VideoStudio Wish List for Future Versions

[ghoward]

My wish is that you save your menus after putting in all the chapter titles etc in the dvd authoring. I know that you can save a template of it but you lose your personal info.

[Black Lab]

My wish is that you save your menus after putting in all the chapter titles etc in the dvd authoring. I know that you can save a template of it but you lose your personal info.

After you create your menu just close the burn window. A box pops up that says it is saving, then takes you back to the editing timeline. Now re-save your project. This will save your menu, chapters and all. When you re-open the project and go to the burn window everything should be as you left it. Not very intuitive, but it works.

[c7386]

Make things easier for users to figure out how to do. I'm fairly technically/pc inclined but new to video editing and it takes too long to figure things out. The first movie I edited a few months ago with the VS 11 trial version, I simply needed to add start and end text titles and edit out 3 seconds of sound, and it took forever going back and forth to help. I also had to search this forum to find posts about adding color blocks. Adding titles anywhere should be obvious in the GUI. Why can't we just click on the timeline then click "add title here" or something simple? Seems like adding titles would be one of the most basic and common things most people do in movie editing.

[Clevo]

Make things easier for users to figure out how to do. I'm fairly technically/pc inclined but new to video editing and it takes too long to figure things out. The first movie I edited a few months ago with the VS 11 trial version, I simply needed to add start and end text titles and edit out 3 seconds of sound, and it took forever going back and forth to help. I also had to search this forum to find posts about adding color blocks. Adding titles anywhere should be obvious in the GUI. Why can't we just click on the timeline then click "add title here" or something simple? Seems like adding titles would be one of the most basic and common things most people do in movie editing.

I'm pretty sure when you get the hang of it it's quite easy.

Colour blocks you just drag and drop... I can't see how it could be made easier. I'm sure you know this now.

titles...drag the timeline curser to the spot you want to insert the title and click "title"... double click the preview screen and start typing... I'm not sure how this could be achived any easier.

Even a quick read of the manual will tell you all of this. and as you are now certain there are plenty of people to help.

[rpungin]

Add a new title animation to both fade in and out. Currently you can only have it fade in or fade out, but not both.

I know there is a trick to do fade in and out title by
1. creating a title with fade in animation
2. copying the title by dragging it to the thumbnail area
3. dropping the copy back to the timeline
4. change animation settings on the copy from fade in to fade out

But that's 4 steps!!! and if you change the title, you have to repeat them again!

I think title fade in and out is a very common animation!!

[Black Lab]

You can fade in, out, or both. It's right there when you open the title animation customization by clicking the TT button.

[rpungin]

You can fade in, out, or both. It's right there when you open the title animation customization by clicking the TT button.

Ah, thank you! I had no idea TT was actually a button.

[lespurgeon]

2 simple ideas that would make my life easier:
1) Allow the preview window to be drug to a second monitor (or better yet allow complete customization of UI).

2) Make the library project specific. Drag in everything you want for the current project, but not have the last 20 project's clips hanging around.

[Ron P.]

Due to an ongoing controversy of using project files in the burn step, and the recent find on Ulead's Support FAQ, I wish that the ability to insert VSP (project files) into the burn module be removed.

While it is understood that this is possible, and may not cause problems for some, it does seem to be an ongoing problem. To support this, why would Ulead Tech support publish this as a response in the FAQ section;

Link to FAQ page: http://www.ulead.com/tech/vs/vs90faq.htm

• After successfully burning discs for a number of times, I get one of the following messages now when I try to burn: "Report ID 0x800411da (4570)" or, more frequently, "Convert step got some problems (4101)." What should I do?
• Instead of burning the project directly to disc, create a DVD compliant video file first and save it on your hard drive. After creating the file, create a new project and go to Share > Create Disc then insert the newly saved video file. Open the Project Settings dialog box [ Alt + J ] and select Do not convert compliant MPEG files then click OK . Burn the project to disc.

Tip : Refrain from inserting Project files onto the Timeline in Create Disc.

Note the Tech response was posted when VS9 was the current release. Since that time, no change has been made to the manuals to reflect this. So it is confusing to people when they encounter problems..

Notes:
¡E Your entire VideoStudio project can be brought into the Create Disc dialog box for
burning even if you did not save it first as a .VSP file.
¡E Video will be adjusted to the correct aspect ratio (as specified in the Disc Templates
Manager dialog box), and automatically letterboxed or pillarboxed to fit the correct
aspect ratio.

¡E Your entire VideoStudio project can be brought into the Create Disc dialog box for
burning even if you did not save it first as a .VSP file.
¡E Video will be adjusted to the correct aspect ratio (as specified in the Disc Templates
Manager dialog box), and automatically letterboxed or pillarboxed to fit the correct
aspect ratio.

To add VideoStudio projects:
1. Click Add VideoStudio project files.
Locate the folder where the projects are, and then select one or more video
projects you want to add.

[janjatul]

Ripple editing always on and always working.

From reading about editing in the forum I find that many users like me have a problem with how ripple editing works in VideoStudio. There is even a recommendation of a certain workflow to cure the problem. (In short edit all your clips before adding music and titles.)

My personal opinion is that clips placed on other tracks should be anchored to the video track clip above them. Whatever operations I do to other clips on the video track should not change how the anchored clips relate to each other.

This will mean that I can edit the end of the movie first complete with titles, music and overlays without having my work ruined when I start to work on the beginning of the movie.

Now you may say that VideoStudio can not always perform ripple editing!
This is true today, you often get the message that ripple editing will be turned of (and your work ruined).

But I am sure this is possible. To solve the conflict when clips on other tracks collide these clips could be allowed to crossfade into each other. Or new tracks could be created and one of the conflicting tracks could be move to the new track.

There may be times when you don¡¦t want clips on the other tracks to be anchored to their base clip on the video track. But for most amateur work I believe that it is preferable to have clips on other tracks anchored to the base clip on the video track.

[sjj1805]

Please view:
Ripple Editing

[janjatul]

Dear sjj1805,

Your tutorials are most valuable and I have read most with interest.

What you write about ripple editing has strengthen my view that ripple editing should always be on, or to be more correct that clips on other tracks should always be kept in sync with (anchored to) their base clips on the video track, unless you move them yourself.

[Black Lab]

If you want Ripple Editing on, then turn it on. It's only a click of a button.

[Draxis]

Please, if its possible to do any of this already, let me know

Rogue Codec Protection
I used to have both XviD and DivX codecs installed. If I encoded a video with XviD, both WMPlayer and VS would try and use DivX to decode the stream, crashing the application. I dont fully understand the 'merits' system that windows uses to decide what a codec can play, but it would be nice VS could detect that a codec wont work and use a different one. A while back I tried the demo of VS10 and thought it was a piece of junk because half the time it would crash just trying to play a clip. Uninstalled DivX, problem solved.

General UI Slickness
The entire VS interface just feels 'clunky'- when I scroll around the Edit Strip, it lags badly and takes a second to settle. The whole window will flicker if you change from timeline view to audio view while VS sorts itself out. Its not like VS uses much RAM, an option for backbuffering for those of us who want it would be very nice.

Ability to change the default duration of images / transition in increments of 1 frame instead of 1 second.

Windows Standards
I can click on 'file', move the mouse over to 'tools' and the tools menu doesnt open (unlike every other windows program). I cant press 'alt+f, 1' to open the last used project because VS menus dont use standard window keyboard shortcuts. There is no 'Help -> About' screen for me to find the current version I am running, and no 'Check for Updates' menu item that I could find.

By all that is holy, if you do nothing else...the last used path for each file dialog must be stored seperately! I should not need to have a folder on my desktop with a heap of shortcuts in just for VS!

Audio
Ability to change the default time-range for falloff

Option to apply exponential audio falloff instead of linear

Ability to cross-fade audio tracks with a choice of falloff options, without putting track 1 on the music track and track 2 of the voice track

Audio effects, reverb, change pitch, etc

Video Editing
If I save a frame of video as an image, the exported image is bad quality, there is heavy pixelation over the whole image (I think its saving it the same quality as the 'project settings', which I never set until the end of the project). At the moment I have to go into NanDaub to save a frame to get the same quality as the video.

I often need to perfectly match an overlay track with the main track, once I get it frame-perfect, I want it to stay there. If I make a change that pushes anything 1 frame forwards or backwards I have to go through the whole timeline and make sure everything is still lined up. I want to be able to attach an overlay to a specific frame of a given clip. If the main track clip moves (like if I drag it), the overlay should follow. If there isnt enough room for the attatched overlay, put a big red line at the start and end of where the overlay would go if there was room.

If I click on a clip, the timeline often moves to the start of that clip. I waste a silly amount of time scrolling around because of this. There is even an button at the bottom left with a tooltip along the lines of 'Automatically Scroll Timeline', but it doesnt effect this.

The 'Next / Previous Frame' and 'Start / End of Clip' buttons look real similar, and are very close together. I would love to disable the 'Start / End of Clip' buttons that I never use on purpose.

It would also be really (REALLY) nice to have transitions on overlays, and more than one overlay track.

Video Export
Using audio compression, if I encode using MPEG Audio Layer3 with Alternate Bit Rate, the audio drifts far out of sync with the video. I dont know if this is a limitation of VS, XviD, or MPG4, or if I am the only one experiencing this. If it is a general problem, it would be nice to at least have a warning somewhere.

I want to be able to export at more than 30 frames per second - I often record at 60 - It makes a huge difference to the smoothness of the end video, and I think VS can do it already; If I select 'same as first clip' for the output format, I get a (huge uncompressed) 60FPS file (its so smoooth ). Unfortunately, the dropdown on the template manager only goes to 30FPS.

If it would speed things up at all, the option to remove the preview window

And please, stop messing with my favourite transitions and 'Make Movie Templates' every patch!

[Black Lab]

Please, if its possible to do any of this already, let me know

Rogue Codec Protection
I used to have both XviD and DivX codecs installed. If I encoded a video with XviD, both WMPlayer and VS would try and use DivX to decode the stream, crashing the application. I dont fully understand the 'merits' system that windows uses to decide what a codec can play, but it would be nice VS could detect that a codec wont work and use a different one. A while back I tried the demo of VS10 and thought it was a piece of junk because half the time it would crash just trying to play a clip. Uninstalled DivX, problem solved.

General UI Slickness
The entire VS interface just feels 'clunky'- when I scroll around the Edit Strip, it lags badly and takes a second to settle. The whole window will flicker if you change from timeline view to audio view while VS sorts itself out. Its not like VS uses much RAM, an option for backbuffering for those of us who want it would be very nice.
I don't have any of these problems. Maybe a driver update of your graphics card would help?

Ability to change the default duration of images / transition in increments of 1 frame instead of 1 second.
That is not possible in Preferences. But if you Shift+click a group of clips you can alter their duration all at once.

Windows Standards
I can click on 'file', move the mouse over to 'tools' and the tools menu doesnt open (unlike every other windows program). I cant press 'alt+f, 1' to open the last used project because VS menus dont use standard window keyboard shortcuts. There is no 'Help -> About' screen for me to find the current version I am running, and no 'Check for Updates' menu item that I could find.
VS Manual Appendix B: Shortcuts
Menu command shortcuts
Ctrl + N Create a new project
Ctrl + O Open a project
Ctrl + S Save a project
Alt + Enter Project Properties
F6 Preferences
Ctrl + Z Undo
Ctrl + Y Redo
Ctrl + C Copy
Ctrl + V Paste
Del Delete
F1 Help

By all that is holy, if you do nothing else...the last used path for each file dialog must be stored seperately! I should not need to have a folder on my desktop with a heap of shortcuts in just for VS!

Audio
Ability to change the default time-range for falloff
You can set the audio fade in/out in File>Preferences.

Option to apply exponential audio falloff instead of linear
Switching to Audio View allows you to adjust the audio using the Rubber Bands.

Ability to cross-fade audio tracks with a choice of falloff options, without putting track 1 on the music track and track 2 of the voice track
That would be a nice addition.

Audio effects, reverb, change pitch, etc
Available by applying an Audio Filter. This is only available for audio in the Audio or Voice track. If you want to apply a filter to audio from a video clip you must first split the audio. Check out the Free Stuff thread for more audio plug-ins.

Video Editing
If I save a frame of video as an image, the exported image is bad quality, there is heavy pixelation over the whole image (I think its saving it the same quality as the 'project settings', which I never set until the end of the project). At the moment I have to go into NanDaub to save a frame to get the same quality as the video.
I don't have this problem. You may want to check your settings in Preferences (mine are all set for Best).

I often need to perfectly match an overlay track with the main track, once I get it frame-perfect, I want it to stay there. If I make a change that pushes anything 1 frame forwards or backwards I have to go through the whole timeline and make sure everything is still lined up. I want to be able to attach an overlay to a specific frame of a given clip. If the main track clip moves (like if I drag it), the overlay should follow. If there isnt enough room for the attatched overlay, put a big red line at the start and end of where the overlay would go if there was room.
Turning on Ripple Editing will automatically move clips when you add or delete other clips.

If I click on a clip, the timeline often moves to the start of that clip. I waste a silly amount of time scrolling around because of this. There is even an button at the bottom left with a tooltip along the lines of 'Automatically Scroll Timeline', but it doesnt effect this.

The 'Next / Previous Frame' and 'Start / End of Clip' buttons look real similar, and are very close together. I would love to disable the 'Start / End of Clip' buttons that I never use on purpose.

It would also be really (REALLY) nice to have transitions on overlays, and more than one overlay track.
Don't hold your breath. We've been asking for this for a couple of years. The Plus versions of VS have (I believe) 5 overlay tracks.

Video Export
Using audio compression, if I encode using MPEG Audio Layer3 with Alternate Bit Rate, the audio drifts far out of sync with the video. I dont know if this is a limitation of VS, XviD, or MPG4, or if I am the only one experiencing this. If it is a general problem, it would be nice to at least have a warning somewhere.
If you are editing the highly compressed Xvid or MPG4 formats, then that is probably the problem. These formats are meant for viewing, not editing.

I want to be able to export at more than 30 frames per second - I often record at 60 - It makes a huge difference to the smoothness of the end video, and I think VS can do it already; If I select 'same as first clip' for the output format, I get a (huge uncompressed) 60FPS file (its so smoooth ). Unfortunately, the dropdown on the template manager only goes to 30FPS.

If it would speed things up at all, the option to remove the preview window

And please, stop messing with my favourite transitions and 'Make Movie Templates' every patch!