those that came from Pinnacle to VMS

mapman wrote on 8/12/2009, 10:02 AM
I really found I liked the Pinnacle Smart Movie for doing a simple slide show of stills set to music because of the timing to music. I'd create one, then go back and tweak it into a good presentation.

Has anyone found anything like that in VMS? I know you can set crossfades automatically during import and photo time length, but are there other tricks?

Comments

OhMyGosh wrote on 8/13/2009, 7:23 AM
Other than the two 'tricks' you mention, I don't know of much else besides the Pan/Crop to add movement and points of interest. VMS really isn't a good program in my opinion for doing slide show stuff. Not that it won't do it, it's just time consuming and tedious, but with some time and creativity, you can duplicate or best most effects you see in most slide show programs. Cin
jetdv wrote on 8/13/2009, 7:32 AM
Another trick would be to upgrade to Vegas Pro where you can use scripting to more easily set the duration, crossfades, random transitions if desired, automatically add pan/scans to the images, automatically apply "Match Aspect" and "Reduce Interlace Flicker" if desired, etc...
Eugenia wrote on 8/13/2009, 2:37 PM
Yeah, but that's like telling someone "if you buy a new wooden house, you will be able to make all the mods you want, provided you will have to learn how to use wood, and you forget your free weekends".

Most people don't know how to write code in VB or C#. So this is not really a suggestion that I would ever give to someone (which is why I didn't reply to his question).

Instead, my answer would have been this: Pinnacle and Ulead are video editors with pre-cooked/canned actions. Vegas Platinum is the most powerful consumer editor exactly because it's flexible, letting you do things the way you want to each step of the way, rather than doing one-click actions that give you no control at all. If one-click actions is what you need, to save yourself time in exchange of losing control, then you might want to consider these pre-cooked video editors.
OhMyGosh wrote on 8/13/2009, 8:31 PM
'my answer would have been this: Pinnacle and Ulead are video editors with pre-cooked/canned actions. Vegas Platinum is the most powerful consumer editor exactly because it's flexible, letting you do things the way you want to each step of the way, rather than doing one-click actions that give you no control at all. If one-click actions is what you need, to save yourself time in exchange of losing control, then you might want to consider these pre-cooked video editors.'
So why didn't you say so in the first place ;) Cin

MSmart wrote on 8/13/2009, 9:09 PM
upgrading seems to be jet's suggestion here quite often. (don't flame me jet, we still appreciate your posts here)

If I could afford to upgrade, I would but I can't so I live with the "limitations" of VMS.

As a former Pinnacle user, I'm so glad I switched.
jetdv wrote on 8/14/2009, 7:29 AM
Scripting can really automate a lot of tasks and simplify the editing process. Unfortunately, it is also one of the things that is NOT in the Movie Studio versions (I really wish it was). While it is not a free option, I simply mentioned it because it *IS* an option.
ritsmer wrote on 8/15/2009, 12:16 AM
Yes - the timing can be difficult - but an easy way to add the stills so that they fit with the beat of the music is:

-Find the length of the musics beat by counting 1-2-3-4 to the music. Lets us say it is 4.2 seconds.
-Add the whole load of the stills to the timeline with Preferences-Editing-New still image length and Automatically overlap and Cut-to-overlap set to the right values (do some experiments - just Undo if not right)
-By now you will probably find that the beat was not 4.2 but maybe 4.3 second. It shows after 10-20 stills.
-Now group the stills and adjust the right frame of the last still by dragging+CTRL. This will add the .1 second to all stills.

Sounds difficult - but is easy when you have done it a couple of times :-)

PS: With Copy and Paste Event Attributes you can change all the fades/transitions in a moment.

PPS: You may change the mood of the finished result by letting the change from still to still start before, on or after the peak of the beat. For a vivid result start before the beat - for a relaxed result start after it.