the section without the (1) this does reload with the video and sound. My personal feeling is that editing in the clip preview pane is not always the best way to do it. Having come to digital video editing via editing actual film, I prefer to edit on the timeline as it is so similar and more intuative.WYSIWYG. But that's my preference As far as the gaps in your video track go, you could delete the sound tracks in each (so leaving the gap) and re-edit the missing clips directly by dropping them into the gaps (making them bigger if necessary) splitting and deleting unwanted sections on the timeline, closing the remaining gaps when finished, although this is a bit labour intensive. You could also drag the whole of your current video including gaps, up to the overlay track (videotrack 2), and then placing the original clip underneath it on video track 1 and dragging it about until the missing bit is under the gap and the soundtrack portions match. You can then trim off the ends and mute the original sound track. It wouldn't need to be so precise this way as the overlay track gaps would automatically select the section on videotrack 1. Unless anybody can come up with a different way of retrieving your video bits............ Best of luck Nat

Hi "I've found that under the "clip preview" window it still shows where the video file has been split" If you have used the IN/OUT markers under the clip preview screen to select a section of clip and drop it to the sequence line, (as mentioned, you can't do another) the reselection of the clip in the media list will renew the clip preview pane and return the green down arrow. However the IN/OUT markers will not have moved and the screen may look as if it hasn't changed apart from the reappearence of the arrow. But it has been reset for you to make a second selection with new IN/OUT positions. "....but I can't figure out how to add the split section back to the video files area " There are two points here. You can't move a section from the sequence line back to the media list. Remember that the original clip is already there and that is a proper clip. VP is simply recording the points you selected in that clip with the IN/OUT markers and copying that bit to the sequence line. In a sense it's not actually a NEW clip. If you want to create a new clip from this cut out section then you should create a sequence with it by clicking the + after the "Sequence 1X +" on the left. This will place a copy of the sequence line in the media list sequence bin where it will behave like a new clip. But again, it is not a NEW clip but it will, within VP behave like a clip. The only way you can save a clip section is to isolate it and then save it by exporting it. Nat

Hi "While viewing video files before dragging and dropping them into the sequence, it gives you the option to split the video files in to two different files." I am not sure where you are seeing this. Can you explain a little more? Are you referring to the IN/OUT markers? Selecting the clip in the media list will show it in the left preview pane. Moving the IN/OUT markers and clicking the green arrow will place the section between the markers onto the sequence line.More cuts like this cannot be made now as the green arrow will have disappeared. Your clip on the media list however remains complete and reselecting it will renew the preview pane and return the green arrow so you can make a second (subsequent) selection. If you edit directly on the sequence line having placed a clip there you simply split the clip at the cursor position using the button under the sequence preview screen. (looks a bit like green binoculars) You can then select the unwanted portion and delete it. With two splits you can delete a central portion of a clip and then close the gap produced by clicking it and selecting to "Close the gap" from the menu. Saving a project and loading it back should produce exactly what you had when you saved. Does this help at all? If not please explain exactly what steps you took that led to your difficulty. Nat In this way you can build up your main sequence line without dragging and dropping anything there (although it's not necessarily the best way to work.)

Hi again.. Relating to Method 1 above. "That was interesting, but I still didn't have a video clip bin or a separate video clip I could give a new name to." Although you have the VPSequence bin, you can, if you wish create your own. You can right click on the media list and create a New File. In effect this is a new bin which you can name. If have then created your sequences as outlined in Method 1 (the last sequence one is always a blank) you can drag and drop them onto the "New bin 1" tab and rename them there in the bin. You have to remember that although they appear to be separate new clips, even with new names, they are still all derived from a single original clip which remains a single entity. VP is simply saving the data points you created when you separated out your various clip sequences. The only way to obtain separate unique clips is to export the sequences individually to your PC.and use them as simple video clips. Nat

Hi I generally create my titles specifically for individual projects, mainly because I incorporate backgrounds from the project in question. However, if you want to have a specific "universal" title to use with different projects it's a simple matter to create it as a separate item and then export it to your PC as a video clip in a suitable format. You can then add it back to VP and insert it into any current project like any other video clip. As with any saved clip the soundtrack if present, will also be saved. Quality should be the same as well but that may depend on the export parameters chosen. The downside to this is that if you want to have, say, JUST a standard text for all your films which has a transparent background (like the VP text "image" has,) and which you may want to use over any main track video clip, then when you export it and save it as a clip, it will only save with an opaque black background. Loading it back to the overlay track (as in the above scenario,) and hoping it will behave like an original transparent "text image", it won't, it will cover up the underlying main track. To get around this and as an alternative, you could create a .gif image of your text in a third party graphics package ensuring that it has a tranparent background. This .gif image (of your text) can added to the media list of VP in the normal manner and will remain transparent. It can be zoomed and scrolled like any image using the VP effects library. Your sound however would need to be either inserted as a sepaarate sound clip or be a part of the main clip soundtrack. Nat

Hi In a sense you can do what you want.... Load your big clip to VP media list. Method 1....In the clip preview window (left pane) use the IN/OUT markers to isolate the first section you want. Click the green down arrow to add your selection to the timeline Method 2...Drag your clip to the timeline and edit it the normal way, leaving the section you want to retain. Now click the + to the right of "Sequence 1 x" This clears the timeline and the preview pane and puts your selection into the Sequence bin of the media list. Click the main clip again on the media list to renew it in the preview pane (even if it still seems to be there) Repeat the procedure each time for your second and subsequent main clip selections. If you review your sequence bin in the media list you will see that you have your clips (now called sequence 1; sequence 2 etc. You can treat these as separate and individual clips..i.e. add them to the timeline; cut and edit them etc. As you seem to have got all your clips on the sequence line by cutting the main one on the sequence line several times, you may have to start again using the method I have outlined above. Nat

Hi Jeanne If you find VPs dvd generation limited then try DVDstyler. This is pretty easy to use with complete menu/image/music control etc. http://www.dvdstyler.org/ Worth a try. The videopad DVD options don't include menu generation for multiple videos and will only work on the current project. The best you can do is to add several projects as clips (i.e. pre saved videos) to the timeline and place bookmarks between them. You can then step from one to another using the >> or << DVD player buttons to step between chapters.. i.e. the bookmarks. Another third party DVD generator which works well is the one from Sothink. This, like DVD styler is free but places an advert between the items on your finalised Disc, which is not a problem. Nat