This is my first time posting to this forum. I placed an order for VideoStudio 11+ from Amazon which is supposed to arrive next Monday. However, I am currently using the "trial version" in order to get a head start on learning how to use VideoStudio. Last season I used Adobe Elements 3.0 (w/Main Concepts plug-in) to create a team video for my son's little league team. I just purchased a Canon HV10 to film this season in HDV, so I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade to an NLE that would handle this format. I read a lot of good things about Ulead, so I decided to switch over to Video Studio. However, I can tell there is going to be a learning curve that I will need to go through if I want to use this program effectively.
I was wondering if VideoStudio was capable of showing all frames of video when the clip is inserted into the timeline. Below is how the video appears in Elements 3.0 (I like this!).
In Elements, I was able to look at the video frames to get an idea where I wanted to put the sliding marker for viewing, splitting, marking, etc. Also, Elements is very smooth when sliding the marker - Ulead seems to jump(snap) from scale-point to scale-point (sorry, I know I am using the wrong terminology) on the timeline. Is there anyway to shut that off?
There is only one video frame in view. Is there a way to get it to show multiple frames of video in the timeline, like it does in Elements?
With VideoStudio, I only see this:
This brings up one other point. When I have the mouse pointer down at the timeline in Elements, it appears as an arrow which invites you to click onto the timeline marker and scroll through the video clip. With Ulead, the mouse cursor appears as a very thin crosshair. I'm used to seeing crosshairs when you want to mark/crop a segment of a photo, so it doesn't "feel" right and gives me the impression that Ulead doesn't want you to click onto and slide the timeline marker through the clip. And when I do, it's very jerky and skips through more video than what I intended. And because all frames of video do not appear in the timeline, you have this general feeling of being lost.
Also, in Elements I was able to mark the start/end of a segment of video within a video clip, then click the export button on the top-line menu to create a new video file (a real file, not just a segment of the original stored in the Elements video library). Note: It's been several months since last season, so I may be missing a step here - (might have needed to split the video clip first, before marking start/stop points for export).
With Ulead, I'm having a hard time doing this. Ulead seems to want to render/export the whole video - even when I set the start/stop markers on only a portion. I really need to mark & export portions of a video clip to separate files on my computer. The reason is because I will be filming about 15games @ 2hrs each. I don't know about Ulead, but Elements 3.0 could not handle this much footage in the library, so I needed to insert one game at a time, cut out those action shots and export each to a smaller video file, then delete the game and insert the next one. At the end of the season, I inserted all these small action clips(mpg files) into Element's library, then put them together in the video time-line, added music, transitions, etc. and created a nice team video on DVD. I know this is probably not the "proper" way to do things, but it worked for me. Again, Elements couldn't handle having hundreds of clips in the library (too much overhead, I guess), so I was forced to use my method. I liked it anyway, as I was able to name each mpg file by the game/kid/play for archival purposes.
Anyway, I realize that I am just new to Ulead(Corel), so I need to become familiar with it's features. This brings me to my next (and last) question for now. I have read on other forums that there is a really good tutorial on VideoStudio posted on the web somewhere. I have done a few searches and only came up with short clips on Utube which were not helpful. Is there a set of tutorials somewhere that I can use in addition to the manual that I am assuming will come with VideoStudio 11+?
Any information/advice is always appreciated.
ps - my apologies for rambling on too much.
