PiP "Magic book"

The gardener 1

Newbie Location: ENGLAND Joined: Dec 17, 2014 06:07 Messages: 13 Offline

Solved by

Jan 31, 2015 14:42

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to modify the "magic book" to stay open once it has opened for longer than it does.Extending its duration just means it opens and closes more times.
If it can be done please point me in the right direction.

ynotfish

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

Jan 31, 2015 16:30

Hi -

Yes - that's how those animation files are made. They play through the sequence then start again. Very few of them actually loop.

If you look in C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\Templates\PowerDirector Content Pack 13\PowerDirector 13 Content Pack Essential\PiPObject\PDR12_Magic Book, you'll see the individual animation files. These can be modified but it's quite time consuming.

The simplest way around your question is to:
1. Set your image preferences to 5 seconds (in preferences)
2. While you're there, make sure your snapshot preferences are set to .bmp
3. Insert the magic book template into the timeline
4. Move the timeline marker to the very last frame of the animation
5. Take a snapshot of the last frame
6. Insert the snapshot immediately after the last frame of the animation - extend the duration to what you want - gives you a static open book.

For some reason, with preferences set to .png the snapshot does not replicate the blue light correctly. That's a side issue.

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 31. 2015 16:33

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The gardener 1

Newbie Location: ENGLAND Joined: Dec 17, 2014 06:07 Messages: 13 Offline

Feb 01, 2015 06:03

Thanks Tony

ynotfish

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

Feb 01, 2015 14:57

Hi again -

It turns out my advice above is not so great - especially if you have the PiP Object displayed over a background. Using .bmp format does NOT retain the transparent background.

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/42477.page#218958

So - you have a choice of using a .png snapshot (which isn't totally accurate) or converting your .bmp snapshot to .png in an image editor. Either option is better than nothing

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Feb 01. 2015 14:57

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tomasc

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 25, 2011 12:33 Messages: 6464 Offline

Feb 02, 2015 00:32

The 4:29 ntsc or 4:24 pal time:frame end png snapshot is good enough for me to be placed under a video as those shooting balls basically disappear. It looks better to me than having shooting balls suddenly freeze for the next 5 seconds or so.

I tried gimp2 to export the bmp one to png and the png file then has no transparency.

ynotfish

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

Feb 02, 2015 05:16

We're heading down a bit of a side track, but (here) .bmp files saved as .png in both Paint.NET & GIMP 2.6 retain transparency... unless they're getting churned out as 24-bit.

Cheers - Tony
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