Extending a Clip?

MNightengale wrote on 11/8/2013, 8:19 PM
Hello,

My name is Michelle an I'm new here. I've downloaded and am working with a trial version of Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12.

I've imported a background to the timeline which lasts 5 seconds. I'd like it to last 10 seconds. So I drag the clip out to the 10-second mark. At the top, of the timeline, there's a thin blue line and a 0:5:00 notation. When I drag it out to the right to extend it, the 5-second notation, it starts going the other direction, saying -01:00, -02:00, etc.

How can I get rid of that??? I just want to be able to extend/shorten a clip and know exactly how many seconds it is! I DON'T want it marking a particular point and then counting from there. Sheesh!

But I can't figure out for the life of me how to reset it or get rid of it. I've tried resetting ALL SMS settings to default settings, uninstalling/reinstalling it, etc. Nothing works.

I'd greatly appreciate some help!

Thanks,
Michelle

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 11/8/2013, 9:04 PM
No idea what your goal is. Do you want the background to loop (repeat), freeze (hold), or time stretch (slow down)?
"Sheesh" is not a solution.
MNightengale wrote on 11/8/2013, 10:33 PM
LOL Thanks for responding. :)

I'm just wanting to extend a 5-second clip to 10-seconds, which I can do with no problem.

Just above the timeline is a thin blue line which displays how long the clip is (5 seconds ,10 seconds, etc.). However, when I extend it from 5 seconds to 10 seconds, instead of counting from 5 seconds (6, 7, 8, 8, 10 seconds), it counts negatively or positively. It seems like there's a set point there and then it starts counting from there. However, I didn't put a set point in there and have no idea why it does that!

Also, the counter at the top of the timeline on the left doesn't always count as I'm extending the clip, so I have no idea how long the actual clip is if I've extended it or shortened it.

Any idea why that is?

Sorry for the questions. I AM a video editing newbie and though I've looked through some of the training videos, I have yet to find one which actually walks me through the interface and the basics of starting a new movie project.

If you don't understand what I'm asking, I could do a quick screen capture and maybe that would help?

Thanks,
Michelle
vkmast wrote on 11/9/2013, 6:11 AM
Michelle,
pls read (about the blue arrow / line above the timeline in)
online Help (F1) / Index / Post-Edit Ripple > Apply...

Also pls read
online Help (F1) / Index / Selecting, Events > Selecting a time range and Editing the selection length

>>>I have yet to find one which actually walks me through the interface and the basics of starting a new movie project.
Have you tried the Show Me How tutorials available in the program ?
This site's Support / Training section has quite a few Movie Studio articles and tutorials including the New Project Wizard video.

musicvid10 wrote on 11/9/2013, 8:20 AM
Once again, your use of the word "extend" is vague.
To make an event longer, you can loop, freeze, or stretch it, different methods.
richard-amirault wrote on 11/9/2013, 3:33 PM
I'm pretty sure that the "blue line" and the associated time is relative to the original END of the event, not the beginning (unless you are dragging left from the start)
MNightengale wrote on 11/9/2013, 10:59 PM
Thanks for your replies everyone! I appreciate it.

I know how to extend a clip, say from 5 seconds to 10 seconds. But unless I move the cursor, it doesn't tell me how long I've extended it to. The thin blue line marked the length of my original clip, but when I tried extending it, it started going negative, instead of counting to 10 seconds like I expected.

Basically, I was looking at the thin blue line to see how long the new clip was instead of looking at the counter on the left at the top of he timeline. (I'm a video neophyte, forgive me.) So I was totally confused when it started going negative!

And the counter at the top left of the time line didn't count as I extended the clip, So I didn't know how long the newly extended clip was! I finally figured out that I have to move the cursor to see how long the clip is.

VKMast understood my question about the thin blue line and answered it. Thanks so much!

Off to watch some of the tutorials. :)

Thanks everyone!

Michelle