Adding Video Clips to an Existing Share project file

[blplhp]

Not sure if I should post such a long "lessons learned" message, but if it helps someone else, then it's well worth it. I would appreciate any comments as well. So here goes:

I learned an interesting thing last night while playing around with VS10+. I have two DV tapes from a previous vacation. The first DV tape (or “Part I”) had 60 minutes of video footage. The second DV tape (or Part II) had 20 minutes of video footage. I transferred the video from the first DV tape into the VS10+ editor, made a movie file, set up a main menu and chapter menu with nine chapter points and burned a DVD movie disc. The reason I did not initially transfer the second DV Tape into VS10+, and include it in the original edited video file, was because I thought that one DVD movie disc would only hold up to 60 minutes of a mpeg2 movie file, including all of the authoring information. Only after I burned the DVD movie disc did I realize that the burned disc size was only 3.17 GB. I had about 1.1 GB of free space available. So then I thought, I should be able to add the second DV Tape (Part II) to this same Share|Create Disc project file and get the whole vacation on one disc. But then I realized, I included the “ending rolling credits” and the “fade-to-black ending color clip” at the end of the Part I video file. If I add the Part II video file to this same project file, it won’t look right having the Part II video file play after the rolling credits and fade-to-black ending color clip from the Part I video file.

So I opened up my original Share|Create Disc vsp file with the Part I video file in it, which included all of my customized settings for the main menu and the chapter menu. I selected the Part I video file, and using the Accutrim window and navigation controls, advanced the Part I video file to the first frame of the “ending section” and then clicked the cut button (scissors). Now I had two files in the media file timeline, both having the same file name. When I went to the next screen to preview my chapter menu, all of the customized settings I had made were gone, and the default settings of the thumbnail menu were now present. This was not good. That idea didn’t work.

So I closed the project file, did NOT save the project file to disc. I re-entered the project file, and as expected, it only had my original Part I video file in it, with all of my customized settings for the chapter menu. So then I thought, add a duplicate Part I video file to the media file timeline, advance to the end section, cut the video file in two, and then delete the first section of the cut video file. This gave me the same two video files in the timeline as before, and as I expected, the chapter menu settings were gone again. I finally realized that the reason VS10+ was deleting my chapter menu customized settings, was because the two clips in the media timeline had the same file names. Some how, this must confuse VS 10+, and it reverts back to a default chapter menu if you had previously edited the chapter menu for that file name.

So then I thought, if I take the same Part I movie file, and copy and paste it within my same working folder, then change the file name, then drop that newly named Part I video file (now called Part I Ending Section) into the media file timeline of the project file, cut the file at the ending section, discard the front section, it should work. And viola, the chapter menu of the original Part I video file was preserved. So then I went to the original Part I video file, “marked out” the end section of the file (clicked on the “]” button this time, not the scissors button). Then I inserted the Part II video file in between the edited Part I video file and my newly named “end section” video file, burned the disc and now I have a seamless DVD movie disc of the entire vacation. And the key behind this whole exercise was to save me time when adding another video file to an already created project file in not having to recreate from scratch all of my original chapter point markings, main menu settings and chapter menu settings.

Lessen learned: if you have to insert an additional video file in between the scenes of a video file already in a Share|Create Disc project file, when chapter points and chapter menus have already been created and customized, you need to add a duplicate copy of the first video file that you want to edit, but first you must change the file name before adding it to the media file timeline. This way, all of your customized settings from your original chapter menu will be preserved.

[blplhp]

Oh, just in case someone is wondering why I don't add my Part II DV tape footage to my original Edit Mode project file and re-render a new video file, somehow I deleted my original Edit project file and all associated captured AVI files that were linked to that project file. I also don't want to have to recreate all of my of chapter menu settings all over again.