Need Help With VideoStudio 6

[ganymede]

I've read my users manual for VideoStudio 6 but I can't seem to figure out how to do what I want to do. It's really quite simple: I have some MPEG2 files of TV shows that I've recorded. I just want to remove the commercials, render the edited files, and then burn the files to SVCD discs. For some reason I can't seem to figure out how to simply remove the commercials with Studio 6. If someone could just walk me through that procedure, it would be much appreciated.

[bunyip]

Yes, it's fairly simple.
• Go to the 'Storybord' screen, load your video and drag it into the box at the bottom of the screen.
• Stay in the mode that shows the video as a single thumbnail (not Timeline mode).
• Click on the thumbnail to make the video active (red frame).
• Just under the 'Preview Screen' there are two red slider controls, you need to use the bottom one (the one that shows as a vertical bar).
• Move this control to the point that you want to do your first cut, as you move it you will notice that the 'Split Video' button on the left of the screen becomes active.
• Once you have reached the start of the commercial that you want to cut, press the 'Split Video' button. The video is split in two and you will have a new thumbnail for the part after the split.
• Now click on the new thumbnail to make it active.
• Using the slider again, move to the end of the commercial and press the 'Split Video' button again, now you have 3 thumbnails, the middle one will contain only the commercial.
• Click on the 'commercial' thumbnail to make sure it's active and press the Delete key, you have just cut out the first commercial.
• Repeat these steps for all the commercials and then you can proceed with the normal process of doing effects, title and rendering, all the 'pieces' will be treated as a single video (minus the commercials).

[ganymede]

bunyip,

Thanks a lot for your help with VideoStudio 6. Yesterday I finally got around to trying to edit a video and your instructions were great. I followed them and edited an MPEG2 file successfully. I just have one question: Does VideoStudio 6 re-encode? The reason I ask is that the video file seemed to be of somewhat lower quality after rendering than similar files that I've edited using other software. If it does re-encode, is there any way to prevent it from doing so?

[bunyip]

Glad to hear of your success.

VS6 can be a little fussy about 'Smart Rendering'.
If your video is not strickly SVCD or DVD compliant, then selecting these templates at the 'Finish' step will always force a re-render.

The trick is to either set the 'Project Settings' to match your video before you start, or if you have a lot of files of the same format, to create your own template to match them.

Firstly try one, select 'New Project' and select 'Template from existing file' and pick the file you are about to edit. At the 'Finish' stage, select 'Create Video File', 'custom' and just check that the 'type' and 'custom' settings still match your video. (and check that smart rendering is ticked), it shouldn't render now.

To create your own template:
• Click on the 'tools' icon and select 'Make Movie Manager' and then "New'.
• Give it a name and make sure it is set to 'Mpeg'.
• Now make sure that all the settings match your video and make sure that the Media Type is 'SVCD'.
• Now when you get to the 'Finish' step select 'Create Video File', 'custom' and you should see your template in the list, select it and 'Smart Rendering' should happen.