my thumbs gone black!

[lakewud]

Hit n miss affair this business of transporting PI files over into VS. It seems.

In a nutshell, sometimes when i bring over from PI into VS an image ( say a photo inside a circle/balloon ) when I actually bring it into VS, the thumbnail shows a black thumbnail - so cant use it. Even if only a second before that, when bringing it into VS via opening the file where ive saved it..at the bottom of the screen shows the correct image..so somethings going wrong when its actually entering VS?

Any ideas?

Now, 70% of the time it works fine, but still annoying, as often spend a lot of time creating an effect only for it to appear black?

I would say its maybe something to do with the properties/colours im using in PI - doubt it though - and since, even in VS, in the open file>bring into VS section...it appears ok....must be something VS doesnt like about it?

[Ron P.]

Are you inserting a UFO file (PI working file) or saving it as what other image format (PNG, BMP, JPEG, TGA, GIF)?

I'm trying to replicate your problem but so far VS allows UFO, and any of the other image formats, and I can not get the "black thumbnail"...

[lakewud]

Thank you Ron for your reply.

Didnt think i did a good job of explaining it...spent best part of today ( and last week! ) trying to get a number of balloons/circles..well bubbles actually with a PI photo inside them - and yes saved UFO format.

Have a couple of problems with my title screen.

Well 3 - if you count VS not liking my 'playing' the clip/film around the point of all these overlay tracks! - keeps saying ' vs must close' and shut down on me..however,


main problem is...as explained....in PI i create a ..say..glass bubble...then insert a photo...not the best effect in the world..but at this stage in the game....anythings a positive..just want it finished!!..and yes, save as UFO and used the Path method of inserting a photo into my bubble.

Then I open up video studio, Image> open up the file/folder icon...and prepare to bring into VS - onto the main screen as a thumbnail - my saved PI bubble.

In the file/folder screen..my PI saved file shows no problem...at the bottom of the Open File screen - to let you know what file your clicking on....- so, all seems well n good...but...

time and again, as soon as i bring into VS on the main screen/thumbnail..the PI saved image goes Black?..cant use it. BUT, strange thing is...sometimes it does work..again BUT...sometimes, when i close VS for a second and open it again, it WILL let me bring in a saved PI...why would this be? having to close VS randomly...again, all well n good if thats what i have to do..so be it..AGAIN BIG BUT...

Noticed now, that a previously perfectly good image ( from PI ) placed onto timeline and used for title sequance..complete with having chromakeyed it to show only the bubble and photo inside...once worked fine...now appears as a big black square...happens on 4 of the images ive brought in. And, yes, have burnt it to see...and appears just like VS displays....black square floating down..along with other images - saved the same way - work ok..

Any thoughts, why would this be happening...and why is VS playing up on me so often..stretching it with 4 overlays of about 7 bubbles??

On a slightly other issue.....the bubbles that float down..via the little arrows i click on...eg, for a bubble to float down from top to bottom click on the top arrow etc etc....but, although i can obviously adjust that blue line to make the bubble not stop..or to move faster or slower etc...how can i make it consistant....bubbles seem to slowly float at first..then speed up...looks silly...and visa vesa? Could you tell me how i go about getting a simple float down or sideways etc...at a constant speed?


thanks, slowly being driven mad by this thing now...maybe im asking it to do too much...annoying as can see the end result...but what a job to make it look good!

[Ron P.]

First even though VS accepts the UFO (PhotoImpact) file, I have found that I have problems trying to Chroma_key them. So what I recommend is to save your image in PI as a PNG using transparency. In PI, go to Web menu, Image Optimizer and select PNG as the file type.

In PI you can select all your objects, except the background, and when you go to the Image Optimizer, it will provide a prompt for choosing Selected Objects. You can also hide your background by clicking on the icon in the Layer manager. At any rate you want a PNG file that has transparency.

The speed is controlled only by the duration of the image/clip. The pause/duration really does not have any effect on the speed. The longer the duration of your image, the slower. However, yes moving the pause/duration slide controls toward the outer edges will quicken the movement, and lengthen the pause time (static appearance). To have no pause the triangles need to be together at the center of the bar.

[lakewud]

Thanks for that Ron, another way of doing it. Seems to work as suggest, though the PNG bit confuses me..the web part - but hey-ho...that doesnt matter for now.

One final question thou, once saved as a PNG ( means redoing all my hard work as UFO files!! ), you mentioned transperancy...you mean..when i first select the paper..opt for transprancy?..Just, tried all that..and when brought into VS...my images seems washed out a little...not a full image..using glass bubble and chromakeying in VS? Is that the right idea?

Does it just depend on what density of glass bubble i chose...should opt for a solid bubble so the full image will show...its, just ideally wanted some kind of image which looks like its inside a bubble..whereas using a simple bubble - not Plastic or Glass etc..well it just doesnt really look like a bubble floating down, not that it really matters at this stage.

Just wondered whether you knew of the best background for a glass bubble?

thanks for answering the fast/.slow speed thang.

[Ron P.]

One final question thou, once saved as a PNG ( means redoing all my hard work as UFO files!! ),

No you should not have to redo anything. Think of the UFO files in PI, are just like the VSP files in VS. They are the proprietary working files. Anytime I work on a photograph in PI, the first thing I do is duplicate the image by pressing [CTL]+D, which creates a UFO file of that image. Then if something happens, I mess up badly, or it crashes, I have not altered the original photograph. It is a very common practice amongst PI users.

So with your UFO files, once you have your composition, just go to the Web menu, and select Image Optimizer. Now in the following screenshots I show using the Selected Objects and just Hiding the Base Object.

Image Optimizer, Selected Objects


Selected Objects in Layer Manager


Base Object Hidden


PNG Image, Transparency


PNG Image, Hidden Base Object


So what you're doing is creating a photo image, Just like in VS when you go to Share>Create Video File, you create a video file, and the VSP still is a VSP, not an MPEG or AVI.

When going through the above it just dawned on me, to try using the Punch effect to get the image to look like a bubble or balloon. It is found in the Effects menu under Distortion. Since I'm not doing a project that would use this, I wasn't going to spend much time on it. But I'm sure that playing around with it, you could get the results you desire...

To make an image or object appear glassy it takes several "layers" and objects. Glass uses light/reflection. To learn how this is done do a Google search for PhotoImpact tutorials; Glass buttons. These seem to be popular for web design. Learn how they're done, and implement that for your bubble or balloons..