Thank you for purchasing Pinnacle Studio™19. We hope you enjoy
using the software.
If you have not used Pinnacle Studio before, we recommend that you
eep the user guide handy for reference even if you don’t actually read
k
it all the way through.
In order to ensure that your movie-making experience gets off on the
r
ight foot, please review the topics.
Note: Not all features described in the user guide are included
in all versions of Pinnacle Studio. For more information, please
visit www.pinnaclesys.com and click Compare.
Abbreviations and conventions
This guide uses the following conventions to help organize the
material.
Common terms
AVCHD: A video data format used by some high-definition
camcorders, and for creating DVD discs that can be read on Blu-ray
players. Successful editing of AVCHD files requires more computing
power than other formats supported by Pinnacle Studio.
DV: This term refers to DV and Digital8 camcorders, VCRs and tapes.
Before you start1
HDV: A ‘high-definition video’ format that allows video in frame sizes
of 1280x720 or 1440x1080 to be recorded in MPEG-2 format on DV
media.
1394: The term ‘1394’ applies to OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394,
FireWire, DV or i.LINK interfaces, ports and cables.
Analog: The term ‘analog’ applies to 8mm, Hi8, VHS, SVHS, VHS-C or
SVHS-C camcorders, VCRs and tapes, and to Composite/RCA and SVideo cables and connectors.
Buttons, menus, dialog boxes and windows
Names of buttons, menus and related user interface items are written
in bold to distinguish them from the surrounding text.
Choosing menu commands
The right arrowhead symbol (>) denotes the path for hierarchical
menu items. For example:
• Select File > Burn Disc Image.
Context menus
A ‘context menu’ is a pop-up list of commands that appears when you
click with the right mouse-button on certain areas of the application
interface. Depending where you click, a context menu may pertain
either to an editable object (like a clip on an editing timeline), to a
window, or to a zone such as a control panel. Once open, context
menus behave just like the ones on the main menu bar.
Context menus are available in most pa
interface. Our documentation generally takes for granted that you
know how to open and use them.
2Pinnacle Studio User Guide
rts of the Pinnacle Studio
Mouse clicks
When a mouse click is required, the default is always a left-click unless
otherwise specified, or unless the click is to open a context menu:
Right-click and select
from the context menu.”)
Title Editor
. (Or, one might say, “Select
Title Editor
Key names
Key names are spelled with an initial capital and are underlined. A plus
sign denotes a key combination. For example:
Press
Ctrl+A to select all the clips on the Timeline.
Please refer to
table of available shortcuts.
Appendix D: Keyboard shortcuts
for a comprehensive
Help and Tooltips
Immediate help is available while you are working in Pinnacle Studio
via the Help menu.
Help
The Help menu lets you access a variety of learning resources. Click the
Help button > User Manual to access the Learning Center page with
o video tutorials, the Pinnacle Studio 19 User Guide PDF, and
links t
oth
er community and support links.
Video tutorials
You can access video tutorials from the Learning Center page (Help >
User Manual) or by visiting the following sites directly:
Get a 30-day, all-access pass to StudioB
new Pinnacle Studio 19 content, loads of other training and a
royalty-free stock library. (Training is in English only.)
acklot.tv, featuring brand-
Tool tips
To find out what a button or other Studio control does, pause your
mouse pointer over it. A ‘tool tip’ pops up to explain the control’s
function.
Finding your version information
Whether you are considering upgrading your software or looking for
support, it’s good to know your version information. To check the
version of Pinnacle Studio that you have, click the Help button >
About.
Upgrading
There are different versions of Pinnacle Studio and features vary
depending on the version you have. For more information, please visit
www.pinnaclesys.com and click Compare.
For information about upgrading your softwar
button > Online Offers & News > Software Offers.
4Pinnacle Studio User Guide
e, click the Help
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio
For a simple outline of the digital movie-making process, you don’t
have to look any further than the central tab group of Pinnacle Studio’s
window. The same steps apply to any type of production, from
main
an unpretentious slideshow with dissolves between each frame to a 3D
extravaganza containing hundreds of carefully-arranged clips and
effects.
Pinnacle Studio’s main control bar summarizes the moviemaking process.
The Importer
Import on the right, is a preparatory step. It involves procedures like
‘capturing’ video from your analog or DV camcorder, bringing in
photos from a digital camera, and copying media files to your local
hard drive from a network location.
The Pinnacle Studio Importer provides tools for these tasks, along with
a Snapshot feature for grabbing frames
motion tool for building up video frame-by-frame. See “Chapter 10:
The Importer” on page 291 for details.
from video files, and a Stop
File menu import commands: Choosing Import from the file menu has
t
he same effect as clicking the Import tab: it opens the Importer. The
m
enu provides three other import-related choices as well. Each of
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio5
these opens a Windows file dialog to permit import of files from a hard
drive or other local storage.
• Import previous Pinnacle Studio Projects lets you load movie
p
rojects created with earlier versions of Studio.
• Import Studio for iPad App Projects lets you bring in projects
exported from Studio’s companion app for the iPad.
• Quick Import lets you directly select ordinary media files—photo,
o, audio and project—for import.
vide
Studio Importer
The Exporter
At the other end of the movie-making process is Export. By the time
you get to this stage, the hard part of the task is behind you. The
creative energy that went into making your movie has paid off in a
production that now lacks only one ingredient—an audience.
6Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Studio Exporter
The Pinnacle Studio Exporter helps you over that last hurdle with tools
for taking your movie to its viewers, whoever and wherever they might
be. Create a digital movie file in the format of your choice, burn a DVD,
or upload directly to destinations in the Cloud like YouTube and Vimeo,
or to your personal Cloud-based storage area.
Like the Importer, the Exporter o
pens in a separate window, and
returns to the main window after its work is done. See “Chapter 11:
The Exporter” on page 337 to learn more.
The central tabs
The three central tabs, Library, Movie and Disc, are where most of your
work in Pinnacle Studio takes place. The first of these opens the main
view of the Library, where you can ‘curate’ your media collections.
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio7
The other tabs open the two project editors, one for digital movies,
and the other for disc projects, which are digital movies enhanced with
interactivity in the form of DVD menus.
The Library
The Library is a cataloging and management tool for all the file-based
assets
resources – or
all of the materials of your movie – video footage, music and audio
files, and many specialized resources such as transitions and effects –
originate as assets in the Library. Many Library assets are supplied with
Pinnacle Studio, and are available for royalty-free use. These include
rofessionally-designed titles, DVD menus, sound effects and more.
p
The Library uses project bins to organize assets. Project bins are virtual
f
olders for your assets. They are created automatically during import
and you can create them manually to organize your assets according
to your needs (for example, by project).
– that you can draw on when authoring. Almost
You can also use watchfolders to a
media files that are added to the folders you choose to “watch”. For
information about activating watchfolders, see “Watchfolders” on
page 359. When you use watchfolders, a Library Media branch is
added to the Asset Tree in the Library
branch if Pinnacle Studio detects a library from a previous version of
Pinnacle Studio (you must enable watchfolders if you want to continue
populating this branch).
utomatically monitor and import
. You will also see a Library Media
Main view
When you click the Library tab, the Library takes over the main window.
This ‘main view’ gives you spacious access to a number of cataloging
and search tools, including those for categorizing assets by means of
ratings and tags, and those for creating user-defined asset collections.
8Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Compact view
The ‘compact view’ of the Library squeezes virtually the whole
functionality of the main view into a panel embedded within certain
other windows, such as the Movie Editor and the Disc Editor. The
primary p
urpose of the compact view is to allow assets to be brought
into a movie or disc project from the Library by drag-and-drop.
The main view of the Library consists of navigation controls
for exploring media assets (left) and a browser for examining
and selecting assets (right).
Player
The tools available from within the Library include the Player, a viewer
that works for all media types handled by the application. When used
from the main view of the Library, the Player opens in a separate
window. When the compact Library is used, an embedded version of
the Player appears in the same window. For more information, see
“The Player” on page 14.
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio9
Previewing a Library video asset in the resizable Player
window, with full transport controls including a shuttle
wheel. You can keep working in the main window while the
pop-up Player is open.
For comprehensive coverage of the Library and its uses, please see
“Chapter 2: The Library” on page 17.
The next step
The next step, once you know your way around the Library and have
made any changes needed to the default set-up, is to start creating a
movie. There are two ways to go about this.
The usual way
If you want to exert detailed control over the way media assets are used
in your production, you will usually start building your movie or disc
project from scratch in one of the two project editors.
These are described below.
10Pinnacle Studio User Guide
The easiest way
For ultra-quick results, the Library offers another way. Clicking
SmartMovie at the bottom of the Library main view opens an extra tray
f controls. With either of these you select some visual media assets to
o
serve as the basis of the project, choose music for a soundtrack, and
make a handful of other customizations. Then the software takes over,
automatically generating a full-scale Pinnacle Studio project
ontaining the media and options requested. You can export the
c
project immediately, or edit it further by hand as you choose. For more
information, see “Instant gratification: Sm
artMovie” on page 19.
The Movie Editor and the Disc Editor
Once you have gathered your materials together and organized them
to your satisfaction in the Library, it’s time to get to work on a video or
a slideshow. If you are working on a disc production specifically, you
can immediately start work in the Disc Editor, which is just like the
Movie Editor but has extra tools for creating and setting up DVD
menus. F
page 267.
If you aren’t planning on creating a disc, or aren’t sure, or if disc is only
one of the output media you are targeting, the Movie Editor is the right
place to start. Once your movie is completed, you can export it to the
Disc Editor and add in the menus.
or more information, see “Chapter 9: Disc projects” on
The Movie Editor and the Disc Editor exist side-by-side, but apart from
the export feature just mentioned, they do not interact. If you want,
you can have a regular movie project and a disc project loaded
simultaneously, and switch from one to another at will.
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio11
In both the Movie Editor and the Disc Editor, a multitrack
timeline occupies the lower part of the display. Most of the
‘clips’ on the timeline come from the Library; a few types, like
automatic background music, are generated with special
tools.
Both project editors include embedded versions of the Library and the
Player in addition to the timeline display. To build a project, drag assets
from the compact Library onto the timeline tracks, where they are
known as ‘clips’. Both the Movie Editor and the Disc Editor can be used
with Stereoscopic 3D as well as 2D material.
The preview type control above the Player lets you switch between
wing the current Library asset (‘source’) and the current timeline
vie
clip. In the Disc Editor, an additional preview type (‘menu’) lets you use
the Player as an editor for linking disc menus to points on the project
timeline.
Timeline editing, a central activity in projec
t authoring. “Chapter 3: The
Movie Editor” on page 59.
The media editors
Additional windows are often needed for working with particular types
of media. In general, you can open an editor window appropriate to
any asset or clip by double-clicking the item.
12Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Corrections from the Library
The editors for the standard media types of video, photo and audio are
particularly important. When invoked from the Library (by doubleclicking an asset), each of these editors provides a suite of correction
tools appropriate to its media type. These tools can be applied directly
to Library assets in order to remove camera shake from video, trim
unwanted material from a photo, or suppress audio hiss, to give just a
few examples.
When a correction is applied to a Libr
modified. Instead the correction parameters are saved in the Library
database. They can be altered at any time, or removed, as your needs
dictate. The corrections you make in the Library are brought with the
asset when you add it to your project timeline as a clip.
ary asset, the media file is not
Corrections from the timeline
When you open one of the standard media editors by double-clicking
a timeline clip, the correction tools are again available, although in this
case they apply only to the clip in the project, not to the underlying
Library asset.
Transitions and Effects
When they are invoked from the project timeline, the media editors
also offer effects, which cover a wide-range of enhancements in all
three media types in the transition in, transition out, and effects
groups.
Transitions let you punctuate the passage
anything from a barely perceptible dissolve to an audience-awakening
flare.
of one clip to the next with
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio13
Effects range from the practical (Brightness and contrast) to the
theatrical (Fractal fire). Effects can be animated with keyframed
p
arameter changes to any degree of complexity. They provide
innumerable ways to add creative interest to your productions. Some
effects are particularly designed for 3D material.
Pan-and-zoom
The Photo Editor provides one more tool, pan-and-zoom, of its own.
Like the effects just discussed, pan-and-zoom can be animated with
keyframes to create any desired combination of simulated pan and
zoom camera moves within the boundaries of a single photo.
For more information about Correction tools and the media editors,
“Chapter 4: Corrections” on page 123 and “Chapter 5: Effects” on
see
page 149.
The Player
The Player is a preview screen in which you can examine Library media,
play back your movie project, work on disc menus, and much more. In
each window or context in which it is used, the Player exhibits
somewhat different controls. For an introduction to the Player and its
basic controls, please see “The Library preview” on page 40. For the
use of the Player in trim mode on the timeline, see “Clip operations”
on page 91. For information on using the P
“Using the Montage Editor” on page 186. For the use of the Player in
editing disc menus, see “Previewing disc menus” on page 275.
layer with Montage, see
Pinnacle Studio Projects
The movies and discs that you create in Pinnacle Studio are distilled
from the projects that you build on the timeline of the Movie Editor or
the Disc Editor.
14Pinnacle Studio User Guide
To manage projects, Studio must keep track of everything that goes
onto your timeline, and all the editing decisions you make with regard
to trimming, adding effects, and much more. Much of this information
is stored in the project file, which is in axp (Studio Movie) format.
In order to conserve hard drive space when dealing with files that can
e very large, the project file does not include the media items in your
b
movie. For these, only their location in the Library is stored.
The axp project file is the de
fault file format for the File > Open, File >
Save and File > Save As menu commands. It may be the only one you
ne
ed.
Sometimes, however, it is
convenient to have all the resources recruited
for a project gathered into a single, manageable unit for hassle-free
archiving, file transfer or upload. This is the purpose of an alternative
file format, the axx (Studio Project Package), which contains in a single
file all the
materials your project uses, including media items. Of
necessity, files in this format are considerably larger than standard
project files.
Although it is not possible to directly edit a project in the package
format, Pinnacle Studio lets you open a project package with File >
Open by selecting axx in the file extension box. Studio seamlessly
unpacks the project, creates a new Library entry for the unpacked
version, and opens it for editing.
If you create a multi-camera project in the Multi-Camera Editor
, the
project is saved as a mcam file. When you add an mcam file to the
timeline, it is added as a single tra
ck by default. You can expand it by
right-clicking the file in the timeline and choosing Edit Movie.
Chapter 1: Using Pinnacle Studio15
16Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Chapter 2: The Library
The Pinnacle Studio Library, displayed when you click the Organize
tab, is a cataloguing and management tool for all the file-based
resources you can draw on when authoring. Its purpose is to let you
choose and use the video segments, photos, sound bites, transition
effects, titles and other ‘assets’ (as they are often called) for your
movies as easily, rapidly and intuitively as possible.
The Pinnacle Studio Library
The Library’s classification scheme resembles what you might see in a
file-system viewer. While the viewer groups files under their physical
storage locations such as hard drives, the Library groups assets under
their type – video, photo, and so on. In other respects, the tree view
concept for accessing subgroups of assets is virtually identical and
should feel immediately familiar.
Chapter 2: The Library17
In addition to audio, photo and video files in standard formats, the
Library includes specialized auxiliary media like titles and disc menus.
They are found, along with transitions, filters and other effects, in the
main category called Content.
The Library can easily manage large media ho
ldings such as are often
found nowadays even on a home system. All of the dozens of media
file types usable in Pinnacle Studio can be browsed, organized and
previewed within its integrated interface.
Assets are displayed either as icons or text records
within collapsible
folders that stack up in the Library Browser. The folders may
correspond either to real directories in your computer’s file system, or
to virtual groupings based on ratings, file type, creation date, or
membership in a user-defined Collection.
Adding assets to a project
Two views of the Library are found in Pinnacle Studio. The Main view
takes over the application window when you click the Organize tab. It
uses the full available space to provide as much information as
possible.
To open the Main Library view, click the Organize tab at the
top of the Pinnacle Studio application window.
The Compact view of the Library is a panel, either docked (as in the
Movie and Disc project editors) or floating (as in the Title Editor). The
Compact view retains the full functionality of the Library. Its primary
18Pinnacle Studio User Guide
purpose is to allow you to bring Library assets into a movie or disc
project with drag and drop.
The current set of Library tabs, and the contents of the Browser, are
co
mmon to all views of the Library. For instance, if you are browsing in
a particular folder of disc menus in the Main view, that same folder will
be open in the Compact view if you now switch to the Movie Editor.
Correcting media files
With regard to technical quality, media files are not all created equal.
Occasionally, you do come across the perfect photo, clip, or sound
effect. More often, though, the photo needs cropping, the video is
shaky, or the sound starts with an annoying hiss. Pinnacle Studio’s
media correction tools let you fix these and similar issues by applying
correction filters to a problem clip after you have placed it on the
timeline of your project.
Often, however, an even b
the Library asset itself, before adding it to a project. That way, any
production using the asset will start with the corrected version, not the
unsatisfactory original. Such corrections can quickly be made by
opening media editors from the Library. The file underlying the
corrected asset is not modified: instead, the correction parameters are
stored in the Library database and reapplied whenever the item is
displayed or used.
etter solution is to apply the correction to
Instant gratification: SmartMovie
In addition to the core functions mentioned so far, the Library offers a
matching pair of tools for automatically constructing a complete
project using media resources you specify. Just select some photos or
video sequences, enter a few settings, and start. You can output the
Chapter 2: The Library19
project Studio generates without further modification, or refine it with
manual editing as you prefer. For more information, see “SmartMovie”
on page 55.
Understanding the Library
The Studio Library lets you manage and efficiently use the entire pool
of media and other assets available for use in your productions.
What exactly does the Library contain?
The full range of assets that you can draw on for your projects is
summarized by the four main branches of the Asset Tree. Each branch
is further divided into more specialized subsections.
The Project Bins branch organizes your imported media in virtual
o
lders. By default, the folders are labelled according to import date,
f
but you can right-click a folder to rename it and you can click the
Create new project bin button to add a new bin.
The Library Media branch appears only if you enable Watchfolders or
ur current version of Pinnacle Studio detects a previous library (see
if yo
“Watchfolders” on page 359). In most cases, Project Bins can be used
instead of the Library Media branch.
The Library Media branch contains the standard media files on your
system in subsections named Photos, Video, and Audio. Many
standard f
subsection, Missing media, is described below.
The Projects branch of the Asset Tree contains your own Pinnacle
t
udio movie and disc projects. You can open a project right from the
S
Library and begin editing it, or you can add it to the timeline of another
project to serve as an ordinary clip.
20Pinnacle Studio User Guide
ile types are supported. The purpose of the fourth
Collections are custom groupings of Library media. The more time you
spend on media management, the more you will probably use
Collections. They can serve as temporary holding places while you
work, or for classifying and setting aside media for later use.
Collections may be automatically generated, but most are user
defined. Hierarchically-organized Collections are also supported. The
top-level Collections in the hierarchy are used as subsections of the
Collections branch.
The Content branch is either a type of special effect (Effects and
Transitions), or a special media type. Ready-to-use, royalty-free
collections of all seven types are included with Pinnacle Studio.
Storage of Library assets
Every asset in the Library – every clip, sound, transition, and so on –
corresponds to a file somewhere in the local storage of your computer
system. The Library doesn’t ‘own’ these files, and never modifies them
unless specifically requested to do so. Rather, it keeps track of their
names, locations and properties in an internal database. The
information stored also includes any tags and ratings with which you
have annotated particular items, and the parameters of any correction
filters you have applied.
Chapter 2: The Library21
The database
The files that make up the Library database are stored in a folder with
single-user rather than shared access rights under Microsoft Windows.
If Pinnacle Studio is used on your computer by multiple users with
individual log-ins, a separate Library will be created for each.
Missing media
Operations like adding, removing and renaming a Library asset are
database operations that have no effect on the media file itself. When
you remove an asset from the Library, an option on the confirmation
dialog box does let you go one step further and delete the actual file
as well, but the option is off by default – you have to specifically
request the action.
By the same token, when yo
u delete or move an asset file in Windows
Explorer or another application outside of Pinnacle Studio, the
database record of the file continues to exist. Since the Library can’t
actually access the file, however, an error graphic is added to the file’s
listing. If the file still exists, but has simply been moved to another
folder or device, relinking it to the Library is easy. Double-click the item
to pop up a standard File Open dialog with which you can point the
way to the f
ile’s new location.
Incidentally, to check if there are missing media anywhere in the
Library, look in the special subsection All media >Missing media of the
et Tree.
Ass
22Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Location tabs
Editing a video project involves coordinating the various media and
other assets at your disposal. As you proceed, it’s likely that you’ll find
yourself browsing repeatedly in various parts of the Library that are
relevant to the project. No doubt you will also change your viewing
and filtering options from time to time, depending on the material
you’re reviewing.
Like a web browser that uses a row of tabs to allow flipping effortlessly
mongst multiple open web sites, the Library lets you create and
a
configure location tabs as you work. The tabs provide direct access to
each of the various locations in which you are currently working.
Here three tabs give access to media required by different
parts of a disc project. The mouse pointer is poised to create
a new tab. To close a tab, click the x icon to the right of the
tab caption.
To set the location of the current tab, click a name in the Asset Tree.
Changes you make to viewing and filtering options while the tab is
active are retained between accesses.
The Navigator
The entire gamut of Library assets is organized into an asset tree whose
folder-style structure and general usage should be familiar from filesystem tools like Windows Explorer. When you select a location in the
Navigator, the folder name appears on the caption of the active
location tab, and its contents are displayed in the neighboring Browser.
Chapter 2: The Library23
In the Main Library (top), the Navigator occupies the lefthand pane of the workspace. In the compact view (bottom),
used by Studio’s project and media editing tools, the
Navigator is presented instead as a dropdown list on the
active tab.
Project Bins
Project bins are virtual folders for your assets. They are created
automatically during import and you can create them manually to
organize your assets according to your needs (for example, by project).
24Pinnacle Studio User Guide
To create a project bin
1In the Project Bins branch of the Library Asset tree, click the Create
a new project bin button
2 Type a name for you bin and click OK.
The bin is added to the end of the project bin list.
To rename a project bin
1In the Project Bins branch of the Library Asset tree, right-click a
project bin, and choose Rename.
The current name appears highlighted
2 Type a new name for the bin.
To re m o ve a b i n
•In the Project Bins branch of the Library Asset tree, right-click a
project bin, and choose Remove Project Bin.
Collections
From the Library’s point of view, a Collection is just an arbitrary
grouping of assets – a set of Library items with no organizing principle.
You may well have a good reason for gathering certain files into a
particular collection, but the Library doesn’t have to know what it is.
Inside a Collection, any asset can rub shoulders with any other.
a
One special Collection, with the name L
updated after each import operation to display the media added.
Immediately after importing, you can turn to this Collection and start
working with the new material.
Another automatically-generated Collection is Late
which stores the media you selected for your most recent SmartMovie
oduction.
pr
Chapter 2: The Library25
test import, is automatically
st Smart Creation,
To create a new collection
1 Click the icon in the header line of the Collections branch and
enter a name in the provided text field.
2 Complete the process by pressing Enter.
Tip: Alternatively, choose Add to collection > Create new
collection from any asset’s context menu.
To manage collections
1 Right-click a collection and choose a command for renaming or
deleting the collection, or for creating a subcollection that has the
current Collection as its parent ‘folder’.
To organize a collection
• Drag and drop a collection in the Navigator with the mouse. A
dragged Collection becomes a subcollection when dropped upon
another.
Displaying collected assets
Clicking the name of a Collection causes it to be displayed in the
Browser. As your mouse pointer passes over any listed asset, the
Collections to which the asset belongs ‘light up’ in the Navigator.
Operations on collected assets
These operations can be performed from the context menu of any
Collection item. To act on a group of items, first select them with the
mouse (using Ctrl-click and Shift-click for multiple selections as
needed) or by dragging out a frame around the items. Then right- click
within the selection to access the context menu.
26Pinnacle Studio User Guide
To add to a collection
• Choose a target Collection on the Add to collection submenu to
add the selected item or items.
Tip: Alternatively, drag the selection
onto the target Collection.
To remove items from a collection
• Click the Remove command to remove the item (or items) from
the Collection. As usual with the Library, the underlying media
items involved are not affected, so removing a video or other item
from a Collection in the Library does not delete it from other
Library locations.
Favorites
Using Favorites is a quick way to mark and find your preferred content,
such as your favorite effects, transitions, and titles.
To mark content as Favorite
1 In the Navigation panel of the Library, open the Content branch,
and click a content type.
2 In the browser area of the Library, right-click a thumbnail and
choose Add to Favorites.
Content marked as Favorites appears at the top of the Library in a
Favorites folder (when the content is organized by folder). Each
typ
e of content has its own Favorites folder that can be accessed
f
rom the corresponding Content category in the Navigator panel.
Chapter 2: The Library27
Favorites in the Library
Managing Library assets
Media and other assets find their way into the Library in several ways.
For instance, the original contents of the Content branch of the Library
are installed with Pinnacle Studio.
The Library automatically discovers some assets on your system by
re
gularly scanning Windows-standard media locations. These are set
up on Pinnacle Studio installation as watchfolders. Media files in these
locations will automatically be brought into the Library. You can add
28Pinnacle Studio User Guide
your own watchfolders (see below), and they will be automatically
updated, too.
Finally, you can import media manually by any of several methods.
Watchfolders
You can turn on Watchfolders to monitor directories on your
computer. If you add media files such as video clips to a watchfolder,
or one of its subfolders, the files automatically become part of a Media
Library branch in the Asset Tree. Updating occurs each time the
application is launched and while the application is running.
Watchfolders are set up on the Watchfolders page of the Setup control
an
el. For each folder that you add, you can specify that either one
p
particular supported media type will be ‘watched for’, or all of them.
Please see “Chapter 12: Setup” on page 359 for more information.
Importing
If you need to import a large amount or variety of media, or to import
from analog media such as VHS tape, click the Import button near the
top of the application window to open the Importer. See “Chapter 10:
The Importer” on page 291 for full information.
Quick import: The Quick Import button
Library opens a Windows file dialog for fast import of files from a hard
drive or other local storage. New folders in the corresp
categories (photos, video, audio and projects) are created for the files
specified. In addition, the imported items are included in the Last
Import Collection.
Chapter 2: The Library29
at the top left of the
onding media
Direct import via drag and drop: To select and import items in one step,
use drag-and-drop from Windows Explorer or the desktop into the
Browser. The new items are immediately displayed in the Collection
‘Latest Import’, which is created for the occasion if necessary.
Exporting directly from the Library
Any photo, video, audio file or project in the Main Library can be
directly exported “as is”, using the context menu commands described
below, to either a Cloud-based storage service or a disc. For other
exporting options, use the Exporter instead, by selecting the asset and
clicking the Export tab at the top of the window. See “Chapter 11: The
Exporter” on page 337 for full information.
To store a Library asset on a disc, select Burn Disc on the context menu.
ou can burn just the file, or a disc image if you have made one. If you
Y
select multiple assets, and then select Burn Disc, all of the assets will
ppear on the Burn files to disc dialog. More assets can be added by
a
clicking the File icon and browsing. You can also delete files from the
list before burning.
Removing items from the Library
To remove an item from the Library, or a selection containing multiple
items, choose Delete selected from the context menu or press the
Delete key. A confirmation dialog lets you approve the list of media files
to be removed from the Library database. By default, the files
themselves will not be affected, but the Remove from library and delete
option lets you delete the files too, if desired. Be careful, as this
command works on all kinds of Library assets, including your Pinnacle
Studio projects if any of those are selected.
When all the files in a f
as well.
30Pinnacle Studio User Guide
older are removed, the Library hides the folder
You may also remove a folder and all the assets it contains from the
Library when removing the folder from the watchfolders list. However,
this is not automatic and you will be asked if you want to keep your
current assets listed in the Library, but still stop monitoring the
location.
The Browser
This is the area in which the Library displays its media assets – the
videos, photos, audio, projects, collections and ‘content’ that are
available for you to use in your movie and disc projects. The items are
displayed either as a list of text records or as a grid of icons. Visual asset
types use thumbnail images for their icons; other types use graphic
symbols.
The Library would not be much help if the Browser displayed all its
s
sets at once. It therefore has several controls that help you screen out
a
items that aren’t relevant to your purpose. See “Choosing what to
display” below for details.
Controlling the Browser display
A group of controls in the Library’s footer bar provides general
functions for managing the way assets are presented in the Browser.
The info button, available in the main Library only, toggles
the display of a panel across the bottom of the Browser pane
wher
e details about the current asset are displayed, such as
its caption, file name, rating, and any tags or comments associated
with it. The information may be edited, and for some assets, you can
also open the corrections tools by clicking the gear icon on the top left
corner of the pane.
Chapter 2: The Library31
The scenes view button applies to video assets only. While
this button is active, items in th
e Browser represent the
individual scenes in a particular video, not the entire asset as
usual. See “The Library preview” on page 40 for more information.
In the main Library, this and the next
two butt
ons are grouped at right
between the info button and the zoom slider. In the compact Library,
the three buttons are placed at left.
The thumbnails view button switches to viewing assets as
thumbnails rather than as text lines. A pop-up checklist
as
sociated with the button lets you select the readouts and
controls that will appear beside thumbnails in the Browser.
The details view button switches to the alternative viewing
mode, in which each asset appears as a text listing. T
he popup checklist with this button selects the text fields to be
displayed.
The zoom slider lets you magnify the
thumbnails to get a closer look, or pull
back for a wider view. This slider is always
found at the right-hand end
of the footer bar.
Thumbnails and details
Each asset is displayed in the Library Browser in one of two formats,
depending on the view selected.
Because the icons of thumbnails view and the text records o
view represent the same assets, they have certain features in common.
For instance, the context menu for assets is the same regardless of
which representation is used.
f details
32Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Similarly, standard media assets (video, photo and audio), along with
Sound effects in the Content branch, open an appropriate media
editor for corrections when double-clicked in either view. The
corrections tools are also available when a media editor is invoked from
the timeline, but when applied to a Library asset the corrections are
carried forward into any future project that includes it. See “Correcting
media files” on page 19 for more information.
Details
In details view, each asset is presented as one line in a list of text
records. In thumbnails view, it appears as a thumbnail image (f
media types) or graphic icon.
or visual
To switch the Browser to details view, click th
button
at the bottom of the Library. The arrow beside the button
pops up a panel listing the optional columns av
e icon on the details view
ailable to be included
in the text records (one column, Caption, is always present). Check the
boxes beside any of these – File size, File type, Date, Tags, Rating and
Duration – you wish to be shown.
In Details view, each asset is displayed as a one-line text
record. A pop-up checklist beside the Details view button lets
you select which columns to show.
Chapter 2: The Library33
Thumbnails
The thumbnails view button to the left of the details view button
selects thumbnails view, in which a
by icons rather than text. The arrow alongside the button opens a popup checklist on which you can choose additional data to be shown
with each icon. The options are Rating, Stereoscopic, Information,
Correction, Collection, Tag , Used Media, Caption and Shortcut.
At the bottom center of most asset icons a
preview button, a standard triangular play icon
sed in a square, is displayed when the
enclo
mouse pointer is over the asset. In the compact
version of the Library (as seen in the project
editors and some media editors), the preview is
shown on the Source tab of the embedded Player. In the Main Library,
the Player occupies a floating, resizable window. See “The Library
preview” on page 40 for more information.
In either version of the Library, Alt-clicking the
preview button will give you a mini-previ
the asset icon itself. With video and audio media,
you can control the mini-preview manually by
means of a scrubber that appears below the
thumbnail whenever the mouse is over the icon.
ssets are represented in the Browser
ew on
If the asset is a photo, a pop-up preview button replaces the standard
play symbol. Clicking it will displa
y the photo
When the Browser is in thumbnails view,
in the pop-up Player.
a slider is available to control
the size of the icons. You will find the slider in the bottom right corner
of the Library. The icons can also be resized with the scroll wheel when
Ctrl is pressed and the mouse pointer is positioned over the Browser
pane.
34Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Locked content indicator: Some of the Disc Menus, Titles, Montages,
and other creative elements in the Library are locked to indicate that
you do not own a license to distribute them freely. This status is
indicated by the lock indicator.
Even though locked, the content can still be handled as usual. You can
edit it in the Library, and add it to a timeline. A project containing
locked content can be saved, put on a disc and exported.
However, a translucent ‘watermark’ logo will appear on the locked
content.
The locked content watermark.
To purchase and unlock the content, use one of the following options:
• In the Library, click the lock symbol on the icon.
Chapter 2: The Library35
• During export of a project with locked content, a dialog will
appear prompting you to click the lock symbol.
• When editing effects in one of the media
editors, click the lock
symbol on the Settings panel. For more information, see “The
Settings panel” on page 174.
Optional indicators and controls
The optional indicators and buttons on an asset icon in the Library
Browser let you access and in some cases modify information about
the asset without having to burrow deeper. Use the pop-up checklist
on the thumbnails view button to determine which indicators and
buttons are displayed.
Caption: The caption below the icon
is the Library alias for the asset,
which you can set with the Edit caption context menu command for
any asset. It is not necessarily the name of the underlying asset file
(which is shown in the tooltip).
36Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Shortcut: The presence of this indicator in the extreme upper left of a
thumbnail shows that the asset is a shortcut rather than an
independent media file. Shortcuts, which consist of a reference to an
existing media item along with a package of Corrections settings, can
be created from the File menu of the media editor for any Library asset.
Thereafter, they behave like ordinary assets, and are available for use in
your productions.
Tag i nd ic ato r : The bottommost of the three symb
ols at the right of the
thumbnail is shown if the asset has any tags assigned to it. Hover the
mouse pointer over the indicator to bring up a menu on which the
existing tags for the asset are shown. As you pass the pointer over a
tag name on this menu, a remove button appears. Click it to unset the
tag. Click remove all at the bottom of the menu to clear all tags from
the asset. The creation and application of tags is discussed in “Tags” on
page 48.
Collection indicator: Just above the tag indicator, the presence of this
symbol indicates that you have included the asset in one or more
Collections. To see which ones, hover the mouse over the symbol. As
with the tag indicator menu, a remove button is shown as you position
the mouse on each Collection name; click it to remove the asset from
the Collection. The remove all command removes the asset from all
Collections of which it is a member.
Chapter 2: The Library37
Corrections indicator: The Library allows you to apply image and audio
correction filters ‘non-destructively’ on Library media assets, meaning
that the original file remains intact. The types of corrections that have
been applied to an asset, and the parameters that were used to control
them, are stored in the Library database. If corrections have been
applied to an asset, the corrections indicator appears just above the
collection indicator. Click the indicator to open the applicable media
editor and update corrections settings. See “Correcting media
files” on
page 19 for information about applying corrections to Library assets.
Ratings: The row of stars above the top left of the icon lets you set the
as
set rating. If no stars are lit, the asset is said to be unrated. To set the
rating of one asset or a selection of assets, either click the
corresponding star on the indicator (click the first star twice to make
the asset unrated again) or choose the setting on the Apply rating
context submenu.
The Ratings control appears at the left above the asset
thumbnail. At top right is the Info button. The Corrections
indicator is also at upper right, just above the Collection
indicator.
3D indicator: Assets whose content is designed for stereoscopic 3D
viewing carry a 3D indicator. The indicator appears when video and
38Pinnacle Studio User Guide
photo assets are automatically detected as stereoscopic while
importing them the Library, and when an asset has been manually set
as stereoscopic in corrections.
Used media indicator: A check mark is displayed to the right of the
ratings indicator if the asset represented by the thumbnail is currently
to be found in an open timeline within your project. The check mark is
rendered in green if the asset is used in the currently visible project;
otherwise it is gray. The used media indicator applies only to photo,
video and audio assets, not to items like transitions and titles that
come from the Content branch.
Information indicator: Clicking the information indicator opens the
information panel in the pop- up Player, where you can edit the asset’s
rating, title, and tags as well as view all its properties. Like most of the
other indicators, the information indicator can be turned on and off
using the thumbnails view pop-up.
Chapter 2: The Library39
Multi-Camera indicator: Projects created in the Multi-Camera Editor
have a four-pane square icon in the upper right corner of the
thumbnail.
The Library preview
Most types of Library asset support previewing in the Browser. The
capability is indicated by a preview button on the asset icon, and the
presence of a Show preview command on its context menu.
Remember too that most asset types can be previewed on the icon
itself with an Alt-click on the play button.
The Library Player
Clicking the preview button in the center of the asset icon loads the
item into the Library Player for viewing.
40Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Previewing a video clip in the Library Player window. The
transport controls are at the bottom, starting with a Loop
button at the far left and a shuttle wheel. The third in the
group of five arrow buttons starts playback. The two buttons
on each side of it are for navigating from asset to asset in the
Library folder.
Along the top of the Player, the current viewing position is displayed.
At the bottom is a toolbar of transport controls and function buttons.
Transport controls
First among the transport controls is the loop button, which causes
playback in a continuous loop from the start of the media. Next is a
shuttle wheel with which you can sensitively control the speed of
playback by dragging backwards and forwards on the control.
The center play button in the cluster of five arrow controls begins
preview of the video or audio asset. The two buttons on either side of
it are for navigating from the viewed asset to others in its folder. When
previewing a photo the play button does not appear; only the
navigation buttons remain.
Chapter 2: The Library41
Click the mute button to the right of the transport controls to toggle
the audio associated with the clip. A volume slider appears next to the
mute button when the mouse is over it.
Function buttons
Some buttons in the final group at the bottom of the Player appear
only with particular asset types. A video file uses all four types, in the
order shown and described here.
Scenes view: This button activates a mode in which the Browser
displays a separate icon or text record for each scene in the video file.
(As explained under Video scene detection, a scene in the most general
sense is just any portion of a video file.)
When Scenes view is active, the neighboring Open in corrections editor
button is removed, and a Split scene button takes its place. This allows
you to define your own scenes instead of, or as well as, relying on the
automatic scene detection feature.
For more information about video scenes in the Library see “Video
scene detection” on page 53.
Open in media editor: The media file is opened for editing in the
pplicable media editor so that corrections settings can be adjusted.
a
Full-screen: The preview is shown in a special full-screen window
, with
its own basic set of transport controls. To close the full-screen display,
click the close button in the top right corner of the window, or press
Esc.
Info: This button switches
between the Player’s information and
playback views. The information view can be opened directly by
42Pinnacle Studio User Guide
clicking the info button on a media asset icon in the Browser. Audio
assets have no separate playback view; instead, full scrubbing controls
are shown in the information view.
In the information view, the properties that can be edited are Rating,
Title, Ta gs and Comment.
Here, data regarding a Library asset, a video, is displayed in
the Information view of the Player. Click the highlighted Info
button to return to the Playback view of the asset.
3D viewing mode switcher
When stereoscopic 3D content is being shown, the 3D viewing mode
switcher will appear. On opening the Player, the default mode from the
preview settings in the Control Panel is used for photos, videos, and
Chapter 2: The Library43
projects. The icon for the current mode is displayed beside a dropdown
arrow used for switching modes. The available modes are:
Left eye, Right eye: The preview for stereoscopic
content can be set to show only its left or right eye
view. This helps keep things s
imple at times when a
stereoscopic preview is unnecessary. Editing in these views is carried
out as for a 2D movie.
Side by side: This mode displays the frames for both eyes
horizontally adjacent to each other, with the left eye on the
left
and the right eye on right. When editing, no stereoscopic
equipment is needed.
Differential: Differential mode is good for detecting the
‘depth’ of an image mo
re easily, and especially for revealing
areas of ‘zero depth’. Differential mode show a 50% gray for
areas where identical information is being presented to both eyes; a
color difference is shown if the areas are not identical. If 2D material is
added to a stereoscopic 3D timeline in differential mode, since the
same content is shown to both eyes, the image will be a uniform gray.
Checkerboard: Checkerboard mode breaks the image up into
a 16 x 9 checkerboard pattern. The ‘white’ squares of the
kerboard contain the view from one eye, the ‘black’
chec
squares the other. Checkerboard mode provides a quick check on the
ways the left and right frames differ across the whole image.
3D TV (Side by Side): Use this mode to preview stereoscopic
content on a 3D TV display or with a 3D projector by
ecting it as a second monitor. This obviates the need for
conn
a special graphics card or additional hardware. Configure the second
display to operate in its native resolution, and to extend your desktop,
not just mirror it. Make sure the input format is side- by-side.
44Pinnacle Studio User Guide
In the Control Panel Preview settings, choose Second Monitor from the
“Show external preview on” dropdown menu. Set up Studio with a
16x9 stereoscopic timeline. Finally, on the Player, click the Full Screen
button. Please see “Export and Preview” on page 360, and “Timeline
settings” on page 72 for help with these configurations.
Anaglyph: An Anaglyph stereoscopic preview is suitable for
viewing with red-cyan stereoscopic glasses, with no
additional ha
anaglyphic display works well even for images with a lot of red, thanks
to a method very similar to the ‘optimized anaglyphs’ technique.
3D Vision: This stereoscopic mode is available with many
NVidia graphics cards after the 3D Vision feature has been
rdware support required. Pinnacle Studio’s
enabled in your NVidia configuration utility
offered depends on the hardware available. At the basic ‘Discover’
level, the 3D Vision display is anaglyphic.
The type of 3D display
.
Choosing what to display in the Library
Th e Librar y is muc h more th an a pass ive st orehous e of mat erial fo r your
Pinnacle Studio productions.
The Library Browser has several features for decluttering your view by
hid
ng assets that aren’t relevant to your purpose. No matter how
i
numerous your media files, the combined power of these techniques
can greatly speed your browsing.
Location tabs
Most importantly, each location tab corresponds to a different
selection on the Navigator. Like web browser tabs, location tabs are
Chapter 2: The Library45
readily defined (click the ‘+’ icon at the right end of the tab list), and
come in handy for keeping track of multiple things simultaneously.
Clicking within the Navigator sets th
e location for the current tab;
conversely, clicking another tab transfers you to its saved location on
the tree. Only the assets within the chosen location are displayed in the
Browser. If the location has subfolders, however, their contents will be
included. To keep things simple, choose a location as near the bottom
of the folder hierarchy as possible.
Other controls let you restrict the display further by
filtering out some
of the assets in the chosen location. Each location tab maintains its
own set of filters, so any change of filtering settings affects the current
tab only.
Filter by rating
The Filter by rating control at the top of the Library hides all assets that
don’t have at least the specified rating from one to five stars (zero stars
means ‘unrated’). To use the filter, simply click on the star that
represents the minimum rating you want to bother with. The default
filter setting is to show all assets regardless of rating.
See “Inadvertent filtering”
all filters at once. To deactivate jus
selected star or double-click any star.
on page 48 for instructions on switching off
t the rating filter click the last
In this close-up, three stars are highlighted, meaning that only
assets with ratings of three stars or better are on display. Here
46Pinnacle Studio User Guide
the mouse pointer is poised to click the fifth star, which would
set the rating filter to hide all but five-star assets.
Filter by stereoscopic 3D
To display only stereoscopic 3D content, click 3D at the top of the
Library. To return to viewing 2D assets as well, click 3D again.
Filter by tags
Another way to narrow the field of displayed assets is with filtering by
tags. Tags are keywords that you can assign to assets as you work.
Once tags have been defined, you can use them in several ways to
control which assets are displayed by the Browser. See “Tags” on
page 48 for detailed information.
Search
At the top right of the Library is a search field that gives one further
way to filter the display. As you begin entering your search term, the
Browser continually updates the view to include only those assets with
text that matches your search term.
Even when multiple terms are separated by spaces, partial-word as well
as whole-word matches are allowed in each term. A dropdown list lets
you choose whether the search will be satisfied if even a single search
term matches the asset text, or if all terms must match for the asset to
be accepted.
Chapter 2: The Library47
Inadvertent filtering
The various filtering methods can be combined at will. Should you
leave any of the filtering types switched on when you don’t need it, it’s
likely that some assets will be hidden that should be displayed. When
an item is unexpectedly missing in the Browser, verify that filters are
inactive.
The Browser guards against the possibility of inadvertent filtering by
displaying a ‘filter a
lert’ that remains visible as long as any filter is in
use.
A filter alert (orange bar) like the one shown here is displayed
at the top of the Browser whenever filtering is in force. Click
the x icon at the right-hand end to clear all filtering at once.
Tags
The Library is capable of handling a great number of asset files,
sometimes far more in even a single folder than can be viewed
conveniently. The Browser therefore provides a number of methods of
winnowing out irrelevant assets from the display.
48Pinnacle Studio User Guide
One method of streamlining the display of assets in the Browser is
filtering by tags. A tag is simply a word or short phrase that you think
would be useful as a search term. It is up to you whether you assign
tags to your media, but if you do, they provide a powerful way of
selecting assets to display.
Tag management and filtering
Management of tags, and filtering by tags, are handled in a panel that
appears when the Tags button at the top of the Library is clicked. The
panel can also be invoked by choosing Apply tag > Create new tag
any asset’s context menu.
from
The tags panel, with existing tags listed alphabetically.
At the top of the tags panel is a text box for entering new tag names.
The panel also lists all the tags you have defined so far, lets you delete
or rename them, and lets you choose which assets you want displayed
in the Library.
Chapter 2: The Library49
Creating, renaming and deleting tags
To create a new tag, click in the text box at the top of the tags panel
and type in your tag. Select the media that you want to tag, make sure
the Apply the tag to selected media box is checked, and click the Create
new tag button beside the text box. There is no limit to the number of
tags you can create. However, if you try to apply a name that isn’t new,
you will be notified that the name already exists, and it will not be
added to the selected media.
To apply an existing tag to all currently
-selected assets in the Browser,
click the tag name. Selecting multiple assets to tag makes the process
much more efficient than if you could tag only one item at a time.
Hovering over a tag reveals the Rename and Delete buttons.
Clicking the tag itself applies it to any currently-selected
assets.
Hovering the mouse over a tag reveals the controls for renaming or
deleting the tag. To rename, click the Rename icon, type in the new
name, and press Enter. Click the Trashcan icon to delete the tag. To
delete all tags at once, use the Delete all tags button at the bottom of
the panel. If you are deleting a tag that is in use, you will be given a
chance to back out of the operation.
Sorting tags
In the middle of the tags panel is the Sort by dropdown, offering just
two choices: ‘Abc’, in which the tags are sorted alphabetically, or
‘Relevance’, which sorts them in descending order of their popularity
in the set of assets currently on display. Under the second choice, you
will see the tags being resorted each time one is checked or unchecked.
50Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Filtering with tags
Beside each tag name listed in the panel is a Filter icon that you can use
to narrow the set of items displayed in the Browser. As you check and
uncheck the tags, the view updates automatically.
The exact effect of your selections depends on another control, the
tch dropdown just above the tags. The list provides three options.
Ma
None displays only assets that have none of your checkmarked tags. In
d set of animal photos, checking both the ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ tags,
a tagge
then selecting ‘None’, should hide most of the pet pictures.
Partial selects assets with any of your tags, which happens to be exactly
tho
se hidden by ‘No match’. If you leave ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ checked, but
switch to ‘Partial’, all the dogs and cats will be displayed, including the
handful of photos in which both animals appear. Photos with neither
tag will be hidden.
Full selects only the assets that have all your tags.
Now with the same
boxes checked you should see only those photos in which at least one
cat and one dog appear. Notice that under ‘Partial’ you will see more
assets displayed as you check more tags, but with ‘Full’ you will see
fewer.
Turning off tag filtering
When tags are set to filter the contents of the Library, an orange bar at
the top of the Browser lists which tags are being used. To turn off
filtering by an individual tag, bring up the tag panel and uncheck the
tag’s Filter icon. To turn off all filtering at once, click the x button at the
right hand end of the orange bar.
Chapter 2: The Library51
The art of tagging
There is no prescribed way of using tags. The best way to use them –
if you do – is the way that works best for you. Consistency is important,
however. The more faithful and systematic you are about assigning
tags to your media, the more useful they will be.
Since the idea is to locate an asset quickly when you need it, tags
should be chosen to work well as search terms. With family photos,
your tags might include the names of the people in each shot. For
vacation video scenes, tags naming the locations visited would
probably be useful.
Videographic terms (‘two-shot’, ‘silhouette’,
as good tags by making it easier to find assets that fulfill particular
structural or creative requirements.
‘exterior’) can also serve
Correcting media
You can apply the media correction tools in the Video, Photo and
Audio editors directly to Library assets. This kind of editing does not
change the underlying files. Instead, the editing parameters are stored
in the Library database and are reapplied whenever the asset is
recalled. See “Chapter 4: Corrections” on page 123 for details.
An important purpose of the media correction
make ‘adjustments’ on material that is not correctly identified
automatically. With video footage, for example, the Adjustments
group of tools allows you to override the Library-assigned aspect ratio,
interlace mode and stereoscopic 3D format.
52Pinnacle Studio User Guide
tools is to allow you to
Video scene detection
Using the Library’s automatic scene detection function, video footage
can be split into multiple scenes either automatically or manually.
Dividing raw files into scene-length portions can make some editing
tasks much less cumbersome than they would be otherwise.
The time required for scene detection varies depending on the length
f the clip and the detection method selected. A progress bar keeps
o
you informed of the status.
To initiate scene detection, select one of the methods on the Detect
s
cenes context menu command for video assets.
By date and time: This option often results in logic
al scene boundaries
that reflect your intention while shooting. In many digital recording
formats, such as DV and HDV, a discontinuity in the recorded timecode
data occurs whenever the camera is restarted after being stopped.
These shooting breaks are treated as scene breaks under the option.
By content: Under this option, the scene detection tool analyzes the
im
age content of the material frame by frame, and establishes a new
scene whenever there is an abrupt change in content. However, a quick
pan or rapid movement across the frame may produce some unneeded
breaks.
By time interval: In this variant you define the le
ngth of the scenes to
be created. A small editing window opens for entering the desired
value in hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. The scene duration
has a one second minimum. Press Enter to confirm your input.
Chapter 2: The Library53
Show the scenes
To show the catalog of scenes for a particular video file, either select
Show scenes from its context menu; or select the clip, then click the
Scenes view button
that appears at the bottom right of the Library.
Scene view is a temporary viewing mode. The
orange bar at the top of
the Browser alerts you that scene view is active. At the right hand end
of the bar is an x button you can use to terminate the mode. Clicking
the Scenes view button again has the same effect.
A single video file can contain many scenes. This makes the
footage easier to manipulate during editing than if it were
treated as a single segment.
During editing, scene clips behave identically to other video clips.
Manually creating scenes
If you want to manually divide a video file into individual scenes, select
Show scenes from the asset’s context menu, or click the Scenes view
button. If you haven’t previously subdivided the file, it will now appear
in the Browser as a single scene.
In the Library Player, navigate within the clip to each frame where a
ene break should occur, then click the Split scene button. See
sc
“Function buttons” on page 42 for further information.
54Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Removing scenes
To empty the entire list of scenes for a video file, select Scene detection
> Remove scenes on the asset’s context menu.
To remove individual scenes, select o
ne or more scenes then press
Delete.
SmartMovie
SmartMovie is a built-in project generator that allows you to create a
slideshow or movie production automatically based on media you
supply. The production will include animated transitions, a full music
soundtrack and eye-catching image effects.
At the bottom of the Library, just click SmartMovie.
To begin, select from the Library a series of photos or video files. Your
music might come from digital audio assets already in the Library, or
you can cook up a soundtrack on the spot with the ScoreFitter tool.
That might be all it takes, though y
with manual editing if you wish. Once you have a final product you
like, it takes only a few clicks to burn it onto a disc or save it as a file
for other uses, such as upload to the web.
ou can work on the project further
The SmartMovie panel that slides up into the window from below
ntains three subpanels. The leftmost of these presents information
co
about SmartMovie, and advice on how many files to include. The
center subpanel is a storage area with bins for photos and other
Chapter 2: The Library55
images (top) and audio. The right subpanel contains controls for
customizing the show.
Adding media
To add media to the production, drag them from the Browser into the
upper bin in the storage area. Drag thumbnails within the storage area
to get the order you want. Continue adding further images until you
are satisfied.
To add music, drag one or more sound files to the lower bin in the
age area. Alternatively you can click the clef button
stor
in the
bottom left corner of the audio bin to create a music soundtrack in
Fitter.
Score
As media are added, the total running time of the source material is
disp
d in the top-left corner of the bin. This is not necessarily the
laye
length of the resulting movie.
Preview, edit and export
Once your media are in place, click the Preview button on the footer
bar below the tool. The project is created and presented in a preview
window. If necessary, you can return to the settings to modify your
media selections.
When you click the Preview button, the media you have chosen are
tomatically saved in a Collection named Latest Smart Creation. If you
au
expect to make further use of
this grouping of assets, rename the
Collection to prevent it being overwritten the next time you look at a
SmartMovie preview.
56Pinnacle Studio User Guide
The analysis phase of generating a SmartMovie may take
some time to complete the first time the material is analyzed.
Full rendering of the project, with progress indicated by
shading on the time-ruler of the Player, may introduce an
additional delay before a fully-detailed preview is available.
The Edit button brings your production to the Movie Editor timeline for
detailed editing. It’s a good idea to check that the timeline video
settings match your requirements for the show. The video settings
button on the settings panel provides access to these. Also see “The
Project Timeline” on page 64.
When the presentation is the way you want it, click Export to burn a
disc or create a file for upload.
The storage area
The photos in the upper bin are displayed as icons, while the music and
sound files in the lower bin appear as text lines giving the file name and
duration of each asset. Both bins support multiple selection, drag-anddrop reordering, and a context menu with just two commands:
Delete selected: The selected media are removed from the SmartMovie
roduction. They remain available in the Library for other uses.
p
(Shortcut: Delete.)
Open editor: This command opens the Corrections tool of the Photo or
dio Editor. Any modifications you make to the media apply only
Au
within this SmartMovie production. (Shortcut: double-click.)
Chapter 2: The Library57
SmartMovie Settings
The settings on this subpanel customize the SmartMovie production.
The settings entered will be used the next time the production is
generated. The video settings button lets you set up the timeline
options that will apply if you take the production into the Movie Editor.
The clear project button removes all media from the project and
returns to default settings.
Title: Enter a caption to be used as the m
ain title of the movie.
Clip lengths: The visual tempo of your movie increases as the clip
length is shortened. Maximum uses the original length of the asset.
Pan and zoom: Checking this option enlivens your presentation with
simulated
Fit image: Check this option to enlarge mate
camera moves.
rial that is too small for the
frame format of your project.
Video Track Volume: Set the volume of the original audio in the
video
segments. For a soundtrack of background music only, set to zero.
58Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor
The Movie Editor is Pinnacle Studio’s main editing screen for digital
movie creation. The editor brings together three main components:
The Library, in its compact view, provides the assets available to your
project.
The Timeline lets you organize the assets as clips within a schematic
presentation of your production.
re
The Player lets you preview Library assets before adding them to your
t. It also lets you view – on a frame-by-frame basis if you like –
projec
how any part of the production will actually appear to your audience
when you export it, whether you save it as a file, burn it to a disc,
transfer it to a device, or upload it to the Internet.
Along with the Library, the timeline of your project, and the Player, the
Movie Editor window provides a variety of tools and panels for creating
nd editing titles, adding effects, and other purposes.
a
The compact Library
The compact view of the Library, which uses the top left of the Movie
Editor screen, is a core feature of the editing environment. If you switch
back and forth between the Library and the Movie Editor, you will see
that the same location tab is selected in both views, and that the same
Library assets are on display.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor59
To make navigation easier in the compact view of the Library, the
location tabs across the top bear icons that indicate the type of content
that will appear in the Browser when the tab is clicked. To display a
different part of the Library, click the expand-collapse triangle beside
the icon. This opens the folder tree through which you can access any
Library asset.
Finding Library assets using the expandable Navigator in the
compact Library.
With the compact Library and the timeline together in the same
window, adding assets to your movie becomes a breeze: just drag the
items you want from the Library Browser onto the timeline.
60Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Previewing in the project editors
You can operate the Player either in single or dual preview mode. Click
the Preview Mode button
to toggle between them.
The Player in single mode. You can choose to view either
‘Source’ (Library) or timeline material.
in the upper right corner of the Player
Single mode conserves screen space by providing only one Player
preview. The Source and Timeline tabs above the Player indicate
whether Library or timeline material is being viewed, and allow you to
switch from one to the other.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor61
The player in dual mode. The side-by-side previews let you
browse the Library while keeping your current movie frame in
view.
In dual mode, Source (Library) material is shown in the left-hand
preview, and timeline material in the right-hand preview, each with its
own set of transport controls. The dual view makes it easier to locate
Library assets that fit well with your movie by making both the existing
and the prospective material visible simultaneously.
62Pinnacle Studio User Guide
A portion of the Movie Editor display, with the compact view
of the Library at upper left, the Player at upper right (partly
visible), and at bottom the timeline.
Disc editing
If you plan ultimately to release your movie on DVD with interactive
menus, you will at some point need the special features of the Disc
Editor. It provides all the same timeline editing features as the Movie
Editor, but also lets you create and work on the disc menus with which
users will navigate your production.
Pinnacle Studio lets you
smoothly transition a movie to a disc project
at any time during development, so it’s all right to start in the Movie
Editor even if you end up targeting DVD for output instead of or as well
as the other options. Please turn to Chapter 9: Disc projects for
information about the special features provided for disc authoring. The
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor63
other aspects of timeline editing are covered in this and subsequent
chapters.
Slideshow productions
In addition to all types of video productions – ‘movies’ – the Movie
Editor (and the Disc Editor) can be used for authoring complex
slideshows and presentations from still images. The same editing
techniques apply in both cases.
The Project Timeline
The timeline is where you create your movie, by adding video, photo
and audio assets from the Library, by editing and trimming these core
media, and by enlivening them with transitions, effects, and other
enhancements.
Timeline fundamentals
The timeline consists of multiple tracks – as many as you require – in a
vertical stack. Tracks nearer the top of the stack are positioned towards
the front when viewed, their opaque parts obscuring the tracks below.
The basic action of movie authoring is to drag an asset from the Library
to a timeline track, where it is called a clip. With a little practice, you
can lay out a rough edit of a movie very quickly just by adding its main
media assets at their approximate timeline positions.
64Pinnacle Studio User Guide
At the left end of the timeline are track headers with several
controls per track: a lock button, the track name, and
monitoring buttons for the track’s video and audio. Here the
current default track is ‘Main’.
The track header: To the le ft of e ach tr ack is a he ader are a tha t prov ide s
access to functions such as disabling video or audio monitoring for the
track.
The default track: One track is highlighted with lighter background
r, and is also marked with an orange bar to the left of the track
colo
header. This is the default track. It has a special role in certain editing
procedures; for instance, it is the target track for pastes. To make
another track the default track, click in its header.
Your current position on the timeline corresponds to the video frame
hown in the Player when it is in Timeline mode. The current position
s
is indicated by a vertical red line, at the bottom of which is a draggable
scrubber handle. Another vertical line marks the same position in the
Navigator.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor65
The toolbar
Above the tracks, the timeline toolbar provides several clusters of
editing-related tools. (In the Disc Editor, the toolbar also includes tools
specifically for disc authoring.)
The Navigator
The Navigator is an auxiliary navigation panel that can be revealed or
hidden by clicking its icon on the Navigation tool selector near the left
end of the timeline toolbar.
The full-width strip appears just below the toolbar. It gives a bird’s- eye
view of your whole project at a reduced scale. In the Navigator, the
ba rs re prese nti ng cl ips h ave the s ame colo rs a s the y do o n the time line ,
except that the bar representing the selected clip is drawn in orange.
Clicking in the Navigator allows you to speedily access any timeline
location.
66Pinnacle Studio User Guide
A portion of the Navigator strip, showing the current position
(vertical line, left) and the translucent draggable view
window.
The gray rectangle that encloses a portion of the Navigator display –
the view window – indicates the section of your movie currently visible
on the timeline tracks.
To change which part of the movie is in view, click and drag
horizontally within the view window. The timeline scrolls in parallel as
you drag. Since your timeline position does not change, this may take
the scrubber out of view.
Zoom
To change the zoom level of the timeline, either click and drag
horizontally in the time-ruler along the bottom of the timeline, or drag
the sides of the view window. The first method has the advantage that
it alwa ys lea ves th e sc reen pos ition of th e pla yhe ad un dis turb ed, w hich
may make it easier to orient yourself after the zoom.
To change the zoom of the Navigator itself, use the plus and minus
buttons
immediately to its right.
Double-clicking on the view window adjusts the zoom of both the
Nav
igator and the timeline such that your entire movie fits within the
Movie Editor window.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor67
The Storyboard
Assembling a movie can involve juggling a large number of photos and
video clips, as well as deciding where to place titles, Montages and the
like. In the Storyboard, the clips on one track of your movie are
presented as a sequence of icons, so you can see at a glance what is
included and where. To choose which track to view in the Storyboard,
use the Storyboard link button in the track header.
Any of the photos, video, audio, projects, Montages and titles in the
Library can be added to your movie by dragging and dropping them
onto the Storyboard. Once there they can be rearranged, or removed
altogether if you change your mind.
Different types of clips are represented in the Storyboard with different
olors. For example, photos and videos have a blue frame, and projects
c
have a gray frame. As in the timeline, clips that have had effects
applied appear with a magenta line on the top, and clips with
corrections have a green line. A colored band connects the Storyboard
icon with the position of its clip on the timeline; a gap in the timeline
is reflected in a gap in the Storyboard. Once you become familiar with
the color coding, it will help you quickly visualize the structure of your
movie.
68Pinnacle Studio User Guide
The Storyboard displays a sequence of icons representing the
contents of one track. Effects (magenta) and corrections
(green) are indicated on the top edge of the icon; the length
of the clip is shown on the bottom.
The space just below the toolbar where the Storyboard appears is also
used by the Navigator (and in the Disc Editor by the Menu List). Which
tools is visible, if any, is controlled by the Navigation tool selector near
the left end of the timeline toolbar.
Navigating in the Storyboard
To scroll to a part of the Storyboard that is not in view, hover with the
mouse over the Storyboard until a hand cursor appears. Now click the
left button and drag the Storyboard. If you drag the mouse quickly and
release the mouse button, the Storyboard will briefly continue
scrolling, thus creating a ‘swiping’ behavior.
Alternatively you can hover over the Storyboard and use the mouse
w
heel to scroll, or use the arrows at each end of the Storyboard.
Editing with the Storyboard
Although most editing takes place on the timeline tracks, the
Storyboard has some editing capability. For instance, effects can be
added directly to a clip on the Storyboard by dragging and dropping
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor69
the effect onto the clip. The clip’s context menu offers the same set of
commands here as on the timeline. Any editing that takes place on the
Storyboard is immediately reflected in the timeline, and vice versa.
Adding clips: Any photo, video, audio clip, project, Montage or title
can be added to your project by simply dragging it from the Library to
the Storyboard. An insertion line appears to indicate where the new
clip will be placed. You can select multiple clips to add them all at once.
Inserting or replacing clips: If you are inserting material between clips
already on the Storyboard, drag the new clip so that it overlaps the
right side of the clip that will precede it. When the insertion line
appears and a space opens up, drop the new clip into the gap.
To replace a clip, drag the new one on
to the clip to be replaced. The
insertion line will appear, and the old clip will highlight to indicate
proper placement. The new clip must be the same type as the old. A
video clip cannot be replaced by a photo or audio clip, for example.
Selecting clips: To select a clip, click on its icon
; an orange frame
around the clip indicates selection. The timeline scrubber will jump to
the beginning of the selected clip, and a connecting band of color will
link the Storyboard clip with its timeline counterpart. If the timeline
position of the selected clip is currently off-screen, it will be brought
into view.
You can select multiple clips using the
Shift and Ctrl keys according to
the usual Windows conventions.
Reordering clips: To pick up a clip and move it, click
on it until it is
selected, and then drag it to its new location. If necessary, the
Storyboard will scroll until you reach the desired position.
70Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Resizing
The height of the timeline, along with the relative proportions of the
Library and the Player, can be adjusted with the sizing grip in the form
of an inverted T in the middle of the screen.
To adjust the height of individual timelin
separator lines between the track headers on the left. If the vertical size
of all tracks exceeds the available viewing area, a scroll bar at the right
will allow you to select which tracks are in view.
Set the height of the Storyboard (when it is visible) by v
dragging the horizontal separator along the Storyboard’s bottom
edge. For more information, see “Navigation tool selector” on
page 73.
e tracks, grab
and adjust the
ertically
The timeline toolbar
The toolbar above the Movie Editor timeline offers various settings,
tools and functions that apply to the timeline and timeline editing.
These are described in order from left to right.
Customizing the toolbar
The timeline toolbar can accommodate numerous buttons to help
editing go more smoothly. One set of buttons is available for the Movie
Editor and a somewhat larger set for the Disc Editor. The Customize
toolbar button
subset of the available buttons you wish to display.
at the far left of the toolbar lets you choose which
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor71
The Customize toolbar panel, with all available buttons
selected for display.
Clicking the button brings up a panel upon which all the other toolbar
buttons can be individually set as visible or hidden. The gray check
marks beside the Timeline settings button and a few others indicate
that these buttons are not optional and will be displayed as a matter
of course. Check or uncheck the boxes for the optional buttons until
the toolbar has been configured to your liking, or check the Select all
box to display all of the buttons.
Some of the commands invoked by buttons also have keyboard
tcuts. These work whether the button is displayed or not. (See
shor
“Appendix D: Keyboard shortcuts” on page 439 for more information.)
Timeline settings
By default your timeline settings are copied from the first video clip you
add to the timeline. If that will give the right result, you won’t have to
alter them.
If you do need to change these basic image properties of your project,
click the Gear button
configure the four settings provided.
to open the timeline settings panel and
72Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Aspect: Choose between a 4x3 and a 16x9 display.
Imaging: Choose between Regular (2D) and Stereoscopic (3D).
Size: Choose amongst the HD and SD pixel resolutions available for the
given aspect ratio.
Frame rate: Choose from a selection of frame rates consistent with the
er settings.
oth
These settings can be changed at any
time during the development of
your movie, but you should be aware that a change of the frame rate
can cause a slight shifting of clips on the timeline as they adjust to new
frame boundaries.
Video material that is not in compliance with the chosen project
settings will be converted automatically on being added to the
timeline. If you are making a stereoscopic movie, 2D material may be
used but it will still look two dimensional, as both the right eye and left
eye views will be the same. 3D material can be used on a 2D timeline,
but only the left eye channel will be shown.
If you want to choose a video standard for your projects explicitly,
ather than relying on inheriting the format from the first clip added,
r
open the Project settings page of the application settings. See “Project
settings” on page 368.
Navigation tool selector
The space just under the toolbar can be occupied by the Navigator or
the Storyboard, or by neither. (In the Disc Editor there is a third
possibility – the Menu List.) The Navigation tool selector includes a
dropdown that lets you select which tool you want displayed in that
area.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor73
Clicking on the selector icon toggles the visibility of the area itself.
See “Th e Na vig ato r” o n pa ge 66 and “The Storyboard” on page 68 for
more about these navigation tools.
Audio mixer
This button opens the enhanced audio control area with
volume adjustment tools and access to the Panner, a
surr
ound panning control.
ScoreFitter
ScoreFitter is the integrated music generator of Pinnacle
Studio, providing you with custom-c
music exactly adjusted to the duration required for your
movie. See “ScoreFitter” on page 259.
omposed, royalty-free
Title
The Title button opens the Title Editor. If none of the many
supplied titles answers your need
your own? See “Chapter 7: The Title Editor” on page 191.
, why not author one of
74Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Voice-over
The voice-over tool lets you record commentary or other
audio content live while viewing your movie. See “The Voiceover tool” on page 261.
Audio Ducking
Audio Ducking is used to automatically lower the volume of
one track so that you can hear another track better. For more
information, see “Using Audio Ducking to automatically
adjust volume” on page 264.
Multi-Camera Editor
The Multi-Camera Editor is a workspace that lets you create
professional-looking video compilations from footage of
ents that have been captured on different cameras, from
ev
different angles. For more information, see “Chapter 14: Multi-Camera
Editing” on page 375.
Razor blade
To split one or more clips at the playhead position, click the
razor blade button. No material is deleted by this operation,
each affected clip becomes two clips that can be
but
handled separately with respect to trimming, moving, adding effects
and so on.
If there are selected clips at the playhead
will be split. Both parts of those clips remain selected after the split.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor75
on any track, only those clips
If there are no selected clips at the playhead line, all clips intersected
by it will be split and the right-hand parts will be selected to facilitate
easy removal in case that is desired.
Locked tracks are exempt from the split operation.
Tras hc an
Click the trashcan button to delete all selected items from
the timeline. “Deleting clips” on page 91 for details on how
other timeline clips may be affected by the deletion.
Snapshot
If, while previewing video on the timeline, you see a frame
that you would like to capture as a still image, click the
apshot button. This creates a photo of the image
Sn
currently being previewed, and puts it in the Snapshot folder under
Photos in the Library.
Using the Snapshot button on the timeline is a quick way to grab a
frame; f
Please see “Snapshot” on page 147 for more about the Snapshot tool.
or more control, use the Snapshot tool in the Video Editor.
Markers
The marker functions available here are identical to those
provided in the media editors for video and audio. Please see
“Markers” on page 144.
Instead of being attached to a particular clip, however
markers are considered to belong to the video composite at the
marked point. Only if there is a clip selection embracing all tracks at the
76Pinnacle Studio User Guide
, timeline
marked point, and only if no track is locked, will the markers change
positions during timeline editing.
Trim m o de
To open a trim point, place the timeline scrubber near the
cut to be trimmed and click the trim mode button. Click it
ain to close trim mode. Please see “Trimming” on page 94
ag
for more details.
Dynamic length transitions
Ordinarily when a transition is added to the timeline, it is
given the default length you have configured in Setup. Click
this button if you would
When the button is highlighted, the transition durations can be set by
dragging the mouse to the right or left while placing the transition
onto a clip. For more about transitions, please see “Transitions” on
page 111.
like to override the default length.
Magnetic snapping
Magnet mode simplifies the insertion of clips during
dragging. While the mode is active, clips are ‘magnetically’
to other items on the timeline when they approach
drawn
within a critical distance. This makes it easy to avoid the unnecessary –
though often indiscernibly small – gaps between items that are
otherwise apt to arise during editing. If you want to deliberately create
such a gap, however, simply turn off the mode to allow the preferred
placement.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor77
Volume keyframe editing
The volume keyframe editing button toggles keyframebased editing of clip audio. While the
green volume contour on each timeline clip becomes
editable. In this mode you can add control points to the contour, drag
contour sections, and other operations. While the button is off, the
volume keyframes are protected against modification.
Opening the Audio Mixer automatically ac
button is engaged, the
tivate
s the button.
Audio scrubbing
By default, the audio portion of a project can be heard only
during playback in the preview. The audio scrubbing button
on th
e timeline toolbar provides an audio preview even
while just ‘scrubbing’ through your movie by dragging the timeline
scrubber control.
The shuttle wheel of the Player also provides audio scrubbing.
Editing mode
The editing mode selector at the right- hand end of the timeline
toolbar determines the behavior of other clips when editing changes
are made.Material to the left of the edit point is never affected in
timeline editing, so this applies only to clips that extend rightward from
the edit point.
av
Three choices of editing mode are
overwrite. The default is smart, in which Pinnacle Studio selects from
insert, overwrite and sometimes more complex strategies in the
context of each editing operation.
78Pinnacle Studio User Guide
ailable: smart, insert and
Smart mode is designed to maintain synchronization between timeline
tracks as far as possible. In a multitrack editing situation, clips typically
have vertical as well as horizontal relationships. When you have
carefully placed your cuts to coincide with the beats of a music track,
for example, you don’t want to disrupt everything when you make
additional edits.
Insert mode is always non-destructive: it moves other clips on the track
out of the way before inserting new material. It will also automatically
close gaps created by removing material. Only the target track is
affected. Any prior synchronization with other tracks from the edit
point rightwards is lost.
Insert is most useful in
the early stages of a project, when you are
collecting and arranging clips on the timeline. It ensures that no
material will be lost, and makes it very easy to reorder clips and
sequences of clips.
In the later stages, when the structure of your project is approaching
state and you have started carefully synchronizing material on
its final
different tracks, insert mode is less helpful. The very properties that
favor its use for the early stages (the ‘ripple’ behavior) count against it
when finalizing. This is where overwrite comes into play.
Overwrite directly affects only the clips
you select. Changing the length
or position of a clip in overwrite mode will overwrite neighboring clips
(if you lengthen) or leave gaps (if you shorten). It will never affect the
synchronization between tracks.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor79
Alternative mode
The smart editing mode works by predicting what you’re trying to do
and determining whether insert, overwrite or even some more complex
strategy would be best to apply. You’ll find it usually does what you
want, but there are sure to be other times when you have something
else in mind.
Many actions support both insert and overwrite, but no other
possibilities. Smart mode will use sometimes one and sometimes the
, but if insert isn’t what you want, overwrite usually is, and vice
other
versa. All you need, therefore, is a method of overriding smart mode’s
default behavior.
To change insert to overwrite behavior
down the Alt key while carrying out your edit as usual. You can press
(or release) Alt as you please while setting up the edit: what counts is
the state of the key at the instant the operation is finally enacted, such
as when you drop dragged items onto the timeline.
The trick works in all editing modes,
need it. If you are not satisfied with the default behavior, just cancel or
undo as needed, then try again with Alt.
In one timeline editing operation – that of repla
another while retaining its duration, effects and other properties – the
Shift key takes on a similar role. See “Replacing a clip” on page 89 for
details.
, or overwrite to insert, hold
so it’s always available when you
cing one clip by
The timeline track header
In the header area of the timeline are a number of controls affecting
the arrangement and organization of the timeline tracks. These are
covered here, while the audio functions controlled from the timeline
80Pinnacle Studio User Guide
header, such as track volume, are described in the topic “Audio on the
timeline” on page 249.
The all tracks area above the track headers offers controls similar to
th
ose found on each track header but with global effect: they apply to
all tracks simultaneously, overruling the individual settings.
Default track
The orange vertical line to the left of the track header, together with a
lighter background shade, identifies the default track. It provides a
destination track for certain functions, including send to and paste.
Newly-created titles and ScoreFitter songs are also added on this track.
For more information see “Sending to the timeline” on page 89,
“Using the Clipboard” on page 106, “Chapter 7: The Title Editor” on
page 191 and “ScoreFitter” on page 259.
To make another track the default track, simply
the track header other than on a button or other control.
click anywhere within
Locking
Click the padlock buttons to protect a track from unintended edits. The
same button in the all tracks area confers this protection on the whole
project.
Storyboard link
The Storyboard is an alternative representation of a timeline track. A
small storyboard link button appears beneath the padlock button on
all track headers when the Storyboard is open. Click the button to
select a given track as the one linked to the Storyboard display.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor81
Trac k n ame
To edit the name of a track, click the name once to access the in- place
editor, or select Edit track name from the track header context menu.
Confirm your edit with Enter, or cancel it with Esc.
Video and audio monitoring
The video and audio buttons in the track header control whether this
track contributes its video and audio to the composite output of the
project. They support the many editing situations in which it is
advantageous to block the output of one or more tracks in order to
simplify the preview. The same buttons in the all tracks area toggle
audio and video monitoring for the entire project.
Additional track functions
The following functions are available in the track-header context
menu:
New track: You can insert a new track either above or below the
ting track.
exis
Delete track: Delete a track and all
Move track: Drag the track header up or down to a new layer position.
As y
ou drag, a bright horizontal line appears at valid placements.
Copy track: Keeping the Ctrl key pressed while moving a track will copy
the
track instead of move it.
Track s i z e : The context menu contains four fixed track sizes (Small,
Mediu
m, Large, Very large). For custom sizing, drag the separator line
between the track headers to seamlessly adjust the height.
82Pinnacle Studio User Guide
clips on it.
View waveforms: Toggle the waveform view for audio clips.
Please see “Audio on the timeline” on page 249 for coverage of
Timeline audio functions.
Editing Movies
The first step in any movie editing session is to bring your project into
the Movie Editor to begin work.
To launch a new production: Choose File >New > Movie from the
main menu. Before adding your first clip, make sure th
video format will be right for the project (see below).
To edit an existing movie: Select a recent project from the File > Recent
menu; click File > Open to browse for a movie project to open; or
cate the movie you want to open in the Projects folder of the Library,
lo
nd double-click the thumbnail.
a
at the timeline
If your movie has been stored as a pr
oject package, it must be
unpacked before editing. Find your project in the Studio Projects group
in the Library, and use the Unpack project package command on the
thumbnail’s context menu.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor83
A project package thumbnail in the Library, with the context
menu open. After unpacking, the movie will appear on the
project’s timeline, ready for editing.
Alternatively, you can click File > Open and find the project package in
Explorer by choosing Studio Project Package (axx) in the file extension
x.
bo
When unpacking is finished, the unpacked project is added to the
rary and opened on the project editor timeline, where it can be
Lib
edited as usual.
To open a Studio project: Choose File > Import previous Pinnacle
S
tudio projects. P le ase note that som e f eatures of proje ct s c reated with
a
previous version of Studio may not be supported in the current
version.
To import a Studio for iPad project: Choose File > Import Studio for
iP
ad App projects.
84Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Timeline settings
To start editing a new project, verify that the video format settings of
your project – aspect ratio, 2D or 3D, frame-size and playback speed –
are as you want them. You can choose in the Project settings tab of the
application settings to set the values of these properties automatically
by matching the first clip added to the project. You can also set them
manually. See “Project settings” on page 368 for configuring the
automatic feat
instructions on entering project settings manually.
Depending on your timeline settings, clips in some formats might not
be instantly
appropriate format.
ure, and “The timeline toolbar” on page 71 for
playable. Such content will automatically be rendered in an
Establishing tracks
With only minor exceptions, timeline tracks in Pinnacle Studio do not
have specialized roles. Any clip can be placed on any track. As your
projects become more complex, however, you will find it increasingly
helpful to give some thought to the organization of tracks, and rename
them according to their function in the movie. For information on track
properties and how to edit them, please see “The timeline track
header” on page 80.
Adding clips to the timeline
Most types of Library asset can be brought onto the timeline as
independent clips. The types include video and audio clips, photos,
graphics, ScoreFitter songs, Montage and titles. You can even add your
other movie projects as container clips that work just like video clips in
your project. Disc projects, however, cannot be added as container
clips to a timeline, since they require a capability – user interactivity –
that timeline clips don’t have.
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor85
Drag-and-drop
Drag-and-drop is the commonest and usually the most convenient
method of adding material to a project. Click any asset in the Movie
Editor’s compact view of the Library and drag it wherever you like on
the timeline.
When crossing into the timeline area during the drag and continuing
to the target track, watch for the appearance of a vertical line under
the mouse pointer. The line indicates where the first frame of the clip
would be inserted if dropped immediately. The line is drawn in green
if the drop would be valid, and red if it would not be possible to insert
a clip where indicated (because the track is protected, for example).
It is possible to insert multiple clips
Simply select the desired Library assets, then drag any one of them to
the timeline. The sequence in which the clips appear on the track
corresponds to their ordering in the Library (not the order in which you
selected them).
Magnet mode: By default, magnet mode is switched on. This makes it
asier to insert clips so that their edges meet exactly. The new clip
e
snaps to certain positions, like the ends of clips or the positions of
markers, as if drawn by a magnet once the mouse pointer gets close
to the potential target.
On the other hand, don’t worry about whether the first clip is right at
start of the timeline. Not every movie starts with a hard cut to the
the
first scene!
into the timeline at the same time.
Live editing preview
In order to eliminate the confusion created by complex editing
situations, Pinnacle Studio provides a full dynamic preview of the
86Pinnacle Studio User Guide
results of editing operations as you drag clips around on the timeline.
If things seem to jump around a bit more than you’re used to during
timeline editing, this is the cause. Don’t worry: you will quickly get used
to and learn to take advantage of the extra information provided. Take
it slowly at first. Watch the changes on the timeline as you hover the
dragged item over various possible landing places, and complete the
drop when you see the result you want.
If it turns out that drag-and-drop isn’t working the way you want,
ither press Esc or move the mouse pointer out of the timeline area and
e
elease the button. Either of these abandons the drag-and-drop
r
operation. To call back a drag-and-drop after it’s complete, press
Ctrl+Z or click the undo button.
Don’t forget that you can vary many timeline editing operations with
ternative mode: just press and hold Alt while dragging or trimming.
al
n a one-for-one clip replacement, Shift is also significant.
I
Advanced drag-and-drop
After you have assembled an assortment of clips on a timeline track,
it’s only matter of time before you want to start changing things
around. For instance, you might want to:
• Fill a gap with clips.
• Insert some clips before a specific clip.
• Replace a clip already on the t
imeline with a different one.
The smart editing mode helps you achieve these goals with ease.
Filling a gap
Smart mode makes it simple to fill a particular timeline gap with new
material, for example. Rather than having to painstakingly pre- trim the
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor87
new material to the space available, you simply drag items into the
gap. Any clips that are not needed for filling the gap will be dropped,
and the last clip used will automatically be trimmed to the appropriate
length. No clips already on the timeline are affected, so no
synchronization problems can result.
Inserting clips
Suppose that your goal is to add new material to the timeline at a point
where there is an existing clip. You don’t want the clip already there to
be overwritten, however; you just want it (and any clips to its right) to
move rightwards far enough to make room for the new material.
Here again, smart editing provides a painless answer
. Simply drag the
new material to the start of the clip that is in the way, rather than into
a gap. The clip moves aside exactly as far as necessary.
Inserting with split
If you drop an item onto the middle of an existing clip, rather than at
a cut, the clip will be split. The new material is inserted at the point you
specified, and is followed immediately by the displaced portion of the
original clip.
In smart mode, synchronization of the target track with all other tracks
is maintained by inserting in each of th em a gap of length equal to the
new clip. To avoid affecting the other tracks in this way, use insert
instead of smart mode. Alternatively, pressing Alt as you drop the new
material will cause it to overwrite a portion of the existing clip. A third
approach is to lock any track that should not be modified, although
this will affect the synchronization of clips on locked tracks with those
on unlocked tracks.
88Pinnacle Studio User Guide
Replacing a clip
To replace a clip, drag a single Library asset onto the clip you want to
replace while holding down Shift. The replacement clip will inherit any
effects and transitions that were applied to the original clip.
Corrections are not inherited, however, since they are usually meant to
address the issues of a particular media item.
In smart mode, the replace operation
clip is long enough to cover the full length of the clip being replaced.
In other modes a Library clip of insufficient length will be extended
using over-trimming. The direction and amount of the extension is
based on your mouse position as you drag. For information on overtrimming, please see “Over-trimming” on page 93.
If the Library asset is longer than needed, it will be truncated to the
length as the clip being replaced.
same
will succeed only if the Library
Sending to the timeline
In addition to dragging a clip to the timeline, you can ‘send’ it to the
default track at the position of the playhead. The operation is
equivalent to drag-and-drop, so smart mode is applied accordingly
when deciding how other clips will be affected. The Send to timeline
ommand is found on the context menu of an individual asset or
c
multiple selection in the compact view of the Library.
Sending from the Player
There is also a second ‘send’ method that provides greater control.
If you click on a Library asset when working in the Movie
Player switches to Source mode for previewing. For trimmable media
Editor, the
Chapter 3: The Movie Editor89
(video and audio), the Player also provides trim calipers for cutting out
a starting or ending portion of the asset.
Clicking the Send To Timeline button in the Player after
trimming a Library video asset.
After previewing the asset and trimming it if required, use the send to
timeline button at the bottom left of the Player. As usual, the asset is
added to the project on the default track and at the playhead. A useful
variation is to click anywhere within the Player screen and drag the
asset onto any desired timeline track. The asset is added at the drop
point rather than at the playhead.
Title Editor, ScoreFitter, voice-over
These three functions add new clips to the project’s timeline, clips that
are not underpinned by any Library asset. Instead, they are created
from settings and other actions you take during editing.
Once your editing is complete, both titles and ScoreFitter clips will be
sent to the default track on the timeline using the Send to timeline
function, while voice-over clips will go to the special voice-over track
instead. For details please see “Chapter 7: The Title Editor” on
page 191, “ScoreFitter” on page 259 and “The Voice-over tool” on
page 261.
90Pinnacle Studio User Guide
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