speech bubbles

[psydkick]

im such a newbie i dont even know where to post this
my question is.....
is it possible to add speech bubbles onto a pre-existing avi file?
its for a project
surely there is some software out there under $500 that allows this
does anyone remember that 'blind date' program? kind of like that

thanks in advance

[redwudz]

Yes, but you will need to re-encode the video. One way that comes to mind is a logo program and just use your 'speech bubble' instead of a logo. The freeware VirtualDub can do that. What you want to do is 'overlay' the bubble over the video. You might also be able to use some form of subtitle and possibly avoid re-encoding.

It's been discussed on the forums before, but it's been a few years. But others here should be able to give you better suggestions.

And welcome to our forums.

EDIT: Here's a recent discussion of using watermarks that is a similar process: https://forum.videohelp.com/topic368704.html#1973011 You can also do a forum search for ' logos ' and you may find some leads.

[lordsmurf]

Adobe Premiere

[Safesurfer]

You could just create a transparent PNG in a graphics program and create your speech bubble with text in that, I have Paint Shop Pro and it comes with preset shapes for speech bubbles. With a multi-track video editor it's a simple matter to arrange the PNG as an overlay in the desired position.

[SatStorm]

By far the easiest and cheapest way, is using Womble's MPEG Video Wizard.
But AFAIK, it works with mpeg2 files, not avi. But it does a great job. Exactly what you wish to do.

[poisondeathray]

Cheapest way is free, with avisynth, but it might be difficult if you're not already familiar with the basics

As another option you could do this in Vegas Pro, and I'm pretty sure Vegas Movie Studio could do this for a lower cost alternative

[SatStorm]

Avisynth is not for everyone. Especially the ones that likes a Graphic user interface to work with (like me for example).
That's why virtualdub is still popular and avisynth remaines only for the advance, command-friendly users.

Anyway, MPEG Video Wizard cost 25.44 EUR and Vegas Movie Studio 55$
It is cheaper, but works only with mpeg 2.

[psydkick]

if i cant work something out from this, then all is lost.
thanks for all your help, ill let you know how it works out sometime later in the week
thanks again