Ulead MEDIASTUDIO PRO 6, MEDIASTUDIO PRO 6.0 User Manual

User Guide

MediaStudio Pro

Ulead Systems, Inc.

January 2000

VERSION 6.0

First English edition for MediaStudio Pro version 6.0, January 2000
© 1992–2000, Ulead Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or storing in a retrieval system, or
translated into any language in any form without the express written permission of Ulead Systems,
Inc.

Software license

The software described in this document is furnished under a License Agreement which is included
with the product. This Agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of the product.

Licenses and trademarks

Ulead, Ulead Systems logo, MediaStudio and MediaStudio Pro are registered trademarks and/or
trademarks of Ulead Systems, Inc. All other product names and any registered and unregistered
trademarks mentioned in this manual are used for identification purposes only and remain the exclusive
property of their respective owners.

Sample files

Files provided as samples on the program CD can be used for personal demonstrations, productions and

presentations. No rights are granted for commercial reproduction or redistribution of any sample files.

Ulead Systems, Inc. contact information:

North and South America International

970 West 190th Street, Suite 520 10F, No. 45 Tung Hsing Rd.
Torrance, CA 90502 Taipei, Taiwan 110
Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone] Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] E-mail: [e-mail]
http:// www.ulead.com http:// www.ulead.com

Europe Japan

Ulead Systems GmbH Ulead Systems, Inc.

Wolfenbütteler Str. 33 No. 202, TE Building
38102 Braunschweig 4-5-16 Yohga, Setagaya-ku
Germany Tokyo 158-0097
Tel: [phone] Japan
Fax: [phone] Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail] Fax: [phone]
http://www.ulead.de E-mail: [e-mail]

http:// www.ulead.co.jp

Table of Contents

Introduction

Welcome to MediaStudio Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4

Help! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

The manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

More info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Installing Acrobat Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Running the programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

README . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6.0 - What's new? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Customizable workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Ripple Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Source window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Track control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Preview window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Full Digital Video (DV) support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Advanced MPEG: capture, edit, and create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

More new tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Internal changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Tutorials

Tutorial 1: Video Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Capturing Digital Video (DV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Capturing MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Tutorial 2: Video Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Creating your first video project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Adding clips to your project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Working with clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Applying transition effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Previewing your work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

4

Artistic and creative techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Applying a video filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Creating a moving path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Creating rolling credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Changing the amplification of an audio track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Performing advanced techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Customizing a transition effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Using Moving paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Synchronizing audio to video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Tutorial 3: Video Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Getting to know Video Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Creating your first project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Working with images in an edit window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Customizing your brushes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Working over multiple frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Performing common techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Applying a video filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Cloning an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Creating a video matte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Performing advanced techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Performing an erase effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Performing an advanced power duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Creating background sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Retouching images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Advanced Macros: Creating a laser beam effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Advanced cloning: Disappearing act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Tutorial 4: CG Infinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Performing common techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Drawing regular shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Creating and distorting text objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Applying gradients to your objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Manipulating objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Creating a corporate logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Animating objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Performing advanced techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

Creating mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Creating a corporate logo (advanced) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Controlling the timing of multiple objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Performing fades and distortions over time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

INTRODUCTION

5

Video Capture

Video Capture: Chapter 1 - Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Understanding the basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Preparing video for display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Connecting to an analog video source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Viewing your displayed video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Setting display options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Defining audio input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Improving your video signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Calibrating your display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Adjusting color with your video capture board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Customizing Video Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Video Capture: Chapter 2 - Capturing video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Tips for capturing good video and audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Getting the right hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Techniques for improving your video captures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Techniques for improving your audio captures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Capturing video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Customizing your capture options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

Dropped frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Capturing single frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Capturing a color palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Changing a file’s properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Using a controllable device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 6

Viewing and editing a batch list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Capturing using a controllable device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Capture plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

6

Video Editor

Video Editor: Chapter 1 - Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Understanding the workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Standard toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Timeline toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Working with video projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Creating a new video project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Customizing a video project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Project settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Saving a project as a template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Saving a video project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Packaging a video project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Smart Relink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Saving the layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Using the Production Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Placing clips into the Production Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Storyboarding your clips before Timeline insertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Working with folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Drag-and-drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Viewing Production Library thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Adding effects to the Production Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Working with the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Inserting clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Inserting video, audio and image clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Push Away insertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Inserting title, color, and silence clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Working with tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Determining the visibility of clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Displaying clips on the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Zooming in/out on the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

Using the Quick Command Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Inserting Ulead video file types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Inserting UIS files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Converting files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Smart Check & Convert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Customizing Video Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

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Video Editor: Chapter 2 - Editing clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Making selections in the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Using the Clip Selection tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Using the Time Selection tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Using the Track Selection tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Using the Track buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Grouping clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Working with clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Pasting attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Snapping to clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Splitting the audio from video clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Changing the speed of clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Reversing the frames of a clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Relinking clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Calibrating video clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Freezing a frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Setting field options for video clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Working with cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Placing project cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Placing clip cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Locating clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Locating an empty time slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Trimming clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Using the Trim window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Using the Scissors tool to trim clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Defining trim options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Smart Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Ripple Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Ripple Editing examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Automatically trimming an inserted clip (No Ripple) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Inserting a clip into a full Timeline (Ripple) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Inserting clips into the middle of an existing clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Using the Source window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Trimming clips in the Source window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Previewing your work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Previewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Performing scrub previews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Managing preview files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

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Video Editor: Chapter 3 - Performing effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Using transition effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Transition effects basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Customizing a transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Fade to black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Audio transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Using keyframe controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Video overlay effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Overlay key types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 8

Understanding Alpha Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Using Gamma correction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Working with mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Creating image and video mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Using Grayscale mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Applying video filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Applying a regional matte to a video filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Creating a moving path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Creating 3D moving paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Managing keyframes on a moving path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Applying audio filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Changing the amplification of an audio clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Adding a soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Creating titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Video Editor: Chapter 4 - Creating and outputting your files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Creating a movie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Determining your video save options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Performing a batch video creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Analyzing a video file’s data rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Creating an audio file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Creating an image sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Creating an edit decision list (EDL) file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Posting timecode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Outputting to video tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Creating a VCD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Creating MPEG-2 files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Working with a Digital Video camcorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

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Video Paint

Video Paint: Chapter 1 - Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Understanding the basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

Working with the Filmstrip panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Working with edit windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Saving your work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Opening files into Video Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Starting a new Video Paint project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Creating a video or image file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 0

Performing Cut and Copy operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Performing a paste operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Duplicating changes over frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Placing cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Viewing edit windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Zooming on an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Using the Global Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Fitting an image in the edit window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Working with frames in a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Inserting frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Duplicating frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Deleting frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Replacing frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 9

Customizing Video Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Video Paint: Chapter 2 - Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Working in different display modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Normal mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Ruby Mask mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Onionskin mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

No Source Video mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Making selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Understanding the selection marquee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

Selecting in the Composite and Paint Layer modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Selecting regularly shaped areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Selecting irregularly shaped areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Selecting an area containing similar colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Adding to or subtracting from a selection area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Moving a selection area marquee (mask) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

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Working with color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Using the Color palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Selecting colors from the Color Picker pop-up menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Selecting colors with the Eyedropper tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Loading and saving color tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Using the painting tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Specifying Brush panel attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Filling an area with color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Transforming selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Using the Clone tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Using the Retouch tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Recording macros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Applying filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3

Previewing your work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Performing a flick preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Performing a preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

CG Infinity

CG Infinity: Chapter 1 - Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Understanding the basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Understanding objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Starting a new CG Infinity project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Changing the background of an edit window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 3

Changing the view of an edit window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Viewing objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Saving your work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Creating video and image files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Performing Cut and Copy operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Performing a paste operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Controlling the alignment of objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Displaying rulers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Displaying grid and guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Aligning objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 8

Customizing CG Infinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

INTRODUCTION

11

CG Infinity: Chapter 2 - Working with objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Defining an object’s style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

Setting your default object style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Creating text and shape objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Using the Text tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Using the Shape tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Using the Freehand tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Using the Path tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Selecting and transforming objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Selecting multiple objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Grouping objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 1

Layering objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Moving objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Transforming objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Using the Envelope tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Adjusting shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Creating a moving path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Changing the shape of a moving path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Changing the size and style of an object over time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Changing the speed of an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Timing the movement of objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Audio Editor

Audio Editor: Chapter 1 - Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Understanding the basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Playing audio files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Creating a new edit window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Saving files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Converting files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Viewing waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Dragging-and-dropping to Video Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Recording sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Tips for determining audio quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

Customizing Audio Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

12

Audio Editor: Chapter 2 - Editing audio files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Creating selection areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Creating precise selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Working with cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Managing cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Clearing audio data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Inserting audio data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Sound sweetening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Changing the amplification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Changing pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Quantizing a waveform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Working with silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Removing background noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Calibrating files recorded from different sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Mixing tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Removing a mixed track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Applying special effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Performing a fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Changing speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Performing a stereo pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Reversing a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Performing an echo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Performing a cross fade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3

The chapter in review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Appendix

Background information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

The world of analog video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Inside the video signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

How analog video is displayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

The world of digital video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Inside digital video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Working with the data rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Understanding the frame rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Understanding the frame size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Understanding data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 2

Understanding video compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Index

Index entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347-360

INTRODUCTION

13

Introduction

Welcome to MediaStudio Pro

Congratulations on purchasing Ulead MediaStudio Pro, the ultimate
video editing solution for desktop professionals and digital video
enthusiasts. Built around a powerful suite of versatile and high
performance programs, MediaStudio Pro is the first choice for
anyone wanting to work with and control digital video. This soft­war e package is ideal for graphic designers, multimedia producers,
Internet developers, home video directors, and independent filmmak­ers. With intuitive controls and seamless integration, creating video
has never been easier or more accessible.

In this introduction you will learn about:

•

Using the MediaStudio Pro documentation ..............................................

p.14

•

Installing MediaStudio Pro on your system ..............................................

p.16

•

Starting MediaStudio Pro programs ..........................................................

p.17

•

What's new in MediaStudio Pro..................................................................

p.18

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

14

Getting started

MediaStudio Pro is a high caliber, professional level video editing software
suite. More than just a simple video editor, it is truly, a complete digital
studio, encompassing computer graphics effects, rotoscope animation, and
other amazing filters and effects. Acclaimed by industry experts as being the
most intuitive and easy to use video editing software around, it is a powerful
program that needs ample time to master. Our best advice to you is to begin
first by browsing through this manual, then reading the sections you are
interested in. Now, you are ready to fire up the program and give it a try. We
strongly recommend working through the Tutorials section of this manual
and checking out the sample projects found in the Samples folder of
MediaStudio Pro before really digging into the advanced stuff. Once the
basics are covered, you should be able to begin editing your own movies in
just half a day.

Help!

As you work, you will certainly have many questions that can be quickly
answered by accessing the extensive online Help. Hold your mouse over an
object in the program that you have a question about and press F1 on the
keyboard. Every item has a help topic associated with it, so this is a surefire
way to get instant answers. You can also look at the bottom of these topics
(which are usually just simple definitions of the item) and find links to
Related Topics. Check the Index of both the Help and the manual to get to
topics quickly.

INTRODUCTION

15

The manual

We consider the Online Help to be a definitive reference for instant and
comprehensive information about every aspect of MediaStudio Pro. It is not
meant to be read through as a complete document. The manual, on the other
hand, is much more readable but is meant as an introduction and is limited in
scope. It contains a broad overview of all of the program modules with
detailed step-by-step instructions covering all of the basic functions, clearly
outlining the most commonly used tasks.

More info

Once you’ve played with the program a little and can already edit clips,
apply transitions, and add a title or two, you might want to return to the
manual for tips, tricks, and ideas. The companion CD has hundreds of
megabytes of samples and additional tutorials. The MediaStudio Pro Web
site also has a number of additional resources.

There are also a few private Web sites that have great tutorials and sample
projects. One of the best is the MediaStudio User’s Group, or MUG, at
www.mugcentral.com. This is the home base for the MUG mailing list,
which you can subscribe to at this site. Everyday, dozens of users, including
quite a few video professionals, ask and answer questions in an amazingly
useful forum.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

16

Installation

The MediaStudio Pro installation program runs from within Windows and
contains complete instructions to take you through the installation process.

To install MediaStudio Pro:

1. Read the license agreement that comes with the MediaStudio Pro

package. The license agreement contains important legal requirements
that you need to be aware of. If you agree to abide by it, continue with
the installation.

Note:

Please take a moment to fill out the registration card during installation.
Becoming a registered user entitles you to product updates and upgrade information,
as well as technical support. You can also instantly register online (electronically)
after installing the program.

2. Insert the MediaStudio Pro CD into your CD-ROM drive. Windows

should detect the CD and then automatically run the installtion program.
If the automatic detection feature is turned off, use Windows Explorer to
run the SETUP.EXE program directly from your CD-ROM drive.

Follow the installation program instructions. While the program is
installing files, a window will appear , displayi ng information about
MediaStudio Pro and the installation status.

If you want to browse the contents of the MediaStudio Pro CD, run
AUTOEXEC.EXE found in the Setup folder from your CD-ROM drive.

INTRODUCTION

17

Installing Acrobat Reader

An electronic copy of this user guide is also available in the Adobe Acrobat
format (P

ORTABLE DOCUMENT FORMAT - PDF). To view this, first run the

AR40ENG.EXE file (in the DRIVERS folder of the first MediaStudio Pro

CD) and follow the installation instructions. After successfully installing the
Reader program, run the program and click File: Open to open the file
MSPMANUAL.PDF. Y ou can then view the user guide online.

Running the programs

To run the MediaStudio Pro programs, click on the appropriate command in
the Start: Programs: Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.0 submenu. This submenu
may differ depending on the choices you made during installation. If you are
already working in any of these programs, the easiest method to run another
MediaStudio Pro program is by using the Switch menu, located on the right
of the Menu bar.

README

In the fast paced world of software, change occurs almost daily. While we
have tried to keep this manual as up to date as possible, there will inevitably
be some things that did not make it into the book by press time. Please
browse through the README file installed in the MediaStudio Pro directory
to find out about the latest notes, drivers, and troubleshooting tips.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

18

6.0 - What's new?

This is a major revision for MediaStudio Pro and that is reflected by the jump
from 5.2 to 6.0. Already a mature program, the 6.0 version is a stable and
solid piece of software that has evolved to become the industry leader. The
engine, or core, of the program has been significantly updated to take advan­tage of the latest technological advances in hardware and software, creating a
faster, more efficient, and more stable editing platform. For those of you who
are veteran MediaStudio Pro users, here's a brief look at some of the more
significant changes.

The traditional Windows interface
is still highly customizable

Floating toolbars and Timelines
give you even more flexibility

Customizable workspace

The new user interface is completely
customizable. Even the Timeline can
be floated outside of the program
window and onto your desktop. Or
you can dock it to the menu bar in a
more traditional arrangement. It's
totally up to you. Don't forget to save
your layout. (See pages 104 and 109.)

INTRODUCTION

19

Preview window

The Preview window now has its own set of
controls that dramatically speed up your work.
Use the Shortcut keys (like the SP ACEBAR to
play the preview area) to work even more
efficiently . (See page 153.)

Source window

Double-click your clips on the Timeline or in the
Production Library to open them in the Source
Window. Grab the T rim handles to edit the clips,
and click the Apply button to instantly execute
the edit. (See page 149.)

Preview Area
handles

Navigation
Controls

T rim handles

Apply button

Track control

Small changes here and there have led to
polished track controls that are easy to
use. Y ou can lock tracks to protect them
from changes, temporarily hide (mute)
tracks to make your editing easier, and
select entire tracks with a click. (See page

132.)

Ripple Editing

The Ripple Editing aspects of MediaStudio Pro have been vastly improved and include
Push Away Insertion of clips. Ripple Editing simply controls the behavior of other clips
in your Timeline while you insert clips (e.g. automatically moving an entire project so
that a new clip can be inserted at the beginning). The power of these different tools is
amazing and it is well worth the effort to master the techniques. (See page 146.)

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

20

More new tools

In addition to the tools listed on the
previous few pages, you'll find a new
Audio Cross-fade tool, a new selection
tool, and more brushes in Video Paint, as
well as other convenient buttons and
shortcuts.

Full Digital Video (DV) support

Previous versions of MediaStudio Pro supported even the very first
DV products on the market. The latest version now offers compre­hensive support for DV in all of its manifestations. This includes, but is
not limited to, Type-1, T ype-2, P AL, NTSC, and even the direct control
of your camcorder. Please see the T utorials section on pages 25 and
28 for details.

Advanced MPEG: capture, edit, and create

MediaStudio Pro gives you the power to edit MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 movies with amazing
frame-accurate technology . The wide availability of CD writing hardware, or CD-R,
allows anyone to create their own Video CD (VCD). MediaStudio Pro lets you create
WhiteBook standard MPEG-1 movies that are ready to be written to a VCD. See page

207.
MediaStudio Pro 6.0 also allows you to create amazing DVD quality movies using the

MPEG-2 format, which is also used in direct digital satellite television. Start by capturing
MPEG video straight from your camcorder, if your hardware supports it (See page 28),
then trim and edit your movie with frame accuracy . Finally , take advantage of DVD
quality to create your final MPEG-2 movie. (See page 208. )

This flexible technology allows you to create MPEG-2 movies from any source for a
truly professional solution. One revolutionary new idea is to capture and edit using the
lossless quality of DV and then create a highly compressed MPEG-2 movie from the DV
source material.

Note:

Because of the very special nature of MPEG, full MPEG support is not included
with all versions of MediaStudio Pro. Special hardware may be required for smooth
playback and/or capture.

INTRODUCTION

21

Internal changes

Probably the most important changes in MediaStudio Pro are the internal
changes to the underlying software that will become obvious as you use the
program. MediaStudio Pro's basic editing engine is now a 6th generation
tool, completely rewritten by an experienced staff of engineers. Faster and
more robust than any tool on the market, you can expect to take advantage
of the following:

• Faster, smarter rendering SmartRender was a revolutionary new

concept in the 5.0 version that has been perfected in this version. Not
only does this feature save you time, but it also maintains 100% of the
original quality of the clip.

• Improved quality Transitions, overlays, filters, etc. all render faster and

with much higher quality. This improved quality also applies to the audio
portions of the suite as well.

• Broad support New technologies are constantly emerging, but you can

be assured that MediaStudio Pro is up to date, with full support for DV
and new MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 editing. Open architecture means that
MediaStudio Pro will already be ready to accept third party plug-ins and
additions. The 2GB file limitation is also a thing of the past.

• Advanced SmartTools SmartTools automatically take care of many

convenient tasks.

♦ Smart Trim This feature automatically takes clips that are trimmed in

the Timeline and physically trims the files on your disk, thus saving
space. (See page 145.)

♦♦

♦♦

♦ Smart Check & Convert This checks to see if the files in your

project match your project settings (e.g. frame size, rate, codec) . Files
that do not match your project settings can then be converted in a one­time event so that they do not need to be re-rendered in the future.
(See page 122.)

♦♦

♦♦

♦ Smart Relink Sometimes you may want to move a project to a new

folder or to a new AV hard drive. This feature automatically changes
the paths in the project to the new location. (See page 109. )

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

22

Tutorials

Tutorials

T utorial 1

In this tutorial you will learn about:

•

Capturing Digital Video (DV) .....................................................................

p.26

•

Setting up your device control and batch capturing .................................

p.26

•

Capturing MPEG video...............................................................................

p.28

Video Capture

Video Capture is where you'll begin. Hook up your camcorder and
you're ready to import video files to your computer for professional
editing. MediaStudio Pro introduces a number of amazing techno­logical innovations including Digital Video (DV) and native MPEG
capture, editing and movie creation. These new features are the
focus of the first tutorial.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

26

Capturing Digital Video (DV)

Digital Video (DV) is a video format that is fundamentally different from
traditional analog formats like VHS, Hi-8, and S-VHS. It is much easier for
your computer to capture DV than it is to capture other formats because DV
is widely supported and the data rate is lower. In addition, the quality of the
video is exceptional because it is retained in a purely digital form, from
capturing to editing, and finally back to your camcorder.

Before you begin the DV capturing process, first make sure that you have
configured your hardware and software, and then follow this procedure:

To capture DV video:

1. Turn on your camcorder and set it to Play mode (or VTR mode). See

your camcorder's manual for specific instructions.

2. Run Video Capture.

3. From the View menu, select Preview. You should be able to see the

output from your camcorder in the Video Capture Preview window.

4. Use the navigation controls to locate the section of video you want to

capture.

5. Click the Record button. This opens the Capture Video dialog box. In the

Options tab, select Auto.

6. Click OK to begin capturing. Press

ESC to stop.

In step 5, there are a number of parameters you can modify. This can be
done before you begin the capture procedure. For most projects the easiest
way to capture your video is by doing a Batch capture, instead of capturing
clips one at a time. Batch capturing requires a camcorder or device that can
be controlled by the computer.

To set up the DV device control:

1. Turn on your camcorder and set it to Play mode (or VTR mode). See

your camcorder’s manual for specific instructions.

2. Run Video Capture.

TUTORIAL ONE: VIDEO CAPTURE

27

3. Click Setup: Device Control.

4. In the Device Control dialog box, click the Current device list.

5. Select your device. This will vary depending on your hardware: MS 1394
Device Control or TI 1394 Device Control.

6. From the Setup Menu, select Switch Capture Plug-in.

7. Select the appropriate DV Capture Plug-in (for example: Ulead

DirectShow Capture Plug-in).

8. Restart Video Capture.

The above is not exclusive to DV: it will work for any computer controllable
device. Likewise, the following procedure is not only for batch capturing
DV. A more detailed presentation of this procedure begins on page 96.

To capture DV by batch:

1. Turn on your camcorder and set it to Play mode (or VTR mode). See
your camcorder’s manual for specific instructions.

2. Run Video Capture.

3. From the View menu, select Preview. You should be able to see the

output from your camcorder in the Video Capture Preview window.

4. Use the navigation controls to roll the source tape to the location where
you want to start.

5. Click the Mark In button at the beginning of a sequence you want to
capture. Click Mark Out at the end of the sequence.

6. Repeat step 5 until you have marked all the portions to include in the
capturing process. Each Mark In/Out point will be added to the batch
capture list.

7. When you are finished, click Record.

8. In the Capture Video dialog box on the Options tab, select Device
control.

9. Click OK to begin capturing.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

28

Capturing MPEG-1 or MPEG-2

Capturing MPEG is one of the most exciting developments in computer
video since DV was introduced. MediaStudio Pro gives you the flexibility to
choose MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, depending on your needs. MPEG-1 is recom-
mended for older computers and for people who want to create VCDs,
while MPEG-2 is more suitable for those with faster computers who
demand excellent quality video in a highly compressed format.

To capture MPEG video:

1. Connect your video device to your capture board.

2. Turn on the device and set it to Play mode (or VTR mode). See your

device’s manual for specific instructions.

3. Run Video Capture.

4. From the Setup menu, select Switch Capture Plug-in.

5. Select Ulead MPEG VFW Capture Plug-in (or Ulead MPEG
DirectShow Capture Plug-in) and restart Video Capture.

6. From the Capture menu, select Video.

7. Click the Properties button and choose the type of MPEG you want to

capture.

8. Capture your video as you normally would.

You can also set up the details of the MPEG file to be captured by clicking
Setup: Video Properties . Click the Help button in any of these dialog boxes
for specific information on a particular attribute.

Note:

Your video capture board must support RGB or YUV to capture MPEG video

using software compression.

TUTORIAL TWO: VIDEO EDITOR

29

Video Editor

Video Editor is where you combine all the elements from the other
MediaStudio Pro programs to create a final video production. Here
you can insert your files and then arrange them into their playing
sequence, adding impressive transition effects, overlays and
moving paths as you go.

T utorial 2

In this tutorial you will learn about:

•

Creating video projects ..............................................................................

p.30

•

Working with clips .......................................................................................

p.32

•

Adding special effects ................................................................................

p.35

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

30

The basics

Video Editor is a rich, professional editing tool. As such, it can take some
time to truly master. We're going to try, however, to walk you through the
complete process of creating a finished movie as quickly and professionally
as possible.

Creating your first video project

The critical first step to making movies is to create a project. A project is
simply a small file that collects and controls the details of your movie. It is
not a finished movie, but rather is the workspace where you build your
movie. You can save changes to a project and make as many edits as you
want without affecting your source material.

To create a new project:

1. Run V ideo Editor . Click File: New.

2. In the New dialog box, select an Existing project template. (You can

also open this dialog box at any time by clicking the New button).

3. Click OK.

When you save your project, you will save it as a *.DVP file, which can be
opened only in MediaStudio Pro. Selecting a project type is a one time event,
but it can be a complicated process that depends on what country you are in
(PAL or NTSC) and your eventual final movie format (e.g. Streaming
Internet Video or DV). If needed, click the Create button in the New dialog
box (or File: Project Settings) to customize these settings and save them
as a new project template. Please refer to your capture board's manual for
specific advice and see pages 106 and 193 for additional information. You
can then save this customized information (from any project) as a template
by clicking File: Save Project Template .

TUTORIAL TWO: VIDEO EDITOR

31

Adding clips to your project

The Timeline is the heart of Video Editor. This is where you put video,
audio, and other media files that will make up your movie. Daunting at first
glance, it is amazingly easy to use. You can also see how long each video/
audio segment is and how it relates to other parts of your project.

To insert files into the Timeline:

1. Click the Insert Video button on the Timeline toolbar to open the

Insert V ideo File dialog box.

2. Browse for a video file (clip). There are a number of sample files on the

MediaStudio Pro CD or use a file you have previously captured.

3. Click Open.

4. Move your cursor to the beginning of the Va track and click.

How your Timeline should look

Try repeating the above procedure with another video clip, this time insert­ing it into the Vb track just below the first clip. Any material placed in lower
tracks appears over, or on top of, clips placed in the higher tracks. There­fore, if you make the clip in Vb overlap Va, the material on the Va track will
be partly or totally hidden. This is an important concept, because clips will
often overlap to create overlays, titles, and transition effects.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

32

Working with clips

Any media file in a project is referred to as a clip. Clips can be images,
video, sound files, titles or colors. Changing the order of clips and position­ing clips on the Timeline is a natural and intuitive process: just drag-and­drop. The power of editing video on your computer comes in part from the
ability to edit with frame accuracy. Although there are a number of tech­niques you can use, the following is one of the easiest.

To trim a video clip:

1. Select a video clip on the Timeline by clicking on it.

2. Move the cursor to the very right edge of the clip. The cursor should

change to a double arrow.

3. Click and drag the edge to the left to trim it.

This will shorten the clip in the project and on the Timeline, but will not alter
the original source clip in any way. You can use the "-" and "+" keys to
zoom in and out for more precise trimming. The Trim window (click
Window menu: Trim window) is also an ideal way to accurately trim clips.

T rimming a clip using the T rim window

TUTORIAL TWO: VIDEO EDITOR

33

Applying transition effects

Transition effects between scenes in a movie are a ubiquitous part of any
video production. Whether you stick with a simple cross-fade or go for any
one of the hundred or so fancier special effects, this is sure to be one of the
more fun parts of editing.

To create a transition effect:

1. Insert one clip into Va and another into Vb. Make sure the clip in Vb

overlaps the one in Va by about a second.

2. Go to the Transition Effect folder in the Production Library. (Click

Window: Production Library if it is not already visible.)

3. Browse for the transition effect thumbnail you want to use.

4. Drag the effect to the Fx track where the two clips overlap.

5. In the dialog box that opens, set up the details of your effect. In most

cases, you may not have to change anything.

6. Click OK .

Performing a Flow transition effect between two clips

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

34

Previewing your work

Previews are an important aspect of any video project as they allow you
to see how your work is developing. The process of creating a movie or a
preview is called rendering and, depending on the speed of your computer,
this can take some time. MediaStudio Pro is a sophisticated piece of engi­neering, and by previewing often, you can actually speed up the rendering
process. The details of the preview are determined by your Project set-
tings, so it is important to make sure those are set up correctly.

Previewing takes place in the Preview window. You can use the controls
there to play, rewind, fast-forward or step through your movie. It is often
the case that you will only want to preview a small portion of your movie,
like the transition effect you just added on the previous page.

To perform a partial preview:

1. Click Window: Preview Window if the Preview window is not already

open.

2. Click on the Trim bar. Then, drag the handles on either side of the Trim

bar to set the duration of the preview.

3. Click the Play the Preview Range button.

Performing a partial preview. Notice that the preview range is
represented as a blue line both within the Preview window and
at the top of the Timeline.

TUTORIAL TWO: VIDEO EDITOR

35

Artistic and creative techniques

Beyond the everyday work discussed in the previous section, Video Editor
also contains a host of remarkable tools you can use either to clean up your
video or to create special creative touches.

Applying a video filter

Video filters are effects which you can apply to clips in order to change
their appearance or style. You can improve the color balance of a clip (or
remove the color all together) or make the video look like a painting. Filters
are applied over each frame in a clip. By specifying different start and end
values, you can control the intensity and speed of a filter as it moves from
the first frame to the last.

To apply a video filter:

1. Select the Video Filter: 2D Mapping gallery from the Production

Library and drag-and-drop the Ripple filter onto a clip in the video

track of the Timeline. The Ripple dialog box opens.

2. In the Direction group box, select the From center option and in the

Frequency group box, select the Medium option.

3. Set the Level slider to 20. (This controls how much of a ripple effect

appears at the first frame of the clip.)

4. Click the End keyframe and select a level of 360. (This controls how

much of a ripple effect appears at the last frame of the clip.)

Note:

Click the Lock button so you can preview the clip with or without the effect

applied to it.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the filter.

Applying a Ripple filter to a video clip

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

36

Creating a moving path

During your video editing work, you will often make use of moving paths
to enable video clips to move over another in the background clip. These
clips can move in any number of different directions, changing shape and
size, and even rotating in three dimensions.

To create a moving path:

1. Insert a clip into one of the overlay tracks (V1-V99).

2. From the Production Library, select the Moving Path: 2D Basic

gallery.

3. Drag-and-drop the 2D Basic thumbnail onto a clip in a video overlay
track of the Timeline. The 2D Basic Moving Path dialog box opens.

4. Adjust the path in the Motion control box.

5. Click the Play button to preview the path.

6. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the moving path.

Performing a 2D Basic moving path

Drag the control points to the
position where you want the
moving clip to enter and exit
the scene.

Preview the path animation
by clicking the Play button.

TUTORIAL TWO: VIDEO EDITOR

37

Creating rolling credits

Credits are an important part of any video production and are used to set
the scene for the video and to mention the cast and characters. When you
create credits, they are often rolling, moving up or across the screen as
the video plays.

To create rolling credits:

1. Click the Insert Title Clip button on the Timeline toolbar to open the

Insert Title Clip dialog box.

2. In the text entry box, enter your credits. This text can be in multiple

lines.

3. Select the Enable rolling option to enable the Rolling tab and then

select the following options in the Font tab, if not already selected.

Note:

If you align text in the center, it works only on the text within the clip. To

align the actual clip, you need to use a moving path to position it.

4. Click the Rolling tab and select the following options, if not already

selected:

• Direction (Up)

• Placed at (select Center)

• Start (select Off the Screen)

• Stop (select Off the Screen)

• Duration: Customize (select Fast)

• Repeat (set to 1 time)

5. Click OK to accept the settings and insert the clip into the Timeline.

Rolling end credits over a video

Use the Open button to select a text file (*.TXT) to use as your credits.
This file can be created in any text editor (for example, Notepad).

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

38

Changing the amplification of an audio track

In Video Editor, you can change an audio track’s amplification directly
from the Timeline by adjusting its baseline. By changing the amplification
of an audio clip from the Timeline, you can quickly perform fade in and
out effects as well as temporarily adjust audio levels as you work.

To change the amplification of an audio clip:

1. Select the audio clip whose amplification you want to change.

2. Click on the baseline of the clip. A control point is placed on the base

line at the cursor position.

3. Drag the control point upward to increase amplification: downward to

decrease it. Place additional control points to determine where to start
and end your changes. (To remove a control point, drag it off the top
or bottom edge of the clip.)

Note:

Hold down the

SHIFT

key while dragging a control point to view a precise

volume indication as a percentage (%) and in decibels (dB).

Changing the amplification of
an audio clip from the Timeline

While you can manually fade clips in and out with the above method, you
can automatically cross-fade the audio between two overlapping clips with
just three clicks.

To cross-fade the audio:

1. Click the Audio Cross-fade button.

2. Click on one of the two overlapping

audio clips.

3. Click on the other clip.

T wo clips with audio cross-fade

TUTORIAL TWO: VIDEO EDITOR

39

Performing advanced techniques

Many effects in MediaStudio Pro can be precisely controlled and animated
using keyframes. You can set the degree of the effect from the start to the
end frame of your clips. MediaStudio Pro then interpolates the effect
between the keyframes.

Customizing a transition effect

You can control the transition from one clip to another by adjusting the
keyframe settings. This allows you to create effects such as wipe, peel, or
split screen. Below is an example of how to create a split screen.

To create a split screen effect:

1. Insert a clip into Va and another into Vb.

2. From the Transition Effect gallery, click the Slide folder. Then, drag the

Side thumbnail to the Fx track.

3. Set the Transition degree to 50% for the Start keyframe.

4. Click the End keyframe and set the Transition degree to the same

value as the Start keyframe. Since the keyframe settings are the same,
there is no animation interpolated between them.

5. Select From Vb to Va.

6. Click OK to apply the effect.

T ransition effect locked at
50% for the first and last
keyframes, creating a split
screen effect

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

40

Using Moving paths

Moving paths are invisible lines that an overlay clip can follow during an
animation. In the simplest case, a clip can move from a starting keyframe
position to an ending one. More complex Moving paths can rotate and zoom
clips in three dimensions.

To create a Picture-in-Picture:

1. Place a clip for the background on the Va track, and the clip to appear

as the foreground directly over it in an overlay track (V1).

2. From the Production Library, drag-and-drop the 2D Basic Moving Path

thumbnail onto the clip in the overlay track. The 2D Basic Moving Path
dialog box opens.

3. Click the Keep aspect ratio option and enter a new width value of

one-third the size of the original in the Width spin box for both the
start and end keyframes.

4. Drag the Start control point to the location where you want the

overlay video to appear.

5. Click on the End control point. Manually enter the X and Y positions to

match the Start control point. Since the keyframe settings are the same,
there is no animation interpolated between them.

6. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the path.

Creating a video window using a moving path

TUTORIAL TWO: VIDEO EDITOR

41

2D Advanced moving path applied to a rolling title sequence

Moving paths can be applied to a video clip. This tool can also be used on
image and title clips.

To scroll titles into the distance:

1. Create a suitable Rolling title sequence in the V1 track. (See page 37.)

2. From the Production Library, drag-and-drop the 2D Advanced Moving

Path onto the title clip. This opens a dialog box.

3. Adjust the Distortion by dragging the green boxes at the corners.

4. Click the End keyframe and repeat the distortion. Try to make it the

same as the Start keyframe.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the path.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

42

Synchronizing audio to video

One essential aspect of audio editing is synchronizing actions and events
with sound, such as matching subtitles to dialogue or the crackle of
burning wood with a fire.

To synchronize audio to video:

1. Click the Display Mode button to open the Timeline Display Mode

dialog box. Select the Show cue bar options in both the Video and
Audio group boxes and click OK.

2. Insert both the audio and video clips you want to synchronize into the

Timeline.

3. Double-click on the audio clip to open it in the Source window. Play

back the clip and when you hear the sound you wish to synchronize
the video clip to, press

F5. This places a cue on the cue bar above the

waveform. Click the Apply button and then close the Source window.

4. Repeat this procedure to add a cue in the video clip.

5. Click the Next Edit Point button (or press PageDown) repeatedly until

the Vertical preview line is lined up with the audio cue.

6. Move the video clip and align the video cue with the audio cue. Click
View: Ruler Unit and change the time measurement to have a larger

view of the Timeline for easier and more precise lining up of the video
and audio cues.

Synchronizing audio to video

Video Paint

Video Paint is the program where you add all your effects anima­tion and rotoscoping to individual frames of a video project. With
it, you can create such effects as laser blasts, background mattes,
and cloned actors and props.

T utorial 3

In this tutorial you will learn about:

•

Getting to know Video Paint......................................................................

p.44

•

Performing common techniques ..............................................................

p.49

•

Performing advanced techniques ............................................................

p.52

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

44

Getting to know Video Paint

Video Paint is a special effects animation program that allows you to paint
(rotoscope) over the frames in a video. These animations can range from
the simple, such as signing your name across an opening title sequence, to
the complex, such as painting background sets and removing video noise.

Creating your first project

In Video Paint, you can create a project from scratch, such as when
building background sets, or opening an existing video or image file to
work on. When opening a video file, you can choose which frames in the
sequence to open, rather than having to open several hundred at one time.
This ability to partially edit video can be a great time saver and allows you
to perform edits quickly without draining system resources.

To open a video file for editing:

1. Click the Open Video File button on the Standard toolbar to open the

Open Video File dialog box and select any video file from the Samples
folder of your MediaStudio CD.

2. Click the Duration button to open the Duration dialog box.

3. Drag the Preview slider to locate the first frame of the sequence you

want to open and click the Mark-In button. Now find the last frame
and click the Mark-Out button. (At first, it is best to open just one or
two seconds of video until you are more comfortable with how Video
Paint works.) When happy with your selection, click OK to return to
the Open V ideo File dialog box.

4. Click OK to open the video as a clip in Video Paint. Each frame of the

clip appears in the Filmstrip panel, with the first frame displayed as an
image in an edit window.

Filmstrip panel

TUTORIAL THREE: VIDEO PAINT

45

Working with images in an edit window

The edit window displays the image of the currently selected frame in a
Video Paint project. Once displayed, you can begin working on the image
by selecting or painting over parts of it. At any given time, you will be
working in one of two modes: Composite or Paint Layer. Which mode
you choose depends on the type of work you are doing as well as the type
of effect you want to create.

To work on an image in an edit window:

1. Click the Paint tool on the Tool panel and start painting over an image

in an edit window.

2. Switch to the Shape Selection tool and then drag over part of the

image to select it. As you drag, a selection marquee appears outlining
the area included in the selection. When finished, move the selection to
a new location on the image. (This selection is now referred to as a
floating selection and appears in the Paint Layer.)

3. To better see the Paint Layer, click the No Source Video button on the

Standard toolbar. The image disappears from view, leaving only the
background film color plus your edits.

4. Click the Normal button on the Standard toolbar to return the image

into view and then click the Paint Layer Mode button on the Standard
toolbar.

5. Create another selection area, making sure that it includes your edits,

and then click the Shrink Mode button on the Attribute toolbar. The
selection marquee changes to select only your edits, leaving the
underlying image untouched.

Creating a selection in Composite Mode (left) and Paint Layer Mode (right)

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

46

Customizing your brushes

Most of your work in Video Paint will be done with the paint, clone, and
retouch tools. Each of these tools has various attributes which determine
the way they work as well as how they apply paint. These attributes are
specified in the Brush panel and a number of presets can also be selected
from various galleries in the Production Library.

To create a felt-tip pen brush:

1. Click the Paint tool on the Tool panel and then select the Marker

brush from the Attribute toolbar. (If the brush panel does not automati­cally appear, click the Show/Hide Brush Panel button in the Attribute
toolbar.)

2. In the Shape tab of the Brush panel, click the Lock button and then

adjust either the vertical or horizontal slider tabs until the Height and
Width spin boxes read 7. Once completed, set the Brush Angle to 0
and the Soft Edge to 34.

3. In the Options tab, set the Application method to Pigment , and then

click the Freehand button. (Also set the Transparency and the Wet
Control both to 0, if not already set.)

4. In the Color tab, right-click the color square and select a color from

the available palette or from a color picker.

5. In the Advanced tab , set a Spacing of 5 and then click the Fade Out

button and set the fade to 0.
The Marker brush has now been customized as a felt-tip pen.

6. Click the Save Options button on the Attribute toolbar and assign a

name and Production Library folder to store the new brush. To use the
brush again, or any other preset, find its corresponding thumbnail in the
Production Library folder and then double-click it.

Painting with a customized brush

TUTORIAL THREE: VIDEO PAINT

47

Working over multiple frames

One of Video Paint's strengths is its ability to allow you to copy edits over
multiple frames. For example, you can paint a line and then have that line
appear in the same position and at the same size over all frames in the
project, or have it progressively appear over each successive frame. The
two operations you will use most often to perform these tasks are power
duplication and macro recording.

To perform a power duplication:

1. Paint over an image in an edit window.

2. Click Edit: Power Duplicate to open the Power Duplicate dialog box.

3. Select the Paint Layer option in the Source group box and the Apply

after current frame option in the Apply group box. In the same group

box, set the duration to cover the number of frames you want your
edits to appear over. (The default is the maximum number of frames in
your project.)

4. Click OK to apply your edits over the specified number of frames. (If

the number of frames exceeds the value specified in the Clear undo
history for multiple frame actions option in the Preferences dialog
box, a message box appears indicating that if you continue all undo
history will be discarded to help improve performance.)

Duplicating an edit over multiple frames

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To perform and apply a macro:

1. Click the Paint tool on the Tool panel, select the brush to paint with

from the Attribute toolbar and then specify the brush's attributes in the
Brush panel.

Note:

You can only perform macro recording using the Paint and Retouch tools.

2. Click the Recording button on the Attribute toolbar. The edit window

is centered in the workspace and a message box appears preparing for
recording.

3. Click OK and start painting over an image. When finished, click the

Recording button again to end the recording. The Add To Library

dialog box opens prompting you to specify the folder and location to
store your macro. (You can also give it a name and description.)

4. Click OK. The macro is saved to the proper location and the edits are

removed from the edit window.

Note:

To have the macro play back automatically , select the Play macro after

recording option in the Preferences dialog box.

5. Click the Production Library button on the Standard toolbar and

locate the folder you saved the macro to.

6. Double-click the thumbnail of the macro to apply it to the active edit

window. The Macro Playing Options dialog box opens.

7. Specify the number of frames to apply the macro over in the Number

of frames spin box.

8. Click the Progressive option in the Playing method group box to have

the macro play back progressively over the specified number of
frames.

9. Click OK. The macro plays back over the specified number of frames.

Applying a macro progressively over multiple frames

TUTORIAL THREE: VIDEO PAINT

49

Performing common techniques

Now that you have the essentials of Video Paint out of the way, let's take a
look at some of the more common techniques used to add special effects
to a video production. These techniques are the stepping stones to creating
Hollywood-style illusions and effects.

Applying a video filter

The video filters you can apply in Video Paint are the same as those in
Video Editor. The difference lies in how you apply them and how to
determine which frames within the project are affected.

To apply a video filter:

1. Drag over the Preview bar in the Filmstrip panel to select the frames

you want to apply the filter to. (If you want to apply the filter to the
entire clip, make no selection.)

2. Select the Video Filter: Camera Lens gallery from the Production

Library and drag-and-drop the Kaleidoscope filter onto the edit win­dow containing the image you want to apply the effect to. The Kaleido­scope dialog box opens.

3. Drag the View circle on the Original preview image and place it

where you want the effect to start.

4. Click on the End keyframe and drag the View circle to where you

want the effect to end. (You can have the view move over the image in
a number of different directions by placing additional keyframes and
adjusting the view circle's position accordingly.)

Note:

Click the Lock button to automatically update the Preview window when

you change frames in the Original window.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box and place the filter.

Applying the Kaleidoscope video filter

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Cloning an image

Cloning is a great way to quickly duplicate an object or feature in one
frame and replicate it over other frames in the sequence. For example,
you could remove an annoying object by cloning over it with parts of the
background, or create the impression of more stars in a night scene by
cloning additional stars into the background.

To clone an image:

1. Click the Clone tool on the Tool panel and select a brush from the

Attribute toolbar. Then, specify the brush's attributes in the Brush
panel. (In the Options tab of the Brush panel, click the Absolute
button, if it is not already selected.)

2. Move to the image you want to clone and, holding down the Shift

key, click over the object or feature you want to clone. A crosshair
pointer appears indicating the area to be cloned.

3. Start painting where you want the object or feature to appear. As you

paint, a brush head marquee appears around the crosshair pointer
indicating the portions of the image being cloned.

4. Move to another area of the image and click again to clone the same

object or feature. Keep repeating this until you have cloned as many
objects or features you want. When finished, click Edit: Power
Duplicate to apply the exact same edits over other frames in the
project.

Cloning an image to remove part of the background

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51

Creating a video matte

Mattes are a useful part of video editing and are used primarily with the
overlay and video filter effects of Video Editor. In Video Paint, you can
create single image mattes or video mattes. Image mattes require you to
simply paint over one frame in an edit window and then save it as an
image file or as a single frame in a Video Paint file. Video mattes are
created in the same way, except that you can paint over multiple frames
and then save your edits as a video file or a Video Paint file.

To create a video matte:

1. Click the New button on the Standard toolbar to open the New dialog

box.

2. Set the duration, frame rate and frame size to that of the video you

want to apply the matte to and click OK. The dialog box closes and a
new project is created. (Use the default settings if you do not yet have
a Video Editor project to work with.)

3. Click the Lasso tool on the Tool panel and then click the Anti-alias

button on the Attribute toolbar.

4. Create a selection area with the size you want for your matte, and then

right-click and choose the Soft Edge command from the pop-up menu.
In the dialog box that appears, enter a value of 15 for the soft edge and
click OK. The dialog box closes and the selection changes to incorpo­rate the soft edge.

When you apply the matte in Video Editor, the soft edge is treated as a
Grayscale mask, with lighter areas appearing more transparent and
darker areas less so.

5. Click Edit: Fill and select black as the fill color and click OK. The fill

is applied to the selection area. You can now copy and paste the fill on
each successive frame, changing its position slightly to create a moving
matte.

Creating a video matte

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Performing advanced techniques

Advanced techniques build on the methods and procedures you learned
earlier in the lesson. With them, you can create such effects as translucent
ghosts, wild virtual background sets, and disappearing people.

Performing an erase effect

In Video Paint, you can use the painting tools to erase as well as apply
paint. Erasing paint is useful if you want to remove excess paint from an
image or to create certain effects, such as removing a solid fill color to
reveal an underlying video.

To perform an erase effect:

1. Select the frame from where you want the effect to begin and then

click Edit: Fill to open the Fill dialog box.

2. Select the color you want to use as the fill from the Color group box

and enter 15 in the Transparency spin box.

3. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the fill. (Once applied,

power duplicate the fill over the number of frames you want to include
in the effect.)

4. Click the Paint tool on the Tool panel and then select the type of brush

you want to use from the Attribute toolbar.

5. Specify the various attributes of the brush in the Brush panel and then,

in the General Shape tab, click the Erase button.

Note:

If you are using a WACOM® UltraPen, you can erase by simply turning

the pen upside down when you draw.

6. Start painting on the image. As you paint, the fill is removed revealing

the underlying image. (If you want the effect to appear progressively
on each frame, perform a macro recording.)

Performing an erase effect

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53

Performing an advanced power duplication

Power duplication is not just useful for copying the paint layer or an
image across hundreds of frames. You can also create special effects.
With the Transparency feature of Power Duplication, you can paste an
image over an entire video and give it the appearance of fading in or fading
out. This is useful for creating “ghosts” and other similar effects.

To perform an advanced duplication:

1. Select the edit window which contains the edits you want to duplicate

and then click Edit: Power Duplicate to open the Power Duplicate
dialog box.

2. Select the Paint Layer option in the Source group box.

3. Select the After current frame option in the Apply group box. In the

Duration spin box, enter the number of frames on which the edits will

appear. (The default number represents all frames in the project.)

4. Move to the Start tab and enter a value of 50 in the Transparency spin

box, then click the End tab and enter the same transparency. Enter a
value of 99 in the X spin box to move the edits horizontally. (To move
the edits vertically, change the Y value.)

5. Click OK to apply the duplication.

Performing an advanced duplication

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Creating background sets

While Video Paint allows you to paint over and enhance the frames of a
video, you can also use it to create background sets. These background
sets are then placed into Video Editor as the underlying clip for any blue
screen clips you may have. You can create background sets by painting
over an original video or by using some of the animation filters available in
V ideo Paint.

To create an animated background set [1]:

1. Create a new project and then select half of the frames by dragging

over the Preview bar in the Filmstrip panel.

2. Drag-and-drop the Animation Texture thumbnail from the Video

Filter: Special folder in the Production Library to the edit window of

your new project. The Animation Texture dialog box opens displaying
various options for controlling the display and movement of a texture.

3. Select thumbnail 11 from the Pattern group box and then click on the

End keyframe in the Keyframe controller to jump to the last frame in

the sequence. (Click the Lock button so that the Preview image
changes.)

4. Select thumbnail 11 from the Pattern group box again and then click

the Palette ramp image to open the Palette Ramp Editor dialog box.
Select the CMYK thumbnail and click OK to return to the Animation
Texture dialog box.

5. Enter a value of -1.5 in the Amplitude slider and click OK to apply the

filter. (You can experiment with each of the other sliders to see how
they affect the texture.) Once applied, repeat the procedure, but this
time, select the remaining frames in the sequence and reverse the order
of the texture so that it appears to be repeating itself.

Creating an animated texture background

TUTORIAL THREE: VIDEO PAINT

55

To create a background set [2]:

1. Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar and select the file

FISH.TIF from the SAMPLES\TUTORIAL folder of the MediaStudio Pro
CD. Once it is displayed in the workspace, open the SKY.TIF file from
the same location.

2. Click the Magic Wand tool and in the Similarity spin box on the

Attribute toolbar enter in a value of 25.

3. Select the edit window containing the image of the fish, and then drag

over the fish to create a selection, starting from the tail and moving
toward the head. If you have more sea than fish selected, try again, or
decrease the Similarity range.

4. Switch to the Lasso tool and, holding down the "S" key, draw around

the areas of the sea which are included in the selection. Double­clicking then deselects these areas. Keep doing this until all areas of the
sea are no longer part of the selection. (If you need to add areas of the
fish to the selection area, hold down the "A" key.) When finished, copy
and paste the fish into the edit window containing the image of the sky.

5. Switch to the Transformation tool and click the Resize button on the

Attribute toolbar. A bounding box appears around the fish. Holding
down the SHIFT key, drag one of the handles of the bounding box and
resize the fish so that it appears larger.

6. Switch to the Shape Selection tool and position the fish to the bottom

left of the edit window. Now, paste in another three fish and resize
them, each one slightly smaller than the other, and position them over
the image in the edit window. You can also create a video window for
later use as an overlay clip in Video Editor by creating a selection area
and filling it with a solid color .

Creating a background set (left) with video window (right)

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Retouching images

The Retouch tool is a powerful tool that allows you to ‘touch-up’ areas
of an image to improve its appearance or to create a particular effect. For
example, you could enhance the color of someone's eye, blur jagged edges
an object may have, or adjust the highlights and midtones of an image to
improve its color.

To retouch an image:

1. Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar and select the

BACKGRD.TIF file from the

SAMPLES\TUTORIAL folder of the

MediaStudio Pro CD.

2. Click the Retouch tool and select the Blur brush from the Attribute

toolbar.

3. In the Shape tab of the Brush panel, specify a small brush size with no

soft edge, and in the Options tab set the blur value to one.

4. Zoom in on the edit window containing the background image and

begin painting over the edges of the largest fish. As you paint, notice
how the jagged edges are blended into the background. Once finished,
move to the other fish and retouch them where necessary.

5. Switch to the Saturation brush and in the Options tab of the Brush

panel, set the saturation value at 60.

6. Drag over the head of the largest fish to increase the saturation of the

colors and make them more vivid. Once happy, move on to the others
and adjust them accordingly.

The background image (left) enhanced with the Retouch tool (right)

TUTORIAL THREE: VIDEO PAINT

57

Advanced Macros: Creating a laser beam effect

One of the coolest effects you can create in Video Paint is the laser beam
effect. Using the built-in macro recording capabilities, you can paint the
laser beam, record it, and then apply it progressively across an entire
range of frames. Once you've recorded a macro, you can save it to the
Production Library for later use.

To create a laser beam effect:

1. Open the video you want to apply the laser beam effect to. In the

Filmstrip panel, click the frame where you want to start creating the
laser beam.

2. Select the Paint tool you want to use to create the laser beam. In the
Options tab of the Brush panel, click the Straight Line button. Set the
laser's color in the Color tab and the brush's height and width in the
Shape tab.

3. Click the Recording button and then click OK. The edit window is

centered in the workspace.

4. In the edit window, draw the laser beam from the starting reference
point to the ending reference point.

5. Click the Recording button again to stop recording. The Add To
Library dialog box appears. Enter the name and annotation for your
laser beam macro, select the Custom folder, and click OK.

6. In the Production Library, select the Macro: Custom folder and find
your new macro. Drag-and-drop it into the edit window. The Macro
Playing Options dialog box opens.

7. Enter the number of frames you want to apply the macro to. Select the
Progressive Playing method and click OK. The dialog box closes and

the macro is applied to the clip.

An example of a laser beam effect

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Advanced cloning: Disappearing act

You can combine the Cloning (see page 50), Power Duplicating (see page

53), and the Macro Recording (see page 57) capabilities of Video Paint to
create the effect of a person disappearing. Before you try this though, you
have to know information about blue screens, see page 167. You also need
a suitable background for the video to play against. For best results, you
should probably use a still image for the background.

1. In Video Editor, overlay your blue screen video on top of a background

image and render the clip as a new video file with no compression.

2. In Video Paint, click the Open Video File button on the Standard

toolbar to open the clip you just created (video window). Then, open
the original background in a second edit window (background win­dow).

3. Click the Clone tool on the Tool panel. In the Options tab of the
Brush Panel, click the Frame butt on and with the

SHIFT key, click

anywhere on the background window.

4. In the video window, paint over the person you want to disappear.

5. Next, power duplicate the paint layer of the video window you just

cloned across every frame of the video.

6. Click the Painting tool on the Tool panel and select Paint Brush.

7. In the Shape tab of the Brush panel, click the Eraser mode button and
then the Recording button.

8. When the Macro Recording begins, erase the paint layer you just

cloned in.

9. Click the Recording button again and save the macro to the Macro:
Custom folder.

10. To apply the macro to your video, drag-and-drop its thumbnail from

the Production Library into the edit window and define its application
properties in the Macro Playing Options dialog box.

An example of a disappearing act

CG Infinity

CG Infinity is where you create dazzling title sequences and excit­ing graphics animation. With CG Infinity's tools, you can send text
and objects flying into the third dimension. This tutorial is de­signed to give you everything you need to get started at creating
your own CG sequences.

T utorial 4

In this tutorial you will learn about:

•

Performing common techniques ..............................................................

p.60

•

Performing advanced techniques ............................................................

p.66

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Performing common techniques

This section includes some of the more common techniques you will
perform using CG Infinity. Many of these lessons assume you are starting
with a new edit window in CG Infinity.

Drawing regular shapes

The quickest way to get started in CG Infinity is to begin creating simple
shapes. While simple in design, you can easily create impressive results by
combining shapes and changing their styles to produce different colors
and effects.

To draw a logo using regular shapes:

1. Click the Shape tool and select or deselect the following buttons on

the Attribute toolbar:

• Rectangle (select)

• Draw From Center (deselect)

• Equal Sides (deselect)

2. In Preview mode, draw a rectangular path within the frame of the edit

window and in the Object Style Panel, set the fill color to blue with no
line color or shadow.

3. Switch to the Ellipse option on the Attribute toolbar and create a long

elliptical path.

4. Using the Object tool, position the new path so that its middle starts at

the bottom left corner of the rectangular path and, if necessary, resize
it so that it is wide enough to go over to the right side of the rectangu­lar path. (Set the fill color to white with no line color or shadow.)

5. Switch back to the Ellipse tool and click the 1:1 button on the At-

tribute toolbar and create a small circle path at the lower right corner
of the rectangular path.

Creating a logo using regular shapes

TUTORIAL FOUR: CG INFINITY

61

Creating and distorting text objects

One of the more powerful aspects of CG Infinity is its ability to create
impressive titles for use as images or in video projects. Once a title is
created, you can distort it in a variety of ways and apply various colors
and gradients to give it a more polished look and feel.

To create and distort a text object:

1. Select the Text tool and click anywhere in the edit window.

2. Enter the text of your title. (Add a new line by pressing the ENTER key.)

To change the text alignment, font or any other characteristics, select
the text and then choose the appropriate options from the Attribute
toolbar.

3. Switch to the Envelope tool. A red border appears around the text as

well as nodes on the corners and edges of the border.

4. Drag the nodes to adjust the envelope. Each time you select a node,

two control handles appear which you can adjust independently. Keep
adjusting the nodes and handles until you are happy with the result. If
you are not sure about the type of distortion you want to create, select
a preset from the Envelope gallery in the Production Library and drop
it onto the text. The text automatically distorts itself to the path of the
envelope.

Creating and distorting a text object

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Applying gradients to your objects

In CG Infinity, you can apply gradients to any fill or line color, producing
a variety of lighting and shading effects. These gradients are created in the
Magic Gradient dialog box, which is found in many of the MediaStudio
Pro programs, and are extremely versatile.

To apply a gradient to an object:

1. Select the object or objects you wish to apply the gradient to and click

the Gradient button in the Color tab of the Object Style panel.

2. Click the Gradient square to open the Magic Gradient dialog box.

3. Click the Edit button in the Palette ramp group box to open the

Palette Ramp Editor dialog box and select the CD thumbnail and then
click OK. The dialog box closes and the color ring in the Magic
Gradient dialog box changes to reflect the new palette.

4. Drag on the Hue shift to change the hue of the color ring and then

click the eighth button in the Mode group box to select the style of the
gradient. (When you click a button, its number is displayed next to the
title of the group box.)

5. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the gradient.

Applying a gradient to an object

TUTORIAL FOUR: CG INFINITY

63

Manipulating objects

CG Infinity allows you to alter an object's intrinsic shape to make it more
dynamic. It also gives you more flexibility to make your titles and graphic
objects really stand out. Both text objects and graphic objects can be
warped and changed, but if you change a text object too much, you may
not be able to edit the text later.

To manipulate objects:

1. Open the file

LOGO1.UCG file from SAMPLES/TUTORIAL folder on the

MediaStudio Pro CD.

2. Click the Object tool and select the rectangular object. Then click the
Perspective button on the Attribute toolbar.

3. Drag the top right-hand side node upwards to about one-third of the

original size, towards the direction of the left-hand node to change the
object's perspective.

4. Duplicate the object and then click the Resize button on the Attribute
toolbar and drag the left side of the object to the right, flipping it. (To
make sure it is the same size as the original, enter its width in the

Width spin box on the Attribute toolbar.)

5. Switch to the Shape tool and create a rectangular shape the size of the

original object, filling it with a solid dark blue color. Switch back to the
Object tool and click the Slant button on the Attribute toolbar and
then drag upward on one of the right side nodes to match the angle of
the object with the original.

6. Click the Send to Back button on the Standard toolbar to place the
object behind the others. Repeat step 5 on the left side node for the
mirrored object, except fill it with a solid light blue color.

7. Finish the effect by positioning the ball object in the center of the other
objects.

Manipulating objects

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Creating a corporate logo

CG Infinity is ideal for creating corporate logos, which you can use in
your video projects or for other purposes, such as presentations, CD­ROMs, and web pages. In this lesson, we will create a ‘head’ logo for a
fictional company called “Interface Designs.”

To create a corporate logo:

1. Select the Shape tool and create a rectangular shape with a red fill

color and no line color or shadow.

2. Switch to the Adjust tool and select the Add Node button on the

Attribute toolbar and click in the center of the left side path segment
as well as the center of the bottom path segment to place additional
nodes.

3. Click the Remove Node button on the Attribute toolbar and click on

the bottom left corner node. The node is removed from the path and
the object changes shape.

4. Click Edit: Duplicate to make a copy of the current object, giving it a

yellow fill color with no line color. Then switch to the Object tool and
drag the left side over to the right, flipping the object. (To get the same
width, enter its original value in the Width spin box.) When finished,
place both objects side by side.

5. Add four more rectangular objects, (for the cap, left eye, left nose, and

left mouth). Give each a yellow fill color (no line color) and place then
accordingly on the background object. (For the nose object, remove
the top right corner node to create the appropriate angle as in step 3.)

6. Duplicate each of the objects (except the cap line) and drag them to the

other side of the face, changing their fill color to red. (For the nose
object, you will have to flip it as in step 4.)

7. Create another rectangular object for the cap. Then switch to the

Object tool and click the Slant button on the Attribute toolbar to angle

the cap off to the side and then add text with a shadow to finish off the
project.

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65

Animating objects

A central component to working with objects is being able to animate
them. You do this with the Moving Path tool and you can animate objects
linearly or have them follow any path you set.

To animate objects:

1. Select the object you want to animate and then position it where you

want to start its movement.

2. Select the Moving Path tool. Start and End control points appear at

the center of the object. Then, drag on the center of the object. As you
drag, the End control point follows the path of your mouse. Releasing
your mouse then creates the moving path.

3. Click the Play button on the Time Control panel to see how your

animation looks.
If you want to change the position of the control points, click the

Adjust Moving Path button on the Attribute toolbar and click on the
point concerned. (You may need to click twice before moving a control
point depending on the type of path created.) To create a curved path,
click the Curve Segment button on the Attribute toolbar and then drag
on a control point. (For greater control, you may need to add more
nodes by clicking on the path with the Add Node option selected from
the Attribute toolbar.)

Animating an object

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Performing advanced techniques

After you have mastered the basics of CG Infinity, you are ready to move
on to the more advanced methods and techniques. Using the procedures in
this section will give you a deeper understanding of how CG Infinity
works and allow you to expand and enhance your work even more.

Creating mattes

In CG Infinity, you can create two types of mattes: solid color and
gradient. Solid color mattes are the easiest and simply require you to

draw a shape and then fill the shape with a different color from the
background. Gradient mattes require a little more work.

To create a gradient matte:

1. Select the tool you wish to create the path with and draw the shape of

the matte in the edit window.

2. Select the Gradient Transparency button in the General tab of the

Object Style panel and click on the Gradient square to open the
Gradient Transparency dialog box.

3. Move the Start and End sliders to determine the number of grays. To

change the direction of the gradient, drag on the sample preview. The
angle you drag at determines the angle of the gradient. (White is fully
transparent, black is fully opaque and grays are in between.)

4. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the gradient. (The default

fill color should be set to black.)

Grayscale gradient matte

TUTORIAL FOUR: CG INFINITY

67

Creating a corporate logo (advanced)

This is an advanced technique for creating a complex corporate logo. It is
slightly more complicated than the technique presented on page 64. If you
have not looked at the previous tutorial on making a corporate logo, then
do that first, and then return to this lesson.

To create a more complex corporate logo:

1. Select the Shape tool and create a circular path in the center of the

edit window, (fill with red and no line color or shadow). Duplicate the
object and resize it so that it is slightly larger than the original, filling
this object with white. Repeat the process, this time making a circle
which is approximately twice the size of the original and placing it at
the back, with the bottom lower than the other two.

2. Create a rectangular object that is the same color as the smaller circle

and place it over the bottom of the large circle, creating a break.

3. Switch to the Adjust tool and add two nodes to the left and right of

the top node on the larger circle. Click the Adjust Path button on the
Attribute toolbar and drag the center node upward.

4. Click the Cusp node button on the Attribute toolbar and drag the left

control handle downward to increase the angle of the curve. When
happy with the angle, do the same to the right control handle.

5. Switch to the Object tool and select the Gradient button for the Fill

color in the Object Style panel. Click on the Gradient square to open
the Magic Gradient dialog box.

6. Click the Edit button and select the CD thumbnail and change the hue

value to 314. Click Add to place the new style as a new thumbnail in
the Palette Ramp dialog box.

7. Click OK and click the fifteenth button in the Mode group box to

select the style of the gradient. Move to the Sample window and drag
on the sample image to reposition the focus to the left of the window.
Once finished click OK to close the dialog box.

8. Duplicate the object, and set it to have a line color with no fill color.

(Make the line color different from the others for better contrast.)
Once changed, resize the object slightly so that it fits just inside the

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68

outline of the larger circle. (For this, it is best to use the Width and
Height spin boxes on the Attribute toolbar with the Keep Aspect
Ratio button pressed.)

9. Change the Line color to a Gradient and select the palette ramp

thumbnail you previously added.

10.Repeat steps 5 through 9 for the inner circle.

11. To finish, add text and place it in the center circle. Give it the same

gradient as the others, except this time in the Palette Ramp Editor
dialog box, remove several of the color nodes that appear around the
color circle in the Palette ramp sample window. (Do this by right­clicking over a node and selecting Delete.) Remove the darker ones
first and then drag the remaining nodes so that the darker colors appear
to the left of the circle and the lighter ones to the right. When finished,
click OK and then select the fifteenth button in the Mode group box
and drag on the image in the sample window to have the light source
appear from the top right. Also, change the slope value to 200 degrees
in the bottom Slope dial. Click OK to close the dialog box and apply the
fill.

Creating a more complex corporate logo

Controlling the timing of multiple objects

Sometimes you'll want to create a title or animation clip that contains
multiple objects moving independently of each other. To accomplish this,
you can take advantage of the Motion Tool and the Time Control panel.

1. Open the LOGO2.UCG file from SAMPLES/TUTORIAL folder on the

MediaStudio Pro CD.

TUTORIAL FOUR: CG INFINITY

69

2. Select the Moving Path tool and click the object on the left side, drag

the End control point to the center of the screen. (Show your Rulers
and Guides to use guidelines to help you align the object.)

Note:

All moving path actions must be done with the Moving Path tool selected.

Do not switch tools during this procedure.

3. Move the Time control slider to the last frame and click the Add

Keyframe control point button.

4. Drag the keyframe back to the 1 second mark. This makes the object

finish its movement at the 1 second mark.

5. Repeat the same procedure with the object on the right side, dragging

the End control point so that the two sides of the face touch.

6. Click the white line on the left and drag its End control point to the

center of the edit window.

7. Move the slider to the 1 second mark and add a keyframe. (This is

the time you want the object to commence its movement.) Place your
pointer on the object in the edit window and drag it back so that it is in
the same place as the Start point. Move the slider to the last frame in
the Time Control panel and add a keyframe and then move this
keyframe back to the 2 second mark. (This is where the object ends
its movement.)

8. Repeat the same technique for the text at the top of the frame, starting

the movement at the 2 second mark and ending at the 3 second mark.

Controlling the timing of multiple objects

Performing fades and distortions over time

The Motion tool and Time Control panel allow you to control an object's
transparency and size over time. This lets you create text or objects that
come flying in from the distance or fading in out of nothing.

To perform a fade and distortion over time:

1. Open the LOGO3.UCG file from SAMPLES/TUTORIAL folder on the

MediaStudio Pro CD.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

70

2. Select the main logo and click the Moving Path tool. (It is best to do

these procedures in Wireframe mode to speed up the editing pro­cess.)

Note:

All moving path actions must be done with the Moving Path tool selected.

Do not switch tools during this procedure.

3. Select the Start keyframe in the Time Control panel and, clicking the

Resize button on the Attribute toolbar, enter 580 in the Width spin

box. (Click the Keep Aspect Ratio button to ensure the height changes
proportionally.) After resizing, drag on the object to position the letter
CG in the middle of the edit window frame.

4. Go to the last frame and click the Add Keyframe button and then drag

the keyframe back to the 2 second mark.

5. Click the Resize button on the Attribute toolbar and enter 68 in the

Width spin box. (Click the Keep Aspect Ratio button to ensure the

height changes proportionally.) After resizing, position the object in the
center of the edit window frame.

6. Click on the letter A and then click on the Start keyframe in the Time

Control panel.

7. Drag the transparency control point to the top of the transparency

graph and then move the slider to the 2 second mark and add another
keyframe. Then, at 7 frame mark, add another keyframe. For this
keyframe, set the transparency to 0% by dragging the transparency
point to the bottom of the transparency graph.

8. Repeat the same process for the title text, except start the fade in at the

3 second mark, finish at the 4 second mark.

9. Select the text at the bottom of the logo and set it to appear at the

00:04:07 (without a fade effect). To do this, place a keyframe at the
00:04:06 mark, and then another at the 00:04:07 mark and then change
the transparency accordingly.

Performing a fade and distortion over time

Video Capture

Video Capture

Getting started

Video Capture is the program where many of your video creations
begin. Here you can view and capture ‘live’ video from a variety
of different sour ces such as VCRs, TVs, laserdiscs or camcorders.
Once captured, you can then play back those files or take them
into Video Editor to start constructing your own video project.

Chapter 1

In this chapter you will learn about:

•

Understanding the basics .........................................................................

p.74

•

Preparing video for display .......................................................................

p.76

•

Improving your video signal .....................................................................

p.79

•

Customizing Video Capture .....................................................................

p.83

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

74

Understanding the basics

Video Capture is designed to work in conjunction with an installed video
capture board. Video capture boards serve as the connection between an
external video source, such as a VCR, camcorder or laserdisc, and your
computer. (If you do not have a video capture board, you can still use
Video Capture to play back existing video files.) Once you have your video
source connected and playing, the video automatically appears in the Video
Capture video window. If no video is playing, or you do not have a video
capture board, the video window displays a color bar test pattern instead.

Video Capture's program window

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER ONE

75

Standard toolbar

Control bar

Video window

Save a
video file

Open a
video file

Playback mode

Preview mode

Overlay mode

Connect to a
video source

Adjust video
display

Define audio
format

Define video
format

Capture a frame
to the clipboard

Capture a frame
to a file

Capture a video
color palette

Rewind through
a video

Go forward
through a video

Go to the
previous frame

Play a video
repeatedly

Go to the
last frame

Go to the
first frame

Go to the
next frame

Mark in the start
of a selection

Mark out the
start of a
selection

Record a
video

Play back
a video

Stop playing
a video

Note:

Depending on the capture board used, some commands and buttons in Video

Capture may not be applicable and may be grayed out.

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76

Preparing video for display

The first step on your way to displaying video is getting your video source
can communicate with your PC. This involves connecting the source to
the video capture board and adjusting Video Capture so that it is ‘tuned in’
using the correct settings. The following sections describe how to do this,
along with ways to improve video display and audio characteristics.

Connecting to an analog video source

If your video capture board is correctly installed, running pictures should
immediately appear in the video window of Video Capture. If this does not
happen, then you need to tune Video Capture to your video source. To do
this, click Setup: Video Source. The Video Source dialog box opens with
various options that allow you to connect to a video channel and specify
the type of video source you have, as well as the television standard it
operates on (these options may differ depending on your video capture
board). In general, you should at least be able to select your video source,
such as Composite or S-video and a broadcast signal, such as NTSC, PAL
or SECAM.

Note:

If you are unsure about any of these options, or how they work, refer to your

video capture board's instruction manual.

Viewing your displayed video

Depending on the type of capture board you have, you can view video in
either Overlay or Preview mode. (To switch between them, click the
appropriate buttons on the Standard toolbar or the View: Overlay or
Preview commands.) For viewing purposes, Overlay is the best option as
it sends the video signal straight to your monitor via the display card,
much like a television. Preview, on the other hand, sends the signal via
your PC’s system, and, depending on the capabilities of your PC, the video
may appear choppy.

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER ONE

77

Note:

If you are only viewing video (not necessarily capturing), you may want to hide

certain features, such as the toolbars, for a cleaner look and feel. To hide these, or
show them once hidden, select the appropriate option in the T oolbars

&

Panels

dialog box, opened by clicking View: Toolbars

&

Panels or by right-clicking on

any displayed toolbar or panel.

Setting display options

Video Capture allows you to control the size of the frames in a video
sequence as well as the data type of the displayed video with the Video
Format dialog box, opened by clicking the Video Format button on the
Standard toolbar or Setup: Video Format. (The settings in this dialog box
may differ for some video capture boards). You should adjust these
settings according to how you plan on using the video. For example, if
you are just watching a movie on your computer monitor, then it may be
important for you to adjust the frame size to get a better picture with the
most colors. If you are capturing video to use in a multimedia project then
perhaps a smaller frame size with less colors may be more appropriate.

Note:

If you are displaying video in Preview mode, Video Capture allows you to
control the frame rate and frame size with the Preview Options dialog box (opened
by clicking View: Preview Options).

Preview Options dialog box

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78

Resizing the program window

Whenever you change the frame size in Video Capture, the video window
resizes itself accordingly. To resize the program window for optimum
viewing, drag its borders to widen or lengthen it, or maximize it to take
full advantage of your monitor’s screen size. You can also click View:
Center to resize the program window to fit snugly around the video
window or center it on your screen.

Defining audio input

If your video source has a soundtrack, it too can be captured with the
video. Once captured, it will play back in synchronization with the video.
Exactly how sound is captured depends on a combination of factors,
namely: the video source, the video capture board, and the sound card
installed in your computer. In general, the video capture board handles the
capturing of video frames while your sound card captures the audio
portion. Video Capture then merges this information into the resulting
video file.

To define audio input:

1. Click the Audio Format button on the Standard toolbar or Setup:

Audio Format to open the Audio Format dialog box. (This command is

disabled when your PC has no sound card and your video capture
board does not support audio.)

Audio Format dialog box

2. In the Name combo box, select an option for the audio data. The

attributes of the option are displayed in the Attributes combo box.
(You can also select a new combination of audio attributes directly
from this combo box.)

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER ONE

79

If you define new attributes and wish to save them for later use, click
the Save As button. The Save As dialog box opens allowing you to
assign a name to the attributes. Clicking OK saves the attributes and
the specified name appears in the Name combo box.

3. Click OK. The dialog box closes and the audio attributes are now set

for your next capture.

Note:

Any sound you hear over your speakers is not affected by the selections
made with this command. T o hear the changes, you need to have a sound mixer
utility that provides a monitor function. If you have a mixer, you can mix your own
soundtrack by combining the output from MIDI, WA V E, CD-ROM, and other
external sources (such as your VCR).

Improving your video signal

The job of your video capture board is to convert an incoming analog
video signal into a digitized format that your computer can read. Once
your video is displayed, you may find that the colors do not appear as
vibrant or are darker than you expected. Such examples indicate that your
video capture board and the video source are not properly adjusted or
calibrated. By having a well calibrated display, you can capture and see
video (particularly color) as it was originally recorded.

Calibrating your display

To get the best possible calibration, your video source needs to be able to
generate a color test pattern. These are often found in more expensive and
professional video cameras which allow videographers to record the
pattern onto video tape before they start recording a particular event.
Later, they can then match this pattern to another display device to ensure
that the colors recorded by the camera can be faithfully reproduced on
that device, such as a computer monitor or a television set. If your video
source does not have test pattern generation capability, then you will be
unable to accurately calibrate your display. You can, however, adjust the
colors using your video capture board’s own controls (see page 80).

Note:

Color calibration is not necessary if you are using a DV capture board and DV

source.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

80

To calibrate your display:

1. Make sure that the test pattern recorded on the video source appears in

the video window of Video Capture and click Setup: Color Calibra­tion. This opens the Color Calibration dialog box displaying two color

meters: a Vectorscope and a Waveform monitor. A preview window
displaying the current frame of the video source appears in the upper
right hand corner. (It is a good idea to pause your video playback at
this stage.)

Color Calibration dialog box

The Vectorscope indicates the hue and saturation values of the colors
in the test pattern. The Waveform monitor displays the video source’s
color signal broken down into its component parts: Composite,
Chroma, Luma, and Parade. Composite displays all the component
parts combined, Chroma (shown in green) the color values and Luma
(shown in white) the brightness values. Parade uses a different
method from the others and is applicable for video capture boards
which have support for the parade method. The preview window is a
small representation of the current frame in the video window. The red
slider tab indicates the horizontal scan line from which the colors
evaluated in the test pattern are taken.

Note:

See page 82 for a chart outlining typical color values of a well calibrated

display .

2. Move the red slider next to the preview window so that it intersects

each distinct color in the test pattern. (If you have a vertical pattern
then there is no need to change it.)

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER ONE

81

3. Click the Get Image button. The vectorscope and waveform monitor

redraw indicating the various color values at the point indicated by the
scan line.

In a well calibrated display, the green lines on the vectorscope should
touch the white squares and the graph in the waveform monitor should
display a staircase pattern (see page 80 for a typical example). If they
do not, then you need to adjust the settings using the software supplied
with your video capture board.

4. Leaving the Color Calibration dialog box open, click Setup: V ideo

Display to open the Display dialog box. This dialog box allows you to

adjust various color values such as hue, saturation, brightness, and
contrast.

It is important to keep both dialog boxes open so that any changes in
the Setup dialog box can be reflected in the Color Calibration dialog
box. To view these changes, you need to make sure that the preview
test pattern in the Color Calibration dialog box redraws itself regularly.
To do this, set the Get video frame for every option in the Color
Calibration dialog box to 1 second. This ensures that at every second
the preview test pattern refreshes itself, thereby reflecting any adjust­ments you make. (If the test pattern only appears for a short time,
click the Get Image button after each adjustment to refresh the
preview window.)

5. Adjust the various color values in the V ideo Display dialog box and look

at the Color Calibration dialog box to see how your changes affect the
preview test pattern. Once the vectorscope and waveform monitor
show a properly calibrated display, close both dialog boxes and prepare
for capturing.

When adjusting color values, keep in mind the following:

• changing hue rotates the green lines on the vectorscope clockwise or

counterclockwise (depending on the degree of change)

• changing saturation affects the depth of the lines, with low saturation

appearing closer to the center and high saturation closer to the edges

• changing brightness and contrast affects the waveform in different

ways depending on your choice of options in the Video Display dialog
box.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

82

Note:

If you cannot satisfactorily calibrate your hardware, you can still artificially
readjust the video clip (after it’s been successfully captured) using the Color
Calibration command in Video Editor (see page 137).

Typical calibration settings

At 75% amplitude, with 100% saturated RGB color bars, your color values
should resemble the following:

White Yellow Cyan Green Magenta Red Blue Black

Red 191 191 0 0 191 191 0 0
Green 191 191 19 1 191 0 0 0 0
Blue 191 0 191 0 191 0 191 0

When looking at a composite waveform in the waveform monitor, the
typical settings are about:

White Yellow Cyan Green Magenta Red Blue Black

100 65 50 50 30 20 20 0

Note:

White and black should always be 100 and 0 respectively, though the other

colors may vary slightly .

Adjusting color with your video capture board

If you cannot use color calibration, your video capture board should still
provide controls that allow you to adjust the contrast, color, and position
of any video displayed from an external video source. The Video Display
button on the Standard toolbar and the Setup: Video Display or Setup:
Video Source command (depending on your video capture board) gives
you access to these controls. If you are not sure how to use them, refer to
the documentation that accompanied your video capture board.

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER ONE

83

Customizing Video Capture

You can customize the way you work in Video Capture using the Prefer­ences dialog box, opened by double-clicking the Status bar or by clicking

File: Preferences

[F6]. From this dialog box, you can control various

aspects of Video Capture’s behavior, such as playing files whenever
opened, specifying the shuttle speed, or defining the background color of
the workspace.

PREFERENCES DIALOG BOX

1. Play file when opened plays a video file immediately upon opening in the

workspace. When clear, the file opens on the first frame.

2. Return to first frame after playing

resets the video sequence to the first frame
once the clip finishes playing. When clear , the video stops on the last frame after
playing.

3. Display frame numbers when playing

shows each frame number in the Status

bar as it is being displayed. When clear , only the starting frame number is shown.

4. Display capture options before capturing

opens the Capture Video Dialog
box every time you click the Record button. When clear, Video Capture begins
recording immediately .

5.

Number of recently opened files specifies how many file names are stored in

the Recent History list found in the File menu.

6. Maximum shuttle speed

sets the maximum speed possible when shuttling
through a video file. In general, set a higher speed for longer files and a lower
speed for shorter files.

7. Workspace background sets a background color or a bitmap image (BMP) as
the background in the Video Capture workspace.

1
2
3
4
5
6

7

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

84

The chapter in review

Here are some key points and tips to remember from this chapter:

• View video in Preview mode before capturing to get an idea of the

resulting quality (p.76).

• When viewing in Preview mode, set the frame size and frame rate of

the video in the Preview Options dialog box (p.77).

• Calibrate Video Capture to your video source before capturing (p.79).

• Use the File: Preferences command to customize the Video Capture

working environment (p.83) .

Capturing video

The first step towards producing your own video productions is in
capturing or digitizing the original sour ce material. This can be
several minutes of video or simply individual frames that you want
to incorporate into other projects you are working on.

Chapter 2

In this chapter you will learn about:

•

Tips for capturing good video and audio .................................................

p.86

•

Capturing video ..........................................................................................

p.88

•

Capturing a color palette...........................................................................

p.94

•

Using a controllable device ......................................................................

p.96

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

86

Tips for capturing good video and audio

Capturing video is a memory intensive exercise that puts all your system’s
resources to the test. As you might expect, the better your system, the
better the results. Below are some guidelines for the type of system setup
that works best for video capturing. By understanding these guidelines,
you should be able to optimize your machine and alter your capturing
technique to achieve the best captures possible.

Getting the right hardware

There are three key components to capturing video that account for much
of the demand on a system's resources. They are the video capture
board, the CPU, and the hard drive. Each are equally important and a
bottleneck in any one will adversely affect the performance of the others.

The video capture board converts the original analog video source into
digital data. In general, the faster this board is, the faster video can be
digitized and then used by your computer. While the video capture board
handles video input, it is the CPU which handles the delivery. The faster
the CPU is, the more video (as data) can be processed and thus the better
captured video file.

Once video has been processed by the CPU, it is written to your hard
drive. Most hard drives can only read and write data at approximately
600-1200 KB per second. If you try capturing full frame (640x480) full
motion (30 or 25 frames per second) video (approximately 30-25 MB per
second uncompressed respectively), then it is highly unlikely that your
hard drive can keep up and your computer would end up dropping (skip­ping) frames. For serious users, the best hard drive to get is an AV drive
(audio/video) which is designed for the demands of video capturing and
can handle up to 2-3 MB per second.

Note:

If you have a DV camcorder, you will need to use a capture board having
FireWire (or IEEE-1394) interface. DV capture boards provide automatic device
control over the source and "lossless" transfer of video data between the tape and
your hard drive.

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER TWO

87

Using compression

As mentioned previously, one second of video can easily require as much
as 30 MB of disk space. No conventional hard drive can transfer that
much data with sufficient speed, and it is only through compression that
desktop systems can manage to work with video. In all, there are two
types of compression you can use when you capture: hardware-based
and software-based.

Hardware-based compression, such as MJPEG or MPEG, relies on
additional memory on the video capture board to compress video. This
provides the smallest file sizes with the best quality. The downside is that
video with hardware-compression can only be played back on machines
with a similar setup.

Software-based compression, such as Cinepak and Indeo, is handled by
your system which has to share the job of compressing with anything else
running. While software-based compression is unable to match the com­pression ratios of hardware-based compression, it is device independent
and therefore can be played back on a variety of machines. This makes
software-based compression the ideal choice for video intended for
distribution on other machines via CD-ROM or the Internet.

Techniques for improving your video captures

Even if you don’t have the ideal system for capturing video, you can still
achieve good results by working around the limitations of what you do
have. For example, you can:

• Close all other programs that may be running in the background to free
up as much CPU resources as possible.

• Regularly defragment your hard drive with a utility such as Windows
Disk Defragmenter from the Systems Tools menu. (Fragmented drives
force the hard drive to slow down as it has to seek available free space
to save a file.)

• Dedicate a separate hard drive for your video captures, or a separate
partition on an existing hard drive.

• Capture at the best quality possible and then resample down if neces­sary. Resampling up creates (interpolates) new data which results in
lower quality than the original.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

88

Apart from controlling how your system performs, you can also set up
Video Capture to optimize your captures using the Advanced tab of the
Capture Video dialog box (see page 92). Here you will find several options
dedicated to enhancing capture performance, such as allocating additional
memory buffers, specifying chunk granularity (data pack size), freeing up
RAM and synchronizing video to audio.

Techniques for improving your audio captures

When capturing audio there are three areas that you can control which
determine the size and quality of the audio file. They are the sampling rate,
sample size, and the number of channels. CD quality audio has a sampling
rate of 44 kHz, a 16-bit sample size, and two channels (or stereo). If you
intend to play back your video over low quality speakers, then capturing at
this level is not necessary. You may find a mono, 11 kHz 8-bit file more
practical. Also, if you are capturing background music, then it may not be
necessary to capture it at the same time you are capturing the video – you
can always add it later as an audio track in Video Editor. (For speech, this
is possible but it will require more effort later in Video Editor to synchro­nize the audio with the video.)

Note:

For more about audio and its various properties, see the section on ‘Creating

a new edit window’ in Audio Editor, see page 308.

Capturing video

Once you have setup the video window to display your video the way you
like it, you are ready to capture. Before capturing, maximize your system
resources by closing all background programs and, if possible, defragment
your hard drive first for the best possible results.

Note:

The following procedure only shows how to capture video from an analog
source. See the tutorial section on how to capture DV , page 26. Y ou can also find
details on capturing MPEG video in that tutorial, see page 28.

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER TWO

89

To capture a video sequence:

1. With Video Capture open, start playing the video from your video

source. (The video should appear in the video window of Video Cap­ture. If it does not, check the connection to your video source and
your video capture board setup, see page 76.)

2. Click the Record button on the Control bar or Capture: Video [F5] to

open the Capture V ideo dialog box.
If the Display capture options before capturing option is cleared in

the Preferences dialog box (see page 83), Video Capture begins captur­ing immediately using your current settings.

Capture Video dialog box

3. Specify the desired frame rate in the Frame rate spin box. (If captur-

ing full motion video from a drop-frame NTSC device, specify the
fractional frame rate of 29.97.)

Remember that the higher the frame rate, the more demand on your
resources and the greater the size of the resulting video file. As a
guideline, 15 frames per second for NTSC devices is a good place to
start and 12 frames per second for PAL devices. If your video has a lot
of movement and panning, then you may need a higher frame rate to
avoid any jerkiness.‘Talking head’ shots and video with little move­ment can often get away with a much lower frame rate.

MEDIASTUDIO PRO USER GUIDE

90

4. Select the Exactly match the specified frame rate option to ensure

that the capture maintains the frame rate (essential if you are capturing
drop-frame video). Leave this option clear for general or non-time
critical captures.

The actual captured frame rate may differ from the specified frame
rate due to rounding or synchronization errors. While this is not
detrimental in most cases, you may find that it slightly affects the
timing of larger video sequences.

5. In the Capture Method group box, select the appropriate method for

capturing. Auto captures video according to the time specified in the
Auto spin box while Auto with no time limit continues capturing until
you press the

ESC key. If you want to perform single frame captures,

then select the Manual option. If you have a controllable device, select
the Device control option. (For more on capturing with a controllable
device, see ‘Using a controllable device’, page 96.)

If you select the Manual option, you can define aspects of the capture
by clicking on the Settings button. This opens the Manual Capture
Settings dialog box from which you can choose between two capturing
modes: Auto and Manual. Auto allows you to specify the duration
between captures while Manual allows you to control the timing of the
capture directly. If you select the Auto option, the Duration group box
is enabled with further options for defining how many frames are to be
captured in total. If you want to capture continually, select the No limit
option.

Manual Capture Settings dialog box

VIDEO CAPTURE: CHAPTER TWO

91

6. Select the Capture audio option to capture audio along with your

video. (This is disabled if you do not have a sound card, your video
capture board does not have sound capabilities, or you are performing a
manual capture.)

Note:

If you want to change the current audio and video characteristics, click the

respective Audio and Video buttons.

7. Select the Auto-naming option to save each capture as consecutively

numbered files. This file takes its name from the file name in the
following File entry box, replacing the last four characters with se­quential numbers. For example, if the file name you specify is called

"VID", captured files will be called, VID0001, VID0002, and so on.

8. Enter the name to save the file to in the File entry box.

9. Select the Save to library option to save the captured file to a library

in V ideo Editor .
If you save a file to the library, you can then go straight to Video Editor

and drag-and-drop the file into a video project. This is also useful for
batch captures as the library creates an icon for each captured file
which you can then use to storyboard and arrange before placing your
work into a video project.

10. Click OK. Video Capture begins capturing according to your settings.

If you chose to capture manually, the Manual Capture dialog box opens
displaying two buttons, Next and Cancel. Click Next to capture a
single frame: Cancel to end capturing.

Notes:

•

When you click OK to start capturing, there may be a slight delay before any
capture takes place. This is because many machines first clear all available
memory . For best results, start your capture a few seconds before the video
you want to record appears in the video window .

•

If you are in Preview mode when capturing the displayed video, the video may
freeze. If this happens, click Capture: Display When Capturing. This
allows the video to continue displaying while capturing. (This may , however ,
adversely affect the performance of your capture as it requires additional
resources and as such frames may be dropped.)

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92

Customizing your capture options

In the Capture Video dialog box, the Advanced tab contains options that
allow you to customize the way that each capture is performed. By
carefully selecting these options to match your system’s performance, you
can significantly improve overall capture results.

CAPTURE VIDEO DIALOG BOX: ADVANCED T A B

1. Display message box before capturing displays a confirmation message

dialog box after you have clicked OK. (This is useful if you want to wait before
capturing.) When clear, capturing starts immediately after clicking OK. (This
option has no effect when the selected capture method is Manual or Device
Control.)

2. Play video file after capturing plays back each file after capturing. Leave this

clear if you want to continue viewing your video source after capturing.

3. Synchronize video with audio ensures that during capture, the video portion

maintains correct timing with the audio portion. When clear , both captures are
done independently by your system, which may result in bad synchronization
between audio and video data, particularly if the audio is a ‘talking head’. If the
audio is background music, then selecting this option has little effect.

4. Display message if dropped frames exceed displays a report after capturing

whenever the specified dropped frame threshold has been met. For general
capturing, specify 10%. (If you frequently get dropped frames, try capturing at a
lower quality .) Set this to 100% if you do not mind dropped frames or are only
capturing low resolution files.

8

1
2
3
4
5

6
7

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5. Preallocate the capture file creates a temporary file to place your captured

video sequences in. This improves performance as the hard disk does not have to
search for free space to store video data. (This size should match or exceed your
estimated capture size.)

6. Chunk granularity matches the size of each data chunk to be captured with
your target hard drive’s cluster size. Matching sizes ensures more efficient data
transfer and thus improves capture performance. (In most cases, use the default
unless you have a reason not to.)

7. Number of video buffers (1-1000) sets aside additional buffer memory to help
improve captures. (In most cases, use the default unless you know how much
buffer space you can afford.)

8. Default lets Video Capture automatically determine the best settings for your
system. Click this when you do not know what options to specify or are unsure
about your system’s setup.

Dropped frames

If your PC and video capture board have difficulty supporting a specified
frame rate, a message box may appear after capturing detailing how many
frames were captured and, of those, how many were ‘dropped’ frames.
(This message box is controlled in the Advanced tab of the Video Capture
dialog box, see above.) Dropped frames are ‘phantom’ frames which are
created to ensure that the frame rate is maintained. Whenever Video
Capture or some other device encounters a dropped frame on playback, it
keeps displaying the previous frame until the dropped frame or frames
have passed. If a video has dropped a large number of frames, then the
playback will look very choppy. To reduce the occurrence of dropped
frames, you can lower the quality settings for your video. For example, try
a smaller frame size, higher compression, or a lower frame rate.

Capturing single frames

Capturing a single frame does not require you to specify as much informa­tion as when capturing a video sequence. This is because the single frame
adopts the currently displayed video frame size and data type, and is
passed directly to your chosen destination – to the clipboard or to disk.
You can capture single frames from either an existing video file or directly
from a video source.

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To capture a single frame:

1. Click the Freeze button on the Control bar (Pause, if playing an

existing file) or Control: Freeze [SPACE] to stop the video on the
current frame.

2. Click Capture: Single Frame. The frame is sent to the chosen

destination. (If you are capturing to a file, the standard Save dialog box
opens.)

Note:

You can capture a single frame without freezing the video source or

pausing a video file. However, you cannot be sure which frame you will get.

Capturing a color palette

The data type of a video sequence plays an important role in determining
the resulting size and display of your captured file. For example, 24-bit
True Color video contains the most colors and generally occupies the most
disk space (this is suitable for videos featuring a variety of colors such as
outdoor shots). To retain some color while at the same time saving disk
space, choose the 8-bit data type which, depending on your video capture
board, is either Grayscale or Indexed-256 Color. Indexed-256 Color data
types use a predefined color palette to show colors and are best suited for
low color videos, such as animations, and for video intended to be played
back in 256 color display modes. (True Color video will not display well in
256 color display mode as it often contains more colors than the monitor
is capable of showing.) In Video Capture, you can select which frames in
a video to create the color palette from.

To capture a color palette:

1. Click the Capture Palette button on the Standard toolbar or Palette:

Capture Palette to open the Capture Palette dialog box.

2. Specify the number of frames from which you want to create the

palette in the Continuous frames entry box.

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If your video source contains simple images with few significant
changes, you only need to specify a low value, such as 5. If colors
change rapidly, specify a higher value. Generally, the more frames you
select, the greater the range of colors held in the palette. (You can
select from 1 to 100 frames.)

3. Select a capturing option from the Mode group box. If you want Video

Capture to capture the frames for you, select the Auto option and enter
a value for the duration between captures. For example, if you specify
two seconds, a frame is captured every two seconds. (You can specify
an interval from 1 to 100 seconds.) If you want to capture specific
frames, select Manual.

4. Click OK. If you selected Auto as your capture option, Video Capture

begins capturing frames at the specified rate. If you selected the

Manual option, the Manual Capture dialog box opens with two buttons,
Next and Cancel. Click on Next to capture one frame: Cancel to end

the capturing.

When the capturing process is completed, a palette is generated from the
optimum combination of colors based on the captured frames. Once
defined, the color palette is stored in memory until you capture a new
color palette or close Video Capture. If you wish to save the palette for
later use, click Palette: Save Palette. To load it back into a video se­quence, click Palette: Load Palette.

Note:

You can also copy and paste palettes using the Palette: Copy Palette and

Paste Palette commands. (These commands are disabled if the active video is not

Indexed-256 Color or the data on the clipboard is not palette data.)

Changing a file’s properties

Whenever you capture a video sequence, you must first specify a file in
which to save the resulting video. There will be times, however, when you
wish to save this video again to change its attributes, such as frame rate or
the compression scheme. (This is particularly true if you have a hardware
compressed file, such as MJPEG or MPEG, and you wish to play it back
on another machine which does not have the same hardware setup.)

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To change the attributes of a file:

1. Click the Save button on the Standard toolbar or File: Save As

[CTRL+S] to open the Save As dialog box.

2. Specify the name and destination for the file.

You can also append subject information to the file using the Subject
and Description entry boxes and assign a thumbnail image to the file
by clicking the Select button. If you plan on using the file in Video
Editor, click the Save to library option to automatically place it in the
Production Library for easy retrieval.

3. Click the Options button. The Video Save Options dialog box opens

with four tabs: Video Capture, General, Advanced, and Compres­sion.

4. Select either Mark in-Mark out sel ection or All frames in the Video

Capture tab. Mark in-Mark out selecti on saves only the frames
occurring between a marked in and marked out section of the file,
while All frames saves all the frames in the file.

5. Specify the desired video attributes in the General , Advanced, and

Compression tabs. (For more on these options, see ‘Determining your

video save options’ in Video Editor, page 193.)

6. Click OK. The Video Save Options dialog box closes and you return to

the Save V ideo File dialog box.

7. Click OK. The dialog box closes and Video Capture saves the file

accordingly.

Using a controllable device

If you have a controllable device installed, such as the Sony ViSCA, V­LAN, or a DV camcorder with IEEE 1394 OHCI interface, you can control
this device directly from Video Capture. For example, clicking Rewind on
the Control bar rewinds your video tape. The main advantage of a control­lable device is that you can accurately specify which frames in a video to
capture and then capture them all in a single session. Being able to accu­rately pinpoint frames also gives you more flexibility in editing video. For
example, you can first capture your video as low resolution files and
therefore have them occupy much less disk space.

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You can then edit them considerably faster in Video Editor and, when
ready to compile the final version, you can recapture the exact frames at a
higher quality. (You can also import the DVP file from Video Editor,
including any edits you have done, and have the device capture the original
video based on your edits.)

To capture from a controllable device, you first need to specify the frames
you want to capture by marking those frames and creating a batch list.
You also need to indicate a file to save the marked sequences to as well as
provide a name for your reel or video source. This is especially useful if
your batch list contains marked sequences from a number of different
tapes or sources. When you perform the capture, Video Capture will
prompt you when it is time to insert the next reel.

To mark video sequences using a controllable device:

1. Click Setup: Device Control to open the Device Control dialog box.

2. Specify the type of controllable device you have in the Current device

combo box. Click Options if you need to define more parameters for the
selected device control driver. (Visit Ulead's web side to know more
about recommended settings for different device control drivers.)

3. Click Setup: Switch Capture Plug-in and select the appropriate capture

plug-in. Once you have changed to a new plug-in, restart Video Capture.

4. Click Capture: Reel Properties and in the Reel Properties dialog box,

type a name for the source tape in the Reel name entry box. (You can
assign any name, but be sure to change the name when you change the
source tape.)

5. In the File name entry box of the Reel Properties dialog box, enter a

name for the captured video. Video Capture automatically appends a
number for each successive file created. For example, if the filename
you specify is called

"VID", captured files will be called, VID0001,

VID0002 and so on.

6. When you are ready to start marking video sequences, click the Preview

button in the Standard toolbar or View: Preview.

7. Use the buttons in the Control bar to roll the source tape to the location

where you want to begin marking video clips to capture.

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8. Click the Play button to play the source tape.

9. Click the Mark-In button on the Control bar or Control: Mark-In [F3]

whenever you see video you want to select for capture. (The current
frame is indicated in the Mark-In box on the Status bar.)

10.Click the Mark-Out button on the Control bar or Control: Mark-Out

[F4] when you want to end a selection. (The current frame is indicated

in the Mark-Out box on the Status bar.)
Repeat steps 9 and 10 until you have marked all the sequences of the

video that you wish to capture. Each time you mark a section of video,
Video Capture records the timecode of the mark in a batch list which
you can view or edit at a later stage.

11. Click the Stop button after you have finished marking all the video

sequences.

Viewing and editing a batch list

Once you have created a batch list, you can view it before you capture to
ensure you have the correct sequences of video. You can also load an
existing batch file or even a Video Editor DVP file from which to capture.
Using batch lists in this way allows you to capture exactly the same source
each time, and is very helpful for creating high resolution files to replace
low resolution files you may have been using for editing.

To view or edit a batch list:

1. Click Capture : Batch Settings to open the Batch Settings dialog box.

This dialog box displays a list of each marked segment of the video.
To load an existing batch file or Video Editor DVP file, click the Load

button and choose the appropriate file from the Load dialog box.

2. Click on the segment in the list box that you want to edit and then click

the Preview button to see the video in the video window of Video
Capture.

3. To change the mark in and mark out times, either click the respective

buttons as the video plays back or enter the values directly into the
Mark in and Mark out spin boxes. (After adjusting the mark values,
click the Update button to reflect the changes in the batch list.)

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If you want to use this batch later (for example, to recapture at a
higher resolution), click the Save button and in the resulting dialog
box, save the file as a batch capture file (BCF).

4. Click OK. The dialog box closes and the batch list is updated accord-

ingly.

Note:

In the Batch Settings dialog box, you can also change the reel name and
file name for any of the marked sequences in the batch list. (This does not affect
the defaults in the Reel Properties dialog box.)

Capturing using a controllable device

After you’ve marked the various sequences in a video, you are ready to
capture them. To do this, click the Record button on the Control bar or

Control: Record

[F5]. In the Capture Video dialog box that opens, select

the Device control option in the Method group box and click OK. Video
Capture begins capturing from your device using the settings specified in
the batch list. (You can still edit this batch list from the Capture Video
dialog box by clicking the Batch button next to the Device Control op­tion.)

Note:

If there are dropped frames during a capturing process, the Batch Log dialog
box appears. Click the Re-capture button if you want to try recapturing that marked
portion again.

Capture plug-ins

Video Capture provides different plug-ins for capturing different formats of
video, such as AVI, MPEG, and digital video (DV). See the tutorial on Video
Capture for details. (See page 25.)

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The chapter in review

Here are some key points and tips to remember from this chapter:

• Defragment your hard drive before capturing large sequences (p.87).

• Lower your quality settings if you get dropped frames (p.93).

• Preallocate a capture file before capturing (p.93).

• For Indexed-Color video, capture a color palette (p.94).

• Mark video sequences before capturing them (p.97).

• Use the Capture: Batch Settings command to edit a batch list (p.98).

• When using a controllable device, capture low resolution files first
and then high resolution files when you have completed your video
project in Video Editor (p.96).