Tricks For Working With Crop Window With Keyframes

Steven Spielberg

Newbie Joined: Mar 21, 2017 22:56 Messages: 22 Offline

Solved by

Mar 28, 2017 22:23

When i work with keyframes when im cropping im bumbling around a lot.

I can select the keyframe i want and it will turn red, or it will select itself and turn red as the video plays over that point.

My problem starts when i want to drag the crop window around. I can only drag it when there are cross hairs. When there are crosshairs i hold down the left mouse button and can then drag it. Unfortunatly the cross hairs appear when i mouse over any of the yellow keyframe nodes on the green path. Sometimes the red active keyframe node will be on top of or virtually on top of a different keyframe node and ill latch onto the wrong one and mess that one up when i drag it.

So i guess my question is can i select the active node on the path and drag it some other way? When i have selected the right one it can be really cumbersome getting it exactly where i want it with a mouse. Is there a way to make the crop window moveable by just using my arow keys as i can do with text in title room after ive activated it by clicking where theres a crosshair?

I know theres a lot of keyframes in the screenshot, i guess it would be a good answer to suggest i just stabilise it rather than trying to chase it around with keyframes, but im doing a little zooming to go with the chasing.

Any poweruser tips on cropping are appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

http://imgur.com/a/aMXNB


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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 28. 2017 22:25

"I love editing. It's one of my favorite parts about filmmaking" - Steven Spielberg

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Mar 29, 2017 03:21

Hi Mr Spielberg -

I seriously hope you're not attempting to smooth out the action of a washing machine! That would be a nightmare! It does kinda look like it from your keyframes.

If that's the case, the aim would be to keep a particlar point (say the centre of the drum) at the same point on the screen. Is that what you're trying to do?

Cheers - Tony
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Steven Spielberg

Newbie Joined: Mar 21, 2017 22:56 Messages: 22 Offline

Mar 29, 2017 03:45

Quote Hi Mr Spielberg -

I seriously hope you're not attempting to smooth out the action of a washing machine! That would be a nightmare! It does kinda look like it from your keyframes.

If that's the case, the aim would be to keep a particlar point (say the centre of the drum) at the same point on the screen. Is that what you're trying to do?

Cheers - Tony

Ha! The washing machine is nice and still, its me handholding the camera and and moving it to show my feet and too much laundry that needs the crop work. I was pretty much doing a lot of what you suggest, centering it on the centre of the machine but not always, i move the camera bit at the really exciting part when i turn it on and look inside. You cant add enough keyframes to seriously make something butter smooth this way, and even the amount i have already is really frustrating with the problem i decribed - grabbing the points i dont want when trying to drag and drop the crop frame. I appreciate your reply, if you dont have any secret ways to move the crop frame around then I'll just do my best and move on and remember to look through the garage for a tripod one day.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 29. 2017 03:47

"I love editing. It's one of my favorite parts about filmmaking" - Steven Spielberg

Hicham_B

Senior Contributor Joined: Jun 09, 2015 04:02 Messages: 1347 Offline

Mar 29, 2017 11:53

Hi Mr. Steven Spielberg,

Welcome to our forum, I'm very glad to have you here.I have one suggestion for your problem: Have you tried to work with keyframes in our PiP Designer? I think it can help you, just double click on your clip/photo in the timeline, the PiP Designer will start. In the bottom, you will see many tracks (Position, Scale, Opacity...). There you can set your keyframes.

On the other side (left) you will see "Motion": There you can select a path for the motion you want to simulate. You can also customize it as you like.Please try this and let us know your results.

Best regards
Hicham Technical support:
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Steven Spielberg

Newbie Joined: Mar 21, 2017 22:56 Messages: 22 Offline

Mar 30, 2017 01:09

Quote Hi Mr. Steven Spielberg,

Welcome to our forum, I'm very glad to have you here.I have one suggestion for your problem: Have you tried to work with keyframes in our PiP Designer? I think it can help you, just double click on your clip/photo in the timeline, the PiP Designer will start. In the bottom, you will see many tracks (Position, Scale, Opacity...). There you can set your keyframes.

On the other side (left) you will see "Motion": There you can select a path for the motion you want to simulate. You can also customize it as you like.Please try this and let us know your results.

Best regards
Hicham

Thankyou for your warm welcome and reply. Im exploring PiP designer now at your suggestion.

I am presently throwing down some keyframes and seeing how i go about building a custom path.

wI see that instead of dragging a frame around as i would in regular cropping where the frame follows the path, With PiP Designer im making the video follow a path and later on ill trim off the edges with a regular style crop to remove the void.

I;m struggling to make it go where i want it to so far need to fiddle more and work out how it works, ill check back in with how im failing or succeeding

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 30. 2017 01:10

"I love editing. It's one of my favorite parts about filmmaking" - Steven Spielberg

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Mar 30, 2017 03:58

I know it doesn't help now, but I use a setup similar to this when doing overhead shots. Usually I just wrap the legs of the gorilla pod around something in the room, but it depends on the circumstance.

I've never filmed a washing machine, but I do film Grandson #1 doing Paper Planes "tutorials". Same idea with the overhead camera.

He's learning basic editing & has never had to venture into the Crop module.

Cheers - Tony
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