Hi Kmot,

The crop window in Video Crop (for video), or Magic Motion (for images), is fixed at either 16:9 or 4:3.
There is no option in VC or MM, that is similar to the Freeform option that's available in PIP Designer.

So yes, join us and ask and send in another request to CL, to add the same Freeform option that’s available in PIP Designer, to the VC and MM modules.
As well as requesting that both the VC and MM User Defined crop windows, open at an “exact” full screen default size that can then be modified by the user (so that there aren’t any jumps or pixel shifts from Split to Split).


Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips

Thanks for the info Cranston.

Where exactly, do I access the 'request' forms. ~Tom~

Hi Tom -

I don't know that there are any request forms!

Even though Video Crop is locked into the aspect ratio of the project, there are other ways around what you're after.

If you planned to crop to a different ratio, was your intention to have other clips or images on the screen or just black spaces?

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

If you didn't want the crop to be the same as the project, just add that clip as PIP and then have freeform crop. Intel i7 4770k, 16GB, GTX1060 3GB, Two 240GB SSD, 4TB HD, Sony HDR-TD20V 3D camcorder, Sony SLT-A65VK for still images, Windows 10 Pro, 64bit
Gary Russell -- TN USA

Thanks guys. What I wanted to do in the most recent case is zoom in on a face, and stay zoomed in as the face moves around in the scene. But with the fixed ratio crop frame I cannot.

I would like to be able to make the frame a certain size, and then drag it to where I want it. Just like cropping a photo in a popular photo editing software. ~Tom~

Quote: If you didn't want the crop to be the same as the project, just add that clip as PIP and then have freeform crop.

I will give that a look. Thanks! ~Tom~

Tom -

So - the face in question is moving around the screen & you'd like to crop out (or hide) the rest of the video? Yes?

So - the rest of the screen will be black? Yes?

I can see that working - if I understand you correctly... but -yes - if the AR wasn't locked, it'd simplify things.

Cheers - Tony

Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Hi Tony,

I do not want "the rest of the screen to be black". No, I want the entire screen to just be the face, zoomed in. I do not want black areas to be in the screen as well.

What I would like, is if I could set keyframes as needed, to always stay zoomed in on the face, filling the screen.

As it is, with the fixed ratio frame, if it goes off the edge of the screen it creates that black area.

If I could manipulate the crop frame 'free form', I could make it any shape needed (square, rectangle of course) to keep the image filling the screen without getting into the blackness.

Imagine if you will, taking a time lapse series of still images 1/10th second apart. You have 100 images. In your photo editor you zoom in on the face, and set the size of the crop to say, 640x480. Now you crop every photo at the same size, 640x480 while zooming in on the moving object (face). You then import the photos into PD and make a motion video of it.

This is what I am imagining doing similar with Video Crop. Only doing it to a video and not still images via time lapse.

I still have yet to look at the PiP thing. ~Tom~

To fill the screen, you would need a fixed aspect ratio that is the same as the project. If you change the crop ratio, then the video editor has to fill in the blank areas with black. You can't change the aspect ratio of the project in the middle of it.

Also the amount of crop could drastically affect quality. Intel i7 4770k, 16GB, GTX1060 3GB, Two 240GB SSD, 4TB HD, Sony HDR-TD20V 3D camcorder, Sony SLT-A65VK for still images, Windows 10 Pro, 64bit
Gary Russell -- TN USA

I tried the PiP mask and it won't work because it does not have a way to set keyframes so that the movement can be followed.

So it seems this is a hopeless task. Perhaps Cyberlink will in the future make a modification to the Video Crop to enhance its capabilities. ~Tom~