Adding Objects to a Video Clip

[Guest Yachtsman1]

I'm in the process of preparing a series of tutorials for seniors on computor basics. I'm in the midle of one which uses an MP4 video clip of 7 minutes. I want to add an image (shift key) at 1m 49 seconds in the O&A screen, when I've completed adding the image, if I press play, the clip reverts to the beginning so that I have to watch the first 1m 49 seconds to judge if the image is correctly placed. I know I can watch this in the mini player & position where I want the clip to start, but it would be nice to do this in the O&A screen. I'm using 7.07 so if this has already been taken care of, please forget what I've said.

Yachtsman1.

[Lin Evans]

Eric,

Enable the video (default) Navigation Bar then simply drag the cursor to that point in the video as displayed on your screen and fine tune the appearance via the opacity of your still frame accordingly.

Best regards,

Lin

[PGA]

Eric,

If 7.0.7 works the same as 7.5.4 you can hit "Play" in the O&A window and then hit the same button (which is now "Pause"). Then click-drag the little blue triangle marker along the O&A timeline to where-ever you want it to start from - and hit that same button (now showing as "Play") to resume playing from that new point.

regards,

Peter

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Lin & Peter

Thanks for the reply, just tried Peter's suggestion & it works as I want it to work.

Thanks to both

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Eric,

Enable the video (default) Navigation Bar then simply drag the cursor to that point in the video as displayed on your screen and fine tune the appearance via the opacity of your still frame accordingly.

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin

Didn't get to try your suggestion before, just tried it now & the navigation bar doesn't appear in the O&A screen in 7.07

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Eric,

The Navigation Bar only appears when you "preview" in either version and from the main screen or from the O&A screen. It's the same in 7.x and 7.5, but, you can press the "Pause" button, then drag the navigation cursor to the point in your video where you want the still slide to appear. Note the "time" displayed and then set the opacity fade in to that time.

Best regards,

Lin

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Eric,

The Navigation Bar only appears when you "preview" in either version and from the main screen or from the O&A screen. It's the same in 7.x and 7.5, but, you can press the "Pause" button, then drag the navigation cursor to the point in your video where you want the still slide to appear. Note the "time" displayed and then set the opacity fade in to that time.

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin

You're correct of course, I've never used the preview button in the O&A screen, you learn something everyday. :blink:/>

Thanks.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[goddi]

I'm in the process of preparing a series of tutorials for seniors on computor basics. I'm in the midle of one which uses an MP4 video clip of 7 minutes. I want to add an image (shift key) at 1m 49 seconds in the O&A screen, when I've completed adding the image, if I press play, the clip reverts to the beginning so that I have to watch the first 1m 49 seconds to judge if the image is correctly placed. I know I can watch this in the mini player & position where I want the clip to start, but it would be nice to do this in the O&A screen. I'm using 7.07 so if this has already been taken care of, please forget what I've said.

Yachtsman1.

======================

Eric,

I was not going to add a reply because I thought you might have posted this in the wrong Forum, since it is for 'Ideas...'. Maybe it will be moved to a more appropriate Forum. But anyway, I am intrigued with your question so I will take a chance and ask it here.

I would like to know how you are adding an image into the middle of a video. I find it cumbersone. When I try to add or insert a still image in the middle of the video in the Timeline, the image takes over the entire length of the video from the insertion point. The audio stays but the still image sits on top of the video to the end of the video's length.

So, I then tried to add a still image in the video sequence in O&A. I can add the image using Keyframes to make it appear and dissapear. But I have to use 4 Keyframes. The first to make the opacity '0'; the next to make it 100%; the next to be placed at the end of the time I want the still image to be displayed; and the last Keyframe to make it disappear by setting the opacity back to '0'. If the image is to be displayed for a short time, the Keyframes practically sit on top of each other and it is difficult to work with them, especially with a long video sequence. I have made a suggestion to be able to expand the Timeline in O&A so we can 'see' the Keyframes better. But is this how you are doing it? I can't see any other way. It would be great if we could just add an image over a video sequence and input a custom length for the image and it would appear and dissapear accordingly, without the need for 4 Keyframes.

Thanks... Gary

[Lin Evans]

Hi Gary,

You are essentially doing it the only way I know.

This is just slightly different than your description. The first "two" keyframes need to be zero opacity. The first to start the still image as invisible, the second to "keep" it invisible until you want it displayed. The third to make it 100% (or however much opacity you want) and the fourth to turn it off with zero opacity.

If you want it to come on "instantly," then you need to type in a very small increment between the second and third keyframes in the opacity block. You can't do it visually because, as you say, the keyframes might appear almost on top of one another. But you can type any increment into the opacity block. The computer and video card may or may not be able to turn on the opacity within your specified time, but what will happen if you place a value beyond the ability of the system is that it will turn on or off the opacity as quickly as possible for your system.

Being able to "spread" the keyframes visually sort of like the CTRL Mouse Scroll Wheel for audio you mentioned in another post might be nice, but really there is nothing to prevent you from simply typing in a small number to the nearest 1000th. For example, you could turn on opacity at 2000 and turn it off at 2001. Your system will "try" to comply.

Best regards,

Lin

[goddi]

Hi Gary,

You are essentially doing it the only way I know.

This is just slightly different than your description. The first "two" keyframes need to be zero opacity. The first to start the still image as invisible, the second to "keep" it invisible until you want it displayed. The third to make it 100% (or however much opacity you want) and the fourth to turn it off with zero opacity.

If you want it to come on "instantly," then you need to type in a very small increment between the second and third keyframes in the opacity block. You can't do it visually because, as you say, the keyframes might appear almost on top of one another. But you can type any increment into the opacity block. The computer and video card may or may not be able to turn on the opacity within your specified time, but what will happen if you place a value beyond the ability of the system is that it will turn on or off the opacity as quickly as possible for your system.

Being able to "spread" the keyframes visually sort of like the CTRL Mouse Scroll Wheel for audio you mentioned in another post might be nice, but really there is nothing to prevent you from simply typing in a small number to the nearest 1000th. For example, you could turn on opacity at 2000 and turn it off at 2001. Your system will "try" to comply.

Best regards,

Lin

============================

Lin,

Good to know I was close. Thanks for the clarification on the second Keyframe. I really wish we could 'expand' the O&A timeline. That would really be a help.

Thanks...

Gary

[Guest Yachtsman1]

============================

Lin,

Good to know I was close. Thanks for the clarification on the second Keyframe. I really wish we could 'expand' the O&A timeline. That would really be a help.

Thanks...

Gary

Hi Gary

I'm still using 7.07 but I agree expanding the time line in the O&A screen would be a great feature to have, on a 10 minute video clip it is a bind using the drag method of adjusting keyframes if they are close together & putting the time in as Lin suggested is fraught with difficulty aligning the individual video frames & times, well it is for me & it sounds like others. When using the drag method & the flag colour changes to red, I assume the key frames are too close together? I use the control wheel to align the music beats when setting the music to the wave form, much more accurate.

I am using Camtasia Studio 8 to capture the screen for the tutorials,& that feature is there. If you look at the screen shots, the way Camtasia do it, there is a slider to the left of the screen which expands & contracts the time line, cam1 is the default, cam2 is expanded the full distance of the slider. I'm not saying it's perfect, I would like to use the mouse wheel & keep the feature consistant in PTE.

I know you have lobbied long & hard for the feature, put me on the list.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[davegee]

Gary,

If you are interested in a "workaround" until what you really want comes along you can use the following method with video:

Fig 1 shows a video clip spread over three slides.

Fig 2 shows the "resolution" of the middle slide being such that the two key frames in the centre are 6 ms apart. You could easily get down to 1ms.

DG