Basic feature missing: Retaining original size with pictures and videos.

Jonas Abraham

Newbie Joined: Jan 26, 2013 08:10 Messages: 23 Offline

Solved by

Mar 04, 2014 19:28

I've been using PowerDirector for some time now and while the program is effective and all, there's this one thing that has frustrated me immensely since day 1.

When inserting pictures and videos into a timeline the program automatically resizes the object for you. Which is fine. However if you intended for the object be at it's original size, you're in for trouble. There are no features anywhere that helps you to set the object to it's original size and I'm baffled that a program I've now spent some $200 on can't get this done.

To circumvent this issue I've had to edit *all* objects beforehand, e.g. adding sizeable borders to them so that when they are inserted into the timeline they will retain their original size. Imagine you want to add something as small as a 25x25 icon to your video and you need it to be just that size in the timeline or else it gets slightly distorted: You open the picture in say, Paint, change the properties to say 25x1080 (if you inted to make a 1920x1080 video), color the rest of the field one color or make it transparent, save as new image, insert into timeline and chroma key. And of course hope the chroma doesn't distort the image.

Now this may sound as a solution but why would it need to be? For example I've used PowerDirector 11 & 12 to make these videos for youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueosN-JFqG0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRmYac3n52U

And while the results were satisfying I dare not tell you how many hours were spent on making videos and images retain their original size. Some of my future projects depends heavily on this to look sharp to the pixel and can only do that sufficiently this way. Now I haven't involved myself alot in the cyberlink community forum, really not at all but when I realized how mind boggly easy it would be for a program of powerdirectors magnitude to have this feature available (even calling it a feature sounds off to be honest), I went on google and searched to see if I was actually just missing the elephant in the room. I found this thread now about 3 years old: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/15824.page;jsessionid=5540287C2350F91485C3A68BCE961D39

This poor OP fellow asks about the same issue and cannot understand why the program won't allow him to insert his pictures with their original attributes. After 1 day a senior member comes in with a reply that makes no sense at all and the OP takes his good time to politely explain thoroughly what the problem was. After a week the OP seems to be about giving up when another senior member 'twincitybulldog' has a go at it but for some reason I cannot fathom misses the entire point and the OP again has to explain the issue. Finally, 2 weeks later a "newbie" 'avibodha' replies with a suggestion that works - which is the method I described above and a senior member concludes the thread with that a solution was found.

Now. If I made this post oblivious to that there is currently such feature to this effect that I've somehow completely missed then I'm more than happy to remove this post in an instant and happily be on my way. If not however, then I in all humbleness must ask how a top dollar premium video editing program can be dependent on a graphics painting program dating back to windows 3.1 to keep videos and images retain it's original attributes.

Thanks for reading,
Jonas

This message was edited 11 times. Last update was at Mar 08. 2014 15:26

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Mar 04, 2014 20:46

Hi Jonas -

Unfortunately, you won't be able to just "remove your post & happily be on your way". Your post is completely valid because PD still functions in the same way. In fact, the other NLEs and presentation software I use ALL do the same thing.

There's merit in all you're saying, as there is in the other thread you referenced.

In PD, you can easily rescale smaller images retaining the aspect ratio. Getting it back to its actual original dimensions is a bit hit & miss, even using the grid lines as a guide!

Cheers - Tony
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Jonas Abraham

Newbie Joined: Jan 26, 2013 08:10 Messages: 23 Offline

Mar 04, 2014 21:16

There's another method for retaining an approximation of a video/image's original attribute I learned recently:

1) Take note of the objects attributes. (E.g. a video clip say 700x320)

2) Take note on the resolution you want to produce your video with. (Say 1920x1080)

3) Put it on the timeline and go 'Keyframes' - 'Clip attributes'. You'll be looking at the H and W scales.

4) Bring in your calculator and divide the with and height attributes to get 2 factor numbers (700/1920 and 320/1080 gives 0.365... and 0.293...)

5) Make sure you're at the beginning of the clip timeline and insert the factors in the W and H scale boxes. W being 'with' and H 'height you obviously want the factor from 700/1920 in W and 320/1080 in H. Make sure you're plotting in the numbers for the keyframe at the end of the clip as well.

Why it works: The W and H correspond to a scale where the number '1.000' signifies the whole with/height in the previewer, '0.500' would be half and so on. If you're planning on making a 1920x1080 video with the 700x320 video within it with it's original attributes for whatever reason, you want to make sure the 700x320 video stays correct in relation to the 1920x1080 final product. Say your final product is a 1280x768 video then you would do the same steps as above and get a bigger factor number. On your preview screen the object would look bigger than the factor from 1920x1080 but it's attributes is retained when you produce your video.

Why would you do this: In projects where you use videos with different resolutions that demand they be viewed in it's original attributes to look their best, then you could use this method. However because the factors cannot be calculated beyond the third decimal (trust me it matters) then there's no guarantee you will get the perfect result. To get that you would have to use the first method described in the post.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at Mar 04. 2014 21:47

Jonas Abraham

Newbie Joined: Jan 26, 2013 08:10 Messages: 23 Offline

Mar 04, 2014 21:22

Quote: Unfortunately, you won't be able to just "remove your post & happily be on your way". Your post is completely valid because PD still functions in the same way. In fact, the other NLEs and presentation software I use ALL do the same thing.

I guess I wrote that partially because I felt I was on a rant

Thinking about this more closely I would imagine the previewer over the timeline would have to be pre-defined as to which attributes it would respond to in order to accommodate a 'retain original attributes' feature. I just wish something like this were already present as it would save me mountains of time.

Thank you for your quick response.

This message was edited 7 times. Last update was at Mar 04. 2014 21:32

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Mar 05, 2014 02:33

Jonas -

Your clip attributes settings will do the job.

I'm more visual than anything else & prefer a visual approach. I just made the attached grid overlay, which would seem to meet your needs.

In a 1920x1080 project/output the grid lines are 50px apart. The whites are 500px. Using it as a temporary overlay, it might save you some time.

For 1280x720 output, the grid lines are ~33.33px apart. If it's a 3840x2160, the grid lines are 100px apart.

Cheers - Tony


Filename	Resize to Grid.png	Download
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Filename	Grid 50px.png	Download
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 05. 2014 02:33

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Jonas Abraham

Newbie Joined: Jan 26, 2013 08:10 Messages: 23 Offline

Mar 08, 2014 13:30

Quote: Your clip attributes settings will do the job.

I'm more visual than anything else & prefer a visual approach. I just made the attached grid overlay, which would seem to meet your needs.

Concerning clip attribute settings I've posted a method above that deals with that. It's somewhat timeconsuming and doesn't guarantee a perfect result. For that you would still have to resort to editing your objects beforehand.

Your grid lines are a good approximation for some standard sizes. Thanks for sharing that.

One way of solving the problem altogether for all attribute values could be to enable the user to customize the gridlines on the preview screen. If this feature allowed you to construct gridlines in relation to a predifined resolution then you would merely have to use the 'snap to gridlines' feature to guarantee preserving an object's original attributes.

1Nina

Senior Contributor Location: Norway, 50km southwest of Oslo Joined: Oct 08, 2008 04:12 Messages: 1070 Offline

Mar 08, 2014 14:29

Hi Jonas - and Tony;

Of all the things I am not, I am certain I am not a mathematician.
However, I do understand what you are talking about here, and it’s interesting.
I would have to stick with the “I'm more visual than anything else”.

My question 1 : How will this affect the rendered (produced) video?
Will it,- in a significant (“perfect”) way?
Will result of either this- or that be significant watched on large monitors ? All monitors?
(I’ve seen your videos, Jonas Abraham, and yes, the crispness)

Back in 2011, I believe Tony will remember I was curious about quality of video overlays
if pre-rendered to desired size – or not.
http://youtu.be/q-yMuqVniNk

My question 2 : Will image and video be treated differently by PD ? (produced)
Or- is it a matter of original size completely?

(question 3: is this way off?)

Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com