Dazzle MOVIESTAR User guide

F

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IGITAL

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Published August 2000
P/N 78-001-0042

Dazzle Incorporated

47211 Bayside Parkway

Fremont, California 94538

License
Agreement

© 2000 Dazzle Incorporated. All righ ts reserved. No part of th is documentation may be reproduced in any form or
by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without
permission from Dazzle Incorporated.

Dazzle Incorporated reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make changes in content from time to
time without obli gation on the part of Dazzle In corporated to provide no tification of such revision or change.

Dazzle Incorporated provides this documentation without warranty of any kind, either implied or expressed,
including, but not limit ed to, the implied warrantie s of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Dazzle
may make improvements or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation at any
time.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGENDS

If you are a United States government agency, then this docume ntation and the softwar e described herein are
provided to you sub ject to the following restricted rights:

For units of the Department of Defense:

Restricted Rights L egend: Use, duplication or dis closure by the Government is su bject to restrictions as set forth in
subparagraph (c) (1) (ii) for restri cted Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-7013.
3Com Corporation, 5400 Ba yfront Plaza, Sant a Clara, Califor nia 95052-8145.

For civilian agencies:

Restricted Rights Legend:

(d) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights Clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-19 and the limitations set
forth in Dazzle Incorporated’s standard commercial agreement for the software. Unpublished rights reserved under the
copyright laws of the United States.

If there is any software on removable media described in this documentation, it is furnished under a license
agreement included with the product as a separate document, in the hard copy documentation, or on the removable
media in a directory file named LICENSE.TXT. If you are unable to locate a copy, please contact Dazzle and a copy
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Unless otherwise indicated, Dazzle registered trademarks are registered in the United States and may or may not be

registered in other countries.
Dazzle is a registered trademark of Dazzle Incorporated, and Dazzle Digital Video Creator II™ and MovieStar™ are

trademarks of Dazzle Incorporated.
Windows 98™ DirectDra w™, and Active Movie™ are tr ademarks of Mic rosoft Cor poration.
Other brand and product names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.

CANADIAN EMI REQUIREMENTS

“This Class A or B digital apparatus meets al l requirements of the Canadian Int erferences-Causing Equipment Re gulations.”
“Cet Appareil numerique de la classe A/B respecte toutes les exigen ces du Reglement sur le material broilleur du Canada.”

Use, reproduction or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in subparagraph (a) through

License Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

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NTRODUCTION TO

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

Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

At Home 2
For Business 3

About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Assumption 3
Installation 4
Conventions & Concepts 4

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Main Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Video Window 2
Control Button s 2
Mode Buttons 2
Desktop Background 3

Media Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Options P anel 5
Video Editor 6
Title Editor 7
Still Image Editor 8

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

Recording Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Editing Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Tri m m i ng a Vi d e o Cl i p 3
Joining Two or More Video Clips 6
Splitting & Inserting Video Clips 7

Outputting Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Outputting Digital Video to TV/VCR 9
Storing Digital Video on CD-R/CD-RW 10
Storing Digital Video on DVD-R 10
Publishing Digital Video to the Internet 10

Recording Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Video Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Mode Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Video Mode Button 2
Still Image Mode Button 3
Audio Mode Button 3
TV/VCR Output Mode Button 3

Fullscreen, Minimize, & Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Vo lume Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Control Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Control Slider 5
Start Time 6
End Time 6
Go to Beginning 6
Go to End 6
Play/Pause 7
Stop 7

Jump Back 7
Jump Forward 7
Step Back 7
Step Forward 8
Record 8
Magnify/Still Image Capture 8
Loop 8
Clear/Reset 9

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Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Media Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Detach/Reattach Button 2
Album Groups 2
Import Button 4
Convert Button 5
Webcast Button 12
e-mail Button 14
Slide Show Button 15
DVDit! Button 15
Changing Thumbnail Images 15
Properties... 16
The Right-click Menu 16
The Shortcut B uttons 17

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PTIONS PANEL

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Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Configuration Tab 1
Adjust Tab 5
Picture Tab 8
Recording Tab 10

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Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Video Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Adding Clips 2
Deleting Clips 2
Timeline & Timeline Indicator 2
The Editing Tracks 3
Clip Placement 4
Mark In Button 6
Mark Out Button 6
Split Button 7
Record Button 8
New Button 8
Save Button 8
Save As Button 9
Produce Button 9
The “Produce” Options 9
Zoom In/Zoom Out Buttons 11
Undo/Redo Buttons 11
Adding Transitions 12
Adding Titles 13
The Right-click Menu 14

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Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Title Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Font Button 2
Alignment Buttons 2
Scrolling Direction 2
Create Bitma p 3
New Button 3
Save/Save As Buttons 3

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Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Still Image Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Edge Enhancement 2
Rotate/Flip 2
Resize 2
Crop 2
Save 3
Restore 3
Undo/Redo 3

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USTOMER SUPPORT

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Contacting Dazzle Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Address 1
Technical Support 1
World Wide Web 1
By Fax 2
By Phone 2

1

NTRODUCTION TO

I

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™

Welcome

Applications

Congratulations! You have just purchased Dazzle Digital Video
Creator II (DVC II) with MovieStar™, one of the best and
easiest-to-use digital video editing and publishing software programs.

Dazzle MovieStar™ software is used for capturing, editing, and
outputting high-quality, digitally-compressed video with CD-quality
sound from any analog video source. You can also capture
high-quality video stills.

Organize and edit you r VHS, 8mm, and oth er home v ideos and then
record them to the video format of your choice.

Turn that box of old tapes into a hilarious hour of your family’s
funniest videos. Or edit a version of your daughter’s younger years
and surprise her at her sixteenth birthday party or bridal shower.
Hey, home videos should be fun, not closet clutter.

Preserve your fondest memories by copying to CDs or
DVDs—today’s most reliable format.

Did you know videotape degenerates over time even without wear
caused by repeated viewing? So keep your favorite memories warm,
not fuzzy by converting to recordable CDs. They have a 100+ year
shelf life and take up a fraction of the space required for VHS. You
can store about an hour of TV-quality video on a single CD. And,
they can be played on an y computer with a CD-ROM drive. Need a
CD burner? They’re under $150 now and recordable CDs are under a
buck.

Welcome

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With Dazzle MovieStar you can:

Capture Still Digital Images from Your Favorite Videos

Now you can capture the moment like never before and send it to
friends and family. You can even enhance and manipulate the image
in a matter of mo ments.

Create and Edit Your Own Videos

Shoot lots of fun stuff. Edit unwanted footage. Add effects and titles.
Add an audio track of your favorite tunes or a “creative” narration.
Publish your video production and make lots of friends and money.

Share Your Video Clips via E-mail

With Dazzle MovieStar’s MPEG compression, you’ll be sending your
buds some giggles at the office, or a glimpse of little Billy’s first ride
on a two-wheeler.

Post Streaming Video to Dazzle Webcast Theater

™

At Home

Dazzle MovieStar will help you post your movies to the internet.
Select the item you want to pos t and Dazz le Movie Star will f ormat
the video for the internet and upload it to the Dazzle Webcast
Theater. You can then share your movies with friends and family all
over the world!

Add Video to Your Next PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint presentations can be brought to life with the addition of
digital movies. Drag and drop your hottest listings, yo ur most
prestigious product installs, or your best customer endorsements into
your slides to add excitement and interest.

Video is fun and easy . . . just use your imagination.

You can organize and edit your home videos with titles, transitions,
and narration. Whether it is a wedding, a graduation , or a vacation,
Dazzle MovieStar tools help you to create vide o stories that everyo ne
can enjoy and unde rstand.

You can easily copy your projects to other media such as CD-R,
DVD-R, or other removable media such as hard drives or Zip disks

About This Guide 1-3

for portability and safety. You can also output your digital movies
back to video tape to preserve and share them.

You can send video clips via e-mail or by posting streaming video to
a personal web site with the click of a button. The Dazzle MovieStar
solution is the ideal way for distant relatives and friends to stay in
touch and up-to-date.

For Business

About This Guide

Present your products and services w ith video for a professional
look. Send video presentations directly to your cu stomers or post
streaming video cli ps to a company web site. Loop them on a
monitor at a trade show. Insert clips into corporate prod uct
literature, including tutorials on CD and On-Line Help.

Use custom video clips for compelling PowerPoint presentations.
Produce training videos for employees; use Dazzle MovieStar to make

a video that HR can use to familiarize new employees with com pany
policies and procedures and legal issues.

This Guide describes how to use Dazzle’s MovieStar software. It is
organized into ten chapters:

■

Chapter 1: Introduction to MovieStar™

- An introduction to
this guide, a brief overview of MovieStar, and a list of conventions
and concepts.

■

Chapter 2: MovieStar™ User Interface

- A brief introduction to
the desktop software user interface that you see when you start
MovieStar.

■

Chapter 3: MovieStar™ Introduction to Basic Functions

- A

series of short, step-by-step guides to MovieStar’s main functions.

■

Chapters 4 to 9:

including the

Video Editor, Title Edi tor

■

Chapter 10: MovieStar™ Customer Support

Detailed descriptions of MovieStar’s functions,

Main Interface, Media Mana ger, Options Panel

Still Image Editor

, and

.

- Contact and

troubleshooting information.

,

Assumption

This Guide is written with the assumption that you have a basic
working knowledge of the Windows operating system.

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Installation

Conventions &

Concepts

For installation instructions, please refer to the

Guide

included in your Dazzle Digital Video Creator II box.

Quickstart Installation

Conventions used in this manual have been established to help you
learn to use MovieStar quickly and easily. As much as possible, the
conventions correspond to those found in oth er Windows
documentation.

The following is a short description of a few fundamental concepts:

Drag and Drop

The ability in Windows to manipulate files by simply dragging them
with a mouse to the location in which you want to use them.
MovieStar makes wide use of Drag and Drop.

Thumbnail Ic ons

Also known simply as Thumbnails, these are small, graphical
representations of files in Windows and MovieStar. Usually,
thumbnails also contain the file name.

Buttons

Most functions in MovieStar are accessed by clicking on Buttons,
small clickable areas of the user interface. Some buttons are
graphical, some are textual. Almost all Buttons have Tooltips.

Tabs

A special type of button in MovieStar. Tabs open, close, or switch
panels within the user interface.

Tooltips

Brief textual descriptions of functions in the user interface. Tooltips
are accessed by simply rolling the mouse pointer over the area of the
interface you want to learn about, such as a Button or Tab. No click
is required.

Capturing

Converting an analog video or audio signal into a digital format that
can be saved as a file on your computer’s hard drive. This is also
known as “recording” or “digitizing.”

Previewing

Viewing live video in MovieStar’s Video Window either before or
during capture.

About This Guide 1-5

Outputting

Converting digital video or audio files bac k to analog format, saving
digital files to CD-ROMs or DVDs, or publishing d igital files to the
Internet.

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Main Interface

This chapter examines the MovieStar™ user interface. It is a
high-level view designed to give you a basic orientation to the
software. In later chapters, the interface is explained in detail, with a
chapter devoted to each function area.

MovieStar uses an intuitive environment designed to give you logical
control over all parts of your project so that you can quickly create
and output high-quality digital movies and still images.

When you start MovieStar, a Main Interface will be presented on
your computer desktop. It is a compact and intuitive design, with a
Video Window in the center for viewing your selections, Control
Buttons underneath to control playback of audio/video clips, four
main Mode Buttons on the right, and five Tabs along the left and
bottom edges for access ing additional fea tures for managing an d
editing files and options.

Help

Options

Tab

Mode
Video
Window

Buttons

Main Interface

Media Manager

Tab

Control
Buttons

Video Editor

Tab

Still Image
Editor Tab

Title Editor

Tab

Open File

Dazzle

Website

Volume
Control

*

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Video Window

Control Butt ons

The large rectangular window in the center of the Main Interface is
the Video Window. It's where you will see the image from your
video source (camcorder, VCR, etc.) or the image when you playback
a video clip. The Video Window also displays still images.

Video Window

The Control Buttons are located just be low the Video Window. It
includes Start and Stop Time Indicators, a Control Slider, and a series
of VCR-like buttons for Play, Stop, Rewind, Fast Forward, Step Back,
Step Forward, Rec ord, Magnify, Loop , and Eject.

Mode Buttons

The Mode Buttons open the path between your Dazzle MovieStar
software and your input and output dev ices, such as camcorders or
VCRs. Clicking on a Mode button begins initialization of the device
path and the control buttons beneath the Video Window become
active.

Main Interface 2-3

There are four Mode buttons: Video Mode, Still Image Mode, Audio
Mode, and TV/VCR Output Mode.

Video Mode Button

Still Image Mode Button

Audio Mode Button

TV/VCR Output Mode Button

Desktop Background

Vide o Mo de

Video mode lets you capture and save video clips from external
sources, such as a camcorder, TV, or VCR, which is connected to the
DVC-II hardware.

Still Image Mode

Still Image mode captures single-frame still images from your video
sources and lets you save them in various formats

Audio Mode

Audio mode captures sound into WAVE (.wav) or MPEG (.mpa) file
format.

TV/VCR Output Mode

TV/VCR Output mode plays your video though the Digital Video
Creator II to an external device, such as a VCR.

MovieStar puts a Desktop Background behind the Main Interface by
default. If you would prefer not to use it, it can be hidden by either
clicking the close button in the top-right corner of the
background or turning the background off in Options Panel >
Configuration > Background.

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Media Manager

The lower tab on the left-side of the Main Interface opens and closes
the Media Manager panel. The Media Manager is a convenient
organization space for all of your multimedia files. Yo u can see your
files in thumbnail format and you can organize them into groups.
Dragging and dropping one of these thumbnails into the Video
Window lets you view it; dragging one to the Video Editor or Still
Image Editor lets you apply specialized options.

The Media Manager is divided into three main groups: Albums,
Projects, and Effects. Albums contains groups of individual files.
Projects contains groups of video editing proj ects. Effects contains
transitions and titles for video editing.

Just above the tabs are six shortcut buttons fo r common file actions:
Delete, Cut, Copy, Paste, Sort, and Properties.

At the bottom of the Media Manager is a series of input/output
buttons: Import, Convert, Webcast, Slide Show, E-mail, DVDit!.

A convenient feature of the Media Manager is that it is both
re-sizable and floatable. Dragging from the bottom left-hand corner
stretches it to reveal more clips or space for more clips; clicking on
the top left-hand button detaches the Media Manager panel from
the Main Interface to let you use your desktop space more
efficiently. Clicking it again reattaches it to the Main Interface.

Main Groups

Media Manager

Open/Close

Tab

Media Manager 2-5

Shortcut Buttons

Options Panel

Import/Publish

Buttons

On the left side of the Main Interface, the upper tab gives you access
to the Options panel.

Within the Options panel are four sub-panels: Configuration, Adjust,
Picture, and Recording:

Configuration

Configuration sub-panel lets you determine the settings for Video,
Audio, Preference (Language), and Backgro und.

Adjust

Adjust lets you experiment with sophisticated video settings,
including Brightness, Sharpness, and Alignment.

Picture

Picture has options for Size, Quality, Color, and File Format of your
still-image captures.

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Recording

Recording is where you choose the type of clip that you w ill work
on; you can choose from a series of templates or crea te your own;
you can see the current disk space and the co rresponding Duration
Options; and you can select the Working Directory.

Open/Close

Tab

Configuration

Panel

Video Editor

The Video Editor panel is used for integrating the parts of your
project into a finished production. It is accessed by clicking on the
bottom left-side tab. It has spaces for the dragging and droppi ng of
video files, titles, music, and voice-over tracks. These can be split,
trimmed, rearranged, and combined, and scrolling titles and
transitions can be inserted to give your project a professional look
and feel. The panel also stretches and can be expanded on your
desktop.

Time Indicator

Media Manager 2-7

Title Edi tor

Zoom In/Out

Undo

Redo

Delete

Open/Close

Tab

Drop Video clips or Still Ima ges here.
Drop Titles here
Drop Music clips here.
Drop or Record Voice-over clips here.

Control Buttons

The Title Editor is the panel at the bottom-right of the Main
Interface below the Video Window. It is accessed by clicking on the
right-side tab. Existing titles can be edited or new ones can be
created and saved. You can choose different fonts and alignment.
You can also create the effect of your titles scrolling in various
directions. When you save your title, it is saved into the “Titles”
sub-panel in the Media Manager panel. The title can then be
dragged and dropped into Video Editor to become part of y our
project.

Font

Browser

Scrolling
Options

Alignment

Options

Save Title

as an Image

Open/Close

Tab

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Still Image Editor

The Still Image Editor is the panel in the center of the Main
Interface below the Video Window. It is accessed by clicking on the
middle tab when a still image is loaded into the Video Window. A
wide variety of graphic file types can be edited in the editor. Still
Image Editing functions include image enhancement, rotation,
resizing, and cropping.

Image Quality

Rotate

Image

Density

Open/

Close Tab

&

Resize

OVIESTAR

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3

Introduction

NTRODUCTION

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UNCTIONS

F

Your MovieStar software is modularly designed and very easy to use.
In this chapter, we will show you how to accomplish three primary
tasks:

■

Recording Video

your PC.

■

Editing Video

■

Outputting Video

Internet.

In order to perform these tasks you will need a camcorder or other
video source, the DVC-II hardware, and a Personal Computer with
the Dazzle MovieStar installed on it (refer to the

Installation Guide

- from a camcorder or other video so urce to

- using Dazzle MovieStar.

- from your PC to a TV/VCR, CD, or the

for more information).

TO B

ASIC

Quickstart

Recordi ng Video

Introduction

To edit your analog video using MovieStar, you need to make a
digital copy of the video to your PC. This is known as capturing
video.

To Capture Video:

1 Launch the MovieStar software.

In Windows, click the Start button and go to the Program s

■

sub-menu. Move the pointer to the Dazzle DVC II group, and click
on the MovieStar icon.

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2 Select the video settings for capturing.

Click on the Options tab on the upper-left of the main interface to

■

open the Options panel. Under Configuration > Video
Configuration, make sure Video Input is set as Camcorder (or other
appropriate source) and that Video So urce is selected as either
Composite or S-Video to match the input jacks you have used to
connect the video source to the DVC-II hardware.

Start Menu

Video Configuration

Options

3 Start playing video on your camcorder.

Press Play button on your camcorder. This ensures that a video

■

signal is coming from the camcorder to the PC for
viewing/capturing.

Editing Video 3-3

4 Preview video in the MovieStar video window.

Click the Video Mode Button on MovieStar.

■

After a brief initialization, you s hould see the video from your

■

camcorder playing in the video window on your PC monitor.

5 Capture video into the MovieStar Album.

Start capturing by clicking the red Record button in the

■

Control Buttons. The video will start recording and a "Recording…"
message box wil l appear.

Stop capturing by clicking the Stop button in the "Recording…"

■

message box. The captured video will appear as a thumbnail in the
Work Sp a ce Al bu m in Media Manager.

6 View the captured video in the MovieStar Video Window.

Double-click the thumbnail icon of your new video clip. The clip

■

will start playing immediately.

Editing Video

Tr im m i n g a Vi d e o

Clip

Using the above steps you can capture as m any video clips as you
want to the MovieStar album. You can also use the advanced settings
in the Options Panel to capture clips in different formats.

After a video clip is captured, the file is saved on the hard disk and a
thumbnail of it is automatically placed in the Work Space area of
the Media Manager. The clip can now be edited using MovieStar's
Video Editor Panel.

Dazzle MovieStar has many useful editing features. In this section
you will learn about the basic editing features, such as trimming,
combining, splitting, and rearranging video clips.

A common editing application is when you may want to create a
shorter length clip by trimming the beginning and/or the end of the
clip.

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1 Open the Vide o Editor p anel.

Click th e Video Edit or tab.

■

Place and select a Video clip in th e Video Editor.

2

Drag and drop a video clip from the Media Manage r in the top

■

track of the Time Line Editor. The video file will appear as a bar in
the video track.

Click the video in the Editor Panel to select it . The video clip will

■

get a highlighted border to indicate that it has been selected.

Mark the starting point from where you want to start the video.

3

Selecting a
Mark In
Point

Using the buttons in the Control Panel located in the main

■

interface, play the video and pa use it at the rough point you want
it to start.

Move to the exact frame you want by using the Step Forward

■

and Step Back controls.
Click the Mark In button located at the bottom of

■

the Editor Panel to locate the point where you want the clip to
start. Notice the video clip will become shorter in length and the
starting point will be the frame you had chosen to mark in.

Editing Video 3-5

4 Mark the ending point of the video.

Click the video in the Editor Panel to select it . The video clip will

■

get a highlighted border to indicate that it has been selected.
Using the buttons in the Control Panel located in the main

■

interface, play the video and pause it at the rough point
you want it to stop.

Move to the exact frame you want by usin g the Step Forward

■

and Step Back controls.

Select and
Mark Out
Ending Point

Click the Mark Out button located at the bottom of

■

the Editor Panel to locate the point where you want the clip to
end. Notice the video clip will become shorter in length and the
end point will be the frame you had chosen to mark out.

Alternately, you can adjust the start and end time on a clip in the

■

editor by selecting it and dragging it’s left or right edge.

Produce the trimmed clip.

5

Click the Produce button located at the bottom of the

■

Editor Panel. The Produce options panel will appear.
Click the Produce button in the Produce Options Panel. The

■

"Producing…" message will appear until the edited video is
rendered and appears as a new video clip in the Album in the
Media Manager. (Video rendering is a complex process and may
take some time to complete; please be patient.)

Viewing the trimmed video in the MovieStar video window.

6

Double click on the new video in the album.

■

Your new video clip will start playing immediately.

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Joining Two or More

Video Clips

Often as part of editing you may want to join two or more video
clips to produce a single long clip.

1 Open the Vide o Editor panel.

Click th e Video Edit or tab.

■

2 Place the first Video clip in the Video Editor. Drag and drop a video

First
Clip

clip from the Media Manager in the top track of the Time Line Editor.
The video file will appear as a bar in the video track.

Place the second Video clip in the Video Editor.

3

First
Clip

Drag and drop the second video clip from the Media Manager next

■

Second

Clip

to the first clip in the Time Line Editor. The second video file will
appear as a b ar in the vide o track.

Editing Video 3-7

4 Join or Combine the two videos into a single video.

Click the Produce button located at the bottom of the Editor Panel.

■

The Produce options panel will appear.
Click the Produce button in the Produce Options Panel. The

■

"Producing…" message will appear until the new longer video is
rendered and appears as a new video clip in the Album in the
Media Manager. (Video rendering is a complex process and may
take some time to complete; please be patient.)

5 Viewing the new joined video in the MovieStar video window.

Double-click the new video in the album.

■

Your new video clip will start playing immediately.

■

Splitting & Inserting

Video Clips

A common editing application is when you may want to split a
video and insert another clip in the sequence.

1 Open the Vide o Editor p anel.

Click th e Video Edit or tab.

■

2 Place and select a Video clip in the Video Editor.

Drag and drop a video clip from the Media Manage r in the top

■

track of the time line Editor. The video file will appear as a bar in
the video track.

Click the video in the Editor Panel to select it . The video clip will

■

get a highlighted border to indicate that it has been selected.

Mark the point where you want to split the video.

3

Using the buttons in the Control Panel located in the main

■

interface, play the video and pa use it at the rough point you want
to split the video.

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Move to the exact frame you want by u sing the Step Forward an d

■

Step Back controls.
Click the Split button located at the bottom of the

■

Editor Panel to mark the point where you want the clip to split.
Notice the video clip will get split into two clips.

Insert a new video between the two split videos.

Drag and drop the second video clip from the Media Manager

■

between the two halves of the first clip. The second video file will
appear as a b ar in the vide o track.

Produce a final clip.

5

Click the Produce button located at the bottom of the

■

Editor Panel. The Produce Options panel will appear.
Click the Produce button in the Produce Options Panel. The

■

"Producing…" message will appear until the edited video is
rendered and appears as a new video clip in the Album in the
Media Manager.

Outputting Video 3-9

6 Viewing the final video in the MovieStar video window.

Double-click the new video in the album.

■

Your new video clip will start playing immediately.

■

Outputting
Video

Outputting Digital

Vide o to TV/V CR

Your edited digital movies can be output to TV/VCR, CD-R, DVD-R
or published on the Internet.

Follow these steps to record your edited digital movies back to video
tape, or to view them on a TV.

When you are ready to output your project, make su re that the Video

1

Out and Audio Out jacks from the back of the DVC-II Connector box
are connected to the Video In and Audio In jacks of your peripheral
device (TV or VCR) with the appropriate cables.When the
connections are secure and your ext ernal device is powered on and
ready to receive data, click the External Output button on the
bottom-right side of your MovieStar Main Interface. The button will
glow green and a window will di splay that you may no w output to
your external device.

Open a video clip in the Video Window by double-clicking its

2

thumbnail in the Media Manager.
If recording to tape, press the record button on your VCR.

3
4 Click the Play button to start playing the file.

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Storing Digital

Vide o on

CD-R/CD-RW

Storing Digital

Video on DVD-R

Follow these steps to record your edited digital movies to CD-R or
CD-RW.

1 Locate the file or files you want to store either in the M edia Manager

or on your hard drive with Windows Explorer.

2 Burn the files to a CD-R or CD-RW disk with your CD recording

software (not included with DVC-II) according to your manufacturer’s
instructions.

NOTE: If your CD-R software support s it, the easiest method to copy files is
to drag and drop them from the Media Manager.

NOTE: If you want to burn a Video CD, be sure to use the Video CD
template in MovieStar when producing your digital movies.

Follow these steps to record your edited digital movies to DVD-R.

Select the file or files you want to store in the Media Manager (use

1

Ctrl-click to select multiple files).

Publishing Digital

Video to the

Internet

2 Click the DVDit! button to launch DVDit! (the program will open with

your selected files).

3 Follow the instructions in the DVDit! manual.

NOTE: Burning to a CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-R requires a CD-R ,CD-RW, or
DVD-R drive.

Digital movies produced with MovieStar can be published to the
Internet in either Windows Media or Real Media format.

For information on how to publish video clips, refer to

MovieStar Media Manager

.

Chapter 5:

Recording Tips 3-11

Recordi ng Tips

Many factors influence the quality of a digital video recording.
Good-quality video requires capturing as much digital information
as quickly as possible. Video rendering is also a complex process and
may take some time to complete, even on the fastest systems.

Here are some suggestions for readying your system for digital video
capture and rendering:

■

Source Format:

VHS tape is acceptable for home use, but S-VHS

and HI-8 tape is better.

■

CPU:

Use the fastest computer you have available. The faster the

processor, the better.

■

RAM:

Increase your computer’s RAM. Although you can use
MovieStar with only 64MB, you can’t have too muc h RAM.
Adding more RAM to your system will improve performance.

■

Hard Drive:

Use the biggest, fastest hard disk you can, and keep
it in good condition with disk optimization software (you should
regularly scan your hard disk for any signs of trouble).

■

System Perfo rmance:

Quit other applications before using
MovieStar. H aving other programs running simultaneously
degrades system performance. This includes programs such as
browsers and mail programs.

■

S-Video:

S-Video cables are better than composite connections;

use them if your equipment supports S-Video.

■

Video Ca rd:

Recording results and vi deo playback can be affected
by your video card. You might be able to improve performance by
upgrading your card.

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Key Features

Vide o Wind ow

Your Dazzle MovieStar Main Interface is intuitively designed to make
creation of custom projects fun and easy. This chapter examines in
detail the key features of the interface, including the:

■

Video Window

■

Mode Buttons

■

Fullscreen, Minimize, & Close

■

Vol u m e Co n t ro l

■

Control Buttons

The large rectangular window in the center of the Main Interface is
the Video Window. It's where you will see the image from your
video source (camcorder, VCR, etc.) or the image when you playback
a video clip. The Video Window also displays still images.

Key Features

Video

Window

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Mode Buttons

The four Mode Buttons are on the right-side of the Main Interface,
and are, top to bottom, Video Mode, Still Image Mode, Audio Mode,
and TV/VCR Output Mode.

Video Mode

Button

Still

Image Mode
Button

Audio Mode

Button

TV/VCR Output Mode

Button

Video Mode

Button

Clicking on the Video Mode button puts MovieStar
into the Video Mode, which is used for capturing and
saving video (and audio, if wanted) from your video
source in the form of compressed MPEG-2 or MPEG-1
files.

Clicking the Video Mode button opens the Video Window to display
the image from your video source (a warning will appear if
MovieStar fails to detect any video signal).

To capture a video, just click the Record button.
Clicking the Video Mode button again will cancel the Video Mode.
Playing or editing a movie file will automatically cancel the Video

Mode.

Mode Buttons 4-3

Still Image Mode

Button

Audio Mode

Button

Clicking on the Still Image Mode button puts
MovieStar into the Still Image Mode, which is used for

capturing still images from your video source. Still
images are single-frame graphic files captured from your video
source that can be saved in a variety of formats.

Clicking the Still Image Mode button opens the Video Window to
display the image from your video source (a warning will appear if
MovieStar fails to detect any video signal).

To capture a still image, just click the Still Image Capture
button.

Clicking on the Still Image Mode button again will c lose the Still
Image Mode.

Clicking on the Audio Mode button puts MovieStar
into the Audio Mode, which is used for capturing
audio clips and saving them as MPEG audio (. mpa)
files or WAVE (.wav).

Upon clicking the Audio Mode button the Video Window will open
and display the Audio Clip graphic.

Clicking on the Audio Mode button again will close the Audio
Mode.

TV/VCR Output

Mode Butt on

Playing or editing a media file will automatically cancel the Audio
Mode.

The TV/VCR Output Mode button is located on the

bottom-right side of the Main Interface. This button is

a toggle that lets you play your projects out through

the Digital Video Creator II to a variety of external

devices, such as a VCR.
Normally, when you play an audio/ video clip you will see it playing

in MovieStar’s Video Window. Ho wever, when TV/VCR Output is
enabled, clips are played out through the DVC-II’s Video Out and
Audio Out jacks.

TV/VCR Output is used for playing clips to a TV or VCR for
recording them to tape.

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Clicking on the TV/VCR Output Mode button brings up a message
that says MovieStar is ready to play to an external device. Load a
clip by double-clicking its thumbnail in the Media Manager. Click
the Play button to start playback.

Fullscreen,
Minimize, &
Close

The Fullscreen, Minimize, and Close buttons are located in the
top-right corner of the Main Interface.

Fullscreen, Minimize, & Close

Fullscreen

The Fullscreen button is only used when playing back MPEG-1
and MPEG-2 video files in the Video Window. W hen playing an
MPEG-1 file, clicking Fullscreen will expand the Video Window to
fullscreen size. When playing an MPEG-2 file, clicking Fullsc reen
once will open a separate Playback Window with the clip playing at
either 720 x 480 (NTSC) or 720 x 576 (PAL). The Native Size
Playback Window includes its own Control Buttons which you can
use to control playback. Clicking Fullscreen a second time will
expand the Playback Window to fullscreen.

Native Size

Playback Window

Fullscreen is disabled when its function is unavailable.

Volume Control 4-5

Minimize

As in any standard Windows program, clicking Minimize will
minimize MovieStar.

Close

As in any standard Windows program, clicking Close will close
(exit) MovieStar. When in Native Size Playback mode, the close
button will return MovieStar to Normal Playback mode.

Volume Control

Control Buttons

Control Slider

In the bottom-right corner of the Main Interface is the Volume
Control. The Volume Control has a small Speaker Icon button and a
Thumbwheel.

Volume Control

Clicking on the Speaker Icon button (a.k.a., the Mute Button)
toggles between Audio On and Audio Off. Dragging up on the
Thumbwheel will increase the sound volume; dragging down on the
Thumbwheel will decrease the sound volume.

The Control Slider is used for quickly

moving forward or backward through
a video clip or series of images. Simply drag the Play Indicator
handle to the left or right.

As you move, the location of the Play Indicator will be displayed in
the Start Time window as a time with hours:minutes:seconds:
milliseconds (hh:mm:ss:ms).

The Control Slider is disabled when its function is not available.

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Start Time

End Time

Go to Beginning

The Start Time indicator displays different pieces of
information, depending on the mode you are in.

When playing a recorded video file in the Video Window, Start Ti me
will display the time (hh:mm:ss:ms) of the current location of the
Play Indicator (the Play Indicator is the Control Slider handle).

When playing a series of stills or a slide show, Start Time displays
the number of the current image.

When recording, it shows the current length of the recording video.

The End Time indicator displays different pieces of
information, depending on the mode you are in.

When playing a recorded video file in the Video Window, End Tim e
displays the total time (hh:mm:ss:ms) of the current clip.

When playing a series of stills or a slide show, End Time displays the
total number images.

When recording it shows how long you may continue recording.

When playing a recorded video file in the Video Window,
clicking Go to Beginning moves the Play Indicator (the Play

Indicator is the Control Slider handle) to the first frame of the clip.

Go to End

When playing a series of stills or a slide show, clicking Go to
Beginning moves the Play Indicator to the first image of the series.

Go to Beginning is disabled when its function is not available.

When playing a recorded video file in the Video Window,

clicking Go to End moves the Play Indicator to the last frame of
the clip and the clip stops playing (the Play Indicator is the Control
Slider handle).

When playing a series of stills or a slide show, clicking Go to End
moves the Play Indicator to the last image of the series.

Go to End is disabled when its function is not available.

Control Buttons 4-7

Play/Pause

Stop

Jump Back

The Play/Pause button works like a standard VCR play
button, except that it is a toggle (the two functions are on
one button). Clicking Play begins playing the currently
loaded video clip.

The Play button is also used when playing a slide show or series of
multiple still images.

Play is disabled when its function is not available.
Clicking Pause pauses the playback of a video, slide show, or series

of images at the current point. Clicking Play resumes playback from
the pause point.

Pause is useful for setting Mark In and Mark Out points when using
the Video Editor.

Clicking Stop stops playback of a video, or series of images
and returns to the beginning. Clicking Play resumes playback
from the first frame.

Stop is disabled when its function is not available.

Clicking Jump Back in the Video Editor moves the Control
Slider back to the beginning of the selected clip in the Video
Editor, to allow you to move around the project quickly.

Jump Forward

Step Back

Jump Back is disabled when its function is not available.

Clicking Jump Forward in the Video Editor moves the
Control Slider forward to the end of the selected clip in the
Video Editor, to allow you to move around the project

quickly.
Jump Forward is disabled when its function is not available.

The Step Back button is used to go back one frame in a
paused video file, or to go to the previous image in multiple
image playback.

Step Back is disabled when its function is not available.

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Step Forward

Record

Magnify/Still

Image Capture

The Step Forward button is used to go forward one frame in a
paused video file, or to go to the next image in multiple
image playback.

Step Forward is disabled when its function is not available.

Clicking Record begins the recording of audio or video,
depending on which Mode you are in (still images are

captured with the Still Image Capture button). Movies and
audio clips are saved according to the preferences that are selected in
the Configuration, Adjust, and Recording options.

Click the Stop button in the Recording message box to stop
recording.

Record is disabled when its function is not available.

These buttons are used only with still images.
The Magnify button is active whenever a still image is loaded

in the Video Window. The Still Image Capture button is
available only when you are in the Still Image Mode (see the
Mode Buttons).

Loop

When a still image is loaded in the Video Window, clicking Magnify
will open a separate window displaying the image in its actual size.

The Still Image Capture button is used for capturing still images, or
"frames," from live video. The image is saved in the size and format
that are selected in the Options > Picture options, and a thumbnail
of the new image will appear in the Work Space.

These buttons are disabled when their functions are not available.

Loop is another toggle button. When Loop is enabled, the
currently playing video file, slide show, or multiple image

playback will play over and over again (in an endless "loop")
until paused or stopped; when Loop is disabled , the currently
playing video file, slide show, or multiple image playback will play
through once and then stop.

Loop is disabled when its function is not available.

Control Buttons 4-9

Clear/Reset

To unload a file from the Video Windo w, use the Clear
button. Clicking Clear clears the player of whatever file is
currently loaded (video, audio, or a still image).

Also, clicking Clear/Reset will cancel any active mode in MovieStar.

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This chapter examines in detail the key features of the Media
Manager, including:

File Management
Albums
Projects
Effects
The Convert B utton
The Webcast Button
Slide Shows
E-mail
DVDit!

ANAGER

M

Media Manager

Key Features

The Media Manager is used for creating and manipulating
customizable albums of your multimedia files. These albums help
you organize your work so those files can be stored and accessed in
an efficient manner.

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Media Manager

Detach/Reattach

Button

Album Gro ups

For your convenience, the small button on the upper-left of the
Media Manager Panel lets you detach the Media Manager Panel from
the Main Interface so that you can position it where you want. To
reattach the panel, just click the Detach/Reattach button again.

Detach Reat tach

Files are organized into three main Album Groups in the Media
Manager: Media, Projects, and Effects. Each of these groups has its
own tab. To select a different group, click on it’s tab.

Each of the main Album Groups (tabs) are further divided into
albums. Albums are the fundamental means of organizing
multimedia files with the Media Manager. These albums are accessed
through the pull-down menu just under each of the main tabs. You
can add as many of your own Media a nd Projects albums as you
wish.

To add a new album in Media or Projects, right-click on the tab and
choose New Album. To delete or rename an existing album,
right-click on the album name in the pull-down men u, and choose
Delete Album or Rename Album.

Media Manager 5-3

Actually, Albums do not contain files. Rather, they contain
references (or "links") to files. The Media Manager is a catalog
(database) of your fi les. When you place a f ile in an album, a
thumbnail image with a link to the actual file is created.
This system means that you can reference a file in several different
Albums while storing only one copy of it on disk.
It also means that, once referenced, files should not be moved from
their referenced locations.

Files within the Media Manager are referenced from a specific
location. If you later move or delete the files a red “X” will appear
on the thumbnail, indicating that the file is unavailable or has been
deleted. You can eliminate the “X” by browsing to the new location
from Item Properties (in the Right-click menu). If the files are stored
on a removable medium, such as CD-R, simply reinserting the disk
before opening the album will restore the links. If the files have
been deleted, you should also delete the thumbnail from the media
manager.

Shortcut Buttons

Album Groups

Pull-down

Menu

File

Thumbnails

NOTE: Albums in Effects cannot be added, deleted, or renamed.

Media

Media includes Sa mples, Work Space, plus any ad ditional albums
you create, and is the place to store your various media files.

Wor k Sp ac e

Work Space is a holding area for files with which you are currently
working. Any new files you capture with MovieSt ar or open in the
Video Window are au tomatically placed in the Work Space album.

The Work Space album cannot be deleted.

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Samples

The Samples album is included to gi ve you professional media clips
to experiment with. We suggest you look at thes e before making
your own albums.

If desired, the Samples album can be deleted.

Projects

Projects includes Project Space plus any other albums you create,
and is the place to store your MovieStar editing projects.

Project Space

The Project Space holds links to all of your Editing Projects. Editing
Projects are created in the Video Editor. A saved project remembers
all of its clips and settings, such as In and Out points.

Projects can be easily deleted by right-clicking on the project's
thumbnail and choosing Delete.

The Project Space album cannot be deleted.

Effects

Effects includes the Transitions album and the Titles album, which
are used in your MovieStar editing projects.

Transitions

Transitions allow you to add a special effect transition between two
clips. Transitions come in three groups, Long Rendering, Fast
Rendering and User Installed. Using Fast Rendering titles will reduce
the time it takes to produce your movies.

Titles

In Titles, you can select text titles to add to your movie editing
projects. The Titles album stores all of your existing titles, and new
ones can be created using the Title Editor.

Import Button

One way to add files to albums is to use the Import button.
Import allows you to bring in single or multiple files.
Imported files are added to the active album.

To Import files:

1 Open the Media Manager.

Select the Album to which you want to add the files.

2

Click Import.

3

Media Manager 5-5

4 In the dialog box, navigate to and select the files you want to

import.

5 Click Import.

Files can also be imported by dragging them directly to the album of
your choice or by using the standard Windo ws Copy and Paste
functions.

NOTE: When files are captured or opened in the Video Window, they are
automatically added to the Work Space album. Likewise, when Projects are
saved in the Video Editor, thumbnails are automatically added to the Project
Space album.

Convert Button

MovieStar includes the ability to convert captured au dio and
video files to RealMedia™ and Microsoft Windows Media™ formats.
These files are specially formatted for streaming (playing) over the
Internet. These files are highly compressed and can be optimized for
various data transfer rates.

To view RealMedia™ files, the viewer must have RealPlayer™
support. RealPlayer™ support is integrated with many new web
browsers, or can be added by downloading the free RealPlayer™. For
more information, go to http://www.real.com.

Microsoft Windows Media™ files can be viewed with Microsoft
Media Player™ which comes standard with Windows, or can be
added by downloading it for free from http://www.microsoft.com.

You can convert any MPEG audio (.mpa), MPEG video (.mpg), or
WAVE (.wav) to streaming format.

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To convert file s with File Conver ter:

Select the file or files you wish to convert by clicking (or CTRL-clicking) on

1

their thumbnail images in the Media Manager. You can also add files by
clicking the Add Files button and browsing through Windows.

Choose the type of file you are converting to in the pull-down menu.

2

Choose either Real Media or Microsoft Windows Media
MovieStar will default to the most common setting in the settings tab. You

3

can increase the quality by changing the targ et audience.

4 File identification information can be changed in the File Info tab.
5 Click the Convert button.

Media Manager 5-7

The various options and settings available for conversion are:

File Size (KB), Total Size (KB), Free Space (KB)

These windows display the resulting File Size after conversion of the
selected source file, the Total Size (after conversion) of all checked
files, and the current amount of Free Space on your working
directory drive, respectively.

Multiple or Single Bitrate

This allows you to choose between Multiple or Single Bitrate. With
Multiple Bitrate, you can select templates targeting different
connection speeds, with Single Bitrate you may choose only those
templates that target single connection speeds.

Stream Template

Here you can select the bitrate for your target audience when using
Microsoft Windows Media format. This allows more precise con trol
over the conversion type to maximize the efficiency of your
conversion. The following descriptions describe in more detail the
template formats for those who would like more information on
how they differ.

Template Names and Descriptions.

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1. Dial-up Modems - ISDN Multiple Bitrate Video

Creates one ASF stream or file for multiple target audiences. Use
this setting to encode multiple bandwidths that support client
connections over dial-up modems and single channel ISDN using
speeds between 28.8 Kbps and 56Kbps and has a total live
distribution bandwidth requirement of 150 Kbps.

2. Intranet - High Speed LAN Multiple Bitrate Video

Creates one ASF stream or file for multiple target audiences. Use
this setting to encode multiple bandwidths that support client
connections ranging from dial-up modems to high speed corporate
Internet connections. This MBR stream contains target bitrates of
150, 300, 500, and 700 Kbps and has a total live bandwidth
distribution requirement of 1637 Kbps.

3. 28.8, 56, and 100 Multiple Bitrate Video

Creates one ASF stream or file for multiple target audiences. Use
this setting to encode multiple bandwidths that support client
connections ranging from 28.8 and 56 dial-up modems to
corporate intranet connections. This MBR stream contains target
bitrates of 22, 35, and 100 K bps and has a total live bandwidth
distribution requirement of 144 Kbps.

4. 6.5 Vo ice Audio

Creates an ASF stream or file suitable for encoding low bitrat e
voice-only audio.

5. 16 AM Radio

Creates audio ASF content that has AM-radio-quality mono audio
content. Use this setting to encode a single band width that
supports client connections over modems operating at 28.8 Kbps
or greater. Good for radio, music, and general purpose content.

6. 28.8 FM Radio Mono

Creates audio ASF content that supports client connections over
modems operating at 28.8 Kbps or greater. Good for content that
is audio only, such as radio and music.

7. 28.8 FM Radio Stereo

Media Manager 5-9

Creates audio ASF content that supports client connections over
modems operating at 28.8 Kbps or greater. Good for music
content. Note that the 28.8 mono template is a good alternative
setting for some types of content such as radio or mixed audio.

8. 56 Dial-up High Quality Stereo

Creates audio ASF content that supports client connections over
dial-up modems operating at 56-Kbps or greater. Good for radio,
music, and general purpose audio content.

9. 64 Near CD Quality Audio

Creates near-CD-quality stereo audio ASF content for clients with
dual-channel ISDN or better connections. Good for radio, music,
and general purpose audio content. Also suited for local playback.

10. 96 CD Quality Audio

Creates CD-quality stereo audio ASF content for clients w ith high
speed internet and LAN connections. Also suited for local playback.

11. 128 CD Quality Audio

Creates CD transparency quality audio ASF content for clients with
high speed internet and LAN connections. Also suited for local
playback.

12. 28.8 Video Voice

Creates video ASF content for clients connecting with 28.8 Kbps
dial-up modems. Best used with content that is voice oriented,
such as presentations and news. This template has multiple bitrate
support enabled and therefore the additional video data creates a
total live distribution bandwidth requirement of 31 Kbps.

13. 28.8 Video Audio Emphasis

Creates video ASF content for clients connecting with 28.8 Kbps
dial-up modems. Best used with content that requires more
emphasis on audio, such as music videos. This template has
multiple bitrate support enabled and therefor e the additional video
data creates a total live distribution bandwidth requirement of
31Kbps.

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14. 28.8 Video For Web Server

Creates video 28.8 Kbps ASF content appropriate for streaming
from a Web server. This setting uses a single bitrate which is
necessary when hosting ASF files for HTT P streaming on a ser ver
not using Windows Media Services.

15. 56 Dial-up Modem Video

Creates video ASF content for clients connecting with 56 Kbps
dial-up modems. This template has multiple bitrate support
enabled and therefore the ad ditional video data creates a total live
distribution bandwidth requirement of 52 Kbps.

16. 56 Dial-up Video for Web Server

Creates video 56 Kbps modem ASF content ap propriate for
streaming from a Web server. This setting uses a single bitrate
which is necessary when hosting ASF files for HTTP streaming on a
server not using Windows Media Services.

17. 100 Video

Creates video ASF content for clients with 100 Kbps network
connections, such as corporate LANs and dual-channel ISDN
connections.

18. 250 Video

Creates video ASF content for clients with 250 Kbps network
connections, such as cable modems, DSL, and LAN connections.

19. 512 Video

Creates high-quality video and near-CD- quality audio ASF content
for clients with 512 Kbps network connections, such as cable
modems, and LAN connections.

20. 1Mb Video

Creates 1 Mbps high-quality video and near-CD-quality audio ASF
content for clients with high-speed internet and LAN connections.

20. 3Mb Video

Media Manager 5-11

Creates 3 Mbps high-quality video and near-CD-quality audio ASF
content for clients with high-speed internet and LAN connections.

The following settings apply to Real Media conversion only. These
options are available in the settings tab.

Vide o Qu ali ty

Like Audio Quality, this allows you to change the file size by
adjusting the quality of the file.

Player Compatibility

Here you can select the compatibility of your file type.

Customize

This allows you to set custom settings for the conversion process.

Copy Protection

When this is checked, it allows viewers to save your clip after they
have downloaded it for viewing. When unchecked, the file is
read-only when posted.

The Folder Ta b allows you to manage the way your flies are stored.

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Ta r g e t A lb u m

This allows you to select which Album your converted file is saved
in.

Ta r g e t Fo l d e r

Here you can select the folder in which your converted file is saved.

Name Conflict Resolution

If the na me of the o utput fil e already exists on disk, thi s option
instructs MovieStar how to handle the conflict. Rename will append
the text of your choice to the file name. When Ask is selected, you
will be prompted for instructions. This feature prevents accidental
overwriting, and file saving problems.

Webcast Button

The Webcast button lets you upload streaming video to the
Dazzle Webcast Theater. The first time you click here, you will be
asked to register your name and password. From then on, you will
have personal access.

The Webcast Theater Panel

The Webcast Theater panel helps you to upload your movies and
still images to the Dazzle Webcast Theater. Here you can Webcast

Media Manager 5-13

streaming video over the internet, and share it with friends and
family by sending them invitations to view your videos online. You
can also send e-mail videos and create links to your videos in other
websites.

To Upload to Dazzle Webcast Theater:

1 Select the file or files you wish to upload by clicking the thumbnail

images in the Media Manager. You can also add files by clicking the
Add Files button and browsing through Windows.

2 Choose either Real Media or Microsoft Windows Media in the

pull-down menu.

3 Choose your target audience in the Stre am Template window on

the Settings tab.

4 File identification information can be changed in the File Info tab.
5 Click the Upload button. Videos not already in the streaming

format will be converted before uploading.

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NOTE: Conversion only applies to files that have not been converted to a
streaming format.

To access your posted files, simply click on the Manage button

. This takes you directly to the Dazzle Webcast Theater Web

site.

e-mail Button

The e-mail button is a shortcut for sending files in the Media
Manager to someone as an e-mail attachment. Here's how it
works.

To use e-mail:

If you have a MAPI-compatible e-mail applic ation (such as Outlook)
installed on your system, you can use the e-mail button.T he e-mail
program will be launched and your images or movies will automatically
be attached to a new message.

1 Select the file or files in the Media Manager you want to send by

single-clicking on them (use Ctrl-click for m ultiple selections). The
files must all be in the same Album.

2 Click e-mail.
3 Address the message and se nd it.

NOTE: MovieStar's E-mail button will work with any MAPI-compliant e-mail
program. MAPI stands for Micr osoft's "Messaging Application Pro gram
Interface." It is a standard for exchanging information between
communication programs. If no compatible e-mail program is present, the
E-mail button will be grayed-out. Check your e-mail program's
documentation to see if it is MAP I-compliant. (If your e-mail application is
not MAPI-compliant, you can still use it to send images or movies by
e-mail-you'll just have to launch the program and attach the files by
yourself.)

NOTE: Although you can theoretically send any number of files of any size,
in actuality, you should avoid sending too many files or files that are too
large. Usually, attachments should be no larger than a megabyte or two. To

Media Manager 5-15

keep images small, use a compressed format, such as JPEG. For video, use
the Video E-mail Template (see Cu stomize unde r Recordin g Options). Or use
a streaming format like Real Media or Windows Media formats.

Slide Show Button

DVDit! Butt on

Slide Show plays any number of clips selected in the Media

Manager as a slide show in the Video Window. Slide shows
can also be play in fullscreen resolution. Slide Show works with still
images and/or movies. Clips are played in the sort order they appear
in an album. Files for a slide show must all be in the same album.

To m a k e a S l i d e S h o w :

Select the file or files in the Media Manager you want to show by

1

single-clicking on them (use Ctrl-click for m ultiple selections).
Click the Slide Show button to play a fullscreen show; drag and

2

drop the files to the Video Window to play a show in the Video
Window.

NOTE: The Playback Delay between slides is set in the Picture options under
Frame. The del ay between a ll slides is t he same.

The DVDit! button provides an easy link to Sonic Solutions

DVD authoring software, DVDit! comes bundled with
MovieStar and is installed at the same time. DVDit! is used for
creating DVD-format disks from your MPEG movies.

Changing

Thumbnail Images

Select a file or group of files in the Albums group tab and click on
the DVDit! button to launch the application. The selected file or files
will automatically appear in the DVDit! under Default Themes.

For more information on using DVDit!, consult the

Guide

.

You can quickly and easily change the thumbnail image used for any
item's thumbnail icon.

To change the image used for an item's thumbnail icon:

Open the still image you want to use for the thumbnail in the

1

Video Window.

DVDit! User’s

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2 Right-click on the item's current thumbnail and choose Change

Thumbnail (Change Thumbnail cannot be undone).

Properties...

The Right-click

Menu

To get information on an item, such as its file type or location,
right-click on its Thumbnail icon and choose Properties…

Properties… is also used to title an item or add notes.

There are a number of actions that can be performed for any file in
the Media Manager by right-clicking on a file’s thumbnail. A pop-up
menu will appear with several options.

Right-click Menu

Properties

Displays the properties of a file, such as size, location, file format,
Title, and Notes.

Change Thumbnail

Changes a file’s thumbnail to whatever still image is loaded in the
Video Window (a still image must be opened in the Video Window
before choosing Change Thumbnail).

Cut, Copy, Delete, and Paste

Allows you to access these standard Windows operations (they can
also be performed from the Shortcut Buttons or your keyboard).

Sort

Allows you to sort the file thumbnails in the Media Manager by
Title, Type, or Capture Time.

Media Manager 5-17

The Shortcut

Buttons

You can also use the Shortcut Buttons at the top of the Media
Manager to perform Delete, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Sort. These
functions work the same as in the Right-click Menu.

Delete

Paste

Sort

CopyCut

Album Options

In addition, the sixth Shortcut Button, Album Options, lets you
change the Movies Directory and Pictures D irectory. To change
directories, click Album Options and browse to the new location.

The Shortcut Buttons are disabled when their function is
unavailable.

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Key Features

■

■

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Options

O

This chapter examines in detail the key features of the Options
panel, including the:

Configuration
Adjust
Picture
Recording

There are many preference settings, or Options, that can be set in
MovieStar for your audio, video, and still image recordings.

To access Options, click the Options tab on the upper-left side of the
Main Interface. The Options panel will open on the left side of the
Main Interface.

P

ANEL

Configuration Tab

Key Features

The

Options

Tab

There are four categories of Configuration options that can be set:
Video, Audio, Preference, and Background. Clicking once any of
these buttons will reveal a panel with more buttons for each
configuration option (called a "pull-down menu").

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Configuration

Options

Panel

Video Configuration

There are three Video Configuration options that can be set: Video
Input, Video Source, and Video Standard.

Video

Configuration

Options 6-3

1Video Input

There are four choices: PC Camera, Camcorder, TV or DVD o r LD,
and VCR. Select the setting which most closely matches your video
source's output (for example, if you are using a VHS video tape
deck, select VCR; if you have a Hi-8 video camera, choose
Camcorder).

2Video Source

Select the source (Composite or S-Video) that matches the type of
input jack you are using with DVC-II. If you are using both input
jacks, the Video Input button allows you to switch between them.
(If you are using only one input, MovieStar can actually autodetect
the one you are using, so you don't really need to w orry about this
button).

3Video Standard

Choose the video format of your video source. MovieStar supports
two formats: NTSC and PAL. NTSC is the format used in places
such as America, Canada, and Japan. PAL is the standard used in
England, most of Europe, Australia, and many other countries.
MovieStar will autodetect between NTSC and PAL. You will only be
able to select standa rds once they have been selected by Movie Star.

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Audio Configuration

There are three settings in the Audio Configuration: Source, Volume,
and Input Gain.

Audio Control

Panel

1Source

Device Line is currently the only audio source option.

2Volume

The Volume slider shows, in percent, the output sound level.
Moving this slider is the same as adjusting the volume with the
Thumbwheel. If you prefer, you can type a percentage value
(0-100) directly instead of using the slider.

3Input Gain

The Input Gain controls the sound input level of your recordings.
The level is shown as a percentage, 0 to 100. If the Input Gain
slider is too low you won't hear any sound; if it is too high, th ere
will be distortion. Adjust the slider so that you can easily hear the
sound from your recordings without distortion. About half to
three-quarters of the way to the right is probably a good starting
point.

Just to the left of both the Volume and Input Gain sliders is a small
Speaker Icon button that toggles the input and output levels on
and off. When the level is muted, the Speaker Icon button will be
crossed out.

Options 6-5

These buttons are grayed- out when their function is not availab le
(as are other buttons).

Preference

International versions of MovieStar allow the user to choose an
onscreen operating language.

Click the Preference Configuration button and select the language
you prefer.

Background

The Background option allows you to toggle MovieStar’s desktop
background On or Off.

Adjust Tab

Usually, video images in MovieStar look very good as soon as you
start the program. But, if you would like to alter or improve the way
an image appears on screen, the software gives you an easy way to
do it.

The Adjust panel controls seven adjustments: Brightness, Contrast,
Saturation, Tint, Shar pness, Horizontal Al ignment, and Vertical
Alignment. You can use these very much like you use their
counterparts on your TV or computer monitor. Click and hold on
any slider to move it to the left or right. As you do so, you will
immediately see the changes in the Video Window. There is also a
numerical value for each slider that also changes. If you prefer, you
can use your mouse pointer to highlight the numerical value and
then type in from your keyboard whatever number you like.

MovieStar must be in Video or Still Image mode to enable the Adjust
panel.

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Adjust Options

Panel

NOTE: You cannot enter a nu mber that is outside of th e adjustm ent's range.

To set all of the values back to their default value, click on the
Default Video Options button just below the sliders.

NOTE: You can also adjust an image's appearance after you have captured
and saved it by using MovieStar’s Still Image editor or any other graphics
editor.

Options 6-7

Here's more detailed information on the various adjustments:

Brightness

This control sets the brightness level of the video input source. The
default setting is 128. The

Brightness

value can be set between 0 and

+255.

Contrast

This control sets the contrast level of the video input source. The
default setting is 71. The Contrast value can be set between 0 and
+127.

Saturation

This control sets the color saturation level of the video input source.
The default setting is 64. The Saturation value can be set between 0
and +127.

Tint (H ue)

This control sets the color tint (hue) level of the video input source.
The default setting is 0. The Tint value can be set between -128 and
+127.

Sharpness

This control sets the sharpness level of the video input source. The
default setting is 1. The Sharpness value can be set between 0 and
+3.(Not available for some hardware as this is an automatic feature.)

Horizontal Alignm ent

This control sets the horizontal position of the video input source in
the Video Window. The default setting is 10. The Horizontal
Alignment value can be set between 0 and +20.(Not available for
some hardware as this is an automatic feature.)

Vertical Alignment

This control sets the vertical position of the video input source in
the Video Windo w. The default setting is 14. The Vertical Alignment
value can be set between 0 and +16.(Not available for some
hardware as this is an automatic feature.)

NOTE: To reset all of the Adjust options to their original settings, click the
Default Video Options button.

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Picture Tab

The Picture options panel is used to set the Capture Options and the
Save Options for your still images.

Picture Options

Panel

Capture Op tions

There are three Capture Options: Frame, Size, and Quality.

1Frame

The Frame option allows you to choose between Single, Multiple,
and Periodic frame capture. Playback Delay (in seconds) for Slide
Show can also be set.

Single captures a single frame from the video source.
Multiple captures a series of frames; type the number of frames you

want.
Periodic also captures a series of frames, but it captures them at a

set interval of time. Type the number of frames and the interval you
want.

2Size

Clicking this button pulls down a menu of frame size choices. The
frame size is the dimensions, measured in pixels, you want the still
picture you will grab to be. Pixels are the small "dots" on your
computer screen, and different size s creens have different numbers
of dots. For example, a typical 15" com puter monitor displays 800
pixels across and 600 pixels up and down (this is the resolution of

Options 6-9

the monitor) and it is abbreviated 800x600. MovieStar has seven
preset sizes, ranging from 160x120 to 1600x1200, all with a
standard aspect ratio of 4:3 (the same as your computer monitor
and your TV picture at home). This means that for every four pixels
across, the image is three pixels high. This 4:3 ratio is the standard
for normal video images. Custom Size allows you to choose other
sizes. Deselect the Keep Correct Aspect option if you want a size
not in the 4:3 ratio. The default size is 320x240.

3Quality

Here, Quality refers to the video source. Since most videos contain
moving images, Moving Scene is the def ault choice. There are also
three levels of still scenes - Still Scene, High Quality Still, and
Highest Quality Still. Choose the option that most closely matches
your input source and the type of image you want. (Th at is, when
recording from video that has motion in it, use Moving Scen e;
when capturing video with little or no motion, such as from a
tripod-mounted camera fo cused on a flower, use the highes t-quality
still setting that yields good results.)

Save Options

There are two Save Options: Color and Format.

1 Color

The Color option lets you choose the color depth of your still
images. Color depth is the color quality of a picture, i.e. how many
colors you want the computer to be able to use to display the
picture. The more colors the comp uter can use, the better the
picture will look. Of course, with more colors the image's file size
will also be larger.

The default color choice is True Color (24-bit). This means your
computer will be able to use up to 16.7 million colors to display
your image! The four other choices, in descending order of quality,
are High Color (16-bit), 256 Color (8-bit), 16 Color (4-bit), and
Black and White (1-bit).

Which color depth you choose depends on what you plan to do
with the image after you captur e it. If, for example, you plan to
paste the image into a newsletter which will be printed on a
grayscale printer, 256 Color could be enough, since that would be
the limit of the printer's printing capability.

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NOTE: Not all color depths are available for all image formats.

2Format

The Format option determines the format in which still images will
be saved. MovieStar supports the following still image file formats ­Bitmap (*.bmp), Bitm ap RLE (*.bmp), EPS (*.e ps), JPEG (*.jpg),
JPEG-TIF (*.jpg), Kodak Fl ashPix JPEG (*.jpg), TIFF (*.ti f), TIF LZW
Compression (*.tif), TIFF with Packbits (*.tif), PCX (*.pcx), Targa
(*.tga), Windows Metafile (*.wm f), PSD (*.psd).

Additionally, JPEG images are available in three preset qualities:
Excellent, Good, and Fair.

NOTE: The higher an image's quality s etting, the larger the image's file size
will be.

Choose the format that best su its your needs (keep in mind the
ultimate destination for your graphic).

Recording Tab

The Recording options panel contains various formatting settings for
your audio and video recordings .

Recording Options

Panel

Options 6-11

Audio/Video Clip Button

The Video Clip button sets the type of recording you will make.
There are two choices: Video Clip or Audio Clip. Video Clip records
either the audio and video signals of your source or the video signal
only and is used for making MPEG movies. Audio Clip records only
the audio signal, whic h can be saved as eith er a Wave (*.wav) or
MPEG audio (*.mpa) file.

If the Movie Mode is active, selecting Audio Clip will automatically
switch MovieStar to the Audio Mode; conversely, if the Audio Mode
is active, selecting Video Clip will automatically switch MovieStar to
the Video Mode.

Te m p l a te O p t i o n s

There are two buttons in the Template Options area.

1 Current Template Butt on

The Current Template button selects and displays the name of the
template in use and the names of all available templates. Templates
are saved as reusable setting config urations. There a re twelve preset
templates for Video Clip and Audio/Video Clip recording. For Audio
Clip recording, there are four templates: CD Quality (MPEG), FM
Quality (MPEG), AM Quality (MPEG), and Audio CD (WAV E).
Choosing any one of these will automatically optimize the
MovieStar recording settings for that use. Additionally, if you make
and use any customized templates, the names of the templates will
also be listed. The name of th e template in use is displayed on the
Current Template button.

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2 Customize Button

Video Template Options

Audio Template Options

Clicking o n the Custom ize butto n brings up a window wi th many
configurable options.

NOTE: Configurable windows, such as this one, can be repositioned
onscreen by dragging on their frames.

Te m p l a te N a m e

The Te mplate Name combo box has a pull-down listing of all
available templates and is also where you enter the name of a new
template. Clicking the Save button will save the displayed template.
Clicking the Delete button will delete the selected template.

Image Size

You can choose from a wide range of preset windo w sizes for
capturing your video clips. The settings will vary according to the
video format (NTSC vs. PAL, MPEG-1 vs. MPEG-2). The following
table describes the diff erences of th ese format s. Choose th e size you
prefer. (The default settings are marked with an asterisk*.)

MPEG -1 ( NTS C) MPEG-1 ( PAL)

160 x 112 16 0 x 144
160 x 240 16 0 x 288
176 x 112 17 6 x 144
176 x 240 17 6 x 288
320 x 112 32 0 x 144
320 x 240 32 0 x 288
352 x 112 35 2 x 144
352 x 240 * 352 x 288 *

MPEG -2 ( NTS C) MPEG-2 ( PAL)

320 x 480 32 0 x 576
352 x 480 35 2 x 576
368 x 480 36 8 x 576
384 x 480 38 4 x 576
480 x 480 48 0 x 576
544 x 480 54 4 x 576
640 x 480 64 0 x 576
704 x 480 70 4 x 576
720 x 480 * 720 x 576 *

Options 6-13

Vide o Bi tra te

The Video Bitrate is how much information (in bits/second) you will
allow the MPEG movie to use. Generally, the higher the bitrate the
higher the quality of the movie (and the larger the file). However,
higher bitrates also require faster proce ssing speeds. If you h ave a
slower comput er, you might have to use a lower bitrate to
optimimize it’s playback..

There are four preset bitrate ranges to choose from: Very Low, Low,
Normal, and High (Very Low is only available for MPEG-1 movies).

Dazzle recommends that mos t users use one of the preset settings;
however, if y ou want to use a different bitrate, you can type in your
own. To enter, for example, 2.3Mbits/sec, type the number
2300000 or use the slider.

The bitrate for the Video CD format is fixed at 1.15Mbits/sec.
Basically, you should use the highest practical bitrate you can. But
don't be afraid to experiment a little. It's always easy to change

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formats. Use the rates that work best for you and always keep in
mind the ultimate destination of your productions. For example,
movies you plan to send o ver the Internet should be kept as sma ll
as possible to spe ed their transmission.

Disable Preview While Recording

When this option is not selected, you will be able to see the video
input in the Video Window during recording. Normally, leave this
option unchecked. However, if you experience performance trouble
when recording, selecting this option might improve your results.

Audio Format

MovieStar can make audio-only recordings in two audio file
formats: Wave (*.wav), and MPEG (*.mpg). Select the radio button
next to the format you want (you can only choose one).

Audio Post Process

Real Time will comp ress the audio track as it is b eing recorded.
Post-Processing will compress the audio after it is captured. Since
audio compression uses some of your computer processor's power
during recording, Real Time compression requires a more powerful
computer.

Audio Channel

Choose either Stereo or Mono (monaural) sound. Stereo records in
two channels (left and right), Mono in one. Which you choose
depends on the type of sound you'd like to use in your movie or
audio clip. Be sure to consider what type of so und is coming from
your video source. If your source only has monaural sound out,
there is no real point to record in stereo. If yo ur source has stereo
sound, choosing Mono will mix the sound from both stereo
channels into one monaural channel. Also, remember that to hear
stereo sound, you must have stereo speakers or headphones.
Generally, stereo sounds better.( Mono is not an available option in
DVC II.)

Sampling Rate

The default Sampling Rate is CD-quality 44,100 samples/second.
Two other sampling rate values can be selected, 48,000 or 32,000
samples/second. Highe r sampling rate values produce better qua lity
sound.

Audio Bitrate

Several preset Audio Bitrates are available ranging from 64,000 to
384,000 bits/second. A higher bitrate will result in better quality
sound, but also larger files.

Options 6-15

Data Rate

The Data Rate is the amount of data throughput, in
kilobytes/second, that your movie will take on a hard drive, and is
for your information only. You cannot type a new Data Rate. The
Data Rate is affected by all of your other settings, and will change
automatically. Multiplying the Data Rate by the length in seconds
of a movie will tell you the amount of disk space it will use
(conversely, dividing your availa ble disk space by a gi ven Data Rate
will tell you how many seconds you can record).

Duration Optio ns

There are four categories of Duration Options.

1 Clip Size

You can set the recording length of a clip in terms of file size by
specifying the Clip Size in this window (the resulting time will
automatically be displayed in the Time window).

2Time

You can se t the recording length of a clip in te rms of time by specifying
the Time in this window (the resulting file size will automatically be
displayed in the Clip Size window).

3Work Size

The Work Size box shows how m uch disk space will be required for
capturing a clip when using Post-processing. When capturing with Real
Time processing, the Work Size will be 0.

4Free Disk Space

The free disk space on any of your computer's a vailable volumes (drives)
is automatically displayed here. To change volumes, select another drive
letter in the pull-down menu to the right of the window. To change
directories, use the folder browse button.

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Key Features

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Video Editor

V

This chapter examines in detail the key features of the Video Editor,
including:

Editing Video Clips
Editing Audio Clips
Adding Transitions
Adding Titles
Adding Voice-overs
Final Production

The Video Editor is used for splitting, trimming, and combining
video movie files.

To open the Video Editor, simply click the Video Editor tab on the
bottom-left of the Main Interface.

DITOR

E

Key Features

Video

Editor

Tab

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Video Editor

Panel

Adding Clips

Deleting Cli ps

Drop Video Clips or Still Images here.
Drop Titles here.
Drop Music clips here.
Drop or record Voice-over clips here.

Zoom In\Out

Undo
Redo

Delete

To place files into the Video Editor, drag and drop a file from the
Media Manager to the Video Editor.

Video and audio clips, as well as still images, can be added to a
project simply by dragging them from the Media Manager to the
appropriate track. You can add as many clips as you like.

Clips can be easily deleted from a project.

To Delete a clip from a project:

1 Select the clip in which you wish to delete by single-clicking it (it will

become outlined in green).
Click the Delete button on the Video Editor or press the Delete key

2

on your keyboard (you can also right-click on the clip and se lect
Delete).

Timel ine &

Timel ine Indi cato r

The Timeline and the Timeline Indicator show your position in a
clip in terms of both time and frame number.

When a clip is playing, the Timeline Indicator moves in real time
and displays the time in hh:mm:ss format , as well as the frame
number. The frame number is shown in terms of frames/second, so
the scale will vary according to the format of the clip you are
editing. For example, N TSC clips are usu ally 30 frames /second, so f or

Video Ed itor 7-3

each one-second interval the Timeline Indicator will count 30
frames.

To expand or contract the Timeline, use the Zoom In/Zoom Out
buttons.

The Editing Tracks

The Editing Tracks are where you will place the audio/video files you
want to use in your editing project. There are four editing tracks in
the Video Editor: Video Track, Titles Track, Music Track, and
Vo ic e - ov e r Tr ac k .

Vide o Track

All video clips to be used in a project must be placed in the Video
Track (by dragging and dropping). The order they appear in the trac k
is the order they will appear in the final movie. All clips in the
Video Tr ack must be placed next to each other; there c an be no
spaces between clips. MovieStar will keep the clips together by
default (i.e. it will not allow any blank spaces within the Video
Track).

In addition, still images can be inserted to the video track, and
placed anywhere, with the same constraints as video files.

The Video Track is also used for Transitions. A transition can be
inserted between any two video clips. Transitions are inserted by
dragging them from Media Manager > Effects > Transitions.

Titles Track

The Titles Track is used for inserting titles into your video projects.
Titles are inserted by dragging them from Media Manager > Effects >
Titles, and they can be edited with the Title Editor. Titles can be
placed anywhere in the Title Track.

Music Track

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The Music Track is a second audio track for your video project (the
first audio track is the audio track connected to your video files, if
any). It is often used for inserting background music for your videos,
hence the name. Any MPEG (.mpa, .mp3) or WAVE (.wav) files,
including MP3, can be used in the Music Track. To insert an audio
clip, just drag one in from the Media Manager. Audio clips can be
placed anywhere in the Music Track.

Voice-over Track

The Voice-over Track is the third opt ional audio track of your video
project. It is primarily intended for adding voice-overs, though it
will accept any MPEG (.mpa, .mp3) or WAVE (.wav) files. It
functions exactly like the Music track, with one exception. When
you click the Video Editor’s Record button, you can record a new
audio clip with your computer’s microphone or from an audio CD
or other audio source, and the resulting clip is automatically placed
in the Voice-over Track. Audio clips can be p laced anywhere in the
Vo ic e - ov e r Tr ac k .

Clip Placement

MovieStar’s Video Editor is designed to make video editing as easy
and mistake-free as possible. MovieStar has many fail safe features in
the Video Editor to prevent editing errors.

Advances users can use hot-keys and shortcut keys to make further
use of the Video Editor panel.

Adjust clip duration on all tracks: Select the right edge of a clip

■

and drag with the left mouse button
Adjust clip file offset on all tracks: Select the right edge of a

■

clip and drag with the left mouse button.
Adjust clip track offset on non-master tracks: Select in the

■

middle of the clip and then drag while holding the left mouse
button.

To override the failsafe video placement features on the master track:

Video Ed itor 7-5

Adjust clip track offset of single clip on the master track:

■

<Shift><Left Mouse> Select in the middle of the clip then
move the mouse whi le holding both buttons.

Adjust clip track offset of a single clip on the master track,

■

without sliding any other clips (on any track) Must be used
with an existing gap or at the end of a segment. Mimics the
normal behavior of non-master tracks. <alt><left mouse>Select
in the middle of the clip then move th mouse while holding
both buttons.

Adjust clip track offset on master track sliding only clips on the

■

master track: (creates or closes a gap without maintaining a
relationship between other tracks) <alt><shift><left
mouse>Select in the middle of the clip then move th mouse
while holding all buttons.

Select multiple contiguous clips on any track; for Drag/Drop,

■

Deletion, or Copy/Paste. <ctrl><shift><left mouse> Select a clip
first with the left mouse then select the last clip in a group,
while holdi ng the buttons, all clips in be tween will be sel ected.

Delete one or m ore clips on the master track, closing the ga p

■

between clips. Select the clip or clips as above then click the
Delete button .

Delete one or m ore clips on the master track, leaving a gap:

■

<shift><del> Select the clip(s) and push both keys.
Copy clips within the track.<ctrl><left mouse> Push and hold

■

the control key while dragging and dropping with the left
mouse button.

fitting and r eplacing:<ri ght mouse> Dragg ing and droppi ng

■

with the right mous e will fill a gap completely when dropped
into a gap between clips, or completely replace an existing clip
when dropped onto it.

Copy clips to the clipboard:<ctrl><c> Pressing these two keys

■

will copy the selected clip to the clipboard.
Paste clips from clipboard:<ctrl><v> Pressing these two keys

■

will paste the selected clip from the clipboard to the Editor
Track.

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Mark In Button

The Mark In button is used for trimming any type of clip

in the Video Editor, and it sets the new point at which the
trimmed clip will start. Mark In is only available when there is at
least one clip selected in the Video Editor.

NOTE: When no Mark In point is selected, the beginning of a clip is used
by default.

To set a video Mark In point:

1 Select the clip in which you wish to set a Mark In point by

single-clicking it (it will become outlined in green).

2 Pause the video at the frame at which you want to set the Mark In

point (or drag the Tim eline Indicator to the point at which you want
to mark an in point).

3 Click the Mark In button.
4 The Mark In point will be set and the clip will be automatically

shortened in the project.

NOTE: Although the clip will appear shortened in the project, the original
clip is not altered. MovieStar performs non-destructive editing, meaning that
the project uses pointers to the original file rather than changing the file
itself. This means that you can always return to the original clip if you
want. Just drag the edges of the clip to expand it back to its full length.

Mark Out Button

NOTE: You can also in effect set a Mark In point by directly dragging the
left edge of a video clip. This method is quicker, but less accurate than using
the Timeline Indicator.

The Mark Out button is used for trimming any type of

clip in the Video Editor, and it sets the new point at
which the trimmed clip will end. Mark Out is only available when
there is at least one clip selected in the Video Editor.

Video Ed itor 7-7

NOTE: When no Mark Out point is selected, the end of a clip is used by
default.

To set a video Mark Out point:

1 Select the clip in which you wish to set a Mark Out point by

single-clicking it (it will become outlined in green).
Pause the video at the fram e at which you want to set the Mark Out

2

point (or drag the Timeline Indicator to the point at which you want
to mark an out point).

Click the Mark Out button.

3
4 The Mark Out point will be set and the clip will be automatically

shortened in the project.

NOTE: You can also in effect set a Mark Out point by directly dragging the
right edge of a video clip. This method is quicker, but less accurate than
using the Timeline Indicator.

Split Button

The Split button is used for cutting a video clip in the
Video Editor into two separate segments. Split is only

available when there is at least one clip selected in the Video Editor.

To Split a clip:

1 Select the clip which you want to Split by single-clicking it (it will

become outlined in green).
Pause the video at the frame at which you want to Split the clip (i.e.

2

move the Timeline Indicator to the point at which you want to split
it).

3 Click the Split button.
4 The clip will be divided and will appear as two separate clips in the

project.

NOTE: Although the clip will appear divided in the project, the original clip
is not altered. MovieStar per forms non-destructive editing, meaning that the

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project uses pointers to the original file rather than changing the file itself.
This means that you can always ret urn to the o riginal c lip if you wan t. Just
drag it in from the Media Manager again.

Record Button

The Record button is used for recording a new audio track

to use in your project. With Record, you can record audio
from your DVC-II hardware or from your c omputer’s soundcard from
a microphone, audio CD, or ot her source.

To R ecord a clip:

1 Put the Timeline Indicator at the point you would like to insert the

new audio clip.

2 Click the Record button.

Select the Audio Capture Device.

3
4 Select the Source.
5 Set the Input Gain. You may have to experiment with this to get the

best recording. Try starting at about 75.

6 Click Record to start recording.
7 Click Stop to finish recording.

Click OK.

8
9 The newly recorded clip will automatically appear in the Voice-over

Track and as a thumbnail in Media Manager > Albums > Work Space.

New Button

Save Button

The New button is used for starting a new project. When
you click New, you will be given a chance to save your
current project if you haven’t already.

To start a New project:

Click New.

1
2 Save your current project, if desired.

The Save button is used for saving c hanges to a previously

saved, open project.

To Save a project:

1 Click Save.

Video Ed itor 7-9

Save As Button

Produce Button

The “Produce”

Options

The Save As button is used for saving a previously unsaved
project, or for saving a previously saved project under a
different name.

To Save As a project :

Click Save As.

1
2 Type the new name of the project.
3 Click OK.

The Produce button is used for compiling your finished
project into a new, single movie with the settings of your

choice.

To Produce a p roject:

Click Produce.

1
2 Choose the settings you want to use for your new movie.

Click Produce.

3

There are a number of settings you can choose to affect the final
format of your produced movie. The following is a description of
each of them.

Template

MovieStar provides you with a large number of preset templates that
you can use to produce your edited movies. By default, th e template
is Fastest Rendering. Fastest Rendering will optimize the settings to
produce the movie in the shortest time, but the quality level will vary
depending on the variety of clip quality in the project. Generally
speaking, the movie will be produced at the quality level of the
longest clip.

You can add or delete templates with the Save and Delete buttons.
In Templates you will also see the names of all of the clips used in

your production. Choosing one of them will produce a movie with

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the same format as the selected clip (i.e., the clip’s format becomes
the templ ate).

NOTE: Choosing a format of a higher quality than the source clips will not
improve the quality of the original clips. In other words, a produced movie
can never look better than the quality of the original clips.

Generate

There are four choices:

Audio-Video Mu ltiplexed is used to produce a movie in which the
audio and video tracks are combined into a single file.

Video & Audio Separate is used to produce a mo vie as two
independent files, the audio track and the video track. This setting is
especially useful when preparing movies for use wi th DVDit!, since
DVDit! will render projects faster when the audio and video tracks are
separate.

Audio Only produces a movie with only the audio track.
Video Only

produces a movie with only the video tr ack.

Vide o Sy ste m

Choose the video format you want to use for your production, either
NTSC or PAL

.

File Size (KB)

File Size (KB) displays the estimated disk space that will be required
by your final movie based on the settings you h ave chosen.

Free Space

Free Space displays the amount of ava ilable disk space on the
currently chosen drive.

Folder

Folder show the path of the currently selected save location. You can
click the small folder icon to browse to another location, if you wish.

Advanced

Clicking the Advanced button will open a panel with three tabbed
areas of additional options: Video, Audio, File.

allows you to set the video Format (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2),

Video

Video Size (frame size), and Bitrate o f the final movie’s video track.

Video Ed itor 7-11

Audio allows you to set the Channels (Mono or Stereo), Sampling
Rate, and Bitrate of the final movie’s audio track.

File allows you to change the Album in which the movie will be
saved in the M edia Manager, the File Name, the Title, and Notes for
the final movie.

Zoom In/Zoom

Out Buttons

Undo/Redo

Buttons

The Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons are used for expanding
and contracting the project Timeline. Zooming in allows you to see
a project in more detail; zooming out allows you to see more of the
total project.

To Zoom In:

1 Click Zoom In .
2 Repeat if necessary.

To Zoom Out:

1 Click Zoom Out .

Repeat if necessary.

2

The Undo and Redo buttons are used for reversing or repeating
previous actions. MovieStar supports unlimited Undos and Redos.
Each time you click Undo, it will step back one action; each time
you click Redo, it will step forward one action.

To Undo one or more actions:

1 Click Undo.
2 Repeat if necessary.

To Redo one or more actions:

1 Click Redo.

Repeat if necessary.

2

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Adding Transitions

A Transition can be used between any two adjacent video clips.
Transitions are stored in the Media Manager under
Effects.Tr ansitions are divided into three types: Transitions (Fast
Rendering), Transitions (Longer Rendering), and Transitions (User
Installed).

Transitions

Menu

Transitions (Fast Rendering)

are transitions that render

quickly when you Produce your movie.

Transitions (Longer Renderin g)

are transitions that render

more slowly when you Produce your movie.

Transitions (User Instal led)

are any other transitions which
might be installed on your system. MovieStar uses standard,
DirectX Transforms. If your system has any other transitions of
this type installed, MovieStar will automatically locate them on
startup and place then in this folder.

To insert a Transition between two video clips:

1 Open Effects in the Media Manager.
2 Choose one of the Transitions folders.
3 Drag the Transition you want to use to the Video Editor and drop it

between the two clips.

Video Ed itor 7-13

4 Click once on the Transition to select it (it will become outlined in

green).

5 Set the duration by dragging either edge of the Transition to the left

or right (the default duration is two seconds).
Preview the Transition in your production by either playing your

6

movie or by dragging the Timeline Indicator over the Transition.

Adding Titles

Titles are text overlays that appear superim posed on your video c lips.
Titles can use any font in your system and be multicolored. You can
also set the alignment and scrolling direction, if any. You can create
and save as many Titles as you wi sh (see

Editor

).

Titles
Menu

Chapter 8: MovieStar Title

To add a Title to a project:

1 Open Effects in the Media Manager.
2 Choose one of the Titles folders.
3 Drag the Title you want to use to the Video Editor and drop it into

the Title Track at the point y ou want th e Title to ap pear.

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4 Click once on the Title to select it (it will become outlined in green).
5 Set the duration by dragging either edge of the Title to the left or

right (the default duration is two seconds).

6 Preview the Title in your production by either playing your movie or

by dragging the Timeline Indicator over the Title.

The Right-click

Menu

There are a number of additional opera tions that can be performed
for any audio or video clip in the Video Editor by right-clicking on a
clip. A pop-up menu will appear with several options.

Right-click

Pop-up

Menu

Delete Selected Clip

Choosing Delete Selected Clip removes the clip from the project.

Audio Level Options

This selection has a submenu, where you can either Mute/Unmute
Clip or Set Clip Volume. Mute/Unmute Clip is a toggle. Set Clip
Volume opens a volume control panel with a slider and a checkbox
for muting the clip. After adjusting, click OK, or click Cancel to
abort the operation.

Clip Volume

Control

Video Ed itor 7-15

By controlling the volume on a video clip or several clips, you can
mix in music or a voice-over. This allows any combination of sound
tracks, narration, or custom sound effects to be added in. If you
Mute the sound on the original clip, you can completely replace the
original sound with music, narration, or sound effects.

View Aud io Wav efo rm

This selection toggles between displaying the name of the clip a nd
displaying the waveform of the clip.

File Name

Wave Form

Edit Audio Volume

Choosing this option brings up the Audio Editor Panel.

Audio Editor

Panel

The Audio Editor Panel is used to control the volume of a clip or
portions of a clip.

There are four mode buttons on the panel, plus the Volume
Window.

Move Mode

Move is used to move either horizontal sections of the volume
level indicator (the yellow line on the waveform) or points
inserted on the volume level indicator.

Insert Mode

Insert allows you to create additional points on the volume level
indicator. The points can then be moved to different volume
levels by using the Move Mode. Move points can only be inserted
on flat segments of the volume level indicator.

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Delete Mode

Delete allows you to delete points created in the Insert Mode on
the volume level indicator.

Reset

Reset removes all inserted points and returns the volume level
indicator to 100%.

Vol u m e Wi n do w

The Volume Window shows the relative volume of a clip at the
position of the cursor as a percentage (1 to 100%).

Volume Window

Generate Viewable Waveform Data

If you want your clip to display an audio waveform instead of just
the file name, select the clip and select Generate Viewable Waveform
Data (depending on the length of the clip, this could take a few
moments).

NOTE: Adjustments made in the Audio Editor Panel are also shown in real
time in the corresponding clip in the Video Editor.

NOTE: Additional points cannot be created on diagonal lines; all points
must be inserted before their levels are changed.

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ITLE

8

Key Features

■

■

■

Titl e Edit or

T

This chapter examines in detail the key features of the Title Editor,
including the:

Creating Titles
Saving Titles
Using Titles

The Title Editor is used for creating and editing Titles for your video
editing projects.

Titles are text overlays that are superimposed on your video clips to
add information. Titles can use any font in yo ur system. You can
also choose the color, font size, alignment, and scrolling options.

Titles are stored in Effects in the Media Manager.

DITOR

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Key Features

Your custom title will be visible in the Video Window of the User
Interface, so that you can preview your creation.

To open the Title Editor, simply click the Title Editor tab. To edit an
existing Title, right-click on the Title’s icon and choose Start Title
Editor, or simply double-click the Title’s icon.

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Title Editor

The following is a detailed description of each of the Title Editor’s
functions.

Font Button

Alignment Buttons

Scrolling Direction

Click the Font... button to bring up the Font dialog box.
In it you can choose the font, font size, font style, e ffects, and color
of the text in your title. You can use as many different fonts and
styles as are available in your Windows System menu.

NOTE: To change the Font options of existing Title text, be sure to select
(highlight) the text first befor e clicking the Font... butto n.

Titles can be Left-Justified, Centered, or Right-Justified. Just select
(highlight) the text you want to align and click on the Alignment
Button you prefer. You can use as many different alignments in one
title as you wish.

Alignment Buttons

Titles can be set to scroll across the screen. Choose the Scrolling
Direction you want from the pull-down menu. For titles without
motion, choose No Scroll.

Scrolling Direction

Menu

Title Edit or 8-3

Create Bitmap

New Button

Save/Save As

Buttons

Create Bitmap allows you to make a bitmap (.bmp)
graphic file from your title.

To create a bitmap of your title, the title must be open in the Title
Editor and saved. Click Create Bitmap. If prompted to do so, you
must save the title. A bitmap image of the title will be placed in
Media Manager > Media > Work Space.

Click the New button to start a New Title. If you have
not yet saved the current Title, you will be prompted to
do so.

Click Save to save the current title. If you have not
previously saved the title, you will be prompted to give it a
file name.

Click Save As to save a previously saved title under a
different file name. You will be prompted to give it a new
file name.

Titles are saved in Media Manager > Effects > Titles.

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TILL IMAGE

9

Key Features

■

■

■

■

■

Still Image Editor

S

This chapter examines in detail the key features of the Still Image
Editor, including the:

Opening Files
Image Enhancement
Rotating a nd Flipping
Cropping
File Formats

The Still Image Editor is available any time a still image (graphic) file
is loaded in the Video Window.

The Still Image Editor is used for cropping, resizing, rotating,
flipping, and enhan cing image files. It ca n also adjust an image's
qualities, such as brightness, contrast, and saturation.

DITOR

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Key Features

To open the Still Image Editor, simply click the Still Image Editor
tab.

Still Image

Editor

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Note: The Still Image Editor pane l can only be open ed when a graph ic file
of an editable format is loaded in the Video Window.

To place files into the Still Image Editor, drag and drop a graphic file
from the Media Manager or from somewhere on your computer
(such as in Windows Explorer) to the Video Window, and then open
the Still Image Editor. The image can then be adjusted using any of
the six adjustment sliders.

To adjust the levels on the adjustment sliders, you can:

1 Type a new number in the setting window.
2 Move the control slider left or right.

Click on the left or right arrow keys.

3

Edge Enhancement

Rotate/Flip

Resize

Crop

Clicking Edge Enhancement enhances the edges in an
image by increasing the contrast. It often has the effect
of making an image brighter and more intense.

Each time you click on Rotate, the editor image will be turned
90 º in a clockwise direction.

Clicking on Flip, will flip the image horizontally 180 º, resulting
in a mirror image.

You can Resize an image by typing the new dimensions, in
pixels, in the Width and Height windows (the current
dimensions are displayed) and then clicking Resize.

When Aspect Fit is selected, changing one of the dimensions will
automatically change the other dimension so that the image is not
distorted.

Cropping means to select pa rt of an image and discard the
rest.

To C r o p an i m a g e :

Select the part you want to keep by dragging a rectangular selection

1

area on the graphic in the Video Window. The selection will be shown