Nationalsolo

Hi SRT file for my example above generated with VP 6.29 uses --> as well as indicating font color... 001 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,590 <font color='#FFFFFF'>Welcome to my video</font> 002 00:00:02,001 --> 00:00:10,804 <font color='#FFFFFF'>I'm going to show you how to change a lightbulb</font> This was Copy/Paste of the file but did you retype yours? using ==> ? Nat

Hi " This begs the question; how does one link tracks, and what exactly does linking achieve ? " Right clicking on the clip, either in the clip bin or on the timeline will (or should) bring up a menu with Unlink from Audio option. Right clicking the Audio track for the clip will (or should) bring up a menu with Unlink Video option. Selecting these options will allow the user to separate the Video from the Audio (or vice versa) making them independent and will allow either to be positioned differently on the timeline or independently deleted. If they are already unlinked the options become Restore linked clip.(except for the clip bin which remains the unlink option which must be an oversight.) A similar option to Link/Unlink is Group. Link/Unlink (AFAIK) only works on individual clips meaning you can't grab a bunch of clips and un-associate the sound. Grouping a series of clips effectively makes them behave as a single unit and any unlinked track is unnaffected meaning if you move the clip group the unlinked sound remains where it is. (This can lead to complications so it's best avoided.) " ...between a clip that is inserted which already has audio content, and an inserted image clip to which one adds an audio track. " Inserting a clip with sound is just that...A space is made in the timeline audio and video tracks and the new clip (with its audio) is placed in the space. There are no gaps. An image clip (no audio) can be inserted in exactly the same way but as there is no audio associated with an image the sound track will now have a gap in it. You can fill this gap with a separate audio clip..adjusting the duration of the image clip if necessary but the audio, being from a different source cannot be LINKED to the image clip. All is not lost though as they can be GROUPED which makes them behave as though they were linked.(Right click both clips with the SHIFT key pressed and take the Group Selected Clips option.) Nat

Hi They look OK. "Welcome....." Starts at zero time (start of clip) and stops at 1.5 sec "I'm going"......." starts at 2.0 sec and finishes at 9.59 sec Can't see any zeros apart from the first. VP 6.29 This example was saved from VP as an .SRT file and reloaded back to a different clip exactly as saved..... Show and hide times have not altered. Start at zero finish at 1.59 sec Start at 2.0 and finish at 5.0 sec (End of clip) Was the subtitle file created with VP? If it was created with a different editor the timings will probably be different. You can alter them in VP using the start and finish markers after highlighting the particular subtitle in the list. Nat

Hi Exactly! The main track...Video track 1 and Audio track1 contain the clips that make up your main project line. (like MM) and , as noted if you insert a clip at any point into Video track 1 (on a join or otherwise,) it will split both the video and the audio, pushing the right hand clips with their sound along the track and creating a break. They will stay in synch but your inserted clip will cause a break in the film and its soundtrack so to speak. Placing the new clip onto Video track 2 however will not do this. It will overlay the visuals on Track1 where its position can be adjusted. Its sound track will get placed on Audio track 2 (At this point both audio tracks will mix and play together.) The new clip on Video track 2 however will "cover up" the clip on Video track1 and will play in in its place. If you don't want the sound for the overlaid clip on Audio track 2 to mix you can mute it or unlink and deleted it so only Audio track 1 is heard. You will now have a soundtrack on Audio track 1 with no breaks in it and a matching video on Video track 1. When the sequence is previewed you will have cut-aways of the clip on the overlay track but no breaks in the audio. All tracks above Video track1 are overlay tracks. Clips placed on these will overplay clips below them. You can use fade and other effects etc on the overlay clips in the same way as the main track. Working like this you may not need to unlink any of your sound and except for very complex projects may not even need to use more than 2 or 3 tracks. Nat

Hi My browser doesn't support your example video format unfortunately so I can't see exactly what you are after but unless I am barking up the wrong tree can you not simply place the the new clip on the overlay track (muted,) move it to the desired position and trim it? This won't create gaps in the main audio or require anything on the main track to be shifted. Anything you insert will logically move the clips and their sound apart. Nat

Hi The images you posted do not seem to have the same degree of compression. But there is a green tinge a bit like the effect one sometimes sees in jpg images when compression is high. Large expanses of similar colours that shade gently from one to another are reduced to fewer shades for compression purposes leaving blocks of intermediate colours. It may be that your export parameters are not optimum. Here's an example using a jpg image. Both sides are compressed but the one on the right deliberately exaggerated has too much . In the export screen VP under Default Quality/File size try an export at High Quality and see if it makes any difference. This image has mostly blue but grey might show green as an intermediate shade. Obviously repeating the process with the same settings will result in a worsening image. Nat

Hi Another useful point is if you trim a clip in the bin and then place it on the timeline it will be on the timeline in its trimmed state. If you then select the same clip in the bin again, in the preview window it will show (obviously) that you have trimmed it but you can re-trim it and place it on the timeline in a new trimmed state. The first clip on the timeline will not be altered. In this way you can use the same clip over and over again (if needs be) and have each trimmed differently. Nat

Hi There's a post here with something similar. Not sure if this was resolved. http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/23203-help-exported-video-has-redgreen-tinge/?tab=comments#comment-54263 Nat

Hi By distortion I presume you mean a mixture of sounds. When you use crossfade to transition between clips on the same track and you choose the option to move the clips, you are in effect overlapping them by half of the crossfade duration that is set. This also overlaps the sound track which is associated with the clips so the sound transition also dissolves. Crossfade implies that the end of clip one will play over the start of clip 2. This will result in a break in the sound although the clips will remain in synchronization before and after the transition. If both clips for example are of the same event filmed from different positions then you could use a single soundtrack of the whole event associated for clip1 and then place clip 2 on the overlay track and adjusting its position so both tracks play in synch. Now you can mute clip 2 and without moving it split and remove sections not required. (i.e create cut-aways) these clip pieces will play over clip 1 being overlays and will be in synch with the main clip and its sound track. All that is required now is use the fade-in and fade out options (using the f tab or transparency effect) on the start and end each of the overlay clips to achieve a dissolve between tracks.The sound will be in synch ( or should be) from the start of the project for both video tracks. Nat

Hi What is your preview display resolution? On my Vista PC I used to have a similar problem but not when I set the display to a lower value. (512 x 288) Right click the preview screen and select Change Preview Settings. Under Preset you will have a series of resolutions. Pick a lower one with the same AR as your clips. See if it makes any difference. This will also speed up the thumbnail generation. You won't see much difference in the display definition unless you undock the preview pane and enlarge the window. neither does it affect the export resolution. Nat

Hi VP 6.28 Spotlight works fine! Example clip shows this effect "search-lighting" a moving aeroplane. No glitches with numerous keyframes.... Preview resolution in this example is 512 x 288. Nat (Not J! )

Hi ".....which of the 4 bins names in the upper left is the "clip bin"? All I see is "Sequences", "video files", "audio files", and "images". No tab is labeled "clips". So what is this "clip bin" you speak of?" Each of those tabs if clicked will open a "bin" The Video Files bin is the one usually referred to as the "Clip" bin as it contains the thumbnails of the clips you have loaded to VP. When these clips are dragged or placed on the timeline they show a green tick. The first thing to note is you have Clip Preview and Sequence Preview windows open. That's OK. On the left you will see that there is a row of thumbnails under the Clip preview window showing the contents of the Clip. The start of this clip is obviously black...perhaps you have a fade in effect or a black frame.** The cursor is positioned in this section so the clip preview pane is also black. On the right is the Sequence preview window in which the cursor is someway along the first clip (which is the clip selected) and shows the frame at this position which is not black. The sequence track shows you are in Storyboard mode with two clips present. As noted above, clip one is selected. The cursor line position here reflects the cursor line position in the Sequence pane and shows that you are displaying a frame from clip one but it is obviously beyond the black section ** so an image is shown in the Sequence window. ** Note that the black area could be a single frame at the start of clip one . From your image it is hard to tell as the clip preview cursor is positioned at the start of the clip. The last thing to note is that you have one clip only in the "Clip bin" and you have placed this twice on the timeline. As the storyboard frames have different images you have seemingly used the method (3) described in my post above to change one of those images using Use this Frame for Thumb Frame. The "clip bin" thumbnails is the same as in the storyboard first clip so you probably changed thumbnail two. Hope this resolves the confusion...There is nothing wrong here.. Nat

Hi Bit complex. In a nutshell... Select a clip in the bin. (Nothing on timeline) In clip preview select frame and right clip the preview window Choose Use this frame for Thumbnail and image in the clip bin will change. and Select a clip in the bin and place on the timeline In clip preview select a frame and right click the preview window Choose Use this frame for Thumbnail. In Timeline mode nothing changes In Storyboard mode however the clip image is changed and Select a clip in the bin and place on the timeline Select another clip from the bin and place on the timeline after the first clip. This can be the same clip or a different clip Select first clip from the timeline In clip preview select frame and right clip the preview window Choose Use this frame for Thumbnail Timeline remains unchanged Select second clip from the timeline In clip preview select a frame (or a different frame if the same clip is used) and right click the preview window Choose Use this frame for Thumbnail In timeline mode nothing changes In Storyboard mode however both of the identical clips show their selected images and a new clip will also show its selected image. I think that covers it. Nat

Hi ".......try loading a video file into a sequence and split it into several clips. The default thumbnail for each clip it the first frame of each - not a bad choice. ..." On the timeline the split point of the clip shows the frame at the split depending on the zoom level. The "thumbnail" referred to in the context of this thread is the image seen in the clip bin and this is chosen from the clip bin clip when it is displayed in the clip preview window. It won't change if the clip is selected from the timeline. Also when a thumbnail is selected in this way.....and provided the clip on the timeline has not been split, that thumbnail will appear as the clip image in storyboard mode as well . i.e. the clip bin image will be the same as the storyboard image. "Btw, I don't know what you mean by "in the bin" the image does change. "In the bin" refers to the image shown in the Clip Bin. As I said..If you select a clip from the clip bin (right click it) it will preview in the Clip Preview window. Slide the cursor line along under this window to a desired frame and then right click the preview pane. In the menu that appears select Use this frame for Thumb Frame. This will change the image in the clip bin. ( If the clip is on the timeline already the storyboard thumbnail for the clip will also change.) If you split the clip after you change the thumbnail, the storyboard thumbnail will not change but I think this depends on where the split is made relevant to the position of the frame you chose for the thumbnail. Selecting a clip from the sequence line will not work...even if you use the clip preview pane. This may be what NCH are working on. "I've never seen thumbnail's of clips derived from video files showing up in any of the 4 bins (video files, audio files, images, sequences). Is there I "clip bin" somewhere I've accidentally made invisible?" If you are not seeing images in any of the bins then you are most probably in List View. If this is the case look at the top of the bin...there will be a button containing 4 small squares. Right click this and you should now see clip thumbnails in the bin. Nat

Hi Just checked this out in 6.28. Seems to work OK i.e. Load a clip Place it on the timeline (This step in obligatory-It can be added to other clips if wanted) Select the clip it in the clip bin In the Clip Preview window , move the cursor line to the frame you want to use Right click the preview image (the frame you want) Select Use this Frame for Thumb Frame The clip bin thumbnail is changed for the selected frame. As far as I know it has always functioned in this way. i.e. The feature works only with clips selected from the clip bin. It does NOT work if the frame is selected from a clip on the timeline and examined in clip preview...It must be selected from the clip bin. It might be helpful if the prompt was removed from the menu if the clip is selected from the timeline. (Unless this route was meant to function and actually doesn't.) Nat

Hi v6.28 Transitions (Xfade/Fade etc seem to work OK even when short but the f fade shows a flash black frame at the end if the duration is shortened.Same as Borate's findings. Nat

Hi That seems to be the case also in 6.24..... However Clip B (on track2) does show the trim in clip preview. Moving the end marker to a new position doesn't help either although in clip preview the clip stops correctly. In sequence preview it continues to play to the end. Does seem like a bug. In 6.28 if you add clip B to the overlay timeline using the right click menu options and then use the IN/OUT markers to truncate the clip it seems to work OK. Previously I dragged clip B to the overlay track and dragged the end of the clip back manually, so perhaps that is where the problem lies. Just checked this again and found that if the B clip is shorter than the A clip the error occurs but if the B clip is longer than the A clip it seems to work...... Nat

Hi Are you referring to videos you have exported using VP or video clips that you can't load to VP? Nat

Hi Have you tried to Stabilise the clip instead of moving the frame to keep the subject still. You can eliminate any borders with crop if they are larger than the effect settings. If this doesn't work upload the clip to dropbox or similar hosting site along with the vpj file and someone will take a look. Nat

Hi Borate " Don't believe a sequence in of itself can be "saved." I think you may be correct. When I referred to the sequences as "saved" I meant that the timeline contents were now in the sequence bin as a single clip but perhaps this is not actually the case, I don't know. But with the timeline now empty you can click on the Sequence N x tab and what comes back into the timeline are the original clips from the clip bin, not the "saved" sequence which is what I might have expected. It obviously just recreates the timeline as it was before the sequence was "saved". At this point the Sequence bin still holds the "saved" sequence. Deleting the timeline now un-ticks the clips in the clip bin (logical) but also deletes the sequence in the bin which I think is incorrect. However in some respects it might be considered logical but I would like to see the sequence bin contents relisted correctly after deletions and that includes the references over the timeline. Nat

Hi Borate It might be interesting to note that having created sequences using the Sequence N x + tab which clears the timeline each time as is normal, clicking any of the Sequence N x tabs does NOT load back the sequence, it loads back the clips that made it up. Deleting or editing the timeline will now alter (or even delete) the "saved" sequence leaving a clapperboard which could be important. I was using testing with single MP4 clips to create the sequences and even though it seemed I was loading the "Sequence" using the Sequence N x tab, VP actually loaded the clip from the Clip bin. (The soundtrack appeared.) Clearing or deleting the timeline now unticked the clip in the clip bin but also removed the sequence from the sequence bin leaving the clapperboard. I don't think it should do this. Nat

Hi Borate I have 4 sequences waiting in the sequence bin + the next blank dummy. I tried your Green sandwich/File/Export all Sequences...but this only brought up an inoperative Export video window with the three options that don't work. Been there before of course. e.g. using Export Wizard!). It's about time this cul de sac was made to work or removed. (VP Professional 6.24) Exporting separate sequences as separate files in one go would be a useful feature if it could be made to work. I tried the other Export tabs but the option to Export all Sequences was not present on these. The second option of using the Sequence 1 x tabs etc. to load the sequences back to the empty timeline is at best cumbersome and not intuitive. In fact I found that when I tried this the sequence exported straight away but also removed the file from the sequence bin leaving just the clapperboard icon. It seemed no better than exporting each section in the first place. I noticed a few anomalies here like having placed a sequence on the timeline using the sequence N x tab, deleting the clip on the timeline also deletes the clip in the sequence bin.That's not correct. I am using a single clip here and so its easily remedied, but it could be very annoying if the sequence in question had been a complex construction that had been "saved" The other thing I noticed was that the clapperboard clips remained numbered in the bin Sequence 1....etc. (6 in total) and also remained listed over the timelime. When I loaded a new clip to the clip bin and then dropped it onto the empty timeline and created a new sequence (Sequence 7x) it appeared in the sequence clip bin as sequence 4! (In a repeat it came up as Sequence 3!) It's a bit untidy to say the least. Nat

Hi I think the word "Sequence" may mean different things to different users and so can be confusing. NCH call the contents of the timeline a "Sequence" and I suppose it is in a literal sense, but they also refer to the converted timeline as a "Sequence" which it no longer what it is as it now consists of a single clip. I prefer to call the timeline contents the "Project" consisting of clips contained in the clip bin and which is the video you are currently editing. Once a section of the project is completed it can be converted to a "Sequence" and placed into the Sequence bin, either to be exported at a later time or used like a clip to be incorporated into a subsequent project. So you could work in this way... Create a project that has a section in it and when finished export it. Then create project 2 and export it etc. i.e. create a video for each section of your lecture. Create a project of section 1 and place it in the sequence bin, Create a project of section 2 and place it in the sequence bin etc. Reload each in turn in any order to the timeline and complete if needed and then export it. Do the same for the remaining clips in the sequence bin. You can't export individual sections of the timeline without separating them out. For exporting you have to go one by one. It's the timeline contents each export. Nat

Hi Every time you create a sequence of your current completed timeline it is placed in the Sequence bin and numbered. It will in effect be a type of "export". The timeline is cleared when you do this in order for you to create a subsequent sequence and so on. At any point the clips in the sequence bin can be added back the timeline like any clip and in any order; even inserted into one of its companions. Note however that the sequence soundtrack will be a fusing of the soundtracks used to make the sequence and will not appear as a waveform, but it will be present. If you mean re-arrange your sequences in the bin, then simply right click on the sequence and select Rename from the options that come up. VP will than re-arrange the bin in alphabetical order. (or number order) Nat

Hi Under File save your project as Save Portable Project As, this copies all the files to a designated folder including a .vpj file. Zip them all and post. Nat