Nationalsolo

Hi You can add text in any of the fonts present on your PC and in any of the standard palette colours as well as user defined shades. Both text colour and outline colour can be set. The text is added as an overlay to the background video (or blank frame)and can be faded in or out and made to scroll L-R R-L U-D D-U . It can be resized and repositioned within the frame and its opacity can be set. There is also an option to add subtitles with similar controls re colour, font and size. In v 2.41 there is no library of music or clips. I am not aware of a manual as such but there is a fairly comprehensive help file that can be printed out and which explains the use of the main options available in VP. Nat

Hi Might be wrong but are you using large format clips ( eg. HD MPEG4 1920 x 1080i clips @ 60fps). Even a simple cut in a clip like this with a bit edited out can take an appreciable time to render into the preview window on some PCs, particularly if they are not particularly fast. (It happens on mine .. and its no slouch.) You have to remember that VP does not physically create two new clips when you "remove" a bit. It gives that impression possibly but it is simply reading in the data it has saved in the cache regarding the editing you have made of the clip in question and this takes time to do and then it has to display it in reduced format in the preview window. Creating a transition can take even longer as it has to interleave frames from different places in your clip. In the meantime the sound is read relatively quickly and as a result is held up whilst your PC sorts out the join. It then has to reduce and play the frames in the preview window. This is the impression I get. When you play the unedited clip, is there a lag between the sound and the image? With the format I mentioned above (the largest my camera can produce) I get a lag of 7 seconds in a 13 second clip! This makes editing a bit difficult to say the least. However, if I convert my MPEG4 clips, (I now tend to shoot 1280 x 720 HD MPEG4 @ 30fps) to MPEG2 clips they play and edit with no problems at all. In fact the image looks brighter and the sound clearer. Try it and see what happens. Nat

Hi Sorry if I might have misled you ...I am going by what my last version did. At the moment my current VP (v.2.41) won't "Deshake" my files. Normally I would right click the file in the media list window and choose the "Stabilize video option" but since I upgraded from an earlier version, when I do this I simply get a message saying "Stabilization process failed" I've reloaded VP several times completely deleting all NCH files beforehand but always with the same result. Could be the file path is incorrect. When I get a bit more time I'll have to take a look. Anyway, I'm sure previous versions produced an avi file..perhaps this later version as you say creates MPEG4 files. If I try to load the Virtualdub plugin, thinking it might overcome the problem...it won't let me..presumably because its supposed to be preloaded with VP. Although its a tad annoying, I don't find too much of a problem as I simply use virtual dub on its own if I need to stabilize anything and then load the output file to VP. Nat

Hi Don't know why it might be doing that. What format are your clips and are you saving to your PC or creating a DVD? Dous you project play OK in VP? Nat

Hi Using Deshaker, either from within VP or from Virtualdub normally creates a big avi. file. I can't see an alternative to this. However, these normally play and edit OK in VP but I don't think there is any problem in converting them using any suitable third party video file converter. Nat

HI OK, It is possible to do this fairly easily but success depends a lot on whether your image in the video is moving or not. And it will require you to create an image of your arrow or circle, although you can probably download one or use a suitable clipart. In practice I use a graphics package (no longer available unfortunately) called Micrografx Draw but there are many other programs that do a similar job. Using Draw (or similar) it's pretty easy to create an nice large red arrow on a black background (say, pointing downwards.)I make this some 500 x500 pixels in size and save it as a jpeg image (gifs and BMPs work just as well.) I keep the Draw image copy in case I need to move the arrow on the black background.... see below. So. ...Open VP in timeline mode and add the background video and the arrow jpg image to the media list. Drag and drop the video onto the sequence line and the arrow image onto the overlay track. Previewing in the right hand window will reveal your overlay image reduced in size and usually at the centre bottom of the screen. Right or left click the overlay and drag left or right below the sequence line until it appears and disappears in your film at the right instants. So far you have your video with the red arrow, rather small, still on a black square at the bottom centre of the display. The next step is to make the red arrow black background transparent. As you have clicked your overlay it will now appear in the left preview pane. In the control area under the overlay image click the "Chroma key select" button (green with the black pawn shape...you may have to scroll the control panel to the right to find it.) Left click the square marked colour and select black from the colour card. The red arrow will stay red but the black background will show a chequered pattern. Now set the "Background" slider to the extreme left (0) and the "Foreground" slider to the extreme right (100). On clicking OK you will see your red arrow in the right hand preview window has lost its background and only the red arrow shows up against your video clip. Now you need to position it. Right click the overlay again and set the rough position of your arrow with the arrow matrix square (no pun intended ) followed by as much adjustment as you can with the "Size" slider and the "Border" setting. If you find you can't get your arrow into exactly the position you want then you can estimate where your red arrow needs to be relative to its original black background. (You can bring this back easily enough and get an idea.) Save your VP project and then simply open your original Draw image, (remember it was saved .) Now you can move the arrow component to where you think is should be and resave another jpg with the same name into the same folder so as to overwrite the first one you made. Reload the project and the new arrow should now appear, hopefully in a better position. Obviously it doesn't have to be an arrow, "Draw" (or similar programs) can easily create a red circle. If you have to use a clipart arrow you won't be able to move it about its background, but you could use the VP "Crop" effect to crop it off centre to get the same effect. However, you can't make your overlay move except by playing about with the "Zoom" effect or the overlay scroll which will be very hit or miss. As you can see its a bit phaffy but quite interesting to do. Hope this helps. Nat

Hi If the two video files are compatible with VP then they should be OK. (They should edit and intercut together.) But is this exactly what you mean or are you you wanting? I am not sure if you are after something other than simple editing. Nat

Hi It doesn't pose too much of a problem. Follow the instructions I posted above for adding your first overlay video/image, using the Size slider to alter it to the size you want. You can place it into a different area of the screen (your background film) using the arrow matrix and the border settings (next to the green screen button). Now you can add your second (or subsequent) overlay image/film to the overlay track but note that you can now drag it along the track so that it overlaps the first overlay on the track. It doesn't stop against it like the film track. Now simply use the arrow matrix and size slider plus border settings as before, to position this second overlay onto the background film . It will order itself so that it overlaps the first overlay in the film you are creating. (The first overlay is under the second and both are under subsequent ones.) You can add multiple overlays in this way and by using different start/end positions for them you can arrange for them to appear and disappear (or fade in and fade out) at different times. You can also add any of the film effects to them. With a bit of ingenuity you can create some very interesting title effects. Nat

Hi VP (v2.41), whilst it will easily create your DVD it will NOT will create a menu from which you can choose your clips. If you use the bookmarks option you CAN skip through your finished DVD using the < > controls on your player (if you have them) but this is not the same as a proper menu. I would suggest that you create a short film from each of your clips with VP and export each to your PC as an avi. Then create your DVD with Windows DVD Maker which will allow you to add your avis to a list and then to create a menu from a choice of options. If you don't have the Windows program then you can download a free third party DVD creator program such as "Sothink Movie DVD maker" (Google it). It works in much the same way. This gives you the possibility to create menus with your own images/backgrounds/sound etc., but the downside with this is that each video is prefaced by a 5 second promotional frame. (It's no big deal really though.) More importantly, if you have used the VP bookmarks option in any of your avis then this screen occurs at every bookmark, so its best not to use the VP bookmark option if you use this program. Nat

Hi Sorry don't know much about Ventrilio but I understand you can save the voice sounds from your multiuser game using the "record" button within that software. The resulting file as far as I can gather is a vrf file. If this is correct you should convert this to either a wav or mp3 file, which are formats that can be loaded into VP. However, going back to your video file. When you load this into VP it should have its associated (linked) sound track display on the Audio track line. If this is correct...does it play OK? If it does, so far so good. Get your voice clip onto the media list. (wav or mp3 format preferably) and drag this down to Soundtrack 1 and drop it there. Irrespective of where it lands,you can drag it left or right with the mouse cursor along the track to the correct position vertically under your video track (and of course the audio track.) It should not jump anywhere else when you release it. You may have to zoom in or out if this sound clip is a long one (much longer than the video clip) as in timeline mode the video clip is squashed up to enable the sound clip to appear in its entirety. So if you now have your video clip plus its own audio track (which should check plays OK) and your voice clip is under this on Soundtrack 1 they should play together. Hope this helps Nat

Hi Perfectly possible and the easiest way is to use the "Narrate" option. Open VP and use the "Add media" button on the toolbar to add your video to the media list. Drag your video from the list onto the main sequence line where it will play with the game sounds. (Use timeline mode). Set the cursor where you want to place your voices. Click the "Narrate" button on the toolbar. Connect a microphone to your PC (I use the pale green jackplug socket on my PC) and set the recording volume, either directly with your soundcard by right clicking the loudspeaker icon (if you have one) in the program tray at the bottom right corner of the screen and accessing the sound recording options or by using the input channel "Windows record mixer" option in the narrate window. In order to avoid recording your video sound via your PC speakers (and feedback) turn your PC speakers down. Say something into the mike to check the sound level with the built in indicator. Place the cursor where you want to start and click the red button. Record your comments as this video plays. Click the square button to stop. This creates a sound file in your designated folder and places a copy at the cursor position on soundtrack 1 and also on the media list. When you play your video both tracks will be audible. If necessary you can add fades etc to either sound track to ensure relative levels are suitable and neither drowns each other out. (Remember to turn up your speakers.. ) As an alternative you can record a separate sound file (eg a wav file), add it to the media list and drag it to soundtrack 1 in the position you want. Nat

Hi "Well, I tried converting the AVI into an MPEG2 and, for some reason, it also gets rid of the sound when I put into the timeline into VP" No idea why that happens. When you load the converted file into VP is there an audio track displayed? (ie peaks)? If its a one off problem which you are not going to encounter a lot then you could try this... Load your original avi clip into the VP media list. (The one that plays slow) and then right click it on the list and select "save audio track". A copy of the audio will appear on the media list. Now add your MPEG2 conversion to the list and drag it to the sequence line. Drag the saved avi soundtrack down to Soundtrack 1 line. Right click the video clip on the sequence line and unlink its sound. This will drop down to Soundtrack 2. Now LEFT click this soundtrack to nudge it slightly and then RIGHT click the track and choose "Remove the selected audio" This should leave your MPEG2 clip with the soundtrack from the original avi clip. You may need to then juggle about a bit with the position (or the video speed) to get it into precise synchronisation. Worth a try anyway. Nat

Hi This seems to be a common problem. I am assuming you are trying to edit MPEG4 clips that have a large format...1920 x 1080 for example. NCH say its a problem linked to the performance of your PC. Apparently there is a lot of work to do to unpack and convert these large format clips for editing. Video takes time but sound doesn't. As a result the video progressivily lags further and further behind the sound. I have the same problem and get around it with complete success by always converting my MPEG4 clips to MPEG2 format before I start editing. Try the freeware "Any video converter". http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/ Easy to use and converts all your files from a list whilst keeping the originals. Nat

Hi No bother. Open VP and left click the "Add Media" button at the top left of the toolbar to find and load your video clips onto the media list. From the media list drag and drop your clip to the sequence line. (Or you can right click them and choose the "Add clip to the sequence" option.) Now play the clip to the start of the unwanted bit. Alternativly you can drag the red line cursor to this point. At the left of the main video track you will see a button marked "Split" Left click this button and you clip will be cut at the cursor position. Now play the video (or drag the cursor line) to the end of the bit you don't want and split the clip again. This will isolate the bit you want to remove as a separate clip. Right click this section to highlight (select) it and from the menu simply choose "Remove selected clip" . That's all you need to do. As an alternative, split your clip at the end of the bad bit and then drag the cut along to the left so removing the bad bit. (It will still be there but won't play, so you can drag it back into existence if you want.) Nat

Hi Glad to be of help. Nat

Hi Don't know the answer to this as my DVD player will jump into fast forward mode OK with VP edited films. However..I create my DVDs with Windows DVD Maker and not VP as I prefer to have menus. I would suggest the following: Edit your film with VP Save it to your PC as an avi using your best settings Use Windows DVD maker to create your DVD. See if this works for you. Nat

Hi I think you might have to delete all the NCH files from your programs folder and then try the download again. You want to download (presumably) the file called vpsetup_v2.36. Save this in a new NCH folder (which you create first) and then run it, placing the output into the same folder. You can then create a shortcut to the new VP exe file. I think that the version you are trying to run simply reads in the options from the later version which you may still have on your PC. (Don't really know though). Why do you prefer V2.36 over v2.41 BTW? I tried the earlier versions (though not 2,36 I have to say,) and find 2.41 much better. Nat

Hi In order for VP to recreate your project from the vpj file that you originally created you will have to put all the component files back into the original location/s. ie. where they were when the project file was created. They must also have their original names. Its always a good idea to put all your component files in a single folder and save that folder along with the project file. That way all you need to do is to simply copy the folder back to your PC, and open the project. Nat

Hi OK, you have the correct version. Next question...What do you mean when you say "No overlay bottom"? Did you mean "Button" Well, there is no button. To create an overlay you must drag your image or video from the media list window and drop it directly on the Overlay track (or use the green cross to the left of the track in the Grey area.) The overlay track is directly underneath the sequence track. Note that you cannot add an overlay to the track unless you have a clip already on the sequence line. Once you have added a clip to the sequence, the overlay track is between the sequence track and the video audio track. Nat

Hi What version are you using? (Visible at bottom left of the VP window.) You need V 2.41 Nat

Hi To avoid having to resynch after every cut proceed as follows.... Click the "Options" tab on the toolbar and then the "Other" tab.In the top box relating to the action to take when sound clips overlap, select to "Push clips to the right" Put VP into timeline mode and load your video onto the sequence line with the dubbed sound onto soundtrack 1. I am going to assume that they are identical as far as speed etc.and that the video is in one long block. You now therefore have two audio tracks visible, the original audio track connected to the video and the track to be dubbed over the video. Zoom in as mentioned in my last post and get the two tracks in synch at the start. If they are identical then they will (or should) finish together. Play the video to ensure that the tracks remain in synch to the end. If this doesn't happen then you will have to reset the synch manually every time you make a cut or VERY carfully adjust the speed of the video to obtain a match. I am going to assume they play OK. Right click the audio track and choose to "Adjust clip volume" In the window click the box to "Mute clip" followed by OK. Your dubbed track will now be the only one playing. Right click the video to select it and then play the video (or drag the cursor bar) to the point where you want to make a cut at the start of your edit. Right click the "Split" button to make the cut. Note that the cursor will remain in place. Now RIGHT click (NOT left click) soundtrack 1 followed by the "Split the track" button at the left end of the soundtrack by the black star. This will split Soundtrack 1 at the same cursor position as the video track. (Cursor hasn't moved) Move the cursor now to the end of the edit and repeat the process. You will now have cut the video as well as soundtrack 1 at the same precise points. Right click the video clip you have just created and choose to "Remove selected clip". The video will readjust itself end to end leaving no gap. This, of course puts the soundtrack out of synch but no problem.... RIGHT click the soundtrack 1 clip that you wish to remove and choose "Remove selected audio" Unlike the video track, sound clips dont jump left to fill the space left by the deletion. So simply grab the soundtrack on the right and pull it left so it overlaps the section (which is in synch) on the left. Release it and it will set itself immediately into position without leaving any gap. As the sections you removed from both tracks were identical in length, the soundtrack and the video should continue in synch following the cut. Hope this helps Nat

Hi I am afraid that a long video takes simply a long time to process (does with my PC anyway ) Just completed a 1 1/2 hour holiday "epic" which took HOURS (more than overnight!) to render as an avi before transferring to a DVD. Normally I cut films down to 30 or 40 mins but family requirements on this occasion meant everything had to be included! However the synch problem with MPEG4 means I convert my raw camera clips to MPEG 2 clips before I start editing. Even for this long film of several hundred clips the conversion of the clips didn't take THAT long. Any video converter (freeware) will allow you add all your clips to a list and will then convert them one at a time to any one of a selection of formats, placing the result in a designated folder but conserving the original. You can stop it at any time. Its reasonably fast...depends of the parameters you set and the size of the original clip. http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/ Its worth giving it a try. Nat

Hi Matching up two soundtracks shouldn't cause any problems normally provided they are both identical in respect of their speeds. There isn't a "fine zoom" setting but if you left click the slider of the zoom feature at the bottom right of the screen you can then use the scroll wheel on your mouse to "zoom in/out" to better than 1/10 second (which is about the limit and perfectly adequate for lip synch) Just drop your replacement recording on the first soundtrack lane and slide it along until it visually matches the audio track peak for peak. Now zoom in and adjust the replacement track by dragging left or right until it is as good as you can get it. Note If you repeatedly right click-left click the track you can nudge it fractionally to the right each time. You can then play the sequence to see if there is a good match i.e no echo or fuzziness, or simply mute the audio line (or remove it) and then play the sequence. Provided the two sound tracks have the same length (and therefore pitch) you should get a precise synch. Nat

Hi "Frames" in VP has a very loose meaning, since although you can apparently see individual "frames" on the sequence line when in timeline mode, it depends on the degree of zoom you have set. However, removing frames (or a section of your sequence presents no problem. For a start do this in Timeline mode. Use the "Add media " button to place you clips into the media list window and then drag and drop them from there onto the sequence line. (As an alternative you can right click each one on the list and select from the menu to add them to the sequence. They will add to the start/end/cursor position depending on the setting in Options/Other) To remove a whole clip, simply right click it to select it and choose to "Remove selected clip" from the menu. To remove a section of a clip (or your "designated frames") you will need to ascertain the start position of the selected section to delete by either playing the clip and then stopping at the correct point, or more easily by grabbing and moving the red cursor bar backwards and forwards whilst monitoring the movie in the right hand preview window. Do this by grabbing the little heart shaped spot at the top of the line. Once you have the cursor line where you want the cut to start, left click the button marked "Split" at the left end of the sequence line. This will cut your video clip into two. Now slide the cursor along to the position where you want your film to restart. Click the "Split" button again which will cut the clip once more so isolating the piece you dont want. The section to be removed will now highlight blue. Right click on this section and choose "Remove selected clip". Your selection will be removed and the film will join together. If you want to remove "frames" then place the cursor at the first cut point. Depending on how specific you want to be (at 25 fps you don't need to be THAT phaffy ...but you can be if you want ) set the zoom function at the bottom right of the screen as high as you need. Move the slider to the left or use the + button. With your start point set, step through the clip a "frame" at a time using the < and > buttons either side of the "Play" triangle. Stop when you arrive at the point in the movie where you want to cut it again and repeat the steps outlined above to remove your selection. If you find you cant grab or click on the slice you have made because it is too narrow, switch into storyboard mode when the section to be removed will be seen as a complete thumbnail no matter how short it is. You can easily right click this and remove it. If you want another way to edit a bit out, then split your film at the END of the section to be removed (ie make a split where you want your film to restart) and then grab and drag the end of the left hand clip towards the left. This will remove (hide) your desired section. You only need one cut and you can drag the end in and out until it is where you want it. Hope this helps. Nat

Hi AFAIAA There is nothing available in VP to do what you are after i.e. automatically line up clips (presumably one under the other.) All video clips automatically line up end to end as they are added to the sequence, or inserted between existing clips when dragged and dropped to a particular location, or inserted at the cursor position. However soundtrack lines and overlays behave differently.... Overlays can be dragged so that they overlap each other and they can be linked to a sequence line clip but otherwise they remain independant and don't automatically move when the sequence track is disturbed. To get the cursor line to the start of a clip or overlay simply left (or right) click the clip. The cursor will jump to the start of that clip. (You don't [can't] move the clip without the cursor moving) If an overlay has been linked to the clip above then you can left (or right) click the overlay and the cursor line will jump to the start of the overlay. However, as regards the SOUNDTRACK LINES. All sound clips remain independant and cannot be linked together. This would, in fact be a useful feature, as in the event that you needed to insert a new video clip in between the ones already on the sequence, the action displaces the sequence to the right but unfortunately it doesn't move the soundtracks along which can be annoying particularly if you have spent a lot of time getting them all to synch in correctly with the video. Being able to link sound clips together along the various soundtracks would be useful as you could then at least move them along en masse whilst retaining their separations and level settings.) It is not possible to automatically place the cursor at the start of a particular sound clip or make the soundclip move to the cursor position by clicking it. (You can however, as with video clips, add a sound clip to the cursor position from the media list--Use "Options/Other" to set this effect.) In general though, you will have to do things visually or audibly by playing the sequence with regards the sound. Nat