Hi there Toddsta,

I am not exactly sure what problem you are having, and I would really like to help, but I am not getting your problem exactly.....sorry ..

This confused me:

.....Plus, the "duration" seems to have no effect at all on the duration of any given transition....

So are you saying that you can't change the duration of any of the transitions? In your sample timeline...you have a transition in your project is at the very start....and it's a "wipe down soft" transition with a duration of only 00.21 seconds. That's pretty short! 7 or 8 frames is not that long.

And then you have the "glare" transition which is 1.13 seconds in duration. That was a short time as well.

What is it that you would like to see? Could you add some more detail to your problem?

Kevin


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Hi Kevin & Toddsta -

The Captain's right - the transitions are short for the effect you're after. The other thing is that the "Glare" transition, by nature, is quite abrupt. When its duration is set to 3 seconds, it makes a softer transition.

The other thing Kevin was probably going to say is that the duration of the transition cannot be greater than half the duration of the adjacent clip. The first clip is only 00:00:03:05 (3 seconds & 5 frames) long, so the glare transition can have a maximum duration of about 1.5 seconds.

Cheers - Tony
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Tony,

The other thing Kevin was probably going to say is that the duration of the transition cannot be greater than half the duration of the adjacent clip. The first clip is only 00:00:03:05 (3 seconds & 5 frames) long, so the glare transition can have a maximum duration of about 1.5 seconds.

Thanks for saying it for me I thought about writing it....I really did....the opprtunity doesn't always show itself very often. But it was late....blah blah blah.

Kevin
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Hi guys - I understand what you're saying, however.... I got to tell you - that's a fairly significant limitation IMO. In Premier you have full control over the duration of a transition ..... it's not constrained to "half" a video clip...to not be able to do so really limits creativity in my opinion because there are times (like the sample I provided) when you want a quick video clip...but need a long transition over it.

I just doubled the length of the video clips in PD8.... and the soft wipe to the right STILL occurs as quickly as when it was half the length (the time from the beginning of the word becoming visible to completion of the word being visible)....AND... by lengthening the first video clip.... it becomes too long. You sit and watch it waiting for the Glow to come in, when I want the sparkles followed by a quick glow like the one I posted above - the exception being, I'd prefer to have the soft/right wipe , wipe more s-l-o-w-l-y to reveal the Camaro logo....

I'd have to say Premier is way more flexible in that regard..... ( I would have gotten the latest Premier actually, but then read a LOT of reviews about it having mega crash problems - which is why I thought I'd try another software app)

Not saying I hate this program, I think it has some excellent potential... and I will keep plugging along - hopefully learning more of the intricacies as I go.

I do note that the "help" files are virtually worthless - one sentence vagueness under just about every topic.


Thanks for listening...

Oh... while I'm thinking on this:

Why does the following occur?

If I click my cursor in an 'empty' area of any of the timeline strips, effects will randomly disappear off the main track, or completely rearrange themselves?

AND.... is there a spot where you can have an easy access to a "Fade in" and "Fade out" ? In Adobe Premier, these common functions are always at your disposal with a right-click of the mouse, and by default fade in from black or out to black....which to me is a very typical function you would want to have readily available without digging through a ton of effects. Same goes for volume - Premier has a "fade audio in/ fade audio out" available as a right mouse click. Just thinking out loud here.

Thanks again for your patience with a somewhat frustrated newbie to PD8.

Hi again,

Just so you know....the following message was taken from PD8 Guide to Newbie Members:

Note: On this forum we ask and respond to questions related only to PowerDirector. This is not the place to discuss, compare or comment either unfavourably or favourably a rival company's products.

Just be aware that it isn't advisable to compare two different products. I enjoy helping new members learn how to work with PD8, but it doesn't really accomplish anything when you point out the differences from one program with another. The only thing that it may accomplish is having the post deleted and/or edited.

With that being said.....

If I click my cursor in an 'empty' area of any of the timeline strips, effects will randomly disappear off the main track, or completely rearrange themselves?

I have never experienced this...could you be more specific with details....number of clips, specific effects used..etc. No one could begin to duplicate what you are describing without details. If you provided a screen shot of your timeline, that would prove to be helpful.

AND.... is there a spot where you can have an easy access to a "Fade in" and "Fade out" ?

You can right click on a transition in the Transition room and add it to your favorites. Then when you select "My favorites" from the drop down menu it will be easier to navigate to.

I hope this proves helpful to you.

Kevin
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EDIT: Simultaneous Posting Syndrome, Captain!

Toddsta -

It really won't help you much wishing you had that other software. A rock climbing friend of mine always tells me to "Climb the rock in front of you - not the one in your head." It's pretty good advice & usually helps me get to the top.

To simply fade in and fade out, open the Transition Room and drop a fade at each end of the clip, once you've set a default duration in preferences. The alternative is at select "Add fading transition to all" (if that's what you want).

For audio fades, go to the Audio Mixing Room &, with the scrubber placed where you want, click on the fade in/out button.

Clicking outside elements in any part of the timeline simply unselects everything & takes you out of "Clip" mode and into "Movie" mode. It does not result in effects being lost or rearranged. Try clicking less flamboyantly!

Cheers - Tony
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I wanted to address your other concern as well:

Hi guys - I understand what you're saying, however.... I got to tell you - that's a fairly significant limitation IMO. In XXXXXXX you have full control over the duration of a transition ..... it's not constrained to "half" a video clip...to not be able to do so really limits creativity in my opinion because there are times (like the sample I provided) when you want a quick video clip...but need a long transition over it.

Could you please give a description of a timline that you would like to see. Please include exact durations of the video clips and the exact durations of the transitions you want to use. I am sorry to report that I don't completely understand what the limitations are for you.

Correct me if I am wrong here....it sounds to me like you want a transition to begin when the video clip begins....correct? So if you placed two 4 second video clips next to each other, you want the transition to be 8 seconds long? Power Director can't do that on the timline as far as I know. The maximum transition time would be 4 seconds with that example.

Kevin
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Thank you for your help guys - and my apologies for comparing a competing program..... guess I was a bit frustrated and all I could reference was another program that I was familiar with.

Regarding the transition: Say I had my "Camaro" tiff on a black background, imported as a media file from Photoshop ... and I wanted a relatively *short* segment of that, per the file I uploaded and posted in my earlier post.

Say I also wanted to use the *Wipe Right/soft" transition on the short segment of the Camaro clip - per my earlier attachement....BUT I wanted the Camaro letters to appear to be wiped into appearing from left-to-right as in the clip, except over the FULL duration of that first clip - NOT HALF - as is the default with PD8. That is where my comparison came in with the *other* program, I guess as a way to reference what I was looking for, and knew to be available in the *other* program.

I've been working more with PD8 since my last post, and am catching on to a few things, so I'm just going to keep at it - as suggested - and hopefully draw on the generosity of kind and patient people like you two to rescue me when I can't figure something out...

Thanks guys for your assistance - I sincerely appreciate your help.

Hey Toddsta,

I have 19 month old twins....I know what patience means....The PD forum is what gives me a sense of peace!! Just kidding my kids are a dream come true, and I really do like to help....and I know you can appreciate how hard it is sometimes to visualize what the other person is describing.

What are the Camaro letters exactly? Is it a title? Or a part of the graphic you created? You could get that effect for the letters if you used the Title track...If you created the title "Camaro Letters" then you would have the ability to have it controlled by the Title Designer. The title can then have a "Starting Effect" and an "Ending Effect". You could choose how your title enters into your video...there are tons of choices available. See Screen Shot of the Title Designer Menu. To get to this menu...place a title on the title track....select the title(one click) ....and then select the Modify button that appears on top of the Main Time Line.

Am I helping or confusing you further?

Kevin
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Hi Toddsta -

I'm not too sure from your description, but is this the kind of thing you were after? This is a zipped packed project all done in PD (except the transparency on the logo).

http://www.4shared.com/file/QY-NnhQV/Camaro.html

Cheers - Tony


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Tony,

That was a SWEEEEET example......It was what I was desperately trying to describe with a TITLE track!! Nice Job!

Kevin
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Gee whiz. The attachment seems to have been altered. I've yet to find the limit.

Tony, good sample. I've used it as an attachment.

Kevin - a delight to read, I have been monitoring this thread.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

Dafydd,

I must have missed the memo When was the 100k limit lifted on file uploads?

Is there a new limit?
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Probably about 2 weeks ago by the techs I gave a list to, but I asked it for a Beta forum!

Never mind, I'm not complaining.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

Thanks for the suggestion Kevin - and nice job Tony!!

My only thought is that I really wanted to use the 'chrome' appearing Camaro logo I created in Photoshop..... but that is a great alternative.

I've adjusted the timing a bit on my "Wipe Right/Soft" effect, so I think I'll keep that.... however, I think I will put a visual of the Camaro fading in the background that I have designed a new Graphics Striping kit for.... I'll post it up as I get this first segment re-tweaked. I like what you did with the imagery.

Good suggestions guys - thanks again!!

Toddsta