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Hi, CliffG1!
It's quite easy to do what you're trying to do, I'll take you through the process, step-by-step. This, of course assumes you're not using any more than one video track(Dideo Track 1 - master track).
1) Using a colour board(which can be found by clicking where it says "Media Content", choose the black colour and drop it on the time line, might be an idea to set it at 10 seconds rather than 5, gives the viewer a bit more time to read the captions. Add your first clip, which will form the first "chapter" of your video.
2) Adding the "Title", click on the 'T' to enter the "Title Room", probably the default template will suffice for this excercise, Drop this onto the Title Track(or, as I've found in PD14, you can also use the Video Track 2 as a title track), click on the "My Title" in the timeline and type in your text(you might want to play around a bit with the layout of the text - but that's for later experimentation, we'll keep it simple for now).
Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the subsequent two chapters. Okay, once you've done that, now it's time to add the chapter points.
3) For this part of the process, go to the "Chapter Room" second-from-bottom, down left side of screen, hover your cursor over each icon there and that will tell you what each icon represents. On entering the Chapter Room, the first chapter is automatically added, but for this purpose, well be using "Manual Chapter Settings". Move the scrubber to the start of your second chapter, click on "C+", this will add the second chapter(the first was automatically inserted), now move the scrubber to the start of your third chapter and click again on the C+. Chapters are now added. Process complete!
If you intend to burn a disc from this, just go straight to "Create Disc". Follow the prompts and you'll have a DVD of your baseball match. When you've done this a few times, you may want to start experimenting with title fonts and effects, but that's for you to play around with later. For now I've kept it simple and straight-forward.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi, PinballReviewerRepairs!
Just watched your clip, brilliantly done! Well synchronised too! Didn't even get that delay effect in the audio that CS2014 warned of. Probably only one comment I'd make here, you've used the hand-clap to synchronise the two parts of your clip, but once that's done, there's no real need for the hand-clap to be in the video itself. Move the scrupper to a point after where the hands disappear, then split both parts together at that point(assuming playing deck is on the Video track 1 and the scoreboard is on Video track 2), then delete the parts before the split. Put it this way, when we're wathing a movie, the pro's don't keep those clapper-boards in the picture, do they? That bit of film, once it's served its purpose, ends up on the cutting-room floor!
Still, again I say, great work!(watching reminded me of the ones I used to play as a kid.... ah, memories!)
Cheers!
Neil.
P.S. - first attempt to post went awry - copied text to clipboard, pasted to new reply panel, fingers crossed, hope it works this time.... Heaving big sigh of relief, it worked!
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Hey, Tony!
Brilliant effect! Gotta find a use for that one myself some time! Loved it!
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
I am thinking just a simple hand clap at the starting to synce up the vids sound.
Hi, PinballReviewerRepairs!
The handclap is a very good method of synchronising both cameras' shots(akin to a clapper-board). Make the handclap loud enough that both cameras' microphones pick it up with reasonably the same level and you can very accurately synchroniseyour clips(should've thought of that one myself, though not always possible if one shot is from my camera and the other comes from a friend's camera, but I have my own method of working around that situation).
Cheers!
Neil
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Hello, PinballReviewerRepairs!
Clearly Longedge has the answer here! But don't be too quick to delete the audio just yet, as it will prove useful for synchronising the two video images. The images you use, and where you use them are your choice(a given exmample might be that the playing deck of the game may be on the main screen and the scoreboard in the PiP track, though you might opt for the other way round). The audio is your clue to synchronising the video. Before you even put the clips onto the timeline, view each separately in the libraey and listen for the sound picked up by each camera's microphone. The two cameras are pointed at different parts of the same game but are both picking up the same sound, so the first thing you'll hear is where you've pulled back, then released the plunger to set the first of three(or 5, in some cases) balls into play.... I used to love playing pinball machines! That sound, when matched with the same sound on the other clip, will cue everything up neatly for you when you put the clips on the timeline.
Once you've got the two clips synchronised, you can either, mute or unlink then delete the audio from the clip(either main screen or PiP) that you don't need, it's the same sound anyway, though picked up by the microphones of two different cameras.
Hope this is of some help to you.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello all!
I've not come across the Newegg name before, hence my suspicion about the offered price. With Cyberlink pushing sales of its earlier products(PD14 included) to "clear the decks" for PD15 to be launched some time later this year or early next year(my guess), I'd expect they'd be cutting the price, but not down to $29.95 in any country's dollars! So that's what rang the alarm bells for me!
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello, kmjk333!
Be extremely cautious here! The product might not be genuine. If they're flogging it off at such a low price it might be a copied version and you may experience difficulties when installing it as PD14 requires the internet to finish the activation process, as well, the CDKey may be duplicated from the original. What looks too good to be true, usually is too good to be true!. Best to trust reputable dealerships when it comes to video editing software or any other product.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello, Luthien!
Generally, there's no need to physically delete the other audio tracks, As you've stated, you used the other audio tracks as a tool to synchronise your video clips(I use the same, or at least similar technique) and once syncronised, you chose the best audio, the other audio tracks really need only to be muted, rather than removed. After production(rendering), the finished product is the same as if you had removed the unwanted audio tracks. Mind you, this is only a suggestion. It's entirely your call if you want to pursue your original solution.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
Neil -
First up, my apology. I wrote "tram museum" in error. I should have recalled it was steam trains that were of particular interest.
You got a little defensive & condescending in your reply there. Yes - what you said was straight forward. I understood it. Did you think I missed something (aside from muddling up trams & steam trains)?
I read your original post as (paraphrased): "I only use a few of the effects in the FX room, so I can't see any point in including the others." If that's not what you were saying, it came across like that to me.
I use Microsoft Word & have done for many years. My needs are pretty basic, so I'm totally aware that i don't use anything like Word's full feature set. BUT - others I know who use it for business purposes DO quite amazing things with it, using features I've never even bothered to explore because I have no need.
Even though I'll never use many of the FX in PDR, I'm happy for them to be included for other users who might want/need them. Your original post seemed to be suggesting something very different.
Cheers - Tony
Tony!
Apology accepted! Actually steam locos AND trams are of interest to me. But apart from that(don't want to stray too far from topic), my point was, only a couple(a few at most) effects have had any value to me in editing video, The Delay effect is used to create a sort-of "strobing" when graphic images have motion applied to them, the TV Wall effect is used in conjunction with a Fade transition as a segue from one scene to another(effect used only sparingly) and the Mirror effect, well' I've yet to put that to use after finding it in PD14, I had used the effect that was built-in to my now-ancient(by today's standards) Hi-8 camera/recorder, and here is where I must correct JL_JL's impression, Not finding the Mirror effect in PD8 was NOT the main point of my original post, I was simply saying I had not found that effect in PD8, but did find it in PD14. The Mirror effect has a comical quality to it(sort-of) but opportunities to apply it don't come along very often, if at all. The TV Wall, as I said, I use it sparingly. Outside these effects, for the rest of the effects I cannot find any real use, so I generally ignore them. If and when the mood grabs me, I may rummage through them and see what they do(to remind myself of their natures) but that only serves as a reminder to why I didn't bother with them in the first place.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
And I finished with "I'm sure those that edit professionally - or do so for others - may find that the effects may be appealing to the wide array of their customer base. It's just not MY particular cup of tea?! "
CS
Hi, CS!
I did notice that ending remark, but it was your opening comment that summed everything up neatly. I often find myself editing a friend's camerawork, I even combine his work with mine(if we're both at the same event and shooting something from two different positions - ah no, I don't use the Multi-Cam feature, I have my own method of synchronising videos that works quite well for me, a practice I started in PD7 when Multi-Cam was not available). As it happens, such an event is happening this weekend in the city of Maitland, NSW. It's the 30th Anniversary of Steamfest(which means it should be the 31st staging of this event, the number of times an event is staged is one ahead of the number of anniversaries). I'll make sure my camera battery is well-and-truly "juiced-up" for that event.
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Hi All!
Okay, I'll try to answer as best I can, some of your comments:-
Tony,
quoting: even though you & I might not typically use many effects in our videos that doesn't mean EVERYONE doesn't. Even though I've been told the user base is mainly 55+ males, there are many thousands who might want an array of effects to spice up their videos. I never intended to imply that "everyone" doesn't use these effects, I meant that some or most of the effects may not necessarily meet the needs of some people in editing their videos. That's fairly straight-forward, isn't it?
Barry,
quoting: if PD did NOT have an FX room, it would not have gone past version 1 or 2, never mind all the way to version 14. It's not a matter of what's included in Power Director, or what's been left on the "cutting room floor"! It's a matter of simply what an individual editor may or may not find useful when putting together his/her movie. I find the transitions to be of greater value than the effects, but that's just me, though I must admit to an unintended omission. One effect I do use, but only very occasionally is the "TV Wall" effect where the image is multiplied several times - the effect starts and ends at the single image. I sometimes apply this effect across a fade transition(I'll leave it to your "mind's eye" to imagine how the effect might work).
Collie581,
I don't know that I've come across you before, so (if perhaps belated) welcome to the forum! Quoting: I have had a look at the Effects library especially when I am struggling to do something that is beyond my abilities in the hope that the scales will fall from my eyes and I will see exactly what I need to use. Yes, using Power Director can be daunting to some users, particularly if they're new to editing video. Some pick up skills with earlier PD versions or from other makes of video editing software and apply some of what they've learned elsewhere to their use of PD. What effects that are available may suit some porposes, but not all. It all comes down to "tinkering" with the effects to see what works and what doesn't. I might "tinker" with some of the effects when not actally putting together a video, just to see what they do and make a mental note, "yeah, that one might be useful at some stage" or "no, not likely to use that one, ever".
CS2014,
I think your remark sums it all up neatly, quoting: "I know it'd be just great if all the 'features' offered we found useful and that we wanted all of them - but we don't - I think this is 'normal' ... or should I say average?"
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi all!
Of all the "features" of Power Director 14 or even Power Director 8, both "Ultra" by the way, The least-used would be the "effects", either applied directly to the clip or on the effects(fx) track on the timeline. As I mentioned earlier, probably the only effect I found useful at all was the "Delay" which gave a kind of strobing effect as a graphic image is applied to a video(a cartoon car or steam loco, for instance, is animated to move across the screen). The other effect I mentioned, "Mirror"(half the screen flipped left-for-right) I've only ever used once and not even from Power Director's effects library, that effect was generated within the camera I was using at the time(model and brand mentioned earlier).
If I'm doing VHS-To-DVD transfers(my old tapes or tapes for friends), then I get a lot of use out of the fix/enhance to clean up the videos and the CLPV system to convert aspect ratios. In the Fix/Enhance, I've noted the video Denoise does an amazing job of "smoothing out" the image of old video content from those old tapes. Anyone uninitiated into this world of videography could look at those old videos after they've been "treated" and think(almost) that they were shot with modern digital cameras, that's how well the video denoise application does its job. The CLPV system also helps to add to the impression of the old analogue stuff being shot digitally(to those not in the know), but only he or she who processed the video would know the truth.
If anything gets used the most, it's the transitions, particularly so, now that they can be added to the PiP tracks just as easily as they can to the master track. I create my own title graphics, and the selected transition effects applied really help to enhance my video, providing intro or exit effects not available in the motion settings. I couldn't use the transitions on the PiP tracks in PD8 but I can use them in PD14, it adds an extra dimension to my clips. The only let-down in PD14 is the "burning" issue of DVD authoring but I've covered that elsewhere and often enough so I won't mention it here.
That about sums it up for me.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi!
Richmond Dan's post on "Understanding Effects" has prompted this post. I've studied some of the effects and what they do to the image on screen, but as yet have not really found much use for most of them. I have, at times used the Delay effect as it creates a kind of "strobing" to an image moving across the screen(animated graphic). Thus far, this effect has been the only one I've found useful. I've noticed another that was not available in PD8 but is available in PD14, a "Mirror" effect in which the screen is split down the center and one half of the screen is right-way-round and the other half is inverted left-for-right. I had such an effect built-in to an older analogue camera(Samsung VP-W70 monaural Hi-8 Model) that was my first after borrowing my brother's camera for my first forays into shooting and editing video(used to copy[dub] the shots to VHS....anyone remember doing that? Those were the days...! I hadn't seen that effect anywhere else until I came across it in PD14. For me it's a matter of whether the effect is useful, 98% of the effects in the effects room beyond Delay and Mirror will likely never be used.... but then again..... who knows?
Cheers!
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Hello, RGoto!
Version 8(by that I think you mean Power Director ![]() does not need the Internet to activate it, All you do there is type in the CDKey number in the appropriate place when you open it first time after installation, however, to register it you'll need to log in to DZ. But later versions(PD9 onwards, I believe) do need the Internet and log-in to DZ to complete the activation process. PD8 has long ago been superceded but, as it happens I have it on my computer and retain it for certain tasks.
Just wondering:- If your PD8 does not have a CDKey number, it could be because it's an OEM version(bare-bones) which was packaged with capture card devices and promoted in the marketplace with words like "Turn your old VHS Tapes into DVD with (brand-name) VHS to DVD Converter!" or words similar to that. These OEM versions don't need registration and activate as soon as they're opened but are little better than the trial version as many of their features do not function, that's why the full retail version with the CDKey is the better option for ALL versions of Power Director. Carl312 or Dafydd B. may be able to advise on how to get hold of Power Director 14 from Japan(you might have to contact Cyberlink directly, that's where Carl or Dafydd may be able to help).
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
I don't like to be beaten and can't help wondering why one piece of software can do it and another can't 
Hi, Longedge!
I don't like it either when software frustrates my efforts at creating the type of video I want to create, but why one piece of software can do something that another can't, I suppose we'll just have to chalk that up to the quirky nature of these things.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
Neil, I think your Panny files are MODs, not MOVs.
Sorry, You're correct, Barry!
The files are indeed tagged as MOD though they are MPEG2. But a file would be labeled as MOV001(and subsequent numbers for subsequequent shots).
Cheers!
Neil.
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Quote:
Not related necessarily - MOV extension is Apple "property" and as far as I know they don't let anybody create encoders and decoders for it.
Basically every software that deals with it has to use Apple decoder/encoder - QuickTime. For Windows they have a limited version that is written in 32 bit. Any software that is 64 bit will have to use some kind of software "glue" to use that 32 bit portion.
MOV works perfect only on a native Mac computer.
Since I don't own a Mac and don't intend to, I am avoiding any equipment that defaults the video recording to MOV format.
PS: Hadbrake uses a decoder created by the "open" community. Since they are located in France and they are not selling anything in US, I think they are hard to reach by Apple's legal arm.
PD uses the "open" comunity software too for the MKV files.
Interesting, I have an older camera(Panasonic SDR-S7) and content I import from that camera appears on my computer with the .MOV extension in its file name, but it is, in fact an MPEG2 file, as that is the type of file this particular camera creates, raw MPEG2 and I've had no problem with using these types of clips whatsoever. How do I know if it's MPEG2? Right-click on the file and scroll down to "properties", the answer, my friend, is blowing in that wind!
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Quote:
I just tried one of the discs in a different dvd player and it works perfectly. The original player is old but it plays and navigates through other DVDs just fine. The disc worked in a player that is part of a TV/DVD combo. My new question is whether there is a setting when I burn the DVD that would make it more readable in an older player.
Hi, Puzzled2!
Some older DVD players tend to act a bit "funny" when it comes to playing home-made DVDs on them, but the fact that you got your disc to play correctly on another player(probably newer, thus of a later generation of such players) means that something's working correctly in the making of the DVD, at least. As for "a setting when burning a disc to make it more readable in an older player", I don't think there is such a setting. How well the disc plays in the older player depends entirely on the older player itself.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi, Sweman!
The offer sounds okay, but it's for you to decide whether you can afford it. As for what you want to do with it, use the link in Shadowman's reply, that may give you some answers. There are several tutorial videos available to view, showing what can be achieved in PD14. Watch them at your own liesure and you'll gain an understanding of all that can be done with Power Director 14.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hi, Longedge!
The trick there might be to use the software with your USB Ion VideoForever kit for capture purposes only, then import the capture into your Power Director 13 for final editing. It's always handy to have another bit of software on your computer to provide a "workaround" solution. The capture/edit software that might come with such a device may well be a bit "basic" but at least you can use it to simply capture the content, then edit it in Power Director at any time thereafter.
Cheers!
Neil.
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Hello, John!
I'm using PD14 Ultra but whichever version of Power Director you're using, the method here is essentially the same. Upon opening your Power Director, select "Capture". When the Capture window opens, look down to bottom-right of your screen where it says "Settings". Click on Settings and a window will open showing details of Capture Device(if only one device is connected, this should be greyed and not selectable), Device Resolutions, Capture Source(generally Composite Video) and Audio Device(which should, like in Capture Device, show the type of capture card you're using, in this case the ION Video 2 PC). It's possible your capture cord might've come with an installation disc, allowing the device to be "recognised" by your computer and thus any video editing software loaded thereon. If you have such a disc, run it, and it might sort out your problem. Generally though, video capture cards are usually "plug-and-play" devices that, upon connection, take only a moment and the computer will "recognise" them and they're ready for use with any video capture/editing programme you may have, Bt just occasionally you may strike a device that requires an installation disc, like yours might be. Usuually when you buy these things, they come with video editing software in the packet. Sometimes they're bare-bones versions of Power Director. Hope this has been of some help. There are many more users on this site who can render further assistance, don't be afraid to ask.
Cheers!
Neil.
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