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Hi Tony!
Me again!(you're probably sick of this by now - don't blame you!), but I knew there was something I was missing. A third view of your tutorial brought it home to me, I forgot to click Delete. Hmmmm.... There's so much to learn here and it will take me a while to get my head around it all. The image I was working on was that of a cartoon steam loco. GIMP proved far more complex than Paint.Net and will involve a far steeper learning curve. Hopefully I'll get this right and have some degree of expertise when another post like that from GoodGuy309 crosses our paths again.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello all!
I have to admit that I have not used Cyberlink Customer Support, but based on some other posters' critiques, likely it's just as well. There have been, particularly in the past few months, quite a few very angry posts regarding Cyberlink Customer Support(or lack thereof) from extremely disgruntled posters, some going even to the point of violating forum rules(naturally they were deleted). Such posts should be ringing alarm bells loud and long at Cyberlink's head office.... but do they? Or is Cyberlink impervious to criticism?
If a company ignores the comments of its customer base(good or bad), likely the customers will go elsewhere and the company that ignored them eventually goes broke. The old maxim applies here: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!
Neil.
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Hello, Allan!
As you've likely noticed, all the other posts(barring yours and this one I'm now writing) go back over two years. In forum terms, they're old and grey, got whiskers down to their knees and walking with the aid of zimmer frames!.... and that's OLD!!!!!
Best to start a fresh post, outlining your situation so someone may be able to offer assistance.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello, Tony!
I might've been a bit too hasty in the Cheers department(no offence) but after several attempts to create a transparent background PNG file for an icon(cartoon steam loco, currently a bitmap image), I'm no closer now to creating such than I was before I downloaded and installed Paint.Net. Am I missing something here? Do I need to start with an image file that is already PNG? What am I doing wrong? Maybe I should just give up and stick with Bitmaps, chroma-keying out the white background like I've always done. This PNG process really is infuriating me!
Neil.
Update:- Just successfully downloaded and installed GIMP and will give it a whirl to see if it's easier to use and get the result I'm after. Will keep you "posted"(ha-ha).
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Quote:
Neil, How about you put a Avatar on your profile?
Hi, Carl!
I've just this minute replied on this subject via PM with Mike(Fenman)! I have thought about adding an avatar but as yet haven't found anything, image-wise, to suit the purpose. I may yet stumble across something suitable, but until then, I'll stay without an avatar for now. Getting back to topic, the matter of inserting video content between two already-added clips, and having the new insert overwriting one of them instead of shifting clips to the right, is a problem bugging our original poster, Scandinerdian. Just on thinking about that, I wonder, how many clips were there on the timeline after the point where Scandinerdian wanted to insert the new clip? That may have something to do with this situation. If more than, say, two clips, then a new insert may well overwrite one of the pre-existing clips on the timeline without asking the user if he wants to insert or overwrite. This thought has occurred to me as I write this.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello, Max!
Barry The Crab has clearly sorted things out for you! The problem with "Normalise" being greyed out and also not being available upon right-clicking on the audio track lay in the fact that you were using a DE version of PD12, the very bottom end of the range in each version. It is more than likely you got this version bundled in with an analogue-to-digital capture device(advertised with blurb: "Turn your old VHS tapes into DVDs!"). These low-end versions are otherwise referred to as, or are similar to OEM versions and, as pointed out elsewhere, lack several of the features normally found in the "full" versions normally bought as Power Director packages in their own right(Delux through to Ultimate). These DE or OEM versions can really restrict you in what you want to do when editing video. It's always the far better option to go with the "full" version(Deluxe up to Ultimte) in Power Director, right up to PD14, that way you're not missing out on features which may prove vital for what you're trying to achieve, like normalising audio levels for a start. In the meantime, there is, as Barry suggested, Levelator, which will sort out your audio levels for now.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi, Tony!
As expected, I wanted to "play around" with this new "toy"(er... yeah!) but could not for the life of me work out how to get that chequered backdrop to appear. A quick look at your clip gave that answer inside the first minute of the clip.
Cheers!
Neil.
After I've answered another post, I'm off to play around some more with Paint.Net
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Quote:
In that situation PD should be popping up a box giving a choice of inserting or overwriting.
Hi, Mike
Yeah! I'd have thought so too, now you mention it. I just tried something a moment ago which fitted with what you said. A video clip, where I put a still image over it(meant to put it on a PiP track) but saw that reference to insert or overwrite.
Hmmm... noticed you've updated your avatar, nice one!
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello, JL_JL & Max Stacks!
I think it might be that while the video track is on the timeline, you right-click on the audio portion for the "normalise" option.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello, Scandinerdian!
Reading from your original post(correct me if I'm wrong), it seems that if you've placed, say, two clips on a timeline(example situation given here to best explain my point), then you've added a third, but in between the previous two, the newly-inserted clip overwrites one or other of the previously-inserted clips. In versions of Power Director pre-Version 9, if you did this, it simply pushed any other clips to the right and neatly shoe-horned the newly-inserted clip where you wanted it. But with PD9 onwards, this is no longer the case. I'm not quite sure of what's happening here, but on using PD14 recently to edit a video that a friend shot(I collected the content off his camera that he loaned me for the purpose), I dropped a clip in between two others and got a similar situation.
Maybe something in Preferences[relating to Editing] might help overcome this situation(access preferences via "cogwheel" or similar symbol in Power Director). It's a curious effect and not entirely welcome if, in editing, you've inadvertantly omitted a clip and want to insert it at the point it was meant to be inserted.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Three hearty cheers for Tony! Hip-Hip..... Hooray!(X3)
Now all that's left for me is to play around with it and see what it can do!
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
Virus Schmirus!
If AVG thinks the Paint.NET installer contains a virus, malaware, spyware or free candy, it's dead wrong... or falsely positive.
I've attached the installer, which I just ran without any alert from Trend Micro Maximum Security.
Cheers - Tony
Ton,
I'm just reporting what I found. Nothing more. The installer you've attached, will this download and install Paint.Net if I download your attachment? I'll give it a try.
Cheers!
Neil.
Okay, Just answered my own question! Used your download zip attachment, successfully downloaded and installed Paint.Net. Cheers, Tony! And thanks for your help! Using your attachment worked far better than that link you provided earlier. Worked like a charm, in fact!
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Tony,
I clicked where you showed to download Paint.Net, made two or three attempts to download, failed each time. Seems Paint.Net might no longer be available. It had a virus attached to it as well, which AVG suggessfully banished(at each download attempt). It came up "unable to find" after I clicked on the window to allow installation. So that's Paint.Net down the drain for me.
Cheers!
Neil.
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I found this situation in PD14, likely it applies to earlier versions going back to PD9. As Nick referred to them correctly, you can't remove those "prime" tracks, being Video Track 1(master) and Video Track 2(Picture-in-Picture), but other video and audio tracks can be deleted if not required. It's been my observation that each time an item is dropped onto Video Track 2, Video Track 3 is automatically added, and should you add something there, Track 4 is automatically added, and another track will be added each time. There's no automatic deletion of the tracks when added, but each unused(empty) track can be individually manually deleted. This applies to the extra audio tracks which are added along with the video tracks. I have noticed that if an extra track is added manually(a video track added without audio) PD will, if that track is filled, add another video & audio track. Whether it does this when just the audio track is added, I've not tried that so can't say for certain. As for "Remove Track" being greyed out and "Remove Empty Tracks" doing nothing, could be a trial version or a corrupted programme. They're my guesses, though they could be well wide of the mark.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi, Dan!
Are you using PD14 Ultra(as I am)? If so, I'll have a look-see and possibly there might be a use or two in it for me at some future time.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi, Tony!
After your last post, guess there's nothing left for me but to find that software I was given some time ago and install it. Can't recall its name off the top of my head but it was(is) a photo and(supposedly) video processing software. I'll dig it ut and install it, and see what it does. If that fails, I'll try downloading Paint.Net.(I'll get the details of where to find it off you later, if I can).
Cheers!
Neil.
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Tony,
Looking back at your answer to me, I think I might've inadvertantly misled. On thinking of it, it could be I was looking for that function in MS-Paint, that, when an image is saved as a PNG, that "alpha-mask" should've appeared behind it to render a transparent background, though, at that time I may not have known what it was called, though I know now what it is, it's the grey-and-white chequerboard effect. On writing that last sentence, I just had a *"light-bulb moment". In MS-Publisher, I can create such a background myself, paste it into MS-Paint, then superimpose the image I want to have a transparent background over the top of it. I'll fiddle with that and let you know my results(if any).
Cheers!
Neil.
(*Light-bulb moment = in cartoons when a character gets an idea, a light-bulb appears over his/her head).
Had to re-post this - first attempt went "ker-blooey"(took too long to "save" and failed).
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Tony,
Glad I didn't disappoint you by repeating a previous assertion! (ha-ha). The suggestion about transparency was made some time ago(forget exactly when), when it was suggested I try PNG files forimages to be superimposed when using my "earlier" PD version. I tried creating PNG file versions of individual alphabet letters that I was using to create my own animated titles. I had been using them in a manner that took advantage of the multiple PiP tracks(9 in all) in that earlier PD version. The PNG file type wasn't as good(for me, anyway) as it was said to be. All that aside, I tried last night to create a transparency PNG image of a cartoon steam loco, using MS-Paint. I suspect such amenity is available in later service-pack versions(Service Pack 3 for Windows 7 Home Premium). I was given a software package some time back for editing images, which I had not got round to installing. Maybe I will find it and install it to see what it does. In the meantime, I have one other MS-based image editing programme, namely "Office Picture Manager" and I'll see what that link has to say, that you provided.
Cheers!
Neil.
(a quick peek at that link, one of the answers[the first one] mentioned "alpha-masks" which are not referred to anywhere in MS-Paint. Guess I might have to install that software I was given, or try Office Picture Manager to see what it can do).
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Okay, Tony!
Your YT clip was the first time I'd seen that tip on how to create a PNG file with transparent background I was not given this tip beforehand, and I'd just now watched your clip. Some questions remain, did you create that PNG in Microsoft Paint? If not, what other programme did you use? And is it possible at all to create one in Microsoft Paint?
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
Neil -
The advice to which you refer may have been:
- unclear or incomplete, or
- misread or misunderstood by the reader
If a .png image has no transparent area applied, it will behave as you've suggested, and chroma-key will need to be used. See goodguy309's attachment or attached image Oval1.png
If a .png image has a transparent area applied, it will retain its transparency in Title Designer and throughout PDR. See attached image Oval2.png
Also - goodguy309 - it's not a good idea to use such a low resolution image if you want it to look crisp and clean in your title template.
Cheers - Tony
Tony,
As always, I've based my comments on my experiences. I did indeed try using PNG type image files once, having been led(wrongly, as it turned out) to believe that the white area in them would be automatically transparent when imported to and applied to a PD video edit I was working on. I was very disappointed when it turned out not to be the case and that I did have to use the Chroma-Key after all to attain the transparency. I was not given any tip on how to make a PNG file image that would have automatic transparency of any white area therein. And for that reason, I reverted to using my faithful old bitmap image types which, in PD14, came up better than they did in "that other" PD that I still have on my computer. A JPEG image may appear "low resolution" but there's nothing wrong with a good ol' bitmap!
Cheers!
Neil
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Quote:
I'm trying to create a new title template. I can do the text and all that but when I import a background that has an oval but with a transparent background saved as a .png, the oval shows just fine but the background is white.
I'm following instructions on how to create a transparent background with Photosuite.
I just want to create a title with the oval and some text over it and have a transparent background.
Hi, GoodGuy309!
The oval shape you wish to superimpose on your video, behind your title, will appear with the white background blocking out the "scene" whether it's PNG, JPG or BMP. In order to make the white area "transparent", before you add your titles, with your oval shape highlighted, click on "modify", you should then get the "chroma-key" option, which is enabled by clicking in the little square above it. when activated, click on the pippet(eye-dropper) and hold it over the white area of your image, click there and the white area then becomes transparent. I've tried using a PNG image I created myself, after being advised to do so in another post some time ago, I was led to believe that, in the PNG image, the white area would be "automatically" transparent. This turned out not to be the case. I found myself still having to use the chroma-key to make the white area in my overlay transparent. After that exercise, I went back to creating my overlays in bitmap(BMP). I found BMP to work much better for sharp detail than PNG or JPG. Thus I now use BMP exclusively for that purpose. I produce my own titling for some of my videos using the WordArt feature in Microsoft Publisher, copying it and pasting it to Microsoft's Paint programme. Should I want to create a background shape(of any description) I can do that in Publisher, or more directly in Paint, then import the image into Power Director, drop it onto a PiP track and set the chroma-key to knock out the white background(make it transparent), and hey presto, I have an arrow, oval or any other shape I want, in any colour I want.
Your blue "oval" I take it, was your own creation, made for the purpose of a backdrop to your title. Again, with "home-made" PNG image files, the white background does not "automatically" become transparent and still requires chroma-key to make it so. That's been my experience and is the reason why I no longer use or trust the PNG image file type.
Cheers!
Neil.
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