VideoStudio 11: Split by Scene

Sephirex · Post by **Sephirex** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:15 am

Hi! Everytime I use Split By Scene for a video I want to edit, it splits the video into several hundred clips, even some that last 7 milliseconds, regardless of the sensitivity. I can join the clips manually but this is tedious and annoying. Is there anyway that I can set the Split By Scene to be somewhat competent or change the settings because even Windows Movie Maker splits scenes better.

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 9:48 am

Have you tried using the Multi-Trim video? You have more control over where you want to make the cuts. I don't trust the program to decide where it thinks I want to cut the clip.

The Split by Scene uses Frame Content or DV Time Scan. With Frame Content scanning, if you pan or zoom while filming the program considers that a change in the frame content and split it there. How about objects moving in the background, say like a car passing by, again change in the frame content.

With DV Time Scan if you start and stop your camera several times while filming, it will split it accordingly.

For cutting my video clips, I'll start with the Multi-Trim, to see how it determines the cuts. Most of the time it's also not going to be that accurate. So I trust me to determine where the cuts need to be.

Sephirex · Post by **Sephirex** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:30 pm

Multi-Trim is almost never active. What should I do then?

Post by **Ron P.** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:35 am

You do have the ability with Multi-Trim to manually make your cuts. You don't need to view the clip in real time to find the places to make cuts. You can use the Fast Forward/Rewind (red line beneath the jog-wheel and time-code box) to skim through at up to 8x speed. Once you get close to where you want to make a cut, use the jog-wheel, or time-code box to advance frame by frame or a few frames at a time until you arrive at the exact frame to make the cut.

Basically to make cuts using Multi-Trim, you use the Mark-In/Out feature. I use the keyboard shortcuts for this.

F3=Mark-In
F4=Mark-Out
Spacebar = Play/Pause
Arrow keys(<- ->) to step forward/reverse one frame at a time.

Each segment between the mark-in/out points will be placed in the timeline.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:56 am

There are various ways to work with video and you have to decide which is the most convenient for your work flow.

I adopt a similar approach to yourself where I use split by time code and as you have found you can get several clips of very short duration. You need to examine those very short clips to see if they are worth retaining or deleting.

Those that you retain now present a second item requiring attention.
Straight cut or transition?

Many people like to place a simple cross fade between clips, others prefer to stick to straight cuts. If your clip is less than at least 5 seconds long (and that is being extreme - really to use fades you need even longer clips) then you are better off sticking to straight cuts. You can now quickly and easily add a number of those clips to the video track by selecting each of them with the mouse and holding the control key down on the keyboard. Now with them highlighted right click and you are given the option to add to the video track. They will now all be placed one after the other on the track.

What you must take into account when filming is, each time you stop/start the camcorder you are creating a new "scene" so if you only take something of a second or two perhaps you ought to be using a digital camera for that particular shot. You can later mix in stills with the video.

The alternative split - split by scene - is for me too unreliable and I would not trust a computer to do this task and would prefer to do so manually.