Nationalsolo

Hi Not sure where your "lines" are coming from. What format are your clips? With regards the blurriness or grainyness seen in the VP preview screen (RHS for the project) I presume you mean pixelated??? VP does not produce a HD preview image. Presumably as it is reduced in size to fit the screen space available this is not necessary. It would seem then that the sequence is compressed and then reduced in size to fit the small screen where it will run at the correct speed. Like all compressed images where data is lost, subsequently reducing the size "restores" the definition and at the size shown in VP it looks generally OK and perfectly adequate for the user to see what is happening. After all it is only a preview. If you choose to view the preview using the full screen option it may look more pixelated (or grainy) as VP still presumably goes through the same process but blows the image up to a larger size and consequently the pixels start to show up. When, however, VP saves your project it has plenty of time to render the video correctly and, provided you have set the correct parameters, this output should look OK. Nat

Hi Provided you can load and run your MPEG4 video in VP without a sound/image synch problem (which I get when using MPEG4) then cutting out a section should be no problem. If your question relates to "How do I cut out a section from my project"...... Simply load your project.G o into Timeline mode. Move the cursor to the start of section you want to cut out.(Or click the blue band over the sequence line at the point required) Left Click the button marked "Split" found to the left of the sequence line. Move the cursor to the end of the section to be removed and repeat the action. The section to be removed will now be highlighted in blue. Right click this section and choose "Remove selected clip". Repeat elswhere in the project wherever you want to remove unwanted sections. If your question relates to not losing quality after you have done the above then.. (and this is simply my opinion..) Save your edited film back to PC or DVD as an avi file using the VP default settings. It should look OK. I generally save my completed projects back to the PC in avi format using the VP default settings. My original camera footage format is 720 HD 30fps MPEG4 format. (The camera will produce HD up to 1920 x 1080i 60 fps but in practice I have found that anything larger 720 HD simply won't run correctly on my PC) However MPEG4 seems to have a synch problem when I edit with VP or play it back with other players so I convert all my clips to MPEG2 which work fine. Once edited with VP I save the result back to the PC, as mentioned above as an avi... Preset: HD 720 Format: .avi Resolution: 1280 x 720-HD720p I use the same settings if I save to DVD. They both play and look OK on the PC monitor and the DVD looks fine on a normal TV. (Haven't got HD TV yet). If I need to re-edit the footage now, I can either reload the project, provided I havn't dumped the original clips, or simply reload the saved avi in which case I now have a single sound track instead of the multiple tracks that I may have created in the original edit. Once re-edited,(eg shorted) I re-save as another avi and it looks just the same (to me) as the original avi did. Hope this helps Nat

Hi The time taken to render your film depends to a great extent on the speed of your PC. as well as the number and duration of the files used in the video and the manipulation made for each clip. I have just completed a Looooong holiday film originally recorded as 400+ clips of MPEG4 video but converted to MPEG2 for rough editing in VP. This project after initial assembly was 1hr 45 mins in length. As I needed to keep a copy of this for future editing and the family wanted all the original footage ...nicely edited of course..it had to be saved as an avi HD 720. This took ALL NIGHT to render...about 10 hours. During the process the window showed a remaining time of 2 hours. But I think this based on the percentage done and the time taken to do that...what remains to be done can't be properly estimated it seems hence the inaccurate duration shown. Still, it got there. I always save an avi first in case of accidents. Saving to a DVD (RW) didn't get very far as VP found an error writing to the disc. Anyway I normally write to DVD with windows DVD maker which works OK but this also took several hours. I think one must just be patient. Nat

Hi You don't say which version of VP you are using but I can outline the steps that I use with v2.12 (Basic unlicenced free version)to produce the effect you are after. 1) Open VP and add your main video clip to the media list. 2) Switch the sequence line to Storyboard mode as I personally feel you can see things a little easier. 3) Left Click "Insert Blank" and add a blank frame. 4) Left Click "Insert Blank" and add a second blank frame this time to the end of the timeline. 5) Drag your video clip from the media list and drop it at the end of the timeline. (You could also right click it and select "Add items to sequence") Now your sequence is Blank1-Blank2-Video. In my version I can add text to the second frame (the Blank2) as follows..... 6) Right click the second frame (Blank2)and select "Adjust Effects" 7) In the window that comes up left click the tab "Text Title" 8) You can now type the text you require in the Caption box and use the other controls to set the font/position/size and colour of the text followed by OK. Your text will now appear as part of the clip you selected.(Blank2) In version 2.12 which I use, you have limited control over the position of your text and it is NOT an overlay in the strict sense. If you are running a later version of VP this simple text feature is not available as such. Instead you have to add an overlay text which has its own track in the sequence. Therefore it can be positioned to appear against any section of a video clip that is playing in the upper video track. Further being an overlay you can pan and zoom it, although I don't think you can apply a cross fade or fade to the overlay itself. This means it will appear abruptly and disaapear abruptly. (Although I may be completely wrong with regards this.. ...somebody else may be able to clarify this point. I haven't played with a very recent version of VP.) Now with your text on clip 2 it is a simple matter to apply a cross fade to the end of clip 1. 9) Left click the blue lined square between the first clip and your text clip. Select the Cross Fade option from the menu and then enter the duration you require.....say 1 second. Now click OK The square will now show a cross fade icon and the duration time of 1.0 second. A yellow bar across the top of the rectangle will show that ou have an effect added. 10) Now do the same for the transition betweeen clip 2 and your video clip. When you preview your whole sequence your title should fade in from black; the title should then fade in (still black). The title will then fade out as your clip fades in. If you want to cross fade your title out to black and then cross fade in your film then simply add a third Blank Frame and fade this out from your title and then cross fade this into your film. If you have your logo actually as a FILM CLIP or want to use a video clip without any text on it for your title (or an image) then use this instead of the second Blank Frame although any text you add as your title may have to be carefully positioned to avoid covering any details in your clip image. Lastly the blank frames have a default duration value of 5 seconds (Note that this can be reset to any value under the Options tab) However you can alter the duration of any still image (including blanks along with their text) by changing the value shown beneath the clips by clicking on the square with the yellow line and entering a new value. You can do all these manipulations also in the timeline mode. If you want to have a fading in/out title actually within a single moving video clip then this is also possible... Put the clip onto the sequence line and split it into three parts. (Make sure it is of sufficient duration for your proposed title to fade in; be read and fade out)...say about 8-9 seconds in total. Make the first part and last part about 2-3 seconds minimum. As outlined above add your title to the middle clip and then apply cross fades between the clips of 1/2 second. The title will then fade in and out against the whole clip and the dissolves will be virtually undetectable, particularly if the sequence used has no real fast action. Even if it has, the viewer will be concentrating on the text and won't notice any dissolves in the actual footage. Hope this may be of some help. Regards Nat

Hi Q1 Yes. VP will work with MPEG4 files (mine are 720 HD) but you may find the image lags behind the sound. In practice I convert them to MPEG2 which run OK. Q2 Yes. You can save the files from your camera to a folder of your choice on your PC. VP will allow you to open these by clicking on the "Add Media" button where you can navigate to that folder. Once selected they will be added to the media list and also copied to a separate temporary folder where any manipulations you make to the clips in VP will also be recorded. The original clips will remain unchanged. Saving your work as a VP "Project" will enable VP to recreate the temporary files (should you delete them) as well as your project at the point where you left it. There is also an option to allow input directly from your camera or webcam. Nat

HI Does the purchased VP version save your project under a different VP file-type??? e.g. Myfilm.vpj is what V2.12 (free version) uses. but the paid version might use..say "Myfilm.vpjp" If this is the case then you may be able to simply change the file type to the new file type by renaming your project. Just a thought. Nat

Hi You can stretch out the audio tracks and the video tracks using the slider button on the lower right of the screen. However, as you say, this gets a but uncontrillable after a certain point. Better control is by using the + button. This should give you pretty precise matching of the audio tracks as the peaks in the wave can be clearly seen and should result in differences of only a fraction of a second. However lagging of the visuals behind the sound may be a problem. You can also "nudge" the track in question to the right (only) by alternately right clicking and left clicking it.(But ignore the option window that appears) Hope this helps Nat

Hi Thats not a problem. VP does not alter your original clip(s). You should load your movie into VP and then trim it where you want to remove the unwanted footage. Now save the film back to your PC. You supply the destination file and the name. e.g. Desktop/Trimmed film.avi. This gives you two versions, the original and the one you trimmed. Even if you save it again without changing the name, VP will create a different numbered version e.g. Desktop/Trimmed film 1.avi and so on. Your original is not actually altered. Nat

Hi Yes I know.....but been on holiday OK. Yes you can add a separate sound file to a muted clip and cut both together. Add your clips to the media window (Video plus your required sound files.) For a start work in Storyboard mode as its easier to see what is happening. Add your video clips to the sequence line and edit the visuals as you want them. Each clip will have its sound file shown below the single preview frame in storyboard mode. Now,right click each video clip and select to unlink the sound. The sound clip will jump down to soundtrack 1 line. Now left click the sound file on this track to highlight it. It will appear in the left hand preview window above.) Now right click the file on the soundtrack line again and select to "Remove selected audio" You will now be left with just the visual part of your film clip. Change to timeline display and drag your new sound clip down to soundtrack 2 line (as you may have further clips to deal with on soundtrack1) Drag the new soundtrack to the position you want so that it plays OK with the video above it. Now move the cursor to your trim point and then click the "Split" button (on the left of the screen) for the video track and then click the first button on the left for soundtrack 2(Its the small square with what looks like a windsok on it) You will have now split the audio and the visuals at the same point. Right click on, and remove the unwanted segments. This seems to work for me. Hope this helps Nat

Hi You don't say what version you are using but this is the sequence of steps to use to add a subtitle in V2.12 (Free) Open VP and add a clip or clips to the media list. Drag your clip or clips to the sequence, line. On the left hand side of the screen click the "Subtitles" button which will open the subtitles window with a preview of your film. Use the "Play" button (>) to run your film to the point where your subtitle is to appear, or you can drag the red line along if you like. On the left hand side enter your subtitle text into the "Subtitle text" box. It would be nice if the "Start time" box automatically filled with the red line cursor position (shown on the right under the preview window) but it doesn't, neither can you cut/paste it from here so you will just have to enter the time shown manually. Now enter the duration in seconds that your subtitle is to show. Now select font and size and colour for the subtitle. With these values entered click the "Add + Continue" button. Your subtitle text will now display in the list window on the lower left of the screen with the start/finish times. You can play the film in the preview window (or drag the cursor line) to check your text looks OK. You repeat the procedure for further subtitles. (or "Add +Close to finish) You can save your subtitle list and load it again for later editing. Hope this helps. Nat

Hi On holiday at the moment but if you look through somw of my earlier posts i have mentioned a free converter program that seems to work ok for most formats. I also supplied a link. It may be what you are looking for. Nat

Hi OK. Start by finding and then loading your MPEG clip to the Media list by using the "Add Media" button. Now left click the clip in the media list window and then drag it down and drop it onto the sequence line. It will preview in the left hand window as soon as you grab it and once released on the sequence line it will appear in the right hand preview window. The left hand window will then go blank. The soundtrack for the clip will appear underneath the clip on the Audio track. I personally feel its better to set the sequence line to storyboard mode as you can see your clips more easily. If you now click on the clip in the sequence line it will preview in the left hand window. Note that the right hand window previews the cursor position whilst the left hand window previews the clip. For the moment ignore the red/blue in point/out point markers.You can use these to precisely cut your clip in two places in order to isolate a section but you can do this as described below. You can play your clip using the "Play" button in the RH preview screen. If you want to cut your clip in two (or more) then play the preview (RHS) and stop where you want to cut it. Step forwards/backwards using the < > tabs to be more precise and then click the "Split" tab on the far left. This will create two clips on the sequence line and either can be removed by left clicking the one you don't want to select it, and selecting "Remove selected clip". A second split using the same method will isolate the bit you wish to keep. If you dont remove any of the "bits" you create you can move them to another part of your film by simply dragging them to a new position. Its the equivalent of making a new clip. Save as a new clip means that the once you have selected in and out points in the LH preview window the section under the green bar is saved to the Media list as a separate clip. ( not the PC.) Before trying to save your sequence to your PC check it plays as you want it to in the RH preview window. But drag the cursor line to the start or click the << button. If it plays OK then try saving it to a folder on your PC. I am not sure why your audio played without a video but try the above steps for a start. Regards Nat

Hi Don't panic yet I'll get back to you. BTW I'm not support-I don't think they actually reply to this forum Nat

Hi Obviously if you removed it, it shouldn't play. How are you trying to remove the clip please? The method (easier in storyboard mode) should be to right click the clip (turns blue and it will appear in the left hand preview window0 and select "Remove selected clip" If you have not detached the soundtrack from the clip it should all be removed, and the left hand preview window will empty. If you have detached the soundtrack from the clip, this will remain on one of the other tracks and then still play along with any new clip you may place above it. If you have previously saved your project and then subsequently reload it, your deleted clip will, of course reload. If you want to remove it from your project right click it in the media list window and then select "Remove items". It should then go from your media list, but unless you have also removed it from the sequence line it will remain there and be capable of playing. To remove it completely remove it from the sequence line and then the Media list window, then resave your project.(.vpj file) Hope this helps Nat

Hi If you add your clip to the sequence line the audio track should appear beneath it. Right click the audio line clip and then select to adjust the clip volume. A green bar should appear with a slider. Move this to the right if possible to make the sound louder. However there is a limit to this movement before the bar turns red indicating that the sound has become distorted. Alternatively you could extract the sound track as a separate file by right clicking the clip in the media list and selecting to "Save audio track as a separate file" and treating this file in an external program. If you don't have one then Right click the extracted file in the media list and select to "Edit in an external editor" This will install on demand the NCH Wavepad program. Nat

Hi Can't think why it should be doing that as in my version (2.12) it splits exactly where I want. If you can reload it then give it a try. What about if you offset where you want to split and the previewed image by clicking back a few frames and then splitting??? It's not ideal but is a possible solution. Nat

Hi If I wanted to upgrade my free version of VP v2.12 and I click the upgrade tab, the address of the page that comes up is: https://secure.nch.com.au/cgi-bin/register.exe?software=videopad I have been through the forms presented here but not the last bankcard data entry page as I haven't actually upgraded VP as I am satisfied with the features I have with the free version, however would this link work for you? Perhaps someone who has actually done it might be able to help with contacting NCH My understanding is (and I am probably completely wrong-not having done it,) that the registration key "activates" the version you have been evaluating. If this is so then why can't you simply transfer the ORIGINAL compressed .exe file to the new PC, then unpack it, (as you probably did originally on the old PC) to create the evaluation version again and then reactivate this with the code you presumably purchased. It seems logical that this should work. I am assuming you may have just transferred the unpacked files to your new pc which might behave differently having already been activated. Hence the message to the effect that the code you are trying to use is being asked to upgrade the upgrade,so to speak, if you see what I mean. I am probably barking up the wrong tree here as despite the title I am NOT an expert! It's just a thought. Best of luck. Nat

Goodness! What on Earth have you got your screen resolution set at? I get the lot on my screen!

Hi As you say correctly, hitting L will split the clip at the red line but if you have positioned this correctly I can't see why you are getting a difference of (1/2 second,)which does seem a lot - about 15 frames. It might be more accurate if you are "zoomed" in on the sequence with the slider bottom right of the screen. This gives a little more accuracy to your split position when you use the step buttons I mentioned above although I can't see even this correcting the difference you are seeing. Normally the film splits at the frame previewed in the right hand screen. One thought....What reference point are you using to cut your clip? Is it visual decided by the image shown in the right hand preview window, or is it audible, decided by the hearing the cue in the sound? Visually, I can't make it split anywhere other than at the frame I want. MPEG4/MPEG2/AVIs all seem to split where I want them. Nat

Hi Where in VP are you splitting your clip? Are you doing it ON the sequence line or in the left hand preview window? One way of exactly getting to your split point is to click on the clip to preview it in the right hand window and then set the red cursor line around your selected point on the sequence line. Now step frame by frame forwards or backwards using the < and > buttons in the right hand preview window to precisely select your splitting point. The red cursor line on the sequence line moves as you do this. When you get to the place you want, simply click the "Split" button on the left of the sequence line and your clip should turn into two clips at the point you selected in the preview window. Hope this helps Nat

Hi If your title has no background image to go with it on the sequence line (and you want it to be this way) you should add a blank frame to the end of your sequence against which your title will play. I think that should cure the problem. Obviously extend the playing time of this blank to match your title playing time. I am not sure whether VP is supposed to (or will) play title overlays on their own,(i.e. without a substrate image) the as I have the free version (2.12) which doesn't use them, but in my version at least, sound files will play after the clip sequence line has finished. Nat

Hi VP will certainly edit avi files. Open videopad and select File - New project. Both preview windows will show a message regarding "Project empty etc." and "No clips etc." Click "Add Media" and browse to the folder that contains your avi. Click the avi of your choice and then "Open" The avi file will appear in the Media list window on the left of the VP screen. The left hand preview window will now be blank and the right hand preview window will still have the message"No clips etc.) Now if you left click the clip in the media list it SHOULD appear in the left hand preview window along with a series of thumbnails, play button and clip editing controls. The right hand preview screen should remain unchanged. If it doesn't do this then something would seem to be incorrect regarding the clip format. If all is well then you can either drag the avi clip from the media list directly onto the sequence line or use the green arrow under the left preview window to place the clip on the sequence line. Using either method, the clip should now appear in the right hand preview window along with play/step buttons and snapshot button. Nat

Hi Dave Using my normal HD format (16:9) the steps I have outlined work fine and the end project saves and plays correctly. i.e the final still "snapshot" is identical to the film. The effect is that the end of the zoom freezes. It does the same with or without titles added. I was somewhat puzzled by your result as I would expect that the "snapshot" would be only the image and not the border. However...... I have just retried the steps I outlined to you with a webcam avi of 640 x 480 in 4:3 mode set in the zoom window. This DOES have side bars and they DO appear in the zoom/pan screen. I have set the zoom function to close in to the maximum and again, my snapshot of the last frame of the zoom is still identical to the film format with the same borders etc. It previews perfectly.......... NOW... I have just saved this "perfect" clip to my PC using your settings and NOW SEE WHAT YOU MEAN. Yes the still frame at the end is decidedly SMALLER than the film frame and the borders are much wider. I have the feeling it's due to your save settings. It seems any setting using 640 x 480 will give this effect but "widescreen" won't (Dunno why ) So If you are wanting to get the closest to 640 x 480 but still have "widescreen" so the borders seem OK, use these settings... Preset:Custom Format:avi Resolution: 640 x 360 (Click Custom.....This gives ratio of 1:1.777) Framerate:25 On my PC this played OK and the size was as close as possible to what you want. Give this a try. Nat Nat

Hi I'm not sure what you are actually describing. The normal behaviour is.... If you click a clip that is in the Media list window , it will appear in the left hand preview screen where it will show some miniatures and you can play it and set cutting points to create smaller clips which you can save back to the media list if required or use the green arrow to drop the clip onto the sequence line. Once on the sequence line it will preview in the right hand window. Alternatively you can drag the clip directly to the sequence line where it will preview in both windows. I am not sure what it is that you refer to as a "mask" Can you supply some more details. Nat

Hi I'm not sure how you are trying to do this, but assuming you have used the pan/zoom feature of VP, the format of the final frame at the end of the zoom/pan will be the same as the start frame. 16:9 or 4:3 depending on your setting. I am assuming that you want the last frame of your film as a still image, so click your clip on the sequence line (best in storyboard mode) so your clip previews in the RH window. Click near the end of your clip and then step along to the last frame OR use the lower of the two buttons on the right in your preview window. This will take you to the end of your clip.Now step back a frame using the upper button. The preview should now display the last frame. Now click the camera icon under the preview window to save the current frame as an image. It will appear on the media list. This frame has the same format as the rest of the clip and can be added to your project in exactly the same way as an image. If you add it after your clip and then set the display for, say 5 seconds without a transition. Your clip will play..zoom/pan and then freeze for 5 seconds as the image plays. Is that the effect you are after? If this is not the case, what do you mean by "scale". Nat