Repositioning multiple objects on the "stage" (the screen) simultaneously

Scott7268

Newbie Joined: Nov 05, 2018 01:55 Messages: 5 Offline

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Sep 02, 2020 02:50

Sometimes the simplest things in Power Director are the most complicated to figure out.

Here's a hypothetical scenario.

I have four video PIPs (I guess you'd call them) playing simultaneously.
I precisely positioned the four videos in relationship to each other on the screen.

I worked for an hour lining the videos up, spacing the, and placing object on top of them.

Then I discovered that the whole group of videos and objects need to be moved to another location on the screen.

In most applications, one would simply select all of the objects (shift-click or ctrl-click), then drag the selected objects together to the new location. Or one would group the objects (Ctrl-G) then select the group and drag the group as one object.

Aparently NOT THE CASE in Cyberlink Power Director 18.

I can select one clip at a time in the timeline, then drag that clip's video object to another spot on the screen.
I can multi-select clips on timeline and move the clips up and down, left and right on the timeline.
But when I multi-select clips on the timeline, nothing appears selected on the screen.

I can't figure out how to reposition multiple video objects simultaneously.

Please help!

Thanks. Scott


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AshWilliams

Member Location: Michigan Joined: Mar 28, 2013 23:38 Messages: 109 Offline

Sep 02, 2020 03:33

Quote Sometimes the simplest things in Power Director are the most complicated to figure out.

In most applications, one would simply select all of the objects (shift-click or ctrl-click), then drag the selected objects together to the new location. Or one would group the objects (Ctrl-G) then select the group and drag the group as one object.

Aparently NOT THE CASE in Cyberlink Power Director 18.

Yes you can do this in powerdirector 18. Just select all of your videos (hold down Ctrl and select or click and drag in timeline to select them all), and then right click and select "Group/Ungroup Objects".

I also don't have trouble selecting two or more clips and dragging them to a new position together.

Ash

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 02. 2020 03:41

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Sep 02, 2020 14:07

I'm a little unclear as to what you're wanting to do because you imply that you want to move the objects' screen positions but then talk about selecting those clips en masse on the timeline.

Ash's suggestion will work if you're wanting to move the clips to a different part of the timeline, that is to change the time location in your video.

If instead you're looking to change the onscreen location, you'll need to make the changes one by one using the PiP Designer - although there's a very simple and 100% accurate way of doing so.

Open the first clip you want to move and take a look at the Position settings. If you're wanting to move the clip up and to the left (which I assume is what your hand-drawn arrows show), you can either drag the object in the window or type in a smaller X value (to move the object left) and smaller Y value (to move it up).

Either way, once you know the difference between the starting position and the desired location, you can make the same edits on the other clips and simply subtract the same values from their relative positions. While that's not quite as easy as dragging them all at once, it will ensure that they'll retain their exact formation in the new location.

Scott7268

Newbie Joined: Nov 05, 2018 01:55 Messages: 5 Offline

Sep 07, 2020 01:15

Quote I'm a little unclear as to what you're wanting to do because you imply that you want to move the objects' screen positions but then talk about selecting those clips en masse on the timeline.

Ash's suggestion will work if you're wanting to move the clips to a different part of the timeline, that is to change the time location in your video.

If instead you're looking to change the onscreen location, you'll need to make the changes one by one using the PiP Designer - although there's a very simple and 100% accurate way of doing so.

Open the first clip you want to move and take a look at the Position settings. If you're wanting to move the clip up and to the left (which I assume is what your hand-drawn arrows show), you can either drag the object in the window or type in a smaller X value (to move the object left) and smaller Y value (to move it up).

Either way, once you know the difference between the starting position and the desired location, you can make the same edits on the other clips and simply subtract the same values from their relative positions. While that's not quite as easy as dragging them all at once, it will ensure that they'll retain their exact formation in the new location.

Thanks. What you said (above) is exactly what I'm trying to do. I was affraid the solution would be to use the PIP editor and move each thing separately. LOL. But using the position values is a good workaround, although VERY time consuming if you need to move 30 things only a few pixles.

One more related question...
How do you refer to graphic incarnations of clips or pips? Even searching for help on this topic, everything related to clips ends up referring to the timeline. What's the term for the "image" of the clip or pip?

Thank you SO MUCH for helping.

Scott

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Sep 07, 2020 14:24

Quote Thanks. What you said (above) is exactly what I'm trying to do. I was affraid the solution would be to use the PIP editor and move each thing separately. LOL. But using the position values is a good workaround, although VERY time consuming if you need to move 30 things only a few pixles.

If you have any timeline clips that have identical starting screen positions and will have identical screen ending positions, you can instead right-click on a "finished" clip on the timeline and choose Copy Keyframe Attributes, then select one or more identical clips, right-click and use Paste Keyframe Attributes.

Quote One more related question...
How do you refer to graphic incarnations of clips or pips? Even searching for help on this topic, everything related to clips ends up referring to the timeline. What's the term for the "image" of the clip or pip?

I don't think there's a univeral term. I'd use "content" or "screen content/position"