Cyberlink PowerDirector - 9.0 User’s Guide

CyberLink

PowerDirector 9

User’s Guide

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of CyberLink Corporation.

To the extent allowed by law, POWERDIRECTOR IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTY FOR INFORMATION, SERVICES, OR PRODUCTS PROVIDED THROUGH OR IN CONNECTION WITH POWERDIRECTOR AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, EXPECTATION OF PRIVACY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

BY USING THIS SOFTWARE, YOU AGREE THAT CYBERLINK WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS ARISING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE OR MATERIALS CONTAINED EITHER IN THIS PACKAGE.

The terms and conditions here under shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of Taiwan. PowerDirector is a registered trademark along with other company and product names mentioned in this publication, used for identification purposes and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners. Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. Dolby, Pro Logic, MLP Lossless, The "AAC" logo, and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. Confidential unpublished works. Copyright 1992-2004 Dolby Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Manufactured under license under U.S. Patent #’s: 5,451,942; 5,956,674; 5,974,380; 5,978,762; 6,226,616; 6,487,535; 7,003,467; 7,212,872 & other U.S. and worldwide patents issued & pending. DTS, DTS Digital Surround, ES, and Neo:6 are registered trademarks and the DTS logos, Symbol and DTS 96/24 are trademarks of DTS, Inc. © 1996-2007 DTS, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Manufactured under license under U.S. Patent #’s: 5,451,942; 5,956,674; 5,974,380; 5,978,762; 6,226,616; 6,487,535 & other U.S. and worldwide patents issued & pending. DTS is a registered trademark and the DTS logos, Symbol, DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio are trademarks of DTS, Inc. © 1996-2007 DTS, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

International Headquarters

Mailing Address

Web Site Telephone Fax

CyberLink Corporation 15F, #100, Minchiuan Road, Shindian City Taipei 231, Taiwan

www.cyberlink.com

886-2-8667-1298

886-2-8667-1300

Contents

Introduction............................................ 1

Welcome .................................................................................................................... 1

Latest Features ................................................................................................... 1

DirectorZone ....................................................................................................... 3

PowerDirector Versions ...................................................................................3

PowerDirector Modes ...................................................................................... 4

System Requirements ........................................................................................... 5

The PowerDirector Workspace............... 7

Rooms ......................................................................................................................... 8

Media Room ........................................................................................................ 8

Effect Room ......................................................................................................... 8

PiP Objects Room .............................................................................................. 9

Particle Room ......................................................................................................9

Title Room ............................................................................................................ 9

Transition Room ................................................................................................. 9

Audio Mixing Room ........................................................................................10

Voice-Over Recording Room .......................................................................10

Chapter Room ...................................................................................................10

Subtitle Room ...................................................................................................10

Library Window .....................................................................................................10

Explorer View ....................................................................................................11

Filtering Media in the Library ......................................................................11

Library Menu .....................................................................................................12

Expandable Workspace ......................................................................................12

Preview Window ...................................................................................................13

CyberLink PowerDirector

Preview Player Controls ................................................................................13

Taking a Screen Snapshot ............................................................................14

Media Viewer ....................................................................................................14

Zoom In/Out ......................................................................................................15

Display/Preview Options ..............................................................................15

Editing Workspace ................................................................................................16

Timeline View ...................................................................................................16

Storyboard View ..............................................................................................24

Pre-Production ..................................... 25

Importing Media ...................................................................................................25

Downloading Media ............................................................................................26

Downloading Photos From Flickr ..............................................................26

Downloading Audio From Freesound .....................................................27

Downloading from DirectorZone ..............................................................27

Capturing Media ...................................................................................................28

Capturing from a DV Camcorder ...............................................................28

Capturing from an HDV Camcorder .........................................................30

Capturing from a TV Signal ..........................................................................30

Capturing from a Digital TV Signal ............................................................31

Capturing from a Webcam ...........................................................................31

Capturing from a Microphone ....................................................................31

Capturing from a CD ......................................................................................31

Capturing from a DVD ...................................................................................31

Capturing from an AVCHD Camcorder ....................................................32

Captured Content ...........................................................................................32

Quality Profile Setup ......................................................................................32

Capture Settings ..............................................................................................33

Capture Preferences .......................................................................................33

Detecting Scenes and Extracting Audio .......................................................34

Detecting Scenes in a Video Clip ...............................................................34

Extracting Audio from a Video Clip ...........................................................35

PowerDirector Preferences ...............................................................................35

General Preferences .......................................................................................35

Contents

Capture Preferences .......................................................................................36

Confirmation Preferences ............................................................................37

DirectorZone Preferences ............................................................................38

Editing Preferences .........................................................................................38

File Preferences ................................................................................................39

Hardware Acceleration Preferences .........................................................39

Project Preferences .........................................................................................40

Produce Preferences ......................................................................................41

Creating Your Story .............................. 43

PowerDirector Projects .......................................................................................43

Setting Project Aspect Ratio ........................................................................43

Adding Media to the Editing Workspace .....................................................44

Magic Movie Wizard .......................................................................................44

Slideshow Designer ........................................................................................44

Adding Media to the Workspace ...............................................................48

Adding Effects, PiP Objects, Titles and Transitions .............................51

Editing Your Media ...............................................................................................56

Splitting a Clip ..................................................................................................56

Trimming Video and Audio Clips ...............................................................56

Setting Media and Effect Duration ............................................................58

Muting Media Clips .........................................................................................59

Unlinking Video/Audio Clips .......................................................................59

Editing Audio in WaveEditor .......................................................................60

Editing Images ..................................................................................................60

Fixing and Enhancing Photos/Videos ......................................................60

Power Tools .......................................................................................................61

Freeze Frame Effect ........................................................................................61

Time Info .............................................................................................................62

Setting Video Clip Interlacing Format .....................................................62

Adjusting Video Clip Aspect Ratio ............................................................63

Using Magic Tools .................................................................................................63

Magic Movie Wizard .......................................................................................63

Magic Fix .............................................................................................................64

Magic Motion ....................................................................................................64

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Magic Cut ...........................................................................................................66

Magic Style .........................................................................................................66

Magic Music .......................................................................................................67

Modifying Effects ..................................................................................................67

Modifying a Video Effect ...............................................................................67

Modifying Media in the PiP Designer .......................................................69

Modifying Particle Effects in the Particle Designer .............................74

Modifying Titles in the Title Designer ......................................................79

Mixing Audio and Recording Voice-Overs ...................................................83

Adjusting Audio Clip Volume Levels ........................................................83

Recording Voice-Overs ..................................................................................86

Chapters ...................................................................................................................87

Setting Chapters ..............................................................................................87

Setting Chapter Thumbnails .......................................................................87

Subtitles ....................................................................................................................88

Adding Subtitles ..............................................................................................88

Editing Subtitles ...............................................................................................88

Importing Subtitles from Text Files ..........................................................89

Syncing Subtitles with Dialogue ................................................................89

Producing Your Project......................... 91

Viewing SVRT Information .................................................................................91

Produce Window ..................................................................................................92

Outputting to a File ........................................................................................94

Outputting to a Device ..................................................................................95

Uploading Video to YouTube .....................................................................97

Uploading Video to Facebook ....................................................................98

Creating Discs ...................................... 99

Importing Disc Content ................................................................................... 100

Editing Disc Menus ............................................................................................ 100

Selecting Pre-designed Templates ........................................................ 101

Editing Disc Menu Properties ................................................................... 101

Contents

Editing Disc Menus in the Menu Designer .......................................... 105

Editing Disc Preferences .................................................................................. 110

Burning Discs ....................................................................................................... 111

Burning Your Movie to Disc ...................................................................... 111

Creating Folders ............................................................................................ 112

Erasing Discs ................................................................................................... 112

Appendix ............................................ 113

Hotkeys .................................................................................................................. 113

System Hotkeys ............................................................................................. 113

Project Hotkeys ............................................................................................. 114

Workspace Hotkeys ..................................................................................... 114

Smart Guide Hotkeys .................................................................................. 115

Main Panel Hotkeys ..................................................................................... 115

Library Hotkeys .............................................................................................116

Capture Hotkeys ........................................................................................... 116

Voice-Over Hotkeys ..................................................................................... 117

Preview Window Hotkeys ......................................................................... 118

Title Designer Hotkeys ................................................................................ 118

SVRT: When Can I Use it? ................................................................................. 119

Licenses and Copyrights ................................................................................. 120

Dolby Laboratories ...................................................................................... 120

Technical Support............................... 121

Before Contacting Technical Support ........................................................ 121

Web Support ....................................................................................................... 122

Index .................................................. 123

CyberLink PowerDirector

Chapter 1:

Introduction

This chapter introduces CyberLink PowerDirector and the digital video editing process. It also provides an overview of the program, outlines all of the new features, and includes the system requirements for this version of CyberLink PowerDirector.

Note: this document is for reference and informational use only. Its content and the corresponding program are subject to change without notice. For more helpful tips on using the program, please visit our user forum or see the video tutorials at http:// directorzone.cyberlink.com/tutorial/pdr.

Welcome

Welcome to the CyberLink family of digital video tools. CyberLink PowerDirector is a digital video editing program that lets you create professional-looking videos and photo slideshows, complete with music, voice-overs, special effects, transitions, and much more. You can then output your project to a file, camcorder, portable device, upload it directly to YouTube or Facebook, or burn it to a disc, complete with stylish menus.

Latest Features

This section outlines the latest features within the CyberLink PowerDirector program.

Workspace

• Timeline

- Add up to 100 video and audio tracks to the timeline.

- Linked video and audio tracks when video files with audio are added.

- Option to unlink a video’s audio for ease of editing or movement on the timeline.

- Complete editing freedom on the timeline with the absence of a master video track.

- Less restrictions on which tracks you can add media clips too.

CyberLink PowerDirector

- Group media clips together for ease of movement on the timeline.

- Customize track names so they are easy to identify in the timeline.

- Reorder video tracks using a simple click and drag process.

• Grid lines

- Up to 10x10 grid lines available for more precise placement of media during the editing process.

Edit

• Video effects

- More precise control of your video effects, with the two available edit modes: Clip Mode and Keyframe Mode.

• Transitions

- Apply transitions between media clips on all video tracks, or on a single clip.

- More customizable transitions, with the option to select between the overlapping and cross transition styles.

• Particle Designer

- Use keyframes for more precision control of particle behavior when adding particle effects to your video project.

• WaveEditor

- Record, trim, cut, enhance, and add effects to audio on the timeline of your project using the CyberLink WaveEditor program.

• Previewing content

- Preview your video production in an HD or Full HD preview resolution.

- Select a range of media on the timeline and then render an instant preview with Render Preview to get a better feel of a specific scene.

Produce

• Output to device

- Output your video project to a video format that is compatible with a number of popular mobile phones and other portable devices.

• Output audio

- Output only the audio of your project in the WMA, WAV, or M4A format.

Create Disc

• Burn to removable disk

- Burn your video projects to a removable disk in the AVCHD format.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Miscellaneous

• CPU/GPU optimization

- CyberLink PowerDirector is optimized with the latest technology to provide performance gains during the rendering and playback of HD video content.

DirectorZone

DirectorZone is a web service that lets you search for and download PiP objects, title templates, particle objects, and disc menus created by other users of CyberLink PowerDirector. You may also share your own creations by uploading them to DirectorZone.

To sign in to DirectorZone, click the Sign in to DirectorZone link on the top of the CyberLink PowerDirector window. Go to http://directorzone.cyberlink.com to view more information on the features and benefits of the DirectorZone web site.

PowerDirector Versions

The features that are available to you within CyberLink PowerDirector are completely dependent on the version you have installed on your computer. Supported file formats, editing features, disc-making functions, and other features vary depending on the version that you have.

Check the readme file for detailed versioning information. To determine the version and build number of your installed program, click on the CyberLink PowerDirector logo in the top right corner.

Upgrade Your Software

Software upgrades are available from CyberLink. To upgrade your software, click on the CyberLink PowerDirector logo in the top right corner to open the About window, and then click the Upgrade button. The Upgrade window opens and you can select to download new upgrades and updates for CyberLink PowerDirector. You are redirected to CyberLink’s cyberstore if you choose to purchase new upgrades.

Note: you must connect to the Internet to use this feature.

CyberLink PowerDirector

PowerDirector Modes

CyberLink PowerDirector has separate modes that enable you to perform different tasks:

Mode Description

Capture Capture media in a variety of formats, from a variety of sources.

See "Capturing Media" on page 28.

Edit Edit your production by adding video and photos to the

timeline, then add transitions, effects, titles and much more. See "Creating Your Story" on page 43.

Produce Output your created project to a file, device (camcorder,

mobile phone, or other portable device), or upload it to YouTube or Facebook. See "Producing Your Project" on page

91.

Create Disc Create and burn your video to a disc, complete with a

professional looking disc menu. See "Creating Discs" on page

99.

By default, CyberLink PowerDirector opens in the Edit mode, but you can easily switch among modes to perform your required task.

Chapter 1: Introduction

System Requirements

The system requirements listed below are recommended as minimums for general digital video production work.

System Requirements

Screen Resolution

Memory

CPU

• 1024 x 768, 16-bit color or higher.

• Windows 7/Vista/XP (Windows XP Service Pack 2 is

required for HDV capture).

• 512 MB required

• 3 GB DDR2 or above recommended for 32 bit OS.

• 6 GB DDR2 or above recommended for 64 bit OS.

• AVI Capture/Producer profiles: Pentium II 450 MHz

or AMD Athlon 500 MHz.

• DVD Quality (MPEG-2) profiles: Pentium 4 2.2 GHz

or AMD Athlon XP 2200+.

• High Quality MPEG-4 and Streaming WMV,

QuickTime profiles: Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2.

• Full-HD quality H.264 and MPEG2 profiles: Intel

Corei5/7 or AMD Phenom II X4.

• AVCHD and BD burning profiles: Pentium Core 2

Duo E6400, or AMD Phenom II X2.

CyberLink PowerDirector

System Requirements

Video Capturing Device

Hard Disk Space

Burning Devices

• PCI or USB1.0/2.0 capture device compliant with

WDM standard (i.e. PC Camera and TV tuner with WDM driver).

• DV camcorder connected via OHCI-compliant

IEEE1394 (check CyberLink web site for supported model list).

• DVD camcorder connected via USB2.0 (check

CyberLink web site for supported model list).

• Sony MicroMV/AVCHD/HDV camcorder (check

CyberLink web site for supported model list).

• JVC Everio camcorder (check CyberLink web site for

supported model list).

• Panasonic MicroMV/AVCHD/HDV camcorder (check

CyberLink web site for supported model list).

• 5 GB required (400 MB for SmartSound Quicktrack

Library).

• 10 GB (20 GB recommended) required for DVD

production.

• 60 GB (100 GB recommended) required for BD/HD/

AVCHD production.

• A CD or DVD burner (CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW or DVD-

R/RW) is required to burn VCD/DVD/SVCD/AVCHD* titles.

• A Blu-ray Disc recordable drive is required to burn

Blu-ray Disc titles*.

Microphone

Note: please consult the CyberLink web site for the most recent system requirements information. http://www.cyberlink.com. * optional features in CyberLink PowerDirector. Check the readme file for detailed versioning information.

• A microphone is required for recording voice-overs.

Chapter 2:

AB D

QO I FLP K H

C E

N J

The PowerDirector Workspace

This chapter outlines the CyberLink PowerDirector workspace, and all of its features. The workspace is where you will spend most of your time when using CyberLink PowerDirector, so getting familiar with everything is has to offer is helpful.

A - Rooms, B - Import Media, C - Library Window, D - Expandable Workspace, E - Preview Window, F Display/Preview Options, G - Zoom In/Out, H - Preview Quality/Media Viewer, I - Take Snapshot, J - Preview Player Controls, K - Editing Workspace, L - Range Selection, M - Timeline Ruler, N - Function Buttons, O Track Manager, P - Timeline/Storyboard View, Q - Magic Tools

CyberLink PowerDirector

Rooms

The various rooms in the Edit mode of CyberLink PowerDirector are where you can access all of your media, effects, titles, and transitions when editing your video. You can also gain access to controls for recording and mixing audio, adding chapters or subtitles. By default, the library window displays the Media Room.

Media Room

The Media Room provides access to your media library. The media library contains your video, audio and image files. You can also gain access to a

number of useful color boards and backgrounds that you can use in your video.

Managing the Media Library

Use the button to manage the media in your library.

Note: if you cannot find this button when in the media library, you may need to resize the preview window to reveal it. See "Expandable Workspace" on page 12 for more information.

The options include:

• exporting your entire media library as a PDL file.

• importing a media library PDL file, exported from another project or version of

CyberLink PowerDirector.

• emptying the entire contents of the media library.

Effect Room

The Effect Room contains a library of special effects that are used on the video files and images in your project. For more information, see "Adding Video Effects" on page 51.

Chapter 2: The PowerDirector Workspace

PiP Objects Room

The PiP Objects Room contains a library of graphics that are added on top of the video or images on a video track. You can place PiP objects onto any track in the timeline.

There are three main types of objects:

• static graphics.

• motion graphics that fly through clips.

• decorative borders that are added to frame your clip.

You can modify PiP objects in the PiP Designer. For more information, see "Adding PiP Objects" on page 51.

Particle Room

The Particle Room contains a library of effects you can place on a video track to add a particle effect (snow, dust, smoke, etc.) on top of a video or image on a video track.

You can modify particles in the Particle Designer. For more information, see "Adding Particle Effects" on page 52.

Title Room

The Title Room contains the library of titles that when applied to your project, add credits or comments to your production. For more information, see "Adding Title Effects" on page 53.

Transition Room

The Transition Room contains transitions that you can use on or between clips in your project. Transitions let you control how media appears and disappears in your project, and changes from one clip to the next. For more information, see "Adding Transitions" on page 54.

CyberLink PowerDirector

Audio Mixing Room

In the Audio Mixing Room you can use controls to mix all of the audio tracks in your project. For more information, see "Mixing Audio in the Audio Mixing Room" on page 84.

Voice-Over Recording Room

In the Voice-Over Recording Room you can record a voice over for your video, while you are watching it play back. For more information, see "Recording Voice-Overs" on page 86.

Chapter Room

In the Chapter Room you can automatically or manually set chapter

markers for your project. Setting chapters on your final disc allows viewers to jump from the menu page to the chapter markers you have set in order to navigate through your disc. For more information, see "Chapters" on page 87.

Subtitle Room

In the Subtitle Room you can add subtitles to your video production manually or through the import of a TXT or an SRT file. For more

information, see "Subtitles" on page 88.

Chapter 2: The PowerDirector Workspace

Library Window

The library window contains all of the media in CyberLink PowerDirector, including your video, images and audio files. When you are in other rooms (Effects, PiP Object, etc.), it contains the effects, titles, and transitions you apply to your media.

The media content and available buttons that display in the library window depend on the room you are currently in.

Explorer View

Select the button to toggle the explorer view within the library windows.

In the explorer view you can organize the media in your library folders into subfolders. It also lets you quickly browse through and filter the media in each room.

In the explorer view you can:

• click on to add a new subfolder in a library window.

• select an existing folder and click to delete a previously created subfolder.

• browse a folder’s contents in the library window by selecting it.

CyberLink PowerDirector

Filtering Media in the Library

Use the available drop down menus at the top of the library window to filter the media in it. For example, when viewing the media in the Media Room, use the All Content drop down to display your media, the available color boards, or the available backgrounds. Use the All Media drop down to display all or one type of media file if you want to find a certain type of media file quickly.

Library Menu

Click on to access the library menu. In the library menu you can sort or change the display of the content in the library window, depending on your preference. Other options are available in the library menu and depend on the specific room you are in.

Note: if you cannot find this button when in the media library, you may need to resize the preview window to reveal it. See "Expandable Workspace" on page 12 for more information.

Expandable Workspace

The look of the CyberLink PowerDirector workspace is fully expandable and customizable based on your personal preference.

Chapter 2: The PowerDirector Workspace

Simply drag the borders of the preview window and timeline to resize them to your liking. This allows you to get the most out of your display device space and customize the size of the preview window as you work.

Preview Window

While creating your video production, preview it in the preview window using the available player controls.

Preview Player Controls

With the player controls you can preview your production as you edit, including playing your project from the current timeline position, or pausing and stopping playback.

Click the Clip button to play back only the clip that is selected in the timeline, or Movie to play the entire video production. When viewing media in Clip mode, the cross hairs and grid lines/TV safe zone (if enabled) are visible to help with the placement of the selected clip in the video display area. When in Movie mode, these options are hidden.

Use the button to select a seek by method (frame, second, minute, scene, subtitle, chapter, segment) and then use the buttons on either side of it for a more precise step through of your current production.

CyberLink PowerDirector

You can also click and drag the playback slider, or enter in a specific timecode in the time field and then press the enter key on your keyboard, to quickly find a specific scene.

Select to view your production at full screen in the Media Viewer. See "Media Viewer" on page 14 for more information on using this feature.

Taking a Screen Snapshot

While previewing your project, you can take a still screen snapshot and save it as a BMP, JPG, GIF or PNG image file. To do this click the button on the playback controls.

You can change the image file format (or the default image file name) on the File Preferences tab. See "File Preferences" on page 39 for more information.

Media Viewer

The Media Viewer is similar to the preview window, but provides a larger display of your production, including an option to view it at full screen.

To use the Media Viewer:

• click in the preview window and then select Launch Media Viewer to open

the Media Viewer.

• click in the Media Viewer to view your production at full screen.

• click in full screen mode to return the window to the normal size.

• click in full screen mode to close the Media Viewer.

Preview Resolution

Select and then a preview resolution from the list to set the quality of the video used when previewing your movie in CyberLink PowerDirector. The higher the resolution you select, the more resources that are required to preview your video project.

Preview Mode

CyberLink PowerDirector provides two modes you can use to preview your video production:

Chapter 2: The PowerDirector Workspace

• Real-time Preview: synchronizes and renders clips and effects in real-time,

displaying a preview of your video at the standard 25 (PAL)/30 (NTSC) frames per second.

• Non Real-time Preview: mutes the audio and displays a preview at a reduced

speed to help make editing much more fluid. Useful when editing highdefinition video, using multiple PiP tracks on a less powerful computer, or when you receive dropped frames when previewing. By muting the audio and slowing down the video, CyberLink PowerDirector lets you view more frames per second when your computer has trouble providing a smooth preview during editing.

Note: you can also preview a portion of your video using the Render Preview option. See "Range Selection" on page 19 for more information on this function.

Zoom In/Out

When you place media on the timeline, use the Fit drop-down underneath the preview window to zoom in or out on the video. Zooming in is useful for precise placement of media, while you can zoom out if you want to add media that begins off screen.

Display/Preview Options

CyberLink PowerDirector includes some display and preview options that help make your editing experience easier. Click on to enable the TV safe zone,

display grid lines, or enable dual preview.

TV Safe Zone/Grid Lines

When you place media on the timeline, use the TV safe zone and grid lines to help with the precise placement on your video project’s image. These display options are only available when in the Clip preview mode.

• Click the button and then select TV Safe Zone to enable a box that

indicates the on-screen area of most TV displays.

CyberLink PowerDirector

• Click the button, select Grid Lines and then select the number of lines you

want to display in a grid over the video image. Use this grid to more precisely place the PiP media where you want on the video image.

Once enabled, select Snap to Reference to have the selected objects snap to the grid lines, TV safe zone, and the boundary of the preview window.

Dual Preview

If you have a secondary display device, such as a monitor, TV, or DV camcorder connected to your computer, click the button and select Dual Preview to

extend your workspace and preview your project on a secondary display.

Note: to use a connected monitor or TV as a secondary preview window, you must first enable extend desktop to a secondary display in the Windows Display Properties Settings.

Once enabled, when you select play on the preview window, you can preview your production on both your primary and secondary display ( TV or monitor), or on a connected DV camcorder, depending on your selected preference.

Editing Workspace

The editing workspace is where you create your project by adding your media, various effects, transitions, and titles. The editing workspace has two different views, the Timeline and Storyboard view, which are accessed by clicking on the

or buttons.

Note: you can set which workspace view is displayed by default in "Editing Preferences" on page 38.

Timeline View

The timeline view lets you view your entire project based on running time. This view is useful if you want to insert effects, subtitles, etc. at a specific moment in production. The timeline view also provides a view of all the tracks, media, and other content (chapter markers, subtitle markers) that are displayed in the timeline.

To switch to timeline view, click .

Timeline Tracks

The timeline contains the following tracks:

Tra ck Description

Video tracks contain your project’s video clips and/or images on the timeline. By default, there are two video tracks in the timeline, but you can have up to 100 video tracks by adding more in the Track Manager. Each video track in the timeline may have an associated audio track for the video clip’s audio.

Audio tracks contain the audio in your project. The audio may be the audio portion of a video clip on the video track, or a separate audio track for music clips or other audio. By default there are two audio tracks linked with a video track, and a separate audio track for music, which is always at the bottom track in the timeline. You can have up to 100 audio tracks by adding more in the Track Manager.

The effect track contains any special effects that you want to apply to your final video. Video effects in the effect track are applied to all the video tracks that are positioned above it in the timeline.

Chapter 2: The PowerDirector Workspace

The title track contains the text title effects that appear in your project. The titles you add to this track display over all the content in every video track that display during their duration.

The voice track contains a narrative voice-over or other audio clip.

The chapter track contains all of the chapter markers in your current video production. This track displays when you are within the Chapter Room. Right-click on the timeline and select Show Chapter Track if you always want this track to display in the timeline.

CyberLink PowerDirector

Tra ck Description

The subtitle track contains all of the subtitle markers in your current video production. This track displays when you are within the Subtitle Room. Right-click on the timeline and select Show Subtitle Track if you always want this track to display in the timeline.

The SVRT track displays the SVRT information for your current project. This track displays when you are viewing SVRT information. See "Viewing SVRT Information" on page 91 for more information. Right-click on the timeline and select Show SVRT Track if you always want this track to display in the timeline.

Timeline Behavior

The CyberLink PowerDirector timeline has several behavior features that make it easy to manage media on the timeline.

On the timeline you can:

• place media clips at any position on a video track. If no media is placed before a

media clip on the timeline, your video displays a black screen until the timeline position of your media clip is reached.

• hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and select multiple media clips on the

timeline.

• click and drag the mouse to select multiple media clips on the timeline.

• right click on select media in the timeline and select Group Objects. Doing this

allows you to move all the selected media clips as a group. Select Ungroup Objects to once again allow for individual media clip movement.

Note: you cannot include transitions in grouped objects.

Timeline Ruler

You can resize the timeline ruler for a more expanded or condensed view of your production. To resize the ruler, click on the ruler and drag it.

Chapter 2: The PowerDirector Workspace

Expanding the ruler is especially handy when aligning clips and effects, while condensing it gives you a global overview of your entire production.

You can also right click on the timeline ruler and select View Entire Movie to auto fit your current project in the timeline area. Or select Zoom In or Zoom Out to change the view to your required size.

Use the timeline ruler slider located in the bottom left corner to manually resize the timeline.

Function Buttons

When you select media that is on the timeline, whether it’s a video clip, image, effect, title, etc., several function buttons display above the timeline. These buttons let you perform a variety of tasks or gain access to some important features of CyberLink PowerDirector.

The function buttons that are available depend on the type of media content you

select. However, whenever you select media, the and buttons are

always displayed. Click to remove the selected media content from the

timeline, or to gain access to more timeline functions, which vary depending on the selected media.

Range Selection

Click and drag one of the arrows on either side of the timeline slider to select a range of media on the timeline.

Once selected, you can cut or copy and then paste the selected media to another position on the timeline.

CyberLink PowerDirector

You can also use this feature to manually highlight a portion of a clip that you want to then remove or trim out. Or select Render Preview to have CyberLink PowerDirector render a video preview of only the highlighted range.

Track Manager

In the Track Manager* you can add additional video and audio tracks to the timeline. You can have up to 100 video tracks (with or without an audio track) in the timeline, or add up to 98 additional audio tracks.

Note: * optional feature in CyberLink PowerDirector. Check the readme file for detailed versioning information.

Adding Tracks to Timeline

Each video track you add, adds another layer of PiP video on the tracks above it in the timeline. To add tracks to the timeline, do this:

1. In the timeline view, click on to open the Track Manager.

2. In the Video section, enter in the number of video tracks you want to add to

the timeline. By default, one track is added, but you can add up to 98 video tracks (100 in total) to the timeline, as required.

Note: if you don’t want your additional video tracks to have a track for its audio, enter in 0 tracks in the Audio section.

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