Trim function...is there a better way?

[goddi]

Greetings,

I have brought up a problem with the Trim function before. I'm not sure if it has been addressed yet or I am missing something.

https://www.pteavstudio.com/forums/topic/33387-v-110-beta-2-trim-needs-improvement/#comment-168201

The problem with the Trim function is that if you Play the video and stop the red triangle where you want to start the Trim, you can not get the beginning yellow triangle to match where the red triangle was stopped for the beginning of the Trim. (And the position of the red triangle is not reflected in the Start Time box). Then, if you want to move the ending yellow triangle to where you want to Trim the end of that video, the red triangle gets moved to the ending yellow triangle. So now you've lost your beginning Trim point location. Yes, you can get the yellow triangles to the beginning and ending points of the Trim using the Start Time and End Time boxes. But there needs to be a better way. Is there a better way that I don't know about to set the beginning and ending points of a trim, using the triangles?

Seems the fix would be to be able to move the beginning and ending yellow triangles to where the red triangle is set, not visa versa as it is now.

Gary

[jkb]

just drag the start & end triangles to the position you want.

I never look at the Times.

Jill

[goddi]

Jill, That might work for a video clip that is somewhat short. It is easier to find the trim points with short clips. I have video files that are 1.5 hours. So it is helpful to Play to a point that you want to start the Trim, and adjust it to the right frame using the Time boxes. But when you try to  then move the yellow triangle to where the red play triangle is, you lose that exact spot. Why can't we just Play to the spot for the initial trim point and have it not be moved from that spot for the beginning trim point? And the same for the ending trim point?

At least have the times for Start Times and End Times be indicated as you set the Trim points.

I understand not every one deals with very long video files but when you do, just dragging the triangles to find the beginning and ending trim points does not work very well. With long video clips, a small movement of the mouse and you pass a much longer part of a video clip than with a short video clip. Very hard to do detailed work or find the frame you need.

Gary

[jkb]

Gary, then why not do a rough trim first to make the video much smaller, then it will be easier to get an accurate trim.

I very rarely use the Trim Function anyway and much prefer to work directly in the timeline.
With longer clips (but no where near as long as yours) I right click and select 'Trim Beginning of video' to get a rough point, then fine tune it once the video is shorter.
When you Trim in Timeline it automatically positions the pointers in O&A 'Adjust Video' function & also sets the start time. You can adjust the time to get exactly the position you want.

Jill

[goddi]

Greetings,

I like the 'Trim Beginning of video' function. However, it does not have 'Trim End of Video' function. It is easy to trim out the beginning of a long video clip using it. But, why not also have a 'Trim End of Video' also???  This would make it easier. However, there is the problem of renaming that trimmed clip if you are going to trim out more sections of the long video clip. It is already in the Timeline. What do you do then? I don't think you can rename it.

If the video is very long, you have to scroll to the end and drag the following slide to the left to remove the unwanted portion. That is a pain in the neck when you don't have a marker where you want to set the ending of the video clip at. You can't do it in one fell swoop. It just is a cluggy way of doing it.

My way will get the job done in one step. I am trimming out many very short sections from the long video clip, some 15 to 30 seconds each. The triangles are very close together but I can get them to start and stop at the exact frames I want. I can get the triangles to be close to the beginning and ending of the short clip. Then work them to the exact frames using the Start Time and End Time box, and when I do the trim, I can then rename each clip I have trimmed from the long video file. Sure there are work-arounds but why make it complicated when all we need is a useful and easy way in one step of marking the beginning and ending of a clip in the Trim function?

This would even be useful when trimming short clips.

Gary

[rosy]

Gary

Are you using the full screen view of the trim video function?

Rosy

[goddi]

Greetings Rosy,

Not completely. The reason is that the long videos are from a Hi-8 tapes that I digitized, so the quality is not too good. Keeping it a bit less than full screen helps the eyes not get too worn out. But that does not really make any difference in the problem with long video files. The main problem is that the Play's position (red triangle) is not reflected in the Start Time or End Time boxes. So as you Play the clip, it would help if the Start Time/End Time boxes would show where the red Play triangle is at and you could click somewhere and the yellow triangle would snap to where the red Play triangle was stopped, for the start and beginning positions of the trim. And then you can make minor adjustments easier.

Gary

[jkb]

10 hours ago, goddi said:

If the video is very long, you have to scroll to the end and drag the following slide to the left to remove the unwanted portion. That is a pain in the neck when you don't have a marker where you want to set the ending of the video clip at. You can't do it in one fell swoop. It just is a cluggy way of doing it.

No need to scroll to the end, just drop the next slide at the point you want, the end is automatically trimmed. If you are trimming the same original video several times then just drag & drop it again.

 

10 hours ago, goddi said:

However, there is the problem of renaming that trimmed clip if you are going to trim out more sections of the long video clip. It is already in the Timeline. What do you do then? I don't think you can rename it.

Simply change the Slide Name in Slide Options & the new name will show on that Clip in both Slide & Timeline view.

PTE is not a video editing program, but I still find it quick & easy to edit clips in Timeline.

Jill

[goddi]

Greetings, I fully understand the ability to scroll to the end of a video clip and move the next slide to trim the end of a video clip. However, with long video files (1.5 hours), this is not easy to do. For example, you can only drag the next slide a screen at a time. So you have to keep repositioning everything. This works with short video clips but not for very long clips. If you could keep dragging the next slide in one movement (more than one screen), that would sort of work out. But you can not do it more than one screen at a time.

I tried changing the file name as you suggested. But then you don't have that trimmed clip listed in the File List as a separate file. Too easy to lose track of it. I am trimming out many short clip from the long clip. I want each one to be a standalone file listed in the File List, as you get when you use the Trim function and be able to use the settings in the Trim function.

You might say that PTE is not a video editing program. That does not mean that whatever it does can not be made more intuitive and more useful. I consider it to be a video editing function that works without all the bells/whistles others have, and I don't really need. Being able to trim video clips is a primary function and can be made to work better in PTE.

Gary

[jkb]

Gary, if all of your trimmed clips are coming from 1 original, you will not see each clip in the file list.
The Trim is done within PTE and not saved.

By renaming each Slide, they will have different names withing the Slide View & Timeline View.

As I said above, you do not need to drag the end of the Slide, just drag & drop from Filelist to the point you want the next clip to start.

If you have a 1.5 hour original clip and you add it multiple times to the Timeline, it will still only be the size of the original file.
You then Publish to MP4 and the final output will be much smaller.

I think you are making things difficult for yourself by trying to trim & save multiple times.

Jill

[goddi]

Greetings Jill,

I understand all that you have mentioned and I have done those steps. In this show, I have already put in all the still images that I want to use. Then, I am inserting the short video clips from the long video file. Yes, I can drop in the long video file, then roughly Trim the Beginning. Since I already have my still inserted in the Timeline (and the next slide is way, way far to the right), I have to drop down a dummy image where I want the long video clip to end, roughly. Ok. Then go back to the Slide mode and remove the dummy image. Then to trim the beginning and ends of this short clip more precisely, I bring it into the Adjust Time Range function. But even though the new video clip is only 20 seconds, the entire remaining long video is still there and I have to drag the far right triangle roughly to where I want have the final trim established and use the Start Time/End Time box to do the minor adjustment.

If one does work with long video clips, I understand the lack of understanding with my work method. I prefer to do an actual trim and save the clip as its own file and it show up in the File List. I don't think my suggestions would affect anyone in a negative way, but actually make it more intuitive and easier. The Trim function can be made to be more logical and useful for trimming long and short clips.

And, using the Convert/Trim process, as I prefer, allows you to use different Convert Presets for each trim if you wish.

Gary

[Aleina Show]

4 hours ago, goddi said:

The Trim function can be made to be more logical and useful for trimming long and short clips.

Greetings Gary,

I support your proposal. I often use video cropping and also feel a certain inconvenience from the fact that there is no way to put a crop marker exactly where the cursor stopped. It would be very convenient to use such a function.

Aleina

[goddi]

Thanks, Aleina...that's two of us!

Gary