picture in picture split screen......need help

cfgolf85 wrote on 10/2/2002, 10:18 PM
Is it possible to make a split picture with 2 separate video clips playing at once. I know there is the cookie cutter effects and stuff, but I am trying to make 2 clips divided by a line in which I want to place a .psd file over. How do I place the videos in a square like I have shown bellow. The cookie cutter effects only have odd shapes and not a plain square. How can I achieve this effect?
IE:

--------------------------

clip 1 \|/ clip 2

-------------------------
\|/ = line(video frame) separation

Do you see what I'm getting at here? 2 video clips, in a square format, with a line separation which I would eventually place a .psd over in a re-render since VF only supports 2 video stream lines at one.


Thank you so much for your help!

Cody

Comments

Grazie wrote on 10/3/2002, 2:01 AM
Cody - this is an excellent question!

You will find a mass of VFers reading your post and knowing how you can achieve this, so sit tight and watch this space.

For what it's worth, my 2 pennies is for you to search on this forum for "picture in picture" or "PIP" or something along those lines - and stand back. We had a major discussion 'bout this a few months back, so help is on its way. As a result of our discussion I produced a "39 Steps" procedure to firstly assist me in "nailing" what to do, but also as a way to post here, for others to use and comment on for any improvements. Have a look.

The nearest shape to a square is the rectangle option [think this is the default anyway]. You ask for a "plain square". Hmmmm... other VFers might comment on this but what I've learnt film aint in a square formation - it's just a bit of the height to width to do this, without distorting the "frame" ratio. If square is what you want and distortion is what you want to achieve, this can be done in Pan/Crop. In any event, trying to place 2 clips side-by-side will always give you some "black" around its borders. No bad thing as it can be used as a design "feature".

Concerning the limitation of VF using just 2 video streams, in theory this is not a restriction. Theoretically one could achieve the first "clip" on using one video line - render this passage - bring this back into VF and place this 2 video piece back onto a spare piece of video line - place a further clip re-render etc etc. It would be a bit cumbersome [maybe this IS an argument to up grading to VV!].

I could go on - and sometimes I really do!... however, others I'm sure will jump in. But in the meantime I do invite you to search for PIP on this forum.

Regards

Grazie
cfgolf85 wrote on 10/3/2002, 7:07 PM
Thanks so much for your help.

I'll tweak around with pan/crop and see what I can do. I'll keep looking for other posts regarding PIP. Thanks for all your help.

Bye!
jimcho wrote on 10/4/2002, 12:45 AM
I think that this post will give you what you are looking for.
soundguy63 wrote on 10/4/2002, 3:55 PM
Dont forget that you can make automatic transitions to your PIP effects by using preset transition types that "move" the overlay into position. I'm talking about transitions such as push, slide, spiral, etc. Anything that imparts movement to the image rather than just "revealing" the image like a wipe does.
You still have to set up your frame for the correct section of the PIP image, but you DON'T have to do complicated starting and ending keyframes to create movement.
In addition, using a moving transition keeps your frame locked onto the selected section of the image without having to match the framing position to the movement rate of keyframes. It's very fast and you can easily build complex motion paths that turn even corners. In effect it gives you 3 keyframes instead of just 2. To experiment, you simply have to drop various presets into position at the head or end of the overlay clip and see what happens. You can also change the angles and directions of many of the presets.