Hi Ralph -

That's reasonably easily done.

The photos that are going into Track 2... are they all the same aspect ratio? or a mixture? If they're the same, the task is simpler because you'll be able to use copy/paste keyframe attributes. If not, each one has to be set separately.

There are a few ways you could go about it, so if you could give some more info we could help better.

Cheers - Tony
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Hi Tony,

Happy new year & thanks for your reply!

It is a mixture: footage may come from 4 different photo camera's, but most often just a single image at a time. Depending on the individual photo's the zoom percentage, the frame size and orientation will certainly vary.
Hope this helps (for you to explain).

Best regards,

Ralph

Hi Ralph -

Happy New Year to you too.

If you're going to be doing this with many photos/clips, I'd humbly encourage you to prepare as many as possible in the same aspect ratio. It will save you a mountain of time & grief.

Even if you had (say) 10x4:3 photos, 10x3:4 photos & 10x16:9 clips, you'd only need to set keyframes for one of each AR... then copy/paste keyframes.

Do you know how many photos/clips you're using? Could they be grouped as I described above?

Cheers - Tony
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Hi Tony,

I'd estimate about 20x2:3 and 10x3:2 in my current project?
But I'd be happy to know how to do just one!?

Thanks

Ralph

Hi Ralph -

I started making a tutorial (there are a number of steps involved) then realised I wasn't completely sure which sort of zoom you required?

In the attched video, is it the first or second. The toot I've started deals with the first type, but the second is far easier to accomplish.

Ist or 2nd?

Cheers - Tony
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Good point Tony!

I'm already doind stuff that resembles the 2nd kind using keyframes for position and size. It's the 1st type that I want to learn.
To be completely honest, I think most of the photos will enter the screen like the 2nd type, then I'll zoom in of a detail (1st type) and the photo disappears eventually by reversing type 2. But I guess thats just a matter of sqeezing the #1 keyframes in between the ones for #2, right?

Thanks for putting in this extra effort!

Hi Ralph -

It turned out to be quite a complicated process, but I hope this tutorial helps you out... http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/41501.page#243965

Cheers - Tony
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Quote: Hi Ralph -

Happy New Year to you too.

If you're going to be doing this with many photos/clips, I'd humbly encourage you to prepare as many as possible in the same aspect ratio. It will save you a mountain of time & grief.

Even if you had (say) 10x4:3 photos, 10x3:4 photos & 10x16:9 clips, you'd only need to set keyframes for one of each AR... then copy/paste keyframes.

Do you know how many photos/clips you're using? Could they be grouped as I described above?

Cheers - Tony

Hello, I also have a question regarding an additional step in this procedure. I've recently returned from Vietnam with photos and videos taken with 5 different cameras and a gopro. I am having to deal with different aspect ratios of the photos and understand your procedure. I have exif installed on my computer and I am trying to find the aspect ratios of the various photos but am struggling a bit with it. I can get the height and width of the photo but not the aspect ratio without using a calculator.

Is there a better way to do this (find the aspect ratio)? And, how do I make the transition between aspect ratios when having to deal with portrait and landscape photos? When editing in PD14 I get the black bars and don't want to stretch the photos because of distortion. Any thoughts before I proceed? My idea is to transition from a photo with an inset zoom of the next photo and transition into that photo adding a zoom of the next photo and so on.

Any thoughts on how to do this without screwing up the whole video with distorted photos and black bars would be appreciated. Charlie

Thanks Tony,

I've given it a try and as it turns out I seems that I also should have mentioned that I hardly ever zoom in on the same spot in the photo. In the most perfect situation, the famous "rule of thirds" would lead me to up to 4 spots, but... you'll pobably know what I mean.

I've looked at a few other of your tutorials and one about Magic Motion demonstrated how I could or should do the trick without rendering the zooms to video first.
I still need to learn more about the tool (e.g. see if an earlier effect can be duplicated and adjusted; I got it applied to a photo), but if what I saw is all it offers, I'll be able to do my thing!

Thanks for sharing all those toots!

Ralph

Thought I had something that provided aspect ratio info for you but can not confirm it so... disregard this entry - apologies.

CS PD13 Ultimate - Build 3516, WIN 8.1, 64 Bit, 16G RAM, Intel Core i5 4460, CPU @ 3.2GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT720, Graphics Memory(total avail.)-4093MB
LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray Drive

Ralph - no problem. There's always a danger in launching into a tutorial that one has missed something along the way. Maybe it'll be of benefit to someone, aside from me (who learned a few things in the process).

You could still use the copy/paste keyframes idea - then modify the zoom point of various photos.

Charlie - I wouldn't get too hung up on determining the actual aspect ratio. Essentially, all the photos from one camera will have the same resolution & therefore, aspect ratio... so they can be treated in the same way with copying & pasting keyframes.

Treat your landscape & portrait photos separately - then they can be re-ordered on the timeline as you wish.

There a way of going from inset photo to full screen zoom - so long as you were prepared to crop part of the images. As shown in the toot, it would save a lot of time to treat photos with the same AR/orientation together... then re-order as you want.

Cheers - Tony
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Thanks Tony,

I suspected you would say that. I just hate the black pillars that show up on portrait oriented photos taken with a cell phone . A significant number of the photos from this trip were taken on a cell phone and they are mostly portrait. In what manner should I address the issue of the black pilars or bars? I would like the finished videos to look as good as they can. Charlie

Here is an idea. Years ago I shot a graduation with lots of portrait shots. You can fit two 3:4 or three 9:16 photos on a 16:9 video screen. There will be 3 still shots on the screen at any time, a few seconds later, the left photo will be replaced, a few seconds later, the middle photo will be replaced, a few seconds later, the right photo will be replaced, etc.

You can start with a gray color board or whatever background you choose initially. Use your imagination for the backgrounds, time durations, etc.

Let us know if this is an idea you can use.

Hmmm, I like that idea. So, you would create this going one frame at a time? If I am understanding correctly, I would split the screen and put two or three photos into one 16.9 frame, then remove a photo, add a photo ect. in consequent frames? Charlie

Hi Charlie -

I like the sound of tomasc's idea too - in fact I've used it quite a few times for "tribute" type presentations where I get photos from multiple sources (including smartphone portrait shots).

I wasn't sure which version of PDR you're using so I made the attached project in PDR12. I wouldn't go back further than that because the copy/paste keyframe attributes facility is a deal breaker for me. I wouldn't want to be without it. The project took about 30 minutes to build. In pre-12 versions it would have taken at least 4x that.

Anyway - it's just a few ideas using a bunch of low-res 9:16 photos. If you wanted, you could copy paste keyframe attributes from these sequences to your own 9:16 photos (the actual resolution is irrelevant).

This little toot shows how to do it...

Cheers - Tony

P.S. Man I get tired of typing out a response, hitting submit then watching my post vanish into the ether!
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That is interesting that Tony also already came up with displaying more than one portrait orientation photos in a video. 15 years ago consumer NLE did not have multitrack so I came up with this in the beginning. Use photoshop with win 98. Create a new frame with desired background color. Add two 2:3 aspect ratio photos, save, replace the left photo, save, replace the right photo, save, etc. until maybe 50 save were done. Batch reduce all saves to 720x480. Place all in a timeline in time order for say 6 sec. and add an overlap fade transition between each for a slideshow in a DVD. The apparent result is that the left photo fades out and a new one fades in while the right photo appear steady, then the right one fades out, etc. This repeats to the last one.

Creative minds at work and play. When there is a will there is a way even with old software. PD14 makes it a lot easier with it’s multitrack.

This would be a good way for portrait cell phone users to ultilize their photos should they ask again.

PS. The attached 9.16 Image Cycles.zip file is excellent presentation on what can be done in powerdirector for others who want to try this.

Tony & Tomasc,



Tony,



Thanks for the tutorial. I noted at the end it was for PD13 only. I have PD14. I am assuming this will work with fourteen as well. Anyway, I really like that format as well. I will give it a try. I have something like 1200 photos and 35 videos to select and enhance prior to starting with the finished product. M plan is to stick with that workflow before I jump into this one with both feet. I will however practice it before I get started. Your tutorials are first rate, thanks for that.

I do have a question. I downloaded your file and see the photos and the .pds file. When I try to import the .pds I get an error message, and assume this is because I have PD14, is this correct?


Charlie Charlie

Don't import that .pds file. Double click on it and PD14 should open correctly or File/Open Project and browse. to that pds file to open the project.

Ah, well. Chalk that up to I was unaware. I will do that and thanks.



Edit: Yes, that worked. You learn new stuff all the time. Maybe it is possible that this ole dog can learn new tricks. Charlie