Some X6 questions please.

[Polkat]

Just downloaded the trial of Video Studio Pro X6 and am trying it out. I have a past background with Adobe Premiere and even VideoPad, so while I'm not new to video editing, X6 is a little different to me. My two main problems at present are sizing and capture.

I'm trying to figure out how to resize clips that are too small, or too large for that matter, to the mpeg2 standard of 720P (16:9) I usually use. When I put...say...a 640 x 480 clip or still on the timeline there seems to be no tool to change their sizes with (that I have found so far). There are 8 squares that sometimes show up on the image, which allow me to resize, but when finished and I go to do something else, the image just pops back to it's original size. So I must be missing something here.

The second main problem I'm presently having is capturing video...which the program won't do. At present, I am capturing analog video through a USB device. When I try to capture, I get an error message telling me that the capture plug-in is already in use, or is missing, or so on. I have discovered on the web that this problem is very common! Why? I have never had a video capture setup on this particular computer before, so there's nothing on it to interfer with X6. So should I assume that the capture plug-in is not included with the trial? Can this plug-in be downloaded by itself? What is the file name? What solutions are people using to get around this?

Otherwise, this is a good editor, which I will no doubt buy, if I can correct these problems.

[BrianCee]

changing the size of the picture in the preview window does not change the size of the final video image - the preview window is just a picture so you can see what you are editing. If you want to produce a different format video then you go "Share >> Create Video file " and choose from the myriad of sizes available - OR - choose 'custom' and make your own - then render out a new video at the size and format you want.

you will only get the yellow square manual resize option if your image/video is in the overlay track.

What USB device are you using - I capture analogue with a Honestech device on Windows 7 - using the software supplied by Honestech - then easily import it into VideoStudio.

Are you using and EasyCap or EZcap device - the Easycap ones are fake and do not work properly,

[Ken Berry]

BrianCee said:

...the Easycap ones are fake and do not work properly

Further to what Brian said, have a look at a sticky post at the head of this forum: http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php ... 30#p211330 It explains more about the EasyCap.

The other problem, whether it is EasyCap or some other device, is that many of these devices are designed to only work with the software which comes with them. In the case of the EasyCap, that software is a very old and tweaked version of Video Studio 10 when it was still being made by Ulead (subsequently taken over by Corel). And it was tweaked by the manufacturers of EasyCap, not by Ulead/Corel. Similarly, as Brian said, his Honestech device comes with its own software, which he uses to capture with and then opens the capture files in VS to edit them.

The problem is that many of these hardware manufacturers refuse to share what they regard as proprietary secrets with software companies like Corel. That is why we always advise users take the action already mentioned by Brian and repeated in my previous paragraph. In other words, if you have not installed it already, install any software which came with your capture device. That will install the necessary capture driver. But in case that driver does not work with VS (which it probably won't), then use the newly installed software to capture, and then edit the captured video in VS.

And don't get too hung up about wanting VS to do the capturing as well. You would probably find that few if any other editing packages could do it, apart from the software supplied by the device's manufacturer. Moreover, as you get on in video editing, you will find that many of us (most?) use quite a variety of programs in any video project. For instance, I use a small freeware program called WinDV to capture my DV video, and another called HDVSplit to capture my high def HDV video -- not because VS cannot do either. It can. It's just that I prefer some aspects of those programs. I also use third party audio editing software for my voiceovers (though VS has this capability, if more limited); another program (SonicFire) to tailor my background music; two or three others for making titles -- heck, even Corel provides third party software for a number of its plug-ins in the Ultimate versions of VS...

[Polkat]

Ken wrote.....
>And don't get too hung up about wanting VS to do the capturing as well. You would probably find that few if any other editing packages could do it...

Can't agree with that at all. As I said, while employed, I worked with a lot of other editors, from Avid to Adobe Premiere, and once unemployed to Videopad, all of which captured on their own just fine. Of course, all editors capture through the software that supports the capture device, and having VS recognize a specific device's software is part of the problem. I use a KWorld 2860 USB device, which VS does recognize on the Capture page list of devices. it just seems to loose the capture plug-in when I try to actually capture.

Regarding the image sizing; I don't understand. Even the lowly VideoPad will change image sizes in software before creating the final video. That way you can mix videos and images of different sizes into a final video file without re-copying and loosing a generation on some material. [I shoot a lot of green/blue screen and prefer analog video for that]. So lets see if I have this right; With VS, if I have shots that are in the 4:3 size, and shots that are in 16:9m size, and I want the final movie to be all 16:9, then I have to convert my 4:3 stuff to new 16:9 files before starting to edit my stuff? Can't something like that be setup ahead of time in, say Project Preferrences?

Bare with me guys. I'm brand new to VS X6 and trying to learn. Thanks!

[BrianCee]

. So lets see if I have this right; With VS, if I have shots that are in the 4:3 size, and shots that are in 16:9m size, and I want the final movie to be all 16:9, then I have to convert my 4:3 stuff to new 16:9 files before starting to edit my stuff?

No that is not necessary - but you would have to do one of the options given in this topic :-
http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php ... 64&start=0
If you want to avoid distorting the video image.

You can change the sizes in the preview window as much as you like just to see the effect and make it look right while editing - but unless you render out a new video file they will not be included in your final video