Nationalsolo

Hi Best bet is to get V2.12 as you can fade the titles. Alternatively use Windows Movie Maker to make your titles for the Start and Finish of your film. Save the result and then import it into VP. Nat

Hi Can you give a few details. What exactly happens when the clips play from one to another? What format are your clips? Are you dissolving between clips? etc. Normally clips placed on the sequence line with no transitions simply play from one to the next with no stopping..a straight cut bewtween scenes. Nat

Hi Sorry, not seen that happen before. One possibility, but rather unlikely, is that you have inadvertantly changed the playback speed of your project, although the setting should default back to 100% for a new project and normally only affects individual clips. Right click the film on the sequence line and then the "Adjust playback speed" tab. The slider should be set at 100%. Do you have a speed setting on your DVD player? Assuming that your project previews OK, You may find it better (possibly) to save your project to your PC as Computer/Data with:- Preset as an HD 720 or HD 1080 video and not one of the Utube defaults. Keep the framerate at 25 fps and under the Encoder options the format as MPEG4 (Native) Video compression settings: Average bitrate= 8192 and maximum bitrate 10240. Sound compressor MP3 (Native) Sound format 44100 The resulting avi should play in WMP so check its OK. You should now be able to upload this directly to Utube as an HD film from the Utube site. Nat (Not an expert)

Hi Can't remember where I downloaded my free version from now, but Google search for 2.12 brought up: http://www.downloadplex.com/tags/key+videopad+2.12/Page-1-0-0-0-0.html There are some links bottom right of this page. Check the version number because the NCH site is for v2.22 Nat

Hi John You seem to have your DVD creation sorted out OK which is great . I agree that the non fading in/out of titles in VP is a step backwards from the free version and your solution is a reasonable workaround. Do give WMM a try as title creation is not difficult and there is Fading/scrolling/variable fonts/colours etc. You could create your Intro titles and End titles in one go and save as a wmv file to the PC and then load this into VP to be split and placed where you want. Nat

Hi I wouldn't think this was an intentional limitation on the free version as mine works OK. Have you tried saving your film first to your computer, and if so does it play? Reload your project (Assuming you saved it.) Now just select: Save Movie - Computer/Data - Browse for a destination folder - Preset HD 1080 - Encoder options - MP3(Native) - Sound 44100 Hz The output Avi should play in Windows Media Player. If this is the case then your film is OK and at least you have a playable copy on your PC. Try saving again to disc with VP and if the sound is still absent I would suggest using a 3rd party burner to create your DVD from the saved avi, e.g. Windows DVD creator. Nat

Hi I downloaded V2.12 (the free version) in August 2010 and as far as I remember it wasn't a 14 day trial and no features seemed to have been time limited. It was the unlicensed basic free version. Up until then I had used a variety of editors but they only handled MPEG2 format and a new camera I was using output MPEG4 so I needed an alternative editor. As VP could load MPEG4 and seemed quite good for free I have continued to use it in the basic version although for some of my on-going cine copying and VHS copying I still use WMM as these are "grabbed" as MPEG2) Apart from a few niggles the free VP version works OK and it also has the advantage of multiple soundtracks and commentary. I do have another MPEG4 film editor but I have found problems with it and the layout is not to my liking either. As for plug-ins:- I originally used Virtual Dub separately to deshake/trim or tweak the colour temp of projected and revideoed films before editing then but for MPEG4s VP has deshaker incorporated which is useful. I have since used other Vdub filters such as ColourBriContr.vdf and BdrCntrl235.vdf with VP and they seem OK.(One or two do cause an error message but that may due be something different other than the plugins feature being disabled. So in V2.12 plugins do seem to work. You could use the plugins from VDub directly in VDub but as it won't edit MPEG4 format (unless there is another version I haven't yet seen) you would have to convert to MPEG2. (Also Vdub save back files in avi format are very large) As I mentioned I did download and have look at trial V2.22 particularly with regard to a question on this forum regarding the overlay track and titles. As I was used to adding titles to a blank frame in VP 2.12 and then being able to fade these in and out,(but not zoom/pan them,) I was surprised to find that in the 2.22 version it was the overlay track where the titles were placed and here they could not be faded in or out (although you could alter the opacity and zoom/pan them.) This made the appearence of titles a bit sudden. I played about with various methods of getting a proper title fade but none were really effective and to my mind the free version in this respect is better although it has no overlay feature. Of course, if you want titles you can always use WMM (or other software)to make them and then add them in to your VP project. Try the Free version to see how you like it..it may be different to the time-expired home version. Hope this helps Nat

Hi No problem. Hope you get it sorted out. Nat

Hi I think you are right..The Basic version may be very similar or possibly the same as the Free version.(V2.12) Having said that, the free version has all the basic features needed for effective HD video editing and DVD creation. True, there is no overlay capability and there are limited transitions but you can add plugins from external sources (VisualDub) and create simple fade in/out titles in selected fonts/colours (but NOT zoom/crop/rotate them which can only be done on the clip on sequence line. There are also multiple soundtracks. It's up to you if you want to pay for extra effects and an overlay feature. The latter, however, although quite useful cannot be made to fade in/out, and this includes titles which is a bit of a problem as these are only created as an overlay in the version I looked at(V2.22 as a 14 day trial. Nat

Hi No problem. As I have posted elsewhere I use a freeware converter program called "Any video Converter" Version 3.1.7 which does all I want it to do and it's easy to use. You can download it here.... http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/ Load it into a named folder on the desktop for a start. Then move this folder to your Windows "Programs" folder. Open it from there and run the downloaded .exe file to unpack the progam. I normally choose to unpack the program files into the same folder as the .exe so they are all together. Can't remember if a shortcut is created on the desktop but put one there anyway for ease of use. Once loaded and run, the program is pretty easy to follow..all you need to do is.... Click on "Add the Video"...(and you can add several if you like as they list up in the central space...I think you can drag and drop also) Click the videos in the list that you want to convert (Xs go into the little boxes) Click on the "Profile" option (Big button top right with drop-down menu) to select the output format. Select for example MPEGII Movie(*mpg) and in the boxes below you can set the parameters for the conversion. The default values appear for the format you select and although it's not that obvious at first sight you can further click these options to reveal a drop down menu (where available) in which you can select to change the various values...eg size and aspect of your output etc. I tend to select "original" for frame size. Once your choice is made just go back to the top and click the Encode button. A staus bar appears to the right of each of your input videos in turn as the conversion is made. The Results are sent to a folder of your choice e.g. named in this case MPEGII on the desktop. You can rerun the conversion with different values if the result is not what you want and if you select a different format the output folder is automatically created and named with the format in question. Of course you don't lose your original video. If yoy want to experiment with different formats and compare them its easy as the output folders are all named. I find it works very well Get back if there are any questions. Nat (NOT expert)

Hi Does the same on my PC. (V 2.12). It's assumed by nch to be a computer performance issue. I suspect you are editing MPEG4 1080i video which presumably requires a lot of unpacking before it can be previewed in VP but the sound doesn't so the image lags. On my PC it can be out by SECONDS after only a short time. It's starts in synch again if I click on a new part of the sequence, but then the same thing occurs. Try converting it to MPEG2 which seems to work much better, or shoot at a lower resolution. eg. In a 22 second MPEG4 H264 clip HD 1280 x 720p 30fps , the sound finished 7 seconds before the video finished. The same clip converted to MGEG2 with same frame size when played in VP showed no discernable delay. Also the sound quality was clearer and the image seemed better. Nat

Hi Don't know the answer, sorry but I take it that you are saving using NTSC as distinct from PAL as your system is not european? Nat (Not expert! :-))

Hi John I am doing something very similar to yourself...transferring numerous films that I shot on Super8 cine film as well as VHS tape. I am using a "Grabber"device (A/D card) that transfers the VHS player signal (or VHS camera signal in the case of live filming of cine) to my PC as mpeg2 files. But I don't use VP to re-edit them as I feel I can do this more easily with Windows Movie Maker. I use VP mainly because WMM doesn't handle MPEG4 format which my current camera produces, and VP does. Windows Movie Maker (V6 on Vista) will pull up Windows DVD Creator automatically when you finish the edit (assuming you have it on your PC) and so far all my DVDs made with this have played OK on various players, and you can use it as a separate burner if you prefer VP for your edit. (I use DVD-R 16X and DVD-RW 4X) The time taken to burn the disc with WDC can be quite lengthy so it may be a possible solution for your problem. If you use RW discs you won't waste anything by giving it a try. Nat

Hi With regards to DVD menus. As I mentioned above, VP won't create menus on the DVD but if you have several projects to burn to the same DVD and you MUST use VP then save all your projects as avis individually to your PC. Load them back in VP one after another onto the sequence line and add a bookmark between each one. (You could add titles just after each boolmark if you wish) Of course you could also edit your clips to create the full "multi" sequence from the outset. Save the whole sequence to DVD in the normal manner. The bookmarks will save as chapters and on your player you can simply move forwards or backwards through your projects by using the << and >> buttons on the player. The added titles will indicate which project you have got to. BTW I use DVD-R and DVD-RW discs which play fine on my toshiba player. Nat

Hi I presume you are using VP version 2.22. I use the free V2.12 myself but downloaded the trial version of 2.22 to to have a look at it in response to a similar question which cropped up some time back regarding overlaying titles with fades. It seems that the overlay feature in V2.22, whether you are using an image or adding a title, cannot be set to fade in or out. You can alter the opacity of the overlay/title image but cannot create a change in opacity dynamically, however you can zoom and crop both title and image. In the 2.12 free version there is no overlay feature although you can add titles that fade. You may be able to get around this ...... possibly.... (can't be certain now as my 2.22 is past its trial period) Put your overlay image on the sequence line. Adjust its play length to what you want and then set it to fade in at the start and out at the end. You can set the fade duraion times. Save this as a new clip to the media list. Pull it back down to the overlay line and position it where you want it to appear. I'm not sure, without the trial version in front of me whether you can do this with a clip but I think you can. See what this looks like when played. Nat

Hi I use a "One Step Grabber" card. This is an analogue to digital converter. They are sold under different names but are all work the same. It has the red/yellow/white plugs that go into your VHS tape player. The other end has a USB and a mic jack plug that connects to your PC. Its a simmple matter of 1) Loading the driver and preview program that comes with the "Grabber". 2) Running the preview program and setting up the file where you want the video to go. 3) Starting the tape player and adjusting the brightness/contrast/colour/charpness etc. as seen in the preview. 5) When output looks ok, rewinding, clicking the start button in the preview window and playing the tape. Done! Load the file into your film editing program. Nat

Hi again I have had a play again with the fonts you mention. In my version of VP (2.12) the subtitles definitely appear with the chosen font. i.e. Aharoni OR Narkisim but not both mixed in the same film as, (in my version at least) you can't mix the fonts or colours for the subtitles. These settings seem to be global. Also, both upper case and lower case letters in these fonts look very much like Arial, particularly if entered with a small font size. So you may be mistaken for thinking they default to Arial. Try changing to 48 size and you will see the difference. (Narkis has obvious serifs at this size for example) But as I mentioned, you cant use the hebrew letters as you cant easily access them from a standard keyboard. (Unless you know the key sequence code for each letter) If you ARE wanting to use Hebrew characters in your subtitles then you will have to try the method I outlined..i.e. using your windows character table for constructing your text and then copy/pasting the result into the VP subtitle box. If you do find another way I would be really interested to know how you get on. Regards Nat

Hi You are correct. The Fraps FPS1 avi format seem to crash VP.Just trying to drag them from the media list is enough to cause things to come to a dead stop. If you want to edit them in VP, you can convert them to MPEG2 format easily enough and then they will load into VP OK. Definition in the saved project seems OK. Converting these to MPEG2 format (about 800 mb) takes around 160 seconds on my PC. I am using "Any Video Converter" from http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/ and you can convert multiple files at a time with this free software. Incidentaly the Fraps avi play fine in Windows Media player. If it was my choice however, I would probably use Windows Movie Maker to edit these files as they load there and play OK. Nat

Hi Yes, they work properly...but....something I wasn't thinking about...actually what you may be trying to do... I am assuming now that as you are adding subtitles in hebrew (??) and so, using a Hebrew font like Aharoni you will be need to use Windows special characters which, as such, dont figure in the normal 26 letter western alphabet and which, presumably aren't caterered for in VP or your keyboard. If this is the case, and you want Hebrew letters it IS possible to use these to your subtitles although it's a bit convoluted but not too difficult. In Windows open up your table of characters. (Start- All programs - Accessories - System Tools-Character table) Down arrow the font selection and pick Aharoni.(Or your other font of choice) Indicate your hebrew text letter by letter by double clicking the characters in the table. The text will appear in the window below the table. e.g. אבגדהוזחטיﬠשׁשׂשּׁשּׂאַאָאּבּגּדּהּוּזּטּיּךּכּלּך (OK This is just a line of meanigless signs to me. Hope it's not something rude but I hope you get the gist) Now click Copy. Back in VP go into the subtitle window and Paste your hebrew text into the subtitle box. Set your parameters-size colour position etc. then Add and Continue. This will work even if the selected font is not in the font window. It would be possible to use the shortcut keys to add these special characters - like Alt+0234 to give ê etc. but it would mean you would have to memorise the codes for all your characters. Hope this helps. Nat

Hi Probably a daft question, but do you have those fonts installed on your PC? If not VP won't list them (but will allow you to enter the name) but won't find them and will default to the last used font. e.g.Arial. I have Aharoni on my PC which comes up and Narkisim which also works. Nat

Hi Sorry, your description of what you want to do is not very clear.I think you will need to supply a few more details. You say you are opening a movie. Are you opening a "project" or are you are just adding a clip to the media list? What format is the clip please. You are previewing the clip in the left hand window (presumably)and you are selecting start and stop points using the "in point" (red) and "out point" (blue)flags. (Red flag to the left of the Blue flag) How long is the section that you are selecting? Is this creating a section marked in green? (Should be.) You are then adding this section to the time line. How are you doing this? Are you using the "Save as new clip" button or dragging the new clip from the media list window? (Both methods should work) Are there other clips already on the timeline? You now say SPLIT. Why are splitting - and exactly what steps have you done to do this? Are you inserting a sequence?....Where is the curser line etc? You now save your sequence. How are you doing this and what are the settings? (Format...To PC or disc?) Lastly, What version of VP are you using? Can't say at this point why you have a black section, or black frames. Are you adding any black frames anywhere prior to your edit? Nat

Hi Sorry, can't help as I use V2.12. What happens if you convert your wav file to say, a wma file and try loading that? Like you, I can add wma or wav, even aiff files to VP and they all play OK. Nat

Hi Normally if you save your project to disc VP creates an AUDIO-TS file and a VIDEO-TS file The VIDEO-TS folder contains the BUP, IFO and VOB files for your project. These will play on your DVD player. (They do on mine at least) Note that VP will not create a menu for your project and the film should auto start. If you created bookmarks in your project you can jump from one to the next bookmark as they are treated as chapters. Saving as an MPEG2 file as a VIDEO DISC can't be done although you can easily save your project as an avi (XVID) to your PC and then convert it to an MPEG2. In this format you could then load it into Windows Movie Maker and create you DVD (with menu) from there. Nat

Hi I haven't used Debut but it would seem to be something connected with the resolution you recorded your film at. If this was low and you are "blowing it up" by resaving your sequence at HD 1080 using a larger frame size it may very well look more blocky. Does Debut give you a choice of resolutions? Nat

Hi Unlike animated GIFs that can be made to repeat continuously VP is designed to create films that start and finish. I don't know of way that you can create an "endless film". If the sequence you have created is not too long, you could simply add it to itself as many times as you wish, so as to create a long movie that simply consists of the same sequence repeated over and over again, but at some point it will have to finish. On the other hand you could play your sequence with Windows Media Player set to "Loop" Nat