text: Special thanks to Markus Duerr, Travis White, Bertrand de Vregille, Richard Edgley, Jrg Tewes, Jan Piros, Jrg Weselmann, Mikel Zwissler and Sulekha Somasekhar. Documentation: Nick Sullivan Copyright 1996-2008 Pinnacle Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Please respect the rights of artists and creators. Content such as music, photos, video and celebrity images are protected by the laws of many countries. You may not use other peoples content unless you own the rights or have the permission of the owner. This product or portions thereof are protected under one or more of the following United States patents: 5,495,291; 5,946,445 6,469,711; 6,532,043; 6,678,461; 6,901,211; 6,907,191 7,124,366; 7,165,219; 7,286,131; and 7,301,092. Other patents are pending. Mpegable DS 2.2 2004 Dicas Digital Image Coding GmbH. Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories.. Copyright 1993-2005 by Dolby Laboratories. All rights reserved. MPEG Layer-3 audio coding technology licensed from Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson Multimedia. Portions of this product were created using LEADTOOLS 1991-2006, LEAD Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Portions utilize Windows Media Technologies 1999-2005 Microsoft Corporation. Real Producer SDK 1995-2005 Real Networks Inc. This product contains portions of imaging code owned and copyrighted by Pegasus Imaging Corporation, Tampa, FL. All rights reserved. MPEG Layer II Audio by QDesign Corp. This product contains a YouTube API. No part of this manual may be copied or distributed, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, manual, or otherwise, without the express written permission of Pinnacle Systems, Inc. Pinnacle Systems, Inc. 280 North Bernardo Avenue Mountain View, CA 94943
  ii
  Pinnacle Studio
  Table of contents
  Analog capture.......................................................................................... 30 Capture quality options.......................................................................... 31 Audio and video levels analog ............................................................ 31 Importing video from DVD ..................................................................... 33 Importing media from external devices.................................................. 34
  Video effects library ............................................................................... 136 Standard effects ...................................................................................... 138 Auto color correction ........................................................................... 138 Noise reduction .................................................................................... 139 Stabilize ............................................................................................... 139 Speed ................................................................................................... 140 Plus effects............................................................................................... 140 Blur ...................................................................................................... 141 Emboss ................................................................................................ 142 Old film ............................................................................................... 142 Soften................................................................................................... 143 Stained glass ........................................................................................ 143 Luma key ............................................................................................. 143 2D Editor ............................................................................................. 144 Earthquake ........................................................................................... 144 Lens flare ............................................................................................. 144 Magnify ............................................................................................... 145 Motion blur .......................................................................................... 145 Rotate................................................................................................... 145 Water drop ........................................................................................... 146 Water wave .......................................................................................... 146 Black and white ................................................................................... 146 Color correction ................................................................................... 147 Color map ............................................................................................ 147 Invert ................................................................................................... 147 Lighting ............................................................................................... 148 Posterize .............................................................................................. 148 RGB color balance............................................................................... 148 Sepia .................................................................................................... 149 White balance ...................................................................................... 149
  APPENDIX E: GLOSSARY........................................ 359 APPENDIX F: KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ................ 377 INDEX ........................................................................ 381
  Table of contents
  ix
  Equipment requirements
  In addition to your Studio software, an efficient Studio editing system requires certain levels of hardware performance as noted in this section. Remember too that while specifications are important, they do not tell the whole story: the proper functioning of hardware devices can also depend on manufacturer-supplied driver software. Checking the makers web-site for driver updates and support information can often be helpful in solving problems with graphics cards, sound cards and other devices.
  Note: Some features mentioned here require free or paid activation via the Internet, depending on your version of Studio.
  Computer
  Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz or higher
  (2.4 GHz or higher recommended). Intel Pentium HT or AMD Athlon 2.4 GHz or 1.6 GHz Dual core required for Windows Vista. 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended). 1 GB required for HD and/or Vista (2 GB recommended). 1.5 GB required for AVCHD (2 GB required on Vista). Windows XP with SP2, or Vista.
  DirectX 9 or higher compatible graphics card with
  64 MB (128 MB recommended); 128 MB required for use with Vitascene filters; 128 MB required for Vista (256 MB ATI Radeon 9600+ or NVIDIA
  xii Pinnacle Studio
  GeForce 6 recommended); 256 MB required for HD and AVCHD editing (ATI Radeon 9600+ or NVIDIA GeForce 6 recommended).
  DirectX 9 or higher or compatible sound card. 1 GB of disk space to install software and 3+ GB to
  install bonus content. DVD-ROM drive to install software. The following items are optional:
  CD-R(W) burner for creating VideoCDs (VCDs) or
  and AVCHD discs. Blu-ray burner for creating Blu-ray discs (BDs).
  Sound card with surround-sound output for preview
  of surround-sound mixes. A microphone, if you want to record voice-overs The hard drive Your hard drive must be capable of sustained reading and writing at 4 MB/sec. Most drives are capable of this. The first time you capture, Studio will test your drive to make sure it is fast enough. Video in the DV format occupies 3.6 MB of hard drive space per second, so just four and a half minutes of DV video will consume a full gigabyte on the drive.
  Tip: We recommend using a separate hard drive dedicated to video capture. This avoids competition between Studio and other software, including Windows, for use of the drive during capture.
  Before you start xiii
  Video capture hardware Studio can capture video from a variety of digital and analog sources. Please see Capture hardware on page 23. Video output hardware Studio can output video to:
  Any HDV, DV or Digital8 camcorder or VCR. This
  requires an OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 (FireWire) port (as provided by Pinnacle Studio DV). The camcorder must be set up to record from DV Input. Any analog (8mm, Hi8, VHS, SVHS, VHS-C or SVHS-C) camcorder or VCR. This requires Pinnacle Studio USB-700, PCI-500, PCI-700, or another Pinnacle device with analog outputs. Output to analog camcorders or VCRs is also possible using a Pinnacle Studio DV or other OHCI-compliant 1394 port if your DV or Digital8 camcorder or VCR can pass a DV signal through to its analog outputs (see your camcorder manual and Chapter 15: Making your movie, for more information).
  HDV: A high-definition video format that allows video in frame sizes of 1280x720 or 1440x1080 to be recorded in MPEG-2 format on DV media. 1394: The term 1394 refers to OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394, FireWire, DV or i.LINK interfaces, ports and cables. Analog: The term analog refers to 8mm, Hi8, VHS, SVHS, VHS-C or SVHS-C camcorders, VCRs and tapes, and to Composite/RCA and S-Video cables and connectors. Buttons, menus, dialog boxes and windows Names of buttons, menus and related items are written in italics to distinguish them from the surrounding text, whereas window and dialog names are written with initial capital letters. For example: Click the Edit menu button to open your menu in the Title Editor. Choosing menu commands The right arrowhead symbol () denotes the path for hierarchical menu items. For example: Select Toolbox Generate Background Music. Keyboard conventions Key names are spelled with an initial capital and are underlined. A plus sign denotes a key combination. For example: Press Ctrl+A to select all the clips on the Timeline. Mouse clicks When a mouse click is required, the default is always a left-click unless otherwise specified: Right-click and select Go to Title/Menu Editor.
  Before you start xv
  On-line help
  Two kinds of immediate help are always available while you are working in Studio:
  Help file: Click the help button
  in the Studio main menu bar, or select the Help Help topics menu, or press F1 to open Studios help file. Tool tips: To find out what a button or other Studio control does, pause your mouse pointer over it. A tool tip appears explaining its function.
  xvi
  Pinnacle Studio
  CHAPTER 1:
  Using Studio
  Creating movies with Studio is a three-step process: 1. Capture: Import source video material your raw footage to your PC hard drive. Possible sources include analog videotape (8mm, VHS etc.), digital videotape (HDV, DV, Digital8), and live video from a video camera, camcorder or webcam. Capture mode is covered in Chapter 2: Capturing video.
  Availability: HDV capture is supported in Studio Plus only.
  2. Edit: Arrange your video material as desired by reordering scenes and discarding unwanted footage. Add visuals, such as transitions, titles and graphics, and supplementary audio, such as sound effects and background music. For DVD and VCD authoring, create interactive menus that give your audience a customized viewing experience. Edit mode is the arena for most of your work in Studio. See Edit mode later in this chapter (page 4) for a fuller introduction. 3. Make movie: When your project is complete, generate a finished movie in your choice of format and
  Chapter 1: Using Studio 1
  storage medium: tape, VCD, S-VCD, DVD, AVI, MPEG, RealVideo or Windows Media. Make Movie mode is covered in Chapter 15: Making your movie. Setting the mode Select which step of the movie-making process you want to work on by clicking one of the three mode buttons at the top left of the Studio window:
  When you switch modes, the Studio screen changes to display the controls needed for the new mode.
  have made to your project during the current session, one step at a time. Redo reinstates the changes one by one if you undo too far. The Help button launches Studios built-in help system. The Support button opens Studios technical support site in your web browser.
  2 Pinnacle Studio
  (See
  All other controls on the Studio screen are dedicated to tasks within the current mode.
  Setting options
  Most options in Studio are set using two tabbed dialog boxes. The first lets you control options related to Capture mode and Edit mode. It has four tabs:
  The other dialog box is concerned with options relating to Make Movie mode. It has three tabs, one for each of the three movie output types:
  Each panel of both dialog boxes can be opened individually with a corresponding command on the Setup menu (e.g. Setup Capture Source). Once either dialog box is open, however, all of its panels are available through the tabs. For simplicity, we generally refer to the different options panels independently, as in the Capture source options panel. Detailed explanations of the options in both dialog boxes are contained in Appendix A: Setup Options.
  Chapter 1: Using Studio 3
  EDIT. The Player is covered below. See Chapter 3: The Album and Chapter 4: The Movie Window for detailed information on those topics.
  Pinnacle Studio
  The Player
  The Player displays a preview of your edited movie, or of the item currently selected in the Album. It consists of two main areas: a preview window and playback controls. The preview window displays video images. The playback controls allow you to play the video, or go to an exact position within it. These controls come in two formats: standard and DVD. Standard mode The standard playback controls are similar to those on a camcorder or VCR. They are used for viewing ordinary video.
  DVD mode The DVD playback controls emulate the navigation controls on a DVD player or remote control. Use them
  Chapter 1: Using Studio 5
  for previewing your DVD, VCD or S-VCD disc productions, including menu interaction.
  The preview window This is a point of focus in Studio because you use it so often, especially for previewing your movie. It can also be used to display:
  Any type of Album content. Still images or titles from your movie. Changes to video effects in real time while you
  adjust the parameter controls for the effects. Still frames from your video. While viewing a still frame, you can step by as little as a single frame in either direction with the jog controls. Resizing the video preview If your screen dimensions permit, Studio lets you enlarge the Player and therefore the video preview by means of the Player size slider. This control appears
  6 Pinnacle Studio
  above the Player to the left of the Undo button when reorganizing the display is possible.
  Drag the control knob rightwards to increase the Player size, or leftwards to decrease it. The leftmost knob position corresponds to the smallest size, which is also the default.
  Resizing the Player optimizes your use of screen real estate to obtain a larger video preview. The DVD toggle button Switch between the two playback modes with the DVD toggle button at the bottom right-hand corner of the Player. This button is only available when your edited movie contains at least one menu.
  Playback controls
  The Player presents either of two sets of playback controls depending on the playback mode you choose. When you play your movie back as ordinary video, you will be using the standard playback controls. If your
  Chapter 1: Using Studio 7
  movie uses disc menu navigation, you can play it back as an optical disc with interactive on-screen menus by using the DVD playback controls. Both groups of controls are covered below. The full-screen preview button: This button, just above the top right-hand corner of the preview window, switches to a full-screen preview. It is available in both playback modes. On a single-monitor system, the fullscreen display ends when your movie ends, or you double-click the screen or press the Esc key. See the Video preview options in the Video and Audio Preferences panel (page 294) for settings that apply to multiple-monitor systems. The Video preview options on the Video and audio preferences options panel let you direct the full-screen preview to the secondary monitor on your system if there is one. In Studio Plus, you can simultaneously send your preview to an external device, if desired. Standard playback controls These buttons control playback in the Player. Play / Pause: The Play button previews the movie from the current position. Once preview begins, Play becomes Pause. When playback is paused, the Album scene or Movie Window clip at which previewing stopped remains selected. The [Space] key can also be used to start and stop playback. Go to beginning: This button halts playback and skips back to the first frame of the material being previewed. Fast reverse, Fast forward: These buttons let you preview your movie at two, four or ten times the normal speed, in either direction. Use them to
  8 Pinnacle Studio
  scan for a particular piece of video you want to work with. Click the buttons repeatedly to loop through the speed factors. Loop: This button causes the currently-selected clips in the Movie Window to play back repeatedly. This feature is especially convenient whilst selecting and editing add-on effects and transitions. Click any playback button to halt looping. The loop button lights up while looping is active. Looping is maintained even if you switch playback speeds. Jog buttons: This pair of controls normally steps your movie forward and backward by one frame at a time. To step by seconds, minutes or hours instead of frames, select the corresponding field in the counter (see below), then use the jog buttons to modify it. The Player scrubber Use the Player scrubber to quickly traverse your captured video or edited movie in either direction. The scrubber position corresponds to the position of the current frame in the captured video file (not just the current scene) or in the edited movie (not just the current clip). Thus the scrubber bar always represents the entire length of the content being viewed.
  As you move the scrubber, the preview window shows the current frame. If you have activated the audio scrubbing button in the Movie Window, you will also hear snatches of your movies audio as you scrub. See page 64 for details. The ability of the preview to keep up with the scrubber depends on the speed of your computer. If you move the Player scrubber slowly, the preview display responds smoothly. As you increase the rate at which
  Chapter 1: Using Studio 9
  you move the scrubber, the preview will jump frames. The point at which it does so depends on your hardware. The smoothness of the preview also diminishes as the overall length of the material being scrubbed increases. The counter The counter displays the current playback position in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. You can directly modify the counter fields to select an exact frame to view or at which to start playback. Simply click on the number you wish to change and type a new value. To move to a different field, click again or use the Left and Right arrow keys. You can also modify the value in a selected field by using the jog buttons beside the counter or the Up and Down arrow keys. The master volume slider This control sets the overall audio volume during preview playback. It is equivalent to turning up the master volume on your sound card using the system volume tool. It does not affect the volume of the final movie Studio creates in Make Movie mode. The small loudspeaker icon at the right of the control serves as a master mute button during playback. DVD playback controls These controls include the four standard transport buttons detailed above (Play/Pause, Fast reverse, Fast forward, Go to beginning) plus the DVD Player Control, which is described under The DVD Player Control on page 198.
  10 Pinnacle Studio
  Expanding Studio
  One way to add pizzazz to your productions is to use a variety of video and audio filters, animated transitions, titles, VCD and DVD menus, themes and sound effects. Studio includes an extensive selection of hundreds of content items and special effects, but its also designed to grow along with your needs. When you want a particular filter, transition, menu or effect that isnt part of the basic set, an easy-to-use upgrade mechanism lets you find, purchase and install the materials you need without even leaving the program.
  Chapter 1: Using Studio 11
  Premium content items, like the Hollywood FX transition whose icon appears at left, are listed in Studio with a small treasure chest symbol in the top-left corner of the icon. Such items can be upgraded by purchasing a code called an activation key. Each key activates a small group or theme pack of related content. You can easily try out bonus content before purchase to make sure that it meets your needs. Until you actually purchase your activation code for the item, it will produce watermarked output when you preview or when you make your finished movie. New tools, new media, new frontiers You can purchase additional media and filters in any of three ways from within Studio:
  With the Help Purchase activation keys
  menu command (or the premium shortcut button at the top right of the Studio screen). This opens a special browser window in which you can access a catalog page for any type of premium content that interests you. With the Album commands More transitions, More themes, More sound effects and More menus. These commands are found on the dropdown lists in the corresponding sections of the Album. They will enable you to download, try out and purchase additional premium content that was not included with the program installation. By clicking the activate buttons found in some parts of Studio.
  12
  Pinnacle Studio
  These buttons can be found whenever premium content is on display within Studio. The one above, when seen in the Audio effects tool and the Video effects tool, would let you activate a pack of audio or video filters. You may encounter similar buttons in the Album that let you purchase all the media on a particular Album page as a theme pack. How activation works Activating premium content for Studio means to obtain a license allowing you unrestricted use of the content on the single machine where Studio is installed. The licensing mechanism employs two distinct but mutually related codes:
  An activation key for each premium content item you
  purchase;
  Your Passport, which is a number generated the first
  time you install Studio on your computer. You can view your Passport by selecting the Help My Passport menu command. Because the Passport is specific to one computer, you will need to obtain new activation keys if you install Studio on a different machine. These will be provided at no charge, but your user licenses for both Studio and any premium content you have obtained then apply to the new machine only.
  Note: Although your Passport is specific to an individual computer, it is not affected by ordinary hardware modifications such as adding or removing expansion cards, drives or memory.
  Chapter 1: Using Studio 13
  If you dont have an Internet connection... You can purchase and apply premium content activation keys even if you dont have an Internet connection on the computer where Studio is installed. When you click one of the unlock links within Studio, a dialog will be displayed showing information needed for ordering the specific content you want, including:
  An Internet URL where you can activate the content Numeric identifiers for the Studio program and the
  item you want to activate Your Passport and your Serial Number Navigate to the given URL from another computer, enter the information, and complete the purchase as directed. You will then be given an activation key with which you can activate the content on the original computer by using the Help Enter Activation Keys menu command. Hiding and showing premium content If you would prefer not to view the premium content and features available in Studio, open the Project preferences options panel and uncheck either or both of Show premium content and Show premium features. (See page 290.) Importing content from past Studio versions If you are an owner of a past version of Studio, the chances are that you already own content items, whether on a Bonus Content or Premium Pack disc, or on a hard drive attached to your system. The Studio Transfer Content wizard walks you through the process of locating all such materials that are available to you, and importing them for use in the
  14 Pinnacle Studio
  current version of the software. Among the item types handled by the wizard are:
  Titles Disc menus Sound effects Hollywood FX 3D transitions RTFx video effects
  To launch the wizard, look in the Studio group on your Start All Programs menu, and select Tools Transfer Content.
  15
  CHAPTER 2:
  Capturing video
  Capture is the process of importing video from a video source such as a camcorder to a file on your PCs hard drive. Clips from this capture file can then be used in Studio as ingredients of your edited movies. You can open capture files into the Album in Studios Edit mode (see Chapter 3: The Album).
  Capture is the first step in using your video footage. Studio is able to capture from both digital (DV, Digital8, HDV) and analog video sources. See Capture hardware on page 23 for details on configuring Studio to capture from your equipment.
  Availability: Capturing video from HDV camcorders is supported in Studio Plus only.
  Switching to Capture mode The very first step in capturing is to switch into Studios Capture mode by clicking the Capture button at the top of the screen.
  17
  This opens the Capture mode interface, enabling you to set up and carry out video capture. The details of the interface are somewhat different for analog than for digital video sources. Topics in this chapter
  The Capture mode interface (below) introduces
  the controls and displays for both analog and digital captures. The Capture Process (page 22) covers setting up your hardware, gives step-by-step capturing instructions, and describes the automatic scene detection feature. Digital capture (page 28) and Analog capture (page 30) cover topics specific to each type of source. Besides video capture, Studio supports two other methods of bringing in video material. These are accessed with commands on the File menu. Import DVD Titles (see page 33) lets you import files from a DVD disc or image. Import Media From Device (page 34) imports files from auxiliary devices with onboard storage, including many camcorders and digital still cameras.
  18
  Digital capture If your video source is digital, your Capture mode screen will look like this:
  The Album, at the top left of the screen, displays icons representing the video scenes as they are captured. The Player, at top right, lets you view the incoming video while cueing for capture, and monitor the capture itself. Readouts on the Player tell you the exact length of the captured video, and the number of frames dropped during the capture (normally zero). The Camcorder Controller, at bottom left, provides a tape counter display and a set of transport controls for operating the playback device. Finally, the Diskometer, at bottom right, displays the capture space remaining on the drive. It also provides the Start Capture button and buttons for setting capture options. The Diskometer and the Camcorder Controller are described in detail beginning on page 20.
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 19
  Analog capture Both the Album and the Player are used in analog as well as digital captures, so when you capture from an analog source the top half of the screen is the same as shown and described above for digital sources. Not the bottom half of the screen, however. It now features a second version of the Diskometer, with two fly-out panels for adjusting audio and video levels during capture. (The panels are described under Audio and video levels analog on page 31.)
  Digital vs. analog To summarize, the digital and analog setups reflect two major differences in capability:
  The digital setup lets you control the tape transport
  of the camcorder or VCR using the Camcorder Controller. The analog setup lets you modify audio and video levels dynamically during capture.
  The Diskometer
  The Diskometer displays, both numerically and graphically, the amount of space available on your capture drive. It also indicates the approximate duration
  20 Pinnacle Studio
  of video that can be accommodated, which depends on both the available space and the configured capture quality. Capture quality settings are selected using the preset buttons that are displayed on the Diskometer for some capture devices, or by entering custom settings. See Capture source settings (page 284) and Capture format settings (page 287) for information on capture settings.
  The Diskometer when capturing from a digital source (L) and an analog source (R). Click the side tabs on the analog version to open fly-out panels for adjusting video and audio levels during capture. The Start capture button on the Diskometer begins and ends the capture process. The caption changes to Stop capture while the operation is in progress. The default save location for captured video is your systems Shared video directory. Setting the capture directory: To save captured video to a different location, click the file folder button . This displays the Select Folder And Default Name For Captured Video dialog. The folder you assign will be used to store captured video during this and future sessions. The file name you enter will be offered as the default file name on your next capture.
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 21
  The Camcorder Controller and a close-up of the transport controls. The counter window above the control buttons displays the current source tape position, and the camcorders transport mode. From left to right, the transport buttons are: Stop, Rewind / Review, Play, Fast forward / Cue and Pause. The Frame reverse and Frame forward buttons (second row) let you locate an exact frame. These two buttons are available only when the device is in pause mode.
  22
  Performing the actual capture is a straightforward stepby-step procedure (see page 24). As the capture proceeds, Studio automatically detects the natural breaks in the incoming video and divides the material into scenes. Upon detection, each scene is added to the Album, where it is represented by an icon of its first frame. Automatic scene detection is described starting on page 26. Some capture options apply to digital captures only or to analog captures only. These are covered in their own sections, Digital capture (page 28) and Analog capture (page 30).
  Capture hardware
  Studio can capture digital and analog video from the following sources, depending on your hardware:
  Digital: A DV or Digital8 camcorder connected to
  an IEEE-1394 (FireWire) port. Capturing from HDV sources is additionally supported in Studio Plus.
  Analog: A camcorder or VCR with analog outputs
  Pinnacle Systems offers a complete line of DV, analog, and combination capture boards and devices. For more information see your dealer or visit our web-site:
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 23
  To select a capture device: Click the Setup Capture Source menu command. The Capture source options panel appears. 2. Select the devices you want to use from the Video and Audio dropdown lists in the Capture devices area, and click OK.
  1.
  See Capture source settings on page 284 for detailed information about the Capture source options panel. Standard vs. widescreen capture Studio can capture in both the standard (4:3) and the widescreen (16:9) frame-aspect ratios. With digital hardware, the frame format is detected automatically. With analog hardware, you use the Aspect ratio dropdown on the Capture source options panel to select the format that matches the source material. You cant use this setting to change one format to another: it simply lets Studio know how to display the video at the correct aspect ratio.
  Capture step-by-step
  Here is a step-by-step outline of the capture process. The instructions apply to both digital and analog captures, with differences noted as required.
  24 Pinnacle Studio
  Further information relating to some of the steps can be found elsewhere in this chapter. Also see Appendix A: Setup Options (page 283) for detailed descriptions of the Capture source and Capture format options panels. To capture video: Verify that your equipment is properly connected. For a digital capture, your camcorder or VCR must be connected to your PCs 1394 port. For an analog capture, connect the source video to the Composite or S-Video input of your capture hardware. Connect your source audio to the audio input of the capture hardware, if there is one; otherwise, connect the audio to the audio input of your PCs sound card. 2. Click the Capture button at the top of the screen if you are not already in Capture mode. The Capture mode interface is displayed (see page 18). 3. Click the desired capture setting on the Diskometer. If you need to make detailed adjustments, click the Diskometers Settings button, which opens the Capture format options panel (page 287). Keep in mind that DV capture uses much more disk space than does MPEG. If you are planning to output your finished movie to disc (VCD, S-VCD or DVD), you may choose to capture in MPEG rather than DV format. For an analog capture, keep in mind that the higher the quality setting, the larger will be your captured video file. See Digital capture (page 28) and Analog capture (page 30) for further explanation of these options.
  1.
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 25
  4. 5.
  6.
  7.
  8.
  Click the Start capture button on the Diskometer. The Capture Video dialog box is displayed. Type in a name for the video capture file you are about to create, or accept the default name. You can optionally also enter a limiting duration for the capture. If you are capturing from an analog camcorder or VCR, start playback now. This step is unnecessary with a digital-source capture, as Studio will control the playback equipment automatically when needed. Click the Start capture button in the Capture Video dialog box. The button caption changes to Stop capture. Capture begins. The Player displays the incoming digitized video that is being saved to your hard drive (unless you have unchecked Capture preview on the Capture source options panel). During capture, Studio performs automatic scene detection based on the current setting in the Capture source options panel. Click the Stop capture button to end capture at a point you select. Studio automatically stops capturing if your hard drive fills up or the maximum duration you entered is reached.
  Scene detection
  Automatic scene detection is a key feature of Studio. As video capture proceeds, Studio detects natural breaks in the video and divides it up into scenes. A new
  26 Pinnacle Studio
  icon is created in the Video Scenes section of the Album for each scene detected. Depending on which capture device you are using, automatic scene detection is carried out either in real time during capture, or as a separate step immediately after capture is completed. You can configure scene detection using the options under Scene detection during video capture on the Capture source options panel (Setup Capture Source). Not all scene detection options are available with every type of video source. Options that do not apply to your setup are disabled in the dialog. The four possible options are:
  Automatic based on shooting time and date: This
  option is available only when you are capturing from a DV source. Studio monitors the time stamp data on the tape during capture, and starts a new scene whenever a discontinuity is found.. Create new scene every X seconds: Studio creates new scenes at an interval you choose. This can be useful for breaking up footage that contains long continuous shots. No automatic scene detection: Select this option if you want to monitor the entire capture process and decide for yourself where scene breaks should occur. Press the [Space] key each time you want to insert a scene break during capture.
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 27
  DIGITAL CAPTURE
  This section covers aspects of capturing from a DV source deck (camcorder or VCR) and a 1394 port. To read about capturing from analog hardware, please see Analog capture on page 30. You have two choices for the way the video data is encoded and compressed in full-quality captures. For most purposes, DV format is the logical choice, but if you are planning to output your finished movie to disc (VCD, S-VCD or DVD), you may prefer the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format instead. Because of the intensive computation required for MPEG-2 encoding, older computers may not be fast enough to achieve a satisfactory MPEG-2 capture. The type of capture hardware you have and the capture quality you choose also help determine the minimum CPU speed needed. In cases where Studio is able to estimate that your computer is not fast enough to carry out a particular capture, it will advise you of the problem and give you a chance to cancel the operation.
  DV DV is a high-resolution format with correspondingly high storage requirements. Your camcorder compresses and stores video on the tape at 3.6 MB/s, at a quality equivalent to broadcast video. During capture, the video data is transferred
  28 Pinnacle Studio
  directly from the camcorder tape to your PC hard drive with no changes or additional compression. Capturing DV video does consume a lot of drive space, so you may want to pick and choose small segments to capture instead of the entire tape if space is an issue on your system. You can calculate the amount of disk space you will need by multiplying the length of your video in seconds by 3.6, which gives the number of megabytes required. For example: 1 hour of video = 3600 seconds (60 x 60) 3600 seconds x 3.6 MB/s = 12,960 MB (12.7 GB) Hence 1 hour of video uses 12.7 GB of storage. To capture DV video, your hard drive must be capable of sustained reading and writing at 4 MB per second. All SCSI and most UDMA drives are capable of this. The first time you initiate a capture, Studio will test your drive to make sure it is fast enough.
  MPEG DVD and S-VCD discs both use files in MPEG-2 format, an extension of the MPEG-1 format used for VCDs. MPEGs intended for use on the Internet will be at lower resolutions and in MPEG-1 format. The Capture format options panel (Setup Capture Format) includes a variety of options to control the quality of MPEG captures. Refer to Capture format settings on page 287 for detailed information about MPEG quality options.
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 29
  30
  ANALOG CAPTURE
  The topics in this section relate to capture with analog equipment, such as:
  A camcorder or VCR with analog outputs connected
  If you are using a digital camcorder connected to your computer via a 1394 port, please refer instead to DV capture on page 28.
  Video (L) and audio (R) panels for setting levels during analog capture. Particular capture devices may offer fewer options than are shown and discussed here. For instance, with hardware that doesnt support audio captures in stereo, a balance control will not appear on the audio panel. Video Choose the type of video you are going to digitize by clicking the appropriate Source button (Composite or S-Video). The five sliders allow you to control the brightness (video gain), contrast (black level), sharpness, hue and color saturation of the incoming video.
  Note: The Hue slider does not appear when capturing from PAL equipment.
  Audio Use the Audio capture buttons to control whether Studio should capture the audio along with the video. Select the Off button if your source is video only. The sliders on the tray let you control the input level and stereo balance of the incoming audio.
  32 Pinnacle Studio
  To import DVD video: Select the DVD disc or image using the folder explorer controls under Choose a disc or image. Studio lists the titles (video files) available at the location under Check the titles to import. 2. Use the folder browser button to select a destination folder for the imported files.
  1.
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 33
  Enter a name for the DVD. This will be used as part of the imported file names. For example, if you name the DVD or image My DVD, and import Title 12, the resulting file name will be: My DVD_Title_12.mpg 4. Select the title or titles you wish to import by checking the boxes next to the names. You can use the player controls on the right side of the dialog to preview the content of the currently-selected title. 5. Click the Import button. Studio displays a progress bar to let you monitor the progress of the import operation. When it is complete, you can access the contents of the file for editing from the Album as with an ordinary capture file (see next chapter).
  3.
  34
  Pinnacle Studio
  memory drives Camcorder or digital camera on-board drives of any of these types The Show Video and Show Photos checkboxes let you specify which kinds of media files to list. By default, both video and photos are shown. The View buttons select either of two listing types:
  Thumbnails view provides a miniaturized image for
  each file, along with the file name and datestamp. With video files, the image is the first frame. Details view omits the thumbail but lists additional data such as size and and duration along with each file name. Click at the head of any column of data to sort the listing by the text in that column; click again to reverse the sort. The sort order chosen applies to Thumbnails view as well.
  Chapter 2: Capturing video 35
  You can select multiple files to import by using standard Windows mouse and keyboard commands, along with the Select All and Deselect All buttons as required. Import options Check Rename Files and type into the provided edit box if you would like the names of all the imported files to share a common stem. For instance, if you check Rename Files, enter the word Monday, then import some JPEG files, the imported files will be called Monday 1.jpg, Monday 2.jpg, and so on.
  Choose destination folders for your imported videos and photos using the folder browser buttons provided under Put Videos Here and Put Photos Here. Finally, click the Import button to commence the import operation.
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  Pinnacle Studio
  CHAPTER 3:
  The Album
  The Video Scenes section of the Album. Click the tabs down the left side of the Album to access the materials in the other sections. The source materials you need for making a movie are stored in the various sections of the Album, each of which is accessed by its own tab as follows: Video Scenes: This section contains your video footage. The supported video file formats are: avi, mpg, mpeg, mod, mp2, mp4, m2ts, tod, m1v, m2v, mpv and wmv. You can access and preview files directly, or you can load one into the Album, where its scenes are represented by thumbnail icons. To use some of the scenes in your movie, just drag their icons into the Movie Window. See The Video Scenes section, page 41.
  Chapter 3: The Album 37
  Transitions: This Album section contains fades, dissolves, slides, and other transition types, including the elaborate Hollywood FX transitions. To use a transition, position it next to or between video clips and graphics in the Movie Window. See The Transitions section, page 55. Themes: A Theme in Studio is a set of matching templates. You can use the templates to create effective sequences that combine your video and still images with built-in animations and effects. See The Themes section, page 57. Titles: This section contains editable titles, which you can use as overlays or as full-screen graphics. You can create your own titles from scratch, or use or adapt the supplied ones. Studio supports rolls, crawls, and many typographical effects. See The Titles section, page 58. Photos and Frame Grabs: This is a section of photographs, bitmaps and grabbed video frames. You can use these images full-screen or as overlays on the main video. Most standard image file formats are supported: gif, jpg, jpeg, pcx, psd, tga, tif, wmf and png. See The Photos and Frame Grabs section, page 59. Disc Menus: Studio has an extensive collection of chapter menus to use in DVD, VCD and S-VCD authoring. You can use these as they are, modify them, or create your own. See The Disc Menus section, page 59. Sound Effects: Studio comes ready with a wide range of high-quality sound effects. You can also use files that you have recorded yourself or obtained from other sources. The formats supported
  38 Pinnacle Studio
  are: wav, mp3, mpa, m4a, wma, avi and ac3. See The Sound Effects section, page 61. Music: In this Album section you can locate and use music files stored on your hard drive. The formats supported are: wav, mp3, avi, mpa and wma. See The Music section, page 62. Using the Album Each section of the Album contains as many pages as are necessary to hold the icons representing the items in that section. At the top right of each Album page, Studio shows the current page number and the total page count for the section. Click the arrows to move forward or back through the pages. 13. Source folders for Album content The scene icons in the Scenes mode of the Video Scenes section come from a captured video file, while the Transitions section is filled from resource files associated with the Studio program. The icons in each of the other five Album sections, like the Files mode of the Video Scenes section, are different: they represent the files contained in a
  Chapter 3: The Album 39
  particular disk folder. Each of these sections Titles, Images, Disc Menus, Sound Effects and Music. Other folders of installed titles may also be listed. The folder button beside the list lets you look elsewhere on your hard drive. The Disc Menus section works similarly. The source folder for the sections content is listed at the top of the left Album page, next to a small Folder button . To change the source of the current section, either select a folder from the dropdown list, or click the button, browse to another folder on your system, and select any file. The file you select will be highlighted in the repopulated Album section. Some Album sections also provide a Parent folder button to facilitate moving around within a group of folders containing appropriate media. In the Video Scenes and Still Images section of the Album you will find one further button , which links to the Import Media dialog. See page 34 for full information.
  40 Pinnacle Studio
  Browse folders and video files on your computer by selecting Files mode in the Video Scenes section of the Album. Double-click a video file or select the Scenes radio button to switch into Scenes mode.
  Chapter 3: The Album 41
  To browse for a video file in the Video Scenes section of the Album, select the Files radio button at the top of the right-hand Album page.
  View options Both the Files and Scenes modes support multiple view options that let you tailor the display to your needs by showing more or less information about each Album item. Studio provides several methods of accessing these view options:
  Through commands on the View menu. Through the right-button context menu on the Album
  page. Through the pop-up menu button that appears when you click the View button at the top of the right-hand Album page.
  In Files mode, the Video Scenes section supports three views at varying levels of detail: n Icon view, o Details view and p Thumbnail view.
  42 Pinnacle Studio
  The two view options available in Scenes mode are: n Thumbnail view and o Comment view. Interface features The Video Scenes section offers several special interface features:
  Scenes that have been added to the Movie Window
  are distinguished in the Album by a green checkmark. The checkmark remains as long as any clip in the Movie Window originates with that scene. To see how a particular Album scene is used in your current project, use the Album Find Scene in Project menu command. Studio highlights any clips in the Movie Window that originate in the selected scene (or scenes). To go the other way, use the Find Scene in Album command, which is on the rightclick menu for Movie Window clips. Nearly all menu commands that apply to scenes are available both on the main Album menu, and on the pop-up menu that appears when you right-click a selected scene. When this documentation calls for a menu command like Album Combine Scenes, remember that an equivalent command is usually available on the pop-up context menu as well.
  Chapter 3: The Album 43
  Summary of operations Because of its central role, the Video Scenes section of the Album provides an extensive set of operations. These are covered below in the following topics:
  Opening a captured video file Viewing captured video Selecting scenes and files Displaying scene and file information Comment view Combining and subdividing scenes Redetecting scenes
  The capture folders real name is My videos, but Windows Explorer and Studio customarily call it by an alias, Shared videos. This distinguishes it from My videos in the users personal documents folder.
  See The Video Scenes Section (page 41) for details about modes and view options when working with video scenes in the Album. Opening a folder Folder contents are displayed in the Albums Files mode. Both the subfolders and the digital video files within the current folder are shown.
  the folder name on the dropdown list, or double-click any listed folder. Click the parent folder button in either Files or Scenes mode. Click the browse for file button and use the Open dialog to locate a digital video file in either Files or Scenes mode. When Studio opens the video file, switch to Files mode to display the contents of its parent folder.
  Chapter 3: The Album 45
  Opening a file When you open a video file, icons are displayed that represent the scenes in the file:
  Video Scenes section is in Scenes mode. Double-click a file listed in Files mode. Click the browse for file button and use the Open dialog to locate a digital video file of any supported type on your hard drive. Scene detection and thumbnails When you open a video file, the Album fills with the files detected scenes (see Scene detection on page 26). Each scene is denoted by a thumbnail frame an icon of the scenes first frame. It may be that the first frame doesnt make a good icon for the scene, so Studio lets you pick a different one if desired. To change thumbnails in the Album: Select the scene to be changed. 2. Use the Player to find the frame you want used for the thumbnail. 3. Click the Album Set Thumbnail menu command.
  1.
  46 Pinnacle Studio in the Album. Their method of operation is to stretch the original frames to the new frame size. If you set the ratio of a 4:3 movie to 16:9, for example, people and objects will appear widened relative to their height. This is different from the frame-size conversion that occurs when you add a scene to a movie project with the opposite aspect ratio. In that case, the scene is scaled in both dimensions equally to fit within the target frame, and excess area appears as black.
  (L) Original 4:3 frame; (C) Same frame with black sidebars on adding to 16:9 project; (R) Same frame after Aspect ratio 16:9 command is used.
  Note: The movie projects frame format, which cannot be changed after the project is created, can be set for new projects in the Project preferences options panel. See page 290 for more information.
  Chapter 3: The Album 47
  Individual or multiple scenes in the open captured video file can be viewed at any time.
  preview. As you continue to view your captured video, the progress bar moves from one thumbnail to the next.
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  Pinnacle Studio
  Previewing digital video files When a video file is selected in the Albums Files mode, you can use the Player to preview the video without actually opening the file into the Album.
  Selected scenes have a highlighted border (center). Selection techniques follow standard Windows conventions. Use any of the following, separately or in combination:
  Choose the Edit Select All menu command or
  press Ctrl+A to select all the scenes (or files and folders) currently displaying in the Album, including those on other pages. Shift-click to select a range of neighboring items.
  Chapter 3: The Album 49
  selection. Starting with the mouse pointer over a blank area of the Album page, click and drag to marquee an area, selecting all the items that intersect the area. Use the arrow keys to navigate the Album grid. Use the arrows in combination with Shift to select items as you go.
  Comment view
  In the default view for the Scenes mode of the Video Scenes section, known as Thumbnail view, each scene is represented by a thumbnail frame icon. To see more information about each scene, switch to Comment view using any of the methods described on page 42. In comment view, editable captions are displayed for Album scenes. The usage of these captions is up to you: they might be search keywords, or scene names, or text comments describing the scene content. The default caption is generated from the scenes sequence number and duration (e.g. Scene 3, 7:21).
  If you click on a video scene icon, an in-place text field appears. Use it to enter the custom name or comment.
  Selecting scenes by name A related option lets you select video scenes by scanning for keywords in the comments. Use Album Select By Name to open the Select Scenes by Name dialog box.
  Chapter 3: The Album 51
  Enter a keyword into the text field and click OK to highlight all Album scenes whose caption contains the keyword. The default captions are not searched only the ones you have customized.
  If the scenes you selected were not all neighbors, each set of adjacent scenes is combined, but the different sets are not combined with each other.
  Several selected scenes (black) are merged into two longer scenes. Having no neighbors, scene 4 is unaffected, even though it was part of the selection. To subdivide scenes in the Album: Select the scenes to be subdivided. 2. Select Album Subdivide Scenes. The Subdivide Selected Scenes dialog box appears.
  1.
  Choose the length of the subdivided scenes by typing in a value. The smallest allowed subdivision is one second. Any video remaining after subdivision is added to the last scene. 4. Click OK. A progress bar appears, the scene is subdivided, and new scenes are added to the Album. To revert, press Ctrl+Z, or click the undo button.
  3.
  Chapter 3: The Album 53
  You can subdivide these scenes still further, if desired, down to the minimum duration of one second.
  Three selected scenes are subdivided to a duration of five seconds. The vertical stripes indicate fivesecond divisions within each scene. The uneven clip timings at right occur because time left after subdivision is added to the final divided scene; that is also why scene 2 is ultimately unaffected by the subdivision operation.
  Redetecting scenes
  If you combine or subdivide scenes and later decide that youd prefer to restore them to their original state, you may redetect any scene or selection of scenes. The detection results are identical to those obtained after capturing, provided the same scene detection technique is used. If you have subdivided scenes, you must first recombine them. Even if you cannot exactly recall the initial state and so recombine more than is necessary, the detection process will restore the original scene sequence.
  54 Pinnacle Studio
  To redetect scenes: If you need to recombine any scenes, first select the subdivided scenes, then apply the Album Combine Scenes menu command. 2. Select the scenes you wish to redetect. 3. From the Album menu, select either Detect Scenes by Video Content or Detect Scenes by Shooting Time and Date. A progress window appears as Studio detects the scenes and repopulates the Album.
  1.
  Studios transitions collection includes 74 standard transitions, more than 50 Alpha Magic transitions, and
  Chapter 3: The Album 55
  a starting set of unrestricted Hollywood FX 3-D transitions. Obtaining more transitions Besides those installed with Studio, additional packs of Hollywood FX transitions are available for purchase through the Pinnacle web-site. For more information about purchasing premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11. Displaying the transition name As you move the mouse pointer over the transition icons in the Album, the pointer changes to a grabber symbol (indicating that the transition can be dragged from the Album to the Movie Window). If you pause momentarily on the icon, the name of the transition is displayed. The display persists for several seconds or until your mouse pointer moves off the transition. Previewing transition effects When you click on a transition icon, the Player demonstrates the transition using the convention that A represents the original clip and B the new clip. The demonstration cycles for as long as the icon remains selected.
  To see a detailed view, stop the Player and use the jog buttons (Frame reverse and Frame forward) to step through the transition one frame at a time.
  56 Pinnacle Studio
  The templates available for each theme provide slots for your video, photos, captions and settings. When you create a theme clip from the template (by dragging it to the Movie Window), the Theme Editor opens to accept your customizations. It can be reopened at any later time by double-clicking the clip. Templates give you a fast, easy way to craft visually effective sequences that combine your own materials with built-in animations and effects. For information on using themes in your movies, see Chapter 6: Themes and theme editing. Obtaining more themes Besides those installed with Studio, additional themes are available for purchase through the Pinnacle website. For more information about purchasing premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11.
  Chapter 3: The Album 57
  58
  Pinnacle Studio
  59
  As with video scenes and other visual resources, disc menus that are in use in your movie are distinguished in the Album by a green checkmark symbol. For information on using disc menus in your movie, see Chapter 11: Disc menus. The Disc Menus folder: The icons in the Disc Menus section represent files in the folder named at the top of each left-hand page in the section. Menus can be added to the section by storing them in this folder. You can also select a different folder to be the source of the section (see Source folders for Album content on page 39). The motion background symbol: Some of the menus supplied with Studio incorporate a background of moving video rather than a static picture, and you can also create such menus yourself. This motion background can help give a professional look to your finished disc.
  Availability: The motion background feature is available in Studio Plus only. See Adding a motion background on page 224 for information on creating or editing a moving video background.
  Menus with motion backgrounds are indicated by a small symbol in the bottom right-hand corner of the Album icon. Obtaining additional disc menus Besides those installed with Studio, additional disc menus are available for purchase through the Pinnacle web-site. For more information about purchasing premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11.
  60 Pinnacle Studio
  Obtaining more sound effects Besides those installed with Studio, additional sound effects are available for purchase through the Pinnacle web-site. For more information about purchasing premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11.
  Chapter 3: The Album 61
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  CHAPTER 4:
  The Movie Window title bar contains several important controls and displays. The toolbox buttons at the left of the title bar open the Video toolbox and the Audio toolbox, which are discussed on page 74.
  The Add Marker button (top) creates a new clip marker at the Timeline scrubber position. After you add a marker to your project, controls for naming and selecting them become visible (bottom). See Clip markers on page 71 for full information.
  Chapter 4: The Movie Window 63
  To the right of the toolbox buttons is a text area where the project file name is displayed. Status and warning messages are also displayed in this area when required. The next controls relate to clip markers, which are like bookmarks attached to clips in your project. In a new project, the only visible clip marker control is the Add Marker button. When you add your first marker, more controls appear. Further still to the right are the Audio scrubbing, Clip split and Clip delete buttons, then three view selection buttons (see Movie Window views on page 67), and finally a compact version of the Volume and balance tools output level meter (see page 248).
  Audio scrubbing button By default, your projects audio is previewed during playback only. Studios audio scrubbing feature, which is turned on and off by the loudspeaker button, provides audio preview when you are scrubbing through your movie as well. Audio scrubbing makes life much easier when making editing decisions that depend on sound cues. Split clip/scene button the razorblade Click this button to split the currently-selected clip in the Movie Window, or the currently-selected scene in the Album.
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  No information is lost. If the item is an Album scene, it is split at the indicated point into two shorter scenes. If the item is a clip in the Movie Window, it is duplicated and automatically trimmed to the split point. The razorblade button can be used with the tracklocking buttons in the Movie Windows Timeline view to carry out special operations such as insert editing, and edits in which the audio leads or lags behind the video. See Advanced Timeline editing on page 98.
  Splitting a clip: The placement of the edit line in the original clip determines the split point. When you apply the razorblade tool, Studio duplicates the clip and trims away the portion after the split point in the first copy and up to the split point in the second. Delete Clip button the trashcan This button deletes the currently-selected content in any of the Movie Window views. By default, when video clips on the main video track of your project are deleted in any view, the gap in your movie that would be created by the deletion is automatically closed up, and clips on other tracks are removed or shortened as required to keep everything in sync. If you delete clips on other tracks, the default behavior is that gaps between them are not automatically removed, so the timing of other clips is not affected. If you press the Ctrl key while clicking the delete button, or pressing the Delete key, the default behavior
  Chapter 4: The Movie Window 65
  for the current track is reversed. That is, on the main video track, Ctrl+Delete leaves a gap when the clip is removed, while on the other tracks, the gap on the track is closed up. In neither case are other tracks affected. You can also access the delete operations through the right-button context menu for clips on the Timeline.
  The delete options on the right-button menu for Timeline clips are not the same for clips on the main video track (L) as for those on other tracks (R). The menus list the context-dependent keyboard shortcuts. Positioning: edit line, scrubbers The current position is the frame showing in the Player when you are working with a clip in the Movie Window. In the Timeline view, it is indicated by the edit line. The current position can be changed by moving either the Timeline scrubber (to which the edit line is attached) or the Player scrubber.
  When the Clip properties tool is open, a third scrubber, the trim scrubber, allows you to adjust the current position within the clip during trimming.
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  Storyboard view
  Storyboard view shows the order of video scenes and transitions. It uses thumbnail icons for quickly structuring a movie. You can choose to work with large or small thumbnails with the Show large storyboard thumbnails checkbox on the Project preferences options panel.
  Timeline view
  Timeline view shows the positions and durations of clips relative to the Timescale. This view also displays up to eight tracks on which you can place various types of clip:
  Video, plus full-screen disc menus, titles
  and graphics: The video track contains the primary visual material in your production. See Chapter 5: Video clips, Chapter 10: Still images and Chapter 11: Disc menus for more information.
  Chapter 4: The Movie Window 67
  original audio track contains the audio that was captured along with the video from your camera. You can manipulate the audio clips on this track to achieve various effects using insert-editing and splitediting techniques. See Insert editing (page 100) and Split editing (page 102) for more information.
  Overlay video and audio: In Studio Plus,
  video and images placed on the overlay track can be used with the Picture-in-picture and Chroma key tools to give your video productions a professional appearance. These features are locked in other versions of Studio, producing watermarked output when used. You can upgrade to Studio Plus at any time if you need its advanced capabilities. Original audio for overlay video is stored on the linked audio track. See Chapter 8: Two-track editing with Studio Plus for details about the overlay track.
  Title and graphic overlays: Images placed on
  the title track will be rendered as overlays upon the main video, with transparent backgrounds. See Chapter 10: Still images and Chapter 11: Disc menus for more information.
  Sound effects and voice-overs: The audio
  clips on this track are mixed with the original audio track and the background music track to create the final soundtrack for your movie. See Chapter 13: Sound effects and music for full information.
  Background music: The background music for
  your movies can be created to any desired duration with the ScoreFitter tool (page 235) or imported with the CD audio tool (page 234). Your
  68 Pinnacle Studio
  soundtrack can also make use of mp3 and other music files (see page 229).
  Disc menus, chapter marks and return-to-
  menu links: This is an extra track that appears above the video track whenever the movie has at least one disc menu. See Chapter 11: Disc menus for information.
  Because many editing operations can be carried out only in Timeline view, you should choose it whenever extensive, detailed or advanced editing is required. Track locking The video track normally takes precedence over all other tracks for trimming or deleting. This has several consequences:
  When
  you trim a video clip, clips running simultaneously on other tracks are also trimmed. When you delete a video clip, the time segment it used is also removed from any parallel clips. Clips that fall entirely within a deleted video clips span are also deleted. These behaviors can be bypassed when necessary with a feature that allows you to lock any track indepenChapter 4: The Movie Window 69
  dently of the others, thereby excluding it from editing and playback operations. The padlock buttons along the right edge of the Movie Window, can be clicked to toggle locking for the corresponding track. Tracklocking gives Studio insert-edit and split-edit capability (see Chapter 5: Video clips). Track muting and hiding The audio tracks can be individually muted with the mute buttons at the right edge of the Movie Window. These buttons have the same function as the mute buttons in the Volume and balance tool. (See page 248 for more information.) The equivalent operation for video tracks is effected with the hide buttons, which can be used to temporarily omit a tracks video from your project. This is especially handy to see whats really going on while editing overlay video in Studio Plus. Placement feedback Studio gives you several types of feedback about your actions as you place clips in the Timeline view.
  70 Pinnacle Studio
  The status line: The status line area on the left of the Movie Window title bar displays messages as you place clips and perform other actions. Placement symbols: While you are dragging a clip into position on the Timeline, Studio provides feedback to tell you whether the current placement of the clip is valid. The mouse pointer shape and the colors of the vertical placement lines indicate what you can and cannot do. For example, if you attempt to drag a sound onto the video track, the placement guidelines turn from green to red, the mouse pointer changes from copy to unavailable, and the status line tells you, Only scenes, titles, photos, menus and transitions on video track. Green placement lines with the copy pointer mean that an action is valid; red placement lines with the unavailable pointer ; show that it is not.
  Clip markers Studios straightforward system of clip markers can simplify navigation within a project, especially one that is long or complex. Controls relating to clip markers appear in the Movie Window title bar. In a new project, the only visible
  Chapter 4: The Movie Window 71
  control in the group is the add marker button. The remaining controls appear only after the first marker has been added.
  In a new project, the only visible clip marker control is the Add Marker button n. Clicking the button (or pressing your M key) creates a marker at the position of the Timeline scrubber.
  Once a marker has been added, the Add Marker button changes to Delete Marker, and the remaining controls appear o. Notice marker tab 01 at the scrubber position p.
  As more markers are added, the Previous Marker and Next Marker buttons are enabled as needed q. Studio renumbers markers to keep them in sequence r, but leaves unchanged the name you provided, if any s. A clip marker represents a particular frame in a particular clip. Even if that clip is moved around within the project, or trimmed, the anchor location remains unchanged. However, the marker itself can be moved, even to a different clip, by dragging it with the mouse.
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  view, the add marker button is enabled while any clip is selected, provided there is not already a marker at the scrubber position. If a marker is present, the delete marker button appears instead. Previous marker, Next marker: These buttons allow you to step through the markers in your project. Unlike the add marker and delete marker buttons, these buttons are enabled in all Movie Window views, not just Timeline view. Clip marker title: If there is a clip marker at the Timeline scrubber position, its number and name are displayed in this text field (otherwise the field is uneditable). The displayed marker number is assigned automatically, and cannot be changed, but the optional name can be modified at will.
  right of the clip marker title to open this list, which shows the number and name of each marker in your project. Selecting a marker moves the Timeline scrubber to the corresponding position.
  Note: Once you have more than a very few markers in your project, managing them becomes simpler if you give them meaningful names. However, names are optional and, as noted above, Studio helps out by automatically keeping the list in time order.
  Chapter 4: The Movie Window 73
  Text view
  The Movie Window Text view is a list showing the start and end times of clips, as well as their duration. In addition, custom names for clips are visible in this view.
  THE TOOLBOXES
  The toolboxes provide a convenient point-and-click interface for editing operations adding clips to your movie, modifying existing clips and applying special effects. Studio provides separate toolboxes for video and for audio operations. The toolboxes are available only in Edit mode. They are opened and closed with the buttons at the top left of the Movie Window.
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  Pinnacle Studio
  Select the toolbox you want to open by moving your cursor over the icons. The individual buttons highlight, indicating which toolbox will open when you click. The Album is then replaced by the toolbox display, which contains two main areas:
  Tool selector buttons in a panel on the left. Clicking
  one of these opens the corresponding tool. The currently-selected tool on the right. Doubleclicking a clip in the Movie Window also displays the corresponding tool (except for title clips, which are opened directly in the Title Editor when you double-click).
  All the tool-selector buttons, except the top one in each set, open specialized tools. The top button in both toolboxes is the Clip properties tool. It displays a tool appropriate for trimming and otherwise editing the type of clip currently selected in the Movie Window. The Title Editor One powerful tool that is not directly accessed through the toolboxes is the Title Editor, in which you can combine text, images and other graphic resources to make titles and disc menus for your Studio productions. Access the Title Editor through the Title and Disc menu
  Chapter 4: The Movie Window 75
  tools, or with the Go to Title/Menu Editor command from the right-button context menu in the Movie Window. See Chapter 12: The Title Editor for full information.. See Trimming with the Clip properties tool on page 94 for more information. Themes: The Theme editor tool lets you customize clips created from theme templates. The tool includes a mini-Album from which you can import video and photos to be used in the theme clip.
  76 Pinnacle Studio
  Some theme templates also provide text captions or other parameters that allow customization. See Chapter 6: Themes and theme editing for more information. Titles: This tool lets you edit the names and lengths of titles. The Edit Title button provides access to the Title Editor window, where you can change the text and appearance of the title. See Chapter 12: The Title Editor for more information. Disc menus: The Disc menu tool has a number of controls for editing the links between the buttons on a disc menu and entry points into your movie called chapter marks, which are represented on the menu track in the Movie Window. The Edit Menu button opens the Title Editor, where you can modify the visual appearance of a menu. See The Disc menu tool on page 207 for more information. Frame grabber: This tool takes a snapshot of a single frame from your movie or from your current video source. You can use it in your movie, or save it for use in other applications. As with Capture mode itself, this tool presents a different interface if your current capture source is DV than if you are using a non-DV source. See The Frame Grabber on page 189 for more information. SmartMovie: This tool automatically combines your source footage with the digital song file of your choice to create a music video in any of a variety of styles. See The SmartMovie music video tool on page 106 for more information. PIP and chroma key tool: The PIP and Chroma Key controls occupy separate tabs on the same tool window, so this can be thought of as really two tools in one. It provides an alternative, graphical interface to the Studio Plus Picture-in-picture and
  Chapter 4: The Movie Window 77
  Chroma key effects. See The Picture-in-picture tool (page 154) and The Chroma key tool (page 160) for more information. Chapter 7: Video effects for details about this tool. For information about purchasing premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11.
  Clip properties: The Clip properties tool lets you adjust (trim) the start and end times of any type of clip. You can also enter a descriptive name for the clip to replace the default name if desired. (Clip names are displayed when the Movie Window is in
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  Text view.) The tools other controls vary depending on the type of clip. See Trimming with the Clip properties tool on page 240 for more information. Volume and balance: This tool gives you master volume controls for each of the three audio tracks: original audio (audio captured with video), sound effects and voice-overs and background music. It also enables you to mute any or all of the tracks, and to add real-time volume fades. Use the balance and surround control to position each track independently of the other two in a one-dimensional stereo or two-dimensional surround-sound space. When the overlay track is open, the tool provides a fourth set of controls, which affect the overlay audio track. See The Volume and balance tool on page 248 for more information.
  Availability: Surround sound and overlay video are supported in Studio Plus only.
  Record voice-overs: To record a voice-over, simply click the Record button and begin speaking into your microphone. See The Voice-over tool on page 237 for more information. Add CD audio: Use this tool to add tracks, in whole or in part, from an audio CD. See The CD audio tool on page 234 for more information. Background music: This tool lets you add background music using ScoreFitter, Studios powerful music generator. Choose a style, song, and version. Studio will create a musical soundtrack that matches the duration of your movie. See The Background music tool on page 235 for more information.
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  Audio effects: This tool lets you apply plug-in effects to any audio clip. The popular VST standard for audio plug-ins is supported, enabling you to augment your library with add-on and third party effects. A configurable noise reduction filter is supplied as a standard effect. Effects available in Studio Plus also include both graphic and parametric EQ, reverb, chorus and others. Some watermarked premium effects may also be included for you to try out, with others available through the Pinnacle web-site by clicking the More effects category in the audio effects browser. See Chapter 14: Audio effects for details about this tool. For information about purchasing premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11.
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  CHAPTER 5:
  Video clips
  The cornerstone of most Studio video projects is the Album section containing your captured video scenes. To create your edited movie, you drag scenes from the Album into the Movie Window, where they are treated as editable video clips. This chapter explains how to set the in and out (start and end) points for each clip. The Movie Windows editing interface makes this trimming process simple, rapid and precise. The methods covered in this chapter for trimming video (Trimming video clips, page 89) can for the most part also be applied to the other types of clip (such as titles and sound effects) that are covered in later chapters. A later section of the chapter covers more advanced editing techniques, including split edits and insert edits, that can give your movies a more professional look. See Advanced Timeline editing on page 98. And finally well explore SmartMovie, Studios automatic movie generator. SmartMovie intelligently combines a music soundtrack with your video footage to create a beat-synchronized music video, or with a series of still images to create a slideshow. Both modes support a variety of style options.
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  Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+V for paste), or select the desired operation from the right-button menu. When the Movie Window is in Timeline view, you can drop a video scene or clip onto any of the following:
  The main video track. If the clip has associated
  audio, it is added to the original audio track. This video will serve as the background for any overlay video or titles on the lower Timeline tracks. The overlay track. Video on this track is superimposed on the contents of the video track. The picture-in-picture and chroma key effects are used to make a portion of the overlay frame transparent so that some of the main video can be seen. Except in Studio Plus, any clips on the overlay track are displayed with a watermark graphic. If you decide to use the overlay track in your movies, you can upgrade to Studio Plus at any time. The title track. In Studio Plus, if the overlay track is hidden, dropping a video clip on the title track causes the overlay track to open and the clip to be placed upon it. In other versions of Studio, or when the overlay track is already displayed, the title track does not accept video clips. The sound effects track or the background music track. Attempting to drop a video clip on either of these tracks actually drops the clips original audio.
  of the files in turn and drag whichever scenes you want from each file into your movie. To use multiple capture files: Drag scenes from the first capture file into the Movie Window. 2. Using the dropdown list or the folder button in the Video Scenes section of the Album, open the second capture file. Studio displays scenes from only the current file in the Album. See Opening a captured video file on page 44 for detailed information on this step. 3. Drag scenes from the second captured file into the Movie Window. Continue in this manner until you have gone through all the files.
  1.
  Because any given movie can be in only one of the standard (4:3) format and the widescreen (16:9) format, you cannot mix frame formats in the Movie Window. By default, the first video clip you add to a movie determines the movies frame format, and later clips are modified as necessary to conform to it. See The project video format below for further information.
  format box on the Project preferences options panel lets you specify the format for new projects either explicitly (e.g. NTSC Widescreen) or implicitly, from the format of the first clip you add to the project.
  The current project format is displayed as a tooltip over the project title in the Movie Window.
  The project format applies to all video and image clips in the Movie Window, and to the preview of those clips in the Player. Visual content in the Album, such as your captured video scenes, is shown by default in its original format, whether or not that matches the project format. If you want to avoid black bars (letterboxing) in your project video, but still want to use scenes shot in the wrong aspect ratio, there are two other approaches you can consider:
  Use the Aspect ratio commands on the Album menu.
  These let you stretch the Album scenes to conform to the proportions of the project frame, at the cost of
  Chapter 5: Video clips 85
  some distortion. Please see Video aspect ratios on page 47 for more information.
  Use the 2D Editor effect with keyframing to create a
  pan and scan version your video. Studios often use this technique to make their movies fit a standard television screen when they are transferred to videotape or DVD. There is no distortion with this method, but some material is lost from each frame. Careful tracking of the action with the aid of keyframing generally allows you to obtain acceptable results despite this problem.
  Availability note: The 2D Editor effect and the keyframing feature are provided in Studio Plus only.
  Compensating for source video in the wrong aspect ratio by adding black bars (L), stretching to the full frame (C), and pan-and-scan (R). Each method has its own drawbacks. Background rendering The project format is also used as the target format for rendering, which is the process of generating video for footage in which HFX transitions, effects or other computationally demanding features are used. Until such video has been rendered, it may not display smoothly and with full detail during preview.
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  Studio is able to carry out rendering behind the scenes while you work. This feature is controlled from the Background rendering box on the Video and audio preferences options panel.
  Following the dialogs advice regarding the codec to use for background rendering may help reduce the rendering time when your final movie is output. If you are planning to preview your video on an external device (Studio Plus only), you may need to set the project format and the background rendering codec to match that device. For instance, if you are previewing on an analog monitor plugged into your DV camcorder, you should do your background rendering in DV.
  Interface features
  Studio provides a variety of visual cues regarding the video clips in the Movie Window:
  When a clip is added to the Movie Window, a green
  checkmark appears on the Albums icon for the corresponding scene. The checkmark remains as
  Chapter 5: Video clips 87
  video, use the Find Scene in Album command on the right-click menu for Movie Window clips. Studio highlights the Album scene from which the selected clip is drawn. To go the other way, use Album Find Scene in Project to show how a particular Album scene is used in your current project.
  When neighboring scenes from the Album are placed
  in sequence in the Movie Window, the border between the clips is displayed as a dotted line. This is to help you keep track of your clips, and does not affect how they can be manipulated in the Movie Window.
  In Timeline mode, any special effects you have
  applied to a clip are indicated by small icons along the bottom of the clip. These correspond to the effect groups shown on the Video effects tool browser. You can open the tool for parameter editing by doubleclicking any of the icons.
  The star icon below this video clip shows that at least one effect in the Fun category has been applied.
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  Timeline using handles below). Using the Clip properties tool (see Trimming with the Clip properties tool on page 94). A video clip can be trimmed to any desired in and out points within the limits of the original scene.
  Lets first consider the simplest trimming case, in a movie with only one clip. Then well turn to the more usual situation of trimming a single clip that is surrounded by other clips. To trim a single clip on the Timeline:
  1. 2.
  Delete all but one clip from the Timeline. If the Timeline is empty, drag a scene in from the Album. Expand the Timescale to make fine adjustments easier. Position the mouse pointer anywhere on the Timeline except directly over the edit line. The pointer becomes a clock symbol. Click-drag it to the right to expand the Timescale. This illustration shows maximum expansion, where each tick mark represents a single frame:
  3.
  Position your mouse pointer over the right edge of the clip. The pointer becomes a left-pointing arrow.
  4.
  Click-drag to the left while keeping an eye on the Player, which updates continuously to show the last frame in the trimmed clip. As you shorten the clip, the arrow cursor becomes two-directional, indicating that the clip edge can be dragged both
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  90
  left and right. You can reduce the clip to as little as a single frame, or increase it up to the end of the source scene.
  5.
  Multiple clips The secret to trimming a clip when multiple clips are on the Timeline is that you must first select the clip to be trimmed by clicking on it with the mouse. To trim with multiple clips on the Timeline:
  1. 2. 3.
  Set up the Timeline with two short clips. Adjust the Timescale until the clip you want to adjust is a convenient size for editing. Click the second clip. The video track should now look something like this:
  You can trim the right-hand edge of the clip just as in the single-clip example above. As you do so, the last frame of the clip is displayed in the Player. As long as the second clip remains selected, you can continue to trim more video by dragging the edge to the left, or restore some of the trimmed video by dragging the edge to the right.
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  4.
  With the second clip still selected, move your mouse pointer over the left edge of clip until the pointer changes to a right arrow.
  5.
  As you drag, the first frame of the clip is displayed in the Player. As long as the clip remains selected, you can continue to trim more video by dragging the edge to the right, or restore some of the trimmed video by dragging the edge to the left.
  6.
  Release the mouse button. The clip you trimmed snaps back against the right edge of the first clip.
  Gaps and fills: Trimming with the Ctrl key As we have seen in the example above, when you shorten a clip on the video track, the clip and any clips to the right of it move leftwards as necessary so that no gap is left. At the same time, clips on other tracks are shortened to keep the whole Timeline in sync. When you trim a clip on any other track, however, gaps are not automatically closed up, and no other track is affected.
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  This default trimming behavior simplifies editing under most circumstances, but Studio also gives you a way to invert the behavior when needed. If you press the Ctrl key before you begin trimming a clip on the video track, neither that clip nor any other will be repositioned, and gaps are not closed up. There is no effect on other tracks. Meanwhile, using Ctrl when trimming clips on other tracks again inverts the normal behavior. The clips on the track will close in to fill any gap left by the trim. Clips on tracks besides the one being trimmed are again unaffected.
  Note: See page 65 for a description of the parallel behavior of Ctrl when deleting clips.
  Clip-trimming tips
  If you are having difficulty manipulating the edges of clips during trimming, try the following:
  Verify that the clip you wish to trim is selected, and
  adjustments.
  Avoid expanding the Timescale too far, which makes
  clips appear very long. If that happens, undo until the scale is the way you want it; or reduce the scale by dragging it towards the left; or select an appropriate value from the Timescales context menu.
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  Preview areas: Separate preview areas show the in and out frames of the trimmed clip, together with a counter and jog buttons. The layout of each preview area is similar to that of the Player during normal editing.
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  Setting playback position: A scrubber control across the bottom of the tool lets you set the playback position anywhere within the clip. You can also set the playback position using the counter and jog buttons located between the two preview areas. Using the counters: The positions reported by all three counters are relative to the beginning of the clip, which is position 0:00:00.0. As with the counter on the Player, you can adjust the counters in the Clip properties tool by clicking in one of the four fields (hours, minutes, seconds, frames) to select it, then using the jog buttons. When none of the fields is explicitly selected, the jog buttons apply to the frames field. Transport controls: While the Clip properties tool is in use, the transport controls in the center area substitute for those that normally appear on the Player. These special transport controls include a Loop play/Pause button that can be used to cycle repeatedly through the trimmed portion of the clip while the trim points are being adjusted. Setting the trim points: The left bracket button beside the counter in the left preview area, and the right bracket button beside the counter in the right preview
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  area, set their respective trim points to the current position. You can also adjust either trim point by:
  Entering a value directly into its counter Adjusting a counter field with the jog buttons Dragging the corresponding trim caliper
  The Duration text field: This field shows the length of the trimmed clip in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. If you modify the value, either by editing the numbers directly or by clicking the associated jog buttons, the effect is to change the out point of the clip. Of course, you cannot reduce the duration to less than a frame, or increase it beyond the limits of the original video scene.
  Usage tip: If you want to switch from trimming one clip on the video track to trimming another, just click on the new clip while the Clip properties tool remains open, or drag the Timeline scrubber to the new clip.
  until it stretches no further, In the Clip properties tool, drag the trim calipers to the ends of the clip.
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  have performed other actions since you split the clip, the multilevel undo allows you to step back as far as needed. Or, If undoing is not desirable because of intervening actions that you dont want to discard, you can replace both halves of the split clip with the original from the Album. Or,
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  Delete one half of the split clip, and trim out the
  other. To combine clips in the Movie Window: Select the clips you wish to combine, then right-click and choose Combine Clips. The operation is allowed only if the combination of clips will also be a valid clip that is, a continuous excerpt of the source video. On the Timeline, clips that can be combined meet along a dotted edge.
  Note: Additional features of Studio Plus, making use of the overlay track, are covered in Chapter 8: Two-track editing with Studio Plus.
  During most editing operations, Studio automatically keeps the clips on the various Timeline tracks synchronized. For instance, when you insert a scene from the Album onto the video track, the relative positions of all clips to the right of the insertion remain unchanged. Sometimes, though, you might like to override the default synchronization. You might want to insert a new video clip into your project without displacing any clips of other types. Or you might want to edit video separately from its accompanying original audio a valuable technique with several variations, discussed below.
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  Such special edits are possible using the track lock buttons along the right edge of the Movie Window in Timeline view. Each of the standard tracks (all except the menu track) provides a lock button. See Track locking on page 69 for more information on track locking. A locked track is grayed out in the Timeline view, indicating that the clips on the locked track cannot be selected or edited in any of the three views; nor are they affected by editing operations on unlocked tracks. Apart from the menu track, any combination of tracks can be locked.
  Locking the title track, for example, prevents the duration of a title from being changed even when you trim clips on the main video track at the same time index.
  When the title track is unlocked, trimming the main video clip above it automatically trims the title.
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  Insert editing
  In ordinary Timeline editing, a video clip and the original audio that was captured with it are treated as a unit. Their special relationship is symbolized in the Movie Window by the line connecting the video track indicator with the original audio track indicator, showing that the latter is dependent on the former. The track lock buttons make it possible to deal with the two tracks independently for operations like insert editing, which typically means replacing part of a clip on the video track while the original audio track continues uninterrupted.
  Note: Under Studio Plus, insert editing may also be carried out on the overlay video and audio tracks, using analogous methods to those described here.
  For instance, in a sequence that shows someone recounting a story, you might wish to insert a shot of an audience member smiling (or sleeping!) without breaking away from the main audio.
  In the Timeline view of the Movie Window, click the original audio tracks padlock button to lock the track. The lock button is highlighted in red, and the track itself is grayed to show that its contents will not be affected by editing operations.
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  2.
  Clear space on the video track for the video clip you want to insert. Position the Timeline scrubber at the point you want the insertion to start and use the Split clip/scene button. Now move to the point where the insertion should end and again split the clip. Finally, delete the portion of video that will be replaced by the insertion. Because the audio track is still intact, having been locked, the video to the right of the insertion point does not move leftwards to fill the gap you have made in the Timeline, for the video and audio would then no longer be synchronized. If you were to preview your video now, you would see a black screen as the gap portion played back, but the soundtrack would be normal.
  3.
  Now all that remains is to place the clip you want to insert. Drag the clip (whether from the Album or elsewhere on the Timeline) into the hole in the video track that youve just opened up.
  If the inserted clip is too long for the space you created it is automatically trimmed to fit the space. You can adjust the trimming with the Clip properties tool.
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  Insert editing on the original audio track The converse insert-editing operation, in which a sound clip is inserted into the original audio track over unbroken video, is needed less often but is also readily performed in Studio. The procedure is analogous to the one for inserting video: simply reverse the roles of the two tracks at every step.
  Split editing
  In split editing, a clips audio and video are separately trimmed so that the transition to one occurs before the transition to the other.
  Note: Under Studio Plus, split editing may also be carried out on the overlay video and audio tracks, using analogous methods to those described here.
  In an L-cut, the video precedes its sync audio; in a J-cut, the audio comes first.
  Tip: For faster, more precise trimming, you may find it helpful to have the Clip properties tool open when following the procedures in this section. To open the tool, just double-click one of the video clips before you begin.
  The L-cut In an L-cut, the cut to new video comes before the cut in the audio. Imagine a videotaped lecture in which the
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  video periodically cuts away from the speaker to show travel or nature scenes illustrating the lecture topic.
  Audio and video cut simultaneously. Instead of cutting the audio and the video simultaneously, you might decide to let the speakers voice overlap into the following scene. This makes it clear to the audience that the new scene they are now watching illustrates whatever explanation the speaker has been providing. Notice that the video and audio clip boundaries in the completed cut form an L-shape.
  Audio cuts after video. The resulting L shape is outlined in this illustration. There are many effective uses of this technique. It can be considered whenever the second clips video serves to illustrate the first clips audio. To perform an L-cut:
  1.
  Adjust the Timeline so you can easily count off the number of frames or seconds you want to overlap.
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  2.
  Select the left-hand clip and trim its right edge to the point where you want the audio to end.
  3.
  Lock the audio track. Now drag the right-hand edge of the same clips video leftward to the point where the following clips video should start.
  4.
  With the audio track locked, drag the second clips video to the left until it meets the original clip. If there isnt enough excess video at the start of the second clip to make this trim possible, you will first need to trim off a sufficient amount from both its video and audio then try again.
  5.
  Unlock the audio track. The video now cuts away to the second clip ahead of the audio. Video has been trimmed from the end of the first clip, and audio has been trimmed from the start of the second clip.
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  The J-cut In the J-cut, the new audio cuts in before the video switches. This can be effective when the second clips audio prepares the viewer for the material in the scene. Returning to the videotaped lecture example, lets say we are now going to switch back to the speaker at the end of the interpolated footage. If we let the next part of the lecture appear on the soundtrack a few moments before the video shows us the podium again, the change will be much less abrupt. This time the clip boundaries outline the letter J:
  Audio cuts before video. The resulting J shape is outlined in this illustration. To perform a J-cut: Adjust the Timeline so you can easily count off the number of frames or seconds you want to overlap. 2. As before, trim back the right edge of the left-hand clip, both video and audio, by the overlap interval. 3. Lock the audio track. Now drag the right-hand edge of the same clips video back to the right by the overlap interval. 4. Unlock the audio track. The audio now cuts away to the second clip ahead of the video.
  1.
  Chapter 5: Video clips 105
  Note: The procedures described above for the L-cut and the J-cut are not the only possibilities. With the Jcut, for example, another method would be to trim the right-hand clip to the desired start point of the video then, with the video track locked, drag the audio portion left to overlap the audio of the left-hand clip.
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  With the visuals in place, add a ScoreFitter,CD audio or digital music (wav, mp3) clip to the background music track. The duration of this clip and not the amount of visual material you supply determines the length of your music video. If you dont supply enough visual material, SmartMovie will use your video clips or images multiple times in order to achieve the required duration. Conversely, clips or images will be omitted if you provide more than can be used within the duration of the song. Exception: When making a slideshow with the Use all images option checked (see below), it is the number of images you provide that determines the length of the finished project, not the duration of the music clip. SmartMovie styles Select a style from the dropdown list at the top of the SmartMovie tool window. A variety of styles is offered for both music video and slideshow projects.
  A brief description of each style is displayed in the status balloon as you scroll through the style list.
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  For video styles, you will get the best results if the starting duration of your video footage is about double the length of the soundtrack. Each of the slideshow styles has its own ideal ratio between the number of pictures and the length of the song. The status balloon provides guidance for getting the proportions right. SmartMovie options The Use clips in random order option lets you mix up the visual material without regard to its initial sequence. This option is the default with some styles. It tends to give a finished product with a relatively uniform texture, but sacrifices narrative continuity.
  Check the Use all images option when you want to ensure that all the still images you have added to your project are actually used in the slideshow, regardless of the length of music you have provided. Studio will repeat or trim the music clip as required to match the number of images you have chosen.
  Note: The Use all images option affects SmartMovie slideshows only, not music videos.
  The Relative volume slider adjusts the prominence of the background music track relative to the other audio tracks. Move the slider all the way to the right if you want to hear only the music track in the finished video.
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  The last configuration step is to enter the text to use for the opening and closing titles. Each text line consists of two edit fields. Use Tab and Shift+Tab to jump between the left and right fields.
  The big moment Finally, click the Create SmartMovie button and sit back while Studio generates your movie.
  Using SmartMovie from Capture mode Studio lets you jump directly from capturing your video right into the SmartMovie tool. To use this option, simply initiate your capture as usual, then check the applicable box on the Start Capture dialog.
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  CHAPTER 6:
  Note: Titles created from a Montage theme are not related to those in the Titles section of the Album, or created in Studios Title Editor. Themes are easier to use, and can provide animation and other effects not available in the Title Editor. On the other hand, the Title Editor gives you a rich set of text drawing effects, and much finer control over the appearance of the titles.
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  The themes provided are each designed to cover a typical need. Within each theme, the available templates are designed to complement one another when used in the same project. For instance, most themes provide an Opening template and a matching Ending template. Many themes also provide one or more Segue templates for transitioning from one video or image clip to another.
  The appearance of a theme clips Timeline icon reflects its structure. Here, from left to right, are an Opening, a Segue, and an Ending icon. The zig-zag edges correspond to the placement of full-frame video in the clip. The video at the end of the Opening, and at the start of the Ending, can be edited to match that of a Segue; thus the zig-zag also indicates how the templates can be used together. Each template defines a video or graphic sequence with blanks to be filled in by you. Most templates provide one or more slots for video or image clips. Many let you supply text captions for titles, and some have additional parameters for other special properties. Theme templates are stored in their own section of the Album. The first step in using a chosen template is to bring it into your project as a theme clip. As usual, this is done by dragging the icon from the Album to the Movie Window. In the Movie Window, the theme clip is treated as an ordinary, self-contained video clip. To customize the clip to fill in the templates blanks you will use the Theme Editor tool.
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  USING THEMES
  Theme templates are stored in the Themes section of the Album. The Album displays all the templates in a given theme, as selected from a dropdown list. To use a template, simply drag its icon from the Album into the Movie Window.
  Pick a theme from the dropdown list (L) to show the templates available (R). To use a template, drag its icon down into the Movie Window. When the Movie Window is in Timeline View, theme clips can be trimmed and edited much like ordinary video. You can elaborate them with transitions and effects, adjust their audio, and so on. Like disc menus, they are configured with a special editing tool, which opens automatically when the clip is added to the project, or when it is later double-clicked.
  The theme clip (selected in illustration) is treated as a unit in the Movie Window. Its special properties can be modified with the Theme Editor tool (doubleclick the clip to open).
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  The Theme Editor tool allows the user to customize a theme clip by adjusting its built-in settings or specifying video and audio subclips for it to use. The editor can also be accessed with the Toolbox Edit Theme menu command.
  The Theme Editor tool lets you specify theme elements such as video or image clips, property settings, and text captions. Clips are added by dragging them either from the editors own miniAlbum (left side of tool) or from the Movie Window.
  it can be played back with the transport controls. Double-click loads the template to the Player and begins playback immediately. Dragging the template to the Movie Window, or right-clicking its icon and clicking the Add To Movie context menu command, inserts it into your project.
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  As with menus, a special editor tool opens automatically when a theme clip is added to the movie.
  to the Movie Window. Select Add To Project in a theme template icons right-button context menu. Paste the contents of the Windows Clipboard after you have cut or copied an existing theme clip. Each theme is configured to appear on the track that is appropriate to the themes content type:
  Themes whose content is a graphic overlay with
  transparent background, such as a title or PIP frame, are usually added to the Title track. Themes with full-frame video, such as opening sequences, can be added to the Main video track (Studio) or the Overlay video track (Studio Plus)..
  Chapter 6: Montage themes and theme editing 115 copy mouse pointer, is dragged near the beginning of the lefthand clip. Green placement lines indicate where the new clip will be inserted. In the illustration, the placement lines show the boundaries of the clip that would be created by releasing the mouse button at the current position, based on the templates.
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  A new theme clip is dropped onto the middle of the left-hand clip, replacing it. The positions of other clips are not affected.
  can be expanded as far as the length of the subclip will allow indefinitely, if the subclip happens to be a still image. Transitions and effects Transitions can be used at the beginning and end of theme clips in the same way as with other clip types. Video and audio effects can also be added to theme clips as usual, and apply to all the content the clip embodies. However, a few effects, such as Speed, are not available for use with theme clips.
  Anatomy of a theme
  For examples of how themes work, lets examine the included 50s Modern theme, which contains five templates. All the templates in this particular theme use the same backdrop design an abstract, scrolling pattern. It is continuously visible except during full-frame video segments. The coloring of the pattern is set using a parameter control available in the Theme Editor for each of these templates. Now lets look at each template in turn to see how it is constructed from the elements clips and captions that you supply in the Theme Editor. Opening: An Opening template usually starts with some sort of animation, including titles, and ends with full frame video. Our 50s Modern example follows that pattern.
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  Schematic representation of the Opening template in the 50s Modern theme, at its default length of about 14 seconds. Just as the second caption is leaving the frame, an animated panel containing the running video subclip is launched. The video zooms to full frame by 11:18 in the theme clip, and remains so through to the end (the white portion of the Video bar in the diagram). By default, the length of this theme clip is 13:29. The embedded video clip starts at a fixed offset of 7:03 and runs to the end; its length is therefore 6:26. If your video subclip is long enough, you can lengthen the overall clip, extending the full-frame video portion. This capability is indicated in the diagram above by the arrow at the end of the Videoframe video.
  Chapter 6: Montage themes and theme editing 119 has replaced the first. The panel zooms in to fill the frame towards the end of the clip.
  Segue B creates a simpler transition. Once again, the full-screen segment of the second subclip can be extended by expanding the theme clip on the Timeline. Segue C: This is similar to Segue B, except that the flying video panel takes an extra spin in the middle to admit one more subclip into the sequence. The final subclip is again expandable.
  Ending: The purpose of an Ending template mirrors that of an Opening template, and in this example the internal structure is also mirrored almost exactly. Fullframe video recedes to a flying panel that gives way to animated captions just the opposite of the Opening sequence described above. The one difference is that in the Ending clip the full-frame portion is not extendable.
  With these two methods, if a theme clip is currently selected in the Movie Window, it is automatically loaded into the editor upon opening. While the editor is open, clicking on a different theme clip in the Movie Window changes the preview to that clip without closing the editor.
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  The left side of the Theme Editor tool contains a mini-Album with tabs for Videos and Photos only. The right side contains the theme clips drop zones, and controls for setting its parameters. Drag video or image clips onto a drop zone from either the miniAlbum or the Movie Window. If necessary to create a longer subclip, you can also select multiple clips of contiguous video and drag them to the zone as a unit.
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  Working with drop zones Clearing drop zones: To delete a subclip from its drop zone, right-click the zone and select Delete from the pop-up menu. Copying subclips to the Movie Window: To copy a subclip from a drop zone in the Theme Editor to the Timeline (or other Movie Window view), right-click the zone and select Add to Timeline from the menu. This is normally used to add or modify an effect on the subclip before dragging it back into the theme clip. Muting subclip audio: Some drop zones are marked with an audio symbol , indicating that the audio portion of any video in that zone will be included in the theme clips audio. If you dont want the audio to be used, click the audio symbol to mute the subclip.
  To set the start frame of a subclip, hold down the left button with the pointer over the drop zone, then drag horizontally. To allow fine trimming, the amount of change produced by a given mouse movement is at first small then becomes rapidly greater with distance. A relatively large mouse gesture may therefore be required to get a desired adjustment. Aligning subclips: Video in a drop zone can be positioned relative to the zones time window with the mouse. When the mouse pointer enters a drop zone with excess video available, it changes into a doubleheaded arrow. Click and hold the left mouse button
  Chapter 6: Montage themes and theme editing 123
  now to control the start of clip slider below the zone. Move the mouse back and forth to set the start frame. As you scroll the start of clip slider, the icon in the drop zone is updated to show the new starting frame. At the same time, the Player shows the frame at the current scrubber position. If the drop zone you are working with is active at that time index, the preview will reflect any changes to the start frame. When you are fine tuning the start frame of a subclip, its a good idea to set the scrubber position to the location where the Player preview will be of the greatest assistance. Using the start of clip slider changes neither the position of the subclip within the theme clip, nor its duration. Rather you are only choosing which excerpt of the subclip is used. The Theme Editor does not allow you to set the start of the subclip so late that the video would run out while the drop zone is still active. For example, if you drop a six-second segment onto a drop zone requiring five seconds of video, you will be able to set the start point up to one second into the subclip. If the subclip is actually shorter than the drop zones duration, or of equal length, no adjustment of its start frame is possible. When the theme clip displays, the last frame of the subclip is frozen if necessary to fill the time allocated to its drop zone. Adding effects within drop zones It is not possible to apply video or audio effects to a subclip within the Theme Editor itself. Instead, rightclick the drop zone and select Add to Timeline from the pop-up menu. Locate the clip on the Timeline (at the scrubber position). From now on, its just another clip: trim it to taste, and add or edit effects as usual. Finally, drag it back to the drop zone, overwriting the previous contents. The Timline copy can now be deleted.
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  CHAPTER 7:
  Video effects
  Most video editing consists of selecting, ordering and trimming video clips, of connecting clips with transition effects and combining them with other materials such as music and still images. Sometimes, though, you also need to modify the video images themselves, manipulating them in some way to achieve some desired effect. Studios Video effects tool provides an extensive set of plug-in video effects that can be applied either to video or still images. See page 136 for descriptions of Studios supplied effects. The Video effects tool is the eighth tool in the Video toolbox. It has two main areas: at left, an effects list showing which effects are already attached to the current clip(s), and at right, a parameters panel where you can tune the effect as required.
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  Video effects vs. audio effects In most respects, the Video effects tool and the Audio effects tool work identically, except for the type of material they apply to.
  The checkboxes next to each effect name allow you to enable and disable effects individually without having to remove them from the list (which would cause any customized parameter settings to be lost). In the above illustration, the Speed effect has been disabled while the other two effects on the list remain in force. Adding and deleting effects To add an effect to the list for the current clip, click the Add new effect button, which opens an effects browser on the right-hand side of the tool window. Click an item in the browsers Category list to display the names of the individual effects in that category. Select the effect you want, then click the OK button to add the effect.
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  To remove the currently-selected effect from the list, click the delete effect (trashcan) button.
  The Video Effects browser is open here to the Studio Plus RTFX page, which contains an additional set of effects for Studio Plus. The other packs listed contain other premium effects requiring separate purchase. The last category, More Effects, opens a page on the Pinnacle web-site where additional premium effects are available. Premium video and audio effects, like other locked content in Studio, can be used freely, but cause a watermark graphic to be added to the video when played back. If you want to use the effect in an actual production, you can purchase an activation key without leaving Studio. For information about purchasing locked video and audio effects, and other premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11. Changing the order of effects The cumulative result of using more than one effect on the same clip can vary depending on the order in which the effects are applied. With the up and down arrow buttons to the right of the effects
  Chapter 7: Video effects 127
  list, you can control the position of each effect in the processing chain. The buttons apply to the currentlyselected effect.
  The controls for the basic library of effects supplied with Studio are described below (beginning on page 138). Add-on effects are described in their own on-line documentation, which you can access from the parameters panel by pressing function key F1 or clicking the help button at the top left of the parameters panel.
  Note: Some plug-in effects may provide their own parameter windows with specialized controls. In those cases, the parameters panel on the effects tool displays a single Edit button, which accesses the external editor.
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  Using parameter presets In order to simplify the use of parameters, many effects offer presets that let you configure an effect for a particular use simply by selecting a name from a list. In Studio Plus, there are two kinds of preset: static, which store a single set of effect parameters, and keyframed, which store multiple sets of parameters in the form of keyframes (see below).
  In versions of Studio that do not support keyframing only static presets are available. Often, the quickest way to configure an effect is to start with the preset that comes closest to what you want, then fine-tune the parameters by hand. Resetting effects: A special type of preset is the factory default setting of each effect. The default can be restored at any time by clicking the Reset button at the bottom of the parameters panel. If Reset is clicked when keyframing is in use, the default parameter values are assigned only to the keyframe at the current movie position. That keyframe is created if it did not already exist.
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  Keyframing
  The parameters for Studio video effects are ordinarily applied at the first frame of the video clip and continue unchanged to its end. This is the standard behavior for each effect you add to the clip.
  Ordinarily, an effects Plus only.
  Each keyframe stores a full set of parameter values for the effect, and specifies at which frame within the clip those values should be fully applied.
  With keyframing, new sets of parameter values can be applied as often as desired throughout the clip.
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  Between keyframes, numeric parameter values are automatically adjusted from frame to frame to connect the keyframe values smoothly.
  A graphical view of the keyframes in the example above. The values of Zoom (Z), Horizontal Position (H) and Vertical Position (V) are set by keyframe 1 at the start of the clip, by keyframe 2 about a third of the way in, and by keyframe 3 at the end. The values change smoothly over intermediate frames. Most effects support keyframing. A few do not, either because they have no parameters or because, as with the Speed effect, keyframing doesnt readily apply. Keyframing scenarios Theoretically, a clip may have as many keyframes per effect as it has frames, but you usually need only a few.
  Two keyframes are enough to smoothly vary parameter values from one setting to another throughout the clip.
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  Keyframing gives you sensitive control over the way the effect is applied to the clip. It becomes a simple matter to ease an effect in and out, for example.
  With a set of four keyframes you can ease in one or more parameter values at the start of a clip and ease them out again at the end.
  A pan-and-zoom slideshow like that described in under Editing image clip properties (see page 182) can be created using the Pan-and-Zoom effect on a single still-image clip. Two keyframes with identical parameters are created to define the start and end of each view however many are required within the show.
  132 Pinnacle Studio effects parameter window remains open.
  Keyframes for the effect currently open in the effect parameters window are shown as numbered flags over a vertical line. The current keyframe, if any, has a highlighted flag, like that of keyframe 3 here.
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  At the same time, additional controls are displayed at the bottom of the parameters window: the Add and Delete buttons, the Current keyframe indicator with forward and back arrows, and the Keyframe time counter with jog arrows.
  New controls appear at the bottom of the parameters window when keyframes are.
  Keyframes are numbered in sequence from the start of the clip. When a new keyframe is inserted, or an old one is deleted, those that come after are renumbered to correct the sequence.
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  Pinnacle Studio counters jog arrows. The positions of the first and last keyframes cannot be adjusted. Others can move freely between the current positions of their neighboring keyframes.
  be instantaneously available in most cases. Each time effects are added or removed, or settings are changed, Studio commences rendering the clip recalculating its final appearance in the background without interrupting your workflow. A colored bar appears in the Timescale above the clip while background rendering is in progress. Background rendering is optional. You can disable it, if required, in the Project preferences options panel (Setup Project Preferences).
  source video, such as noise and camera shake. Time effects, like Speed in Studio Plus, change the tempo of playback without affecting the appearance of the video frames themselves. Style effects like Emboss and Old film let you apply distinctive visual styles for added impact. Overlay effects support the overlay features of Studio Plus, such as Picture-in-picture and Chroma key. Fun effects like Water drop and Lens flare provide extra scope for creative fun in your movies. Color effects let you modify the coloration of a clip, whether subtly or dramatically.
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  Plug-in effects are organized into packs of one or more effects each. In this manual, we cover the five effects in the Standard RTFX pack (see page 138), which is included with all versions of Studio. Further on, we briefly describe the more than 20 additional effects in the Plus RTFX included with Studio Plus (page 140). Full documentation of the parameters for the Plus effects is included in their context-sensitive on-line help, which can be viewed by clicking the help button at the top left of the effect parameters panel, or by pressing the F1 key when the panel is open. Building your effects library Studios plug-in architecture means that you can continue to add new effects to your video effects library as they become available. Expansion packs of effects from Pinnacle and other vendors will integrate seamlessly with the program. Some expansion effects are shipped with Studio as locked, premium content. These include Pinnacles RTFX Volume 1 and 2 packs. Such effects can be previewed in Studio as usual, but are watermarked with a special graphic during playback. Purchasing an activation key will remove the watermark. This can be done without leaving Studio. For more information about obtaining premium content for Studio, see Expanding Studio on page 11.
  Warning: Studios plug-in video effects are computer programs. They are theoretically capable of actions with the potential to damage or disrupt your system, such as modifying or deleting files and editing the system registry. Pinnacle advises against installing third-party plug-ins except those from trusted vendors.
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  STANDARD EFFECTS
  This section describes four of the five effects included in the Standard RTFX group at the top the Studio effects browser. The fifth, Pan and zoom, is covered under The pan-and-zoom effect interface on page 188. Auto color correction, Noise reduction and Stabilize are classified as cleaning effects, which.
  Note: The Auto color correction any jerkiness or jitter caused by camera movement. The edge areas of the image are discarded, and the central portion is magnified by about 20% to fill the frame. By adjusting the boundaries of the selected region on a frame-byframe basis, Studio is able to compensate for the unwanted camera motion.
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  Studios Stabilize effect works by expanding a selected area (inner lines) to full-frame size. The area is adjusted from frame to frame to compensate for slight aiming differences caused by camera shake.
  Speed
  This sophisticated effect allows you to set the speed of any video clip over a continuous range from 10 to 500 percent of normal, in either forward or reverse motion. The length of the clip changes as you vary its speed. If the clip contains audio, that too is sped up or slowed down. The option of maintaining the original pitch lets you avoid the sudden introduction of cartoon voices into your soundtrack.
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  PLUS EFFECTS
  The Studio Plus RTFX pack of video effects is included with Studio Plus. Users of other Studio versions can obtain the effects by upgrading to Studio Plus.
  Pinnacle Studio
  This section gives a brief description of each effect in the group, except:
  Two of the Overlay effects are covered elsewhere
  and edit animated 3D transitions with Pinnacles Hollywood FX software, opens externally to Studio, and provides its own on-line help. HFX Filter uses a special Pinnacle category icon. The effects appear here in the same order as they do in the effects browser, where they are sorted by category (see page 136). Full descriptions, including all parameters, are available in the context-sensitive help when the effect parameters window is open in Studio Plus.
  Blur
  Adding blur to your video produces a result similar to shooting out of focus. Studios Blur effect allows you to add separate intensities of horizontal and vertical blurring over the whole frame or any rectangular region within it. You can easily blur out only a selected portion of the image, such as a persons face, an effect familiar from TV news coverage.
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  Emboss
  This specialized effect simulates the look of an embossed or bas-relief sculpture. The strength of the effect is controlled by the Amount slider.
  Emboss can often be enhanced by adjusting contrast and brightness with the Color Correction effect (right). Old film effect lets you simulate these defects to lend your pristine video the appearance of movies that have suffered the ravages of time.
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  Soften
  The Soften effect applies a gentle blurring to your video. This can be helpful for anything from adding a romantic haze to minimizing wrinkles. A slider controls the strength of the effect.
  Stained glass
  This effect simulates the appearance of viewing the video through a pane of irregular polygons arranged into a mosaic. Sliders let you control the average dimensions of the polygonal tiles in the image and the width of the dark edging between neighboring tiles from zero (no edging) to the maximum value.
  Luma key
  This overlay effect works very similarly to Chroma Key (page 164), but in this case the transparent areas of the foreground image are defined by luminance rather than color information.
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  2D Editor
  Use this effect to enlarge the image and set which portion of it will be displayed, or to shrink the image and optionally add a border and shadow.
  Earthquake
  The Studio Plus type of the main light. The first option of those shown below lets you remove the light, though its secondary effects rays and reflections are still generated..
  Rotate
  This effect allows rotation of the entire video frame, and also provides controls for independent horizontal and vertical scaling.
  Full-frame 180 rotation (L); rotation with differential scaling, to produce a simple perspective effect (R).
  Chapter 7: Video effects 145.
  Color correction
  The four sliders in the parameters panel for this effect control the coloration of the current clip in terms of: Brightness: The intensity of light Contrast: The range of light and dark values Hue: The location of light on the spectrum. Color map can be used for anything from fine control of monochrome images to psychedelic color transformations.
  Invert
  Despite its name, the Invert effect doesnt turn the display upside-down. Rather than the image itself, it is the color values in the image that are inverted: each pixel is redrawn in its complementary light intensity and/or color, producing a readily recognizable but recolored image.
  Chapter 7: Video effects 147 subjects features are in shadow.
  Posterize
  This Studio Plus.
  allows you to apply a color bias to achieve a particular effect. For example, a night scene can often be heightened by adding blue and slightly reducing overall brightness. You can even make video shot in daylight look like a night scene.
  Sepia
  This Studio Plus effect imparts the appearance of antique photography to the clip by rendering it in sepia tones rather than full color. The strength of the effect is controlled with the Amount slider.
  White balance
  Most video cameras have a white balance option for automatically adjusting their color response to ambient lighting conditions. If this option is switched off or not fully effective, the coloration of the video image will suffer. Studios.
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  Drop video on the title track to open the overlay track. Along with the overlay track, Studio adds an overlay audio track to accommodate the video clips original audio information. Once the overlay video and audio tracks have been opened, Studio no longer accepts video clips on the title track. Drag clips from the Album directly onto either the video or overlay track as required.
  Video clips on the video and overlay tracks. Displaying and hiding the overlay track As we have just seen, the overlay video and audio tracks are displayed when you add your first overlay clip. Similarly, when you remove the last clip from these tracks, Studio again hides them from view. This default behavior help keep the Movie Window uncluttered, but if you are making frequent use of overlay video, you might prefer to have the track visible at all times. This can be achieved by activating the Always show overlay track command on the pop-up
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  context menu that appears when you click on the Movie Window with your right mouse button.
  A/B editing
  The second video track in Studio Plus often simplifies the editing tasks insert edits, L-cuts and J-cuts discussed under Advanced Timeline editing on page 98. An insert edit, for instance, becomes a trivial operation: simply drag the clip to be inserted onto the overlay track, and trim it as desired. (See The Picture-inpicture tool below if you want the second video to appear at reduced size so that only part of the main video is obscured.)
  An insert edit on the overlay track. The main video is obscured while the B clip is playing.
  Chapter 8: Two-track editing with Studio Plus 153 clips audio to be trimmed. The main audio can be reduced or muted as needed.
  Picture-in-picture (often abbreviated to PIP) the inclusion of an additional video frame within the main video is a versatile effect familiar from its use in professional TV productions.
  154 Pinnacle Studio doesnt matter which of the two clips goes on which track.
  With the clips in place, select the foreground clip and open the Picture-in-picture and Chroma key (PIP/CK) tool. It is the seventh tool in the Movie Windows video toolbox. We usually refer to the two aspects of the tool separately as the Picture-in-picture and the Chroma key tools.
  Chapter 8: Two-track editing with Studio Plus 155:
  Click on the PIP frame and drag it within the layout semitransparent, letting the checked pattern show through. As in Scale mode, the side control points allow for free adjustment of the crop rectangle, whereas the corner control points preserve its aspect ratio.
  The PIP tool in Scale (L) and Crop (R) modes..
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  Border: These controls set the color, width and transparency of the border that will be drawn around the overlay frame. Set the width to zero (slider all the way to the left) if you dont want a border at all. See page 167 for information on how to use the color controls. dont
  158 Pinnacle Studio tools graphical interface to specify the initial settings, then fine tuning them with the numerical effect parameters. The available parameter settings of the Picture-inpicture effect are almost identical to those offered by the PIP tool:
  Parameter settings for the Picture-in-picture effect..
  Chapter 8: Two-track editing with Studio Plus 159 borders do the tools Distance and Angle settings..
  Creating a scene with chroma key: A clip on the video track (L) is chosen as the background for a green-screen clip on the overlay track (C). Chroma keying removes the green to complete the scene (R). As with picture-in-picture, seventh tool in the Movie Windows video toolbox. Select the Chroma key tab to display the controls you will need.
  Chapter 8: Two-track editing with Studio Plus 161
  The chroma key side of the PIP/CK tool., and its border and shadow, more. See page 167 for information on how to use the color controls. Rather than an actual color, you are really selecting only a hue, without regard to the other properties
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  Chapter 8: Two-track editing with Studio Plus 163
  Softness: This slider controls the density of the underlying video. When it is as Studio Plus Chroma key plug-in provides parameter settings almost identical to those offered by the chroma key tool, but provides one more option, Invert Key. When this option is activated, the normally opaque parts of the key are treated as transparent, and the transparent parts as opaque, so that the underlying video shows through everywhere except for the area masked by the colored screen.
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  Parameter settings for the Chroma key effect. The chroma key tool lets you inspect its transparency key. To get this view in the Player while working with the effect parameters, click the Show Key checkbox.
  Using Show Key: At left the key, at right the real thing.,
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  which favors even, saturated color. Use multiple lights on the backdrop to ensure that it is well-lit across its whole area and without hotspots. Diffuse sunlight, as produced by a light overcast sky, can work well when shooting out of doors is an option.
  Note: A professional background cloth for chroma key work is available for purchase at the Pinnacle web-site.
  Dont let the subject shadow the screen: Arrange your subject and foreground lighting to avoid shadows across the backdrop. The subject should be not less than one meter (three feet) in front of the backdrop.
  Setting up a chroma key shot. The backdrop is well and evenly lit, and well behind the subject to prevent shadows. The lighting of the subject should suit the background that will be keyed into the shot.
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  have your subject present a smooth profile to the camera. Hair is particularly tricky, and should be slicked down if possible. If the subject can wear a hat, so much the better. Use tight framing: The wider your frame, and thus the larger your background, the harder it is to control your shot. One way to keep things simple is to shoot your subject from the waist up rather than in full view.
  Selecting colors
  To select colors in tools and effects that provide a color parameter, click either on the color swatch (left) or the eye dropper button. The first opens a standard color picker dialog; the second lets you choose a color by clicking anywhere on the screen.
  Two ways to set colors: The Windows color picker dialog (L) opens when you click the color swatch button provided in some tools and effects. Click the eye-dropper button to select a color from the Player preview window or elsewhere using a mouse pointer in the form of an eye-dropper (R).
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  CHAPTER 9:
  Transitions
  A transition is an animated effect that eases or emphasizes the passage from one clip to the next. Fades, wipes and dissolves are common types of transition. Others are more exotic, and may even involve sophisticated 3-D graphics. Transitions are stored in their own section of the Album (see The Transitions section on page 55). To use a transition, drag it from the Album into the Movie Window and drop it beside any video clip, theme clip or still image. (You can also apply transitions directly to audio clips. See Transitions on the audio tracks on page 247.)
  A series of transitions (the icons between the video clips) in Storyboard view. In Timeline view, you can drop the transition on either the main video track, the overlay track, or the title track. On the video track, the transition provides a
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  bridge between two full-screen clips (or between one clip and blackness if the transition has only one neighbor, as at the beginning of the movie). On the overlay and title tracks, the transition bridges two neighboring clips (or one clip and transparency).
  Diagram: Five snapshots from the life of a 2-second diagonal wipe transition.. The details of what happens in between, as the first clip is gradually removed and the second gradually appears, depend on the transition type. Since the video clips overlap, the total duration of the pair of clips is reduced by the duration of the transition.
  Here is the same transition as above, this time using actual video. For clarity, the transition boundary in the three center frames has been emphasized in white. Both clips continue to run while the transition is in progress.
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  next; for instance, when the camera changes position or angle within a scene. Fade: This transition fades into the beginning of a video clip from a black screen, or from the end of a clip to a black screen. A fade dropped between two clips creates a fade down followed by a fade up. The fade transition is the first transition icon in the Album. A fade is usually used at the beginning and end of a movie, or when there is a large break in continuity, as when a new section begins. For example, a movie of a play might benefit from inserting a fade between acts. Dissolve: A dissolve is similar to a fade, except that the new scene begins to fade up even while the old one is fading down. The visual overlap this produces is less dramatic than a fade, but less abrupt than a cut. A short dissolve can take the edge off a cut, while a long dissolve is useful to suggest the passage of time. Wipe, slide and push: In each of these standard transition types, the incoming video is gradually revealed behind an edge that moves across the frame in a certain direction. The Album icons shown with this paragraph represent a leftward wipe, a down-and-left slide and a rightward push respectively. In a wipe transition, both the old and new video occupy their normal position in the frame throughout the transition. The new video comes into view as the transition edge crosses the frame, rather like new wallpaper being rolled on over old. A slide is similar to a wipe, but in this case the frame of the new video slides across the screen until it reaches
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  its home position. The effect is reminiscent of a blind being pulled down over a window. A push is similar to a slide, except that the old video is pushed out of the frame as the new video enters, like advancing a filmstrip from one frame to the next. Hollywood FX for Studio Pinnacle Systems Hollywood FX includes a large number of dramatic 3-D transitions and effects. These are ideal for opening sequences, sports and action footage, or music videos. Hollywood FX satisfies professional expectations for quality without sacrificing ease of use. A basic set of fully-functional Hollywood FX is included with Studio, and many more are available for purchase online. For more information, see Expanding Studio on page 11. Also available for purchase on-line is the HFX Creator editing tool for Hollywood FX. This software lets you customize your Hollywood FX, or create new ones from scratch. HFX Creator includes advanced keyframe editing for flight paths and all parameters, powerful warp plug-ins, and a 3D text generator. You can also create a wide range of 3D MultiWindow Effects using external video sources, and add real-life 3D objects and lighting. To initiate the purchase of HFX Creator, click the Edit button in the Clip properties tool for any Hollywood FX transition.
  Chapter 9: Transitions
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  Audio transitions
  Video clips in the Movie Window normally have synchronous audio. In the absence of a transition, both video and audio cut from one clip to the next. When a
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  transition is placed between two clips, the audio crossfades (the audio equivalent of a dissolve). The only exception to this rule is the Fade transition, which takes the audio completely out then back in again. Normal transitions cause a cross-fade in the audio (left). In a Fade transition (right), the audio fades down then up along with the video.
  Now select all the clips except the first, click on any of them with the right mouse-button, and select Ripple Transition from the pop-up menu.
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  Studio inserts a duplicate of the original transition between each pair of selected clips.
  TRIMMING TRANSITIONS
  Although transitions are not true clips, they are handled very similarly to clips within Studios editing environment. Like clips, you can trim transitions either directly on the Movie Window Timeline, or by using the Clip properties tool. See Trimming on the Timeline using handles on page 89 for a discussion of the first method. The maximum allowed duration of a transition is one frame less than the shorter of the neighboring clips.
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  in the Duration counter. A transitions duration must always be less if only by a single frame than the shorter of its neighboring clips.
  The Name text field lets you assign a custom name to
  the clip to replace the default one assigned by Studio. The Name field is provided on the Clip properties tool for all clip types. Clip names are used by the Movie Windows List view, and can also be viewed as fly-by labels when your mouse hovers over clips in the Storyboard view. Many transition effects also support a reverse direction option, which causes the transition animation to run backwards, allowing a rotary wipe, for example, to be either clockwise or counterclockwise. The Reverse checkbox is enabled when the current transition supports this option. If you have purchased the HFX Creator application, you can open it within Studio by clicking the Edit button on the Clip properties tool for Hollywood FX transitions. HFX Creator is an external editing program with many options, whose use is described in its accompanying documentation.
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  Previewing in the Clip properties tool The Clip properties tool provides previewing controls for transitions similar to those for video clips. See Trimming with the Clip properties tool on page 94 for more information. The preview areas show the last full frame of the outgoing clip and the first full frame of the incoming one. The preview frames update as you edit the Duration field. The transport controls let you preview the transition effect in the Player either frame by frame or at full speed. The Loop play/Pause button cycles through the transition repeatedly at normal playback speed. Both the counter (with its associated jog buttons) and the scrubber give you direct access to any desired point within the transition.
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  CHAPTER 10:
  Still images
  Video usually means images in motion, but most productions also include stationary titles or graphics, and may include other types of still image as well. The still images you can use in your movies include:
  All types of text captions and graphics, including
  scrolling credits and crawled messages. Photos or drawings stored in disk-based image files. Individual video frames obtained with the Frame grabber tool. Disc menus for DVD and VCD authoring. These specialized images are covered in Chapter 11: Disc menus. Any of these still image types can be treated in either of two ways, depending on which track you drop them onto in the Movie Window Timeline:
  To add a full-screen image with a solid background,
  add the image to the video track. To add an image so that it appears in your movie with a transparent background, superimposed over the clips on the video track, place it on the title track. To be used in this way, the image must be in TIFF format (usually with the tif file extension), with the
  Chapter 10: Still images 179
  The Album has separate sections for titles, bitmapped images and disc menus. All these resources are stored as separate files on your hard drive. You can also create titles and disc menus of your own in Studios Title Editor and add them directly to your movie without first saving them as separate files (see Chapter 12: The Title Editor). Similarly, still video frames can be added directly from the Frame grabber tool (see The Frame Grabber on page 189). Full-screen images A full-screen image is one that is placed on the video track. It fills the entire screen, replacing the video. When the preceding video clip ends, Studio plays the still image clip. The visual effect is that the video ends, and is replaced by the graphic until the next clip begins.
  Overlay images An overlay image is one that is placed on the title track. It is superimposed on the current video clip, without
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  replacing the video. The transparent area of the image must be defined by means of an alpha channel.
  Making a slideshow If you would like to assemble a quick slideshow of still images or video clips, you may want to take advantage of Studios Ripple Transition feature to quickly insert a chosen transition between each pair of clips or images. See page 175 for details. Applying effects Most of Studios plug-in video effects can be applied to still images. (The exceptions are effects like Speed that only make sense for moving video.) See Using video effects on page 125 for detailed information.
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  duration you choose, whereas a video clip can be no longer than the original Album scene. Effects like Blur, Posterize and Color correction can be applied to still image clips of all types in the same way as to video clips. See Video effects the basic set on page 136.
  change the value in the Duration counter. The Name text field lets you assign a custom name to the clip to replace the default one assigned by Studio. Clip names are used by the Movie Windows Text view, and can also be viewed on the fly-by labels that appear when your mouse hovers over clips in the Storyboard view. The Clip properties tool for disc menus is described in Chapter 11: Disc menus. See Chapter 12: The Title Editor for details about editing the properties of titles.
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  Editing photos and graphics The Clip properties tool for editing bitmapped images allows you to perform several important imageprocessing tasks:
  Zoom in on your pictures and photos in order to crop
  away unneeded material and focus on only the essential part of the image; Rotate the image in 90-degree increments to permit the use of photos taken in portrait mode; Remove the red-eye effect that can occur when the subject of a photograph looks directly into the camera when the flash goes off; In Studio Plus, put together pan-and-zoom animations in which a high-resolution image is viewed as a succession of smoothly-connected closeups at various degrees of magnification. This technique is closely associated with the well-known documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
  The Clip properties tool for photos has pan-andzoom controls for focusing on an area of interest. In Studio Plus, pan-and-zoom can be animated to create the effect of traversing the image from one focus to another. Animated P&Z can be obtained in other versions by upgrading to Studio Plus.
  Chapter 10: Still images 183
  If an image needs rotating by 90 degrees to bring it into landscape mode (wider than high), start by clicking one of the image rotation buttons. If needed, click the button more than once until the clip is properly oriented. If you want to reframe the image, click directly on the tools preview window and, while holding the left mouse-button down, drag the image in any direction until it is properly positioned. Release the button to complete the operation. Next, use the Zoom slider to magnify or reduce the image size as desired. Adjust the position and magnification with these controls until the image is cropped and framed to your satisfaction. The Reset button removes all your position and zoom changes, restoring the original framing of the image. The red-eye reduction feature helps restore a natural appearance to photos in which the subjects eyes are tinged with red. (This problem is caused by light from the flash unit bouncing off the retina of the eye when the subject is looking directly into the camera.) To activate red-eye reduction, click the left button in the red eye group. The button stays down when clicked. Now click the image preview with the left mousebutton above and to the left of the area in which redeye reduction should be applied. While holding the button down, drag down and to the right until the area is fully enclosed. When you release the mouse-button, the red-eye reduction effect is instantly applied within the rectangle you have outlined. It is usually not necessary to be highly precise when marking out the red-eye reduction area. In fact, a larger rectangle may even yield a better result than a smaller
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  one that encloses the eyes and no more. If the red-eye reduction does not clear up the problem entirely on the first attempt, try again with a different rectangle size. Studios red-eye reduction algorithm provides excellent results with a wide variety of photos. However, some photos are better-suited to the process than others. To remove red-eye reduction once applied, click the right-hand button in the red eye group.
  Animating Pan-and-zoom in Studio Plus If you own Studio Plus, or purchase an activation key by clicking the activate button on the pan-and-zoom controls, you can create effective animations from your photos and graphic images. Use the highest-resolution images available with this technique, since they allow greater magnification levels before there is perceptible loss of quality. Start creating a pan-and-zoom animation by clicking the Animate from start to end checkbox to activate the animation feature for the current clip. This enables the Set start and Set end radio buttons, with Set start initially selected. Use the panand-zoom controls to set the framing you want to see at the start of the clip. Finally, click the Set end button, then use the controls to set up the framing you want for the end of the clip. When the clip is played back, Studio will generate the intervening frames to connect your start and end views in a smooth animation.
  Chapter 10: Still images 185
  The procedure above describes the simplest form of pan-and-zoom animation. Effective uses include:
  Moving from a full-frame photograph to a detail
  view of a person or thing somewhere in the image. This gives a similar result to zooming in while shooting video. This might be used to prepare the viewer for a sequence of shots exploring the same close-up subject in multiple views, or providing further close-ups of different parts of the same scene. Moving out from a detail to the full-frame view, as though zooming out with the video camera. In the above scenario, this returns the viewer to the original context, perhaps closing a chapter or episode within your movie. Panning across a wide scene to absorb its details one by one. This technique can be used to impart a sense of discovery when a dramatic or humorous detail finally comes into view. Complex pan-and-zoom animations When you apply pan-and-zoom to a number of copies of the same image in succession, it is as though you are taking your viewer on a guided tour. In effect you are telling a story, one that gradually unfolds as you draw attention to one detail after another. Story-telling may be difficult or not, but implementing your story in Studio is very simple. Once you have set up the first clip, with the first pan-and-zoom camera move, simply copy it as often as necessary, and change the end setting for each clip. You almost always want the start framing of a new clip in the sequence to match the end framing of the
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  previous clip, in order that the sequence of moves will be smoothly connected. On the second clip, and all those that follow, click the Match previous clip button wherever you want continuity. In order to allow the movie to dwell on each detail for a while after you pan to it, insert a non-animated copy of the image between each move. Connect these static clips into the sequence as usual with the Match previous clip button.
  The pan-and-zoom controls are used here to focus in turn on four vignettes in the satirical painting An Election Entertainment by English artist William Hogarth. A fifth view pulls back to show as much of the entire canvas as will fit in a wide-screen frame without black sidebars. The tool automatically generates smooth motion from one view to the next, panning and zooming simultaneously as needed.
  Chapter 10: Still images 187
  Animating pan-and-zoom with keyframes Studio Plus users have another option for animating their pan-and-zoom productions: keyframing. The use of this feature enables a string of pan-and-zoom movements to be associated with a single clip, instead of having a single movement on each of a series of clips. See Keyframing on page 130. The pan-and-zoom effect interface As an alternative to pan-and-zoom with the Clip properties tool, you can enter the framing properties numerically with the Pan and zoom video effect. This alternative interface is provided by the Video effects tool. You can also combine the two methods, using the tools graphical interface to specify the initial settings, then fine tuning them with the numerical effect parameters. The Pan and zoom effect is found in the Fun Effects group. The parameters for pan-and-zoom are exactly parallel to those offered by the tool interface: you can use the sliders to set Zoom, Horizontal position and Vertical position. The red-eye reduction controls of the tool interface do not have equivalent parameters, however.
  Tip: Studio Plus users can use keyframing to create Pan and zoom slideshows using the effect parameters.
  frame grabber will use your current video source, as configured in the Capture source options panel (page 284) and the Capture format options panel (page 287).
  Note: Grabbing a frame from the camcorder is not supported for HDV equipment. digital camcorder or VCR connected to a 1394 port, Studio provides convenient on-screen transport controls for locating the frame you wish to grab. For a description of these controls see The Camcorder Controller on page 22..
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  Grab: Click the Grab button when you have located the frame you want to grab in the Player and configured the Reduce flicker option. The grabbed.
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  CHAPTER 11:
  Disc menus
  With the advent of the DVD, VCD and S-VCD disc formats, video became an interactive medium, with new possibilities for both videographer and audience. Developing authoring a disc in one of these formats means going beyond the old idea of creating a movie to be viewed in strict sequence from beginning to end. Now the audience can decide which parts of the movie to view, and in what order. The essential new feature that makes disc authoring possible is the menu. A particular disc may have one, a few or many menus, each consisting of a still image or short video sequence. Areas within the menus, called buttons, can be selected by the viewer to activate links to other content on the disc. Activating a link causes an immediate transfer to any of:
  A normal video sequence, which in this context is
  called a chapter. Chapter buttons often show a thumbnail frame from the video to which they link. Another page of the same menu. Multiple pages, with the same page design but different chapter buttons, are used when a menu has too many buttons to fit on a single page. A different menu.
  Chapter 11: Disc menus 193
  Unlike any other kind of clip, menus automatically loop. When the end of a menu clip is reached during disc preview or playback, it is immediately restarted. This produces a jump in the playback position affecting all clips that run simultaneously with the menu, regardless of type video (if the menu is an overlay), audio or still image.
  The following diagram is patterned after the Movie Window storyboard. It shows how the menu pictured above, which appears in the diagram as M1, might fit into the overall scheme of a simple movie with two menus.
  Each menu is followed in the movie by several chapters, all but one consisting of a single clip. Our menu, M1, has links to five chapters. Our menu is designed to display two chapter links per page, so three pages are required to accommodate all the links. (The
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  second page is the one appearing in the illustration.) Weve also given each page a link to the M2 menu. The simple layout of this short movie can easily be extended to organize large numbers of clips. Much more complex movies are also constructed from the same elements: multi-page menus with links to chapters and to other menus.
  Availability: Discs with multiple menus are supported in Studio Plus only.
  track appears at the top of the Timeline, and a small flag appears over each of your clips. These represent links from the menu you just added. And thats it sit back and watch the show. Instant slideshow: This time, start in the Still Images section of the Album. Drag as many images as you like onto the video track of an empty project, then drag in any disc menu as the first clip on the Timeline, and again click Yes when asked if you want links automatically created. Turn next to the Transitions section of the Album, pick any transition, and drag it between the menu and the first of your still images. Finally, select all of the still images (click the first, then shift-click the last), click with the right mouse button, and choose Ripple Transition from the pop-up menu. Instant slideshow! Menus and titles The similarity noted on page 195 between titles and disc menus is not just on the surface: a menu is essentially a title with buttons. Any title on the Timelines main video track can be converted to a disc menu simply by adding one or more buttons in the Title Editor.
  thumbnail frames), and a pair of Next page and Previous page buttons. The number of chapter buttons per page varies from one menu design to another, so one criterion for selecting a menu is the number of clips you want it to handle. It is generally more convenient for the viewer to browse a few menu pages with many buttons per page than many pages of a few buttons each. During editing, you see all the buttons that the menu provides. During playback, the only buttons visible are those to which you have assigned links. Menus with fewer buttons have more space for captions; those with many buttons will have abbreviated captions or none at all. Whether you need captions, and if so whether they should be simple (Chapter 1) or descriptive (Cutting the cake) is a matter of your authoring style and the content of your movie. In the VCD and S-VCD formats, the viewer must select chapters numerically (by keying numbers on the remote control), so it is usual to provide button captions that include the chapter number when authoring for these formats. Dropping menus on the Timeline When you drag a menu from the Album and drop it onto the video track or the title track, Studio gives you the option of automatically generating links to all video clips to the right of the menu on the Timeline. Multiple clips are combined into chapters if necessary to achieve the minimum chapter length you specify. This is the quickest, easiest way to link in a disc menu, but may not be what you want in a particular authoring
  Chapter 11: Disc menus 197
  situation. If you check the Dont ask me again checkbox, your choice of Yes or No becomes the default action when you drag in a menu in future. You can also set the default action, or reinstate the confirmation window, in the When adding a disc menu area of the Project preferences options panel (see Project preferences on page 290).
  To create your chapter links manually, rather than using the automatic linking feature, use the Set disc chapter command on the pop-up context menu for each video clip you want to add, or use the Set chapter button on the Clip properties tool for disc menus. arent there already. Click again to move on to the previous chapter. The Next chapter button takes you forward to the next chapter in the movie. Within a menu, these buttons step backwards and forwards dont have is the ability to click the buttons directly on the screen. Whenever a button is visible in the Player preview area in DVD mode, you can click it to follow the button link.
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  Menu buttons link to particular points within your movie. Those points are marked by flags on the menu track, which materializes above the video track the first time a menu is added to your movie (and vanishes again if all menus are removed). The menu itself is marked by a colored rectangle in the menu track (M1 and M2 in the illustration above). Each link to a chapter is shown by a C flag. Here is a close-up of the first part of the Timescale, showing the rectangle identifying the first menu, and the chapter flags for three of the clips it links to.
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  Pinnacle Studio
  The next part of the Timescale in the overview illustration above includes the fourth chapter link from M1, and a link (the left-pointing arrow) from the end of the previous clip back to the menu. A result of setting this link is that the C4 clip can only be reached from the menu. The C4 clip is followed by menu M2, which along with the flags that belong to it is automatically drawn in a new color.
  Availability: Discs with multiple menus are supported in Studio Plus only.
  Editing on the menu track Flags on the menu track can be moved by dragging them with the mouse, thereby changing the location at which the link takes effect in the movie. When a video clip is moved, any flags attached to the clip are moved along with it. To create a link: Right-click the menu track or the video track and choose either Set Disc Chapter or Set Return to Menu, depending on the kind of link you want to create. Return to menu links are always created at the end of the current clip, rather than at the exact point where you click. Youll rarely want to return from the middle of a clip, but you can drag the link flag to a new position if the occasion arises.
  Chapter 11: Disc menus 201
  To reposition a link: Click the flag for the link and drag it along the menu track to its new position. To delete a link:
  Right-click the link flag and choose Delete from the
  pop-up menu; or, Select the flag, highlighting it, then press the Delete key.
  The Edit menu button at the top right of the tool opens the menu in the Title Editor. There you can change
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  every visual aspect of the menu: its background and button images, the appearance and contents of its captions, and more. For full information about the many capabilities of the Title Editor, see Chapter 12: The Title Editor. The preview area on the left side of the tool shows how the menu looks and also has interactive features you can use when establishing chapter links. (These are described on page 206 under Chapter-editing controls.) The other controls are in four groups:
  Menu-previewing controls The Menu type options Link property controls Chapter-editing controls
  Menu-previewing controls These controls are located below the preview area. Page selector: For menus with multiple pages (those with more links than a single page can accommodate) the arrow buttons let you select which page is active in the preview area. You can select any page in the menu for which links have been defined. Alternative methods of selecting menu pages:
  Step through the pages by clicking the page link
  buttons in the preview area. Use the Button selector control (described on page 204) to choose a button on any page of the menu. Show link numbers checkbox: Check this box to cause link numbers to be displayed in the preview
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  area over every button in the menu. The link numbers match the format and color of the chapter flags on the menu track. The Menu type options This pair of options determines whether you or Studio will organize the chapter links for this menu.
  If you choose Auto scene index, Studio will ensure that your chapter links are in the same order on the menu as they are in the movie itself, seven if you shuffle the order of the clips in the Movie Window. With the Manual setting, the order in which chapters are shown on the menu is up to you. If you want to sort your chapter links yet still retain future control of their order, you can click Auto scene index first (to sort the links), then Manual.
  Availability: The option of manually ordering menu chapters is available in Studio Plus only. In standard Studio, the Auto scene index feature is permanently enabled.
  Link property controls The controls in this area set the display properties of the chapter links on the menu. Button selector: Every link button in your menu, no matter which page it is on, has a unique sequence number. Use the arrow buttons on this control to select the menu button you want to work on. The selected button is highlighted in the preview area. You can also select a button by clicking on it in the preview area.
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  Button caption text field: Edit the text for the current button without going to the Title Editor. The # character in button captions has a special meaning: Studio replaces it with the buttons sequence number. Use this feature to ensure that your buttons are correctly numbered regardless of changes in the layout of the menu. To edit other characteristics of a button caption its position, font, and styling click the Edit menu button to invoke the Title Editor. Set thumbnail button: By default, the thumbnail frame displayed on a menu button is the frame to which the button links. You can choose any frame in your movie to be the thumbnail, however. Just move the Timeline scrubber to the exact frame you want (as shown in the Player), and click the set thumbnail button. Motion thumbnails checkbox: Check this option if you would like your menus buttons to show moving video from their target chapters rather than a static thumbnail frame. Because this feature requires that the moving thumbnails be prerendered, the results wont appear immediately when you preview your movie in the Player. Instead you will typically see a colored bar appear in the Timescale over the menu clip. This bar indicates that the clip is being rendered in the background, without interrupting your session. Background rendering is optional. You can disable it, if required, in the Video and audio preferences options panel (Setup Video and Audio Preferences). See page 290 for more information.
  Availability: The Motion thumbnails feature is available in Studio Plus only.
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  Chapter-editing controls The controls in this area select or modify the individual chapter buttons within a menu. The Set chapter buttons: These set or sever the link between the selected chapter button on the menu and its target clip. To set a link: Position the Timeline scrubber within a menu, video, theme or still image clip, and click the button. For video and still image Create chapter clips, the chapter point is set to the exact location of the scrubber within the clip. To clear a link: Click the Clear chapter button. Set return button: This creates a return-tomenu link at the end of the current clip, which is where you almost always want it. During playback, the link causes an immediate jump to its menu. To create a return-to-menu link in the Clip properties tool, position the Timeline scrubber in the clip where you want the link, and click Set return to menu.
  Availability: The Set return button is available in Studio Plus only.
  The Return after every chapter checkbox: Set this option to add a return-to-menu link after every chapter in this menu. Clicking this checkbox, whether to set or clear it, removes all existing return-to-menu links for the menu. Return-to-menu links are normally draggable, but while this box is checked they remain anchored to the end of their clips. Creating links with drag-and-drop The Clip properties tool for disc menus supports dragand-drop as a quick and convenient way to establish links for menu buttons.
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  link to, and drag it onto a button in the Clip properties tool preview area. The button is linked to the first frame of the clip. Or, Click the button for which you want to create a link, and drag it onto a clip in your move. In this case you are linking to the point within the clip at which you drop the button generally not the first frame.
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  CHAPTER 12:
  Creating a title in the Studio Title Editor tool. The large area containing the picture and the text is the Edit Window, while the panel occupying most of the right-hand side is the Title Editor Album. Other controls are in clusters around the Edit Window. The Title Editor is not limited to creating passive titles. For disc projects, you can also add and edit the special
  Chapter 12: The Title Editor 209
  buttons needed for handling viewer interaction with the menus of VCD, S-VCD and DVD movies.
  Title/Menu Editor from the right-button context menu in the main Timeline video track. To create an overlay title or menu: Double-click the Timeline title track. To create a title from the toolbox: Open the Create title tool and click Title Overlay or Full Screen Title. To create a disc menu from the toolbox: Open the Create disc menu tool and click Edit Menu. To edit a full-screen title: Double-click the title in any Movie Window view, or right-click the title and select Go to Title/Menu Editor. To edit a full-screen menu: Double-click the menu in any view and click the Edit Menu button, or rightclick the menu and select Go to Title/Menu Editor. To edit an overlay title: Double-click the clip on the title track or in List View, or right-click it in any view and select Go to Title Editor. To edit a title or menu from the toolbox: With the clip open in the Clip properties tool, click the Edit Menu or the Edit Title button.
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  210
  Title-type buttons
  The four buttons in this cluster sit on the left side of the screen above the Title Editors Edit Window. Only one of them can be selected at a time. Choose the first button if you are creating a still title. The second creates a roll, in which the title text and graphics travel upwards on the screen as the title displays, like the credits at the end of a move. The third creates a crawl, in which the title is displayed as a single line of text moving from right to left across the screen like the bulletins on a TV news show.
  Availability: Rolls and crawls are supported in Studio Plus only.
  The fourth button is for creating disc menus, which you can usefully think of as titles with buttons. In fact, a menu is just like any other title except for two attributes:
  A menu has at least one button. A title has none.
  Adding a button to a title turns it into a menu, and deleting the last button on a menu turns it into a title.
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  By the same token, if you click the Menu button while editing a title, Studio automatically adds a button to the title. A menu cannot have rolling or crawling text. The Title Editor does not allow you to add menu buttons to a rolled or crawled title. Because disc menus are allowed only on the main Video track of the Movie Window Timeline, the button for creating disc menus does not appear when a title from one of the other tracks is being created or edited.
  Object toolbox
  This cluster of four Title Editor tool buttons is located at left below the Edit Window. The first tool (the arrow) is used for all editing operations upon the currently-selected object. A selected object is surrounded by a number of control points with which you can change its size, position, proportions, and other geometrical features. The other three tools are for creating objects in the Edit Window text boxes, ellipses and rectangles. Each is used in the same general way. Click one of the three tools, then click the Edit Window at the point where one corner of the object should be. Drag the mouse to outline the new object as indicated by the dotted line.
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  When the object has the size and proportions you want, release the mouse. Whatever its type, the object is created with the specified dimensions. Its other attributes color, shading, shadow, etc. are determined by the currently selected look in the Title Editor Album. All attributes can later be changed at will. After the object is created, the object tool you used deselects, and the selection arrow again becomes active. The object itself is selected shown in the usual way by its control points and can now be manipulated with the mouse. Reordering objects in three dimensions Because objects can overlap one another, it is easy to get into situations where an object that should be completely visible is partly or wholly obscured by one or more other objects. In such cases, use the four reordering commands on the Title Editors Layers menu. These commands affect the currently-selected object, symbolized by rectangle 3 in the diagram.
  Bring to Front: The object is moved out in front of
  all other objects. In the diagram, object 3 is now in front of object 1. Send to Back: The object moves behind all other objects. Object 3 is now behind object 5. Bring Forward One Layer: Object 3 now lies in front of objects 2, 4 and 5, but behind object 1. Send Back One Layer: Object 3 is now behind objects 1, 2 and 4, but is still in front of object 5.
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  About text objects Selecting a text object is different in one important way from selecting a rectangle or ellipse: the objects text field is put into a ready state in which any keyboard activity will cause the field to activate and start displaying the input text.
  The activation of the text field is indicated by a text insertion cursor, the changed appearance of the object frame, and the disappearance of the control points.
  When a text object is not selected, you can activate its text field directly by clicking in the middle of the object. If you want the selection frame and control points to appear, you must click on the edges of the object. With other types of object, you can click anywhere in an object to select it. To deactivate a text field, click anywhere in the Edit Window outside the text object. Because text plays a central role in most titles and menus, the Text Editor will automatically create and activate a text object in the center of the Edit Window if you simply begin typing at a time when no text object already exists.
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  Advanced text editing features As in a word processing program, the Title Editor allows you to format a selected range of characters. Simply mark an adjacent set of characters with the mouse and apply the formatting you desire. Supported operations on character ranges include text styling (font, style and look), clipboard operations (cut, copy, paste), delete, and a number of special positioning, spacing and scaling commands that are accessible only from the keyboard. For details on these, please consult Appendix F: Keyboard Shortcuts.
  newly created. It enables the move, scale and rotate operations with a selection frame containing nine control points:
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  With text objects, the second button provides two further operations, kern and change leading, accessed by control points in the center of each edge of the text frame:
  A grouping of three objects The second button, which is available whenever a group object is selected, separates the group into its constituent objects. Although it is possible to group groups, grouping is always just one level deep, so ungrouping a supergroup will result in all the constituent objects being individuals again. The next button opens a pop-out menu of 11 operations that apply only to groups. The first six let you align a set of objects along any one of their four edges or either of their two mid-lines. The next pair of commands provides for spacing the objects at equal intervals in
  Chapter 12: The Title Editor 217
  either the vertical or horizontal directions, and the final three resize the objects so that they have equal width, equal height, or both. All of these commands are particularly useful in menu creation, since you generally want menu buttons to be laid out in a regular fashion. The final object layout button opens another pop-out menu, this one concerned with object justification. The nine options here are in a graphical form resembling a tic-tac-toe board. Clicking one of the nine areas moves the object to the corresponding corner of the screen (as defined by the text-safe area delimited by red dashed lines), or to the center. Multiple selection of objects The first step in making a group is to select the multiple objects that will comprise it. This can be accomplished in either of two ways:
  By clicking and dragging with the mouse to mark out
  a selection rectangle (a marquee) that encloses all the objects you want to group; or,
  By clicking the first object you want to group, then
  Ctrl-clicking each of the others. Temporary groups Any selection of multiple objects functions as a temporary group, and can be moved, aligned, rotated, colored etc. as a unit. The temporary grouping loses its identity as soon as you click elsewhere in the Edit Window, however, whereas a group created with the group button persists until explicitly ungrouped.
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  Text-styling controls
  The controls in this cluster at the top right of the Title Editors Edit Window should look familiar to anyone who has used word-processing software. The controls apply both to currently-selected text and to any new text that may be entered until the settings are changed again. At the left are three font style buttons, which select the bold, italic or underlined styles respectively. Perhaps surprisingly, the underlined style button alone among these controls can be applied to any type of object, not just text (try it!). This makes it possible to use the underlined highlighting style with buttons created from graphic objects: rectangles, ellipses and pictures.
  Chapter 12: The Title Editor 219
  The fourth button opens a pop-out menu of text-formatting options. Unlike the other controls in the cluster, which govern the appearance of individual characters, the options on this menu apply to all the text in a given text box. The three justification options Left, Center and Right affect the placement of the text within its box (and not the placement of the box itself within the Edit Window, which is the function of the object justification menu ). Shrink to fit, Scale to fit, Word wrap on and Word wrap off are options that determine how your text is treated when you resize a text box. With Word wrap on, which is the default for a new text box, resizing the box results in the text being reformatted word-wrapped to the new box width (while the resulting new height of the text in turn governs the height of the box). Word wrap off removes all soft line breaks (line breaks added for word wrapping), then makes the box as wide as necessary to contain the text. Word wrap mode is automatically turned on again if you type further characters into the text box. With Scale to fit, the text is stretched during resizing to follow both box dimensions. With Shrink to fit, the text remains its original size unless the box is made smaller, in which case the text is resized as in Scale to fit. Neither to fit command changes the line divisions of the text. The font dropdown list and the font-size selector complete the text-styling controls group.
  220 Pinnacle Studio. Each look has a numeric ID that displays as a tool-tip under your mouse. Above, the mouse is on look 27-3. The Custom tab lets you customize the supplied looks or create your own by adjusting the parameters listed above. Three identical sets of controls adjust the parameters for face, edge and shadow respectively. Here are the face controls:
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  Pinnacle Studio
  The three option buttons across the top select a solid color, a gradient, or no color (transparency). Clicking the color swatch beside the first button invokes an otherwise standard Windows color-picker dialog to which an Opacity slider (0-100%)selected favorite.
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  The color and gradient options in the Backgrounds section of the Title Editor work in just the same way as those described above for the Looks Browser (page 221), except that the color or gradient you select is instantly applied to the background of the title you are editing. If you are working on an overlay title, you may find interesting ways to use the Opacity setting on the colorpicker dialogs for these buttons, especially when the overlay is coupled with transitions. Normally, though, youll use a transparent background for titles, and transparency is the default background selection for a new title or menu. The final option for backgrounds is picture an image file in any standard format. As with many of the sections of Studios main Album, the backgrounds are drawn from a source folder that may be changed using the folder button. The image file you select with the folder button becomes the new background, and the image files in the folder are displayed as thumbnails on the Album panel. If necessary, the Title Editor stretches the background image until it fills the width or height of the screen but does not change its proportions. Adding a motion background In Studio Plus, disc menus can have a background of moving video, not just a static image. To create such a motion background, or replace one, simply click the folder button and browse for a movie file in AVI, MPEG or WMV format. The following rules apply when you add or change a motion menu clip:
  The length of the movie you add as a background
  Movie Window. If the movie is shorter than the clip, it is simply repeated as necessary to fill out the required time; if longer, it is truncated. You can adjust the length of the menu by trimming on the timeline or in the Clip properties tool as usual. If you add a widescreen movie as a menu background in a project in standard format, or a standard movie to a widescreen project, the movie is stretched or squeezed as required to match the project format.
  To see movie files listed while browsing for a folder on your hard drive, select the desired movie type (or All Files) in the Files of type box.
  jump to a chapter (that is, ordinary video) or another menu. The link between the button and its target is created in the Clip properties tool, not in the Title Editor. Thumbnail: This special form of the normal button type displays a thumbnail frame (or a moving thumbnail preview) from the part of the movie to which it links. Previous: This button appears on the second and later pages of multi-page menus (menus with more links from normal or thumbnail buttons than will fit on one page). It links to the previous menu page. Next: This button appears on all but the last page of multi-page menus; it links to the following page. The button art supplied with Studio includes several examples of each type. Each button is an image file in Targa (tga) format. Examination of the files in an art
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  program like Adobe PhotoShop or Paint Shop Pro will show that the transparent portion of the button image, and the special area for the display of thumbnails (where applicable), are defined by an alpha channel included with the image. As usual, a folder button lets you select the disk directory from which the displayed images are obtained. To use a supplied button, simply drag it from the Album into the Edit Window, where it becomes a button object essentially an identical twin of the picture object. The default action of the supplied buttons is determined by their file names, but a new action can be assigned to the currently-selected button object from the dropdown list in the Buttons section of the Title Editor Album. The first choice on this list, Not a button, removes the action from the object now it is merely a graphic. The other choices correspond to the button types listed above.
  Tip: Remember, its not the buttons appearance that determines its behavior, but the button type you select from the menu..
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  . These highlight options can be applied to any type of button made from any type of object, not just the button images brought in from the Album. Clear the Highlight style checkbox if you want to disable button highlighting while working in the Title Editor.
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  with Studio, and others are widely available. The Background music tool automatically creates a music track with your selected duration and style.
  Chapter 13: Sound effects and music 229
  You can drop mp3 files from the Album onto the
  Timeline or import audio or MP3 tracks from a CD with the CD audio tool. The Voice-over tool lets you add narration or commentary as you preview your edited video. Audio, whatever its type, is added to your production as clips in the Movie Window. These can be moved around, trimmed and edited in much the same way as video clips and still images. Once a sound clip is part of your movie, you can modify it with fades and other volume adjustments. An easy way to create audio fades and cross-fades is to add transitions to your audio clips as described on page 247. You can adjust the positioning of your clips within a stereo or surround mix, and even change that positioning arbitrarily within the clip. You can also apply Studios audio effects, including noise reduction and reverb among others.
  Availability: Surround sound is supported in Studio Plus only.
  About surround sound A surround mix goes beyond the two channels of stereo to provide a theater-style enveloping sound field for your DVD productions. Studio lets you set the apparent position of each audio track independently within the mix, and to pan the track (reposition it, whether smoothly or abruptly) in any desired direction as often as necessary over the course of your movie. To preview surround sound while editing in Studio, you need a sound card that supports 5.1 channel output.
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  channels is stored discretely on the disc and will be routed directly to the corresponding speaker when played back on a full 5.1 surround playback system. In Dolby Digital 2.0 format, the surround mix is encoded onto two channels. When your DVD is played back on systems with a Pro Logic or Pro Logic 2 decoder, and a 5.1 or better speaker layout, the original surround information is recreated. On other systems, the encoded soundtrack will be heard as conventional stereo.
  Note: Even if you cannot hear your surround mix when previewing, it will still appear on your DVDs, but a surround preview allows more accurate mixing..
  The Timeline audio tracks: original audio, sound effect and voice-over, and background music. When the overlay track is visible, a fourth audio track; it contains the original audio for video on that track. Background music track: Use this track to include mp3 or wav audio files, ScoreFitter background music
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  generated by Studio, and music (or other content) from audio compact disks (CDs). Audio files are imported via the Music section of the Album (see page 62). Create ScoreFitter clips with the Background music tool, and CD audio clips with the CD audio tool (see The Background music tool on page 235 and The CD audio tool on page 234). Switching audio tracksovers its). See Advanced Timeline editing on page 98 for more information.
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  If there is a CD in the drive that you have not previously used in a Studio project, Studio will ask you to enter its name before continuing. The controls on the tool will become available only when Studio can offer at least one entry on the CD Title dropdown list. Select the CD from which you wish to capture audio in the CD Title dropdown list, and a track on that CD from the Track list. Since CD Title is also an editable text field, you can change the name by which Studio refers to this CD, if desired. The name change applies to both the current and future sessions. Having selected the CD and track, you can now optionally trim the clip and give it a custom name using the other controls on the tool. These controls are common to most audio clip types, and are used for editing as well as creating clips. They are covered on
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  page 240 under Trimming with the Clip properties tool. Finally, click the Add to Movie button. Studio captures the music clip from the CD drive and adds it to the background music track beginning at the current time index (as shown by the Timeline scrubber and the preview frame in the Player).
  To create music for a particular set of clips, select those clips before opening the Background music tool. (To select your whole movie, use Edit Select All or press Ctrl+A.) The total length of the selected clips will determine the initial setting for the music duration, though you can modify the value at any time by
  Chapter 13: Sound effects and music 235
  trimming on the Timeline or directly editing the Duration counter in the tool. In the Background music tool, choose a style, song and version from the lists provided. Each style background music track beginning at the current time index (as shown by the Timeline scrubber and the preview frame in the Player). Expanding your song collection ScoreFitter songs come in collections called libraries. The Standard library, which is included with Studio, includes more than 40 songs in styles ranging from Folk to Electronica. Additional libraries may be purchased from within Studio as they become available by clicking the Get More Songs button. Click the Library radio button to see your song collection categorized by library rather than by style.
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  Before you can record audio using the Voice-over tool, you need to connect a microphone to the input jack of your PC sound board. You must also have at least one video clip in the Movie Window. Review the video scenes in your movie and decide where you want the voice-over to begin and end. When you are ready, open the Voice-over tool. Note that the recording lamp the dark rectangle in the upper left of the above illustration is not lit. Select your starting point on the Movie Window Timeline. You may do this by selecting a clip, playing the movie and stopping it at the desired point, or by moving the Timeline scrubber.
  Chapter 13: Sound effects and music 237
  Position the microphone for use and try speaking a test phrase to check your recording level (see Voice-over level below). When you are satisfied, click the Record button (which toggles to a Stop button). Wait for a few moments as the recording lamp first signals STAND BY then steps through a 3-2-1 countdown.
  When the recording lamp signals RECORDING, and the movie begins to play back in the Player, perform your narration.
  Finally, click the Stop button. The lamp goes out, and the voice-over clip is automatically placed on the sound effects and voice-overs track. Review the clip by selecting it then clicking the Play button.
  Voice-over level The record level for a voice-over clip is set when you create the voice-over and cannot be changed thereafter. However, you can adjust the playback volume at any time. The record level is set with the Recording level slider and its accompanying level meter on the Voice-over tool. Watch this meter to make sure your recording levels dont get too high or low. The indicator changes color from green (0-70% modulation), through yellow, to red. Generally, you should try to keep your audio peaking in the yellow (71-90%) and out of the red (91100%).
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  Voice-over recording options The Studio setup dialogs include several settings that affect your recording configuration and quality. This section provides a brief summary. See Video and audio preferences on page 294 for detailed information. To access these options select Setup Video and audio preferences from the main menu bar.
  The Microphone dropdown list on this dialog lists the multiple ways a microphone can be connected to your particular sound card. The entries on the list should look something like the following, from a system with an NVIDIA sound card:
  Choose from this list, then connect your microphone in the manner indicated (e.g. Microphone or Line In). The Channels and Sample rate adjustments on the options dialog control the quality of voice-overs or other recorded audio. Set them at the highest quality level you anticipate needing, but keep in mind that increasing quality requires more disk space.
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  the Duration counter. The Name text field lets you assign a custom name to the clip to replace the default one assigned by Studio. The clip name is used by the Movie Windows List view, and can also be viewed as a fly-by label when your mouse hovers over the clip in the Storyboard view.
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  The other controls provided by the tool depend on the type of audio clip you give it. Original audio, sound effects and voice-overs The Clip properties tool provides the same kind of trimming controls for sound-effect and voice-over clips as for video clips, but displays a graph of the audio waveform instead of visual preview areas. To learn how to trim with these controls, see Trimming with the Clip properties tool on page 94. Remember that clips on the original audio and the overlay audio tracks can only be edited independently when the corresponding video track is locked. See Advanced Timeline editing on page 98.
  CD Audio For CD Audio clips, the Clip properties tool uses the same trimming controls as above, but additionally provides dropdown selectors for CD Title and Track. You can use these to change the source of the clip at any time. CD Title is also an editable text field, so you can enter the actual title of the CD.
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  ScoreFitter ScoreFitter clips can be edited to almost any length, except that very short clips at some particular durations may not be available in every combination of Style and Song. This tool is essentially identical to the tool for creating ScoreFitter clips (described under The Background music tool on page 235), except that the Add to movie button is replaced by the Accept changes button.
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  Waveform graph excerpt from three neighboring clips. The appearance of the waveform graph tells you something about the character of the sound. A quiet sound has a narrow waveform, close to the centerline of the clip. A loud sound has a waveform with larger peaks and troughs, reaching almost to the borders of the clip. A continuous sound, such as a car engine, has many pulses packed closely together. A staccato sound has brief pulses separated by silences where the waveform is a horizontal line. Adjustment lines The orange volume line graphically models the volume changes you have made to the track and clip. If you have not adjusted the volume at all, the line runs straight along the clip at about three-quarters of the clip height. This is the zero gain (0 dB) level, where the clips original volume has been neither increased nor decreased. If you raise or lower the volume of the entire track, the volume line remains horizontal, but is now higher or lower than the zero-gain base level.
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  Finally, if you make volume adjustments within the clip, the line consists of sloping segments that meet at volume adjustment handles.
  Unlike the waveform graph, or the adjustment lines for balance and fade (see below), the volume adjustment line is scaled logarithmically. Perceived volume varies logarithmically with the strength of an audio signal, so this feature allows the adjustment line to model more accurately what you really hear. For instance, an upward-sloping line segment will produce a smooth, steady fade up from the starting to the ending level. The green stereo balance line and the red front-back balance (fade) line work similarly to the volume line, except that in both cases the neutral position is the vertical center of the clip, and the adjustment scale is linear. Raising the stereo balance line positions the audio clips output further to the listeners left, while lowering it positions the clip further to the listeners right. Similarly, raising the fade line moves the clip away from the listener, and lowering it brings the clip towards the listener.
  Note: You can only view and edit a clips fade line when the Volume and balance tool is in surround mode. The effect of adjusting the line can be previewed only on systems where surround-sound playback is available.
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  To select which of the three adjustment lines is currently displayed, use the audio clips right-button context menu:
  .
  Availability: Surround sound is supported in Studio Plus only.
  clip connects the lines from the preceding and following clips if any are present. If no volume adjustments have been made to other clips on the track, the volume line through the new clip is horizontal. Its height reflects the overall track volume as set in the Volume and balance tool. If no volume adjustments have been made either to other clips or to the overall track volume, the volume line through the new clip is at three-quarters height. To adjust the volume of a clip on the Timeline, select it (by left clicking), then move your mouse pointer close to the line.
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  Click the left mouse button, and drag up or down in the clip. The volume line bends as it follows the mouse.
  When you release the mouse, Studio creates an adjustment handle on the volume line.
  When your mouse pointer is positioned over an adjustment handle on a selected clip, a highlighted version of the volume adjustment cursor appears. With this cursor, you can click and drag the adjustment handle both vertically and horizontally.
  Right-click an adjustment handle to access the context menu command Delete volume setting. This command removes one adjustment handle. Use Remove volume changes to remove all the handles from the clip. Adjusting balance and fade The left-right and front-back balance lines have the same editing features as the volume line just discussed, except that with them the neutral setting is at half the clip height, instead of three-quarters as it is for volume. In the case of left-right (stereo) balance, adjusting the line upwards from the center positions the audio further to the left. With front-back balance (fade), adjusting
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  the line upwards moves the apparent source of the audio away from the listener; adjusting it downwards brings the audio closer (towards the rear speakers). Removing changes Audio adjustment handles can be removed either individually or for an entire audio clip at once. Select the appropriate command on the clips right-button pop-up menu:
  Transitions on the audio track: Placed at the beginning of a clip, the Fade transition fades in; placed at the end, it fades out. The Dissolve transition creates a cross-fade between clips.
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  The Volume and balance tool provides individual level controls for each of the audio tracks: original audio (left in illustration), overlay audio, sound effect and voice-over, and background music (right). The overlay audio controls are displayed only when the overlay video and audio tracks are open in the Movie Window. The balance control, located in the right-hand part of the tool, can position the audio of any clip or part of one in stereo (one-dimensional) or either of two
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  surround (two-dimensional) modes. The mode is selected in the dropdown list above the control. Each audio track has its own set of level controls. The set for the original audio track is shown at left. The individual controls and displays include a track mute button n. When this button is in its down position, no audio clips from the track will be used in your movie. The track mute buttons icon has a second purpose: it identifies which track the level controls apply to. This is the only visible point of difference amongst the three sets of controls (four if the overlay track is visible) . The track level knob o raises or lowers the overall volume for the track. It therefore affects the vertical position of the volume adjustment lines on all clips on the track, but does not change their contour. Click on the knob and drag it with a clockwise rotation (up to the 2 oclock maximum position) to increase the volume. Use a counterclockwise rotation (down to the 6 oclock minimum) to lower the volume.
  Level knobs, full off (L), default (C) and full on (R). A sliding knob, the track fader p, sets the current track level on a relative level scale q, which is calibrated in decibels (dB). The 0 dB mark corresponds to the level at which the clip was recorded. The current level is displayed numerically in a separate readout r.
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  The position of the fader knob shows the volume level at the current playback position in your movie, relative to the original level. Drag the knob up or down to modify the level. The knob is grayed (disabled) if there is no clip on the track at the current time index. If the track is muted, the knob is grayed and set to the bottom of its range. Adjusting the fader results in a volume adjustment handle being added to the track as described above. A tracks playback volume contour, or envelope, combines the overall track level with the relative level at each point on the track. This combined level, which is shown graphically by the volume adjustment lines on audio clips, is applied to the actual audio data to produce the tracks output level, as represented on the level meter s, which illuminates during playback to show the level at the current time index. To avoid audio clipping the unpleasant sound produced by attempting to set volume levels outside the range of a digital signal ensure that the meter level never quite reaches the top of the bar. The clipping indicator t lights up during and for a short time after any occurrences of clipping. The fade buttons u produce a fade-in from or a fadeout to the current position of the movie. For a visual confirmation of their effect, watch the behavior of the clips volume adjustment line when the fade buttons are clicked. The fade duration is variable from zero to fifty-nine seconds. Adjust it in the Project preferences options panel (Setup Project Preferences) under Volume fades. Fades are not available too close to the beginning or end of a clip.
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  The balance control This control has three modes, stereo, surround and dialog, which you select from the dropdown list above the control. The mode can be changed whenever desired even within an individual audio clip.
  In any mode, the position of each track at each point in the movie is shown by its speaker icon, or puck. The icon matches the one on the muting indicator for the corresponding track. In stereo mode, you set the position of the track by dragging its puck left and right between a pair of main speakers:
  Positioning the original audio in the middle of a stereo mix with the sound effects track (L) and the overlay track (R) on opposite sides. In this example the music track icon (right of center) is ghosted, indicating either that the track has been muted or that there is no clip on the track at this time index. In surround mode, you can position each track from front to back (fade) as well as from left to right (balance). Each track can be independently placed
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  anywhere within the rectangular listening area defined by the four corner speakers. Dialog mode is similar in concept, but includes the center speaker at the front of the listening area. Sending a portion of a clips audio through the center helps stabilize the apparent location of the sound within the shifting surround mix. At the same time, the placement of the sound source can be freely varied in two dimensions as with the standard surround mode.
  Surround and Dialog modes: At left, the music track, in Surround Mode, is positioned at the rear of the listening field. The original audio track at the same time index is in Dialog Mode, shown at right. The Dialog mode focuses the original audio by including the center speaker in the mix. There are two ways to set the position of a tracks icon in the balance control. Either click on any tracks icon and drag it to the desired position, or move it by dragging the triangular locator knobs below and to the right of the control. The locator knob below the balance
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  control adjusts the left-right positioning of the audio output from the currently-selected clip, while the knob on the right adjusts the front-back positioning.
  Drag track icon directly (L) or with locator knob (R). Viewing volume and balance contours Each audio clip in your project displays a contour line showing one of its volume, left-right balance or frontback balance. To select which of the three types of line is displayed, use the commands on an audio clips right-button context menu (see Anatomy of an audio clip on page 243). The contour lines can be modified directly on the Timeline using adjustment handles. For details, see Adjusting audio on the Timeline on page 245.
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  Audio effects
  You can modify any audio clip in your project using Studios plug-in audio effects, which are accessed with the Audio effects tool, the sixth tool in the Audio toolbox. The operation of this tool is identical to that of the Video effects tool. See Using video effects (page 125) for a complete description. As with video effects, your library of audio plug-ins is expandable. Any audio effect using the popular VST standard can be used in Studio just like effects supplied with the program. Icons for audio effects In Timeline mode, any special effects you have applied to an audio or video clip are indicated by small icons along the bottom of the clip. These correspond to the categories shown by the Add new effect browser in the Audio effects and Video effects tools. Those categories are explained under Video Effects Library on page 136. You can open the appropriate tool for parameter editing by double-clicking any of the icons.
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  In the illustration, the Noise reduction effect has been applied to both audio clips. The star icon below the video clip shows that one or more of the effects in the Fun category has been applied to it. About the effects The powerful Noise Reduction filter is provided in all versions of Studio. It is covered immediately below. Studio Plus includes an extra group of audio effects. These are each briefly described starting on page 258. Full documentation of the parameters for the Plus effects is included in their context-sensitive on-line help which can be viewed by clicking the help button at the top left of the parameters panel for each effect, or by pressing the F1 key when the panel is open. In a special category is the Studio Plus Speed effect, which is currently unique in that it operates on video and audio simultaneously. It is covered on page 140.
  Noise
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  PLUS EFFECTS
  The Studio Plus pack of audio effects is included with Studio Plus only. Users of other Studio versions can obtain these effects by upgrading to Studio Plus. This section briefly introduces each effect in the group. Full descriptions, including all parameters, are available in the context-sensitive help when the effect parameters window is open in Studio Plus.
  ChannelTool
  The basic action of this Studio Plus.
  Chorus
  The Studio Plus Chorus creates a richer sound by repeatedly reintroducing echoes into the audio stream. By controlling properties like the frequency with which the echoes recur, and the decay in volume from one repetition to the next, a variety of results is possible, including flanger-like sounds and other special effects.
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  DeEsser
  This Studio Plus audio filter unobtrusively removes excessive sibilance from recorded speech. Parameters allow you to fine-tune the effect to the particular recording you need to correct.
  Equalizer
  Graphic equalizers like this one in Studio Plus are similar in concept to the treble and bass tone controls on audio equipment, but provides a much finer degree of adjustment. Studios equalizer divides the audio spectrum into ten bands, each centered on a different sound frequency.
  Note: In musical terms, each equalization band covers one octave, and the center frequency is close in pitch to the note B.
  The sliders let you increase or decrease the contribution of each bands frequencies to the total sound over a
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  range of 48 dB (-24 to +24). The adjustment to a band is applied full strength at the center frequency, and tapers to zero in either direction. The display above the slider shows the activity across the audio spectrum as your project is played back.
  Grungelizer
  The Studio Plus Grungelizer adds noise and static to your recordings. It can make your clips sound as though you were hearing them on a radio with bad reception or a worn and scratched vinyl record.
  Leveler
  This Studio Plus effect helps compensate for a common problem in recording audio for video productions: the imbalance in the recorded volume of different elements
  260 Pinnacle Studio acts as an expander, increasing the original level by a fixed ratio. Above the target volume, Leveler acts as a compressor, reducing the original level. With careful adjustment of the parameters, the internal balance of the audio can be significantly improved.
  Reverb
  The Studio Plus Reverb effect simulates the effect of playing back the source sound in a room of a given size and sound reflectivity. The interval between the arrival of the original sound at the listeners
  The Stereo Echo effect, available in Studio Plus, allows you to set separate delays on each of the left and right channels, with feedback and balance controls to provide a variety of interesting sounds.
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  Stereo Spread
  This Studio Plus effect allows you to decrease or increase the apparent width of the stereo listening field in an audio clip. Most often it is used to create a mix that sounds more open and spacious.
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  This opens the Output Browser, which lets you tell Studio with a few clicks everything it needs to know to output your movie in the form you want. Begin by selecting the media type of your finished movie from the four tabs at the left side of the window: Disc, File, Tape or Web. Disc output lets you copy a movie onto a recordable disc in your computers CD, DVD, HD DVD or Blu-ray recorder (also called a burner). You can also ask Studio to create for you a copy, or image, of the disc on your hard drive, without actually burning it. See page 265 for more information.
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  File output creates files that can be viewed from your hard drive, your web-site, your portable movie player, or your mobile phone. See page 270. Tape output records your movie onto tape in a camcorder or VCR. This tab also lets you output the movie to your monitor screen. See page 277. Web output creates a file including for uploading to YouTube or Yahoo! Video. On these popular web sites, your work has a potential audience of millions. See page 279.
  The Output Browser. The tabs at left let you save to disc, file, tape or the Web. Other controls let you set output options as needed for the chosen media type. On the right is a graphical display o f disc usage. Configuring output Output can be configured quickly within each media type using the dropdown lists in the Output Browser.
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  If you need hands-on control, click the Settings button to open the correct panel of options for your chosen media type. When you have confirmed your settings, click the Create button to begin output.
  Preparing your movie for output Before your movie is completely ready for output some preprocessing will usually be required. In general, Studio will need to render (generate video frames in the output format for) any transitions, titles, disc menus and video effects youve added to your movie. Any files generated by Studio during this process are stored in the auxiliary files folder, whose location you can set using the folder button at the top of the Output Browser.
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  CD formats If your system is equipped with a CD burner or a DVD burner, Studio can create VCD or S-VCD discs on either CD-R or CD-RW media. Your VCD discs can be played back:
  On a VCD or S-VCD player. On some DVD players. Most DVD players can
  handle CD-RW media, but many will not reliably read CD-R. A majority of DVD players can handle the VCD format.
  On a computer with a CD or DVD drive and
  MPEG-1 playback software (such as Windows Media Player). Your S-VCD discs can be played back:
  On an S-VCD player. On some DVD players. Most DVD players can
  handle CD-RW media, but many will not reliably read CD-R. DVD players sold in Europe and North America usually cannot read S-VCD discs; players sold in Asia often can.
  On a computer with a CD or DVD drive and
  MPEG-2 playback software. DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray If your system has a DVD burner, Studio can create three types of DVD disc: standard (for DVD players), HD DVD format for HD DVD players, and AVCHD format for Blu-ray players.
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  If your system has an HD DVD or Blu-ray recorder, you can record onto any recordable media supported by the device.
  DVD format your burner creates. Most players can handle the common formats.
  On a computer with a DVD drive and suitable
  playback software.
  On any HD DVD player.
  playback software.
  Your Blu-ray disc, or DVD disc in AVCHD format can be played back:
  On the Panasonic DMP-BD10, the Playstation 3, and
  other Blu-ray players (not all players support the AVCHD f ormat, but most do).
  On a computer with a Blu-ray drive and suitable
  playback software.
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  Outputting your movie Studio creates your disc or disc image in three steps..)
  1.
  The two circular displays summarize your disc usage. The upper one shows the amount of hard drive storage that will be required during the making of your movie, and the other shows an estimate of the time the movie will occupy on your writable disc. Use the upper folder button to change the hard drive location Studio uses for storing auxiliary files. If you are creating a disc image, it will also be stored in that folder. The matching button on the lower display lets you choose which burning
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  hardware to use, if you have more than one device available. 2. Select the Disc Type you are using, then whichever Video Quality / Disc Usage preset best matches your intent.
  If you wish to fine-tune your output settings, choose the Custom preset then click the Settings button to bring up the Make Disc options panel (see Make disc settings on page 299). 3. Click the green Create disc button. Studio goes through the steps described above (render, compile, and if necessary burn) to create the disc or disc image you have specified in the Make Disc options panel. 4. When Studio has finished the burning operation, it ejects the disc. Quality and capacity of disc formats The differences amongst the various disc formats can be boiled down to these rules of thumb regarding the video quality and capacity of each format:
  VCD: Each disc holds about 60 minutes of MPEG-1
  video, with about half the quality of DVD. S-VCD: Each disc holds about 20 minutes of MPEG-2 video, with about two-thirds the quality of DVD.
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  quality MPEG-2 video (120 minutes if the disc recorder supports dual-layer recording). DVD (AVCHD): Each disc holds about 40 minutes of full-quality AVCHD video per layer. DVD (HD DVD): Each disc holds about 24 minutes of full-quality DVD HD video per layer. DVD HD: Each disc holds about 160 minutes of full-quality DVD HD video per layer.
  OUTPUT TO FILE
  Studio can create movie files in all of these formats:
  3GP Audio only AVI DivX Flash Video iPod compatible MPEG-1 MPEG-2 MPEG-4 Real Media Sony PSP compatible Windows Media
  Choose whichever format matches the needs of your audience and the details of their viewing hardware.
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  The size of the output file depends on both the file format and the compression parameters set within the format. Although compression settings can easily be adjusted to produce small files, heavy compression comes at the expense of quality. The detailed settings for most formats can be adjusted by choosing the Custom preset and clicking the Settings button. Other presets load settings designed for typical situations. See Appendix A: Setup options for information about options in Studio. When your output options are in place, click the Create file button. A file browser opens to let you specify a name and location for the video file you are creating. As a convenience, the Output Browser also provides buttons for launching any desired media file in Windows Media Player or Real Player, so you can view your output file in an external player as soon as you have created it.
  The File tab of the Output Browser 3GP Studio can generate movies in this widely-used file format using your choice of MPEG-4 or H.263 video compression, along with AMR audio compression. The format is adapted to the comparatively modest processing and storage capabilities of mobile phones.
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  The list of presets for this file type offers two frame sizes in either encoder. Choose Small, at 176x144, or Very Small, at 128x96. Audio only Sometimes a movies soundtrack can stand alone without visuals. Live entertainment footage, and video recordings of interviews and speeches are instances in which an audio-only version might be desirable. Studio lets you save your soundtrack in wav (PCM), mp3 or mp2 format.
  Click the preset that best meets your needs; or choose Custom, then click the Settings button to open the Make File options panel (see page 304). AVI Although the AVI file type for digital video is itself widely supported, the actual coding and decoding of video and audio data in an AVI file is performed by separate codec software.
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  Studio supplies a DV and an MJPEG codec. If you wish to output your movie as an AVI in some other format, you can use any DirectShow-compatible codec installed on your PC, as long as that codec is also installed on the PC that will play your movie.
  Click the preset that best meets your needs; or choose Custom, then click the Settings button to open the Make File options panel (see page 304). DivX This file format, based on MPEG-4 video compression technology, is popular for video files disseminated over the Internet. It is also supported by a range of DivXcompatible hardware devices, from DVD players to portable and handheld units.
  Click whichever of the quality presets matches your needs; or choose Custom, then click the Settings button to open the Make File options panel (see page 304).
  Chapter 15: Making your movie 273
  Flash Video Studio supports output in Flash Video (flv) format, version 7. Virtually all current web browsers are able to display this popular format, which has been widely adopted by social networking sites and news sites.
  Click the quality preset that matches your needs; or choose Custom, then click the Settings button to open the Make File options panel (see page 304). iPod compatible Like DivX, this file format is based on MPEG-4 video compression technology. The combination of powerful compression with a small 320x240 frame size produces very small output files relative to the more expansive formats. The generated files are compatible with the popular Video iPod devices, and may work with some other devices types as well.
  The three quality presets select different data rates, each providing a different balance of quality and file size.
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  MPEG MPEG-1 is the original MPEG file format. MPEG-1 video compression is used on VideoCDs, but in other contexts it has given way to newer standards.
  MPEG-2 is the successor format to MPEG-1. Whereas the MPEG-1 file format is supported on all Windows 95 and later PCs, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files can only be played on PCs with appropriate decoder software installed. Two of the MPEG-2 presets support HD (High Definition) playback equipment.
  MPEG-4 is another member of the MPEG family. It offers image quality similar to MPEG-2 but with even greater compression. It is particularly suitable for Internet use. Two of the MPEG-4 presets (QCIF and QSIF) create quarter-frame video sized for cellphones; two others (CIF and SIF) create full-frame video suitable for handheld viewers. Custom presets. With all MPEG variants, Custom lets you configure movie output in detail by clicking the
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  Settings button to open the Make File options panel (see page 304).
  Real Media Real Media movie files are designed for playback on the Internet. Real Media movies can be played back by anyone around the world who has the RealNetworks RealPlayer software, which is a free download from. See page 308 for information about configuring your output with the Make File Real Media options panel. Sony PSP compatible This is another file format based on MPEG-4 video compression technology. As with the iPod-compatible type, the combination of powerful compression with a small 320x240 frame size produces very small output files relative to the more expansive formats. The generated files are compatible with the popular Sony PlayStation Portable devices, and may work with some other devices types as well.
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  Windows Media The Windows Media file format is also designed for streaming Internet playback. The files can be played on any computer where the Windows Media player a free program from Microsoft is installed. See page 311 for information about configuring your output with the Make File Real Media options panel.
  OUTPUT TO TAPE
  Choose the Tape tab on the Output Browser when you want to send your output to an external video device a television, camcorder or VCR or to VGA, for viewing on your monitor screen.
  Note: On machines that dont support recording back to the camcorder, including many PAL devices, the DV connector is called simply DV OUT.
  Output with analog audio / video cables If you have a Studio product with an analog (TV or video) output, such as Studio DVplus or DC10plus, connect the video outputs of the capture card to the inputs of the video recorder and the audio outputs of the sound card (or the capture card, if it has them) to the audio inputs of the video recorder. Connecting a TV set or video monitor Many camcorders have an integrated display, making it unnecessary to attach a video monitor. Otherwise, to view your movie as it is recorded, a TV set or a video monitor must be attached to the video outputs of your recorder. Video outputs are not always available on DV camcorders.
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  The Yahoo option offers two preset formats, Best Quality and Fast Upload. These provide different combinations of frame size and video data rate:
  Best Quality scales your video to a 480x480 frame
  size, and requires a data rate of 2400 Kbits/second. Fast Upload uses a 352x240 frame size, and requires a data rate of 1150 Kbits/second.
  The YouTube option offers only one preset, Best Quality. The frame size is 320x240, and the data rate is 256 Kbits/second.
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  No additional format settings are required for either destination. After selecting the upload site and preset you want, click the Create button. This opens the Web Upload dialog box, where you can enter editorial information about your production. Set the title, description and comma-separated search tags as desired, then check up to three categories in which your movie should be listed. If you have previously logged into your Yahoo! account from Studio, but this time want to use a different user ID, check the Login as a different user box. Unless you are already logged in, the Yahoo! Desktop Login dialog is now displayed. If you have an existing Yahoo! Identity, enter your user information now; otherwise, you must first click the Sign up link to set up a new Yahoo! account.
  Studio now automatically creates and uploads your movie. Click the Watch video online button if you would like to visit the Yahoo! Video site in your web browser to confirm the success of the upload.
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  APPENDIX A:
  Setup options
  Settings are provided to adjust various aspects of Studios operation. The default values have been chosen to work well for the majority of situations and hardware. However, you may wish to modify them to suit your work style or equipment configuration. About Studio setup options Studios setup options are divided between two tabbed dialog boxes, both with several panels. The Main Options dialog box has four panels covering options relating to Capture mode and Edit mode. Open this dialog box to any panel by selecting one of the commands in the first group on the Setup menu.
  The Make Movie Options dialog box has three panels, one for each of three media types: disc, file and tape. Access this dialog box by selecting one of the commands in the second group on the Setup menu.
  Option settings in Studio apply to both the current and future Studio sessions. There is no master reset.
  Appendix A: Setup options 283
  Video: The devices listed here may include both digital equipment connected via an IEEE-1394 cable and various types of analog video source (Studio DC10plus, TV tuner card, USB-connected camera, etc). Your selection determines the availability of some other Capture source settings, and of many settings on the Capture format panel. Audio: Your choice of audio devices is constrained by which video device is selected. With most analog devices, for instance, you can choose any of your sound card inputs; your equipment configuration determines which one you should use.
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  TV standard: Choose the standard that is compatible with your capture device and your TV or video monitor (NTSC or PAL). NTSC is the standard used in North America and Japan. PAL is the standard used in most other places. With some capture devices you may have an additional choice: the SECAM standard used in Russia, France and some other countries. If you purchased your Studio product in North America, the option is permanently set to NTSC. VCR input: This option, which is available with some analog capture devices, is available to help deal with the video instability that can arise from using old playback equipment not necessarily but typically a VCR or worn videotape. When the option is activated, capture will be more tolerant of A/V synchronization problems in the incoming signal. Capture preview: This option controls whether the incoming video will be previewed in the Player during capture. Because generating the preview uses a significant amount of processor time, previewing may cause dropped frames during capture on some systems. Only turn off the option if you are having a problem with dropped frames. Aspect ratio: This dropdown list specifies whether the video source for future analog captures should be interpreted as having normal (4:3) or widescreen (16:9) format. Scene detection during video capture The effect of these scene detection options is described under Automatic scene detection on page 26. The options that are actually available depend on the capture device being used: not all devices support all modes.
  Appendix A: Setup options 285
  The first option, Automatic scene detection based on shooting time and date, is available only if you are capturing from a DV source.
  Your DV camcorder records not only images and sound, but also the time, date, and various camera exposure settings (see your camcorder manual for more detail). This information is termed data code, and is transferred through the IEEE-1394 link along with the video and audio. Under the default setting, Studio uses the data code information to determine when each new scene begins. It grabs the first frame of each new scene to use as an icon for display in the Album. Data code does not work if the tape:
  includes one or more blank (unrecorded) sections is unreadable due to tape damage or electronic noise was recorded without the camcorder time or date set is a copy of another tape was shot on an 8mm or Hi8 camcorder, and is now
  being played back on a Digital8 camcorder. Under the final option No auto scene detection a new scene is created each time you press the [Space] key.
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  For a DV capture source, the main capture options are selected in the first of two dropdown lists. (The other list provides any applicable sub-options.) The choices are:
  DV: Full quality DV capture, which uses about 200
  MB of disk space per minute of video. There are no sub-options with this setting. DV capture is recommended over MPEG if outputting your project to videotape is a possibility. MPEG: Capturing to MPEG takes less space than DV but more time both when capturing and later, when you output your movie. The quality presets (High, Medium and Low) are available as suboptions, plus a Custom preset that lets you configure the video settings manually. The best preset to use is the lowest one that meets the requirements of all the
  Appendix A: Setup options 287
  devices on which your movie will be played. Use Low if you are outputting only for VCD; Medium if you need to accommodate S-VCD; and High if your movie will be output for DVD. Other types of capture device provide a single list of quality options generally Good, Better, Best and Custom.
  Studio AV/DV Analog captures use fixed capture settings with no further options. Video settings The settings available in this area depend on both the capture device and the options selected for it in the Presets area. Only applicable settings are shown. The settings are editable only if you are using a Custom preset. Options: This button gives you access to any setup options offered by the codec (compression/decompression software) you have chosen. Compression: Use this dropdown list to select the codec you want to use. Width, Height: These fields control the dimensions of the captured video. Frame rate: The number of frames per second you wish to capture. The two numerical options represent full-speed and half-speed video respectively. The lower number (14.985 for NTSC, 12.50 for PAL or SECAM) saves disk space at the expense of smoothness.
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  Quality, Data rate: Some codecs present quality options in terms of a compression percentage (Quality), and others in terms of the required data transfer rate in KB/sec (Data rate). MPEG type: Select one of the two flavors of MPEG encoding: MPEG1 or MPEG2. The former is almost universally supported on Windows computers; the latter gives better quality for a given compression ratio. Resolution: This is a dropdown list giving the resolutions available with the capture options you have picked. Increasing both the width (the first figure) and the height by a factor of two increases the amount of data to be processed by a factor of four. Fast encode: This option speeds up the encoding process with some reduction in quality when capturing to an MPEG file. You may want to evaluate the effect of this option in your production using a short test capture.
  Audio settings These audio capture settings are editable only if you are using a Custom preset.
  Include audio: Clear this checkbox if you are not planning to use the captured audio in your production.
  Appendix A: Setup options 289 an MPEG preset for the capture format.
  Project preferences
  These settings are split into five areas, which are covered in the subtopics below. Hardware settings
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  relating to editing are on the Video and audio preferences panel (see page 294). Editing environment Automatically save and load my projects: If this option is checked, Studio will continually update your stored project while you work without you having to save your changes explicitly. If you would prefer to look after your own loads and saves, leave this option unchecked. Show large storyboard thumbnails: Check this box to get more detail in the thumbnail frames shown by Storyboard view in the Movie Window. Show premium content, Show premium features: Premium content and features allow you to expand Studio easily and conveniently when you need more resources or more power to enhance your movies. Premium content refers to add-on effects, transitions, titles, menus and sound effects. Premium features refers to pan and zoom, chroma key, and other advanced capabilities. Check the boxes if you would like the premium items to be listed in the Album and other appropriate places in Studio. In general, when you click on a premium item you will be offered the chance to purchase and install it immediately, without leaving Studio, if you have an Internet connection available. See Expanding Studio on page 11 for further information. Project format By default, your Studio movie project is in the same video format as the first clip you add to it. If you want
  Appendix A: Setup options 291
  to force new projects to a different format, click Use this format for new projects, and select your desired format from the dropdown list.. When adding a disc menu When you place a disc menu on the Timeline, Studio inquires whether you want to generate chapter links from the menu to all the clips that follow it (at least
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  until the next menu). The choices on this dropdown list let you avoid the confirmation dialog by specifying that you always dont or always do want the links to be created, or that you want Studio to create links from a new menu to its chapters and also return links back to the menu from the end of each chapter. A final option, Ask if chapters should be created, enables the confirmation dialog, restoring the factory default.
  Minimum chapter length: If you have specified that Studio should create chapter links automatically when you add a menu, multiple clips are combined into chapters if necessary to achieve this minimum duration. Folder for auxiliary files Studio generates auxiliary files in many circumstances as you edit and output your project. These are all stored under the disk folder specified here. Click the Folder button to change the auxiliary files location usually because you need to save space on a particular drive.
  Delete: This button opens the Delete Auxiliary Files dialog, which lets you recover hard drive space by deleting files created while your project was being rendered.
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  For previewing on a computer monitor, the default preview, at quarter-frame resolution, is probably quite good enough. If you have exacting requirements for the preview, and particularly if you are targeting an external output device for preview (by selecting it on the External dropdown list), you may need to check Enable full-resolution preview. On some machines there may be a noticeable performance cost to this option. Enable hardware acceleration takes advantage of the advanced capabilities of your graphics card where applicable. The option should be checked unless you are having display problems during preview. The Show full screen preview on dropdown list lets you specify how Studio should preview when you click the
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  full-screen button on the Player. The options available on the list depend on your display hardware. On a single monitor system, a full-screen preview (other than external) must obviously use the same screen as Studios own interface. This is the Main VGA monitor option. In this special instance, full-screen playback begins from the current play position when you click the full-screen button, and ends either at the end of the movie or when you press the Esc key.
  With a dual-monitor computer system, you would normally use your second screen as a full-size preview monitor and leave Studio unobscured on your main screen. The display on the second monitor is controlled entirely by the full-screen button, independently of whether your movie is playing back or paused. The most straightforward option for full-screen preview is Second VGA monitor. In this mode, the preview is scaled to use as much as possible of the monitor display (without disturbing the aspect ratio of the video). The Player preview on the main screen remains blank, conserving processing power. When a second display is available, this is the recommended mode for most users. The remaining two options are special modes that allow full-screen output on one monitor while still providing a normal preview within the Studio window. These
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  modes are offered only if your dual-output video card is one of the following types:
  ATI Radeon 9600 (or better) with version 5.8
  (minimum) of the Catalyst display driver. In order to use the additional preview modes, you must deactivate the second monitor in the Display Properties dialog (or the Catalyst control center) before launching Studio. nVidia GeForce Fx5xxx or better, or an equivalent card in the Quadro series. The minimum driver versions are 81.85 (GeForce) and 81.64 (Quadro). Before launching Studio, the second monitor must be activated as a Windows desktop extension (not in the Span or Clone modes). Studio checks on start-up to see if these conditions are met. If so, the remaining options are made available: Second VGA, small preview on main VGA: This option goes beyond the other full-screen modes by reconfiguring the monitor display to match the exact format of your projects video specifications for frame format and refresh rate. For instance, if your project format is 720x480 with the NTSC refresh rate of 60 Hz, the monitor will be put into that mode for the most accurate possible preview. At the same time, the usual small Player preview is displayed on the main screen.
  Note: Even if you have the correct graphics card, the desired format may still not be supported by a particular monitor. If Studio determines that to be the case, it tries to fall back to the final preview mode (next paragraph). If any instability occurs with your hardware set-up, reverting to one of the basic modes covered above is strongly recommended.
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  Safe mode second VGA, small preview: In this mode, Studio matches your project video format as well as possible to the formats supported by the monitor. For instance, if the 720x480 frame format is unavailable, Studio will set the display to 800x600 and center the frame on the monitor screen. Similarly, if the monitor does not support 50 Hz (PAL) output at a particular screen size, it will display at 60 Hz instead. Voice-over recording Microphone: A dropdown list of choices for attaching a microphone to your hardware. Channels, Sample rate: These settings control audio quality. A typical setting for voice-overs is 16-bit mono at 22.05 kHz.
  Background rendering Rendering is the process of generating video for footage that uses HFX transitions, effects or other computationally demanding features of Studio. Until such video has been rendered, it may not display smoothly and with full detail during preview. Studio is able to carry out rendering behind the scenes while you work, a feature called background rendering.
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  Enable background rendering: Uncheck this box if you do not want to use background rendering at all. One might do this on a slower computer if intensive rendering were causing other operations to become sluggish. Set codec automatically: Let Studio decide which codec to use for encoding your rendered video. Use this codec for background rendering: If you know that your project is going to DV tape, choosing DV as your background rendering format may reduce the rendering time of your final movie. You would normally choose MPEG for as the rendering codec for disc-bound movies for the same reason. Another consideration arises if you are planning to preview your video on an external device (Studio Plus only). In such cases you may need to set the project format and the background rendering codec to suit the device. For instance, if you are previewing on an analog monitor plugged into your DV camcorder, you should do your background rendering in DV.
  Surround-sound playback Check Enable discrete 5.1 playback if the audio system you use when previewing your Studio project supports discrete 5.1 audio. Leave it unchecked if you are previewing in surround-sound with a Pro Logic compatible system, or in stereo.
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  CD drive (for ripping audio files) If you have used any music from CD in your project, Studio digitally transfers (rips) the audio data from the disc to the computer. The dropdown list here lets you select which CD device to use for ripping, if you have more than one available. movies soundtrack are offered:
  PCM encoding for stereo sound is supported by all
  DVD players, but takes up more space on the DVD than MPEG. MPEG audio, in MPA (MPEG-1 Layer 2) format, is always provided on PAL DVD players. On NTSC players it is broadly supported, but theoretically optional. Dolby Digital 2-channel encoding can be used to compactly store either a stereo or a surround soundtrack. To hear the surround mix requires equipment with Dolby Pro Logic compatibility. On other systems, it will sound like a normal stereo mix. Dolby Digital 5.1-channel encoding stores the surround channels discretely. To hear the surround
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  Burn options dont (see page 302)..
  Media and device options Target media: Choose an entry from this dropdown list matching the type and capacity of the disc to which you are burning your project. Disc writer device: If you have more than one disc burner on your system, select the one you want Studio to use.
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  Appendix A: Setup options 303.
  for a special purpose (such as distribution via the Internet) where there may be requirements involving characteristics such as frame size.
  The common Make File settings panel is shared by all file types except Real Media and Windows Media. Not all the options are available for all file types.
  Note: MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files require special decoder software. Without a matching decoder installed on your PC you will not be able to play files of these types.
  Video settings Include video: This option is on by default. Clearing the checkbox causes the output file to have audio only. List all codecs: By default this checkbox is not checked, so only those codecs are listed that have been certified by Pinnacle Systems for use with Studio. If you check the option, all codecs installed on your PC will be listed, whether certified or not.
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  Using codecs that have not been certified by Pinnacle Systems may produce undesirable results. Pinnacle Systems cannot provide technical support for problems associated with the use of uncertified codecs. Options: The Options button opens a codec-specific option panel if one is available. Compression: Choose the compressor (codec) that is most suitable for your intended use. When making an AVI file, youll want to choose your compression settings for the capabilities of, and codecs supported by, the intended viewers computer platform.
  Resolution: This is a dropdown list of presets providing standard Width and Height options. The Custom preset lets you set the dimensions directly. Width, Height: The frame size is measured in pixels. The default setting is the resolution at which Studio captures. Decreasing the width and height greatly decreases file size.
  Frame rate: The standard frame rate is 29.97 frames per second for NTSC, and 25 frames per second for PAL. You may want to set the frame rate lower for applications such as Web video.
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  Quality, Data rate: Depending on the codec being used, you can adjust the quality percentage or data rate with the slider. The higher the percentage or rate you choose, the larger the resulting file.
  Audio settings If you want to keep file sizes to a minimum, audio for many digital uses can be set to 8-bit mono at 11 kHz. As a rule of thumb, try 8-bit 11 kHz for audio that is mostly speech, and 16-bit stereo at 22 or 44 kHz for audio that is predominantly music. As a benchmark, CD-ROM music is 16-bit stereo sampled at 44 kHz. Another convenient rule of thumb for audio compression is that 11 kHz is roughly equivalent to AM radio quality; 22 kHz equates to FM radio quality; and 16-bit stereo, 44 kHz is audio CD quality. Include audio: This option is on by default. Clearing the checkbox causes the output file to be silent. Options: The Options button opens a codec-specific option panel if one is available. Compression: The codecs listed here will vary with the file type. Channels: Possible choices on this list include Mono, Stereo and MultiChannel, depending on the file type. File size increases when additional channels are used. Sample rate: Digital audio is produced by taking regular instantaneous samples of the continuous analog waveform. The more samples, the better the sound. For example, audio CDs are recorded at 44 kHz, 16-bit
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  stereo. Audio can be sampled at frequencies as low as 11 kHz for some digital uses, particularly for speech. Data rate: This dropdown controls the data rate, and hence the compression ratio, for audio. Higher data rates yield higher quality at the cost of larger files.
  Data settings The Sony PSP Compatible file type provides an area named Data in which you can specify a title for your saved movie. General settings These are the same as described for the Make Disc tab on page 303.
  Keywords: This field accepts up to 256 characters, and allows you to encode keywords into each movie. It is typically used to identify the movie for Internet search engines.
  Video quality: These choices let you balance the rival requirements of image quality and frame rate.
  No video: When this selection is made, the output
  file will contain audio only. Normal motion video: Recommended for mixed content clips to balance video motion and image clarity. Smoothest motion video: Recommended for clips that contain limited action, such as newscasts or interviews, to enhance overall video motion. Sharpest image video: Recommended for highaction clips to enhance overall image clarity. Slide show: The video appears as a series of still photos, providing the best overall image clarity.
  Audio quality: This dropdown menu lets you choose the characteristics of your audio track. Studio uses this
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  information to select the best audio compression for your Real Media file. Each successive option provides better audio quality but a larger resulting file.
  No audio: When this selection is made, the output
  file will contain video only. Voice only: This option provides adequate quality for spoken audio in clips without music. Voice with background music: This option is designed for situations where, even though background music may be present, the spoken audio predominates. Music: Use this option for a monaural track in which music is prominently featured. Stereo music: Use this option for a stereo music track.
  Web server: The RealServer option allows you to create a file that can be streamed from a RealNetworks RealServer. The RealServer supports a special feature that senses the connect speed of the viewers modem, and adjusts its transmission rate to suit. The option allows you to select up to seven Target audience data rates. Because the file size, and your upload time, increase with each data rate you add, select only those target audiences you think are actually needed. To make use of the RealServer option, the ISP hosting your web-site must have the RealServer software installed. If you are unsure, contact your ISP for confirmation, or use the standard HTTP option, which allows you to optimize playback for exactly one of the Target audience options.
  Note: GeoCities homesteaders.
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  Target audience: This selects the target audience modem connect speed. The lower the speed, the lower the quality of the video. If you wish your viewers to be able to view your movie as it loads, you should select a target audience rate that their modems can handle. When you select a target audience, you are actually specifying a maximum bandwidth for your RealMedia stream. Bandwidth, measured in kilobits per second (Kbps), is the amount of data that can be sent through an Internet or network connection in a given time span. Standard modems (those that use ordinary telephone lines) are classified by the bandwidth they are able to process. Common values are 28.8 and 56 Kbps. In addition to these standard audiences, you can record clips for connection speeds of 100 Kbps, 200 Kbps, or higher. These higher bandwidths are suitable for audiences that use corporate Local Area Networks (LANs), cable modems or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modems..
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  markers.
  Markers for every clip: Markers are automatically
  created for every clip in the movie. If you have not given the clip a custom name, a default one will be generated for it based on the project name.
  Markers for named clips only: Markers are
  generated only for those clips to which you have given a custom name.
  If you are printing (making tape) to a DV device, you can choose to have Studio start and stop the device automatically instead of having to do it yourself.
  Appendix A: Setup options 313
  Click the Make Movie button on the main menu bar. The upper half of the screen changes to display the Make Movie window.
  2. 3. 4.
  Click the Tape tab. Click the Settings button. The Make tape options panel opens. Check the Automatically start and stop recording box to enable the automatic function. This setting makes it unnecessary to manually start recording in step 6. With most DV devices there is a small delay between receiving the command to record and the actual start of recording. In Studio, this is referred to as the record delay time. It varies from device to device, so you may need to experiment with the value for best results with your particular device.
  5. 6.
  Click OK. Click Create. Studio renders your movie, then prompts you to press the play button on the Player. If you did not check the automatic option (step 4), you must manually start the device recording before pressing the play button; otherwise Studio itself sends the record command. Studio outputs the first frame of your movie (without audio) for the duration entered as the record delay time, giving the device time to bring the tape up to speed and begin recording. Hint: When you play back your tape, if the first part of your movie was not recorded, you should increase the Record delay time setting. On the other
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  hand, if your movie begins by holding onto the first frame as though it were a still photograph, you should decrease the setting. Hint: If you wish to send black to your recording device during its record delay time, place a blank title in the video track just before the start of your movie (a blank title is video black). If you wish to record black at the end of your movie, place a blank title in the video track following the final frame of your movie. Analog output If you are printing to an analog device, the choice of Composite or S-Video format may be available if supported by your hardware.
  Output to the screen One of the options on the Video dropdown in the Playback devices area is VGA display. With this option, your completed project will be played back onto your monitor screen rather than to an external device.
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  APPENDIX B:
  Hardware
  To use Studio effectively, your hardware should be optimally prepared and configured. Preparing your hard drive Prior to capturing video, consider working through the following steps, especially if you have an older system, if your capture drive is running low on space, or if you have already seen evidence of possible hard drive problems:
  down as many other applications and background programs as possible. This includes important security software such as anti-virus and anti-spyware utilities, so Pinnacle recommends strongly that you also disconnect from the Internet
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  (or set your firewall to block all Internet traffic) when taking this step. Software utilities are available to assist with closing background processes.
  Right-click on the name of your capture drive in
  Windows Explorer, and select Properties on the popup menu. On the Tools tab of the Disk Properties dialog, click Check Now and run a detailed scan of the drive to make sure that it is error free. When this is complete, click Defragment Now; the system defragmenter utility will arrange your drive contents to leave the largest possible contiguous free area for your capture files. Scanning and defragmenting a drive are both lengthy operations, so you may wish to let them run during times when you are planning to be away from the computer.
  Temporarily turn off your screen saver and any
  power management features you have set up on the Windows Screen Saver dialog box.
  Note: Video-editing programs do not multitask very well. Do not use any other program while outputting your movie to videotape or optical disc, or when capturing. You can multitask while editing.
  RAM calls for 2 GB at minimum.
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  Motherboard Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz:
  For typical use, at least 64 MB of onboard memory
  (128 MB preferred). For Windows Vista, at least 128 MB (256 MB preferred). For HD and AVCHD, at least 256 MB (512 MB preferred).
  To adjust the display in Windows Vista: Position your mouse over your Desktop, right click, and select Personalize. In the Personalize appearance and sounds window click the Display settings link. The Display Settings dialog box appears. 2. If you have multiple monitors, select the one to which the new setting should apply. 3. Under Colors, choose Medium (16 bit).
  1.
  The color setting affects only the display on the computer monitor. Recorded sequences will appear in full color and resolution at the video output.
  Failure to do this will result in unnecessarily long rendering times and the possibility of visible flaws when the animation is played back.
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  APPENDIX C:
  Troubleshooting
  Before you begin troubleshooting, take some time to check your hardware and software installation. Update your software: We recommend installing the latest operating system updates for Windows XP and Windows Vista. You can download these updates from:
  windowsupdate.microsoft.com/default.htm
  Make sure you have the latest version of the Studio software installed by clicking the Help Software Updates menu from within the program. Studio will use the Internet to check for possible updates. Check your hardware: Ensure that all installed hardware is functioning normally with the latest drivers, and is not flagged as having a problem in the Windows Device Manager (see below). If any devices are flagged you should resolve the issue before starting installation. Get the latest drivers: We also highly recommend installing the latest drivers for your sound card and graphics card. During the Studio software launch process we do verify that your sound card and video card support DirectX. See Update audio and video drivers on page 327 for help with this process.
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 321
  Opening Device Manager The Windows XP and Windows Vista Device Manager, which lets you configure your systems hardware, has an important role in troubleshooting. The first step in accessing Device Manager is to rightclick on My Computer, then select Properties from the context menu. This opens the System Properties dialog. The Device Manager button is on the Hardware tab in XP, and is listed on the left side panel in Vista. Ensure that all installed hardware is functioning normally with the latest drivers, and that nothing has been flagged in the Device Manager with the yellow exclamation mark icon indicating an error condition. In the case of a driver problem that you cannot resolve yourself, contact the device manufacturer or your computer vendor for assistance..
  322 Pinnacle Studio
  The knowledge base home page will appear. You dont 12. If appropriate, you can also select a Sub-Product, a Category, or both. Selecting a sub-product or category may reduce the number of irrelevant hits you will get from your search, but may also eliminate helpful articles of a more general nature. If youre not sure what category to pick, leave the selection at All Categories. To search for an article, type a short phrase or group of keywords in the text box. Dont
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 323.
  324
  The remainder of this chapter draws on some of the knowledge-base articles most consulted by users. The text presented here is generally less detailed than that provided on-line. For the full text available under each Answer ID, please refer to the on-line knowledge base.
  Pinnacle Studio
  smudges and fingerprints. Clean off the disc with a soft cloth if necessary. Avoid using paper towels or any other material that could be abrasive and scratch the disc. Wipe from the center of the disc to the outer edge. Dont use a circular motion. Once the disc is clean, retry the installation. If the disc is damaged with deep scratches or cracks so that it wont install, please contact Pinnacle support for a replacement. Try another drive: If you have a second optical drive of a compatible type, try installing from it. Prune your startup: If you are familiar with the msconfig utility, follow the procedure to eliminate programs run at Windows startup that could interfere with the Windows installer. See Editing startup applications on page 342 for details. Install from the hard drive: In this procedure, you boot into Window Safe Mode, copy the contents of the Studio installation disc onto your hard drive, then execute the install from there. We recommend consulting Answer ID 13122 on the Pinnacle website for the latest advice on this approach.
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 325 12 installed. The latest version can be found on our website at:
  326 Pinnacle Studio
  Be sure to close all other programs before installing a new version. Adjust Studio settings: Choose No background rendering in the Rendering dropdown list, and clear the Use hardware acceleration checkbox. Both options are found on the Edit options panel (see page 290). End background tasks: Close other applications and unload any background processes before using Studio. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open the Task Manager. You probably wont see much under the Applications tab, but the Processes tab will show you the software that is currently running. It can be difficult to be sure which processes should not be closed, but software utilities are available that can assist with this procedure. Defragment your hard drive: Over time, the files on your hard drive can become fragmented (stored in multiple parts in different areas of the drive), which slows down access and may lead to performance problems. Use a disk defragmenter utility like the one supplied with Windows to prevent or correct this problem. Access the built-in defragmenter with the Disk defragmenter command on your Programs Accessories System tools menu. Update audio and video drivers: Make sure that you have obtained the latest drivers for your sound and video cards from their manufacturers web-sites. Even a brand-new computer may be sold with outdated drivers installed, and should be checked for updates. You can see what sound and video cards you have in the Windows Device Manager. To determine what video card you have, click the plus sign in front of Display Adapters in the Device Manager list. The name of your video card is now
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 327
  displayed. Double-clicking the name opens another dialog, where you choose the Driver tab. Now you can view information about the drivers manufacturer, and the names of the drivers constituent files. The sound card is displayed in the Sound, video and game controllers section of Device Manager. Again, double-clicking the name lets you access the driver details. Go to the manufacturers web-sites to get the latest drivers for your sound and graphics cards. Many users have NVIDIA or ATI graphics cards, for which the latest drivers are available at: and
  Those with Sound Blaster audio cards can get updates here:
  us.creative.com
  Update Windows: Make sure you have all the latest Windows updates that are available. Adjust for best performance: Use this system option to turn off visual extras that consume additional CPU time. Right-click My Computer, select Properties from the context menu, then click on the Advanced tab. Under Performance, click the Settings button to open the Performance Options dialog. Select the Adjust for best performance option and click OK. Update DirectX: Update to the latest version of DirectX. You can download it from Microsoft here:
  Open up space on your boot drive: Make sure you have 10 GB or more free space on your boot drive for paging.
  328 Pinnacle Studio
  Uninstall, reinstall and update Studio: In case your Studio installation has become corrupted, try this procedure: Uninstall Studio: Click on Start Programs Studio 12 Tools Uninstall Studio 12, then follow any on-screen.
  1.
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 329
  particular clip you have may be corrupt or in an
  330 Pinnacle Studio
  that produces the failure, you will need to be methodical in your approach. Creating a small test project, as described for Case 2, helps eliminate variables that may confuse your test results.
  Set the Studio capture source to 1394: Under Capture Devices in the Capture source options panel, make sure that both video and audio are set to DV Camcorder Pinnacle 1394, and click OK. Studio is now set to capture using the 1394 port.
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting
  331
  If no DV Camcorder option is listed, Windows is not loading the driver for the 1394 Host Controller. Skip to the Device Manager step below to troubleshoot this problem. Once the driver is loaded properly, verify that capture in Studio is successful.
  2.
  camcorder vendors may use different terminology such as VTR or VCR. They all mean the same thing, that the camcorder is going to play from the tape. The camcorder cannot be in Camera mode.
  The camcorder must be turned on. It should be
  the camcorder and the computer, making sure that both ends are properly seated. If you have more than one 1394 port, try all of them. Studio will not capture from a DV or Digital 8 camcorder unless it is connected via the DV/Firewire/1394 port (not a USB port).
  3.
  Device Manager: Check Device Manager to verify that both the 1394 controller and the Digital camcorder drivers are loaded.
  Click on Start Control Panel. In the Control error icon, the device is not loaded properly.
  The driver for the camcorder is listed under
  Imaging devices as a brandname DV camcorder (substituting Sony, Canon, JVC, etc. for brandname). If this device has an exclamation mark error icon, it is not loaded properly.
  If you cannot get either device to install properly,
  you should contact the support department of the company concerned. message when the camcorder is turned on as the device is detected. If your 1394 port is on a separate card (not part of your motherboard), shut down the computer and move the 1394 card into another PCI slot. If you don't have an available slot, swap places with another PCI card. Restart the computer. The hardware wizard should detect the new hardware automatically. Follow any on-screen instructions to finish loading the driver if any appear. If Device Manager now reports that the card is loaded
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 333
  AM Capture (often shortened to AmCap): If both the 1394 controller and DV camcorder drivers are listed properly in Device Manager and Studio will still not capture from the device, then try to capture using AM Capture, a small, basic, capture utility from Microsoft that can capture from DV devices.
  Click
  Studio
  Select the Device Microsoft DV Camera and Run through the checklist in Step 2 above to
  Capture. If AmCap is unable to capture from the DV device, something is evidently wrong with either the 1394 driver or the DV driver, both of which are part of Windows XP. Please contact either Microsoft or your computer vendor for assistance. If you are familiar with the XP Repair procedure, some customers have had success running it to fix 1394 driver problems. If AM Capture does work, we recommend you uninstall and reinstall Studio. As a workaround, you can capture your video in AmCap then import it into Studio for editing.
  334 Pinnacle Studio
  Analog capture devices If you are capturing from an analog source (8mm or Hi8 camcorder, VCR, etc), make sure that both video and audio are set to the analog device you are using. Select your hardware on the lists provided under Capture Devices in the Capture source options panel:
  sound card's Line In; then, Cable the analog audio source (VCR or analog camcorder) to the Line in on the sound card. Note: If you now get a different error when capturing: A valid signal has not been detected, please continue to the topic below.
  Work through the following troubleshooting steps in turn until you solve the problem:
  Cabling: As the error message suggests, an obvious
  first step is to verify that your cables are properly plugged in. The video out connector of your video source (camcorder, VCR) must be connected to the video in connector of your capture device, using either a composite (RCA) cable or an S-Video cable. Capture source settings: In Studio, click on Setup Capture Source and verify that the Capture device setting for both video and audio is set to the correct device (such as Pinnacle 500-USB). While you are there, turn on the VCR Input option, and make sure that your TV standard is set correctly: for example, to NTSC in North America, and to PAL in Europe. Video input setting in Studio: The video input on the slide-out panel on the Diskometer must be set correctly for the cables and connectors you are using, either composite or S-Video. The video source must be playing: Turn on your camcorder or VCR and press play, making sure you are not at the end of the tape. On many camcorders and VCRs, input signal not detected can appear if the device is paused or stopped. Ensure that the device is playing video before pressing the Start Capture button. Preview window: Video should be playing in the preview window after you complete the previous steps. If the preview is not working, continue to the next step now. Leave and return to Capture mode: After verifying that your video source is playing, click first on the Edit tab in Studio, then switch back to the
  Pinnacle Studio
  336
  Capture tab. This simple fix has been reported to help in some instances. Other USB devices: If your capture device is connected to the computer using USB, try disconnecting all other USB devices, then retry the capture. If this is still unsuccessful, shut down the Studio program, disconnect and immediately reconnect the capture device, then relaunch Studio. Reinstall capture driver: Shut down Studio and reinstall the capture driver. If the capture device is not a Pinnacle device, contact the manufacturer for assistance.
  typically does not stop in the same spot if rendering is attempted multiple times. Case 3: Render stops at the same spot in a project no matter how many times rendering is attempted. Case 1: Rendering stops immediately If the hang occurs immediately upon clicking the Create button, there is some configuration problem on
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 337
  your system. Try rendering the supplied demo video. If this fails, the problem is confirmed as a system issue, since we have not been able to reproduce a render problem with the demo file during our in-house testing. Possible solutions:
  Uninstall and reinstall Studio. Uninstall other software that might conflict with
  Studio (other video editing software, other video codecs, etc.). Try rendering to other file or disc types in Studio. Try creating MPEG 1 and MPEG 2 files, and an AVI file in DV format. Can you create VCDs and DVDs? Knowing what works, and what does not, may be crucial in identifying and solving the problem. Make sure that you have installed any available Windows service packs. Reinstall Windows over itself (that is, without uninstalling first). In Windows XP, this procedure is called Repair. Case 2: Rendering stops randomly If the render hangs at random points even within the same project, the failures may be due to background tasks, power management or a thermal problem in the computer. Possible solutions:
  Check your hard drive for errors and defragment it. End any background tasks, such as virus checkers,
  drive indexers and fax modems. Turn off any power management. Install cooling fans in the computer case.
  338 Pinnacle Studio
  Case 3: Render always stops at the same point If rendering always hangs at the same spot in a particular project, see if other projects have the same problem. If not, the problem project could be corrupt; if they do, try to isolate a common factor. Finding a solution to this type of failure is much easier if you can identify a particular item in the project that is causing the rendering to stop. Removing the item or trimming it may allow the rendering to complete, though in some cases the failure may simply turn up elsewhere in the project. Other possible solutions and workarounds:
  Look at the clips in the project for corrupt video
  frames. These may show up as gray, black, blocky or distorted frames. If you find any, trim the clip to exclude the offending frames. You could also try recapturing the footage. Defragment your hard drive. Ensure that you have ample free space preferably tens of gigabytes on the hard drive you use for video. Rendering may use large amounts of storage, and can be disrupted if space is insufficient. If you have a separate capture drive, make sure to move the auxiliary files folder to that drive. Copy the section where the render stops and paste it into a new project. Include 15 to 30 seconds on either side of the error. Try rendering this excerpt to an AVI file and, if successful, use the file to replace the offending section of the original project. If you are creating a DVD or other optical disc type, remove all menus from the project and render the rest to an AVI. If this succeeds, create a new project,
  339
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting
  import the AVI file, and add your menus. Rendering will now consume fewer resources, and thus be more likely to succeed.
  the Studio icon. Wait a few minutes to confirm that the application is really hung. Even when you suspect Studio has failed to launch, wait a few minutes more just in case. On some computers, the launch process may take longer to complete than you anticipate. Uninstall and reinstall Studio. (See page 329 for instructions.) Start Windows in Safe mode. If Studio still wont launch under Safe mode, your installation may be corrupt. An uninstall and reinstall of Studio should deal with this. If Studio does launch under Safe mode, the issue probably relates to a faulty device driver or an application conflict. Try to narrow it down further:
  340 Pinnacle Studio
  external devices such as Dazzle and MovieBox. If Studio now launches, reconnect the device and reopen Studio. If it fails, continue to the next step.
  If you have a webcam, try launching Studio with the
  device unplugged, and again with it plugged in. If the launch succeeds in one of these states but not the other, make sure to use the same set-up whenever you launch Studio in the future.
  Next, investigate capture cards mounted in your
  computer. To see what capture devices are present, use the AM Capture utility (Start All Programs Studio 12 Tools AM Capture), and click on the Devices pull-down menu. One by one, try physically disconnecting the devices listed. You can also try uninstalling the applicable drivers.
  Download and install the latest drivers for your
  sound and graphics cards from the manufacturers web-sites. Both must support DirectX. Many users have either NVIDIA or ATI graphics cards, for which the latest drivers are available at and.
  If you have a sound card (rather than a motherboard-
  based sound device), try removing it from the system. Some older sound cards may not work well with newer versions of Windows. This can be verified by shutting down the computer, removing the sound card and restarting. If Studio launches, you probably need to replace the sound card.
  End background tasks. You can use either the End
  Process button in the Windows Task Manager, or one of the available software utilities designed to assist with this procedure. Alternatively, you can prevent unnecessary (and possibly conflicting) tasks
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 341
  from ever being run by editing your list of startup programs. Editing startup applications To keep applications from loading when your PC is started (or rebooted): Click on Start Run 2. In the Open box, type: msconfig 3. Click OK In the System Configuration Utility window, click on the far right tab called Startup. Remove all checks from the boxes except for Explorer and System Tray (SysTray.exe).
  1.
  Software Updates menu command to make sure you have the latest updates to the Studio program. Use the Safe mode burn option in Make Disc settings: In Studio, click on Setup Make Disc. Under the box marked Burn Options, select Safe mode: create disc content and then burn, by clicking first on the radio button for the setting, then OK. Stay with this setting until finished troubleshooting.
  342 Pinnacle Studio
  Now try to create the disc again using the safe mode setting as above.
  Restart the computer: Try opening the door of the
  DVD burner. If it wont open, shut down Studio, then restart the computer. After relaunching Studio, try to create the DVD using the safe mode setting..
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 343
  no obvious smudges or scratches on the disc surface. Verify that the expected folders and files have actually been created on the burned DVD. Insert the DVD into a DVD ROM drive. Under My Computer, right-click on the drive that the disc is in and choose Explore. See if there are folders on the disc. There should be two folders on the DVD, named AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. The audio folder should be empty. The video folder should contain .bup, .ifo and .vob files. If the disc is in fact blank, you are dealing with a burn problem rather than a playback problem. In that case, please check out Answer ID 13874 in the on-line knowledge base. Try playing back the DVD on your computer. The disc should play back in a software DVD player like PowerDVD or WinDVD, as well as in applications like Windows Media Player and RealPlayer. Ensure that your DVD player is designed to play the type of media you are using. Not all DVD players will play every DVD disc format. The DVD player manufacturers web-site should list the types of disc formats your particular device supports. Another good place to check for compatibility is:
  344 Pinnacle Studio
  Tip: While troubleshooting burn or playback issues, using rewritable media will prevent wasting discs.
  being used meets the minimum system requirements for Studio as described in the Getting Started section of your user manual. Remember that some features (such as HD video editing) have more demanding requirements than others. Update the Studio software: Check on-line for possible Studio updates by clicking the Help Software Updates menu from within the program. Verify that the capture device is detected: Ensure that your capture device is being properly detected by checking in the Windows Device Manager. If installed correctly, the capture device will be displayed in Device Manager. If it is not displayed there, or if it has an error icon (a yellow exclamation mark), please check Answer ID 13932 in the Pinnacle on-line knowledge base. Capture preview option: Make sure that the Capture preview option is turned on in the Capture source options panel.
  Appendix C: Troubleshooting 345
  preview window is of very poor quality when capturing from a Pinnacle device (Studio 500-USB, Studio 700-USB, or MovieBox Deluxe), it is likely that the VCR Input checkbox has not been checked. Rectify this in the Capture source options panel. Graphics card hardware acceleration: Try lowering the hardware acceleration for the graphics card. After closing the Studio software, open the Display Settings dialog from the Windows Control Panel, and click the button to open the Advanced Settings dialog. On the Troubleshoot tab of that dialog, there is typically a horizontal slider that allows the adjustment of the hardware acceleration setting of the graphics card (not all drivers allow this adjustment). If the setting is available, try adjusting it downward by one level, then restart Studio and see if the performance has improved. If it has not, close Studio again and move the slider one more notch to the left. Repeat until the problem is solved or all hardware acceleration settings have been tried. Update drivers: Make sure that you have obtained the latest drivers for your sound and video cards from their manufacturers web-sites. See page 327 for details on how to do this. Adjust display settings: Sometimes with higher graphics card display settings selected, the Studio video preview window may not perform as expected. Close Studio and open the Display Settings dialog from the Windows Control Panel. You can try changing either or both of the Screen Resolution and Color Quality settings. Try different resolutions, such as 800x600 or 1024x768, with 32-bit color selected. At each setting, start Studio and look for improved performance in the preview window.
  346 Pinnacle Studio
  used, try using only one monitor and see if performance improves. Run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool: Open the Windows Run dialog (Windows+R), type dxdiag, and press Enter. To check for errors in the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, look at the Notes section in the various tabs of the tool. Any problem found should be referred to the vendor of the device displaying it. Background processes: Try reducing the load on your system by ending background processes that are not needed. See page 327 for more information. Suspend virus scanners and other continuouslyscanning applications: Although it serves a vital purpose, virus scanner software can hinder performance in computationally intensive video operations. As a test, try disabling the virus scanner and see if it helps. (To ensure the continued wellbeing of your system, Pinnacle recommends disconnecting from the Internet while your virus scanner is off-line.) Other candidates for suspension include popular indexing tools or services such as Google Desktop Search, Yahoo Desktop Search and Adobe Photoshop Album Importer. Increase the priority of Studio: In some cases it can be helpful to increase the priority of the Studio application in the Windows Task Manager. In the list of processes, right-click Studio.exe and select Set Priority. Try setting the priority to AboveNormal or High. Click Yes when Task Manager asks you to confirm the change, then retry capturing in Studio. If the priority change appears to have any undesirable result, simply it back to Normal. Reinstall Studio: If none of the previous steps have helped, try uninstalling and reinstalling Studio.
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  Appendix C: Troubleshooting
  APPENDIX D:
  Videography tips. Studio has the tools to create professional-quality home video. The rest is up to you the videographer..
  Title: Jack on the kart track
  No. 1 Camera angle Jack's face with helmet, camera zooms out Text / Audio Jack is driving his first race.... Noise of engines in the background. 2 On the starting line, driver's perspective; low camera position. Music is played in the hall, noise of engines. 8 sec Tue. 06/22 Duration 11 sec Date Tue. 06/22
  Man with a starting flag is Let's go.... accompanied into the Carry out the start, scene to the start add starting signal. position. Camera stays, man goes out of the scene after start. Jack on the start position from the front, camera follows, shows Jack up to the bend, now from behind. ... Music from the hall no longer audible, fade up same music from CD over noise of engines.
  12 sec
  Tue. 06/22
  9 sec
  Tue. 06/22
  Editing
  Using varying perspectives An important event should always be shot from varying perspectives and camera positions. Later, during
  350 Pinnacle Studio
  editing, you can use the best camera angles alone or in combination. Make a conscious effort to tape events from more than one camera angle (first the clown in the circus ring, but then also the laughing spectator from the clowns point of view). Interesting events can also take place behind the protagonists or the protagonists may be seen in a reverse angle. This can be helpful later when trying to establish a sense of balance in the movie. Close-ups Dont. Complete actions Always shoot complete actions with a beginning and an end. This makes editing easier. Transitions Cinematic timing requires some practice. It is not always possible to film long events in their entirety,
  Appendix D: Videography tips 351 doesnt
  352 Pinnacle Studio. Bridging the gaps Make an effort to bridge the gaps from one filming location to another. You can use close-ups, for example, to bridge chronological jumps, zooming in on the face, then back out after a few seconds onto a different scene. Maintain continuity Continuity consistency of detail from one scene to the next is vital in providing a satisfying viewing experience. Sunny weather does not fit with spectators who opened their umbrellas. Tempo of cuts
  Appendix D: Videography tips 353
  half of the frame one moment and in the right half of the frame the next, or may appear first with and then without eyeglasses. Do not string together pan shots Pan shots should not be strung together unless they have the same direction and tempo.
  moving. Pans, zooms, and other moving shots should always be separated by static shots. Shots that follow one another should be from different camera positions. The camera angle should vary by at least 45 degrees. Sequences of faces should always be shot alternately from varying angles of view. Change perspectives when shooting buildings. When you have similar shots of the same type and size, the picture diagonal should alternate between front left to rear right and vice versa. Make cuts when persons are in motion. The viewer will be distracted by the ongoing motion and the cut will go almost without notice. In particular, you can cut to a long shot from the middle of the motion.
  Pinnacle Studio
  354
  Make harmonious cuts; avoid visual disjunction. The less motion there is in a shot, the shorter it
  should be. Shots with fast movements can be longer.. Lets look at each in turn. Associative cuts. Parallel cuts. Contrast cuts The film purposely cuts unexpectedly from one shot to another, very different shot, in order to point up the contrast to the viewer. Example: A tourist lying on the beach; the next shot shows starving children.
  Appendix D: Videography tips 355
  Substitutionary cut Events that cannot or should not be shown are replaced by other events (a child is born, but instead of childbirth, the blossoming of a flower bud is shown). Cause and effect cuts Shots are related by virtue of cause and effect: without the first shot, the second would be incomprehensible. Example: A man fights with his wife and, in the very next shot, winds up sleeping under a bridge. Formal cuts Shots that vary in content can be strung together if they have something in common the same shapes, colors, or motions, for example. Examples: A crystal ball and the earth; a yellow raincoat and yellow flowers; a falling skydiver and a falling feather.
  Soundtrack. Keep comments brief A general rule applicable to all commentary is that less is more. Pictures should speak for themselves, and things that are evident to viewers from the pictures require no comment.
  356 Pinnacle Studio
  Preserve original sounds. Select appropriate.
  Title
  The title should be informative, describe the contents of the movie, and arouse interest. With the Title Editor there are no limits to how creative you can be. As a rule, you can let your fancy run free when designing a title for your video. Use a short, clear title Titles should be short and in a large, legible font.
  Appendix D: Videography tips 357
  Title colors. Time on screen As a rule of thumb, a title should be displayed long enough to be read twice. Allow about three seconds for a title with ten letters. Allow an additional second of on-screen time for every five additional letters. Found titles Besides postproduction titles, natural titles like directional signs, street signs or title pages of local newspapers also create interesting possibilities.
  358
  Pinnacle Studio
  APPENDIX E:
  Glossary
  Multimedia terminology contains computer and video terminology. The most important terms are defined below. Cross-references are indicated by . 720p: A high-definition (HD) video format with a resolution of 1280x720 and progressive (noninterlaced) frames. 108i: A high-definition (HD) video format with a resolution of 1440x.
  Appendix E: Glossary 359 antiali computers.
  360 Pinnacle Studio Studio, any media type that goes on the Movie Window Storyboard or Timeline, including video images, trimmed video scenes, images, audio files and disc menus. Clipboard: A temporary storage area shared by all Windows programs, used to hold data during cut, copy,
  Appendix E: Glossary 361
  and paste operations. Any new data you place onto the clipboard immediately replaces the existing data. Closed GOP:
  362 Pinnacle Studio.
  Appendix E: Glossary 363Vcoded -wide metal evaporated tape. Mini-DV tapes hold up to 60 minutes of content, while standard DV tapes can hold up to 270 minutes. ECP: Enhanced Compatible Port. accelerated bi-directional data transfer parallel port. EPP Enables via the
  Edit decision list (EDL): A list of clips and effects in a particular order that will be recorded onto your output tape, disc or file. Studio allows you to create and edit your own edit decision list by adding, deleting and reordering clips and effects in the Movie Window. EPP: Enhanced Parallel Port. Enables accelerated bidirectional data transfer via the parallel port; recommended for Studio DV. ECP
  364 Pinnacle Studio Computers trademarked name for the IEEE-1394 serial data protocol. Frame: A single image in a video or animation sequence. If using full NTSC or PAL resolution, one frame consists of two interlaced fields. NTSC, PAL, field, resolution)
  Appendix E: Glossary 365x1080 resolution or 1280x"
  366 Pinnacle Studio
  codec, HDV uses a flavor of MPEG-2 . There are two varieties of HDV: HDV1 and HDV2. HDV1 is 1280x720 resolution with progressive frames (720p). The MPEG transport stream is 19.7 Mbps/s. HDV2 is 1440x-bit (5-6-5) data type that can contain up to 65,536 colors. TGA file formats support images of this type. Other file formats require prior conversion of a HiColor image into TrueColor. For displays, HiColor normally refers to 15-bit (5-5-5) display adapters that can display up to 32,768 colors. Bit Huffman coding: Technique used in JPEG and other data compression methods in which seldom occurring values receive a long code, while frequentlyocc
  Appendix E: Glossary 367 lines each. The NTSC TV image consists of two image halves of 242 lines each. The fields are displayed alternately to produce a blended image. Interleave: An arrangement of audio and video to promote smoother playback and synchronization or compression. The standard AVI format equally spaces audio and video. I/O: Input/Output..
  368 Pinnacle Studio
  Key frames: In some compression methods, such as MPEG, the video data of certain frames the key frames is stored completely in the compressed file, while any intervening frames are only partially saved. On decompression these partial frames reconstruct their data from the key frames. Laser disc: Medium that stores analog video. Information on laser discs cannot be modified. LPT: Parallel port Luminance: Brightness
  Appendix E: Glossary 369
  MPEG: Motion Picture Experts Group, and the standard developed by them for the compression of moving images. Compared to M-JPEG, it offers 7580%-bit.
  370 Pinnacle Studio viewers.
  Appendix E: Glossary 371: Squentiel Couleur Mmo.
  372 Pinnacle Studio: The visual connection between adjacent video clips, ranging from a simple cut to a showy animated effect. The common transitions like cuts, fades, dissolves, wipes and slides are part of the visual language of film and video. They can convey passages of time and changes of viewpoint concisely and often subliminally. TrueColor: The name indicates an image with enough color resolution to appear true to life. In practice,
  Appendix E: Glossary 373
  374 Pinnacle Studio.
  Appendix E: Glossary
  375
  APPENDIX F:
  Keyboard shortcuts
  The terms Left, Right, Up and Down in this table refer to the arrow (cursor) keys. Main Studio interface
  Space bar J K L X or Ctrl+Up Y or Ctrl+Down A or I S or O Ctrl+Left Ctrl+Right Alt+Left Alt+Right Alt+Ctrl+Left Alt+Ctrl+Right G D F E or Home Play and stop Fast reverse (hit multiple times for faster playback) Halt playback Fast forward (hit multiple times for faster playback) Step forward 1 frame Step back 1 frame Mark in Mark out Trim in point by -1 frame Trim in point by +1 frame Trim out point by -1 frame Trim out point by +1 frame Rolling trim out point by -1 frame (trims following clip too) Rolling trim out point by +1 frame Clear mark in and mark out Go to mark in (in trimmer tool) Go to mark out (in trimmer tool) Go to start
  377
  R or End Left Right Delete Insert Page up Page down Numeric pad + Numeric pad C V M Ctrl+Page up Ctrl+Page down
  Go to end Select previous clip Select next clip Delete selected clip(s) Split clip at scrubber position Go to next page in Movie Window Go to previous page in Movie Window Zoom in the Timeline Zoom out the Timeline Set menu chapter Clear menu chapter Set return to menu Go to previous menu chapter Go to next menu chapter
  Title Editor
  Alt+Plus Alt+Minus Ctrl+Plus Ctrl+Minus Ctrl+0 Ctrl+1 Ctrl+2 Ctrl+3 Ctrl+4 Ctrl+5 Ctrl+6 Ctrl+7 Ctrl+8 Ctrl+9 Ctrl+K Ctrl+M Shift+Left Shift+Right Bring to front Send to back Bring forward one layer Send back one layer Text justification off Text justification: bottom left Text justification: bottom center Text justification: bottom right Text justification: middle left Text justification: middle center Text justification: middle right Text justification: top left Text justification: top center Text justification: top right Kern, leading and skew Move, scale and rotate Expand character selection left Expand character selection right
  378
  Pinnacle Studio
  Ctrl+Left
  Ctrl+Right Ctrl+Down
  Alt+Right
  Shift+Alt+Left Shift+Alt+Right
  Reduce horizontal scale of, or squeeze (kern), text selection depending on current edit mode (move/scale/rotate or kern/skew/leading) Increase horizontal scale of, or stretch (kern), text selection Reduce scale or leading of text selection depending on current edit mode Increase scale or leading of text selection Same as Ctrl+Left (coarse) Same as Ctrl+Right (coarse) Same as Ctrl+Down (coarse) Same as Ctrl+Up (coarse) In text selection: Move characters left. No selection: Move left all text from cursor to end of line. In text selection: Move characters right. No selection: Move right all text from cursor to end of line. Same as Alt+Left (coarse) Same as Alt+Right (coarse)
  379
  Index
  Album menu
  2
  2D editor (video effect), 144
  A
  A/B editing, 153 Abbreviations, xiv Activate
  Explained, 13
  Combine Scenes, 52 Comment view, 51 Details view, 50 Find Scene in Project, 43, 88 Icon view, 50 Scene detection commands, 55 Select By Name, 51 Set Thumbnail, 46 Subdivide Scenes, 53 Thumbnail view, 51
  Album
  Aspect ratio, 85 Clipboard operations, 82 Disc Menus section, 59, 196 Drag-and-drop editing, 82 Filled during capture, 19 Image sections, 180 Interface features, 43 Introduced, 19 Menu usage, 43 Music section, 62 Overview, 37 Previewing, 5, 39 Selecting video scenes, 49 Sound Effects section, 61 Source folders, 39 Still Images section, 59 Themes section, 57, 112, 113, 114 Titles section, 58 Transitions section, 55, 169 Video Scenes section, 41, 81
  Answer IDs (technical support), 324 Aspect ratios (frame formats), 24, 47
  Capture option, 285 Mixing, 84
  Audio
  Adjusting on Timeline, 245 Background music, 232 Insert editing, 102 Muting, 70
  Index
  381
  Original, 232 Overlay, 152 Overlay, original, 232 Scrubbing, 64 Settings (for File output), 307 Sound effects, 232 Surround, 248 Synchronized with video, 98 Synchronous, 68, 174, 232 Tracks on Timeline, 232 Transitions, 174, 247 Uses of, 229 Using in Studio, 230 Using without video, 83 Voice-overs, 232 Volume and mixing, 242, 248
  AVI files, 61
  B
  Background
  In Title Editor, 223
  Audio clips, 67
  Interface details, 243 Trimming, 240
  Background rendering, 84
  Enabling and disabling, 174 Of Hollywood FX, 174 Of moving menu thumbnails, 205 Of video effects, 135
  Backgrounds section
  Of Title Editor Album, 223
  Balance
  Adjusting on Timeline, 246
  Balance and volume, 79, 242 Black and white (video effect), 146 Blur (video effect), 141 Blu-ray
  Output movie to, 266
  Buttons
  Add Marker, 71 Audio scrubbing, 64 Clip, 64 Clip delete, 65 Clip marker, 64 Clip split, 64 Delete Marker, 71 DVD toggle, 5 Edit menu, 77 Highlighting, 227 Mode, 2 Playback, 8 Razorblade, 97 Reset (pan-and-zoom), 184
  Audio levels
  Changing during capture, 20 In analog capture, 32 In DV capture, 30
  382
  Pinnacle Studio
  Split clip, 97, 101 Split clip/scene, 64 Start/stop capture, 21 Tool selector, 75 Toolbox, 74 Track-locking, 99 Undo, Redo, Help, Support and Activate, 2 View selection, 64
  CD audio clips
  Properties of, 241
  Buttons section
  Of Title Editor Album, 226
  C
  Camcorder Controller, 19, 20, 22, 190 Capture, 17
  Analog quality options, 31 And the Album, 19 Audio and video levels, 31 Change directory, 21 Device selection, 24 Devices, 284 Digital vs. analog, 20 Directory, 21 Drive-speed, 29 Format options, 287 From analog sources, 30 From DV, 28, 30 From DVD, 33 From HDV, 30 Hardware, 23 MPEG options, 290 Preparing hard drive, 317 Scene detection, 26 Source options, 284 Sources, 23 Step-by-step, 24 To multiple files, 83
  Clip markers, 71
  Adding, deleting, naming, 71 Controls, 73
  Clip properties
  Duration, 182 Name, 182
  Clipboard
  With Album and Movie Window, 82
  Clips
  Audio, 67 Changing name, 94 Combining, 98 Deleting, 65 Splitting, 64, 97 Theme, 113, 115, 117 Trimming on the Timeline, 89 Trimming tips, 93 Video, 67
  Capture mode
  Interface, 18 Introduced, 1
  Index
  383
  Selecting, 167
  Content
  Importing, 14
  Discs
  Authoring, 1, 38, 59, 179, 195, 226, 242
  D
  DeEsser (audio effect), 259 Delete clip button, 65 Deleting clips, 65 Deleting scenes, 65 Devices
  Capture, 24, 284
  Drive space
  For DV capture, 29
  Dialog boxes
  Main Options, 283 Make Movie Options, 283 Options, 283
  Drive speed
  For video capture, 29
  Drop zones
  Adding effects, 124 Aligning subclips, 123 Clearing, 123 Muting, 123
  Pinnacle Studio
  DVD
  Image on hard drive, 265 Importing video from, 33 Menus, 59 MPEG encoding, 28 Output movie to, 266 Playback controls, 5, 10, 195 Player control, 198 Previewing, 198
  File
  Saving movie to, 270
  File name
  Project, 64
  File type
  3GP, 271 AVI, 272 DivX, 273 Flash Video, 274 iPod compatible, 274 MP2, 272 MP3, 272 MPEG, 275 Real Media, 276 Sony PSP compatible, 276 WAV, 272 Windows Media, 277
  E
  Earthquake (video effect), 144 Edit
  Video clips, 81
  Edit line
  Clips inserted at, 82
  File types
  AVI, 61 Image, 59 MP3, 61 Music, 62 Sound, 61 WAV, 61
  Editing photos and other images, 183 Editor, Menu and Title, 209 Emboss (video effect), 142 Equalizer (audio effect), 259 Equipment requirements, xii External devices
  Importing media from, 34
  Folders
  Music, 62 Still images, 59 Titles, 58
  F
  Fade
  Adjusting balance on Timeline, 246
  Full-screen images
  Described, 180
  G
  Glossary, 359
  385
  Index
  GOP
  Closed, 362 Size, 366
  Importing media from external devices, 34 Importing video from DVD, 33 Insert edit
  A/B, 153
  Graphics
  Editing, 183
  Groups
  Temporary, In Title Editor, 218
  Internet
  Saving movie to, 279
  H
  Hard drive
  Preparing for capture, 317 Space for video capture, 29 Speed for video capture, 29
  Invert, 147
  J
  J-cut
  A/B, 154 Defined, 102 Explained, 105
  Hardware
  Capture, 23
  Jog buttons, 9
  K
  Ken Burns, 183 Keyboard conventions, xv Keyframing (of video effects parameters), 130, 133 Knowledge base, 322
  Hollywood FX
  And background rendering, 174 Editing, 173, 177 Previewing, 174 Transitions, 171, 173
  L
  Layers
  In Title Editor, 213
  I
  Icons for effects
  Audio, 255 Video, 88
  L-cut
  A/B, 154 Defined, 102 Explained, 102
  IEEE-1394, xv
  Cable, 277
  Import
  From external devices, 34
  Lens flare (video effect), 144 Letterboxing, 85 Leveler (audio effect), 260 Levels, Audio and video
  In analog capture, 31 In DV capture, 30
  Lighting, 148
  386
  Pinnacle Studio
  Links
  Adjusting, 201 Automatic creation of, 197 Creating, 201 Deleting, 202 Editing, 202 In disc menu tool, 206 On disc menus, 193 Repositioning, 202 Return to menu, 201 Setting with drag-and-drop, 206 Show numbers while editing, 203
  Movie Window, 63
  Clipboard operations, 82 Drag-and-drop editing, 82 Find scene in Album, 43, 88 Interface features, 87 Positioning, 66 Status message area, 64 Trimming on the Timeline, 89 Views, 67
  Locked content
  Activating, 11
  Locking tracks, 70
  Indication of, 99
  Long shots (videography tip), 351 Luma key (video effect), 143
  M
  Magnify (video effect), 145 Make Movie mode, 263
  Introduced, 1
  Multiple selection
  In Title Editor, 218
  Making movies, 263 Markers. See Clip markers Media Player, 277 Menu and Title Editor, 209 Menu buttons
  Highlighting, 227
  Music, 229
  Folder, 62 Section (of Album), 62 Selecting (videography tip), 357
  N
  Names
  In Text and Storyboard view, 94 Of clips - changing, 94
  Microphone
  Connecting, 239
  Modes
  Capture, 18 Edit, 4 Introduced, 1 Make Movie, 263 Setting, 2
  Noise reduction (audio effect), 256 Noise reduction (video effect), 139 NTSC, 285
  Monitors
  Dual, 294
  O
  Objects
  Index
  387
  Original sounds
  Preserving (videography tip), 357
  Obtaining
  Disc menus, 60 Sound effects, 61 Themes, 57 Transitions, 56
  Other devices
  Importing media from, 34
  Output
  Audio only, 272 Browser, 263 Media type, 263 To 3GP file, 271 To AVI file, 272 To DivX file, 273 To file, 270 To Flash Video file, 274 To iPod compatible file, 274 To MPEG file, 275 To optical disc, 265 To Real Media file, 276 To Sony PSP compatible file, 276 To Tape, 277 To videotape, 279 To Windows Media, 277 To world-wide web, 279
  Overlays track
  And still images, 179
  P
  PAL, 285 Pan and scan, 85 Pan and zoom
  Video effect, 188
  Pan-and-zoom
  Animated, 185 Complex animations, 186 Photos, 184 Tool, 183
  Original audio
  Properties, 241 Synchronized with video, 98
  388
  Pinnacle Studio
  Passport, 13 Perspectives
  Varying, 350
  Photos
  Editing, 183 Panning and zooming, 184 Red-eye reduction, 184 Rotating, 184
  Picture-in-picture
  Tool, 154 Video effect, 159
  Problems and solutions, 321 Product names, xiv Progressive encoding (advanced output setting), 301 Project preferences (options panel), 290 Project video format, 84 Push (transition), 172
  Playback controls, 5
  DVD, 5, 10, 195 Fast forward/reverse, 8 Go to beginning, 8 Jog buttons, 9 Loop, 9 Play/Pause, 8 Standard, 5, 8
  R
  Razorblade button, 64 Real Media
  Files, 276 RealNetworks RealPlayer, 276
  RealNetworks RealPlayer
  Viewing files with, 271
  Playback speed
  Changing, 140
  Player, 19
  During Timeline trimming, 89 Introduced, 5 Previewing transitions, 56, 174 Scrubber, 9
  Red-eye reduction
  Explained, 184 Removing, 185
  Player control
  DVD, 198
  Plug-in effects
  Unlocking, 127, 137
  Plus audio effects pack, 258 Plus RTFX video effects pack, 140 Posterize (video effect), 148 Premium button, 2 Premium content and features, 14 Presets for effects, 129 Preview
  During capture, 285
  Requirements, equipment, xii Return to menu link, 201 Reverb (audio effect), 261 RGB color balance (video effect), 148 Ripple transition, 175, 181, 196 Rotate (video effect), 145
  S
  Save to disc, 265
  Preview window, 5, 92
  Index
  389
  Split edit
  A/B, 154
  Split editing
  Introduced, 102
  Splitting clips, 97
  Restoring from, 97
  Stabilize (video effect), 139 Stained glass (video effect), 143 Start/stop capture button, 21 Stereo
  Adjusting balance on Timeline, 246
  Save to tape, 277 Save to world-wide web, 279 Scanning, progressive vs. interlaced, 301 Scene detection, 26, 46
  Menu commands, 55 Options, 285
  Stereo Echo (audio effect), 261 Stereo Spread (audio effect), 262 Still images
  Creating, 180 Default duration of, 292 Described, 179 Editing, 183 Folder, 59 Full-screen, 180 Full-screen vs. overlay, 179 Overlay, 180 Section (of Album), 59 Trimming, 182 Trimming and editing, 181 Types, 179
  Scrubber, 9 Scrubbing audio, 64 SCSI, xiii SECAM, 285 Sepia (video effect), 149 Set Thumbnail menu command, 46 Setup menu, 3 Setup options, 283 Slide (transition), 172 Slideshow, 175, 181, 196 Slow motion, 140 Soften (video effect), 143 Sound effects, 67, 229
  Obtaining, 61 Properties, 241 Section (of Album), 61
  Still Images
  Rotating, 184
  Subclips
  Adding effects, 124 Aligning to drop zone, 123 Exporting to Movie Window, 123 Muting, 123
  Sound files, 61 Speed (video effect), 140 Split Clip menu command, 97 Split clip/scene button, 64, 97
  In insert editing, 101
  390
  Pinnacle Studio
  Timeline view, 67
  Advanced editing in, 98 Insert editing, 100 Splitting clips in, 97
  T
  Tape
  Saving movie to, 277
  Timescale, 67 Title
  Choosing (videography tip), 357 Colors (videography tip), 358
  Theme Editor
  Mini-Album, 114
  Title track
  Locking, 99
  Titles
  Crawls, 211 Creating, 209 Editing, 209 Folder, 58 Rolls, 211 Section (of Album), 58
  Thumbnail frames
  In Album, 46 Setting in disc menus, 205 With moving video, in menus, 205
  Timeline
  Adjusting volume on, 245 Audio tracks, 232 Editing disc menus on, 200 Locking tracks, 99 Overlay video, 151 Placing disc menus on, 197 Tracks, 67
  Toolboxes, 74
  Index
  391
  Tools
  Audio effects, 80, 255 Automatic background music, 79 Background music, 235 CD audio, 79, 234 Chroma key, 160 Clip properties, 71, 76, 78, 94, 202, 240 Disc menu, 77, 207 Frame grabber, 77 Pan-and-zoom, 183 Picture-in-picture, 154 PIP and chroma key, 77 SmartMovie, 77, 106 Theme Editor, 76, 114, 121, 122 Titles, 77 Video effects, 78, 125 Voice-overs, 79, 237 Volume and balance, 79, 242, 248
  Looping in preview, 178 Naming, 177 Obtaining, 56 On audio tracks, 247 On theme clips, 118 On Timeline, 169 Previewing, 56, 174, 178 Reversing direction, 177 Ripple transition, 175, 181, 196 Section (of Album), 55 Setting duration of, 177 Standard (2D), 171 Three-dimensional, 173 Trimming, 176 Types of, 171 Videography tip, 351 Wipe, slide, push, 172
  Transport controls
  On-screen, 20, 22
  Transitions
  Adding to movie, 169 Alpha Magic, 171 Criteria for selecting, 171 Cut, 171 Default duration of, 292 Described, 169 Displaying type, 56 Dissolve, 172 Effect on clip duration, 170 Fade, 172 Groups, 55 Hollywood FX, 171, 173 In audio, 174
  U
  UDMA, xiii Undo button, 2 Unlocking
  Plug-in effects, 127, 137 Premium content, 11
  392
  Pinnacle Studio
  V
  VCD
  Menus, 59 MPEG encoding, 28 Output movie to, 266
  VGA
  Output movie to, 315
  Video
  Hiding, 70 Options, 32 Output hardware, xiv Settings (for File output), 305
  Video clips, 67
  Applying effects to, 125 Changing name, 94 Changing playback speed, 140 Combining, 98 Editing, 81 Finding Album scene, 88 Interface features, 87 Properties tool, 95 Shortened by transition, 170 Splitting, 97 Synchronization with audio, 98 Trimming, 89 Trimming on the Timeline, 89 Trimming tips, 93 Undoing trim, 96 Using audio portion only, 83
  Cleaning effects, 138 Color correction, 147 Color map, 147 Earthquake, 144 Emboss, 142 Icons, 88 Invert, 147 Keyframing, 130, 133 Lens flare, 144 Lighting, 148 Luma key, 143 Magnify, 145 Motion blur, 145 Noise reduction, 139 Old film, 142 Pan and zoom, 188 Picture-in-picture, 159 Plus RTFX, 140 Posterize, 148 Presets, 129 Previewing and rendering, 135 RGB color balance, 148 Rotate, 145 Sepia, 149 Soften, 143 Speed, 140 Stabilize, 139 Stained glass, 143 Standard, 138 The effects list, 126 Tool, 125 Unlocking, 127 Water drop, 146 Water wave, 146
  Video monitor
  Simultaneous output to, 278
  Video preview
  External, 294 Full-screen, 294 Options, 294
  Index
  Adding to movie, 81, 82 Album interface features, 43 Combining and subdividing, 52 Comments, 51 Displaying length of, 50 Finding in Album, 43 Folders, 44 In-use indicator, 43, 87 Neighboring, 88 Order of, 41 Redetecting, 54 Section (of Album), 41 Selecting, 49 Splitting, 64 Thumbnail frames, 46 Viewing, 48
  W
  Water drop (video effect), 146 Water wave (video effect), 146 WAV files, 61, 272 Web
  Saving movie to, 279
  Y
  Yahoo! Video, 279 YouTube, 279
  394
  Pinnacle Studio