Track Motion problem - changes don't do anything

rkhanso wrote on 3/29/2011, 8:23 AM
I am using Movie Studio Platinum 8.0d

I've created a video slideshow and wanted to tweak some of the pictures (cropping, size, etc) and noticed something strange the last time I opened the project up.

When I click on a picture that I'd like to change, then click the track motion button, the image doesn't show up in the pop-up track motion window, nor do changes made to the X,Y,size, etc settings do anything. Here's a screenshot:

<img src="http://rogerhanson.com/images/screenshot1.jpg" alt="screenshot"/>

Or, if the screenshot is not inserted, you can see it here:
http://rogerhanson.com/images/screenshot1.jpg

Notice that the image is not displayed in the track motion popup window. Also notice that the X and Y positions are zeroes, but in the preview window, the 2 separate photos are side by side. Also, whenever I make any changes to the width or height or other options here, no changes are made in the video.

This only recently happened and I don't know what I may have done to cause this.
I need to make some more changes to finish this video and am stuck.

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/29/2011, 9:51 AM
What happens if you select the Pan/Crop tool on the individual event clips/stills themselves rather than using Track Motion?
rkhanso wrote on 3/29/2011, 11:14 AM
I gave that a shot. The picture does show up in the crop/pan window that pops up....and I can make changes. It's not as easy to make the changes this way. I don't think it's possible to change the X,Y positions of the pictures side by side this way. It appears I can only crop or change the position of the framing of the individual picture, not how they display together side/side. Hopefully that makes sense.

I was hoping I could get the track motion function to work.
Chienworks wrote on 3/29/2011, 1:25 PM
I see that you have a lot of keyframes, and you don't have sync to timeline cursor activated. If your timeline cursor is past another keyframe from the one you're adjusting then you won't see any changes reflecting because the timeline isn't showing the effects of that keyframe.

That's probably the most likely thing happening.

As far as Pan/Crop, it's tricky. It's two tools with only one control, and which tool it's being is affected in a non-intuitive way. If the cropping frame is inside the image then it crops. If it's outside the image then it pans. It won't do both. I've always thought Pan/Crop should have two rectangles. One should allow you to crop, the other will move that cropped part to the desired position in the frame. Normally they would move together like the single frame does now, but by clicking a button they could be separated and manipulated individually. That would increase the functionality of the tool beyond all recognition. It might even replace Track Motion in most cases.
rkhanso wrote on 3/29/2011, 1:58 PM
Keyframes? Yes, there are a couple for each group of pictures side by side. But, I always made sure I was in the correct place on the timeline to adjust the picture in the track motion feature.

Here's what I did...
Graduation video: There's a baby picture and a graduate picture. I show the baby picture for a few seconds, fade to the graduate picture for a few seconds, then fade to them both side by side with the graduate's name underneath. For the side/side pictures, I put the baby picture on one timeline, the graduate picture on another timeline, and used the track motion function to adjust the centering and size. So, there's a keyframe at the beginning of each of those 2 pictures for each graduate.

I wasn't aware of any sync cursor until Chienworks mentioned, but that does not appear to be an issue. The way I used it before was to click in the timeline where the 2 pictures are side by side, then click on the track motion buttons on each picture's timeline to adjust centering and size one at a time. I could always immediately see in the preview window the changes that were made. Everything was OK for me for the last few weeks working on this project. It's just today that the track motion feature has changed.

I'm sure that the track motion feature is the one I need to use, but don't understand what I may have done to make mine stop working.