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Nationalsolo

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  1. Hi Alan Passed this along to NCH for a comment. I still think this is a bug as it involves Scaling up both axes of the outlined area to fit into the frame. (which is, after all, what a zoom is...Telephoto lenses don't just enlarge the view vertically In fact there was a version that had this bug (which was quickly corrected) so perhaps it has crept in again. In essence, to my mind, the Zoom effect in VP does this....... Crops the frame to the designated area/ Scales up the axes of the designated area until one of the sides fits into the preview screen. I think in this case it's only scaling up one side of the rectangle and leaving the other at the cropped stage. Hence the output is squashed (i.e. not scaled.) The additional step of Stretching to a set AR should not be necessary. I have used the Stretch option at times where a slightly cropped clip or scaled clip ends up not quite 16:9 (full frame) leaving narrow black bars and Stretching to AR (16:9) gets it accurate and as already being close the distortion introduced is not evident. See what comes back. Regards Nat
  2. Hi Alan Interesting discussion. "....If you expect the output to fill 16:9 you have to start with 16:9 In all other cases your output WILL match AR of the input - in fact in all case it will..." I don't agree The zoom result is what YOU set........ It's not dictated by the AR of the input. Any AR image can be zoomed into and the output will be the AR set by the zoom. "........work on a square image, and all works the same, but you will get a square output.........." Not so. A square image (like the Sun in glasses -112 112 ) gives a 16:9 output with out stretching/squashing. As shown in my example above. In this case it WAS to obtain a full 16:9 frame not just to zoom the into square image. The output was determined by the Zoom AR setting. If I wanted a zoomed square image then I would set an AR of 1:1 This output won't fill the frame of course as that is 16:9 but it's not distorted which is what you seem to be getting. It shouldn't need to be stretched to the AR. It should never be distorted with Zoom. If you want 16:9, you set 16:9 the rectangle shows the contents of the resulting frame that doesn't require any stretching. If the image is square that's not a problem; VP zooms the rectangle and, whatever its shape (above it is square) fits its height or width to the screen consequently leaving borders that end up transparent. There is no stretching or squashing That is what happens here. i.e. If an different AR image is used VP zooms all the area designated and then enlarges it back to the preview/timeline until either the height or the width fits. No other steps are required. It shouldn't squash it or stretch it. One of these enlarging steps is missing IMHO. Nat
  3. Hi Has the VP cache reached the designated limit as shown in Options/Disk? Have you ever emptied the cache after completing previous projects if so it may be full? Try saving your project (As) and then clearing the cache. Reload the saved vpj file and see if it comes back. Nat
  4. Hi Try playing with the Color Curves effect. Combined with exposure you may get something. You will probably need to experiment quite a bit. Not night exactly but not simply exposure either. Nat
  5. Hi Alan To my mind that is not right. As I see it, no matter what AR your image is, long and thin or tall and narrow the 16:9 zoom frame should produce a 16:9 full screen image that is not squashed. Unless NCH have made changes I would suggest this is a bug. Seems that the horizontal zoom adjustment is not acting correctly. As this presumably involves scaling the values, this step may have been inadvertently missed. It would be interesting to know what happens to the sequence preview at your end if the AR box is left unticked and you adjust the horizontal value independently. Here (with 10.43), there is no distortion, the custom zoom area simply filles the frame vertically or horizontally with whichever side is largest but again with out squashing or stretching. So, here's a similar VP screen capture to your own with a wide screen image and 16:9 zoom... Just the zoom frame set at 16:9 added and Sequence preview and timeline are fine! (Export also) Nat
  6. Hi VP version 10.43 but later versions should behave the same as this is what a zoom is. Note: Zoom shouldn't stretch or squash anything so as a simple test check your version as follows....... Place your clip/image on the timeline. It can be any AR but usually clips are 16:9 as here... Click the FX box on the timeline and select the Zoom effect. Set the aspect ratio of the zoom to 16:9 in the drop down list. This will place a 16:9 zoom rectangle on the preview display within the image. As they are both AR 16:9 nothing is cut off..... Drag the edges or corners to outline a part of the clip you wish to zoom in to. The zoomed 16:9 area will remain the same AR but obviously smaller. There should be no distortion stretching or squashing. Here I have dual previews set up and you can see that the sequence preview on the right shows the area zoomed and full frame. It is not squashed or otherwise distorted. This clip exports (in VLC) as an mp4 exactly like as above just with the letterbox option ticked. Which is the default... Note again, it remains 16:9 and is not distorted. ############## Assuming now I used a different AR for my initial clip/image and requires a 16:9 result zoomed in.. Here's a square image on preview... (A bit low res.but no matter ) Now add the 16:9 AR Zoom as outlined above...... VP places the 16:9 zoom rectangle within the image positioned at the top (as before) but the image is not 16:9 and some of the image is therefore excluded from the rectangle. But as before you can adjust the 16:9 rectangle to outline the area you want to zoom into... This exports as a 16:9 full frame clip/image as before with no squashing etc.... (Although a bit overzoomed in this example ) Panning across a wide screen image/clip should be just the same using two keyframes and Zoom 1 and Zoom 2. (Start and End zooms can be different) If you are getting a compressed image vertically (or horizontally) doing is then your version would seem to have a bug. Nat
  7. Hi Yes, similar questions crop up from time to time but changes in the software sometimes meas that the replies have become a bit out of date. However |I don't think this is one of them. Were you using the Zoom effect for your test? It should work as I described. In the example quoted you select a Start frame and an End frame with two keyframes. Note that I mentioned that the AR for these frames has to be set at 16:9 or they won't fill the frame and you will have chequered areas. There is a list of AR you can select from. Zoom will not squash or stretch the image even if no AR is chosen. It will size (enlarge/zoom) the designated area whatever its AR (even a freehand shape) so it maximises in the preview frame, either the height will fit or the width will fit , whichever is the larger. 16:9 is the VP frame shape and so it will always fit correctly on both directions. Scale, on the other hand will distort the image depending on whether or not you retain the AR. The box is ticked by default, presumably prevent squashing/stretching unless required. Nat
  8. Hi Should be able to drag it left/right on an empty track with no problem. To get it to the front drag it left and then up to the main audio track and then left so the dotted line is at the start. When it's is released the main audio and its linked sound moves left to accommodate it... Record_2021_11_19_18_55_39_205.mp4 This example with VP Version 10.43 (32 bit) Does your version behave like this? Nat
  9. Hi Your three missing files downloaded OK. The vpj file downloaded earlier correctly created your project with these........ At first the Intro only played in the left channel and the clip part had no sound at all. So check out the Audio Track1 setting at the left end of the timeline.......it was slid to the far right. Every thing was OK once this was centred. Simples I am not sure if this setting was (or is) downloaded with your vpj file or not but it would be easy to miss and puzzling as the audio track is there. Centre it in the slider and all should be OK Nat At first the preview
  10. Hi You only posted the vpj file. In order to check out the project you need to send the clips as well. It's missing 3... Nat
  11. Hi VP 10.43 (32 bit) on a Vista machine Your images downloaded OK. The largest 5472 x 3080 scaled in VP down from full to tiny as per your example using a 5 second clip as follows.. With export size 1920 x 1080 (HD) mp4 OK With export size 2560 x 2440 (2K) mp4 OK With export size 3840 x 2160 (4K) mp4 This did not scale. Image remained fxed until end With export size 5472 x 3080 (Custom) mp4 This did not scale Image remained fixed until end The Scale effect was using a fixed AR for these checks. Seems here at least you need to keep the images you use to a resolution of 2560 x 2440 (2K) for a scale effect export to be effective. Nat
  12. Hi Your image seems to show that the green bar has not completed caching or it's an incomplete cache.. Nat
  13. Hi "....The NCH still claims that there's a down arrow next to video effects for doing this, so that's pretty outdated for trying to get this figured out....." In 10.43 There is a horizontal arrow under the menu tab Video Effects ... ...and also a Speed Change effect option if you use the FX box on the timeline. Both link to the same control window...... Setting the speed to 300% should show the Duration value alter, but click Set to fix the new value. You can also directly change the current duration value to the new required duration. The timeline clip should then immediately shorten to this value and fully play at the new speed but it should NOT simply truncate. Nat
  14. Hi That shouldn't happen. Clips on Track 2 (overlays) should remain in their place irrespective of which end you trim off or extend or whether you Delete or Delete (Ripple) the trimmed off section. They should only move if you drag them or close the gap. If you close the gap all clips to the right of the gap should move left. Nat
  15. Hi Yes, Check out the possibilities. For maximum simplicity VP can make at most a 5 x 5 grid using the split screen effect but it would require you to use 25 tracks, one for each student. The upside here is that you would have full control of which person appears in which part of the grid and you can easily swap them about. The downside is that depending on your PC and the size of the clips, 25 tracks is a pretty hefty load for VP to run without any glitches. More students than this this and you would need to use the ideas set out in the stickies where the number of tracks is greatly reduced using exported sequences. Swapping, as Borate mentions would be pretty complicated. As far as swapping the boxes around using the basic VP split screen setup, things would be much easier. The split screen is added to each of the 25 tracks and the clips assigned to their respective grid box. At some point in the timeline when you want to swap some or all the boxes, split all the tracks. Reassign the positions for the right hand portion of each track. The left hand section will retain their original positions. Repeat the process further along the timeline to make another change and so on. Nat
  16. Hi ".......... I'm having trouble though with the Title clip. It just runs for 3 seconds and I cannot figure out how to make it play longer........" If you used one of the intro templates it will have been loaded to the start of the project on Video Track 1 and will precede your own clips. Depending on its content it may also have a text component on Track 2 above it. The duration of the template can be set when you set it up. If you used a Text clip this will appear on Track 2 as by default it's an image with transparency. Note that Text clips are images and as such play for the default still image time shown in Menu/Tools/Options/Media/Default still image duration and this can be set beforehand. If you have already placed a text clip, changing the default duration won't reset the clip.(only new ones if you add more) If you have used a text image you can lengthen the time it displays by grabbing the white block handle at the end of the clip (a square arrowed bracket will appear) and dragging this out along the track. "........It also overlays the sequence video (though not the sequence sound). I want it to play before the commencement of the sequence video and sound. How is that done?....." As you note, the text will overlay Track 1. If you want it to play before your clips then ... Grab the text clip on the overlay Track Drag it down to Track 1 and move it to the left so the white arrowed line is at the start of the track. Release the clip and it will be placed at the start before your clips which will move along to accommodate it. Note that unless you have used Full Background colour option in the text editor when you set up your text, the transparent area will export (and appear in the sequence preview pane) as black. There are many options so keep experimenting. Nat
  17. Hi VP 10.43..... "........I have a 1920x1080 video and I want to maintain the height and just remove the sides so the final product is 960x1080........." OK.....Here it is on Track 1..... ".......and I want to maintain the height and just remove the sides so the final product is 960x1080........." OK..... 960 x 1080 is an AR of 0.8 or approx (4:5) So, add a Crop effect of AR 4:5 (it's on the list of crops) and set the X2 value to 80 (0.8 of 100% width which centres the cropped area) Result is a video 960 x 1080. Unless you want to squash it you HAVE to lose the side areas. Is this what you want?? Nat
  18. Hi ".........1. Trim out some small sections that I don't want included in the final video (the files are so long that I can't easily do it by visually dragging my cursor to highlight just the sections I want to delete)......." A two hour clip is pretty lengthy. Nevertheless try the above. With the idea of keeping things simple, think of your clip as a piece of cine film and you want to chop out the bad bits. Proceed thus..... Start by opening the program and Clearing unused cache files from the VP cache under Options/Disk Add your clip to VP using the Add File(s) tab. Note: A big clip may take a bit of time to load and get indexed. When complete, Drag and Drop it from the clip bin to Video Track 1 (if it doesn't automatically go there) and wait until it has been cached (The green bar has finished.) Now your video is on the track and is ready to edit. Play the clip to the start of the bad bit. You can also drag the red cursor along the track to this point. Click the top of the red cursor line and then split the track with the scissors icon on the tab that appears. Play the clip (or drag the cursor along the track) to the end of the bad section. You now have two splits in your clip. Right click on the unwanted section between the splits and from the menu select Delete (Ripple). This will remove the unwanted section of your clip and automatically close the gap up. Save Project File As to ensure you can come back to this point if things go wrong later. (Give it a name like "Edit 1.vpj" You have now trimmed out a section of your project and spliced the ends together. Simply repeat this procedure for other unwanted sections. and do a Save project File As each time. (It works just like film, except you can undo the steps that go wrong. "........2. Create and insert a couple of title cards......." VP has a few Template clips that you could use if you want.... Click the Templates Select one of the intro templates. Adapt the text etc. to your liking. An intro template will be placed at the start of your video. As an alternative way of adding a title you can add a text clip... Click the Add Title tab Select the type of title that you want and if you want it to scroll or not. In the text editor set up the text and its attributes. The default text is "Title text" so swipe it and type in your own. The title you create will automatically be placed on Video Track 2 where the cursor is. Drag it to the position you want it to play. Create another text title if required. Using the Add Text tab is little different. Note that in each case an image clip of the text is created and placed in the image bin. Placing them on track 2 creates an overlay that plays over whatever is on track 1. Text images are normally produced on a transparent background so track 1 is usually visible behind the text. They can be made pretty complex but these are basic instructions. Try out the steps with a short clip so you can see what is happening. Hope this is of some help. Nat
  19. Hi OK. Why not outline those basic tasks and what you are not getting? It doesn't matter how how simple they are. Nat
  20. Hi "......(hope you can view them)....." Afraid not! I just get .... The other link gave the same message with an inverted ice cream cone instead of a bicycle. Not sure if the fault is on my end or on One-drive. I may try a system restore and try again later. Nat
  21. Hi For the basic operations click the ? top right of the main screen or press the F1 key and check out the relevant program controls. The best way to learn is to keep it simple Anything you can't grasp ask here. Someone will help. It doesn't matter if it's a simple thing. (The simpler the better ) Nat
  22. Hi VP should reload with the factory defined default locations and it's up to you to restore them manually to those you had set up previously as Borate describes. The actual user defined settings are held in the PC Registry for NCH/Videopad and consequently would require some knowledge to restore after a complete system reformat as simply reloading a copy of the registry would impact on the programs you currently have which would might be absent after reformatting.Changing them back manually is the best option. Nat
  23. Hi At least up to VP version 10.43.... The cache does not clear automatically. You have to do this yourself. If you never clear it. it will continue to grow with every project you create. (At least up to the value noted in Options/Disk. ) and using large files will fill it faster. If you have a project open and are working on it, Options/Disk/Clear Unused Cache Files will clear out all the files apart from those used by the current project. If you have Saved Project or Saved project As you will have created a .vpj file. It is good practice to save your project regularly. If you don't load a project and you clear the cache, or manually clear the cache totally, then if you open the .vpj file,( and provided you have the clips/images/Audio) etc. still on your PC,) VP will reconstruct your project and restore the cache using only those clips. If you have removed/renamed/deleted any clips you will be asked to find (resolve) them. Unless you intend to return to a project it is advisable to clear the cache after every completed project. If you never save your work and clear the cache you may not be able to restore your work. Nat
  24. Hi Images (on Track 2) can be positioned on top of the the main clip on Track 1 using the Position effect. Usually one adds a Scale effect first to make them smaller. If you set up Dual displays in Options/Display you can easily monitor where they are relative to the clip on Track 1 As an alternative use the Picture in Picture effect. it has the same controls but in one effect window. Offset X and Offset Y values can be adjusted by pixel using the value boxes to move the overlaid image with more precision. Another way of placing images against the main video is to use the Split Screen effect. This is commonly used to evenly position multiple images (on different tracks) onto different parts the screen. In principle VP will divide the screen up into various boxes (matrices) (big option list) into each of which you can place a different image. They can be scaled and positioned within each box. If you are not sure regarding using this come back here and ask. Nat
  25. Hi VP 10.43 on a Vista machine 32 bit Apart from the additional problems you note. The simplest way to "insert" an image or a video without losing the synchronising between Track 1 and its audio is to simply overlay the image/clip on Track 2 with a fade in and a fade out. This example is simply the clip on Track 1. plus an image on Track 2 and a text on Track 3...... ".....I know I could simply superpose new images on the main video in an additional video/image line, but in this case the visual of the main video, on background, does not disappear which is what I want. Any solution for me ?...." This is that method and there is no need to use any transition. but are you wanting the main clip to fade out BEFORE the "inserted" clip/image fades in?? Nat Untitled 1.mp4
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