|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Hi, all!
I said this thread had given me an idea or two on possible other uses..... Well, indeed it has! I was sitting at my computer last night, PD14 open, toying with some old MPG content from a friend's camera(he'd shot some extra stuff from Steamfest 2015), when I had my "light-bulb moment"(in cartoons, when a character gets an idea, a light-bulb appears over his/her head), an intro sequence, from 10 seconds of black, through fade transition to 10 seconds of a purple colour, then into the video itself with Threshold 2 as the transition(image breaks in through the purple colour), then, using the same shade of purple(56,0,71) on the PiP track, set at 20 seconds duration, the transitions are set at 5 seconds, overlapping, by the way, the purple shade is set to 50% opacity unti it reches 15 seconds, then fades to zero for its last 5 seconds. Result: a purple tinge over the video, ripe for superimposing a title sequence! Following the process in reverse effect, but using Threshold 1 for the purple to break through the video, I used the effect to create a background for a sort-of "closing credit" sequence. And there you have it! Take a bow, Shadowman! It was your suggestion that inspired me! The original idea of a "red glow" effect for a dark-room scene, clearly has merit!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Quote:
Quote:
those old tripods(I suspect) that you tried, may have been for "stills" cameras, thus no provision for pan and tilt.
Hi Neil,
One small detail, I"m not shooting bikes that are going past me and the camera, which is where a pan/tilt head is important.
The camera is mounted on the bike, or on the helmet of the bike's rider.
Motion stabilization in this case is probably incapable of making it look like the forest speeder sequence in Revenge of the Jedi. But it would be nice if the software can take the edge off.
Hi, Pat!
Ah, now I get it! Either you, as the rider, or another person who rode this dirt-bike, has shot the sequence from the "rider's view". I can imagine this is going to result in shaky video of "earthquake" proportions(and yes, I have experienced an earthquake). PD's image stabiliser may be somewhat "out of its depth, trying to stabilise such shots. You might get a reasonable degree of stabilisation for a helmet-mounted camera-shot, but if the camera was on the bike.... that's gonna tax the stabilisation to the enth degree! As for the enhanced stabiliser, it might tend to "overdo" the stabilisation, resulting in what you described in your earlier post. Getting back to my earlier post, cameras having in-built compensation for shakiness, that should also apply to these GoPro models as well, so activating such an in-camera feature, might act as an "assist" to the stabilisation process in Power Director. Just a thought!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hello Tony(Ynotfish) and Pat(Fishtop Records),
Firstly to Tony, admittedly the computer sometimes "cacks" itself, but overall the processes I applied work okay, so, overall, the computer "handles" what I'm doing okay, but I'm only processing old Hi-8 or VHS stuff on the odd occasion these days, most of my editing time is in digitally-shot content that doesn't need all that much "processing".
And to Pat, those old tripods(I suspect) that you tried, may have been for "stills" cameras, thus no provision for pan and tilt. The screw-in bolt will have fitted your camera but that's about the only real compatibility those old tripods had. There would have been no ability to "track" that dirt-bike as it roared past your camera position. Tripods for video cameras would have that little grip-handle which allowed panning a full 360 degrees and tilting as well, and, with whatever "knobs" on the tripod, you could "lock" in your desired angle of shot. That would help with stabilising your shots, though, in a crowd of people, someone's going to bump your tripod while you're recording a scene. That's happened to me a few times while standing on a crowded platform at Maitland Railway Station last April while shooting clips of vintage steam locos. The video stabilisation in Power Director is mainly intended to smooth out shaky hand-held shots, as you know, but I suspect it ain't-a gonna cope with severely shaky stuff. As it happens modern digital cameras do have in-built compensation shaky hand-held shots. Basically it comes down to trying to avoid any real need to apply the stabilisation in PD. A thought that just occurred to me, how close to your subject matter(the dirt-bike) were you when shooting the video? Were you close enough to get a reasonable shot as it flew past, without having to "zoom" in(telephoto)? I asked because the telephoto(zoom in) has a tendency to severely exaggerate the shakiness in a hand-held camera shot., Telephoto shots really "scream out" for the necessity of a tripod!
Cheers!
Neil.
(P.S., while writing the above, I had notice of, downloaded and installed an Apple Software Update, presumably for QuickTime, just thought I'd mention it).
|
|
|
Hi, Merlin!
You've raised a good point there! I tend to severely limit my use off "effects(fx)" because of the "sudden on/sudden off" nature of some(most) of them when applied using the "fx" track. The only effects I've used to date have been the "TV Wall" and the "Delay". TV Wall gives an effect of multiplying the image(you nominate the intensity), starting at the single image, building into the "wall" then back out to the single image. It's a good one to use in conjunction with a "fade" transition. The "delay" gives a kind of "strobing" effect to the video, the effect could give a notion of "speed" of a moving object passing a camera, preferrably mounted on a tripod. These two "effects" do give a degree of control over their point of entry and exit, but others I've experimented with have this "sudden on/sudden off" nature which effectively eliminates them from any use I might otherwise have for them. *There is a workaround, but it involves applying the effect singularly to a portion of a clip where you want it to apply, then render that portion and drop the thus-rendered portion into your movie with a fade(or other type of) transition in front of and behind the so-affected portion. *Just an idea I thought of while writing this. Summing up, those effects do leave something to be desired in their application, and I suspect it goes back as far as when the effects track was first available in a much-earlier version of Power Director.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Barry & Tony!
Some years back(using a Hi-8 camera) I shot some video content but wasn't using a tripod, so the video was quite shaky as you could imagine it would be. A little while ago I'd taken some of that old content and, for my own amusement, thought I'd try "cleaning it up a bit". I applied CLPV to convert its aspect ratio, used a bit of image sharpening(a little tweaking of brightness & contrast) and apply video denoise, which really cleaned up those clips, but on applying stabiliser, I noted that, while it "fixed" the first few minutes or so of the clip(the edge[borders] of the video shook while the image itself appeared stable, I was ready for that, I made up some masking to hide the shaky borders), as I played further along, I noticed a severe side-to-side jitter of the image. I had applied the stabiliser across the entire clip(apply to all), after editing, snipping out unwanted bits and dropping in some transitions, but it was that side-to-side jitter which threw me! I thought the stabiliser was supposed to remove shakiness in clips, not add some of its own! That's what I meant by "carrying on". That's why I suggested to Fishtop Records to edit shorter sections together, render them, THEN apply the stabiliser to each short section, joining those sections together to form his movie only after he's satisfied the stabiliser has done its job properly on those shorter sections. I've based this entirely on my own experiences, needless to say, I try to use a tripod these days at all times(except where sometimes it's impossible - crowds of people bumping the tripod can be a problem).
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Fishtop Records!
About the only idea I can think of at this instant is to edit all your clips together, render(produce) them, then apply the stabiliser to that "rendered" item. An alternative is, if you have, say 15 clips, edit five at a time, render them, apply the stabiliser to that render, then do likewise for the second and third set of clips, then edit the lot together. The alternative is given because, I've sometimes noticed, that the stabilisation effect doesn't seem to "carry on" for very long. Applying to short sections might well be the way to go.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hello, all!
In relation to synchronising audio to video, I have a method that may appear cumbersome to some or most people on this forum, but it has worked for me. I use ithis method in PD14 and my other "Voldemort" version(the version that shall not be named... because I referred to it often in the past - ha-ha). I'll assume we're trying to sync two different views of the same event, shot on separate cameras(of course, Duh!). This info is based on recent editing I've done where I, and a friend of mine, shot video of steam locos coming into a station. For the purpose of explanation, I'll call Video Track 1 the "master" and other video tracks as PiP tracks. So here's how I did it:
1) I put my clip on the master video track and noted its length in minutes and seconds(also trimmed of any excess frames beyond an exact number of minutes and seconds, but that's optional). Listened to the track for any stand-out sound(steam whistle, perhaps) and noted how that sound showed on the audio track, that was my audio cue.
2) I then put my friend's clip of the same loco coming into the station, so I could hear his track in detail, I temporarily muted the master's audio. I then listened for that same steam whistle, and split the clip at that point, deleting the part before the split. I then cut the wanted part of the clip, using Ctrl+X, un-muted the master track and listened again for the steam whistle.
3) On finding the point where that whistle sounded, I put the scrubber just ahead of that point, then, with Ctrl+V, pasted the friend's clip back on to the PiP track. As luck had it, it matched up perfectly.
4) The bit of my friend's clip which I deleted ahead of the whistle for syncing purposes, was not entirely lost. By "grabbing" the starting point of the clip, I could drag it back out to its original starting point with the whistle sounds still perfectly paired up in sync with each other. If my friend's clip ran beyond the end of mine, snip-snip and the extra bit ends up on the "cutting room floor".
5) Bringing the PiP clip into and out of view can be done by simple fade-in & fade out in Modify, but because I can put transition effects on the PiP tracks in PD14, and no doubt versions PD9 through to PD13 allow the same, this allows for some really stunning tricks for introducing the PiP image, or "inset". and equally stunning for its exit. For this, I used a colour board of 8 seconds, white, because it's a neutral shade, rendered transparent with the Chroma-Key, copied so it could be pasted in behind the PiP. The transitions I use are 5 seconds long. At the point where the inset is to appear I drop a transition into place but as a cross, not overlap(overlap will take the inset out of sync, cross retains the sync). At the end it can be overlap or cross. I used Swing for the into and burning for the exit, and because the inset was at bottom-right, the swing made it appear like a gate swinging closed. It looked truly brilliant, even if I do say so myself!
6) If you do use the method described in paragraph 5, experiment a bit, look for a transition that a) doesn't give a momentary still-frame, as the intro needs to be a cross transition, and b) doesn't affect the background(main screen image).
Well, there you have it, hope the above gives a few ideas for when you get that "syncing feeling"!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hello!
This thread has continued now since 24th September, last year! Rather old by forum standards. Just an observation, mind you! To be honest, and I don't mind being wrong on this, but I hardly expect many, or even any, of the suggestions thus far made in this thread, to be implemented in PD15. As for me, after splashing out on PD14 and finding that PD14 leaves a few things to be desired in relation to disc authoring, transition behaviour, etc., I'll wait now until PD15 is released before I decide whether or not to "get my hot little hands on it".
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
Have we lost the "main man" by doing all this. After all he/she is a newbie and all this is way beyond that.
Perhaps in future we should be more aware of our members real needs before going off on a technical tangent.
Just a thought
Robert
Hello, Robert(Shadowman),
I don't think we, any of us who responded, had gone off on any tangent, The OP was about rotating a video clip, we've stuck fairly close to the subject, but some of the technical talk about "keyframes" and such, GeorgieJr may have found somehat daunting. They're my thoughts, anyway.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
Neil: A new joke book is on its way!
Terry
Ooh, cheeky, Terry!
But I'm glad you've been able to create a workaround by creating a colour board to the particular shade of red that you needed.
Cheers!
Neil.
(P.S. - had to re-post this, save took longer than it should have after clicking on "submit")
It appears an uncorrected original version of my post has appeared ahead of my "corrected" version. Could a moderator please delete the earlier version?
|
|
|
|
Quote:
Neil: A new joke book is on its way!
Terry
Ooh, cheeky, Terry!
But I'm glad you've been able to create a workaround by creating a clolour board to the particular shade of red that you needed.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Oh, GeorgieJr!
I'm afraid you've really "set the cat among the pigeons" with this one!
A similar subject came up some time back about the orientation of mobile phones when used as video cameras, but as you were using a video camera to begin with.... it's really always better to use these devices in their "horizontal" orientation(landscape) and basically avoid any need to rotate clips in the first place! As you've seen by reading posts by Shadowman, Ynotfish, Tomasc, Carl312, Barry The Crab, SoNic67 and Richmond Dan, the attempt has almost had them tearing their hair out..... we-ell... a bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but... you get the picture!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
can I reinstall powerdirector 11 ultra, my PC had to be extensively repaired and reloded after virus attacks.
kind regards
Hi, Piet!
This thread is already a year old but as your question is sort-of related, I'm happy to answer it. Yes, you can reinstall PD11 if you're running PD14 currently, the two versions will happily sit beside each other on one computer, in fact, any version of PD from Version 9 onward can run on the same computer with an earlier or later version, however this is not so with Power Director versions 8 or earlier(a word of caution), i.e., PD8 will want you to uninstall PD7 or earlier, but PD9 or later versions will install alongside PD8 OR PD7 OR any ONE earlier version. So, if you have your installation disc for PD11 at hand, yes, go ahead and reinstall.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, HeavyTiger!
Your request may be best put in the "Suggestions For PD15", or possibly PD16 forum whenever that one's started. But the idea of having water droplets dripping off the words in a title sounds really good! Other ideas for titling effects flames flickering off letters in a title, frost hanging off letters, slime oozing off letters(good for titling ghost stories). Other ideas would come along to add to the theme. But the basic idea is one for Cyberlink to explore when creating title effects to add into the Title Room of any future versions Power Director. For myself, I really like the idea, it sounds great, but at hobbyist level as Power Director is, it may be beyond the scope of Power Director itself to create such an effect.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
I'd be happy to chip in to get Neil a new joke book!
Tony,
Oh, Hardy-Ha-Ha-Ha! I never laid claim to that one about darkrooms but it seemed appropriate to the subject. Your "Colour Swap" could work with a little tweaking, maybe, but Shadowman's suggestion opens up many other possibilities beyond creating the effect of red glow of a darkroom. Mood colouring of a scene, as I suggested before, is another possible use of Shadowman's suggestion. Just a thought!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
If you'd genuinely intended to "keep it simple" you could have just said "grab the blue circle in the preview screen and spin it around".
Hi' Tony!
Yeah, sorry! That one slipped past me, I missed it totally! I was going by the more obvious solution.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hello Carl!
Your remark, "Colour film processing is complete darkness (No light)" puts a whole new slant on the old line: "Come into my darkroom and we'll see what develops!" Seriously though, Shadowman's suggestion is one I'll have to make a mental note of for future reference. Thanks, Shadowman! There are a few other applications of that idea, for mood colouring of a scene, perhaps.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Ken480!
Happy to see you've found a workaround method for stereo-to-mono. We each have our own little "tricks" to achieve our desired end results. For me, mono is fine for a narration track, but for the native audio from the camera, unless that native audio was derived from video obtained from a mono analogue source via capture device, I'd much prefer that native audio be in stereo, plus any music background which may or may not be added at an editor's discretion. I often add my narration AFTER I've completed the assembly-editing process and that narration is always recorded in third-party software, and though monaural to the ear, is across two stereo channels(left channel a copy of right, and/or vice-versa). That's my method for what it's worth.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Tony!
I was endeavouring to keep it simple and straight-forward for GeorgieJr, as he has only in the last month joined this forum. Software programmes like PD14 can be daunting for the uninitiated.... so many features, so many tools, so many functions! My basic info explained where to find the tool GeorgieJr was looking for. Your info, while valid for a more advanced user, as it deals with video image orientation(landscape vs. portrait) and aspect ratios, but for someone just new to the process of editing video, such things as "keyframes", is "territory yet to be explored". I'm not setting out to offend here but I think you may be taking GeorgieJr a little further down the track than he is prepared to travel at the moment.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hello, georgiejr!
Welcome to the forum! Yes, you can rotate a clip in PD14, Drop the video onto the timeline, then, in "Tools", select "Power Tools", Here you have the options of 2D to 3D, Video In Reverse(good for comic effect), Crop & Zoom, Video Speed(Benny Hill used this for his end-of show chase sequences, all those girls chasing "him"! ha-ha), and the one you want, Video Rotation. Just check the box next to the tool you wish to use.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
