Hi Dustie -

You're making sense but there's no easy answer.

Is there a way for me to specify the size of frames when I drag them smaller?

No

I'm trying to put up four frames on a full frame background and those frames will change out to different scenes.

If you crop your images to 16:9 before import, it'll simplify the task. Insert the cropped images in 4 separate tracks & (with Snap to Reference left on), you should be able to quickly resize each one to 1/4 screen.

If you're after a variety of screen arrangement, the above suggestion won't help.

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

I don't quite follow. But I'll offer this: If you use keyframing, you can specify the size of frames using percentages for the coordinates of the corners. This would take up 1/8th of the whole frame and be in the top left corner.


Gateway DX4380, AMD A8-5500 Quad Core 3.2GHz with ATI Radeon HD 7560D; 16GB RAM; 1 TB SATA 7200 RPM; Windows 8 Pro 64-bit; PDR11, PDVD12.

Hi Dustie,

No easy answer. As Tony says, if you want 4 x 1/4 sized PiPs then using the gridlines and "snap to" makes it a bit easier.

If you want something different, as was the case before PD had all the gridlines, you can make your own "marker grid" using a grid drawn on a transparent background .png and size tracks to suit that, ie use it as a guidline grid on a lower track then remove it before final production.

However, depending on content, appearance and style, getting the edges of the PiPs to be exact can be a pain and may not look appealing ie with very contrasting or very similar colours/content in adjacent PiPs. In such cases the guideline marker can become permanent and act as a "border" around each PiP.

I re-uploaded this old one as an example of an unequal layout for someone a couple of weeks ago.

http://youtu.be/VMsNS63OJ4A

Cheers
Adrian


Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Another possibility (though similar to Adrian's suggestion) is to produce 4 separate videos, whether they're slideshows or video content.

Here a collection of 16:9 images is inserted in 4 separate tracks, with durations varied.



Each track is produced (by unchecking other tracks) then inserted in a new project. Instead of resizing many many photos, you only need to do it 4 times.



There are so many possibilities, but pre-production can save a mountain of time!

Cheers - Tony

P.S. Adrian - old but gold.
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Thanks all! Tony, while I was waiting for answers I did nearly what you suggested. I produced each line of 5 or so clips individually. Then when I had 4 produced videos I only had to make 4 pip windows.

I was having a hard time originally because I was working with around 16 to 20 clips and making 16 to 20 boxes and they were not all lining up and making me nuts! Plus, I didn't want exact quarter scale, which would have been easier. Noo...I had to make them small since I wanted the background graphic to show through on all sides of the pip boxes.

It should be easier to make pip windows easily to scale, like cloning one to be identical to the other and then just change the clip? PD..maybe on a later upgrade? Dustie
I'm still working on it....

Xerox and Adrian, I've not gotten to use either Keyframes or Grids yet. I'm trying to learn something new each week, so I'll probably play around with your suggestions this week, even though I've achieved my goal for tonight.

Thanks everyone, for your help once again!

Dustie Dustie
I'm still working on it....

Adrian,

Beautiful Video...I have to ask. How is the model in your video. Is she still doing alright. She looks like such a nice dear lady. Is she related?

Dustie Dustie
I'm still working on it....

My mother, born in 1924 and still going, although a little immobile. She even manages to work her Skype enabled TV (most of the time) so she chats to the family around the country most days.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.