Adjusting imported video clips

[Ed04]

I have recently bought PTE version 7 and combine video clips taken with my Nikon Coolpix S8000. Some of the clips require adjustments to brightness, contrast and saturation but it seems that this is not possible inside PTE.

I have used Windows Movie Maker and brightness is crudely controlled by dragging and dropping an icon onto the file, for a maximum of six times .

When right-clicking in PTE there is a way of adjusting the video but I was directed to Windows Media Player. After adjusting the sliders for Brightness, saturation etc I hoped that the changes would be saved but it seems that the adjustments are only for the duration of the slide show;the file in the timeline was unchanged. Have I missed something in my search for a more sophisticated method of adjustment than that of Windows Movie Maker?

Also, WMM would not play the soundtrack of imported Nikon .mov files and I needed to download software to convert the file to .avi format.

The sound was then present in the video clip but there was loss of quality; a kind of ghostly pixellation. PTE is fine with .mov files but asks if I wish to optimise for better performance.I OK the request and there doesn't seem to be any loss but some videos were taken on bullet train journeys and there is some noticeable buffering and the resultant jerky movement; not too much but very frustrating. In WMM there was no buffering but the quality loss was the downside. It seems that I must compromise between the two conditions and wonder if anyone can suggest the settings that would suit that particular video clip during the train journey.

Thanks

Ed.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Ed

Have you tried Video Pad, it's a free download, takes a bit of getting used to but is much more flexible than WMM. Incidentally I couldn't get clips edited in WMM to be accepted by PTE.

Yachtsman1.

PS if you search "Video" on here there is lots of info.

[Ed04]

Hi Ed

Have you tried Video Pad, it's a free download, takes a bit of getting used to but is much more flexible than WMM. Incidentally I couldn't get clips edited in WMM to be accepted by PTE.

Yachtsman1.

PS if you search "Video" on here there is lots of info.

Hi Yachtsman,

I've made a note of Video Pad and will download a copy later. Are you confirming that PTE can't adjust video clips and I must wait for a later version to include the facility?

I didn't import the clips that were adjusted in WMM. I might try that and hope that the soundtrack will still play when/if it is imported into PTE. I will let you know the result.

Ed.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Ed

Video clips can be edited in PTE, but only basics such as length, start & stop times, & muting existing audio track. Maybe a few others I haven't found or been told about. I do know you can't yet adjust brightness yet. If you look in the FAQ section on video there are some instructions in there. There is a new up-grade due which may go further than the present version.

Yachtsman1.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Ed,

PTE is a very sophisticated presentation software, but it is neither a video nor still image "editor." There are two schools of thought about slideshow presentation software and the developers of PTE as well as the majority of users of this fine product subscribe to the assumption that adjusting brightness, contrast, levels, gama and such are best done in dedicated video and still image editors rather than trying to make PTE into something it was not intended to be, which is the finest "presentation" product available.

Though there are elementary adjustments possible for still images such as sharpness, opacity and the ability to change from color to monochrome, having video editing capabilities beyond manipulation of start and stop points, sound on or off, etc., are really tasks which should be done in dedicated editors rather than in presentation software. Perhaps there are some more sophisticated features planned in future versions of PTE, but the emphasis is decidedly on quality of presentation and the ability to manipulate images and video size, position, timings and mix rather than edit and "correct" errors in capture. To do sophisticated video editing is beyond the scope of presentation software just as sophisticated presentation is beyond the scope of editors. As an example, you can do myriad "editing" of still images with Photoshop, but beyond basic presentation is outside of the provenience of the Adobe product. You can also do incredible editing with a product such as Adobe Premiere, but presentation features such as possible with PTE are difficult and sometimes impossible with this fine Adobe product. Adobe expects you to purchase other dedicated product such as Aftereffects to achieve some of these goals. It's just not feasible to do "everything" in one product.

My suggestion would be to use a reasonably good video editor such as Adobe Premiere Elements to get your video the way you want it, then use PTE to mix your video and stills and create your presentation. Think of PTE as you do your "camera." You don't expect to do sophisticated video editing in your capture device. You shouldn't expect to do sophisticated editing in your presentation device (PTE). You do expect to do sophisticated editing in your editor. As suggested, the freeware products can be perhaps sufficient, depending on your expectations and needs, but in reality, a good editor such as Premiere Elements will probably be in your future if video is going to be a large part of your creative direction.

Best regards,

Lin

[Ed04]

What you both say makes sense. The video clips are only a small percentage of each presentation and I try to make achieve a similar quality to the stills taken with my Nikon D80 that I adjust in Photoshop. The video clips produced in the Coolpix are not too bad considering they are not HD. I have considered upgrading from my D80 to one with HD video.

Thanks again.

Ed.

[RobertAlbright]

Just to supplemement Lin's comments, the latest version of Photoshop (CS6) has a good basic video editing facility within which you can also do all the usual Photoshop editing functions. You can then export the completed work to PTE in PTE compatible formats. This might be a route some PTE customers used to using Photoshop for stills editing will find easiest to adjust to.

Robert