From Camcorder to DVD with Video Studio - Editing Phase.

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Colour Correction

There are two methods of making colour correction to your video.
Method One affects the entire clip and enables you to make alterations to
Hue
Saturation
Brightness
Contrast
Gamma.

This is achieved by clicking the Color correction button on the edit tab



Then moving the sliders shown in the screenshot below and the result can be seen instantly in your preview window.



Alternatively, if you do not want to make the correction to the whole of the clip but to part of it, or if you wish to vary the correction with the use of keyframes, then select the various Video Filters instead.

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Transitions

Newcomers to video editing often make one very large mistake - they go overboard with the wide array of transitions that are available and are always hungry for more. There have been many posts in this forum requesting details of where more can be obtained from.

If you want more there are plenty available:
The most popular are the FREE Burger Transitions provided by our very own forum member Stefan Burger
Then there are more that can be imported from other Ulead Products
MF5/ VS9 /VS10: Share Menus, Transitions between products
and even more that can be purchased:
Ulead Partner Products

Before we delve into this topic spend a few moments thinking about the following:
1. How many fancy transitions do you see in a Hollywood blockbuster film?
2. Will the use of the various transitions enhance your video or will they be so over powering that they distract the viewer from the actual video itself?

I find that plenty of transition effects can liven up a still image slideshow but when dealing with a video it is generally better to stick to simple straight cuts or crossfades. Use a transition that is appropriate for the purpose.

For example: I took some film of a building which had a statue on its roof. To draw attention to the statue I used a box transition from the stretch category to give the effect of zooming into the item. Another example was a Fun Run. To speed the video along I used a slide wipe transition to give the effect of moving further along the course.

Sometimes you get a bit of 'bad video' that needs to be cut out but the joining together of the two ends leaves a sort of jerky effect because the camcorder was pointing at a slightly different spot. Here a Black and White Flash found in the Burger collection gives a natural touch as though the sun had caught the camera lens whilst panning.

Another item overlooked by newcomers to videoediting is that when you insert a transition your video gets smaller. This is especially important to know if you are going to add another audio track to your video - suddenly the audio is longer than the video. To explain the reason for this let us step back in time.

Before the days of computers and digital camcorders, video was shot on film. Film is a series of still images - in the PAL TV system 25 pictures per second, NTSC just under 30. These pictures when played back, pass before your eyes so quickly that you do not have time to see each individual picture but instead appear to be moving.

Video Editors would get these large reels of film and with a pair of scissors
(actually they used a splicing block) would cut the film up into smaller strips each representing a scene. The Video Editors would then join these strips back together again having re-arranged or discarded some of these scenes. To join the film together they had to overlap the ends of the film strips and glue them together with film cement.

These overlapping areas are termed transitions - where one scene ends and another starts. Joining film in this way caused a natural transition termed a crossfade - this is where the viewer can see a bit of the old outgoing scene but at the same time a bit of the new incoming scene.

With the arrival of computer assisted video editing - software developers were able to create fancy effects to replace these natural crossfades and we now have all sorts of things like wipes, clock spirals, explosions and simply hundreds perhaps thousands of transitions to choose from.

The easiest way to create a transition is to use the storyboard view:



You then simply drag a transition from the library between the two clips that you wish to join together with a transition. This can be seen in the following screenshot:



If you do not insert a transition then you have what is termed a straight cut. The outgoing scene is immediately replaced by the next scene.

You can alter the duration of the transition in the duration box
(VS10+)


(VS9)


Many (but not all) of the transitions are also customizable.


Here we can see that with the 'Fly-FX' transition we can choose which way we want to 'fly' plus include a border, soft edge and border width.

The main rule to remember is Don't Go Overboard With Them.

Make Your Own Transitions
Please view this tutorial relating to making your own mask Transitions:
http://www.ulead.com/learning/vs/vs9_10_1.htm

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Decoration

In the library you will find several pictures in the folder
Decoration | Object.

These images are on a transparent background. If you open the one of the ship D06 with Photoimpact you can see the following:


What previously appeared to be a white background can now be seen to be transparent. This should assist you to create your own decorative pictures.

I shall now start a new project and drag the sample video V09 to the timeline. This is the short video clip of a seaside view



Now drag the decoration object D06 to the overlay track somewhere near the middle of the video.



You can alter the shape of the ship with the 'trim handles' - those small yellow blocks you can see around the picture



We will now bring this ship to life and make it move across our screen!
Firstly drag it to the bottom right so that the ship appears to be sitting on the sea, for best effect you may wish to move the ship slightly OFF the edge of the picture.



NOTE: The square outline on top of the video is the TV Safe Area. Here are a few links describing the TV Safe Area:
Link One
Link Two
Link Three

Now look at the attribute tab and you will see the following:



These boxes determine how your object will enter and leave the video.

Choose to enter from the right and exit from the left



If you now select [Project] [Play] you will see your ship sail across the screen! now isn't that cool



hmmm.... perhaps I should have demonstrated left to right

Our next item will require that we create a second overlay track.
Overlay tracks will be dealt with in more detail later

Click the overlay track manager


Then ad an extra overlay track by clicking the box for overlay track#2 so that it now has a tick mark.


What I now propose to show is how objects are stacked on the timeline.
In other words if one object passes another, one will be in front.

Now drag the sample video V14 - the girl with the camera - onto the new overlay track. Position the girl as shown in this screen shot:



VideoStudio 11+ Users have a new option that enables them to display all of the overlay tracks at once to make editing easier.



I am now going to introduce you to another function - Chroma Key.
This is popularly known as the "Weatherman Effect." I think it is probably well known now that the TV Weatherman stands in front of a solid background - normally green or blue - and the Weather maps that appear to be behind the Weatherman are the result of 'trick photography.'

In fact this IS that trick photography - the solid background becomes transparent and the weatherman is superimposed on top of those weather maps.

Click the [Mask & Chroma Key Button]


Watch what happens when we tick the [Apply Overlay options] box



WOwww....



The program automatically chose the green background for us though we can of course override that choice if we wish.

Lets not get off the purpose of this exercise - I am demonstrating the layer effect. Play the video and watch how the ship passes behind the girl.



This is because the higher the overlay number the more towards the front the object appears. Overlay Track #6 will be at the very front, overlay track #1 will be at the back - (but in front of the main video track.)

Swap the two overlay tracks over and play the video again. This time the Ship will pass in front of the girl.



Spins and Fades.

Did you notice the 4 buttons below the arrows for entry / exit ?



These buttons cause the selected overlay object to spin (1 & 4)
and/or fade in/out ( 2 & 3) try clicking them and playing the video to see what happens.

Overlay Frames

The other item in the Library Decoration folder is frames.
Here I have inserted yet another overlay track and then placed the frame depicting some goggles F01 onto it. The result speaks for itself.

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Flash Animation

A flash animation will add some spice to some of your scenes. You treat them as you would short videos complete with a transparent background.

These are similar to the videos shot on a solid background where you use the chroma key option to get rid of that solid background. The difference is that the flash animations are graphics that have been created with computer software such as PhotoImpact or Photoshop and then turned into animations.

You can obtain animations from the internet or create your own compositions in shockwave flash format. You can create Flash Animations using GIF animator and other software.

You could in fact create your own cartoon entirely made up from characters and objects that were created rather than filmed.

To insert a flash object into your video, treat it as a piece of video. Drag it onto an overlay track, position and resize it as required. Animations that exist on your hard drive can be imported into the Library manager or you can use the 'Insert Video' commands:

File | Insert Media File To Timeline | Insert Video.

You can alter the playback speed of an animation by right clicking the animation and selecting 'playback speed.'
You can also adjust the transparency using the chroma key options.

In this example you can see that I have dragged the sample flash animation of a heart onto overlay track 1. The area outside the heart is automatically made invisible (transparent) I have then used the overlay options to reduce the heart shape to a 50% transparency and also time stretched it by changing the playback speed to 50%



This 18 second video will help demonstrate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OndqetjCqlc

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Overlay Tracks

If you have not already done so please view the article a little earlier in this thread Decoration
I have already in that article explained how to create the additional overlay tracks
With the overlay track manager.

You are also advised to view this short video demonstration:
Multi Track Editing

Other items included within that article include use of the chroma key function
Use of Decorative objects, The TV safe area, How higher numbered tracks appear in front of lower numbered tracks.

What I now propose to do is look at the use of overlay tracks in a bit more depth.

Limitations of the overlay track

1. You cannot cut a clip in two in the overlay track with versions of VideoStudio earlier than 11+
2. You cannot add transitions between two adjacent clips in the overlay track
3. You cannot make a transition from the video track to the overlay track or vice versa.

No need to fret over these limitations, like everything else, the Users of this forum have found various work rounds for most things.

Firstly we have this link
VS10 PLUS :Cross-Fade Transition in Video Overlay Tracks
This contains a power point style animated tutorial by Vidoman.

Then we have another method here:
Project Files in the Overlay Track by blplhp

We also have a few practical examples here:
VideoStudio Smart Compositions

Another example of using the overlay tracks is again provided by blplhp here:
Procedures for a Split Screen Effect in VS10+

Similar to this rguthrie has provided us with VS9: How to create a split-screen effect

Another variation is my own tutorial VS 9: Moving Path Tutorial

Another important use of the overlay tracks is lower thirds ¡V extensively used by TV News Stations to provide scrolling story lines in the bottom part of the video. Vidoman has written a suite of PowerPoint style animated presentations here:
PI, Cool3D PS, VS10 +: Creating Lower Thirds

There are two main methods of using the overlay track to display your video. There is hardly any difference in how we create these effects.
In fact all we do differently is to either use a video on the video track to achieve a PIP or alternatively use a colour clip (normally black) on the video track to achieve a split screen.

1. Picture in Picture (PIP)
These are often seen in sports videos where you get a close up of a piece of the action, or a view from another angle. You could use this method to display a map in a corner of the screen, or you could be using it for a close up or instant replay.

Here is an example of a picture in picture


To see how I created this circular PIP please view:
Creating a circular PIP with clock transition

The above example is a bit complex because I have inserted a transition and also made the PIP circular. Normally you would simply insert a video onto an overlay track and accept the default oblong shape. You can choose to have the PIP with or without a border.





2. Split screen.
This is a popular effect seen in programs like "24" with Kiefer Sutherland who plays Jack Bauer. Again you can do this with or without a border





For an interesting variation to the above, rather than a solid black background on the video track you could instead use a still image.
In this example I created a picture of the corner of a room and then placed a video on the left of the screen and a slide show on the right of the screen. to complete the effect I placed an image across the bottom of the screen depicting the back of a settee facing the wall.

I used the distort feature to make the two screens appear to be projections onto the two walls forming the corner of the 'room.'


(You can view this video on You Tube)

I will now describe how to do the above distorted split screen as it will describe how to use overlay tracks.

First step is to open up a few more overlay tracks using the overlay track manager:

Now add the required number of overlay tracks for your project by ticking the box(es) in the left hand column


When you drag a video onto an overlay track the videos are stacked one on top of another, like stacking books on top of each other on a table.


In the same way that only the book at the top of the pile is visible, unless of course it is smaller than those below in which case you would be able to see the uncovered part(s), the same applies to the videos on your video tracks.

Therefore if you decide to use overlay videos that move across the screen

the video on the highest numbered overlay track will pass in front of those on lower numbered overlay tracks.

When you drag a video onto an overlay track it is by default set to 1/4 the size of the preview screen and also in the centre.


Move your mouse over the image in the preview screen then hold down your left mouse button and you can drag the image about the screen.
Here I have moved the image to the top left corner


You will now see that by dragging further copies of that clip down onto the next 3 overlay tracks, I can drag them into the other 3 corners of the screen

In versions of VideoStudio prior to 11+ Not all of the overlay tracks may be visible and so you have to use the scroll bar at the right hand edge of the timeline.



VideoStudio 11+ Users have an option that enables them to display all of the overlay tracks at once to make editing easier.



To select a clip to work with you must click the clip. You will see the currently selected clip is outlined on the preview window


You will see that the currently selected clip has 8 yellow boxes, These are termed resize handles.



Grab a handle by moving your mouse pointer over one of the yellow boxes and then holding down your left mouse button you can drag the handle. When you let go your clip will be made larger or small as desired.




You can distort the image by dragging the distort handles located in the 4 corners of the clip






Fade in/out

Compare these two images:
|
and you will notice that the overlay on the left suddenly appears/disappears but the one on the right fades in/out
This is because with the one on the right on the attribute tab I have clicked the fade in/out buttons (2 & 3 in the below screen shot)



Buttons 1 & 4 will cause an overlay to spin in/out



For a more detailed explanation concerning this effect please view
Using a Cross-Fade Transition in an Overlay Video Track

Enter the screen / pause / exit

You will also note the direction buttons that control how a clip will enter / leave; here is an example of something coming in from the top left corner and leaving at the bottom right corner



You will see that there are 3 phases, Enter, Pause and Exit.
You alter the duration of each phrase by moving the trim handles below the preview screen.



Anchor the video 'oxo' style

You can quickly position your overlay clip in one of 9 OXO style positions by right clicking it on the preview screen



Grid lines
You can also display grid lines on the preview screen to enable you to position your overlay clips more accurately.



You can alter the number of grid lines by clicking the grid line options button.



Notice that we you right click the overlay video on the preview screen you get further options to quickly resize your clip to fit the screen, return it to the original size, reset a distorted clip etc.



Safe area

When you view your video on a computer screen you will see all of the Video just as you created it. However Television screens will crop of the borders of the video due to the way televisions work. To make sure that you do not lose the tops of peoples heads, or to prevent your text falling off he edges of the screen, you must observe the TV safe area.



Trimming Overlay clips

With VideoStudio 11+ You can trim a clip in the Overlay Track like the way you trim a clip in the Video Track. To cut clips in the Video and Overlay Tracks all at once, select Project as the Play mode and then drag the slider to the part you want to cut. Click the scissors button.



Zoom in for greater accuracy by right clicking the timeline ruler and selecting one of the options available. This will enable you to get all of the overlay track clips exactly the same length so that they will appear/disappear as a group.



You then remove the unwanted portion by selecting it with your mouse and pressing the [Delete] key.







With Earlier versions of VideoStudio you cannot cut clips on an overlay track and so you must first place them one the video track, make the cut, delete the unwanted bit then drag the part you wish to retain into position on your overlay.

To give the effect of a group of overlay tracks appearing/disappearing together, the easiest way to do this is to place your first overlay clip on the video track and trim as required. Drag it down to the first overlay track and now use that as a guide for trimming the other clips which must now be placed, one at a time, onto the video track, cut and then dragged into position.

[sjj1805]

Multi Camera Editing

Multi Camera Editing isn't as difficult as you might imagine.
All you need to remember is the trick is in the sound. Your eyes can be fooled but your ears can't. Very often we do not see what is really there.

Read this

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

When you create a Video where you cut from one camera to another and back again filming the same event, providing you retain the sound track of just the original video, the whole thing appears natural. There are times when you cannot do this such as cutting to a close up of someone speaking. Here you must ensure that you do not suffer from lip synch problems. Shots from a reasonable distance away will not noticeably show up any slight synchronisation problems.

If you intend to do close up cuts, such as an interview between two people and you will be cutting back and forth from one to the other, it is a good idea to plan in advance. One suggestion I have heard is to use the flash from a camera as a synchronisation cue. You could also do something like
Bang a metal dustbin - something that you can later delete but use as a cue mark for the two (or more) camcorders.

I am now going to demonstrate with two short video clips that unless you are doing a close up of an interview then it is reasonably easy to get things to line up.

The first video clip will show 4 screens simultaneously. This clip is taken from a Charity Fund Raising event some 2 years ago. My youngest son borrowed my camcorder and filmed the two men in this video on 3 separate weekends.

One of the screens is the Original Laurel and Hardy, whilst each of the other 3 screens is a different view of these 2 men performing that same act. Each one of those screens was taken from a different weekend. What greater challenge to demonstrate this point?
Member Sample Video: Multi Camera Laurel & Hardy

If that wasn't enough then my second example is of a street parade in Worcester, England. I filmed this parade from the same spot and on playback it seemed to go on a bit. Rather than chop a lot of it away I decided to try an experiment. I cut the parade clip into two sections and applied a dual screen effect. I retained just the one sound track. Even I have to look closely to work out which of the two screens has its own soundtrack.

Further multi screen Example

When doing an effect of this nature, if you can't get it 'just right' then you can employ the old trick of mixing in or replacing the sound with some music, or do a short voice over like those annoying TV presenters do at the end of a program when the credits come up.

Let us now look at a more traditional multi camera project where we simply want to cut from one camera to the other and then back again, perhaps several times during an interview, like watching a TV program or debate.

From the above you can see that the best way to handle sound is to simply keep one sound track and discard the other. Now we need to examine how to do those cuts from one to the other.

Let us name our two videos
Video A - the main video - the one with the sound.
Video B - the cut video - the one where we cut to the other person/event and later cut back to Video A.

VideoStudio 11+ users can now cut clips on overlay tracks and so for those users this is simplicity in itself. Just place Video A on the Video track, Place Video B on the overlay track, align them so that they are in synchronisation with each other. Now simply cut away bits of Video B where you want to see Video A. Any remaining bits of the Video B will take precedence and will hide Video A.

Let us take as an example the following time line


let us suppose that we want to watch the video on the video track but cut away to the overlay track where we can see the numbers 4 and 2.
With VideoStudio 11+ you simply take the scissors, make your cuts and delete the unwanted bits





That solution is however not possible for users of earlier versions, particularly version 9 which only has one overlay track. It is also not possible for users of the standard versions of VideoStudio 10 and 11.

The answer is again fairly simple. We must reverse the layout of the videos and place Video A on the overlay and place Video B on the video track.



Next make your cuts to Video B which is now on the Video Track rather than the overlay track - Only make the cuts do NOT delete the clips, otherwise everything will move to the left. You cannot have gaps on the video track.



Next you have to remove Video A from the overlay track
(If you have VideoStudio 10+ simply nudge it down to the next overlay track)





Next you must start from the RIGHT hand side of the timeline to prevent any removed clips from causing material to the right from moving in to close the gap.

First we delete the unwanted right hand section


Next we drag down the section we wish to keep


Remove the next unwanted section


Then again drag the next one down


Remove the next unwanted section


Finally we place Video A onto the Video Track


There we have it - our multi camera video where we cut from one to the other and back again. You can do this with more than 2 cameras but obviously it will take a bit more work, time and effort.

I wrote another previous article on multi camera editing Here

[sjj1805]

Topic Placeholder Titles

link for future use
http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?p=76037#76037
http://www.explorecommerce.com/members/ ... sp?ID=9916

[sjj1805]

Record Voice

........
On my system, which has onboard Realtek audio, I have a "speaker" icon in my system tray. I can click on that, or go to "Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices" then click on the "Advanced" button which brings up the "Master Volume" window. Click on "Options > Properties" which will bring up the "Properties" window. Check the "Recording" radio button and in the large box you should see "Stereo Mix" , "Microphone" and "CD Player". (maybe even some others, depending on your system)

You can check all of these, but certainly at least the "Microphone" box. When you click the "OK" button, you are returned to the "Recording Control" window. In that, make sure that the select box for "Microphone" is checked, and that the slider is all the way up. On my Realtek audio, there is an additional "Advanced" button under the Microphone settings. Clicking on that gives access to a "microphone boost" button which might just help.

If all the relevant volume sliders described above are already maxed out, you could be out of luck...

P.S. all of the above would have been much simpler with captured screenshots of the various windows, but I have yet to find a way of including those without linking to image hosting sites, which is a bit too clunky for quick replies.

Here is a copy of the above procedure with screen shots




Topic Placeholder Import from Audio CD

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Topic Placeholder Smartsound

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Topic Placeholder Playback Speed

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Topic Placeholder Audio filter

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Topic PlaceholderAudio View

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Topic Placeholder Enable/disable 5.1

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Topic Placeholder Create Video file

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Topic Placeholder Create Sound file