Pinnacle Studio 9 Including Studio SE, Studio QuickStart, Studio Standard and Studio Plus Easy, MORE Powerful, MORE Creative Video Editing
Special thanks to Mike Iampietro, William Chien, Richard Edgley, Ivan Maltz, Jon McGowan, Keith Thomson, Jörg Weselmann, and Chris Zamara. Documentation: Nick Sullivan Copyright © 1996-2004 Pinnacle Systems, Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. You agree not to remove any product identification or notices of the property restrictions from Pinnacle Systems’ products or manuals.
Table of contents BEFORE YOU START ..................................................XI Equipment requirements.........................................................................xi Abbreviations and conventions.............................................................xiv On-line help ........................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1: USING STUDIO ....................................... 1 Undo, Redo, Help and Unlock..............................
Digital capture .......................................................................................... 26 SmartCapture: Preview-quality capture................................................. 27 Full-quality capture................................................................................ 29 Audio and video levels – digital ............................................................ 31 Analog capture..........................................................................................
CHAPTER 5: VIDEO CLIPS ........................................ 73 Video clip basics ....................................................................................... 74 Adding video clips to your movie ......................................................... 74 Working with multiple capture files ...................................................... 75 Interface features ................................................................................... 76 Trimming video clips......................
Fun effects ............................................................................................... 109 Lens flare ............................................................................................. 110 Noise.................................................................................................... 110 Water drop ........................................................................................... 111 Style effects.............................................................
CHAPTER 9: DISC MENUS....................................... 161 Disc authoring in Studio ...................................................................... 163 Using menus from the Album.............................................................. 165 The DVD Player Control..................................................................... 167 Editing menus on the Timeline............................................................ 168 Editing with the Clip properties tool ..........................
Audio effects............................................................................................ 220 Noise reduction.................................................................................... 221 Equalizer.............................................................................................. 223 Grungelizer .......................................................................................... 224 Karaoke ...........................................................................
APPENDIX C: TROUBLESHOOTING ....................... 285 Technical help on-line ............................................................................ 286 Studio crashes in Edit mode ................................................................ 289 Capture error occurs on starting capture.............................................. 294 Studio hangs when rendering............................................................... 297 CD or DVD burner is not detected ....................................
Before you start Thank you for purchasing Pinnacle Studio. We hope you enjoy using the software. This manual covers all versions of Studio, including Studio Plus. Differences between versions will be noted as applicable. Most of the time, the word “Studio” will be used generically to refer to all versions. If you have not used Studio before, we recommend that you keep the manual handy for reference even if you don’t actually read it all the way through.
• Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Windows “Millennium”, • • • • • • • • • • • • Windows 2000 or Windows XP (recommended). The MicroMV digital video format is supported only under Windows XP.
If disk space is a concern with your DV captures, use SmartCapture to capture your video at preview quality (see “SmartCapture: Preview-quality capture” on page 27). This feature uses much less disk space. An entire tape can fit in as little as 360 MB. Tip: We recommend using a separate hard drive dedicated to video capture. This avoids competition between Studio and other software, including Windows, for use of the drive during capture.
Abbreviations and conventions This guide uses the following conventions to help organize the material. Terminology Studio: “Studio” and “Studio Plus” refer to the editing software. DV: The term “DV” refers to DV and Digital8 camcorders, VCRs and tapes. 1394: The term “1394” refers to OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394, FireWire, DV or i.LINK interfaces, ports and cables.
Keyboard conventions Key names are spelled with an initial capital and are underlined. A plus sign denotes a key combination. For example: Press Ctrl+A to select all the clips on the Timeline. Mouse clicks When a mouse click is required, the default is always a left-click unless otherwise specified: Right-click and select Go to Title/Menu Editor.
CHAPTER 1: Using Studio Creating movies with Studio is a three-step process: 1. Capture: Import source video material – your “raw footage” – to your PC hard drive. Possible sources include analog videotape (8mm, VHS etc.), digital videotape (DV, Digital8), and live video from a video camera, camcorder or webcam. Capture mode is covered in Chapter 2: Capturing video. 2. Edit: Arrange your video material as desired by reordering scenes and discarding unwanted footage.
Setting the mode Select which step of the movie-making process you want to work on by clicking one of the three mode buttons at the top left of the Studio window: When you switch modes, the Studio screen changes to display the controls needed for the new mode. Undo, Redo, Help and Unlock The Undo, Redo, Help and Unlock buttons are always to be found in the top right corner of the Studio window, no matter which of the three modes you are currently working in.
Chapter 1: Using Studio 3
Setting options Most options in Studio are set using two tabbed dialog boxes. The first lets you control options related to Capture mode and Edit mode. It has four tabs: The other dialog box is concerned with options relating to Make Movie mode. It has six tabs, one for each of the six movie output types: Each panel of both dialog boxes can be opened individually with a corresponding command on the Setup menu (e.g. Setup ¾ Capture Source).
EDIT MODE Studio opens in Edit mode each time it is launched, because that is the mode you use most often. The Edit mode display includes three main areas. The Album stores resources you will use in your movies, including your captured video scenes. The Movie Window is where you create your edited movie by arranging video and sound clips, and by applying transitions and effects. The Player provides playback and previewing for whichever item is currently selected in Studio.
See Chapter 3: The Album and Chapter 4: The Movie Window for detailed information on those topics. The Player The Player displays a preview of your edited movie, or of the item currently selected in the Album. It consists of two main areas: a preview window and playback controls. The preview window displays video images. The playback controls allow you to play the video, or go to an exact position within it. These controls come in two formats: standard and DVD.
for previewing your DVD, VCD or S-VCD disc productions, including menu interaction. The preview window This is a point of focus in Studio because you use it so often, especially for previewing your movie. It can also be used to display: • Any type of Album content. • Still images or titles from your movie. • Changes to video effects in real time while you adjust the parameter controls for the effects. • Still frames from your video.
The DVD toggle button Switch between the two playback modes with the DVD toggle button at the bottom right-hand corner of the Player. This button is only available when your edited movie contains at least one menu. Playback controls The Player presents either of two sets of playback controls depending on the playback mode you choose. When you play your movie back as ordinary video, you will be using the standard playback controls.
Fast reverse, Fast forward: These buttons let you preview your movie at two, four or ten times the normal speed, in either direction. Use them to scan for a particular piece of video you want to work with. Click the buttons repeatedly to loop through the speed factors. Go to beginning: This button halts playback and skips back to the first frame of the material being previewed. Jog buttons: This pair of controls normally steps your movie forward and backward by one frame at a time.
The counter The counter displays the current playback position in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. You can directly modify the counter fields to select an exact frame to view or at which to start playback. Simply click on the number you wish to change and type a new value. To move to a different field, click again or use the Left and Right arrow keys. You can also modify the value in a selected field by using the jog buttons beside the counter or the Up and Down arrow keys.
Further editing topics Please see the following for details on specific editing topics: • Chapter 5: Video clips • Chapter 6: Two-track editing with Studio Plus • Chapter 8: Transitions • Chapter 8: Still images • Chapter 9: Disc menus • Chapter 10: The Title Editor • Chapter 11: Sound effects and music Expanding Studio One way to add pizzazz to your productions is to use a variety of video and audio filters, animated transitions, VCD and DVD menus, and sound effects.
symbolized by a small padlock symbol in the top-left corner of the icon. Such items can be upgraded by purchasing an unlocking code called an activation key. Each key unlocks a small group or theme pack of related content. Additional items of locked content will be provided for download as they become available. These items can sampled and purchased within Studio using the same activation method as for the premium content included with the program installation.
when seen in the Audio effects tool and the Video effects tool, would let you unlock a pack of audio or video filters. Here, the “Bravo Studio Pack 2” page is open in the Video Effects tool. The Unlock Effect Pack button could now be used to unlock the effects in this set. Similar buttons in the Album let you purchase all the media on a particular Album page as a theme pack. The Transitions section of the Album, open to the “HFX Family Fun 1” theme pack of Hollywood FX transitions.
The licensing mechanism employs two distinct but mutually related codes: • An activation key for each premium content item you purchase • Your Passport, which is a number generated the first time you install Studio on your computer. You can view your Passport by selecting the Help ¾ My Passport menu command. Because the Passport is specific to one computer, you will need to obtain new activation keys if you install Studio on a different machine.
CHAPTER 2: Capturing video Capture is the process of importing video from a video source such as a camcorder to a file on your PC’s hard drive. Clips from this “capture file” can then be used in Studio as ingredients of your edited movies. You can open capture files into the Album in Studio’s Edit mode (see Chapter 3: The Album). Capture is the first step in using your video footage. Studio is able to capture from both digital (DV, MicroMV) and analog video sources.
This opens the Capture mode interface, enabling you to set up and carry out video capture. The details of the interface are somewhat different for analog than for digital video sources. Topics in this chapter • “The Capture mode interface” (below) introduces the controls and displays for both analog and digital captures. • “The Capture Process” (page 21) covers setting up for your hardware, gives step-by-step capturing instructions, and describes the automatic scene detection feature.
THE CAPTURE MODE INTERFACE The tools and controls you see in Capture mode are different depending on whether your capture hardware is digital or analog. Digital capture If your video source is digital, your Capture mode screen will look like this: The Album, at the top left of the screen, displays icons representing the video scenes as they are captured. The Player, at top right, lets you view the incoming video while cueing for capture, and monitor the capture itself.
The Camcorder Controller, at bottom left, provides a tape counter display and a set of transport controls for operating the playback device. Finally, the Diskometer, at bottom right, displays the capture space remaining on the drive. It also provides the Start Capture button and buttons for setting capture options. The Diskometer and the Camcorder Controller are described in detail beginning on page 19.
The Diskometer The Diskometer displays, both numerically and graphically, the amount of space available on your capture drive. It also indicates the approximate duration of video that can be accommodated, which depends on both the available space and the configured capture quality. Capture quality settings are selected using the preset buttons that are displayed on the Diskometer for some capture devices, or by entering custom settings.
Setting the capture directory: To save captured video to a different location, click the file folder button . This displays the Select Folder And Default Name For Captured Video dialog. The folder you assign will be used to store captured video during this and future sessions. The file name you enter will be offered as the default file name on your next capture. The Camcorder Controller This panel of transport controls is shown in Capture mode if you are capturing from a digital video source.
THE CAPTURE PROCESS Studio lets you capture video from a variety of analog and digital hardware types. Choose the device you wish to use on the Capture source options panel. See “Capture hardware” (below) for more information. Performing the actual capture is a straightforward stepby-step procedure (see page 23). As the capture proceeds, Studio automatically detects the natural breaks in the incoming video and divides the material into “scenes”.
Availability: Capturing video from MicroMV camcorders is supported only under Windows XP. Pinnacle Systems offers a complete line of DV, analog, and combination capture boards and devices. For more information see your dealer or visit our web-site: www.pinnaclesys.com To select a capture device: Click the Setup ¾ Capture Source menu command. The Capture source options panel appears. 2. Select the devices you want to use from the Video and Audio dropdown lists in the Capture devices area, and click OK. 1.
Capture step-by-step Here is a step-by-step outline of the capture process. The instructions apply to both digital and analog captures, with differences noted as required. Further information relating to some of the steps can be found elsewhere in this chapter. Also see Appendix A: Setup Options (page 247) for detailed descriptions of the Capture source and Capture format options panels. To capture video: Verify that your equipment is properly connected.
you may choose to make your full-quality capture in MPEG rather than DV format. For an analog capture, keep in mind that the higher the quality setting, the larger will be your captured video file. See “Digital capture” (page 26) and “Analog capture” (page 32) for further explanation of these options. 4. Click the Start capture button on the Diskometer. The Capture Video dialog box is displayed. 5. Type in a name for the video capture file you are about to create, or accept the default name.
drive (unless you have unchecked Capture preview on the Capture source options panel). During capture, Studio performs automatic scene detection based on the current setting in the Capture source options panel. 8. Click the Stop capture button to end capture at a point you select. Studio automatically stops capturing if your hard drive fills up or the maximum duration you entered is reached. Scene detection Automatic scene detection is a key feature of Studio.
a DV source. Studio monitors the time stamp data on the tape during capture, and starts a new scene whenever a discontinuity is found. • Automatic based on video content: Studio detects changes in the video content, and creates a new scene wherever there is a large change in the images. This feature might not work well if the lighting is not stable. To take an extreme example, a video shot in a nightclub with a strobe light would produce a scene each time the strobe flashed.
Capture) and full quality. At full quality, two types of encoding are available: DV and MPEG. The two DV capture quality choices are covered in detail in the following pages. This section concludes with a note on adjusting audio and video levels in digital captures (page 31). Note: If you are using a MicroMV camcorder connected to a 1394 port, the user interface in Capture mode is almost identical to that for DV equipment.
quality, automatically controlling your source deck to locate and capture the footage. The reduced quality of the preview video therefore has no impact on the quality of your finished movie. Scenes captured at preview quality are denoted in the Album by a dotted border. Continuous timecode For the greatest convenience in using SmartCapture, your digital tape must have continuous DV timecode. Studio cannot capture in preview quality through breaks in the timecode.
the captures “vacation-picnic”, “vacation-sailing” and “vacation-soccer”. Because Studio processes the files in alphabetical order when recapturing, following this convention will greatly reduce the number of times you have to switch tapes during the Make Tape process. Analog tapes and Digital8 camcorders SmartCapture requires DV timecode. Analog tapes (Hi8 and 8mm) do not have DV timecode even when played in a Digital8 camcorder.
An MPEG movie requires much less disk space than the equivalent full-quality DV movie, although thanks to SmartCapture this is not generally a concern. DV DV is a high-resolution format with correspondingly high storage requirements. Your camcorder compresses and stores video on the tape at 3.6 MB/s, at a quality equivalent to broadcast video. With full-quality capture, the video data is transferred directly from the camcorder tape to your PC hard drive with no changes or additional compression.
VCDs. MPEGs intended for use on the Internet will be at lower resolutions and in MPEG-1 format. The Capture format options panel (Setup ¾ Capture Format) includes a variety of options to control the quality of MPEG captures. Refer to “Capture format settings” on page 252 for detailed information about MPEG quality options. Audio and video levels – digital With DV and MicroMV captures, you are using audio and video that have been encoded digitally during recording, right in the camera.
ANALOG CAPTURE The topics in this section relate to capture with analog equipment, such as: • A camcorder or VCR with analog outputs connected to a DirectShow-compatible capture board or external device. • A USB video camera or webcam. If you are using a DV or MicroMV camcorder connected to your computer via a 1394 port, please refer instead to “DV capture” on page 26.
Audio and video levels – analog Studio provides fly-out panels for controlling video and audio levels during capture. This feature is especially useful when you need to compensate for differences in video captured from multiple sources. Video (L) and audio (R) panels for setting levels during analog capture. Although you can also adjust these levels with the appropriate Video effects in Edit mode, setting them correctly for capture can save you from having to worry about color correction later on.
brightness (video gain), contrast (black level), sharpness, hue and color saturation of the incoming video. Note: The Hue slider does not appear when capturing from PAL equipment. Audio Use the Audio capture buttons to control whether Studio should capture the audio along with the video. Select the Off button if your source is video only. The sliders on the tray let you control the input level and stereo balance of the incoming audio.
CHAPTER 3: The Album The Video Scenes section of the Album. Click the tabs down the left side of the Album to access the materials in the other sections. The source materials you need for making a movie are stored in the various sections of the Album, each of which is accessed by its own tab as follows: Video Scenes: This section contains your captured video footage.
including the elaborate Hollywood FX transitions. To use a transition, position it next to or between video clips and graphics in the Movie Window. See “The Transitions section”, page 50. Titles: This section contains editable titles, which you can use as overlays or as full-screen graphics. You can create your own titles from scratch, or use or adapt the supplied ones. Studio supports rolls, crawls, and many typographical effects. See “The Titles section”, page 52.
All types of Album content can be previewed simply by clicking on the icons. This chapter introduces each of the Album sections in turn, beginning with a detailed discussion of the allimportant Video Scenes section. Actually using the contents of the Album to create your edited movie will be the subject of chapters 4 through 11.
The source folder for the section’s content is listed at the top of the left Album page, next to a small Folder button . To change the source of the current section, either select a folder from the dropdown or list, or click the button, browse to another folder on your system, and select any file. The file you select will be highlighted in the repopulated Album section. Some Album sections also provide a Parent folder to facilitate moving around within a group of button folders containing appropriate media.
• Scenes that have been added to the Movie Window are distinguished in the Album by a green checkmark. The checkmark remains as long as any clip in the Movie Window originates with that scene. • To see how a particular Album scene is used in your current project, use the Album ¾ Find Scene in Project menu command. Studio highlights any clips in the Movie Window that originate in the selected scene (or scenes).
Opening a captured video file The default locations for your video files are the Windows default capture folder and the My videos folder. When you are viewing the folder contents page of the Video Scenes section, both of these locations always appear on the dropdown list at the top of the Album. You can also choose other hard drive folders to access stored video files.
Opening a folder The folder contents page is displayed whenever you choose a new folder. It lists both the subfolders and the digital video files within the folder you chose: Three ways to open a folder: • Select the folder name on the dropdown list on the folder contents page. • Select a folder listed on the folder contents page. • Click the parent folder button .
Scene detection and thumbnails The Album now fills with the detected scenes from your captured video (see “Scene detection” on page 25). Each scene is denoted by a thumbnail frame – an icon of the scene’s first frame. It may be that the first frame doesn’t make a good icon for the scene, so Studio lets you pick a different one if desired. To change thumbnails in the Album: 1. Select the scene to be changed. 2. Use the Player to find the frame you want used for the thumbnail. 3.
Viewing captured video Individual or multiple scenes in the open captured video file can be viewed at any time. To view captured video starting at a selected scene: Click on the scene’s icon in the Album. The Player displays the first frame of the selected scene. 2. Click the Play button in the Player. The Player now plays the selected scenes and any subsequent ones. Progress is indicated in three ways. • The scenes highlight successively as they are played.
preview the video without actually opening the file into the Album. You can even select multiple files for playback using standard selection techniques. Selecting scenes and files Studio offers a variety of ways to select scenes and other items in the Video Scenes section of the Album. Selected video scenes are indicated by a highlighted border. Selected folders and video files are shown with text highlighting. Selected scenes have a highlighted border (center).
• Ctrl-click to add or remove individual items from the selection. • Starting with the mouse pointer over a blank area of the Album page, click and drag to “marquee” an area, selecting all the items that intersect the area. • Use the arrow keys to navigate the Album grid. Use the arrows in combination with Shift to select items as you go. Selected folders and video files have highlighted text.
Comment view In the default view for the Video Scenes section, known as Scene view, each scene is represented by a thumbnail frame icon. To see more information about each scene, use the Album ¾ Comment View menu command. In comment view, editable captions are displayed for Album scenes. The usage of these captions is up to you: they might be search keywords, or scene names, or text comments describing the scene content. The default caption is generated from the scene’s sequence number and duration (e.g.
Enter a keyword into the text field and click OK to highlight all Album scenes whose caption contains the keyword. The default captions are not searched – only the ones you have customized. Combining and subdividing scenes After previewing your scenes, you might want to combine or subdivide some into larger or smaller units. Such adjustments are easily made. To combine scenes in the Album: 1. Select the scenes to be combined. 2. Select Album ¾ Combine Scenes. The selected scenes are combined into one.
Several selected scenes (black) are merged into two longer scenes. Having no neighbors, scene 4 is unaffected, even though it was part of the selection. To subdivide scenes in the Album: 1. Select the scenes to be subdivided. 2. Select Album ¾ Subdivide Scenes. The Subdivide Selected Scenes dialog box appears. 3. Choose the length of the subdivided scenes by typing in a value. The smallest allowed subdivision is one second. Any video remaining after subdivision is added to the last scene. 4.
You can subdivide these scenes still further, if desired, down to the minimum duration of one second. Three selected scenes are subdivided to a duration of five seconds. The vertical stripes indicate fivesecond divisions within each scene. The uneven clip timings at right occur because time left after subdivision is added to the final divided scene; that is also why scene 2 is ultimately unaffected by the subdivision operation.
To redetect scenes: If you need to recombine any scenes, first select the subdivided scenes, then apply the Album ¾ Combine Scenes menu command. Select the scenes you wish to redetect. 2. From the Album menu, select either Detect Scenes by Video Content or Detect Scenes by Shooting Time and Date. A progress window appears as Studio detects the scenes and repopulates the Album. 1. THE TRANSITIONS SECTION The Transitions section of the Album provides a large set of drag-and-drop clip transitions.
Studio’s transitions collection includes 74 standard transitions, 52 Alpha Magic transitions, 16 unrestricted Hollywood FX 3-D transitions, and many more “locked” Hollywood FX transitions (with a padlock symbol in the top-left corner of the transition icon). Using the locked transitions These demo transitions are freely available for you to try, but a Studio 9 “watermark” will be superimposed on part of the video frame during playback.
symbol (indicating that the transition can be dragged from the Album to the Movie Window). If you pause momentarily on the icon, the name of the transition is displayed. The display persists for several seconds or until your mouse pointer moves off the transition. Previewing transition effects When you click on a transition icon, the Player demonstrates the transition using the convention that “A” represents the original clip and “B” the new clip.
In the Album, a gray checkerboard is used to indicate the portion of a title that will be treated as transparent in overlays. As with video scenes, titles that have been added to your current project are indicated in the Album by a green checkmark symbol. With Studio’s powerful built-in Title Editor, you can readily create your own titles when needed. However, you may find it easier still to start with one of the supplied titles and customize it in the Title Editor.
The Still Images folder: The icons in the Still Images section represent files in the folder named at the top of each left-hand page in the section. Images can be added to the section by storing them in this folder. For instance, you can save grabbed video frames into the folder from the Frame grabber tool, or save a title from the Title Editor. You can also select a different folder to be the source of the section (see “Source folders for Album content” on page 37).
Any sound clip can be previewed simply by clicking its name or icon. For information on using sounds in your movie, see Chapter 11: Sound effects and music. Along with the many unrestricted sound effects that come with Studio, you will also find several folders of effects in the UFX, or “Ultimate FX” series. These effects are “locked” (indicated by a padlock symbol beside the sound effect name in the Album).
THE DISC MENUS SECTION This section of the Album contains a collection of artist-designed menus for VCD, S-VCD and DVD authoring. Menus in Studio are really specialized titles: they can be created and edited in the Title Editor, and either saved from the editor into a disk folder or incorporated directly into your movie. As with video scenes and other visual resources, disc menus that are in use in your movie are distinguished in the Album by a green checkmark symbol.
Along with the many standard menus and motion menus that come with Studio, you will also find several folders of menus in the “Pinnacle Premium DVD Menus” series. These menus are “locked” (indicated by a padlock symbol in the top-left corner of the menu icon.). Many of these professional DVD menus include looping soundtracks. Using the locked menus The demo menus are freely available for you to try, but a Studio 9 “watermark” will be superimposed on part of the video frame whenever one is playing.
CHAPTER 4: The Movie Window The Movie Window, where you build your movie from the raw materials in the Album, occupies the bottom half of the screen in Studio’s Edit mode. To access the Movie Window, first switch to Edit mode if you are not already there: The Movie Window title bar contains several important controls and displays. The toolbox buttons at the left of the title bar open the Video toolbox and the Audio toolbox, which are discussed on page 67.
Split clip/scene button – the razorblade Click this button to split the currently-selected clip in the Movie Window, or the currentlyselected scene in the Album. No information is lost. If the item is an Album scene, it is split at the indicated point into two shorter scenes. If the item is a clip in the Movie Window, it is duplicated and automatically trimmed to the split point.
that would otherwise be created by the deletion is automatically closed up, and clips on other tracks are removed or shortened as required to keep everything in sync. If you delete clips on other tracks, the default behavior is that gaps between them are not automatically removed, so the timing of other clips is not affected. If you press the Ctrl key while clicking the delete button, or pressing the Delete key, the default behavior for the current track is reversed.
When the Clip properties tool is open, a third scrubber, the trim scrubber, is available for adjusting the current position within the clip during trimming. MOVIE WINDOW VIEWS The Movie Window provides three different views of your project: Timeline, Storyboard and Text. Select the one you want to use by clicking the view selection buttons in the upper right corner of the Movie Window. Storyboard view Storyboard view shows the order of video scenes and transitions.
uses thumbnail icons for quickly structuring a movie. You can choose large or small thumbnails in the Edit options panel. Timeline view Timeline view shows the positions and durations of clips relative to the Timescale. This view also displays up to eight tracks on which you can place various types of clip: • Video, plus full-screen disc menus, titles and graphics: The video track contains the primary visual material in your production.
• Overlay video and audio: In Studio Plus, video and images placed on the overlay track can be used with the Picture-in-picture and Chroma key tools to give your video productions a professional appearance. These features are locked in other versions of Studio, producing “watermarked” output when used. You can upgrade to Studio Plus at any time if you need its advanced capabilities. Original audio for overlay video is stored on the linked audio track.
Because many editing operations can be carried out only in Timeline view, you should choose it whenever extensive, detailed or advanced editing is required. Track locking The video track normally takes precedence over all other tracks for trimming or deleting. This has several consequences: • When you trim a video clip, clips running simultaneously on other tracks are also trimmed. • When you delete a video clip, the time segment it used is also removed from any parallel clips.
Track muting The audio tracks can be individually muted with the mute buttons at the right edge of the Movie Window. These buttons have the same function as the mute buttons in the Volume and balance tool. (See page 215 for more information.) Placement feedback Studio gives you several types of feedback about your actions as you place clips in the Timeline view. The status line: The status line area on the left of the Movie Window title bar displays messages as you place clips and perform other actions.
“unavailable”, and the status line tells you, “Only scenes, titles, photos and transitions on video track.” Green placement lines with the “copy” pointer mean that an action is valid; red placement lines with the “unavailable” pointer ; show that it is not. Text view The Movie Window Text view is a list showing the start and end times of clips, as well as their duration. In addition, custom names for clips are visible in this view.
The toolboxes are available only in Edit mode. They are opened and closed with the buttons at the top left of the Movie Window. Select the toolbox you want to open by moving your cursor over the icons. The individual buttons highlight, indicating which toolbox will open when you click. The Album is then replaced by the toolbox display, which contains two main areas: • Tool selector buttons in a panel on the left. Clicking one of these opens the corresponding tool.
The Title Editor One powerful tool that is not directly accessed through the toolboxes is the Title Editor, in which you can combine text, images and other graphic resources to make titles and disc menus for your Studio productions. Access the Title Editor through the Title and Disc menu tools, or with the Go to Title/Menu Editor command from the right-button context menu in the Movie Window. See Chapter 10: The Title Editor for full information.
Titles: This tool lets you edit the name and length of titles. The Edit Title button provides access to the Title Editor window where you can change the text and appearance of the title. Disc menus: The Disc menu tool has a number of controls for editing the links between the buttons on a disc menu and entry points into your movie called chapter marks, which are represented on the menu track in the Movie Window.
The Audio toolbox The six tools in this set operate on or create audio clips – “original” audio, voice-overs, sound effects and other audio files, CD tracks and SmartSound background music. Clip properties: The Clip properties tool lets you adjust (“trim”) the start and end times of any type of clip. You can also enter a descriptive name for the clip to replace the default name if desired. (Clip names are displayed when the Movie Window is in Text view.
fourth set of controls, which affect the overlay audio track. Availability: Surround sound is not supported in the SE and QuickStart versions of Studio. Record voice-overs: To record a voice-over, simply click the Record button and begin speaking into your microphone. Add CD audio: Use this tool to add tracks, in whole or in part, from an audio CD. Background music: This tool lets you add background music using SmartSound, Studio’s powerful music generator. Choose a style, song, and version.
CHAPTER 5: Video clips The cornerstone of most Studio video projects is the Album section containing your captured video scenes. To create your edited movie, you drag scenes from the Album into the Movie Window, where they are treated as editable video clips. This chapter explains how to set the “in” and “out” (start and end) points for each clip. The Movie Window’s editing interface makes this “trimming” process simple, rapid and precise.
VIDEO CLIP BASICS The first step in creating a movie is to introduce some video scenes from the Album into the Movie Window, where they become editable clips. At some point you will probably also add some transitions, titles, audio and other extras, but a set of video scenes is the starting point for just about any project. This section explains how to add scenes to your movie, and how to work with scenes from multiple capture files.
Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+V for paste), or select the desired operation from the right-button menu. When the Movie Window is in Timeline view, you can drop a video scene or clip onto any of the following: • The main video track. If the clip has associated audio, it is added to the original audio track. This video will serve as the background for any overlay video or titles that on the lower Timeline tracks. • The overlay track. Video on this track is superimposed on the contents of the video track.
of the files in turn and drag whichever scenes you want from each file into your movie. To use multiple capture files: Drag scenes from the first capture file into the Movie Window. 2. Using the dropdown list or the folder button in the Video Scenes section of the Album, open the second capture file. Studio displays scenes from only the current file in the Album. See “Opening a captured video file” on page 40 for detailed information on this step. 3.
• When a clip is added to the Movie Window, a green checkmark appears on the Album’s icon for the corresponding scene. The checkmark remains as long as any clip in the Movie Window belongs to that scene. • To see the original location of a clip in your source video, use the Find Scene in Album command on the right-click menu for Movie Window clips. Studio highlights the Album scene from which the selected clip is drawn.
TRIMMING VIDEO CLIPS In general, captured video scenes contain more material than you actually require for your movie. “Trimming” – the process of adjusting the in and out points of a clip to remove unwanted footage – is a fundamental editing operation. No data is lost by trimming: Studio sets new start and end points for the clip in the Movie Window, but the source of the clip - the original Album scene – remains intact.
Let’s first consider the simplest trimming case, in a movie with only one clip. Then we’ll turn to the more usual situation of trimming a single clip that is surrounded by other clips. To trim a single clip on the Timeline: 1. Delete all but one clip from the Timeline. If the Timeline is empty, drag a scene in from the Album. 2. Expand the Timescale to make fine adjustments easier. Position the mouse pointer anywhere on the Timeline except directly over the edit line. The pointer becomes a clock symbol.
to as little as a single frame, or increase it up to the end of the source scene. 5. Release the mouse button. The clip is now trimmed. Multiple clips The secret to trimming a clip when multiple clips are on the Timeline is that you must first select the clip to be trimmed by clicking on it with the mouse. To trim with multiple clips on the Timeline: 1. Set up the Timeline with two short clips. 2. Expand the Timescale by right-clicking in the ruler. Choose 30 seconds from the pop-up menu. 3.
4. With the second clip still selected, move your mouse pointer over the left edge of clip until the pointer changes to a right arrow. 5. Drag the left edge of the second scene to the right. As you drag, the first frame of the clip is displayed in the Player. As long as the clip remains selected, you can continue to trim more video by dragging the edge to the right, or restore some of the trimmed video by dragging the edge to the left. 6. Release the mouse button.
This default trimming behavior simplifies editing under most circumstances, but Studio also gives you a way to invert the behavior when needed. If you press the Ctrl key before you begin trimming a clip on the video track, neither that clip nor any other will be repositioned, and gaps are not closed up. There is no effect on other tracks. Meanwhile, using Ctrl when trimming clips on other tracks again inverts the normal behavior. The clips on the track will close in to fill any gap left by the trim.
Trimming with the Clip properties tool Although it is possible to trim video clips directly on the Timeline with full frame accuracy, rapid, precise trimming is often easier to achieve with the Clip properties tool. To access this tool, select the clip you want to change, then use the Toolbox ¾ Modify Clip Properties menu command, or click one of the toolbox buttons at the top left of the Movie Window. (Clicking the same button a second time will close the tool.
and jog buttons. The layout of each preview area is similar to that of the Player during normal editing. Setting playback position: A scrubber control across the bottom of the tool lets you set the playback position anywhere within the clip. You can also set the playback position using the counter and jog buttons located between the two preview areas. Using the counters: The positions reported by all three counters are relative to the beginning of the clip, which is position 0:00:00.0.
bracket button beside the counter in the right preview area, set their respective trim points to the current position. You can also adjust either trim point by: • Entering a value directly into its counter • Adjusting a counter field with the jog buttons • Dragging the corresponding trim caliper The Duration text field: This field shows the length of the trimmed clip in hours, minutes, seconds and frames.
SPLITTING AND COMBINING CLIPS If you want to insert one clip on the video track into the middle of another clip, split the latter into two parts then insert the new item. “Splitting” a clip actually results in it being duplicated. Both clips are then automatically trimmed so that the first ends at the split point and the second begins there. To split a clip in Timeline view: 1. Choose the split point.
To combine clips in the Movie Window: Select the clips you wish to combine, then right-click and choose Combine Clips. The operation is allowed only if the combination of clips will also be a valid clip – that is, a continuous excerpt of the source video. On the Timeline, clips that can be combined meet along a dotted edge. ADVANCED TIMELINE EDITING Availability: The advanced editing techniques discussed below are not supported in the SE and QuickStart versions of Studio.
Timeline view. Each of the standard tracks (all except the menu track) provides a lock button. See “Track locking” on page 65 for more information on track locking. A locked track is grayed out in the Timeline view, indicating that the clips on the locked track cannot be selected or edited in any of the three views; nor are they affected by editing operations on unlocked tracks. Apart from the menu track, any combination of tracks can be locked.
Insert editing In ordinary Timeline editing, a video clip and the original audio that was captured with it are treated as a unit. Their special relationship is symbolized in the Movie Window by the dotted line connecting the video track indicator with the original audio track indicator, showing that the latter is dependent on the former.
the Split clip/scene button. Now move to the point where the insertion should end and again split the clip. Finally, delete the portion of video that will be replaced by the insertion. Because the audio track is still intact, having been locked, the video to the right of the insertion point does not move leftwards to fill the gap you have made in the Timeline, for the video and audio would then no longer be synchronized.
unbroken video, is needed less often but is also readily performed in Studio. The procedure is analogous to the one for inserting video: simply reverse the roles of the two tracks at every step. Split editing In “split editing”, a clip’s audio and video are separately trimmed so that the transition to one occurs before the transition to the other. Availability: Split editing is not supported in the SE and QuickStart versions of Studio.
Audio and video cut simultaneously. Instead of cutting the audio and the video simultaneously, you might decide to let the speaker’s voice overlap into the following scene. This makes it clear to the audience that the new scene they are now watching illustrates whatever explanation the speaker has been providing. Notice that the video and audio clip boundaries in the completed cut form an L-shape. Audio cuts after video. The resulting “L” shape is outlined in this illustration.
2. Select the left-hand clip and trim its right edge to the point where you want the audio to end. 3. Lock the audio track. Now drag the right-hand edge of the same clip’s video leftward to the point where the following clip’s video should start. 4. With the audio track still locked, drag the second clip’s video to the left until it meets the original clip.
5. Unlock the audio track. The video now cuts away to the second clip ahead of the audio. Video has been trimmed from the end of the first clip, and audio has been trimmed from the start of the second clip. The J-cut In the J-cut, the new audio cuts in before the video switches. This can be effective when the second clip’s audio prepares the viewer for the material in the scene.
Lock the audio track. Now drag the right-hand edge of the same clip’s video back to the right by the overlap interval. 4. Unlock the audio track. The audio now cuts away to the second clip ahead of the video. 3. Note: The procedures described above for performing the L-cut and the J-cut are not the only possibilities.
attached to the currently-selected clip(s), and at the right, a parameters panel where you can tune the effect as required. Video effects vs. audio effects In most respects, the Video effects tool and the Audio effects tool work identically, except for the type of material they apply to. Working with the effects list Each video or image clip in your project can be modified by one or more video effects.
illustration, the “Speed” effect has been disabled while the other two effects on the list remain in force. Adding and deleting effects To add an effect to the list for the current clip, click the Add new effect button, which opens an effects browser on the righthand side of the tool window. Click an item in the browser’s Category list to display the names of the individual effects in that category. Select the effect you want, then click the OK button to add the effect.
production, you can purchase an activation key without leaving Studio. For information about purchasing locked video and audio effects, and other premium content for Studio, see “Expanding Studio” on page 11. Changing the order of effects The cumulative result of using more than one effect on the same clip can vary depending on the order in which the effects are applied. With the up and down arrow buttons to the right of the effects list, you can control the position of each effect in the processing chain.
parameters panel by pressing function key F1 or clicking the help button at the top left of the parameters panel. Note: Some plug-in effects may provide their own parameter windows with specialized controls. In those cases, the parameters panel on the effects tool displays a single Edit button, which accesses the external editor.
zero). As the clip begins to play, each affected parameter gradually approaches its configured value, until by the end of the fade duration the effect is at full strength. Fading out reverses the process, by moving from the configured to the neutral values in the closing portion of the clip. The durations for fades are set in seconds and frames using the counters at the bottom of the parameters panel for the effect.
Studio commences “rendering” the clip – recalculating its final appearance – in the background without interrupting your workflow. The progress of rendering is indicated by a colored bar that advances from left to right along the Timescale above the clip in the Movie Window. Options affecting background rendering are provided by the Edit options panel (Setup ¾ Edit). See “Rendering” on page 258 for details.
Building your effects library Studio’s plug-in architecture means that you can continue to add new effects to your video effects library as they become available. Expansion packs of effects from Pinnacle and other vendors will integrate seamlessly with the program. Some expansion effects are shipped with Studio as locked, premium content. These include Pinnacle’s Plus and Mega video effect packs, and a variety of third-party effects.
CLEANING EFFECTS Cleaning effects help correct defects in the source video, such as noise and camera shake. Note: Studio’s video cleaning effects are generalpurpose filters designed to reduce the most common problems found on a wide range of material. They are not a panacea. Your results will vary depending on the original material and the severity and nature of the problems. Auto color correct This effect compensates for incorrect color balance in your video.
Noise reduction This plug-in applies a noise-reduction algorithm that may improve the appearance of noisy video. In order to minimize artifacts (image defects caused as a sideeffect of image processing), noise reduction is only performed in areas of the frame where the amount of motion falls beneath a certain threshold value. Motion threshold: This slider governs the threshold value.
TIME EFFECTS Availability: Unrestricted use of the effects in this group is not included with the SE and QuickStart versions of Studio. Until unlocked with the appropriate activation key, a “watermark” graphic appears over part of the video frame when clips using any of the effects are played back. See page 11 for details. Time effects change the tempo of playback without affecting the appearance of the video frames themselves.
the Speed effect, move your mouse pointer to the clip’s right-hand edge. When the Speed change pointer appears, click and drag the edge of the clip as though you were trimming its length. You can select anywhere from one-fifth to ten times the original duration. The actual trimming of the clip – the range of frames it incorporates – is not affected. Playback speed is reduced by repeating frames. Here, the movie runs at one-third speed as each frame is played three times before moving onto the next.
The strobe effect omits some frames and repeats others. Here, with strobing set to 2, six frames (shaded) will be dropped from the first nine frames of the clip (top). In the final movie (bottom), the remaining frames are repeated twice each. COLOR EFFECTS Availability: Unrestricted use of the effects in this group is not included with the SE and QuickStart versions of Studio.
Color correction The four sliders in the parameters panel for this effect control the coloration of the current clip. Brightness: This is the relative intensity of light, without regard to color. Try adjusting both brightness and contrast to correct video that is underexposed or overexposed. Contrast: The range of light and dark values in a picture or the ratio between the maximum and the minimum brightness values.
full original palette down to two colors (black and white) as you drag the Amount slider from left to right. Regions of similar color are coalesced into larger flat areas as the palette shrinks. Sepia This effect imparts the appearance of antique photography to the clip by rendering it in sepia tones rather than full color. The strength of the effect is controlled with the Amount slider.
Lens flare This effect simulates the flaring seen when direct bright light overexposes an area of a film or video image. Tip: The parameters of this effect do not give good feedback during stationary preview. You can use the playback controls or the scrubbers to see the impact they have during playback. The Flare direction dropdown list sets the axis of movement of the light to one of eight available orientations. The Size slider sets the size of the main light.
reception. The slider controls set the amount and characteristics of the noise: • Amount: Set the strength of the effect. • Variation: Slightly vary the random noise pattern by setting a different “seed” value for the randomizer. • Transparency: Combine the original and the modified images in any desired proportion. Moving this slider rightwards moderates the overall effect. Clear the Color noise checkbox if you don’t want to disturb the original coloration of the image.
Finally, the Refraction slider controls the amount by which water refracts the light as it enters and leaves the wave. The resulting distortion increases as the slider moves right. STYLE EFFECTS Availability: Unrestricted use of the effects in this group is not included with the SE and QuickStart versions of Studio. Until unlocked with the appropriate activation key, a “watermark” graphic appears over part of the video frame when clips using any of the effects are played back. See page 11 for details.
The Horizontal and Vertical sliders control the amount of blur in their respective directions from zero (no blur) to the maximum value. The Left, Right, Top and Bottom sliders specify the margins of the blurred region as percentages of the frame width and height. Setting all the sliders to zero applies the blurring to the entire frame. You can use these sliders to blur out only a selected portion of the image, such as a person’s face, an effect familiar from TV news coverage.
is determined by averaging the colors in the corresponding area of the original. Old film Old movies have a number of traits that are usually considered undesirable: grainy images caused by early photographic development processes, spots and streaks from dust and lint adhering to the film, and intermittent vertical lines where the film has been scratched during projection.
Stained glass This effect simulates the appearance of viewing the video through a pane of irregular polygons arranged into a mosaic. The Horizontal and Vertical sliders control the average dimensions of the polygonal “tiles” in the image. Move the sliders to the right to increase the tile size, or left to decrease it. The Joint slider sets the width of the dark edging between neighboring tiles from zero (no edging) to the maximum value.
music video almost instantly, in your choice of styles and using any combination of video footage and music. The tool walks you through the creation process with simple stepby-step instructions. To begin, use the Album to locate the video footage you want to include, and drag the scenes onto the Movie Window. With the visuals in place, add a SmartSound, CD audio or digital music (wav, mp3) clip to the background music track. The duration of this clip determines the length of your music video.
tracks. Move the slider all the way to the right if you want to hear only the music track in the finished video. The last configuration step is to enter the text to use for the opening and closing titles. Each text line consists of two edit fields. Use Tab and Shift+Tab to jump between the left and right fields. Finally, click the Create SmartMovie button and sit back while Studio generates your movie.
CHAPTER 6: Two-track editing with Studio Plus Studio Plus brings the power of multitrack video editing to Studio with the addition of an auxiliary video track on the Movie Window Timeline called the overlay track. Now you can use advanced picture-inpicture and chroma-key effects while retaining the convenience of Studio’s streamlined and intuitive user interface.
Drop video on the title track to open the overlay track. Along with the overlay track, Studio adds an overlay audio track to accommodate the video clip’s original audio information. Note: If you have used earlier versions of Studio, you may remember that the Title track, as it is now called, was formerly known as the “Title overlay track”, or simply the “overlays track”, reflecting that titles on this track are superimposed on the video.
Displaying and hiding the overlay track As we have just seen, the overlay video and audio tracks are displayed when you add your first overlay clip. Similarly, when you remove the last clip from these tracks, Studio again hides them from view. This default behavior help keep the Movie Window uncluttered, but if you are making frequent use of overlay video, you might prefer to have the track visible at all times.
An insert edit on the overlay track. The main video is obscured while the B clip is playing. In the J-cut and the L-cut, the audio portion of a clip begins a little before (J) or a little after (L) the video. They are often used together to soften the start and end of an inserted clip. Split editing on the overlay track. The overlay video track has been locked, allowing the B clip’s audio to be trimmed. The main audio can be reduced or muted as needed.
The Picture-in-picture tool Picture-in-picture (often abbreviated to “PIP”) – the inclusion of an additional video frame within the main video – is a versatile effect familiar from its use in professional TV productions. Picture-in-picture with optional border, shadow and rounded corners (left). Split-screen effects, like the vertical split at right, are among the variations that show off the versatility of the PIP tool.
the two aspects of the tool separately as the Picture-inpicture and the Chroma key tools. The Picture-in-picture and Chroma key (PIP/CK) tool is really two tools in one. Because they are used independently, we treat them as separate tools. This illustration shows the PIP side of the tool. Click the Chroma Key tab at the top of the tool to switch.
• Use the center control points on the edges of the PIP frame to change its dimensions arbitrarily. • Use the control points at the corners of the PIP frame to change its size but not its proportions (“aspect ratio”). Crop mode: In this mode the layout area represents the entire overlay frame, regardless of its actual dimensions as set in Scale mode. The rectangle defined by the control points shows which portion of the frame is visible.
Border: These controls set the color, width and transparency of the border that will be drawn around the overlay frame. Set the width to zero (slider all the way to the left) if you don’t want a border at all. See page 135 for information on how to use the color controls. The Softness slider controls the amount of blurring on the outside edge of the border. Move the slider left for a hard edge, or right to blend the border with the background video.
The PIP effect interface If you prefer to enter your PIP parameter settings numerically rather than graphically, you can turn to an alternative interface provided by the Video effects tool. You can also combine the two methods, using the PIP tool’s graphical interface to specify the initial settings, then fine tuning them with the numerical effect parameters. The Picture-in-picture effect is found in the Overlay Effects group.
Video: The Transparency slider lets the main video show through the PIP overlay to any desired degree. Border: The parameters in this group are equivalent to the Border settings on the PIP tool, allowing you to set the overlay border’s color, thickness, transparency and edge softness, and to select the rounded corners option if desired. One bonus of the effect interface is that there are separate Width and Height controls to control the border thickness, rather than the single setting provided by the tool.
Blue and green are the generally-preferred colors for chroma key use because their removal from an image will not affect human skin tones, but in principle any hue can be used with Studio’s chroma key tool. Creating a scene with chroma key: A clip on the video track (L) is chosen as the background for a green-screen clip on the overlay track (C). Chroma keying removes the green to complete the scene (R).
Chroma-key tool controls The chroma key tool constructs a “mask”, shown in the Key channel graphic on the left side of the tool, where the transparent part of the frame is drawn in black, and the opaque part – the part you will see in the final video – is drawn in white. Most of the remaining controls are used to define exactly which areas of the frame will be included in the transparent part of the mask by setting the “key color” and related properties.
The color circle on the Chroma key tool highlights a range of hues (around the circumference) and color saturation values (along the radius). Any pixel in the overlay frame whose hue and saturation fall within the highlighted region will be treated as transparent. Saturation minimum: Saturation is the amount of hue in a color. A pixel with zero saturation (corresponding to the center of the color circle) has no hue: it falls on the “gray scale”, whose extremes are white and black.
Apply to new clips: This option is handy when you want to set up the same chroma key settings for a number of different clips. As long the option is checked, chroma key will automatically be applied to each new clip that you drag onto the overlay track, using the same settings that were displayed the last time the tool was open.
Chroma key tips No matter how good your software may be, successful use of chroma key depends on carefully setting up your shot, and may require experimentation to get the details just right. Here are some tips to get you started: Light the backdrop as evenly as possible: Very often, background coloring that looks flat to the naked eye will prove on playback to have areas that are too dark or too washed out to work well for chroma keying, which favors even, saturated color.
Make a smooth profile: Chroma keyers do better with a smooth edge than a jagged or complex one, so try to have your subject present a smooth profile to the camera. Hair is particularly tricky, and should be slicked down if possible. If the subject can wear a hat, so much the better. Setting up a chroma key shot. The backdrop is well and evenly lit, and positioned well behind the subject so that shadows do not interfere.
Selecting colors To select colors in tools and effects that provide a color parameter, click either on the color swatch (left) or the eye dropper button. The first opens a standard color picker dialog; while the second lets you choose a color by clicking anywhere on the screen. Two ways to set colors: The Windows color picker dialog (L) opens when you click the color swatch button provided in some tools and effects.
CHAPTER 7: Transitions A transition is an animated effect that eases – or emphasizes – the passage from one clip to the next. Fades, wipes and dissolves are common types of transition. Others are more exotic, and may even involve sophisticated 3-D graphics. Transitions are stored in their own section of the Album (see “The Transitions section” on page 50). To use a transition, drag it from the Album into the Movie Window and drop it beside any video clip or still image.
Diagram: Five snapshots from the life of a 2-second diagonal wipe transition. If a transition is to last for two seconds (the default transition duration in a fresh Studio installation), the second clip begins to run two seconds before the first clip is finished. At the outset, only the first clip is visible; by the end, the second clip has completely replaced the first.
own movies. Generally, it is advisable to refrain from overusing transitions that cause abrupt changes or otherwise draw attention to themselves: there’s a big difference between a subtle dissolve and a heart-shaped wipe. The basic transitions discussed below – fades, dissolves, wipes, slides and pushes – are all among the first group of transitions (the Standard Transitions) in the Album.
Dissolve: A dissolve is similar to a fade, except that the new scene begins to fade up even while the old one is fading down. The visual overlap this produces is less dramatic than a fade, but less abrupt than a cut. A short dissolve can take the edge off a cut, while a long dissolve is useful to suggest the passage of time. Wipe, slide and push: In each of these standard transition types, the incoming video is gradually revealed behind an edge that moves across the frame in a certain direction.
A basic set of fully-functional Hollywood FX is included with Studio, along with “watermarked” demo versions of many others. Apart from the watermark (a special graphic superimposed on part of the video), the demo effects can be previewed normally within Studio. If you like the demo versions, you can purchase them in the same way as other locked content in Studio. For more information, see “Expanding Studio” on page 11. Also available for purchase on-line is the HFX Creator editing tool for Hollywood FX.
Background rendering of Hollywood FX Background rendering is an optional feature in which the computation needed to create a detailed preview of Hollywood FX transitions is carried out as a “background task” with no interruption of your workflow. Options affecting background rendering, including the option of disabling it altogether, are provided by the Edit options panel (Setup ¾ Edit). See “Edit settings” on page 256 for details.
transition is placed between two clips, the audio crossfades (the audio equivalent of a dissolve). The only exception to this rule is the Fade transition, which takes the audio completely out then back in again. Normal transitions cause a crossfade in the audio (left). In a Fade transition (right), the audio fades down then up along with the video.
Studio inserts a duplicate of the original transition between each pair of selected clips. TRIMMING TRANSITIONS Although transitions are not true clips, they are handled very similarly to clips within Studio’s editing environment. Like clips, you can trim transitions either directly on the Movie Window Timeline, or by using the Clip properties tool. See “Trimming on the Timeline using handles” on page 78 for a discussion of the first method.
Trimming with the Clip properties tool The Toolbox ¾ Modify Clip Properties menu command invokes the Clip properties tool for the selected clip. For all transition types, this tool provides previewing controls, and the ability to set two properties: • To set the duration of the transition, change the value in the Duration counter. A transition’s duration must always be less – if only by a single frame – than the shorter of its neighboring clips.
Previewing in the Clip properties tool The Clip properties tool provides previewing controls for transitions similar to those for video clips. See “Trimming with the Clip properties tool” on page 83 for more information. The preview areas show the last full frame of the outgoing clip and the first full frame of the incoming one. The preview frames update as you edit the Duration field.
CHAPTER 8: Still images Video usually means images in motion, but most productions also include stationary titles or graphics, and may include other types of still image as well. The still images you can use in your movies include: • All types of text captions and graphics, including scrolling credits and “crawled” messages. • Photos or drawings stored in disk-based image files. • Individual video frames obtained with the Frame grabber tool. • “Disc menus” for DVD and VCD authoring.
is placed on this track. For optimum results, you may need to prepare the image in an image-editing application beforehand. Note: Studio Plus users have an additional option, the overlay track, for adding their images to the Timeline. See Chapter 6: Two-track editing with Studio Plus, for details. The Album has separate sections for titles, bitmapped images and disc menus. All these resources are stored as separate files on your hard drive.
Controlling transparency in overlay images Viewed in the Album, or in a graphics editor, an overlay image appears to have a solid background. When you place it on the title track, however, the background disappears, allowing the video to show through. Studio uses the color of the top-left pixel of the image to determine which areas will be transparent. Pixels that match this color are not drawn when the image is rendered over video.
Applying effects Most of Studio’s plug-in video effects can be applied to still images. (The exceptions are effects like Speed and Strobe that only make sense for moving video.) See “Using video effects” on page 95 for detailed information. EDITING STILL IMAGES As with other types of clip, you can trim still images directly on the Movie Window Timeline, or by using the Clip properties tool. See “Trimming on the Timeline using handles” on page 78 for a discussion of the first method.
With bitmapped images, including ordinary photos and image files, and with disc menus, double-click the clip for a third way to access the tool. Double-clicking a title, however, opens it directly into the Title Editor instead. All versions of the Clip properties tool allow you to set the duration and name of the current clip, as follows: • To set the length of time the still image is displayed, change the value in the Duration counter.
• In Studio Plus, put together “pan-and-zoom” animations in which a high-resolution image is viewed as a succession of smoothly-connected closeups at various degrees of magnification. This technique is closely associated with the well-known documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. The Clip properties tool for photos has pan-andzoom controls for focusing on an area of interest. In Studio Plus, pan-and-zoom can be animated to create the effect of traversing the image from one focus to another.
and magnification with these controls until the image is cropped and framed to your satisfaction. The Reset button removes all your position and zoom changes, restoring the original framing of the image. The red-eye reduction feature helps restore a natural appearance to photos in which the subject’s eyes are tinged with red. (This problem is caused by light from the flash unit bouncing off the retina of the eye when the subject is looking directly into the camera.
Animating Pan-and-zoom in Studio Plus If you own Studio Plus, or purchase an activation key by clicking the unlock button on the pan-and-zoom controls, you can create effective animations from your photos and graphic images. Use the highest-resolution images available with this technique, since they allow greater magnification levels before there is perceptible loss of quality.
above scenario, this returns the viewer to the original context, perhaps closing a chapter or episode within your movie. • Panning across a wide scene to absorb its details one by one. This technique can be used to impart a sense of discovery when a dramatic or humorous detail finally comes into view. Complex pan-and-zoom animations When you apply pan-and-zoom to a number of copies of the same image in succession, it is as though you are taking your viewer on a guided tour.
The pan-and-zoom controls are used here to focus in turn on four vignettes in the satirical painting “An Election Entertainment” by English artist William Hogarth. A fifth view pulls back to show as much of the entire canvas as will fit in a wide-screen frame without black sidebars. The tool automatically generates smooth motion from one view to the next, panning and zooming simultaneously as needed.
The Pan and zoom effect is found in the Fun Effects group. Most of the available parameter settings are exactly parallel to those offered by the Clip properties tool: you can set Zoom, Horizontal position and Vertical position in both the Start and End parameter groups. You have an additional option in the Speed dropdown, which sets a “velocity envelope” for the traversal from the start to the end positions.
THE FRAME GRABBER The Frame Grabber can capture a still image from any video capture source supported by Studio, or extract a single frame from any video clip in your current project. The grabbed frame can be added directly to your movie or saved out to disk in any of a number of standard graphics formats. Once you have saved a grabbed frame to disk, you can: • Use it in other software applications. • Manipulate it in image-editing software.
configured in the Capture Source options panel (page 248) and the Capture Format options panel (page 252). The Frame grabber in grab-from-movie mode. When you grab from an external source (e.g. a camcorder), the Camcorder Controller is displayed. With DV equipment, you can navigate the source tape from within the tool.
frame is displayed in the tool’s preview area, and the two output buttons (Add to Movie and Save to Disk) are enabled. Add to movie: This button inserts the grabbed frame into the Movie Window video track ahead of the currently-selected clip. Save to disk: This button opens a Save As dialog so that you can select a folder, file name and image format for the file in which the grabbed frame will be stored.
CHAPTER 9: Disc menus With the advent of the DVD, VCD and S-VCD disc formats, video has become an interactive medium, with new possibilities for both videographer and audience. Developing – “authoring” – a disc in one of these formats means going beyond the old idea of creating a movie to be viewed in strict sequence from beginning to end. Now the audience can decide which parts of the movie to view, and in what order. The essential new feature that makes disc authoring possible is the menu.
Unlike any other kind of clip, menus automatically loop. When the end of a menu clip is reached during disc preview or playback, it is immediately restarted. This produces a jump in the playback position affecting all clips that run simultaneously with the menu, regardless of type – video (if the menu is an overlay), audio or still image. The following diagram is patterned after the Movie Window storyboard.
has links to five chapters. Our menu is designed to display two chapter links per page, so three pages are required to accommodate all the links. (The second page is the one appearing in the illustration.) We’ve also given each page a link to the M2 menu. The simple layout of this short movie can easily be extended to organize large numbers of clips. Much more complex movies are also constructed from the same elements: multi-page menus with links to chapters and to other menus.
create links to each scene after the menu”, click Yes (see “Using menus from the Album” on page 165). A new track appears at the top of the Timeline, and a small “flag” appears over each of your clips. These represent links from the menu you just added. And that’s it – sit back and watch the show. Instant slideshow: This time, start in the Still Images section of the Album.
Using menus from the Album The Disc Menus section of the Album contains a collection of menus that have been designed for particular occasions, authoring styles and chapter counts. Each menu provides a background picture, a title, a set of chapter buttons (generally with spaces for thumbnail frames), and a pair of Next page and Previous page buttons.
Dropping menus on the Timeline When you drag a menu from the Album and drop it onto the video track or the title track, Studio gives you the option of automatically generating links to all video clips to the right of the menu on the Timeline. Multiple clips are combined into chapters if necessary to achieve the minimum chapter length you specify. This is the quickest, easiest way to link in a disc menu, but may not be what you want in a particular authoring situation.
The DVD Player Control Studio’s Player provides a specialized set of controls for previewing movies that contain menus, patterned after the button layout on a typical DVD remote control. Switch the Player to DVD mode by clicking the DVD toggle button at the bottom right corner of the Player.
Button selection: The four arrow controls in this cluster move the onscreen cursor within a disc menu to select one of its buttons. The oval button in the middle of the cluster activates the currently-selected on-screen button, which is indicated by highlighting. Activating menu buttons directly One feature of the Player that set-top DVDs don’t have is the ability to click the buttons directly on the screen.
track, which materializes above the video track the first time a menu is added to your movie (and vanishes again if all menus are removed). The menu itself is marked by a colored rectangle in the menu track (M1 and M2 in the illustration above). Each link to a chapter is shown by a “C” flag. Here is a close-up of the first part of the Timescale, showing the rectangle identifying the first menu, and the chapter flags for three of the clips it links to.
To create a link: Right-click the menu track or the video track and choose either Set Disc Chapter or Set Return to Menu, depending on the kind of link you want to create. Return to menu links are always created at the end of the current clip, rather than at the exact point where you click. You’ll rarely want to return from the middle of a clip, but you can drag the link flag to a new position if the occasion arises.
The Edit menu button at the top right of the tool opens the menu in the Title Editor. There you can change every visual aspect of the menu: its background and button images, the appearance and contents of its captions, and more. For full information about the many capabilities of the Title Editor, see Chapter 10: The Title Editor. The preview area on the left side of the tool shows how the menu looks and also has interactive features you can use when establishing chapter links.
Alternative methods of selecting menu pages: • Step through the pages by clicking the page link buttons in the preview area. • Use the Button selector control (described on page 172) to choose a button on any page of the menu. Show link numbers checkbox: Check this box to cause link numbers to be displayed in the preview area over every button in the menu. The link numbers match the format and color of the chapter flags on the menu track.
control to select the menu button you want to work on. The selected button is highlighted in the preview area. You can also select a button by clicking on it in the preview area. Button caption text field: Edit the text for the current button without going to the Title Editor. The “#” character in button captions has a special meaning: Studio replaces it with the button’s sequence number. Use this feature to ensure that your buttons are correctly numbered regardless of changes in the layout of the menu.
For more on background rendering, see “Hollywood FX for Studio” (page 140); and “Edit Settings” (page 256). Chapter-editing controls The controls in this area select or modify the individual chapter buttons within a menu. The Set chapter buttons: These buttons set or sever the link between the currently-selected chapter button on the menu and its target clip. To set a link: Position the Timeline scrubber within a menu, video or still image clip, and click the Create chapter button.
To create a link using drag-and-drop: • Click the clip in the Movie Window that you want to link to, and drag it onto a button in the Clip properties tool preview area. The button is linked to the first frame of the clip. Or, • Click the button for which you want to create a link, and drag it onto a clip in the Movie Window. In this case you are linking to the point within the clip at which you “drop” the button – generally not the first frame.
CHAPTER 10: The Title Editor Studio’s built-in Title Editor is a powerful facility for creating and editing titles and other graphics. Its extensive suite of text and image effects and tools provides endless possibilities for the visual design of your movie. The Title Editor is not limited to creating passive titles. For disc projects, you can also add and edit the special buttons needed for handling viewer interaction with the menus of VCD, S-VCD and DVD movies.
Launching the Title Editor Reflecting the versatility of the Title Editor is the variety of ways of accessing it from Studio’s Edit mode, using either one of the tools in the Video toolbox (see page 69) or a mouse command on one of the Timeline tracks (see page 63). • To create a full-screen title or menu: Select Go to • • • • • • Title/Menu Editor from the right-button context menu in the Timeline video track. To create an overlay title or menu: Double-click the Timeline title track.
screen title or menu, or vice versa, just drag it onto the other Timeline track. If you find yourself creating a title when you wanted a disc menu, you can easily switch over in the Title Editor. THE TITLE EDITOR CONTROLS The main Title Editor controls are laid out in clusters around the Edit Window (see the picture on page 177). Title-type buttons The four buttons in this cluster sit on the left side of the screen above the Title Editor’s Edit Window. Only one of them can be selected at a time.
menu is just like any other title except for two attributes: • A menu has at least one button. A title has none. Adding a button to a title turns it into a menu, and deleting the last button on a menu turns it into a title. By the same token, if you click the Menu button while editing a title, Studio automatically adds a button to the title. • A menu cannot have rolling or crawling text. The Title Editor does not allow you to add menu buttons to a rolled or crawled title.
When the object has the size and proportions you want, release the mouse. Whatever its type, the object is created with the specified dimensions. Its other attributes – color, shading, shadow, etc. – are determined by the currently selected look in the Title Editor Album. All attributes can later be changed at will. After the object is created, the object tool you used deselects, and the selection arrow again becomes active.
About text objects Selecting a text object is different in one important way from selecting a rectangle or ellipse: the object’s text field is put into a “ready” state in which any keyboard activity will cause the field to activate and start displaying the input text. The activation of the text field is indicated by a text insertion cursor, the changed appearance of the object frame, and the disappearance of the control points.
Advanced text editing features As in a word processing program, the Title Editor allows you to format a selected range of characters. Simply mark an adjacent set of characters with the mouse and apply the formatting you desire. Supported operations on character ranges include text styling (font, style and look), clipboard operations (cut, copy, paste), delete, and a number of special positioning, spacing and scaling commands that are accessible only from the keyboard.
With text objects, the second button provides two further operations, kern and change leading, accessed by control points in the center of each edge of the text frame: Kern (L) and Change leading (R) 184 Pinnacle Studio 9
Object layout buttons The two left buttons in this cluster are for grouping and ungrouping Title Editor objects. The first button is available when multiple objects are selected. Its action is to link the objects into a group – a composite object that is treated as a single entity by editing operations. When a group is selected, all its control points are visible simultaneously, and any of them may be used to manipulate the group.
either the vertical or horizontal directions, and the final three resize the objects so that they have equal width, equal height, or both. All of these commands are particularly useful in menu creation, since you generally want menu buttons to be laid out in a regular fashion. The final object layout button opens another pop-out menu, this one concerned with object justification. The nine options here are in a graphical form resembling a tic-tac-toe board.
Clipboard and delete buttons The buttons in this cluster provide the familiar editing operations Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete, all of which operate on groups, individual objects, or on selected text within a Title Editor text object. The first three work with the Windows Clipboard, while the fourth simply deletes the chosen material without affecting the Clipboard.
controls in the cluster, which govern the appearance of individual characters, the options on this menu apply to all the text in a given text box. The three justification options – Left, Center and Right – affect the placement of the text within its box (and not the placement of the box itself within the Edit Window, which is the function of the object justification menu ).
THE TITLE EDITOR ALBUM The Title Editor Album is the rectangular panel on the right-hand side of the Title Editor screen. It contains resources for building menus and titles in the same way that the main Studio Album contains resources for creating movies. The Title Editor Album is controlled by the four buttons shown at left, which are located between the Edit Window and the Album itself.
To change the look of an existing object, simply click on the look you want while the object is selected. New objects are created with the most recently selected look. Selecting a look in the Looks Browser: Each button in the Standard tab is available in eight styles, which are presented to you as a submenu. Each look has a numeric ID that displays as a tool-tip under your mouse. Above, the mouse is on look 23-3.
otherwise standard Windows color-picker dialog to which an Opacity slider (0-100%) has been added. The swatch beside the second button pops up a gradient designer that lets you define a gradient by assigning the starting colors to each corner of a square surface. Click the color swatches in the corners of the gradient window to set the color for that corner in a color-picker dialog. Note: Some of the more elaborate supplied looks employ special internal features and so cannot be edited.
those described above for the Looks Browser (page 189), except that the color or gradient you select is instantly applied to the background of the title you are editing. If you are working on an overlay title, you may find interesting ways to use the Opacity setting on the colorpicker dialogs for these buttons, especially when the overlay is coupled with transitions.
Picture objects behave just like text objects and the two types of graphic object with respect to grouping, alignment and similar controls. The Buttons section Since buttons are the magic ingredient that turns titles into interactive menus, this section of the Title Editor Album is mainly of interest for DVD, VCD and S-VCD authoring. Broadly speaking, a button is an area of the screen with which the user can interact in some way.
The button art supplied with Studio includes several examples of each type. Each button is an image file in Targa (tga) format. Examination of the files in an art program like Adobe PhotoShop or Paint Shop Pro will show that the transparent portion of the button image, and the special area for the display of thumbnails (where applicable), are defined by an alpha channel included with the image. As usual, a folder button lets you select the disk directory from which the displayed images are obtained.
Would you like to make a button that says “Grandma” and link it to the video of Grandma’s birthday party? Just create a text object, make it as fancy as you like with text stylings and the Looks Browser, and assign it the normal button action. Back in the Clip properties tool, link the new button to the chosen video clip and the job is done. Button highlighting DVD menus (but not VCD and S-VCD menus), give visual feedback by highlighting the current button as the user scrolls around the menu.
These highlight options can be applied to any type of button made from any type of object, not just the button images brought in from the Album. Clear the Highlight style checkbox if you want to disable button highlighting while working in the Title Editor.
CHAPTER 11: Sound effects and music Video may be thought of as primarily a visual medium, but the role of sound in your movies is often no less important than that of the images on the screen. Feature film and television productions include numerous types of audio, beginning with the dialog and other sounds created during live action. In your movies, that raw soundtrack is brought in along with the video during Capture mode.
• The SmartSound tool automatically creates a music track of any desired duration in a variety of styles. • You can drop mp3 files from the Album onto the Timeline or import CD audio tracks with the CD audio tool. • The Voice-over tool lets you add narration or commentary as you preview your edited video. Audio, whatever its type, is added to your production as clips in the Movie Window. These can be moved around, trimmed and edited in much the same way as video clips and still images.
powered speaker system with Pro Logic support or a Pro Logic-compatible AV receiver. • A sound card and speaker system with Dolby Digital 5.1 compatibility. For best results a digital audio connection (RCA or optical) is recommended. Note: Even if you cannot hear your surround mix when previewing, it will still appear on your DVDs, but a surround preview allows more accurate mixing. A surround soundtrack can be output to the DVD in either of two forms: • In Dolby Digital 5.
“synchronous” audio because it simultaneously with the video track. is recorded Overlay audio track: The original audio for video clips on the overlay track. Sound effect and voice-over track: Sound effects and voice-overs are the typical content on this track. Sound effects are brought into your project from the Sound Effects section of the Album (see “The Sound Effects section” on page 54). Voice-overs are created with the Voice-over tool (described on page 205).
Switching audio tracks Although the audio tracks do have their specialized roles, as described above, these mainly control the choice of track where new clips will appear. Original audio will always be placed on the original audio track when a new video clip is brought in; new voice-overs will always be created on the sound effects and voiceovers track; and new CD audio and SmartSound clips will be added to the background music track.
If there is a CD in the drive that you have not previously used in a Studio project, Studio will ask you to enter its name before continuing. The controls on the tool will become available only when Studio can offer at least one entry on the CD Title dropdown list. Select the CD from which you wish to capture audio in the CD Title dropdown list, and a track on that CD from the Track list. Since CD Title is also an editable text field, you can change the name by which Studio refers to this CD, if desired.
the CD (if it is not already in the drive), so that the audio data can be captured. You won’t need to repeat this step subsequently unless you lengthen the clip. CD recording options Depending on your CD drive, Studio offers a number of recording options. The choices are found in the CD. Voice-over and Surround options panel (Setup ¾ CD, Voice-over and Surround): The default method is digitally “ripping” from your CD to Studio.
Ctrl+A.) The total length of the selected clips will determine the initial setting for the music duration, though you can modify the value at any time by trimming on the Timeline or directly editing the Duration counter in the tool. In the SmartSound tool, choose a style, song and version from the lists provided. Each style offers its own selection of songs, and each song its own selection of versions. Use the Preview button to audition the song while the tool is open.
When you have made your choice, click the Add to Movie button. Studio creates the new clip on the background music track beginning at the current time index (as shown by the Timeline scrubber and the preview frame in the Player). The SmartSound button at the bottom right of the tool opens a dialog with options and tools for maintaining your SmartSound library. The Voice-over tool Recording a voice-over in Studio is as easy as making a telephone call.
Review the video scenes in your movie and decide where you want the voice-over to begin and end. When you are ready, open the Voice-over tool. Note that the recording lamp – the dark rectangle in the upper left of the above illustration – is not lit. Select your starting point on the Movie Window Timeline. You may do this by selecting a clip, playing the movie and stopping it at the desired point, or by moving the Timeline scrubber.
level is set with the Recording level slider and its accompanying level meter on the Voice-over tool. Watch this meter to make sure your recording levels don’t get too high or low. The indicator changes color from blue (0-70% modulation), through yellow, to red. Generally, you should try to keep your audio peaking in the yellow (71-90%) and out of the red (91-100%). Voice-over recording options The Studio setup dialogs include several settings that affect your recording configuration and quality.
Choose from this list, then connect your microphone in the manner indicated (e.g. Microphone or Line In). The Channels and Sample rate adjustments on the options dialog control the quality of voice-overs or other recorded audio. Set them at the highest quality level you anticipate needing, but keep in mind that increasing quality requires more disk space. TRIMMING AUDIO CLIPS As with other clip types, you can trim audio clips either directly on the Timeline or by using the Clip properties tool.
• The Name text field lets you assign a custom name to the clip to replace the default one assigned by Studio. The clip name is used by the Movie Window’s List view, and can also be viewed as a fly-by label when your mouse hovers over the clip in the Storyboard view. The other controls provided by the tool depend on the type of audio clip you give it.
You can use these to change the source of the clip at any time. CD Title is also an editable text field, so you can enter the actual title of the CD. SmartSound® SmartSound clips can be edited to almost any length, except that very short clips at some particular durations may not be available in every combination of Style and Song.
Anatomy of an audio clip An audio clip icon on the Timeline has several parts. The boundaries of each clip are denoted by vertical bars. The actual content of the audio is indicated by a waveform graph: Waveform graph excerpt from three neighboring clips. The appearance of the waveform graph tells you something about the character of the sound. A quiet sound has a narrow waveform, close to the centerline of the clip.
Finally, if you make volume adjustments within the clip, the line consists of sloping segments that meet at volume adjustment handles. Unlike the waveform graph, or the adjustment lines for balance and fade (see below), the volume adjustment line is scaled logarithmically. Perceived volume varies logarithmically with the strength of an audio signal, so this feature allows the adjustment line to model more accurately what you really hear.
To select which of the three adjustment lines is currently displayed, use the audio clip’s right-button context menu: . Availability: Surround sound is not supported in the SE and QuickStart versions of Studio. Adjusting audio on the Timeline Audio levels can be adjusted directly within a clip on the Timeline. Use the mouse pointer to adjust the blue volume line or either of the balance lines (see “Anatomy of an audio clip” on page 211).
To adjust the volume of a clip on the Timeline, select it (by left clicking), then move your mouse pointer close to the line. The volume adjustment cursor will appear: Click the left mouse button, and drag up or down within the clip. The volume line bends as it follows the mouse. When you release the mouse, Studio creates an adjustment handle on the volume line.
In the case of left-right (stereo) balance, adjusting the line upwards from the center positions the audio further to the left. With front-back balance (“fade”), adjusting the line upwards moves the apparent source of the audio away from the listener, while adjusting the line downwards brings the audio closer (towards the rear speakers).
The Volume and balance tool provides individual level controls for each of the audio tracks: original audio (left in illustration), overlay audio, sound effect and voice-over, and background music (right). The overlay audio controls are displayed only when the overlay video and audio tracks are open in the Movie Window.
affects the vertical position of the volume adjustment lines on all clips on the track, but does not change their contour. Click on the knob and drag it with a clockwise rotation (up to the 2 o’clock maximum position) to increase the volume. Use a counterclockwise rotation (down to the 6 o’clock minimum) to lower the volume. Level knobs, full off (L), default (C) and full on (R). The track’s relative level scale p, with its associated fader q, are calibrated in decibels (dB).
digital signal – ensure that the meter level never quite reaches the top of the bar. The fade buttons s produce a fade-in from or a fadeout to the current position of the movie. For a visual confirmation of their effect, watch the behavior of the clip’s volume adjustment line when the fade buttons are clicked. The fade duration is variable from zero to fifty-nine seconds. Adjust it in the Edit options panel (Setup ¾ Edit) under Volume fades.
(“balance”). Each track can be independently placed anywhere within the rectangular listening area. Surround mode: Here, the original audio track has been placed farthest from the listener, near the left front speaker. The sound effect and voice-over track is on the right, closer to the listener. The background music track is centered, and closer still. There are two ways to set the position of a track’s icon in the balance control.
Viewing volume and balance contours Each audio clip in your project displays a contour line showing one of its volume, left-right balance or frontback balance. To select which of the three types of line is displayed, use the commands on an audio clip’s right-button context menu (see “Anatomy of an audio clip” on page 211). The contour lines can be modified directly on the Timeline using adjustment handles. For details, see “Adjusting audio on the Timeline” on page 213.
Icons for audio effects In Timeline mode, any special effects you have applied to an audio or video clip are indicated by small icons along the bottom of the clip. These correspond to the effects groups shown by the Add new effect browser in the Audio effects and Video effects tools. You can open the appropriate tool for parameter editing by double-clicking any of the icons. In the illustration, the Noise reduction effect has been applied to both audio clips.
audible effect, so you should make changes in small amounts then pause to check if there is an improvement. Noise reduction: When a camcorder is used outdoors with the actors distant from the microphone, the “source noise” may be very high, and to make matters worse the internal noise of the camcorder may be amplified to intrusive levels. If a lapel microphone connected to the line input of the camcorder were used when taping the scene, however, the source noise could be quite low.
Equalizer This effect is similar in concept to the treble and bass “tone” controls on audio equipment, but provides a much finer degree of adjustment. It divides the audio spectrum into ten bands, each centered on a different sound frequency. Note: In musical terms, each equalization band covers one octave, and the center frequency is close in pitch to the note B. The sliders let you increase or decrease the contribution of each band’s frequencies to the total sound over a range of 48 dB (-24 to +24).
Grungelizer The Grungelizer adds noise and static to your recordings. It can make your clips sound as though you were hearing them on a radio with bad reception or a worn and scratched vinyl record. Crackle: This dial adds crackle to create that old vinyl record sound. The farther to the right you turn the dial, the more crackle is added. RPM switch: When emulating the sound of a vinyl record, this switch lets you set the turntable speed in revolutions per minute (33, 45 or 78 RPM).
AC: This emulates the constant, low hum of AC current. Frequency switch: This sets the frequency of the AC current (50 or 60 Hz), and thus the pitch of the AC hum. Timeline: This dial regulates the amount of overall effect. The farther to the right (1900) you turn this dial, the more noticeable the effect. Karaoke Apply this effect to clips such as mp3 songs or audio CD tracks to remove the main vocal from the performance.
Leveler This effect helps compensate for a common problem in recording audio for video productions: the imbalance in the recorded volume of different elements in the original audio. For instance, your commentary as you shoot the video may be recorded at such a high level that it overwhelms other sounds at the location. The trick in using the Leveler is to find a target volume somewhere between that of the loud and soft audio in the original clip.
is greater for a large room than a small one. The rate at which the echoes die away depends on both the room size and the reflectivity of the walls. The presets for Reverb are named for the type of room they simulate – from the passenger cabin of a car all the way up to a huge underground cavern. Initial Delay: This slider sets the amount of delay from the start of the sound until the reverb kicks in. For naturalistic results, a smaller value would be used when modeling a smaller room.
CHAPTER 12: Making your movie Studio gives you a variety of ways to share your video productions.
Preparing your movie for output Before your movie is actually ready for output some preprocessing will generally be required: • If your movie includes clips that were captured in preview quality, Studio will prompt you to load your source tape(s) into your DV camcorder or VCR. Studio will then recapture the clips at full resolution.
Outputting to a camera or video recorder... ... via IEEE-1394 cable If your recording device has a DV input, just connect it to your digital video card with an IEEE-1394 (or “i.LINK”) cable. The connector at the camcorder end should be labeled DV IN/OUT. Note: On machines that don’t support recording back to the camcorder, including many PAL devices, the DV connector is called simply DV OUT. ...
Connecting a TV set or video monitor Many camcorders have an integrated display, making it unnecessary to attach a video monitor. Otherwise, to view your movie as it is recorded, a TV set or a video monitor must be attached to the video outputs of your recorder. Video outputs are not always available on DV camcorders. Output your movie to videotape Switch to Make Movie mode, and check that your camcorder or VCR is connected and ready to record your movie. To output your movie to videotape: 1.
It’s good practice to slide the recordinhibit tab on your master tapes to “Save” to ensure there’s no accidental recording over original material. Note: Studio relies on continuous, uninterrupted timecode to recapture these clips. If your original tapes have discontinuous timecode (a zero timecode at a location other than the beginning of your tape), you must manually cue to the portion of the tape that holds the clip(s).
make tape operation must be started again at the beginning. Once rendering is complete, Studio requires a few seconds to prepare for output to your camcorder or VCR. 5. Verify that the camcorder/VCR is powered on, and that you have inserted a tape cued to where you wish to begin recording. You now have two options: If you record your movie onto a DV tape, Studio gives you the option to automatically start and stop recording on the DV device.
the trade-off between file size and quality: the more you compress, the more you reduce quality. Both video and audio compression are adjustable. Video compression adjustments include frame size, frame rate and data rate (after compression). For audio, you can select monaural (single channel) instead of stereo, and adjust the bit depth and sampling rate. The default codec included with Studio is the Studio DV codec.
Options are provided for turning off either the audio or the video. You may want to make an AVI audio-only file for import into another program. Alternatively, you might want to omit the audio from a small web-page video in order to minimize the file size. The remaining options pertain to compression. For more information see “Make AVI file settings” on page 264. 3. Check the Diskometer to make sure you have enough drive space. 4. Click the green Create AVI file button.
Save your movie as an MPEG file The MPEG-1 file format is supported on all Windows 95 and later PCs. MPEG-2 files can only be played on PCs with MPEG-2 decoder software installed. Generally, MPEG files are smaller than AVI files, and depending on the AVI options used may be of higher quality. To save your movie as an MPEG file: 1. Switch to Make Movie mode by clicking the Make Movie tab at the top of the Studio main window. The Make Movie controls appear. Click the MPEG tab. 2.
Check the Diskometer to make sure you have enough drive space. 4. Click the green Create MPEG file button. Enter a name for your mpg file when prompted. The default directory for saving your file is: C:\My Documents\Pinnacle Studio\My Projects Click OK to start creating the file. A progress bar on the Player lets you monitor the creation of your movie. 3. Checking your results Once your movie has been rendered, two new buttons appear to the left of the Settings button.
Save as RealVideo or Windows Media With the RealVideo and Windows Media formats, you can save your movies for playback on the Web. You can share those movies with anyone around the world who has compatible software: • For RealVideo, the RealNetworks® RealPlayer®, a free download from www.real.com. • For Windows Media, the Window Media Player, a free download from www.microsoft.com. To output your movie to RealVideo or Windows Media: 1. Click the Stream tab to bring up these controls: 2.
3. Click the green Create Web file button. Type in a name for your rm (RealVideo) or wmv (Windows Media) file. The default directory in which your file will be saved is: C:\My Documents\Pinnacle Studio\My Projects Click OK to start creating the file. As usual, the progress bars in the Player give you feedback on the processing of each clip. Checking your results Once your movie has been rendered, two new buttons appear to the left of the Settings button.
button. If you want another frame of your movie to appear, use the playback controls in the Player to find the frame of your choice, then click the Set thumbnail button. Click the green Share my video button to begin the process of sharing your movie. Your video-sharing account allows you to store up to 10MB (about 5 minutes) of video online. If your movie is too large to fit into your allotted space, a message will appear alerting you.
Output your movie to DVD, VCD or S-VCD If your system is equipped with a CD burner, Studio can create VCD or S-VCD discs on either CD-R or CD-RW media. Your VCD discs can be played back: • On a VCD or S-VCD player. • On some DVD players. Most DVD players can handle CD-RW media, but many will not reliably read CD-R. A majority of DVD players can handle the VCD format. • On a computer with a CD or DVD drive and MPEG- 1 playback software (such as Windows Media Player).
Your DVD discs can be played back: • On any DVD player that can handle the recordable DVD format your burner creates. Most players can handle the common formats. • On a computer with a DVD drive and playback software. Whether or not you have a DVD burner on your system, Studio also lets you save a DVD image – a set of files containing the same information that would be stored onto a DVD disc – to a directory on your hard drive. The DVD image can subsequently be burned to disc.
Diskometer-style display showing the amount of space consumed by your movie on the output disc. Also shown are the length of your movie, and a reminder of the disc-type and quality setting you have chosen. 2. Click the Settings button to bring up the Make Disc options panel (see “Make disc settings” on page 272). There you can select the output format for your movie, set up quality options, and configure your disc burner.
Copying an AVI file to tape When the Tape tab is selected in Make Movie mode (see “Output your movie to videotape”, page 232, and “Save your movie as an AVI file”, page 234), a small side-panel opens on the Player. The controls on this panel enable you to output an AVI movie directly to videotape. The Open file button lets you select an avi file for recording, while the slider adjusts the volume level when the file is being played back.
APPENDIX A: Setup options Settings are provided to adjust various aspects of Studio’s operation. The default values have been chosen to work well for the majority of situations and hardware. However, you may wish to modify them to suit either your work style or your specific equipment configuration. About Studio setup options Studio’s setup options are divided between two dialog boxes, both with several tabbed panels.
Option settings in Studio apply to both the current and future Studio sessions. There is no master reset. If you want to return to the factory preset values, use the information in the following sections, which deal with all ten options panels in turn. Capture source settings This panel is divided into three areas: Capture devices, Scene detection during video capture and Data rate. The changes you make affect all future captures.
camera, etc). Your selection determines the availability of some other Capture source settings, and of many settings on the Capture format panel. Audio: Your choice of audio devices is constrained by which video device is selected. With most analog devices, for instance, you can choose any of your sound card inputs; your equipment configuration determines which one you should use. TV standard: Choose the standard that is compatible with your capture device and your TV or video monitor (NTSC or PAL).
changed. Preview the source video using your camcorder’s built-in monitor instead. Aspect ratio: This dropdown list specifies whether the video source for future analog captures should be interpreted as having normal (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) format. Scene detection during video capture The effect of these scene detection options is described under “Automatic scene detection” on page 25. The options that are actually available depend on the capture device being used: not all devices support all modes.
Data code does not work if the tape: • includes one or more blank (unrecorded) sections • is unreadable due to tape damage or electronic noise • was recorded without the camcorder time or date set • is a copy of another tape • was shot on an 8mm or Hi8 camcorder, and is now being played back on a Digital8 camcorder. Under the final option – “No auto scene detection” – a new scene is created each time you press the [Space] key.
Capture format settings The options available here depend on the capture device you are using (from the Capture source tab). You will not see all the settings described below displayed at once. Presets The settings in the other areas on the Capture format panel depend on your choice in this Presets area. The available presets depend in turn on your capture hardware. For a DV capture source, the main capture options are selected in the first of two dropdown lists.
the video settings manually. The best preset to use is the lowest one that meets the requirements of all the devices on which your movie will be played. Use Low if you are outputting only for VCD; Medium if you need to accommodate S-VCD; and High if your movie will be output for DVD. • Preview: Preview-quality dramatically decreases the disk space needed for capturing by lowering the video quality – but only during editing.
Using codecs that have not been certified by Pinnacle Systems for use with Studio preview-quality capture may produce undesirable results. Pinnacle Systems cannot provide technical support for problems associated with the use of codecs that are not so certified. Options: This button gives you access to any setup options offered by the codec (compression/decompression software) you have chosen. Compression: Use this dropdown list to select the codec you want to use.
Pre-filter: This option activates a smoothing algorithm to improve apparent picture quality when capturing at lower resolutions. The sharpness of the image is slightly reduced. Fast encode: This option speeds up the encoding process with some reduction in quality when capturing to an MPEG file. You may want to evaluate the effect of this option in your production using a short test capture.
Include audio: Clear this checkbox if you are not planning to use the captured audio in your production. Options: This button gives you access to any setup options offered by the codec (compression/ decompression software) you have chosen. Compression: This dropdown shows the codec that will be used to compress the incoming audio data. Channels, Sample rate: These settings control audio quality. “CD quality” is 16-bit stereo, 44.1 kHz.
relating to editing are on the CD, Voice-over and Surround panel (see page 260). Default durations These duration times are measured in seconds and frames. The seconds counter advances every 30 frames for NTSC, or 25 frames for PAL. The three settings here control the initial duration value for transitions, still images and volume fades when added to your movie. The durations can be trimmed to custom values during editing. The default values upon installation are as shown in the illustration above.
Rendering This area furnishes several options that affect rendering – the process in which the video for your final movie is generated from materials you have assembled in the Movie Window. Depending on the speed of your computer system, Studio may be unable to calculate some of its more complex effects rapidly enough to provide a completely smooth and detailed preview in the Player.
The choices involve a trade-off: optimizing for preview will speed up background rendering but slow down the Make Tape step, whereas with Optimize for make tape the reverse is true. If you are not planning to output your project to videotape, Optimize for preview is always the better choice. As illustrated under “Moving Thumbnails Checkbox” on page 173, a progress bar in the Timescale reveals the progress of background rendering.
When adding a menu When you place a disc menu on the Timeline, Studio inquires whether you want to generate chapter links from the menu to all the clips that follow it (at least until the next menu). The choices on this dropdown list let you avoid the confirmation dialog by specifying that you always don’t or always do want the links to be created, or that you want Studio to create links from a new menu to its chapters and also return links back to the menu from the end of each chapter.
Drive letter: If you have multiple CD drives, choose one to use as the CD audio source for your movies. Voice-over recording Microphone: A dropdown list of choices for attaching a microphone to your hardware. Channels, Sample rate: These settings control audio quality. A typical setting for voice-overs is 16-bit mono at 22.05 kHz. Surround-sound playback Enable discrete 5.1 playback: Check this box if the desktop audio system you use when previewing your Studio project supports discrete 5.1 audio.
Make tape settings Studio automatically senses the hardware you have installed, and configures the Make Tape playback destination accordingly. If you are printing (making tape) to a DV device, you can choose to have Studio start and stop the device automatically instead of having to do it yourself. To control printing automatically: Click the Make Movie button on the main menu bar. The upper half of the screen changes to display the Make Movie window. 2. Click the Tape tab. 3. Click the Settings button.
5. Click OK. 6. Click Create. Studio renders your movie, then sends the record command to your DV device. Studio outputs the first frame of your movie (without audio) for the duration entered for record delay time, giving the device time to bring the tape up to speed and begin recording. Hint: When you play back your tape, if the first part of your movie was not recorded, you should increase the Record delay time setting.
Make AVI file settings The Make AVI file options panel lets you adjust compression settings, whether to minimize the size of the output file, to increase its quality, or to prepare it for a special purpose (such as distribution via the Internet) where there may be requirements involving characteristics such as frame size. Video settings Compression: Choose the compressor (codec) that is most suitable for your intended use.
width and height greatly decreases file size, although compression moderates this effect. Quality, data rate: Depending on the codec being used, you can adjust the quality percentage or data rate with the slider. The higher the percentage or rate you choose, the larger the resulting file. Frames/second: The default value is 29.97 frames per second for NTSC video, or 25 frames per second for PAL. You may want to set the frame rate lower for applications such as Web video.
Type: In most cases, you will choose either PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) or ADPCM (Adaptive Delta PCM). Channels: You may choose between 8- and 16-bit mono and stereo sound. Sound quality and file size increases when you add a second channel or increase bit depth. Sample rate: Digital audio is produced by taking regular instaneous samples of the continuous analog waveform. The more samples, the better the sound. For example, audio CDs are recorded at 44 kHz, 16-bit stereo.
Video settings Compression: You can choose either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 compression. MPEG-2 offers higher resolution and higher quality than MPEG-1. Note: MPEG-2 files require special decoder software. If you do not have an MPEG-2 decoder installed on your PC you will not be able to play MPEG-2 files. Width, Height: The frame size is measured in pixels. Decreasing the dimensions greatly decreases the amount of data, and therefore the file size, but compression reduces the effect.
Audio settings Sample rate: Digital audio is produced by taking discrete samples of a continuous analog waveform – the more samples, the better the sound. MPEG supports two sample rates, 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz. Data rate: You can adjust the data rates for audio and video separately using the sliders. Higher data rates yield higher quality at the cost of larger files. Make RealVideo file settings The Make RealVideo File options panel allows you to adjust RealVideo file settings.
typically used to identify the movie for Internet search engines. Web server: The RealServer option allows you to create a file that can be streamed from a RealNetworks RealServer. The RealServer supports a special feature that senses the connect speed of the viewer’s modem, and adjusts its transmission rate to suit. The option allows you to select up to seven Target audience data rates.
In addition to these standard audiences, you can record clips for connection speeds of 100 Kbps, 200 Kbps, or higher. These higher bandwidths are suitable for audiences that use corporate Local Area Networks (LANs), cable modems or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modems. If you want to keep file sizes to a minimum, audio for many digital uses can be set to 8-bit mono at 11 KHz. As a rule of thumb, try 8-bit 11 KHz for audio that is mostly speech, and 16-bit stereo at 22 or 44.
• No audio: When this selection is made, the output • • • • file will contain video only. Voice only: This option provides adequate quality for spoken audio in clips without music. Voice with background music: This option is designed for situations where, even though background music may be present, the spoken audio predominates. Music: Use this option for a monaural track in which music is prominently featured. Stereo music: Use this option for a stereo music track.
encoded into it so they are not visible to the casual viewer. Description: This 256-character field lets you enter keywords for encoding into the movie. It is typically used to identify the movie for Internet search engines. Playback quality: Choose the playback quality of your movie based on the capability of the target platform – the computer(s) that will play the movie. The exact audio and video parameters corresponding to the current choice are displayed in the space below the list.
Output format Select VideoCD (VCD), S-VCD or DVD. Options in other areas of the panel are dependent on this choice. Burn options Burn directly to disc: Your movie will be burned onto disc according to the format you have selected under Output format. Create disc content but don’t burn: This choice is only available when the output format is DVD. Your disc burner is not used. Instead, the same files that would normally be saved onto a DVD disc are stored into an “image folder” on a hard drive.
copies of the same project. Although the project is not used directly in making the disc, it must nevertheless be open in Studio when the disc is burned. Eject disc when done: Check this box if you would like Studio to automatically eject the disc after the burn process has been completed. Video quality / disc usage Quality settings: These settings (Automatic, Best video quality, Most video on disc and Custom) are available for S-VCD and DVD discs only.
• MPEG audio support is always provided on PAL players. On NTSC players it is broadly supported, but theoretically optional. • Dolby Digital 2-channel encoding can be used to compactly store either a stereo or a surround soundtrack. To hear the surround mix requires equipment with Dolby Pro Logic compatibility. On other systems, it will be heard as a normal stereo mix. • Dolby Digital 5.1-channel encoding stores the surround channels discretely.
APPENDIX B: Tips and tricks Here are some hints from Pinnacle technical specialists on choosing, using and maintaining a computer system with video in mind. Hardware To use Studio effectively, your hardware should be optimally prepared and configured. It is recommended that you use UDMA IDE drives as they provide reliable video transfer performance with Studio. We highly recommend you capture to a hard drive other than the one upon which Windows and the Studio software are installed.
For example: 1 hour of video = 3600 seconds (60 x 60) 3600 seconds x 3.6 MB/s = 12,960 MB Hence 1 hour of video uses 12.9 GB of storage. Due to their automatic internal calibration, standard hard drives regularly interrupt the continuous data stream in order to recalibrate themselves. During capture, this is not apparent since images are temporarily stored in memory. But during playback, only a limited number of images can be temporarily stored in this manner.
• After ScanDisk is done, click on Start ¾ Programs ¾ Accessories ¾ System Tools ¾ Disk Defragmenter (this may take a while). • Turn off energy-saving features. Point your mouse on your Desktop, right-click, and select Properties ¾ Screensaver (under Energy… Settings). Make sure everything under Settings for… power schemes is set to Never. Note: Video-editing programs do not multitask very well. Do not use any other program while making movie (videotape or CD) or capturing. You can multitask while editing.
always appear in full color and resolution at the video output. Windows 98 Second Edition To improve system performance under Windows 98SE, you can make the following modifications. Hard drive settings: Go to Start ¾ Settings ¾ Control Panel ¾ System. Click on the Performance tab, then File System, then the Troubleshooting tab. 2. Click to the left of Disable write-behind caching for all drives option to select it and click OK. 3. Under the Hard-disk tab, set the Read-ahead optimization option to None. 4.
Taskbar: Switch the clock on the taskbar off. Right-click the mouse on the taskbar. 2. Select Properties. 3. Deactivate the Show Clock option. 1. Increasing the frame rate If your system is unable to achieve an adequate frame rate (25 fps for PAL/SECAM, 29.97 fps for NTSC), try the following: Deactivate network driver and applications Network operations often cause interruptions during recording and playback. We recommend not working in a network.
The better the sound quality, the more space is consumed. The highest quality (CD) is rarely required. However, the lowest quality (11 kHz/8-bit, mono) rarely provides acceptable audio sequences.
section. If you have followed the naming convention suggested on page 28, Studio will proceed to the next section of tape and repeat the process until all required clips from that source tape have been recaptured. Not following the naming convention results in changing source tapes much more often. When Studio recaptures your clips, it will capture about a second of extra footage at the start and end of your clip.
APPENDIX C: Troubleshooting Before you begin troubleshooting, take some time to check your hardware and software installation. Update your software: We recommend installing the latest operating system updates for Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP. You can download these updates from: windowsupdate.microsoft.com/default.htm Make sure you have the latest version of the Studio software installed by clicking the Help ¾ Software Updates menu from within the program.
have NVIDIA or ATI graphics cards, for which the latest drivers are available at: www.nvidia.com and www.atitech.com Those with Sound Blaster audio cards can get updates here: us.creative.com Opening Device Manager The Windows Device Manager, which lets you configure your system’s hardware, has an important role in troubleshooting. The first step in accessing Device Manager under all versions of Windows is right-clicking on My Computer then selecting Properties from the context menu.
Access the knowledge base with your web browser by visiting: http://pinnacle.custhelp.com The knowledge base home page will appear. You don’t have to register to browse the knowledge base, but if you want to send a specific question to technical support staff you will need to create a knowledge base account. Please read any knowledge base articles relevant to your inquiry before contacting technical support. Using the knowledge base In the Product dropdown, select “Studio Version 9”.
If you search instead on the single keyword “Crash”, you will get far fewer hits, all relating to crashes in Studio. If one search does not turn up an article that seems relevant to your problem, try modifying the search by choosing a different set of keywords. You can also use the Search by and Sort by options to select for specific or popular articles. Searching by Answer ID If you know the Answer ID number of the answer you’re looking for, you can access the item directly.
Studio crashes in Edit mode Answer ID 6786 If Studio is crashing, the cause is most likely either a configuration issue or a problem with a project or content file. This type of issue can often be fixed with one of the following methods: • Uninstalling and reinstalling Studio. • Optimizing the computer. • Rebuilding a corrupt project. • Recapturing a corrupt clip.
Be sure to close all other programs before installing a new version. Adjust Studio settings: Choose No background rendering in the Rendering dropdown list, and clear the Use hardware acceleration checkbox. Both options are found on the Edit options panel (see page 256). End background tasks: Close other applications and unload any background processes before using Studio. • In Windows 98 and Windows Millennium, manage background processes by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open the Task Manager.
can see what sound and video cards you have in the Windows Device Manager. To determine what video card you have, click the plus sign in front of Display Adapters in the Device Manager list. The name of your video card is now displayed. Double-clicking the name opens another dialog, where you choose the Driver tab. Now you can view information about the driver’s manufacturer, and the names of the driver’s constituent files.
Uninstall, reinstall and update Studio: In case your Studio installation has become corrupted, try this procedure: Uninstall Studio: Click on Start ¾ Programs ¾ Studio 9 ¾ Uninstall Studio 9, then follow any onscreen instructions until the process is complete. If the uninstaller asks whether you want to delete a shared files, click Yes to all. Disconnect the camera and cable from your DV board, if you have one. 2. Reinstall Studio: Insert your Studio CD and reinstall the software.
uncommon format. If you have a wav or mp3 file that seems to be problematic, convert the file to the other format before importing the file. Many wav and mp3 files on the Internet are corrupt or non-standard.. Reinstall Windows: This is quite a drastic step, but if the previous steps have not helped, Windows itself may be corrupt.
methodical in your approach. Creating a small test project, as described for Case 2, helps eliminate variables that may confuse your test results. Capture error occurs on starting capture Answer ID 2687 Some problems can be traced to incompatibilities or issues with particular third-party capture cards: • ATI: Studio should work with most All In Wonder cards. • Hauppauge: Please see the FAQ on our web site for information regarding Hauppauge cards.
the capture driver for your capture device is flagged or not listed, reload the capture driver as follows: • Pinnacle drivers: Use the CD to locate and install the Pinnacle drivers for the card you have installed. • Third party drivers: Use the CD that came with the capture device or call the manufacturer (or visit their web-site) for the most current driver. 2. If you are capturing from an analog source, make sure the correct analog type is selected.
If you continue to get a Capture Error after trying the above steps, please test your setup with the AMCAP capture application. AMCAP is a generic application used to test device compatibility. If you can’t capture with AMCAP, your capture card probably doesn’t have the right driver for your version of Windows. To use AMCAP: 1. Click Start ¾ Programs ¾ Studio 9 ¾ Tools ¾ Am Capture. 2. In the AMCAP window, select your capture device on the Devices menu. 3.
Studio hangs when rendering Answer ID 6386 With this type of problem, Studio “gets stuck” during rendering (preparing your video for output in Make Movie mode). To identify the solution in a particular case, try the troubleshooting steps for whichever of the following failure modes best matches your situation: • Case 1: Rendering stops immediately after it starts. • Case 2: Rendering stops randomly in a project. It typically does not stop in the same spot if rendering is attempted multiple times.
• Reinstall Windows over itself (that is, without uninstalling first). In Windows XP, this procedure is called Repair. Case 2: Rendering stops randomly If the render hangs at random points even within the same project, the failures may be due to background tasks, power management or a thermal problem in the computer. Possible solutions: • Check your hard drive for errors and defragment it. • End any background tasks, such as virus checkers, drive indexers and fax modems. • Turn off any power management.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Defragment your hard drive. Ensure that you have ample storage – preferably tens of gigabytes – on the hard drive you use for video. Rendering may use large amounts of storage, and can be disrupted if space is insufficient. If you have a separate capture drive, make sure to move the auxiliary files folder to that drive. Copy the section where the render stops and put it into a new project. Include 15 to 30 seconds on either side of the error.
Some possible solutions and workarounds: Verify that the burner is listed in Device Manager. If it is not, review your burner’s documentation or contact the manufacturer to get the device installed properly. 2. Uninstall and reinstall Studio from your original CD, then update it with the most recent patch. See page 292 for instructions. 3. Check the disc burner manufacturer's web-site for a firmware update. You can find the firmware version for your burner on its properties dialog in Device Manager. 4.
return control to you – after what had seemed an uneventful launch. In all such cases, try any or all the following: 1. Restart the computer. After the reboot, double-click the Studio icon. 2. Wait a few minutes to confirm that the application is really hung. Even when you suspect Studio has failed to launch, wait a few minutes more just in case. On some computers, the launch process may take longer to complete than you anticipate. 3. Uninstall and reinstall Studio. (See page 292 for instructions.) 4.
HollywoodFX transitions are still watermarked after upgrading Answer ID 1804 When upgrading to PRO, make sure you have completed the installation and obtained a keycode. The installer will prompt you to insert a keycode. To get a keycode, go to www.hollywoodfx.com and log into your account. In the lobby, click on Register a Product. If you have already registered PRO, you can simply click on Get New Keycode.
setting. To capture from an analog source, select the applicable devices in both lists. • Many analog capture cards lack an audio in jack, so you must both set the audio capture device in Studio to your sound card's line in, and cable the analog audio source (VCR or analog camcorder) to the line in jack on the sound card. Possible solutions if you are capturing from a digital source: 1. Verify that the camera is in VTR/VCR mode. For capturing, the device should be running on AC power, not batteries. 2.
Checking the drivers The procedure for checking your 1394 port and digital camcorder drivers is somewhat different depending on which version of Windows you are using. To check the drivers under Windows 98SE and Windows Millennium: 1. Open the Windows Device Manager. (See page 286 for instructions on accessing Device Manager.) 2. You should not have any drivers with the yellow exclamation mark error flag on them. If you do, the driver that is flagged is not loaded properly and will not work correctly.
To check the drivers under Windows 2000 and Windows XP: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Open the Windows Device Manager. (See page 286 for instructions on accessing Device Manager.) You should not have any drivers with the yellow on them. If you do, exclamation mark error flag the driver that is flagged is not loaded properly and will not work correctly. The driver for the card is an OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 host controller driver and is listed under the heading IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers.
Repairing your Windows installation If you have Windows 2000 or Windows XP and continue to get the “cannot initialize” message after trying all the steps above, it may be that the 1394 drivers built into Windows are corrupt. We recommend that you reinstall Windows on top of itself (i.e. without uninstalling first). For this you will need to run the Windows installer from your original Windows CD. In XP the procedure is called Repair.
control other devices in your system: if a device no longer works you can get it to work again by rebooting your system. To keep applications from loading when your PC is started (or rebooted), use the following steps. 1. Click on Start ¾ Run 2. In the Open box, type: msconfig 3. Click OK. In the System Configuration Utility window, click on the far right tab called Startup. Remove all checks from the boxes except for System Tray (SysTray.exe).
OPERATION PROBLEMS Images are missing from the recording, or the video is jerky. Possible cause: Your hard drive’s transfer speed is too low. Solution: When working with some UDMA hard drives, the playback may “jump” when an AVI file is played back at higher data rates. This can be traced back to the fact that the hard drive carries out a recalibration while reading the file, thus interrupting playback.
4. After ScanDisk is done, click on Start ¾ Programs ¾ Accessories ¾ System Tools ¾ Disk Defragmenter (this may take a while). 5. Turn off energy-saving features (right-click on your Desktop and select Properties ¾ Screensaver (under Energy… Settings). Make sure everything under Settings for… power schemes is set to Never. 6. Go to Start ¾ Settings ¾ Control Panel ¾ System. Click on the Performance tab, then File System, then the Troubleshooting tab. 7.
Solution 2: You may be using either a generic Windows graphics card driver or an older version of your graphics card. Your graphics card driver may also be corrupt. Please contact your graphics card vendor to ensure you have properly installed the most current driver. Reinstall your graphics driver with the help of your video card manufacturer’s technical support, or download and install the latest driver from the manufacturer’s web-site. Solution 3: You may not have DirectX installed properly.
My batch capture is inaccurate (DV tapes only). Possible cause: You do not have continuous, uninterrupted timecode on your source tapes. SmartCapture needs continuous timecode to accurately locate and recapture your clips. Solution: Make sure your source tapes have continuous, uninterrupted timecode (see “Continuous timecode” on page 28); or, Make sure you are cueing to the segment of tape that holds the clip you are currently attempting to recapture (see page 233).
Solution 2: Save your current project, close all your applications, and restart the system. When Windows comes back, open your project in Studio without running any other programs, and try to output to tape. If the issues persist, try the next solution. Solution 3: Tune your system: • Remove wallpaper from the Desktop. • Remove temporary Internet files from the system and empty the Recycle Bin. • Check the system for viruses.
inefficiently in small chunks rather than as a single block. This can slow file access significantly, so it is important to defragment the hard drive on a regular basis. The Disk Defragmenter utility can be found in the Accessories ¾ System Tools folder on the Start menu of most Windows installations. • Check hard drive data rates: The Pinnacle video- editing software has a built-in test that measures the speed at which the capture drive transfers data.
update from the vendor’s web-site (as usual, enter the URL as continuous text on a single line): VIA: www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2 Intel: appsr.intel.com/scripts-df/filter_results.
APPENDIX D: Videography tips To shoot good video, then create from it an interesting, exciting or informative movie, is something anyone with a little basic knowledge can achieve. Starting from a rough script or shooting plan, the first step is to shoot your raw video. Even at that stage, you should be looking ahead to the editing phase by making sure you will have a good set of shots to work from. Editing a movie involves juggling all your fragments of footage into some kind of harmonious whole.
Creating a shooting plan It is not always necessary to have a shooting plan, but it can be very helpful for large video projects. The plan can be as simple or as complex as you like. A simple list of planned scenes might be enough, or you might also want to include some notes regarding detailed camera directions or prepared dialog. The really ambitious can go all the way to a full-fledged script in which every single camera angle is described in detail along with notes about duration, lighting and props.
Editing Using varying perspectives An important event should always be shot from varying perspectives and camera positions. Later, during editing, you can use the best camera angles alone or in combination. Make a conscious effort to tape events from more than one camera angle (first the clown in the circus ring, but then also the laughing spectator from the clown’s point of view). Interesting events can also take place behind the protagonists or the protagonists may be seen in a reverse angle.
Transitions Cinematic timing requires some practice. It is not always possible to film long events in their entirety, and in movies they often have to be represented in severely abbreviated form. Nonetheless, the plot should remain logical and cuts should almost never call attention to themselves. This is where the transition from one scene to the next is important.
Logical sequence of action The shots strung together during editing must interact appropriately in relation to the action. Viewers will be unable to follow the events unless the storyline is logical. Capture viewer interest from the very beginning with a fast-paced or spectacular start and maintain that interest until the very end.
half of the frame one moment and in the right half of the frame the next, or may appear first with and then without eyeglasses. Do not string together pan shots Pan shots should not be strung together unless they have the same direction and tempo. Rules of thumb for video editing Here are some guidelines that may be helpful when you come to edit your movie. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules, especially if your work is humorous or experimental.
• The less motion there is in a shot, the shorter it should be. Shots with fast movements can be longer. • Long shots have more content, so they should also be shown longer. Ordering your video sequences in a deliberate manner not only permits you to produce certain effects, but even enables you to convey messages that cannot or should not be shown in pictures.
Cause and effect cuts Shots are related by virtue of cause and effect: without the first shot, the second would be incomprehensible. Example: A man fights with his wife and, in the very next shot, winds up sleeping under a bridge. Formal cuts Shots that vary in content can be strung together if they have something in common – the same shapes, colors, or motions, for example. Examples: A crystal ball and the earth; a yellow raincoat and yellow flowers; a falling skydiver and a falling feather.
of your video footage and should not be cut away altogether if at all possible, because video without natural sound can easily seem sterile and lacking in authenticity. Frequently, however, the recording equipment captures noises from aircraft and cars that do not appear in the scene later. Sounds such as these, or loud wind noises, which can be distracting or annoying, should be masked, filtered or replaced with appropriate narration or music.
titles on a very black background. Some video systems are unable to handle contrast ratios in excess of 1:40 and are unable to reproduce such titles in detail. Time on screen As a rule of thumb, a title should be displayed long enough to be read twice. Allow about three seconds for a title with ten letters. Allow an additional second of on-screen time for every five additional letters.
APPENDIX E: Glossary Multimedia terminology contains computer and video terminology. The most important terms are defined below. Cross-references are indicated by . ActiveMovie: Software interface by Microsoft for the control of multimedia devices under Windows. DirectShow, DirectMedia ADPCM: Acronym for Adaptive Delta Pulse Code Modulation, a method of storing audio information in a digital format. This is the audio encoding and compression method used in CD-I and CD-ROM production.
by shading the edges with pixels intermediate in color between the edge and the background, making the transition less apparent. Another method of antialiasing involves using higher resolution output devices. Aspect ratio: The ratio of width to height in an image or graphic. Keeping the aspect ratio fixed means that any change to one value is immediately reflected in the other. AVI: Audio Video Interleaved, a standard format for digital video (and Video for Windows).
Bitmap: An image format made up of a collection of dots or “pixels” arranged in rows. Pixel Blacking: The process of preparing a videotape for insert editing by recording video black and continuous control track on the entire tape. If the recording deck supports timecode, continuous timecode will be recorded simultaneously (also called “striping”). Brightness: Also “luminance”. Indicates the brightness of video. Byte: One byte corresponds to eight bits.
Closed GOP: GOP Codec: Contraction of compressor/decompressor – an algorithm that compresses (packs) and decompresses (unpacks) image data. Codecs can be implemented in either software or hardware. Color depth: Number of bits delivering the color information for each pixel. A 1-bit color depth allows 21=2 colors, an 8-bit depth allows 28=256 colors, and a 24-bit depth allows 224=16,777,216 colors. Color model: A way to mathematically describe and define colors and the way they relate to each other.
image quality is sacrificed. The loss of quality may be negligible or severe depending on the amount of compression. Cropping: Choosing the area of an image to be displayed. Data rate: The quantity of data transmitted per unit time; for example, the number of bytes read from or written to a hard drive per second, or the amount of video data processed per second. Data transfer rate: The measurement of the speed at which information passes between the storage device (e.g.
Dithering: Increasing the number of apparent colors in an image by the application of color patterns. Decibel (dB): A unit of measurement of the loudness of sound. An increase of 3 dB doubles the loudness. Digital8: Digital videotape format that records DVcoded audio and video data on Hi8 tapes. Currently sold only by Sony, Digital8 camcorders and VCRs can play both Hi8 and 8mm cassettes. Digital video: Digital video stores information bit by bit in a file (in contrast to analog storage media).
its data without power supply. The memory contents can be erased with ultraviolet light and rewritten. Fade to/from black: A digital effect that fades up from black at the beginning of a clip or down to black at the end. Field: A frame of video consists of horizontal lines and is divided into two fields. The odd lines in the frame are Field 1; the even-numbered lines are Field 2. File format: The organization of information within a computer file such as an image or word processor document.
GOP: In MPEG compression the data stream is first divided into “Groups Of Pictures” – sections of several frames each. Each GOP contains three types of frames: I-Frames, P-Frames (pictures) and B-Frames. GOP size: The GOP size defines, how many I-Frames, B-Frames and P-Frames are included in one GOP. For example, current GOP sizes are 9 or 12. Hardware codec: Compression method that uses special hardware to create and play back compressed digital video sequences.
IEEE-1394: Developed by Apple Computers and introduced as FireWire, this is a serial data transmission protocol with rates up to 400 Mbits/sec. Sony offers a slightly modified version for transmitting DV signals named i.LINK, providing transmission speeds up to 100 Mbits/sec. Image: An image is a reproduction, or picture of something. The term is often applied to digitized pictures, consisting of pixels, that can be shown on a computer display and manipulated by software.
Kbyte (also KB): One Kbyte (kilobyte) contains 1024 bytes. The “K” here stands for the number 1024 10 (2 ), and not 1000 as in the metric prefix. Key color: A color whose display is suppressed so that a background image can show through. Most commonly used when overlaying one video sequence on top of another, allowing the underlying video to display wherever the key color appears.
Modulation: The encoding of information upon an empty carrier signal. Motion-JPEG (M-JPEG): A Video for Windows format, specified by Microsoft, for encoding video sequences. JPEG compression is used to compress each frame individually. MPA: (File extension for) an MPEG file that contains audio data only. M1V, MPEG, MPG MPEG: Motion Picture Experts Group, and the standard developed by them for the compression of moving images. Compared to M-JPEG, it offers 7580% data reduction with the same visual quality.
byte) can be transmitted at once. This kind of transmission is much faster than serial transmission, but is not appropriate for long-distance connections. Parallel ports are often named “LPTn”, where n is a number (e.g. “LPT1”). Serial port Pixel: The smallest element of a monitor image. The word is an abbreviation of “picture element”. Port: Electrical transfer point for the transmission of audio, video, control or other data between two devices.
RGB: Red, Green and Blue: the primary colors in additive color mixing. RGB designates the method used in computer technology of encoding image information in pixels, each containing some combination of the three primaries. ROM: Read Only Memory: Memory storage that, having been programmed once, retains its data without requiring electrical power. EPROM Run Length Encoding (RLE): A technique used in many image compression methods, including JPEG.
Single frame: A single frame is part of a series or sequence. When this series is viewed at sufficient speed, the illusion of a “moving picture” is created. Software codec: Compression method that can create and play back compressed digital video sequences without special hardware. The quality of the sequences depends on the performance of the complete system. Codec, Hardware codec Still video: Still images (or “freeze-frames”) extracted from video.
TrueColor: The name indicates an image with enough color resolution to appear “true to life”. In practise, TrueColor normally refers to 24-bit RGB color, which allows about 16.7 million combinations of the red, green and blue primary colors. Bit, HiColor TWAIN driver: TWAIN is a standardized software interface allowing graphics and capture programs to communicate with devices that supply graphical data.
Video scan rate: Frequency with which the video signal is scanned onto an image display. The higher the video scan rate, the higher the image quality and the less noticeable the flicker. WAV: (File extension for) a popular file format for digitized audio signals. White balance: In an electronic camera, this is the adjustment of the amplifiers for the three color channels (red, green and blue) so that white areas of the scene do not show a color cast.
APPENDIX F: License agreement Pinnacle End User License Agreement This End User License Agreement ("License") is a legal agreement between you and Pinnacle Systems ("Pinnacle") regarding Pinnacle’s software and the accompanying documentation (collectively, the "Software"). CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING LICENSE. USING THIS SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THIS LICENSE.
2. License Restrictions.
security related updates may impair the Software (and any other software on your computer which specifically depends on the Software) including disabling your ability to copy and/or play "secure" content, i.e. content protected by digital rights management.
AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LICENSOR DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SOFTWARE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE. 11. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. YOU AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT WILL PINNACLE BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, EVEN IF PINNACLE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL PINNACLE’S LIABILITY EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE FEES PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE.
APPENDIX G: Keyboard shortcuts The terms Left, Right, Up and Down in this table refer to the arrow (cursor) keys.
Left Right Delete Insert Page up Page down Numeric pad + Numeric pad C V M Ctrl+Page up Ctrl+Page down Select previous clip Select next clip Delete selected clip(s) Split clip at scrubber position Go to next page in Movie Window Go to previous page in Movie Window Zoom in the Timeline Zoom out the Timeline Set menu chapter Clear menu chapter Set return to menu Go to previous menu chapter Go to next menu chapter Title Editor Alt+Plus Alt+Minus Ctrl+Plus Ctrl+Minus Ctrl+0 Ctrl+1 Ctrl+2 Ctrl+3 Ctrl+4 Ctrl+5
Ctrl+Left Ctrl+Right Ctrl+Down Ctrl+Up Shift+Ctrl+Left Shift+Ctrl+Right Shift+Ctrl+Down Shift+Ctrl+Up Alt+Left Alt+Right Shift+Alt+Left Shift+Alt+Right Reduce horizontal scale of, or squeeze (kern), text selection depending on current edit mode (move/scale/rotate or kern/skew/leading) Increase horizontal scale of, or stretch (kern), text selection Reduce scale or leading of text selection depending on current edit mode Increase scale or leading of text selection Same as Ctrl+Left (coarse) Same as Ctrl+
Index A A/B editing, 121 Abbreviations, xiv Album Clipboard operations, 74 Disc Menus section, 56, 165 Drag-and-drop editing, 74 Filled during capture, 17 Image sections, 148 Interface features, 38 Introduced, 17 Menu usage, 39 Overview, 35 Previewing, 6, 37 Preview-quality scenes, 27 Selecting video scenes, 44 Sound Effects section, 54 Source folders, 37 Still Images section, 53 Title Editor.
Of video effects, 100 Audio clips, 63 Interface details, 211 Trimming, 208 Audio compression, 265 Settings (for AVI output), 265 Audio effects, 220 Basic, 221 Equalizer, 223 Grungelizer, 224 Icons, 221 Karaoke, 225 Leveler, 226 Noise reduction, 221 Reverb, 226 Tool, 220 Unlocking, 97 Audio levels Changing during capture, 18 In analog capture, 34 In DV capture, 31 Audio toolbox, 71 Audio track Linked to video track, 89 Audio tracks, 201 Auto color correct (video effect), 103 Automatic scene detection.
Encoding, 26 File-naming convention, 24, 28 File-size limitations, 24 Format options, 252 From analog sources, 32 From DV, 26, 29, 31 From MicroMV, 27, 31 Full-quality, 26, 29, 30 Hardware, 21 MPEG options, 256 Preparing hard drive, 278 Preview-quality, 26, 27 Scene detection, 25 Source options, 248 Sources, 21 Step-by-step, 23 To multiple files, 75 Capture mode Interface, 17 Introduced, 1 Capture settings, 19 Captured video Folders, 40 Opening file, 40 CD audio clips Properties of, 209 CD audio tool, 7
Delete clip button, 60 Deleting clips, 60 Deleting scenes, 60 Devices Capture, 22, 248 Dialog boxes Main Options, 247 Make Movie Options, 247 Options, 247 Digital8 No timecode on analog tapes, 29 DirectX, xii Disc MPEG encoding, 29 Previewing, 167 Saving movie to, 242 Disc chapter command, 166 Disc menu tool, 70, 175 Disc menus, 161 Automatic link creation, 166 Button captions, 165 Chapter editing, 174 Creating, 177 Described, 161 Editing, 177 Editing links, 170 Editing on Timeline, 168 Link numbers dur
Effects Full-screen images Audio. See Audio effects Video.
Return to menu, 170 Setting with drag-and-drop, 174 Show numbers while editing, 172 Insert edit A/B, 121 Insert editing, 89 Locked content, activating, 11 Locking tracks, 65 Audio, 90 Introduced, 89 Method, 89 Indication of, 88 Internet, 240 Long shots (videography tip), 317 Sharing movies on, 229, 240 J J-cut Make Movie mode, 229 Introduced, 1 A/B, 122 Defined, 91 Explained, 94 Making movies, 229 Media Player, 236, 238, 239 Menu and Title Editor, 177 Menu buttons Jog buttons, 9 K Karaoke (aud
Views, 62 MP3 files, 54 MPEG AVI vs. MPEG, 234 Capture options, 256 Captures from DV, 30 Encoding of DV captures, 26, 29 For DVD etc., 29, 30 MPEG-1 vs. MPEG-2, 267 Quality options, 31 Saving movie as, 237 Multiple capture files Using, 75 Multiple selection In Title Editor, 186 Multitrack editing, 119 Music, 197, See Background music Selecting (videography tip), 323 Music video.
DVD, 167 Overlays track And still images, 147 Plug-in effects Unlocking, 97, 102 P PAL, 249 Pan and zoom Video effect, 156 Pan-and-zoom Animated, 154 Complex animations, 155 Photos, 152 Tool, 151 Parameters for effects Resetting, 99 Parameters for plug-in effects Presets, 99 Parameters for video effects Editing, 98 Passport, 14 Perspectives Varying, 317 Photos Editing, 151 Panning and zooming, 152 Red-eye reduction, 153 Rotating, 152 Picture-in-picture Tool, 123 Video effect, 127 Playback control
S Save as MPEG File, 237 Save as RealVideo, 239 Save as Windows Media, 239 Save to disc, 242 Scene detection, 25, 42 Menu commands, 50 Options, 250 Scenes. See Video scenes Scenes (videography tip), 320 Scrubber, 9 SCSI, xii Sepia (video effect), 109 Set Thumbnail menu command, 42 Settings.
Not on analog tapes, 29 Striping, 28 Timeline Adjusting volume on, 213 Audio tracks, 199 Editing disc menus on, 168 Locking tracks, 87 Overlay video, 119 Placing disc menus on, 166 Tracks, 63 Trimming clips on, 78 Timeline view, 62, 63 Advanced editing in, 87 Insert editing, 89 Splitting clips in, 86 Timescale, 63 Title Choosing (videography tip), 323 Colors (videography tip), 323 Title Editor, 177 Advanced text editing, 183 Introduced, 69 Launching, 178 Multiple selection in, 186 Title Editor Album, 1
Default duration of, 257 Described, 137 Displaying type, 51 Dissolve, 140 Effect on clip duration, 138 Fade, 139 Groups, 51 Hollywood FX, 139, 140 In audio, 142 Looping in preview, 146 Naming, 145 On Timeline, 137 Previewing, 52, 141, 146 Reversing direction, 145 Ripple transition, 143, 149, 164 Section (of Album), 50 Setting duration of, 145 Standard, 139 Three-dimensional, 140 Trimming, 144 Types of, 138 Unlocking, 51 Videography tip, 318 Wipe, slide, push, 140 Transparency In overlay images, 149 Transp
Trimming on the Timeline, 78 Trimming tips, 82 Undoing trim, 85 Using audio portion only, 75 Video effects, 95 Adding, 102 Adding and deleting, 97 Auto color correct, 103 Basic, 101 Black and white, 107 Blur, 112 Changing parameters, 98 Chroma key, 132 Cleaning effects, 103 Color correction, 108 Color effects, 107 Emboss, 113 Fading in and out, 99 Fun effects, 109 Icons, 77 Lens flare, 110 Mosaic, 113 Noise, 110 Noise reduction, 104 Old film, 114 Pan and zoom, 156 Picture-in-picture, 127 Posterize, 108 Pre
W Water drop (video effect), 111 WAV files, 54 Windows Windows 98, 24 Windows Media Saving movie as, 239 Windows Media files, 229 Wipe (transition), 140 Millennium, 24 Index 361
