Advice Please

outrbanx wrote on 12/26/2006, 8:42 AM
I have just defected from Pinnacle Studio 8/9/10/10+ hell and I am brand new to Movie Studio 6, However, I have a customer project that must be done within the next week or so. It is a school concert that I taped with two cameras (one stationary, the other as a "B" cam).

Can someone lead me to a tutorial or guide me through the process of editing these two tapes in Movie Studio? I realize that sounds like a lot. I can do it in Studio, but cannot trust that I will get a properly rendered project back in return. Just getting rendered audio from it is a HUGE, unknown, unanswered hurdle these days.

I have searched these forums, but did not come across any steps on the sctual process. If you can give me some advice on how to set it up and switch back and forth between the tracks, I should be able to take it from there. Keep in mind that I am new to this application, though. I have managed to complete a couple of small, straightforward projects with it, but that is where my experience ends.

The audio is coming solely from the main (stationary) cam. I just need to throw in shots from the "B" cam for close-ups, etc. I can synch the audio by eye and ear. Since it is a large auditorium, it does not need to be absolutely to-the-millisecond perfect.

Any help I can get with this would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

Paul Mead wrote on 12/26/2006, 10:16 AM
I'm no expert, but I will share what I do. First of all, understand that there is a track hierarchy in VMS. That is, the video track at the top will overlay the track below it. Thus, you can lay the main track into the lowest track in the track heirarchy (typically video track 3 or 4 in VMS) and then drop the "B" cam track onto the next track up (be sure to disable auto-ripple when you do this). Doing that will put the "B" cam above your main camera track at the bottom. The audio can be pulled down to the next available audio track.

I then synchronize the two cameras by finding something to synch on and sliding one event till both events match up. I try to use something like a hand clap, a foot hitting the floor, or something that will usually be identifiable in a single frame. As you mention, if there is something distinctive that can be picked out, audio can be used as well.

After synchronizing I get of one of the audio tracks by ungrouping the audio I want to delete from its event (select that event, type "U", select the audio portion of the event, and press the "Delete" key). Then, to do the cuts, I preview the video, making liberal use of the "mute" button on the higher video track till I find the cut points I want to use. At the end of a cut in the higher track you can make the lower track visible by splitting the upper track at the cut point (type "S") and then dragging the edge of the newly created event on the upper track to the right. Move it over to the point where you want to cut back to the upper track. Repeat till done.

I'm not sure if that makes a lot of sense, but tinker a bit and you will probably see what I mean. This is probably documented somewhere, but I haven't found it.
MSmart wrote on 12/26/2006, 10:35 AM
outrbanx, good to see you over here. While I'm not familiar with any tutorials per se, I know you'll get help here.

Here's what I do in a nutshell:

1) Drag A (stationary) cam to Video track
2) Drag B cam to Video Overlay track
2a) Since audio from B cam will land on the Voice track, drag it down to the Music track
3) Sync video tracks by dragging as needed.
4) Set Video Overlay track Level (transparency) to 65% - if you need to see both tracks in the preview window.
5) Position scrubber at in cut point on Video Overlay track and type "S" to split track
6) Position scrubber at out cut point on the Video Overlay trans and type "S" again t split track
7) Delete the unwanted portion of Video Overlay track [with Auto Ripple OFF]
8) Continue until you are left with the B video on the Overlay track that you want as cut ins.
9) Delete Music track audio (from the B cam)
10) Set transparency on the Overlay track back to 100%
11) Make Movie to render video as an AVI file.
12) Launch DVD Architect Studio to author DVD.

There may be better ways and I may not have explained the process entirely but it should get you going.

It did take me a while to figure out VMS but once you do, you'll like it better then Pinnacle Studio. One thing that's great compared to S10 is you can position the scrubber with the left and right arrow keys. Much easier than X and Y.

Good Luck and post back with your progress and questions.

ADDED: Paul beat me to the punch while I was composing my reply but it looks like were of like mind.
outrbanx wrote on 12/26/2006, 12:22 PM
MSmart,

Great to see a familiar name. I'm here for less than two hours and already another Pinnacle user/victim comes out to greet me. That doesn't bode too well for them, eh?

Thanks for the tips from both of you. Hopefully, that will get me on my way to getting this project behind me and learning more about this great program. The less dependent on S10, the better.

I'm already liking my new home here. ;)
MSmart wrote on 12/26/2006, 5:40 PM
I don't consider myself a victim, but I agree that I am less dependent on S10 now. I won't use it to capture or create disc menu/content ever again. Sony's VideoCapture and DVD Architect Studio are way better.

I will however, continue to use S10 for various editing tasks if needed. I consider it another video tool in the "editing toolbox".

As for your new home, you won't see the same activity here as there is on the Pinnacle forums. I haven't figured out if it's because Pinnacle Studio has more market share or if VMS is that much more stable/useful that people are busy using the program rather than posting their problems. I think the latter.

In either regard, the Search tool here is fairly simple to use and can find threads for what ever you may need. I do miss the simple UBB code on this forum. Creating a link here takes getting used to.
outrbanx wrote on 12/26/2006, 8:35 PM
Maybe "victim" was too harsh of a term. :)

I have used Studio for a few years. However, most of my projects hover around the 10-15 minute mark. My video is created by another program. I left it to Studio to add title cards and Smartsound generated music. I had grown used to having to re-render for any problem I encoountered. A video that short doesn't take long at all. I also have to use menus very rarely. In that capacity, it did fairly well for me. It wasn't until I was hit with multiple long form projects that had time constraints. That when the cracks began to show and I lost patience.

On the good side, the advice I received earlier in this post paid off. I was able to edit that project in under an hour.

One word - AWESOME! I love this program! Smooth sailing and no problems at all.

Thanks again to both of you for making it easier. I'm sure I will be back here quite often seeking tips.
outrbanx wrote on 12/27/2006, 6:41 AM
Okay, guys. I'm back again.

I see where you can create titles in VMS6, but is there a way to insert a picture, or in my case, a logo onto the screen in a title card?

Can VMS do this or do I need a another app to help?
MSmart wrote on 12/27/2006, 4:23 PM
Not sure if this is what you want but try this.

Add title to Video Overlay track, then add logo to the Text track. Click on the Event/Pan Crop icon on your logo clip. In the Event/Pan/Crop window select the zoom icon and right click to make the workspace smaller (zoom out). Click the arrow to select the normal edit tool and enable Lock Aspect Ratio. Now drag one of the corner markers out to make it bigger (this makes your logo smaller). This will size your logo as necessary. Then drag the "screen" to position the logo where you want it on the title card. It takes some getting used to but once you do, watch out. Another gottcha is keyframes at the bottom of the Event Pan/Crop window, make sure your scrubber is at the beginning or a keyframe will be added at the scrubber point giving motion to your edits. Then just click the close X to close the Event Pan/Crop window and see how it plays in the timeline. Re-open the Event Pan/Crop window to adjust if necessary.