Windows application to draw on frames?

[yetanotherlogin]

Hello

On Windows, I need to edit an MP4 video to draw on a few frames to emphasize some sections in a video.

So far, I worked with Corel VideoStudio Pro, but going through the options it seems unable to support this.

Is Sony Vegas Studio the logical choice for entry-level editing or are there other applications I could try?

Thank you.

[transporterfan]

Just so you can continue in Corel:
You could export a frame from MPC . Create a transparent layer in Photoshop and 'draw' on that.
Make/export a PNG, keeping the transparency, of just the NEW layer. Import to a new track as a slide in Corel, place in position
and stretch it to the the required duration. You should have a 'see-through' overlay.

Or you could do the same using alpha channel properties, exporting the image from the graphics program with a particular color background.

They difficulty in this method is if you have movement in your video; you then have to set up motion paths

[yetanotherlogin]

Thanks much for the tip.

Unfortunately, I don't have the skills to do this I'll check if Sony Movie Studio lets users draw on frames from within a video.

[smrpix]

One method in consumer-level software is to use text (titles) creatively. O's can be used to highlight, wingding type fonts give you added options.

If you're looking for a telestrator effect or actual write-on functionality you're looking at the big boys -- After Effects, Premiere, Avid, Vegas Pro. Aviutl or Blender may be able to do it as well. You're not going to get much simpler than Transporterfan's excellent suggestion.

[yetanotherlogin]

Thanks for the hints.

[poisondeathray]

Exactly what do you mean by "Draw on frames" ? Can you be more specific? What are you trying to emphasize, and HOW?

Is it text ? Shapes? Animation ? Does it move ? Is it static ?

[yetanotherlogin]

Shapes + text : I'd like to either circle around part of the picture or add an arrow pointing to a part, and add some text. This should last a few seconds.

[poisondeathray]

Shapes + text : I'd like to either circle around part of the picture or add an arrow pointing to a part, and add some text. This should last a few seconds.

Static or animated ?

e.g. does the text "write" or type on ? Is the arrow animated or "grow" ? Does the circle get animated on/drawn on ? or is it already there on/off fully ?

[yetanotherlogin]

Do you mean, does the text/arrow appear/disappear gradually vs. they just pop up, stay for a few seconds, and go away?

Here's a couple of screenshots to illustrate:

[smrpix]

What did you use to make the screenshot with? Why not use that?

edit: checking the corel manual (v6,) you have all the capabilities you need --titles and graphics-- built in.

[poisondeathray]

Do you mean, does the text/arrow appear/disappear gradually vs. they just pop up, stay for a few seconds, and go away?

Here's a couple of screenshots to illustrate:

LOL I'm asking you, and you're asking me back?

I 'm asking you to clarify exactly what you want to do, because that determines what/if and how it can be done in certain programs.

And I mean "animated." Not faded in/out - that's animating the opacity or transparency, not animating the graphic.

ie. Does the circle get drawn on, or move ? ie. does the circle get drawn from 0 to 360 degrees, or is it fully 360 complete to begin with? Does the text get written on (e.g like a typewriter, letter by letter) or "revealed" part by part ? , or is it all in place at one time / fully revealed ?



Static overlay with text and shapes are very simple to do in your editing program (and any editor). And can probably do some simple keyframe animations and mask reveals

[yetanotherlogin]

The problem is that I don't know much about video, so can't answer technical questions like that.

I'm looking for an application that would take an MP4 video, let me draw some text + shapes on a few frames, and save the file as a new MP4 file.

Corel can't seem to do it; Sony Vegas seems to do it in the Pro version.

[TreeTops]

Poison, it looks like he wants to keep it simple. Like his sample photo in post #9.

[smrpix]

Corel can't seem to do it

Sure it can. The keystrokes may not be exactly what you prefer, but the capability is certainly there.

[yetanotherlogin]

I have Corel VideoStudio X5 open. I went through the menus, but found no mention of something that look like "Insert shape/text", etc.

Do you have that version?

[poisondeathray]

You can add titles / text
http://corel.force.com/index/articles/en_US/Master_Article/000013879-How-to-add-titles...oStudio-Pro-X5

Look in the manual under "titles" .

It also has a graphic library for shapes. Look in the manual under "graphic" .

Or you can import the still image as transporterfan suggested. You don't need photoshop, even free image editor like gimp, paint etc...

www.corel.com/content/pdf/vsx5/vsx5_user_guide_en.pd

[smrpix]

Look under titles and graphics.
I do not use Corel x5 -- but I find reading the manual online is pretty simple. You can also import custom images and have a variety of tools to deal with transparency, keying and overlays.

[yetanotherlogin]

Thanks for your help. Here's what I could do with Corel's effects:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8o6M_tRT7Q

[poisondeathray]

Hahaha nice work. The hand looks like a middle finger at a quick glance.. or it should have been .

It wasn't that difficult to do now was it

I can't believe the guy landed on his feet!!! Must have been a cat in another life

http://www.london24.com/news/transport/video_shocking_cycle_crash_in_romford_1_3696319

[yetanotherlogin]

It's OK. What I wanted to do was draw a circle around each vehicule and have the circle move together with the "target" as the bicycle passes them. I'll experiment with Sony Vegas and see how it goes.

I can tell you that riding home after a couple of weeks in Holland, Copenhagen, and Berlin is... sad

[poisondeathray]

It's OK. What I wanted to do was draw a circle around each vehicule and have the circle move together with the "target" as the bicycle passes them. I'll experiment with Sony Vegas and see how it goes.

I can tell you that riding home after a couple of weeks in Holland, Copenhagen, and Berlin is... sad

No love for cyclists

In order for the circle to "stick" to each vehicle , you have to animate the circle's position and scale. It should be possible to do it manually with keyframes in videostudio

[poisondeathray]

The vehicle he crashes into turning and the end is making a right turn, but the car should be yielding because you guys drive on the "wrong" side It's like making a left turn over here

If you want some other ideas, another way to highlight/emphasize the crazy cars is to pause the video and make the car flash or your circle highlight appear with your witty text dialog

[yetanotherlogin]

Actually, I live on the continent, where we ride on the right side of the road

Didn't think of this. I'll read the Corel doc on how to freeze the video for a couple of seconds.

[poisondeathray]

That wasn't you was it ???

I wonder what model hemet cam he' s using ? There's very little wobble / rolling shutter

[yetanotherlogin]

Nope, I'm more cautious, especially when riding in the rain. Riders in the UK are heavily into performance riding

No idea. CamSport? GoPro?

[poisondeathray]

Definitely not a gopro, they have lots o wobble

Anyways, one general technique/method you can "pause" the video for effect is split the video on the timeline (ie. cut it and move the 2nd half farther down the timeline ) . And in "gap" you put a freezeframe or still of the shot where you want to display/highlight the offending vehicle and your text dialog . It doesn't have to be completely still; you might want it just slow motion for example. You can still combine that with the moving circle highlight idea, because when it transitions back into the video, the circle or highlight with move with the vehicle until it's out of the frame. It's probably not making a whole lot of sense to you right now, but it should be "doable" in videostudio . It might be done a bit differently there, but any NLE should be able to do these types of edits

[yetanotherlogin]

Getting closer:

http://youtu.be/0EBxLIHnBCw

[poisondeathray]

Yes it's coming along. I like the pause effect better, because he zips by the cars a bit too fast and the text dialog isn't on long enough in the 1st version

[yetanotherlogin]

Having to 1) split the video, 2) take a snapshot, 3) insert a black sequence in the video stream, 4) insert/edit/maximize a text overlay, and 5) harmonize the length of those three bits... is a bit tedious, but it works. Thanks for the idea.

I'll experiment with VideoStudio X7 and see if provides an easier way to do this.

[poisondeathray]

In other NLE's, there are ways to change the playback speed directly on the same track. The "tedious" workaround is just a generic technique that should work in any editor