First Post

[bass_player]

This is my post in order to join this forum. I found the answer to my question by searching, but since I am just beginning to construct a rather large movie from a huge number of clips, I'm sure I will run into problems for which I will need the forum.

I am a long-time user of PSP, but very new to VS Pro X2, which, oddly enough shows up as Video Studio 12 on my computer.

[jbarchuk]

...I am just beginning to construct a rather large movie from a huge number of clips, I'm sure I will run into problems for which I will need the forum.

I am a long-time user of PSP, but very new to VS Pro X2...

Meaning new to video in general? If yes then I strongly suggest you don't start with a 'rather large' project' with 'huge number.' Do something smaller first, try different things with it, until you understand the whole process.

The reason is sheer processing time. More project = more frames = more time to do each step. And there will be steps where you need to 'wait' several minutes to many hours. To avoid wasting those hours on miscues (and you will make miscues) start with something smaller first so those waiting times along the low end of the learning curve are 'seconds and minutes' rather than 'minutes and hours.'

GL and have a day!

Jim
jb@jbarchuk.com

[Black Lab]

I'm a carp player myself. Nice to know there are other fish-icians out there.

[DVDDoug]

Welcome!

I agree completely! Digital video is not always easy, and it's better to start small and solve one problem at a time, rather than starting with a big project and trying to solve 10 problems at once (and maybe having to start over after you've put-in many hours).

Start with a small project (one or two clips). Go through the complete process, making a DVD with menus, uploading to You-Tube, or whatever... Then, build your project a little at a time, testing as you go. If things go smoothly, you can take bigger steps. If things don't go so well, you can tackle one problem at a time.

...from a huge number of clips...

Some formats (and format variations) cause trouble with Video Studio. If all of your clips are from the same camera, that's good... Either you will have no trouble, or you will find a work-around/procedure that works with your format. The less-compressed formats are the best. DV/AVI (13GB per hour) is usually trouble-free. The more-advanced, more-compressed formats cause the most trouble.

But if your clips come from a variety of sources, some clips will be a challange. The same is true with still images & audio clips... Some files/formats are trouble-prone and if you mix & match formats, sooner or later, you will run into problem-files.

[bass_player]

I'm a carp player myself. Nice to know there are other fish-icians out there.

Is it electric carp, or stand-up double carp?

[Ron P.]

I'm a carp player myself. Nice to know there are other fish-icians out there.

Is it electric carp, or stand-up double carp?

I'm sure Jeff can play his standing up or sitting down...

[bass_player]

Meaning new to video in general? If yes then I strongly suggest you don't start with a 'rather large' project' with 'huge number.' Do something smaller first, try different things with it, until you understand the whole process. ...........

I have used Vegas in the past. Actually, I have segmented my large project into many pieces. I think I will take a couple of short clips, which are all taken from a PAL video camera, and begin to add titles, etc. When I get something together I think I can save the results to an mpeg file for review. When I get up to a half hour or so, I can burn a DVD to check the result. I think the VS project file will support the addition of clips as I build the final result.

Fortunately, I will not be needing any additional sound files as the sound track on the videos is self explantory.

Thanks to all for the welcome.

[bass_player]

Welcome!

I agree completely! Digital video is not always easy, and it's better to start small and solve one problem at a time, rather than starting with a big project and trying to solve 10 problems at once (and maybe having to start over after you've put-in many hours).

Start with a small project (one or two clips). Go through the complete process, making a DVD with menus, uploading to You-Tube, or whatever... Then, build your project a little at a time, testing as you go. If things go smoothly, you can take bigger steps. If things don't go so well, you can tackle one problem at a time.

...from a huge number of clips...

Some formats (and format variations) cause trouble with Video Studio. If all of your clips are from the same camera, that's good... Either you will have no trouble, or you will find a work-around/procedure that works with your format. The less-compressed formats are the best. DV/AVI (13GB per hour) is usually trouble-free. The more-advanced, more-compressed formats cause the most trouble.

But if your clips come from a variety of sources, some clips will be a challange. The same is true with still images & audio clips... Some files/formats are trouble-prone and if you mix & match formats, sooner or later, you will run into problem-files.

Well, I have already run into a small problem. I took a 10 minute clip (of me playing electric bass with a group in a club in downtown Athens, Greece) and made a little movie of it. I fixed up the brightness and colors and added an intro/title. Just as an experiment, I tried to change the audio to DD 5.1. I saved it to my hard drive as an MPEG-2, which shows in its properties as having a 5.1 sound track. Then, I made a DVD of the same clip. The DVD is visually the same as the mpeg, that is it has a nice intro/title screen and plays on my Oppo Blue Ray player. HOWEVER, the sound track is not 5.1, it is simply stereo.

So, question would be -- what is the trick I am missing? Or is it even possible to split off the sound track from a video clip and really change it to 5.1.