Beginner with Videostudio

donsopp · Post by **donsopp** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:26 pm

Hi
just started to use Videostudio for video and slide shows. Just so I am clear on my understanding of how it works -- I put in a music track of 3mins exactly and fill the images to fill that space. The I am putting in transitions and if I have it right in my head these bridge the "space" between imagees and the total playtime of the project goes down each time by the length of the transition. So with 1sec transition, the total time falls to 2:59 after first transition is put in and so on

To help me get up the learning curve are there any good booksjavascript:emoticon(':D')

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:08 pm

Welcome to the forums, and the wonderful world of video editing..

You're absolutely correct about the transitions. The transitions borrow the time from the adjacent clips..

First we have a Tutorials Forum found here:
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/index.php?c=4

Within that forum are several tutorials in the Video Product Tutorials forum.

Within that forum are several tutorials, most provided by forum members, and also some links to external, third party resources. One such resource is what I used, and highly recommend, even though they are for versions prior to VS10, Getting Results with..., by Charlie Hill. He produced some excellent learning material. He explains fundamentals about video and editing.

There are some others found in there too, just have a look around, and I'm sure you'll find something that will get you "kick-started" into video editing, and producing DVDs or videos to share over the internet.

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:09 pm

Hi

There are many tutorials relating to Video.
I did a search for ¡¥Slide¡¦ in the Video Product Tutorial section.

http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/search.php?mode=results

http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewforum.php?f=27

A few tips

1 / You can change the default durations from File Preferences-Edit Tab.
You can change the duration by dragging the yellow trim bars at each end of a still image or transition. Or change the duration on the digital clock.
2 / Double click a thumbnail in the library, and it will insert to the first available position, saves dragging all the time.

You are correct regarding the total duration reducing when inserting transitions.
3 / Add a colour clip from the library as your first clip.
4 / Add a title over the colour clip.

Hope this helps a little

donsopp · Post by **donsopp** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:19 pm

Thanks

that clears my mind on that and I think now that if I want 40 slides at 10 secs each + transitions at 1sec per transition then for a final play time of 400 secs I need about 440secs before putting in the transitions

Thanks for the recommendations on learning resources as well

Have just downloaded the PDF manual but don't think I will print 168pages at the moment.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:12 pm

I trust also that you were only using 10 seconds as an easy example. In reality, 10 seconds, or even 9 seconds with transition, is a long time for each image in a slideshow. 6 or maximum 7 is much more digestible...

donsopp · Post by **donsopp** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 10:20 pm

I was using this value as an example, but have actually been learning with this value. 10 secs certainly prolongs the viewing and you are perfectly right that people will have gone before watching it all. Bringing times down to 6 secs is probably about the length I will use when I actually get to make the first actual DVD. I am working on a project that I will be selecting from about 900 pictures and video clips and I know that it would be lunacy to try and put them all in. Thinking about a 20 minute show Reasonable length?

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 11:09 pm

You will have a far better idea of what your friends and family might tolerate. In my own opinion, 20 minutes is still probably just a bit too long, even with good background music and varied pans and zooms to maintain interest. I try to make my slideshows no longer than 10 minutes, with an absolute upper limit of 15. I would prefer to do several shorter ones which you can either show over a longer period, or with coffee or chat breaks in between. So instead of having one long show 'My Last Holiday", I would break it into several shows: "The Beach", "The Mountains", "The Cabin", "The Kids At Play"... that sort of thing.

In fact, I try to do much the same thing with my video too, though in that case my upper limit is around the 20 minute mark. 10 - 12 minutes is preferable, at least to me... no matter how brilliant I personally might think they all are!!

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:52 am

And then adding music....or several tracks...you'll also find yourself adjusting the tempo to go with the music...and the timings will reflect the tempo and feel for each music choice.

Variety is the spice of life!

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:17 am

Hi
You may wish to increase the transition time. I use 3 to 4 seconds transition with a 10 second image.
The image is in fully viewable for 6 / 7 seconds.

After adding my audio I may need to change the image duration to fit length to sound.
Increasing or decreasing all or some images lengths to match the audio length.

Use Clip-Change Image/Colour duration.