Nationalsolo

Hi Well, as I said, this works in version 2.41. but as I don't have V3.01 running at the moment I can't give those steps a try with it. However it seems odd that the sequence line would extend itself in the way you describe if you have pulled the overlay text along (or lengthened it) so that it extends beyond the end of the main sequence track, as this would imply your film has in some way been made longer (and therefore slower) to accommodate it. Nat

Hi If you are creating an avi on your PC then click the "Save Movie" tab and select "Computer/data" Although the default preset window may read Custom, click the down arrow for this choice and select the HD option at the top of the list. (either HD 1080 or HD 720) The remaining windows will now show the defaults. Click the Decoder Options button. The video compressor will now show H264 (Native) Click the Video Compression settings... You should now see a Video Quality (Ratefactor) slider. Rendering will be very much faster if this set to the far right (value 51) but the quality will be rubbish.(blocky) Try it out with a short sequence to see how you think the result looks. The default value is around the middle of the range but even a little shift to the right may make a difference to the rendering speed without affecting the result too much. If you set the slider to the far left, rendering will take for ever and you may not see much improvement. If you select a different format (e.g MPEG4 Native) you can play about with the bitrate. Nat

Hi, As far as I know, you can't stop the text scrolling off the screen. (I am using v2.41 but I think 3.0 works pretty much the same if I remember.) Anyway these comments relate to 2.41. You can get it to stop, in a roundabout way, by extending the text overlay beyond the end of the sequence line. In preview you will see the film finish with a blank black screen with the scrolling text stationary. By adjusting the position of the overlay you can get your text to stop at any point. You can neaten the effect if you fade out the sequence if you want. The problem now is that the saved film stops along with the text and then disappears straight away to a blank screen. So, before you try this. Save your project. Now remove everything except the last clip/s over which you want the text to scroll. Add your scrolling text overlay. Slide it beyond the end of the sequence line. Review the sequence and adjust the overlap to get it to stop where you want. Now save this as short avi clip to your PC. Reload the project Reload the avi back to the media list. You can now place it at the end of your sequence and continue to add to it. Nat

Hi V2.41...If you make a crossfade between untrimmed clips, then you will have a still image between their ends, as you describe and I have noted in the past. However, as I discovered a short time ago, if you use the in/out markers in the left hand preview screen to trim the clip ends, which I don't often use, or if you simply drag the ends of the clips left or right to shorten them, then, in effect, you provide some "unused" footage that VP uses to create the crossfade. If the amount you shorten each clip is at least as long as half your crossfade then there will be no "still image" effect. Unless I am mistaken, it seems that when simply splitting the clip to shorten it, using the Split button, (as one tends to do with most film editing,) then even if you split off sufficient footage, the crossfade effect still produces the still frames. So although the split option produces the same visual effect,as the in/out trimming option, (and you can still drag the ends of the clips to replace the footage split off,) VP apparently doesn't use the section trimmed off in this case to create the crossfade even when you trim enough off as mentioned above. Nat

Hi In V3 I am not sure whether you can alter the media list file order after they are loaded as I have switched back to V2 which I still prefer. The following refers to V2.41. If you want the files (clips) in media list to be in the same order as your clips in the PC folder, then open VP and then reduce it. Now open your PC folder holding your clips and reduce that as well, so you can see both windows side by side. Now on your PC folder click Edit and Select all. Now drag all the files which you have highlighted in the PC folder across and drop them onto the VP media list window. They should all load in order. (May take some time if you have a lot.) If you use the VP "Add Media" tab then numbered files will load in digit "sorted" order ....1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,........2, 20, 21 ....3, 30, 31... etc. Now, If you want them to all load to the sequence line in media order then left click clip one, scroll down to the last clip on the list, hold down the Shift key and left click the last clip, they should all highlight in the media list. Right click the highlighted list and select "Add items to the sequence". Provided you have set "Options" /"Other" for adding clips to end of the sequence, the clips will be added one after another with the default transition, (which is also set up in "Options",) between each of them. (The default transition is not implemented in V3 as far as I could see.) Nat

Hi You will need to treat your video either with a third party program such as the freeware Virtualdub or download the "Smart Resize" virtual dub filter which will enable you to change the aspect ratio and which can be added to the Videopad plug-in folder (or elsewhere) and used within the program. You can load the plugin (.VDF file) from the Options tab and also access one of the many sites listing different filters. There is a Smart Resize filter listed here... http://neuron2.net/ Worth trying Nat

Hi If you intend to use short sequences to create your final movie (instead of creating a complete project from all of your clips) then you will need to save each sequence as a separate avi to your PC (or data disc). Creating a separate project from each sequence won't be of any use to you (unless you want to re-edit one of the sequences) as multiple projects per se can't be loaded to VP to create a "super project". So, once you have finished the sequences and saved them in this way you simply treat each of them as a clip with which to make your complete film. Just create a new project and load the avis into the media list. Now add them to the sequence track in the order you require and create your movie. Nat

Hi ad Thanks at lot for that post! I've never (well, hardly ever,) done it that way, and yes, it does work without showing a "still"! I think it's a bit clumsy though when a simple split to remove a section seems more logical and there are some reservations. The amount cut off the first clip with the blue "Out" tab must not be less than half the crossfade otherwise a still image of the end of the clip will still show to make up the extra time, and the amount cut off the second clip with the red "In" marker must also be more than half the crossfade for the same reason. The other thing is...It means you can't crossfade two uncut clips without the still frames appearing. If one wants "still-less" crossfades with movies (and slideshows with pans or zooms added to slides) one will have to shorten the clip ends using the In/Out markers........However there is another way to achieve the same effect. Instead of splitting off the section from the clips on the sequence line, (You can use "Split" for a major unwanted bit, ) just drag their ends along to shorten them and then add the crossfade this will also remove the "still" image effect.(The proviso being that each clip is shortened by at least half the crossfade time.) i.e. Dragging the RIGHT hand end of the LEFT hand clip to the LEFT and Dragging the LEFT hand end of the RIGHT hand clip to the RIGHT Thanks again....something else I've learned. Nat

Hi I am assuming you are saving your project to your PC. Click "Computer/Data" Click "Custom" and then the format of your original film...e.g. HD1080. Don't try to make it larger. This will default to file format .avi and the resolution of your choice. (1920 x 1080...... 1289 x 72 etc.) Click the "Encoder Options" button Change the Video compressor to MPEG4 (Native) Sound Compressor will be MP3 (Native) Click OK Preset will now show "Custom" ....Leave it. Click OK and your film should now convert . It should play in WMP and appear with a lot less pixellation. Give it a try and see how it looks. Nat

Hi "Separate question: What is permitted while the progress indicator in the lower right is buzzing? Must one simply wait?" No, not necessarily. You can do most things whilst the progress bar is playing because VP is assembling your project or loading effects between the clips at this point (as shown by the completion of the blue bar over the sequence images or the yellow bars over the effects blocks,) You can play the sequence up the place where the red cursor bar reaches the uncompleted yellow or blue progress bar at which point the preview pane shows the message "Building Preview Please Wait" If you need to split the clip before the effect has been completed, you can do as the effect simply carries on (or restarts) from the start of the right hand section or continues to finish at the split point. However, it's probably best to wait until all the actions are complete before doing another edit. Nat

HI "......how do I combine 2 sequences to make it one for rendering into DVD? " If you mean sequences as clips then they are simple arranged on the sequence track one after the other.in the order you require. On the other hand if by sequences you mean two individual previously edited films which you may have saved as VP projects.(.vpj files) you will have to follow a different procedure. Unfortunately you cannot load a VP project on top of a second VP project and have them one after the other on the sequence track. The second one overwrites the first. If you require both films in an editable form together on the track then you would have to save them first to your PC; a CD or DVD as .avi files (or similar) in this way they can be loaded back into VP, added to the media list as avi clips and dragged to the sequence track in the order you want. You can then (as I mentioned above) add your bookmark between them and save the final combined sequence to DVD. Alternatively you can edit the two films one after the other from scratch again from their individual clips ,(!) add the bookmark and save to DVD via VP but this would be a lot of work. For myself where I have several films to save to one disc I have always used a third party DVD maker as mentioned. Nat

HI Rendering to DVD can take an age! Depends a lot on your PC and the length of the film. Provided VP is still telling you it is running the job (% is increasing even slowly) let it continue. From the point of view of two sequences...yes..but with reservations. VP (Version 2.41 and 3.0) don't have the facility to produce DVD menus and so only one sequence is rendered on the DVD. The nearest you can get is to place both films on the sequence line one after the other, Add a suitable finish to the first item and a suitable intro to the second item then place a bookmark in between them. The finished DVD will play through them both from the beginning but you will be able to skip onto the bookmark (ie the second film) with the DVD player remote control. (i.e skip) Obviously you can do this with several (or many) different films added in sequence with bookmarks placed between them but it doesn't replace having a proper DVD menu which allows you to choose from the start. You can get round this by simply using VP to edit and save each film as a suitable avi onto your hard drive and then use a third party DVD maker (like Windows DVD maker or the free version of SoThink DVD maker..and there others ) to create your DVD with a menu. Nat

Hi I am pretty sure that you can't do this from VP. "....as you dont seem to be able to render DVD format files to Hard disk in VP 3." You could render to a temp DVD and copy the BUP;IFO;TS and VOB files back to the hard drive if that might work. Nat

Hi Synching problem If I edit my RAW video shot in MPEG4 H.246 in large format 1920 x 1080 (or even 1280 x 720) then I get severe and increasing lag of the image behind the sound. However, If I convert the MPEG4 footage into MPEG2 clips they work perfectly with no image lag and the quality seems virtually unchanged.. I use "Any video converter" which is easy to use and can handle different formats. http://www.any-video...for_video_free/ Give it a try.....Its free. Nat

Hi I don't think the crossfade effect in Version 3.0 has altered much from version 2.41. It works in the same way as regards the frames used in the effect, but in version 3.0 the user has lost the ability to drag the ends of the effects bar left or right and so "de-centre" the crossfade which was often quite useful. It seems to be produced in a different way as well. The two ends seem to get calculated first and then the right hand fade is generated followed by the left hand half. In version 2.41 the effect seemed to be generated from left to right in one go. This may explain why it can't be moved. "there are no indicator bars or messages anywhere telling me how long the rendering will take, and every time I press the play button, it just says "Building preview | Please wait" In version 3.0 as in 2.41, there is a yellow bar over the top of the clip that fills in as the effect is generated and the clip can be reviewed immediately in the left hand pane when this is complete. If the sequence is altered then a green bar traverses along over the top of the thumbnail image/s. If this is still in progress then the message will appear. Rendering to an avi(etc) can take more time and seems to be longer in V3.0 than for a similar sequence in 2.41.but a progress window should still appear with the blue bar. Nat

Hi The zoom shown in the video for V3.01 is not a true zoom and shows simply the whole image or clip reducing or increasing in size with the production of black borders around a smaller or larger image. The correct zoom effect is the one provided with V2.41 in which the whole screen remains filled with a varying portion of the image,(ie magnified,) the aspect ratio remaining the same, (but selectable.) There are no black borders. It is also much easier to use and one can see at a glance how much of the image is zoomed into and also its position at the start and finish. The effects shown in the clip are more suited to an overlay image or fancy titles but are effective. However, in the absence of a "proper zoom" (I could't find a way to get one to work,) I would suggest that V3.x retain the original zoom effect along with the ability to select aspect ratios but at the same time also implement the new version. Nat

Hi Getting more used to this version....however...under "Options".... You can have a default transition time You can have a default image display time But what happened to the default transition type between images? At the moment it seems you have to add all of these manually. ....and how does one do a full blown zoom, in or out? In 2.41 it was easy and one could see where it started and finished. One could zoom in or out to/from a very small area of an image or video. With V3 it seems that the scale value won't go above 3.0 I saw the example NCH video supplied for another post regarding exactly this point, however the zoom shown did not zoom into the image, it just reduced and expanded the image by increasing/decreasing the black borders. (It was a bit like watching a postcard retreating into the distance and then returning,) The "old" zoom effect was correct in that the image remained full screen whilst its contents got larger or smaller. How is this done with V3? Nat

Hi Don't use the crossfade effect for this. As I explained in another post, the clip will fade up to the point of the joint and then freeze and fade out the last frame over the next clip as a still image whilst the next clip fades in. If you crossfade to a black clip then all you will see is a still image fading out for the remainder of the crossfade. With your clip on the sequence line, click the effects button on your clip, (or activate the clip and click "effects") and add a "fade" effect lasting 10 seconds. If this seems too short when played, then add a blank, black frame to the end of the sequence and use a fade effect for, say,20 seconds. This will give about 10 seconds of fade out at the end of your clip. You will need to experiment a bit with these times to get exactly the effect you want. Nat

Hi In VP , presumably in order to keep the combined length of both clips the same, irrespective of the crossfade length, it seems that, as the first clip fades out it remains in motion whilst the the first frame of the second clip fades in as a still image. At the junction of the the two clips the second clip continues to fade in as a movie now, whilst the last frame of the first clip fades out as a still image. It works very well provided cross fades are short and each clip has similar contrasts and brightness but the still image(s) become more obvious if one clip is darker than the other or has a content in distinct motion. In other editors I have used, the ends of clips are overlapped and play together with their respective fades, but the overall length of the combination can alter depending on the amount of overlap used. In some circumstances this can play havoc with the associated soundtracks if they are not linked to the video. With the VP implementation the combined clips remain the same length and so any pre-positioned unlinked soundtrack remains in synch. In version 2.41 it was possible to drag the ends of the crossfade around the junction point so as to get the best effect, i.e more crossfade on one clip than on the other, but it seems in V3, the effect is set equally over the junction and can't be altered. Nat

Hi I don't think you can direct VP to the location of the files in one fell swoop. Even if you grab all the files together into the same folder, which is what you should do for starters, you will still have to identify them one at a time. i.e. click the file in red, file details, locate, click the file, open,OK. You will have to do this for every file. It's not possible to "select all" the files in the new folder for this task to be done for them all. Nat

Hi If everything is working OK then an overlay that appears when you play the sequence should be visible on the overlay track. However, you say nothing is visible on the overlay track at the point where the effect plays. This makes me think it might be playing as part of the clip. ...Have you ever saved an earlier version of your video containing the overlay and then used it in your current project? If so, it would then appear in the sequence as an apparent overlay but not, obviously underneath on the track. Otherwise I can't think of how you are getting the effect you say, particularly if, as you say, you can see and remove other overlays. ""By the way, what is meant by "linked to the sequence clip" ?? Sounds handy but I don't see how."" If you right click on the overlay box (the grey box containing the text or image under the sequence line) you get the option to link it to the sequence clip above it, provided it is not longer than the clip or doesn't fall over the junction between clips. If you take this option you can then move the clip along the sequence line and the overlay will move with it. If you Insert extra clips before or after the clip, the two will still stay together. Nat

Hi What version of VP are you using? I am pretty well conversant with 2.41 but not so much with the Beta version 3. Can't be sure from your description what precisely you have. In 2.41 an overlay that plays should be visible on the overlay track and can be linked to the sequence clip if required. If it is on the overlay track you should be able to right click it and remove it. Send a bit more detail - like exactly what is happening, what you are seeing and what you did from square 1. Nat

Hi Right, I can see where you are coming from. My references were to version 2.41. I did downloaded version 3.0 and spent a bit of time trying to edit a few simple films but have to say that I didn't like it as much (at all even) as 2.41 and have switched back. Best of luck Nat

Hi Hmmm. Not sure, One minute increments at maximum zoom seem rather large though. Generally I find I get seconds or less. Are we talking about a shortish clip here or a full blown epic of long duration? I think you might need to "focus" the mouse roller on the action required by previously clicking on the screen control for that action. e.g. the slider or + button. (Although I feel you must already have done this.) I'm just guessing here as I have noticed (with other programs as well) that the roller on my mouse at least, has no effect until I do this. e.g. some web pages like Bing images won't scroll until I click the window background or the side scroll bar. What should happen is that once the clip is on the sequence you can use the mouse wheel to scroll the video zoom slider either left or right, but, and providing it is working ...you should see the time markers moving apart or together as you scroll. Once the slider reaches the + end of its block (by rolling the wheel forward) you can still zoom beyond the left end point. The sequence line may in fact, when zoomed right in this way seem to disappear as the single images that make it up spread out wider than the screen. Similarly the sound track can expand into a single line. Does your mouse roller actually have any effect at all??? Nat

Hi If you are using VP version 2.41 (Unregistered free version) the tabs are: Media list, Effects and Transitions. The Media files you may add are Images, sound and video clips in various formats. If you want to add Overlays then these can be Images, text and videos. To add text or images you must click the green cross on the left where the grey box is labelled "Overlay Track" This will bring up a window where you have the choice of adding an image/video clip or text overlay. Choosing Text, you enter your text. Once you have confirmed the text, it is placed in the Overlay track in a grey box at the cursor position and will show some of the text depending on its length. Choosing the Image or video option. you browse to the folder on your PC containing your image or video clip. Once you have selected and confirmed your image of video, it is added to the media list and copied down to the overlay track at the cursor position where it will appear as a grey box containing a thumbnail image of the clip. By default the overlay (text/video or image) appears on the main sequence display at the bottom of the screen in the centre. If you now left click the overlay box under the sequence you open the controls for the overlay in the left hand preview pane. If the overlay is a video, you have scroll; in/out cut points for the video, size;opacity controls, fade and position plus chroma effects and border controls. If the overlay is text then the control screen will have scroll; size; opacity; font; text colour options; fade; border and position controls. The left hand pane will preview your sequence along with the overlay. You can position the overlay by dragging it along the sequence and alter its length by dragging out the ends of the grey box. It is also possible to put one overlay on top of another to obtain "multiscreen" effects. The overlay can also be linked to the main sequence clip. Hope this helps Nat