Overwhelmed: Where to start?

[ronstew]

I am a member of many forums, and always get a bit disgruntled when a newbie posts the same ten questions that every other newbie posts. Now I am the newbie with the same old questions. Today I searched the archives until I got overwhelmed (I seem to have a low whelm threshold). If you fine people could direct me to the answers to these questions, I would be very grateful.

I have a bunch of video that wants editing into useful, attractive packages. Some of it goes back eight years. Back then I had a Canon Elura DV camera, and an ADS Pyro 1394 card that came with both VideoStudio 4 and MediaStudio Pro 6.0 VE. VS 4 was junk, but captured well. MS 6 was pretty darned good. Here is a sample of my work from seven years ago on youtube.

Last Christmas, my wife gave me a Sony DSC-W80 pocket still camera that takes video and stores it in .mpg files.

In July, I bought a Canon HV30 HDV camcorder and VS 11.5+. I shot an event that weekend, edited it quickly, and burned it to DVD. I have not used the software since, but I have a couple more hours of video.

I have shot a lot of video over the years with these three cameras, and, thanks to an extended Christmas holiday and no money in the bank, I have five good editing days ahead of me.

I guess my real question is, where can I find a good tutorial for using VS11.5+ effectively?

The questions on my mind right now are:

Setup

How do I set up my projects so that they use the highest quality, with the least loss, and store in the appropriate format. I get very confused when people talk codecs. I want, if possible, to save my stuff with the same settings it was recorded with, or, if I am mixing sources, in the settings of the best-quality source. What file format will that be? DV-1? DV-2? AVI? MPEG? Lower field first? Do I have to install codecs (whatever they are). Do I care about DivX? I think I just want to know what settings go with my three cameras, (Canon Elura, Canon HV30, Sony DSC-W80) and to use those. In the event that I one day get a blu-ray burner, I want to be prepared for that too.

Capture

I prefer to designate where my captured video is stored, but VS uses libraries that I don't understand. I am a DOS guy at heart, and don't like the way every media program has its own preferred location and method for storing files. I used to have a copy of Scenalyzer, but it is lost, and I don't want to pony up $40 Canadian for software that I won't use again after Friday. Is VS my best bet for capturing DV files?

For HDV files, I have used HDVSplit, and am happy with it.

Edit

I am comfortable with this stage. I don't know all the ins and outs, but I can generally get done what needs doing. I would like to know what ripple editing is and isn't.

Effect

Some cool stuff here, but I usually stick to crossfades and wipes.

Overlay

I don't know what this is or what it is for.

Title

I wish I had more control to make my own styles of titles.

Audio

Funny, I had trouble with this last summer, but today it makes complete sense.

Share

Ah. Here is where confusion reigns. What should I do here? I would imagine that if I set my project settings properly, I could Create Video File with the project settings, and all would be well. Is that right? And then, since I have a Canon camera, will I have trouble saving to tape? My goal is to save to tape.

I figure that making a DVD backup is a good idea at this stage. Best way? What tools do I need to make my own menus?

I think that I am okay with vimeo and youtube, although the goalposts keep moving. It would be nice if VS11.5 made .flv files, but upgrading for that one feature is not worth it to me.

Gee, that is a big bunch of questions. I confess that part of this exercise is to help me organise my thoughts. If I can pose the questions well, that means that at least I understand the question. As you can tell, codecs and file sttings have me baffled.

While I wait for answers, I am going to start capturing.

[Black Lab]

Setup

How do I set up my projects so that they use the highest quality, with the least loss, and store in the appropriate format. I get very confused when people talk codecs. I want, if possible, to save my stuff with the same settings it was recorded with, or, if I am mixing sources, in the settings of the best-quality source. What file format will that be? DV-1? DV-2? AVI? MPEG? Lower field first? Do I have to install codecs (whatever they are). Do I care about DivX? I think I just want to know what settings go with my three cameras, (Canon Elura, Canon HV30, Sony DSC-W80) and to use those. In the event that I one day get a blu-ray burner, I want to be prepared for that too.
If you can capture using firewire, you should. The best is to capture as DV-AVI Type 1. But now that you have an HD camera that changes some things. I haven't made the jump to HD, so I'll leave that for someone else.


Capture

I prefer to designate where my captured video is stored, but VS uses libraries that I don't understand. I am a DOS guy at heart, and don't like the way every media program has its own preferred location and method for storing files. I used to have a copy of Scenalyzer, but it is lost, and I don't want to pony up $40 Canadian for software that I won't use again after Friday. Is VS my best bet for capturing DV files?

For HDV files, I have used HDVSplit, and am happy with it.
You do designate where the captured video is stored. You can do that in Preferences or when you capture. The libraries simply show virtual thumbnails. Using those thumbnails do not change the original clips. I capture all my clips to an external hard drive, making a separate folder for each project. Makes for easy housekeeping when I am done.

Edit

I am comfortable with this stage. I don't know all the ins and outs, but I can generally get done what needs doing. I would like to know what ripple editing is and isn't.
Basically, when Ripple Editing is turned on, edits to a track will effect the other tracks the same way; like the ripples in a pond.

Effect

Some cool stuff here, but I usually stick to crossfades and wipes.
Good choice. Simple is usually better.

Overlay

I don't know what this is or what it is for.
A basic use for an overlay track is a picture in picture effect, but many other things can be done with them.

Title

I wish I had more control to make my own styles of titles.
I'm not sure what control you need, but you can make many, many different styles.

Audio

Funny, I had trouble with this last summer, but today it makes complete sense.

Share

Ah. Here is where confusion reigns. What should I do here? I would imagine that if I set my project settings properly, I could Create Video File with the project settings, and all would be well. Is that right? And then, since I have a Canon camera, will I have trouble saving to tape? My goal is to save to tape.
Again, not having a Canon I will defer to someone with more experience.

I figure that making a DVD backup is a good idea at this stage. Best way? What tools do I need to make my own menus?
What tools? VideoStudio. Nearly every part of the menu is customizable in some way.

I think that I am okay with vimeo and youtube, although the goalposts keep moving. It would be nice if VS11.5 made .flv files, but upgrading for that one feature is not worth it to me.
Google for some free FLV creation programs. They are out there.

Gee, that is a big bunch of questions. I confess that part of this exercise is to help me organise my thoughts. If I can pose the questions well, that means that at least I understand the question. As you can tell, codecs and file sttings have me baffled.

While I wait for answers, I am going to start capturing.

Please read From Camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio. Although it was written for v10 it will still apply to v11, as the workflow is basically the same.

[ronstew]

Thank you very much, Jeff.

You are, of course, right that VS saves the captured DV video to the folder you specify, and I have spent a good chunk of the past few days doing that. I wish I could specify which library segment to associate with which file when I set up the capture. It seems that is a feature of X2.

We can do picture in picture? Cool! I could use that to make a countdown clock? Is there a feature for doing time-lapse? I shot my friend and her dog at an obedience trial. The five-minutes where the dog is lying down at a "stay" could be sped up.

If I am setting up to burn a DVD, there are several DVD menu templates available. Can I create my own?

I will search for free flv creation programs.

And most importantly, I will spend the rest of my morning studying Mr. Jones' article.

Again, Jeff, thank you very much.

[Black Lab]

Thank you very much, Jeff.

You are, of course, right that VS saves the captured DV video to the folder you specify, and I have spent a good chunk of the past few days doing that. I wish I could specify which library segment to associate with which file when I set up the capture. It seems that is a feature of X2.
Whatever library you have selected is where the captured clip's thumbnails will appear.

We can do picture in picture? Cool! I could use that to make a countdown clock? Is there a feature for doing time-lapse? I shot my friend and her dog at an obedience trial. The five-minutes where the dog is lying down at a "stay" could be sped up.
Right click on a clip in the timeline to change the Playback Speed. Take a look at our Free Stuff Section. I'm pretty sure you will find a countdown time (although I couldn't find it with just a quick look).

If I am setting up to burn a DVD, there are several DVD menu templates available. Can I create my own?
You can create your own if you have PhotoImpact, as the menus use a proprietary format. But you can customize the ones you have within VS.

I will search for free flv creation programs.

And most importantly, I will spend the rest of my morning studying Mr. Jones' article.

Again, Jeff, thank you very much.

[sjj1805]

The countdown timer in the links to free stuff is here:

Countdown Timer for MediaStudio / VideoStudio
Credit where credit is due, the original link was put on by Terry Stetler.
I tried to download the zip file but couldn't with Firefox or Internet Explorer.
I did manage to get a copy by pasting the link into "Getright". As mentioned above its only 400kb in size so I have placed a copy on my website for our fellow members to download. It works with Video Studio and also Media Studio.
http://www.steve-jones.pwp.blueyonder.c ... mecode.zip

Every silver lining has its cloud - you have vista but it does not work with Vista. If you have an XP Setup disc then you can use a work round by creating a Virtual PC and either doing the whole project, or just that part of it containing the timer - with a virtual PC.

Click here for details