Pinnacle INSTANT VIDEOALBUM User Manual
Instant VideoAlbum
The fun and easy way to share your home
movies on CD or DVD
User guide
Special thanks to Chris Zamara, Mike Iampietro, Brian Lane,
Charmine Tung, Keith Thompson, Louis Gentry, Bin Zhu, Christine
Wang, Jim Sugg, Sandra Thiel, Mark Van Bellingham, Don Oh, Ivan
Maltz, Brad Rudolph, Mike Funk, Darrel Chen, Kurt Gallant, Rich
Edgley, Michael Fleischhauer, William Chien, and Bill Loesch.
Documentation: Nick Sullivan, René White, Patrick Roscoe
Instant VideoAlbum, Pinnacle Systems, and the Pinnacle Systems
logo are registered trademarks of Pinnacle Systems, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. QDesign MPEG-2 Layer II Fast
Encoder/Decoder © 1996-2002 by QDesign Corporation. Windows
Media is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks
are the property of their respective owners. You agree not to remove
any product identification or notices of the property restrictions from
Pinnacle Systems’ products or manuals.
All products mentioned in this manual are trademarks of their
respective owners.
Instant VideoAlbum User Guide copyright © 2003 by Pinnacle
Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this manual may be copied or distributed, transmitted,
transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human
or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, magnetic, manual, or otherwise, without the express
written permission of Pinnacle Systems, Inc.
Pinnacle Systems, Inc.
280 North Bernardo Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043
Printed in the USA.
ii Instant VideoAlbum
Contents
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW.............................................. 1
Computer requirements.............................................................................2
Technical specifications .............................................................................2
Input formats ...........................................................................................3
Output formats......................................................................................... 3
Installing your software .............................................................................4
Obtaining software updates .....................................................................5
Connecting a digital camcorder ................................................................5
On-line help................................................................................................. 5
Abbreviations and conventions ................................................................. 6
Terminology ............................................................................................6
Dialogs and window names..................................................................... 8
Choosing menu commands...................................................................... 8
Keyboard conventions ............................................................................. 8
Mouse clicking ........................................................................................8
CHAPTER 2: IMPORT ................................................... 9
Importing ..................................................................................................10
Importing video from your camcorder...................................................10
Importing video from your PC ..............................................................12
Importing photos from your PC.............................................................12
Importing assets from Windows Explorer.............................................12
The Asset List ...........................................................................................13
Contents iii
CHAPTER 3: DISC SETTINGS.................................... 15
Settings dialog........................................................................................... 15
Output format ........................................................................................16
Media..................................................................................................... 17
TV standard ...........................................................................................17
Video quality / disc usage...................................................................... 18
CHAPTER 4: MENU STYLES...................................... 21
The Style Chooser .................................................................................21
CHAPTER 5: PREVIEWING ........................................ 23
The Remote Control................................................................................. 23
Number pad ...........................................................................................24
DVD navigation buttons........................................................................ 24
Movie controls....................................................................................... 25
The TV screen........................................................................................... 25
Cursor navigation ..................................................................................26
CHAPTER 6: BURNING .............................................. 27
Burning the Disc....................................................................................... 28
Temporary files .....................................................................................28
File conversion ......................................................................................30
CHAPTER 7: CUSTOMIZING MENU STYLES............ 31
Backgrounds.......................................................................................... 32
Frames ...................................................................................................32
Layout.................................................................................................... 33
Type....................................................................................................... 33
Music ..................................................................................................... 34
iv Instant VideoAlbum
CHAPTER 8: EDITING VIDEO AND PHOTOS............ 35
The Edit Video dialog...............................................................................35
The Asset List ...........................................................................................37
Renaming objects ..................................................................................37
Rearranging objects............................................................................... 38
Duplicating objects................................................................................ 38
Deleting objects ..................................................................................... 38
Opening and closing video chapters...................................................... 39
Opening and closing slideshows............................................................40
Importing images from Windows Explorer........................................... 40
The Preview Screen.................................................................................. 41
Editing tools and options .........................................................................42
Project options....................................................................................... 42
Chapter options...................................................................................... 43
Change thumbnail.................................................................................. 47
Enhance .................................................................................................48
Split .......................................................................................................51
Information Display Area........................................................................ 52
CHAPTER 9: MAKING LABELS AND INSERTS ........ 53
The Make Custom Labels dialog.............................................................53
Label type tabs....................................................................................... 54
The Edit toolbar..................................................................................... 55
The Edit Window ..................................................................................58
The text controls.................................................................................... 61
The Print Custom Labels dialog ............................................................ 62
APPENDIX A: TECHNICAL SUPPORT ...................... 65
APPENDIX B: LICENSE AGREEMENT ...................... 69
INDEX .......................................................................... 73
Contents v
vi Instant VideoAlbum
Chapter 1:
Overview
Pinnacle Instant VideoAlbum lets you use your
personal computer to turn your home movies into
DVDs and VideoCDs. Soon you’ll be able to send a
friend or family member movies that they can play in
their DVD player. There are four simple steps:
First, Pinnacle Instant VideoAlbum lets
you “capture video” — transfer the
video from your camcorder or VCR to
your PC’s hard drive. You can also add videos and
pictures you’ve already saved on your PC.
Next, select a menu style. This will
determine what the on-screen menu for
your finished disc will look like when
viewed on a television. You can also customize menu
styles for a more personal feel.
Now, preview your disc using the on-
screen remote control, or by clicking
directly on video and photo
“thumbnails” in the preview area. This screen also
allows you to arrange, edit, and enhance your videos
and / or photos. To save you time, Pinnacle Instant
VideoAlbum automatically breaks up your video into
scenes, and creates a scene menu for you!
Finally, burn your completed project
onto a DVD or CD using your disc
burner. Pinnacle Instant VideoAlbum
lets you create DVDs, VideoCDs, and Super VideoCDs.
Chapter 1: Overview 1
COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS
In addition to your Instant VideoAlbum software, you
will need a PC-compatible computer with:
• Intel Pentium™ or AMD Athlon™ processor, 700
MHz or faster (1.5 GHz recommended)
• Windows
• Direct X compatible graphic and sound boards
• 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
• 100 MB of free hard disc space to install software
• Minimum 1GB needed for project and temp files
Your hard drive must be capable of sustained reading
and writing at 4 MB/sec. All SCSI and most UDMA
drives are capable of this. DV-format video
consumes 3.6 MB of hard disc space for every
second of video, so four minutes of DV video will
require almost 900 MB of hard disc space.
®
98/Me/XP/2000 (XP recommended)
• CD or DVD Burner
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Instant VideoAlbum supports several types of digital
video and photo formats. The program recognizes
several common input formats for importing video
from your camcorder, or video and photo files from
your PC.
Instant VideoAlbum also enables you to burn your final
project to its destination disc in a number of standard
and custom playback formats.
2 Instant VideoAlbum
Input formats
• Capture video from Digital (DV and Digital8)
camcorders (requires a PC with an OHCI-compliant
IEEE-1394 / FireWire port or interface card)
• Capture video from any camcorder with analog
(composite or S-Video) outputs (requires optional
Instant VideoAlbum Plus capture hardware)
• Video Import: AVI, DV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2
• Digital Image Import: BMP, JPG, PCD, PCT, TGA,
WMF, TIF (LZW compression not supported)
Output formats
• DVD: A DVD disc is the ultimate in video quality.
Instant VideoAlbum can burn up to 90 minutes of
high-quality video and audio (or up to 232 minutes at
decent quality) onto a DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW
disc.
• VideoCD (VCD): A VideoCD disc allows up to 70
minutes of VHS-quality video to be burned onto a
CD with any CD-Burner. This video format is
supported by a large number of DVD players.
• Super VideoCD (SVCD): Super-VideoCD is an
enhancement to the VCD format. An S-VCD disc
allows up to 39 minutes of near-DVD quality video
to be burned onto a CD. This video format is
supported by a number of DVD players.
Check the Pinnacle web site and VCDhelp.com
for a
list of compatible players.
Chapter 1: Overview 3
INSTALLING YOUR SOFTWARE
To install your Instant VideoAlbum software:
1. Insert the Instant VideoAlbum CD-ROM into your
CD-ROM drive. If you have Autorun enabled for
your CD-ROM, Setup will run automatically.
2. If you do not have Autorun enabled, navigate to
your CD-ROM drive, and double-click on
Setup.exe.
3. Select the language of your choice.
4. Enter your serial number (found on the Instant
VideoAlbum CD or printed on its sleeve).
5. Agree to the Instant VideoAlbum software license
terms (click “I Agree”). If you do not accept or
understand the terms, you should promptly return
this product to your dealer.
6. Choose “Typical” installation (recommended).
Only advanced computer users should choose
“Custom.”
7. Click “Next” until the installation is completed.
8. Restart your computer.
9. Next, you will be given the opportunity to register
your copy of Instant VideoAlbum. You can quickly
and easily register using your Internet connection.
Registration is important for three reasons:
• Registration allows Pinnacle Systems to inform
you of free upgrades to the Instant VideoAlbum
software
• Registration makes you eligible for special offers
and promotions from Pinnacle Systems
• Registration is required to receive technical
support
4 Instant VideoAlbum
Obtaining software updates
To check for Instant VideoAlbum software updates that
may be released from time to time to provide new
features or correct issues, choose the Help ¾ Software
Updates menu command. This uses your computer’s
Internet connection to check Pinnacle’s web-site for
new releases of the product.
CONNECTING A DIGITAL CAMCORDER
After the software installation is complete, connect the
DV IN/OUT port on your DV camcorder to the DV
IN/OUT port on your desktop PC using a 4-pin to 6-pin
1394 (FireWire/DV) cable. If you have a laptop
computer, you may require a 4-pin to 4-pin 1394
(FireWire/DV) cable. Make sure that your camcorder is
turned on and in VTR mode.
Note: To connect an analog camcorder or conventional
VCR using the optional Instant VideoAlbum Plus
capture hardware, please refer to the instructions in the
Instant VideoAlbum Plus Quick Install Guide.
ON-LINE HELP
On-line help is right where you need it, when you need
it, while you’re working in Instant VideoAlbum.
Standard on-line help: Click the Help menu in the
Instant VideoAlbum main menu bar, or press F1 to
display the Table of Contents page of the standard help
Chapter 1: Overview 5
topics. Click Help ¾ Help Topics if you want to search
for a specific topic, or command.
Tool tips: To find out what a button or other Instant
VideoAlbum control does, pause your mouse pointer
over it and a Tool Tip appears explaining its function.
ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS
This guide uses the following conventions to help
organize the material.
Terminology
Instant VideoAlbum refers to Pinnacle’s video
capture and disc authoring software.
DV refers to DV and Digital8 camcorders, DV VCRs,
and DV tapes.
1394 refers to OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 FireWire,
DV, or iLink interfaces, ports and cables.
Analog refers to 8mm, Hi8, VHS, SVHS, VHS-C or
SVHS-C camcorders, VCRs and tapes, and to
Composite (RCA) and S-Video cables and connectors.
Assets are video, photo and audio files.
Video file refers to source video/audio from a DV
capture device, or analog video/audio that has been
digitized and saved to disc.
MPEG refers to a type of compressed video and audio
file that is burned onto a disc and which can also be
imported as an asset. MPEG-1 is used for VideoCD
and MPEG-2 is used for Super VideoCD and DVD.
Instant VideoAlbum can import most MPEG file types.
6 Instant VideoAlbum
The exceptions are "elementary stream" files
(consisting of audio or video but not both), and MPEG2 "transport stream" files (as used in Sony's MicroMV
camcorders, for example).
AVI file (Audio Video Interleave) refers to a common
type of Windows video and audio file that is typically
compressed, but which may be uncompressed. The
video and audio file that is captured from a DV
camcorder in Instant VideoAlbum is called a Type-2
DV AVI file. In order to play an AVI file on a
Windows PC, a software CODEC (Compressor/
DECompressor) capable of handling the compression
method used by that AVI file must be installed on your
computer. As a result, you will find that Instant
VideoAlbum can import most AVI files, but may have
trouble with proprietary and uncompressed AVI files,
or AVI files that have been compressed with a CODEC
that has not yet been installed. If you are not sure about
the compatibility of a particular AVI file, try playing it
in Windows Media Player before importing into Instant
VideoAlbum.
Scene refers to sections of a video file that Instant
VideoAlbum has detected. A video file can also be
manually split into a number of scenes.
Menu page (or just menu) refers to a graphic
background for up to 12 interactive buttons that link to
videos and slideshows, and to the layouts, text styles,
and frame types comprising the menu page.
Thumbnail refers to miniature images of videos and
photos that appear on menu pages.
Chapter 1: Overview 7
Dialogs and window names
Names of buttons, dialogs, windows and related items
are written in Italics so that you can find them in the
text quickly.
Example: Click the Rename button in the Asset List.
Choosing menu commands
The right angle bracket symbol (¾) denotes the path for
hierarchical menu items. For example, to create a new
file, the instruction would be:
Example: Select File ¾ New Project
Keyboard conventions
Key names are underlined. A plus (+) sign denotes a
key combination.
Example: Press Ctrl+A to select all the video scenes in
the List View.
Brackets denote keys that do not have names printed on
them.
Example: Press the [Spacebar] to pause the slideshow.
Mouse clicking
When a mouse click is required, the default is always a
left-click unless otherwise specified.
8 Instant VideoAlbum
Chapter 2:
Import
Instant VideoAlbum lets you make a DVD, VideoCD,
or Super VideoCD in just four steps:
1. Import video/photos
2. Select a menu style
3. Preview and Edit your project
4. Burn your disc
These four steps are represented by the four buttons
atop the Instant VideoAlbum interface.
Importing is the process of adding assets (video and
photos) to your Instant VideoAlbum project. This may
involve transferring video from your camcorder to your
hard disc, or simply adding files from your PC.
Your Import screen looks like this:
Chapter 2: Import 9
IMPORTING
The three buttons above the Asset List allow you to
import video from a DV camcorder connected to your
computer via a 1394 (FireWire/DV) cable, import
video from an AVI or MPEG file, or import a digital
photo.
Importing video from your camcorder
Often you will want to start your project by importing
video from your camcorder. Instant VideoAlbum
supports digital camcorders using your PC’s 1394
(FireWire/DV) interface. Your DV camcorder is
connected to your PC as described in Chapter 1. You
may import an entire tape, or start and stop importing
video at any point in the tape.
Transport controls
Use the Transport controls
beneath the TV Screen to
view your tape or seek to the
tape location at which
importing is to begin.
(If you are using the Instant
VideoAlbum Plus capture
hardware, the Transport controls will be disabled.)
10 Instant VideoAlbum
Get video from camcorder button
The Get video from camcorder button
begins the video import from camcorder
process by opening this dialog:
While this dialog is open, the TV Screen above the
Transport Controls continues to display incoming
video from your camcorder. When you choose a harddrive location to which you want the video to be
captured, Instant VideoAlbum calculates and displays
the maximum capture time, based on the empty space
available on that hard-drive.
If the One step to disc option is checked, Instant
VideoAlbum will skip the Preview and Edit stages and
capture the imported video directly to your destination
disc, by proceeding directly to the Burning screen.
Enter a name for your captured video file, and click the
Start Import button.
The Start Import button initiates the
transfer of DV video from your
camcorder to your hard drive.
Chapter 2: Import 11
When Instant VideoAlbum is importing video, the Start
Import button turns into the Stop Import button, which
you can click at any time to stop video importing.
During importing, a progress bar appears that indicates
the portion of available hard drive space that has been
used so far.
Importing video from your PC
Instant VideoAlbum allows you to import
video files already on your PC’s hard
disc. If you wish to import an AVI or MPEG video file,
click the Get video from computer button to open a file
browser.
You can also import video (and digital photos) by
dragging files from Windows Explorer into the Asset
List (see page 12).
Importing photos from your PC
As with video files, you can import still
images from your PC’s hard disc. Click
the Get photos from computer button to open a file
browser.
You can also import digital photos (and video) by
dragging files from Windows Explorer into the Asset
List (see page 12).
All the digital photos and stills you import into the
Asset List will be grouped into a single slideshow.
Importing assets from Windows Explorer
Another way to import files is to select them in
Windows Explorer and drag them onto the Asset List.
You can instantly create a slideshow by dragging in a
folder of images in one operation!
12 Instant VideoAlbum
THE ASSET LIST
As you import media, Instant VideoAlbum shows the
file name and type of each asset (the files you import)
in the Asset List. Digital photos and other stills are
grouped automatically into a slideshow.
Scene detection
Automatic Scene Detection is a key feature of Instant
VideoAlbum. It eliminates the drudgery of manually
marking the beginnings and ends of video scenes.
When Instant VideoAlbum imports video, it
automatically detects and marks natural breaks that
occur in the video.
Renaming and deleting video assets
To rename or delete
any video asset,
click on the object to select it then click the Rename or
Delete button at the bottom of the list.
Chapter 2: Import 13
14 Instant VideoAlbum
Chapter 3:
Disc Settings
Disc Settings and information are a very important part
of Instant VideoAlbum and are available on all four
screens of the program.
This feature can be found in the bottom right of most
screens and gives you an at-a-glance summary of the
currently selected disc output format and the amount of
space on your target disc, expressed as the remaining
number of minutes of video that can be stored on it.
The amount of remaining space will depend upon the
size of your project, the disc format (DVD, VideoCD,
S-VCD), and the current quality setting.
SETTINGS DIALOG
Click the Settings button to open this dialog:
You can use this dialog to:
• Specify the type of disc you want to create
• Check the compatibility of the media you are using
• Set the TV standard
• Set the video quality of your presentation
Chapter 3: Disc Settings 15
Output format
Select the type of disc you wish to create:
VCD (VideoCD): A VideoCD disc allows up to 70
minutes of VHS-quality video to be burned onto a CD
with any CD-Burner and is supported by a large
number of DVD players. Check the Pinnacle web site
and VCDhelp.com for a list of compatible players.
The Settings dialog box
S-VCD (Super-VideoCD): Super-VideoCD is an
enhancement to the VCD format. An S-VCD disc
allows up to 39 minutes of near-DVD quality video to
be burned onto a CD and is supported by a number of
DVD players. Check the Pinnacle web site and
VCDhelp.com for a list of compatible players.
DVD: A DVD disc is the ultimate in video quality.
Instant VideoAlbum can burn up to 90 minutes of highquality video and audio (or up to 232 minutes at decent
quality) onto a DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW disc. For a
list of compatible DVD burners, check the Pinnacle
web site.
16 Instant VideoAlbum
Media
Based on the output format you choose, Instant
VideoAlbum will prompt you as to which type of
media is needed.
CD-R (and CD-RW): Use for VCD and S-VCD titles.
If you are using CD-RW, Instant VideoAlbum will
prompt you to erase the disc.
DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW: Instant VideoAlbum
supports General and Authoring DVD-R (write once),
DVD-RW (write many), DVD+R (write once), and
DVD+RW (write many) media. There are five basic
types of DVD burners – Authoring DVD-R (expensive,
for professional use), General DVD-R/RW, DVD+RW,
DVD+R/RW and DVD-RAM. Instant VideoAlbum
does not currently support DVD-RAM, as this format
cannot play in a standard DVD player. As newer DVD
players begin to support this format, check the Pinnacle
web site for updates.
Check Media button
Place the blank or erasable disc into your drive and
click the Check Media button. Instant VideoAlbum will
verify its usability.
TV standard
The discs you create will work properly with only one
of the NTSC and PAL television standards. If a choice
is offered, pick the one your target audience will be
using.
Chapter 3: Disc Settings 17
Video quality / disc usage
The three main choices here are presets that control the
quality of the video that will be stored on your DVD or
S-VCD discs (no options are provided for VCD discs
because the standard dictates a single video quality
setting).
Because higher-quality video requires more
information for each second of playback, there is a
trade-off between quality and the amount of video that
will fit on a disc. While a short production may fit
comfortably on disc at the highest quality setting, as the
duration increases the quality may have to be reduced.
Quality is expressed in terms of bit-rate in kilobits per
second. The higher the bit-rate, the higher the quality of
your video. A very high quality setting of 8000 kilobits
per second will result in the best video image that your
DVD player can provide, though you will only be able
to fit up to 52 minutes of video into a DVD disc at this
bit-rate. Low settings, in the realm of 2000 kilobits per
second, are roughly equivalent to “VHS quality” – the
playback quality of an ordinary VCR.
Automatic: This is the default setting, and is
recommended for most users. It sets the highest
possible quality for your project based on the amount
of video and the number of stills you have included.
For example, if you have 68 minutes of video in your
DVD project, Instant VideoAlbum will use the full
capacity of the DVD disc by encoding your finished
video at the highest possible bit-rate (6000 kilobits per
second in this example). A longer project with almost 2
hours of video would be burned at a bit-rate of 3000
kbps.
18 Instant VideoAlbum
Best video quality: This setting allows you to force the
highest possible bit-rate for your project, resulting in
the best possible quality. Keep in mind that in this
mode you will be able to get no more than 52 minutes
of video onto your DVD (31 minutes for S-VCD).
Good video quality: This setting allows up to 114
minutes of video on a DVD (39 minutes for S-VCD)
while still maintaining good quality.
Custom settings
These settings are recommended for advanced users
only.
Bit-rate: The pull-down list offers several bit-rate
settings, ranging from 3000-8000 kbps DVD and
2000-2500 kbps for S-VCD. Selecting a higher bit-rate
from the list causes the "minutes on a disc" display to
decrease accordingly, and vice versa.
You can also type in your own bit-rate setting (e.g.
6553 kbps) if you prefer. Instant VideoAlbum accepts
bit-rates as low as 2000 kbps.
After you close the Output Media Settings window,
you will notice that the Disc Meter icon changes to
reflect your selection. Check the icon after entering a
custom settings to make sure you have not gone over
the disc limit.
Chapter 3: Disc Settings 19
“Draft” mode: This setting accelerates the encoding of
your project. Instant VideoAlbum will encode up to
three times faster when the box is checked, but the
quality of the video will not be as high.
MPEG Audio: This setting is for DVD output only.
MPEG Audio requires less disc space. While most
DVD players support MPEG audio, not all do. You
should therefore check this box only if you need to fit
more video on your disc and you are sure your DVD
player supports the format. The “minutes on a disc”
display will increase when this option is used.
20 Instant VideoAlbum
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