|
|
Quote:
Being the moderate that I am, I can see both sides of this. On the one hand, I think the ubiquity of the smartphone camera has had a couple of negative consequences, including a lot less thought put into composition (even with spontaneous snapshots) and has fed an increasing tide of narcissim–it's one thing for proud new parents or grandparents to take a post a million pics of a new baby...this will pass in time, but another thing when it seems nearly everyone thinks the rest of the world is dying to see pics of us going about our mundane daily lives!
But, we don't always have the "right" equipment around, and particularly when it comes to taking pictures of young children, they're doing something cute when they're doing something cute, and pulling out the handy smartphone seems better than saying "Whoops, no picture/video right now because I don't have the appropriate camera for that handy."
Now, if I only could persuade those around me to keep the damn smartphone in landscape mode! 
Hello, Camner!
Though I stick with the view I've expressed, it's not gonna stop people using mobile phones with inbuilt cameras, using them as video or stills cameras. But there's more negative aspects about such devices than you've named. Paedophiles have used such devices(as reported in TV new bulletins) to take videos of naked children in municipal pool dressing rooms while posing as pool staff. Not very nice when little Jenny or Jamie has just finished her/his swim and is getting changed back into street clothes. Such incidences show the danger of these devices in the wrong hands and informs my view of specific devices for specific purposes.
And yes, that ever-present habit of holding the phone in Vertical orientation to take a video.... Pardon me for saying, but it looks bloody awful! There... I said it! Now I'll head for the hills as they(mobile phone users) will be baying for my blood. ha-ha!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
How come the fade in and fade out in titles is grayed out, I attached a photo. Seems the place to do this with titles, am I wrong?
Okay, this is my second attempt to explain this, on my first attempt, when I clicked "submit" it went "ker-blooey"!
Here's how titles are added:
1) At the point on your video where you want to insert your title, from the Title Room(T), choose a template and lay it on the track immediately below Video Track 2. then left-click on it to enter the Title Designer workspace. Here you can type in your title, position it on the screen, set the font size and style - and colour!
2) Once you've done all that, while still in Title Designer, at Top-left you'll see the tab for "Effects", you have Starting Effects and Ending Effects, each in their own groupings. Fade In is in the Starting group, with Fade Out in the Ending group, along with a jaw-dropping array of other effects in there as well. It's just a matter of clicking on the one you want(in your case, you wanted "Fade")
Cheers!
Neil
|
|
|
Hi, all!
This might help. Put the scrubber at the very end of each inserted clip, before you add your next clip. If it shows black, count back a few frames(in PD14 you can split off, right down to 1-frame increments) until you see the last image frame, split there and you'll get rid of that momentary "black spot".
Cheers!
Neil
|
|
|
|
Quote:
how do I select a "color board"?
Er...ahhh sorry 'bout that, chief...er... Angela(channeling Maxwell Smart there! ha-ha)
Okay, to get a colour board, look for the bar across the top of your media room(where your clips go before dragging them to the timeline) Where it says "Media Content", click on the downward arrow and the options will open, colour boards are the second option from the top. There's also backgrounds, but these are for other uses. Just pick any one you want to use, though I would recommend black, or white. They are the two I generally use.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
Hi, is there a way to add a slow blur to the 2nd track, and not to the first? I would like a slow blur to bring in a PIP but not make the top main video have the blur in it. Thanks.
Hi, Angela123!
Barry's version is one method, quite valid, here's another:
1) Position your PiP item onto Video Track 2 at the point at which you want it to appear(having set the size of the PiP in relation to the image/video on Track 1).
2) Just ahead of the clip on Track 2, select a colour board and, with modify, chroma-key it so it becomes invisible. set its length to about six seconds and move it up to the beginning of the PiP clip.
3) Copy the chroma-keyed colour board(Ctrl+C) then paste it in at the end of your PiP.
4) Enter the Transitions room and select your blur effect, lay it across the start of, and again at the end of the PiP(between the chroma-keyed colour board and the clip) and, in Modify, set your transition's time(between 3 and 5 seconds should give good effect) then set the transition behaviour to "cross". Apply these settings at each end.
And there you have it! This can be done in PD14, and possibly also in versions of PD going back to, perhaps Version 9 or 10 whereas it was not possible in PD8(or it was possible but with a fixted 2-second transition time).
This method will only apply to the PiP track, and I believe that's what you want.
Oops! Almost forgot....
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
Neil -
Have you noticed that you rarely seem to shift your thinking no matter what information is put before you? You seem like an intelligent guy who's determined to think what he thought before.
Fair enough - different strokes.
Cheers - Tony
Hello, Tony!
I've always held the view that specific devices should be devoted to specific purposes, and the purposes should not be crossed. Thus: a mobile phone is for communication(voice or text) and a video camera is for shooting video. The demarcation lines between these devices has, regrettably, become blurred in recent times, it's time those lines were brought back into sharp focus! When we see so many video cameras on the market, capable of shooting really better-than-broadcast-quality video, complete with stereo audio, why restrict ourselves to ordinary mono-audio shots from mobile phones, the cameras built in to which, being not much better than toy cameras?
Cheers!
Neil
|
|
|
Quote:
Could it be that now Youtube have a new youTube channel for subscription use only, that they are making life difficult for us the cheap skates ?
Hi, Kyle!
It could well be so! If YouTube persist in their current behaviour, how many of their contributors will throw their arms in the air and say "I've had a gutful of this" and quit YouTube, migrating to Vimeo or another(if any) video-sharing website? You see now why I've never bothered with YouTube, they're not worth all the grief!
Cheers!
Neil
|
|
|
Hello, sprzetowoTV!
Seems you're running into the same brick wall that other YouTubers are running into. Don't worry, though! It's not your fault. The fault in this situation lies entirely with YouTube themselves with the grief they're creating for their contributors. If they persist with such behaviour, they'll eventually lose all their contributors, who'll migrate across to Vimeo or some other video-sharing website. YouTube will be the ultimate loser!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
I do not believe the OP will accomplish what is desired. The best is to bite the bullet, use the video vertical, employ one of the band-aids covered here, demand the videographers learn to use the phone properly, and hope they comply.
Good luck.
Hi, Barry!
I agree, videographers should(if they're going to use them) learn to use these mobile phone cameras properly, in HORIZONTAL orientation! But when there's a plethora of really-good dedicated devices available out there, towit, digital video cameras, which can also record stereo audio for added realism on their home movies, why then, do they insist on using a mobile phone? It's like riding a bike when you could travel by car!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Tony!
Yeah, there is a bit of distortion after CLPV, but not that much to worry about.(it's barely noticable, really) When viewed on a 16:9 TV it doesn't "stick out, all that much.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Angela!
I think we can safely lock off this thread now, as your problem is now solved. The moderator could do that perhaps!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, all!
Something I should point out in the difference between PD8 and PD14 with regard to setting audio levels, In PD14, the levels are shown in decibel calibrations while in PD8 the levels are shown in a range from 0(muted) to 100(maximum audio level), 50 being the mid-point where the default level is set. I was redoing an edit of a recent trip I took to a tramway museum and, after editing all the clips together in PD14, opted to insert my narration track and do final produce in PD8. This is where the difference between the two Power Director versions come into their starkest contrast. PD8 is far easier to use! Puts PD14 "in the shade" in this respect. And yes, Pinnacle Studio 12 has a feature that Power Director could also use, if you set the audio level for the first clip you insert, all subsequently-inserted clips will automatically be set at that same level. That, in itself is a time-saving feature.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
I've not underestimated anything but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Hi, Barry!
....more than one way to skin a cat! That's pussin' things a bit!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hello, baranidharan!
Please open a separate thread for your question! DirectorZone Forum etiquette requires that you do not "jump in" on anther person's thread.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
I just viewed a clip by Andres.R and suddenly it vanished. I just got through writing the following post:
Hello, Andres.R!
I don't believe SoNic67 was trying to be rude in any way. Something may have "popped up" on his computer that might've resulted in him having to stop the clip before it started. It may have been a technical issue, I'm certain SoNic67 will be able to explain his situation better, if given the opportunity. I did watch your segment, it was good, congratulations, though if you use material from copyrighted features, just an advisory, be very careful. The cinema "big boys" can get a bit litigiously aggressive, if you know what I mean. Yes, I recognised the clip, a scene from "Los Tres Amigos"(The Three Amigos).... and, sadly, that's all the Spanish I know! I offered the above advice in good faith as I don't want to see you get into any legal bother with any of those cinema "big boys".
Cheers!
Neil.
When I submitted I got a red message about code verification or some-such which I didn't quite understand and it was from the Private Messages. Has anyone else noted this! This is not the first time a post has vanished without warning either. This comment had been saved via clipboard because I tried to post in a new topic and it too appeared to be blocked(by taking too long to save). There will be others, including Andres.R, who are owed explanations here.
Moderator, please explain!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
What is CLPV?
Hi, Richmond Dan!
Barry partly explained it in his post, but I thought I'd add my two-cents-worth here. CLPV is a Cyberlink-developed feature of Power Director which is called up when you want to set image attributes. I'm not quite sure how it's done in PD9 through to 13(though I guess it might be the same as in PD14. So let's look at PD14 first. If you've imported content shot in 4:3 aspect ratio and your PD14 is set for working in 16:9, when you pull it into the timeline, you'll get a warning telling you of the aspect ratio conflict, click on "No" to disregard that warning, then, with the clip on the timeline, right-click on it and select "Set Clip Attributes" you'll get a choice of four, aspect ratio will be the last(bottom) on that list. Bringing up Clip Aspect Ratio settings, select "The Aspect Ratio is 4:3" and you'll get the CLPV option as one of two choices. The result is that the image is then stretched in a way that, for the most-part retains the proportions of the image(or appears to) while stretching it out to fit the 16:9 screen. PD8 does it a bit differently(but not much). You get the same aspect ratio warning when you drag your clip to the timeline, again you click "Bo" to disregard it. When you right-click on the timeline in PD8, you have a direct access to reset the aspect ratio. When the Clip Aspect Ratio settings panel comes up, selecting the "clip is 4:3" will give you four options, a) use "letterbox" to convert, b) stretch clip to 16:9, c) use CLPV to stretch...., and d) use crop to convert to 16:9, CLPV is at opion 3. Barry, I think, has underestimated the ability of CLPV to do the conversion job. I've been using CLPV quite a bit lately and there's no distorting of images at all. About the only thing you'll lose is any captions at the bottom or top of the screen, either partially or wholly depending on how close to the top or bottom of the screen the captions are, that's because there's a little bit of vertical stretch applied, but not too much. That's CLPV in a nutshell, Hope I've enlightened you.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Elguapo9916!
Just hazarding a guess here, but it could be that your problem might stem from your switch from Windows 7 to Windows 10. I'm far from being an expert here, but reading other threads where problems(of various types) have arisen from such a switch, I figured you may have come across a glitch in your system. If you can uninstall, then re-install, that might help. I'll leave it to better minds than mine to advise further.
By the way, did you, by chance, come across your user name after being inspired by the movie "Three Amigos"?
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
thanks buddy.that did it
Hi, Carlos!
Glad to be of help!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, Barry!
I'm surprised at you! "If a blurred backing moving video is too distracting you can use a frame-grab, but you'll need to blur that also. I have done this many times with old 4:3 VHS tapes" I'd have thought you'd have cottoned on to the wonders of CLPV! I most certainly have! CLPV can bring old 4:3 aspect ratio VHS, Beta or any other analogue video format out to 16:9 without making anyone in the video look like he's/she's been "raiding the refridgerator"! I've been doing some tape-to-DVD transfers for a friend recently and CLPV has really helped to "lift" the image, making the video look like it was shot in 16:9 originally, when it wasn't.
Though CLPV would have limited effect or usefulness when dealing with the results of clips shot with mobile phones held vertically rather than horizontally. As has been said, you can only do so much, the rest is "in the laps of the gods!"
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
|
Quote:
Well, this is odd... I tried viewing the volume mixer, and THIS TIME, I had new options, and moved the sliders, and YES, it worked!
Well, I am relieved and very thankful to everyone's suggestions.
Hi, Angela!
We can label this one as "Solved" then, ay? I thought it might've been something to do with your computer's audio mixer. All's well that ends well! As they say.
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
Hi, all!
This sort of subject popped up in another earlier post. It seems people are wont to shoot video on their mobile phones, and when they do, they hold them vertically, in the same orientation they would to talk in them. If you're gonna use these things to shoot still images, okay, fair enough, but if you're shooting video, hold them in horizontal(landscape) orientation, rather than vertical(portrait). I recently acquired a mobile phone that has an inbuilt camera, and a micro-SD slot to take a card on which to store the images. But I flatly refuse to use it for such purpose as I wanted a phone, not a camera! I already have a good video camera, that feature in a phone is just surplus to requirements!
Cheers!
Neil.
|
|
|
