Quote I have a clip where the scene has a pole in it which reaches completly from the bottom of the screen to the top of it and I'm shooting video as I pass by this pole. What I want to do is to have the scene behind the pole to be totally different than the scene in front of the pole. It's to be used as a transition. In Premiere Pro, which I used to use, it is called a walkby transition. I'm still new to Power Director Suite 6, after using Premiere Pro since 2003. Most things are relatively similar, but some are not.

Here are the steps I've taken so far.

I trimmed a clip and took it into the timeline of Power Director. I selected it, and clicked on Fix/Enhance, then clicked on color Director at the top of the screen. I used the selection mask tool to mask out the portion where I want the new scene to appear, in each of the frames of the clip where the pole appears. This was done until the pole is no longer appearing.

So, I now have all of these masks created on this clip, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do from this point. I know I have to eventually hit the "back" button to go back into Power Director, but is there something else which needs to be done before I do that? And,then what is my next step?

Hello Terry,

"I now have all of these masks created on this clip" so each image has the mask? Then safe the clip in "production" to the codex you need. Then import that clip into PD and set it in the timeline to continue in the PIP and chroma key effect needed to see the other clip coming in.

If it does not happen, send .jpg of your timeline in the thread but I will not be able to answer until Sunday.

Success.

Alain II

Quote

Quote I have a clip where the scene has a pole in it which reaches completly from the bottom of the screen to the top of it and I'm shooting video as I pass by this pole. What I want to do is to have the scene behind the pole to be totally different than the scene in front of the pole. It's to be used as a transition. In Premiere Pro, which I used to use, it is called a walkby transition. I'm still new to Power Director Suite 6, after using Premiere Pro since 2003. Most things are relatively similar, but some are not.

Here are the steps I've taken so far.

I trimmed a clip and took it into the timeline of Power Director. I selected it, and clicked on Fix/Enhance, then clicked on color Director at the top of the screen. I used the selection mask tool to mask out the portion where I want the new scene to appear, in each of the frames of the clip where the pole appears. This was done until the pole is no longer appearing.

So, I now have all of these masks created on this clip, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do from this point. I know I have to eventually hit the "back" button to go back into Power Director, but is there something else which needs to be done before I do that? And,then what is my next step?

Hello Terry,

"I now have all of these masks created on this clip" so each image has the mask? Then safe the clip in "production" to the codex you need. Then import that clip into PD and set it in the timeline to continue in the PIP and chroma key effect needed to see the other clip coming in.

If it does not happen, send .jpg of your timeline in the thread but I will not be able to answer until Sunday.

Success.

Alain II

Hello Alain II,

I appreciate you taking the time to help me learn how to do this function in Director Suite 6.

These images will show you the steps I took. I'm obviously missing a step, or several, somewhere, and don't even know where it would be. I'm not doing a PIP, but instead, going from one scene to another, and using the post as the transition spot.

I took 15 images and sent them to my "one drive" account. I didn't take screen shots of every single frame I masked out. I didn't think that would be necessary. You can access all of the images with this link.

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AmHduC3Qb538iZ5I4MUBz3QrWQq-OA Complexity is primarily an illusion. It disappears with Knowledge.

You have a mask in ColorDirector. But not in PowerDirector. To get a mask in ColorDirector, you need something, that can be "chroma keyed". To achieve that:
Go to ColorDirector. For the created mask:

1. Exposure to lowest value (-4.00)


2. Brightness to lowest value (-100)


3. Contrast to highest Value (+100)


4. Clarity to lowest value (-100)


5. Lightness: All colors to lowest value (-100)

Now, your masked area appears completely black. It is not! But the colors are so near by black, that you should not see the difference.

Select "Color Replacement" and select with the pipette the black color of your mask. Choose a color, that is not in the clip as the replacement color. Usually it is green (for greenscreen) or blue (for bluescreen).
Your mask should appear in that solid color now. It is not the choosen color (because it is not really black), but it is solid.

Go back to PowerDirector (or produce the clip in ColorDirector and import it to PowerDirector)
In PowerDirector:

1. Add the clip to the timeline on a higher track than the video clip, that shall be shown after the transition.


2. For the masked clip goto PiP-Designer, choose "Chroma Key" and select with the pipette the solid color of your masked clip.

Voila!

Hatti Win 10 64, i7-4790k, 32GB Ram, 256 GB SSD, SATA 2TB, SATA 4TB, NVidia GTX1080 8GB, LG 34" 4K Wide, AOC 24" 1080

Quote You have a mask in ColorDirector. But not in PowerDirector. To get a mask in ColorDirector, you need something, that can be "chroma keyed". To achieve that:
Go to ColorDirector. For the created mask:

1. Exposure to lowest value (-4.00)


2. Brightness to lowest value (-100)


3. Contrast to highest Value (+100)


4. Clarity to lowest value (-100)


5. Lightness: All colors to lowest value (-100)

Now, your masked area appears completely black. It is not! But the colors are so near by black, that you should not see the difference.

Select "Color Replacement" and select with the pipette the black color of your mask. Choose a color, that is not in the clip as the replacement color. Usually it is green (for greenscreen) or blue (for bluescreen).
Your mask should appear in that solid color now. It is not the choosen color (because it is not really black), but it is solid.

Go back to PowerDirector (or produce the clip in ColorDirector and import it to PowerDirector)
In PowerDirector:

1. Add the clip to the timeline on a higher track than the video clip, that shall be shown after the transition.


2. For the masked clip goto PiP-Designer, choose "Chroma Key" and select with the pipette the solid color of your masked clip.

Voila!

Hatti

Hello Terry and Hatti,

Exactly as Hatti explains here. I feared yesterday already that the masks would not be "worked out". As for Premiere and all other editors or compositing software, the procedure is nearly the same to get a "transparency".

We have not seen the footage and just some pictures but according to what I see and can judge, that effect would work more effectively with a subject passing through from one side to the other quite fast. So, compositing the scene. But again, difficult to judge here.

Voilà, voilà : Bien fait Hatti (well done H.). :

Alain II

PS. I prefer to save the masks in CDR6 through the production procedure in a file for further usage than to send back to PD but that a question of personal choice. Although it's handy to be able to send back and forward between the two progs for further "calibration".

Quote You have a mask in ColorDirector. But not in PowerDirector. To get a mask in ColorDirector, you need something, that can be "chroma keyed". To achieve that:
Go to ColorDirector. For the created mask:

1. Exposure to lowest value (-4.00)


2. Brightness to lowest value (-100)


3. Contrast to highest Value (+100)


4. Clarity to lowest value (-100)


5. Lightness: All colors to lowest value (-100)

Now, your masked area appears completely black. It is not! But the colors are so near by black, that you should not see the difference.

Select "Color Replacement" and select with the pipette the black color of your mask. Choose a color, that is not in the clip as the replacement color. Usually it is green (for greenscreen) or blue (for bluescreen).
Your mask should appear in that solid color now. It is not the choosen color (because it is not really black), but it is solid.

Go back to PowerDirector (or produce the clip in ColorDirector and import it to PowerDirector)
In PowerDirector:

1. Add the clip to the timeline on a higher track than the video clip, that shall be shown after the transition.


2. For the masked clip goto PiP-Designer, choose "Chroma Key" and select with the pipette the solid color of your masked clip.

Voila!

Hatti

Thank you Hatti, and Alain II

I do have a bit of a learning curve to deal with. I've worked with Adobe Premiere since 1992 and Premiere Pro since 2003, and I was pretty certain I didn't have any masks when I got back into Power Director, but had no idea how to get them there. I also knew that the color White "reveals" and that black "conceals", so I couldn't understand why Power Director gives you only red and blue choices for masks, when by themselves, don't really mask anything.

It took me about an hour to follow your instructions. Not your fault, but mine. I don't know the terminology in Director Suite 6 very well yet. I had to figure out what a "Pipette" is, and learn that you don't get into the PiP-Designer through the PiP room. Then there is the matter of the dominant clip position on the timeline. Most other editors have the dominant one on the top layer versus the bottom layer. Even how to find the pipette after choosing Chroma Key in the designer took some time.

The reason I chose Director Suite 6 is that there are so many things I do which are faster with this software than in Adobe Premiere. That isn't the case with this walkby procedure I'm doing, which is considerably more complex in PD than in Adobe, but it's just a matter of getting used to it. Thanks very much guys


But, you guys did it, and I thank you all very much. Complexity is primarily an illusion. It disappears with Knowledge.