Slide Pan & Zoom Editing

[Maynard123]

I use Ulead VideoStudio for editing home movies that eventually are burned to DVD using MovieFactory 2.0. I love both tools.

I typically like to integrate still digital pictures (as slides) with the digital videa, and VideoStudio does this with nice transitions. However, I would like to try using Ken Burns pan and zoom effects on the still pictures to make it more interesting.

Do you know if VideoStudio can do the Ken Burns-style of panning and zooming digital stills? If not, should I use another tool and then import the panned-still picture into Video Studio?

Thanks for your help.

[Gees]

No, VS can't. MediaStudio can. As well as other more robust video editing programs (as opposed to VS7).

There are also stand-alone programs to acheive the effect, but they tend to be pricey for just the one function.

I looked for ages for a freeware prog and finally found one and posted it here a few days ago. I will try and refind the link and pop back.

[FOO]

Avisynth (free) can do it, but it's not interactive.
You have to tell it everything in a script,
so you can't see what you are doing.

[Gees]

Found it :c) https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179213&highlight=rostrum

As I said there, it's not as as full-featured as some, and good for having a play around. It's free, so no harm done.

I did discover - by accident - it actually does a pretty good job for a scrolling credits/text message. Just pan down over a long graphic of text. :c)

[Maynard123]

Thanks, Gees! I have been thinking about migrating from VS to MediaStudio. Are you familiar with these two products? I love the ease-of-use of VS...is it terribly difficult to make the transition to MediaStudio? Is it worth it?

I appreciate the advice. Thanks.

[Gees]

Yes, I'd say it is definitely worth it if you ever need more than VS7 can do.

I think it's probably on a par with some other similarly priced software, but I, personally, could not get some others to work on my set up.

I have both - and use each for different things. Be aware, MS does not have any DVD authoring facility, like the basic one that VS7 has.

I use VS for quick & easy and MS for overlay tracks, added audi track and special effects.

Oh, and Moving paths - that's the function that can simulate the rostrum camera (Ken Burn Effect).

The learning curve is much steeper, but it's a much more powerful program and easy enough to get to grips with. :c)

[Maynard123]

Thanks Gees. I use MovieFactory2 for authoring, which for now is fine. I am also thinking of upgrading to something that is fairly easy to use, but would allow some additional flexibility to do things like motion menus.

Thanks.

[NarcTed]

Ulead has a tutorial on how to do the effect. http://www.ulead.com/learning/msp6_5/page1.htm

I've used both. Media Studio is pretty easy to transition over to when you are pretty familiar with the video making process in general. I'd recommend downloading a trial for Media Studio to decide for yourself. If your into making effects, you'll appreciate MSP.

[Gees]

Oh, I see. Ok - I do not work for them! :cD But if you happen to like Ulead stuff, DVDWorkshop is good for that.

There's another newer program called DVDLab that looks like it can do some really amazing stuff - strictly for authoring - but so far, I have stuttering problems in all the releases. So I'm holding off on that one for now.

[Maynard123]

Thanks, this is very helpful!

[Gees]

You're welcome. :c)

[housepig]

and if you want to step away from the Ulead paradigm, give Vegas Video a try - nice feature set, including some good pan & zoom tools for Ken Burns-ing..

[Maynard123]

Actually, I was wondering about alternatives to Ulead. I love using their VS and MovieFactory products, but if I upgrade to Workshop and Media Studio Pro, it is a lot more money.

I work at a college, and can get the Adobe Video Collection for about $450. Is this a good way to go?

Thanks.

[Specialist]

I typically like to integrate still digital pictures (as slides) with the digital video, and VideoStudio does this with nice transitions. However, I would like to try using Ken Burns pan and zoom effects on the still pictures to make it more interesting. Do you know if VideoStudio can do the Ken Burns-style of panning and zooming digital stills? If not, should I use another tool and then import the panned-still picture into Video Studio?

Hi Maynard,

You can purchase a fairly expensive plug-in for Ulead VideoStudio called StageTools MovingPicture.

This plug-in works very well and the tech support provided by StageTools is excellent.

The details about the specific plug-in for Ulead VideoStudio are located here:

http://www.ulead.com/partner/app/movingPic/movingPic.htm

While Ulead VideoStudio does have a very basic moving path menu, it doesn't offer the same level of functionality afforded by the StageTools plug-in.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[lgh529]

I'm with housepig. Vegas Video does this very easily. I know that Specialist is orgasmic about Ulead Products, but I've found them to be very pricey for what you get, and for every Ulead product I have used, I ended up migrating to other applications and never looked back.

With Vegas, you can import the picture, do any combination of pan/zoom for any length of time in about 3 mouse clicks and 5 seconds.

Well worth the money, and if your a student, you can get the academic version for about $150US. Not bad since the original is $500.

By the way, anyone want to buy my copy of DVD Workshop?

[racer-x]

Maynard123 wrote:

I work at a college, and can get the Adobe Video Collection for about $450. Is this a good way to go?

Absolutely! This is by far the best bang for the buck. Offcourse it will take a long time to learn them. But when you finaly do learn how to use them, there should be nothing you can't acomplish.

[cz9h3d]

SonicFoundry / Screenblast Movie Studio does panning and zooming for stills. Version 3.0 is just out. It's pretty easy to use (it's Vegas Video's little brother) - simple timeline into which you drop your video clips and/or stills. The panning/zooming is easy to apply. MSRP is $99, but you should be able to find it a little cheaper.

[housepig]

I work at a college, and can get the Adobe Video Collection for about $450. Is this a good way to go?

I would say, before you spend any money, go and download trial versions and see which is the most comfortable - I like Adobe generally, and I use Photoshop all the time, but I had a hard time getting my head around Premiere & AfterEffects.

By contrast, Vegas makes perfect sense to me. But that's me - you may find Premiere & AE a breeze.

so before you drop the dough, get the trials and try 'em out. If you don't have the bandwidth to download 'em, go to the local bookstore and look for some of the UK video magazines - lots of them will have cover discs with a dozen different trial & freeware progs. Digit is a good one, it'll set you back about $10-14.

[Maynard123]

Thanks for the great advice. I am going to to Adobe a try and see how it goes.

Thanks again guys.

[Maynard123]

Just an update...I have been using Premiere Pro and After Effects 6.0 and I am totally in love with it. It definitely takes longer to understand, and its not the most intuitive set of tools out there, but wow...amazing flexibility. I'm sure I'll never use 1/2 the stuff these tools allow, but it sure is fun!

Thanks to the posts above for the great advice.

Maynard

[Nolonemo]

Vegas 4 for $150 vs Premiere for $450 isn't worth a nanosecond's thought. Go with Vegas, it's a great program. (In fairness, I hear the newest Premiere is much improved over version 6)

[dinesh]

With a little effort, you can do it in Virtualdub, by combining the Pan and Zoom Filters.

[neo]

I have been searching this for months. I want to capture video from my satelite dish so I bought a new high end computer and Canopus ADVC-100. The problem is I cannot find the software. The closest is Ulead VS 7. I find that it uses a lot of overhead to capture so I use WinDV (free) and can capture with 0 dropped frames while I am doing other things. The file can be imported into Ulead VS 6 which I have now. Ulead is fine for editing. It is also the only product that allows fine custom control of saving to a file with short rendering time, no loss of quality, and small size. I store the files in external Maxtor 250 GB drives. By using MPEG-2 with a 640x480 (4:3) resolution, VBR at 2600 kbps I can get the quality and file size I want.

The problem is that the Canopus captures in 720x480 (1.5:1) which leaves black side bars in a 4:3 video. From what I have seen, the cropping filter in UL VS 7 will not do the job. The one in the Vegas line is good but it does not have the file saving options. TMPGenc will import DV from UL VS 7, has a great cropping filter, but this involves 2 renderings and the one from TMPGenc is incredibly slow.

I am about to buy UL VS 7 anyway and just do the best I can and hope they add a decent cropping filter (the one they have now looks poor as it will not crop each edge individually and then I am not sure if it will expand to full screen). Does anyone know more about their cropping filter?

Any other ideas? Will Media Studio do what I would like?

Last, where to buy? They seem to be hard to find except UL and Amazon.

neo

[FOO]

If you intend to put those movies on a DVD you should keep them
at 720 x 480 because 640 x 480 is not a legal resolution for DVD.
Also 720 x 480 is the Storage resolution. There is also
a Display Aspect Ratio which actually controls the display.
It can be set to 4:3 on a 720 x 480 and that's how it comes out.

You don't need to crop

[neo]

If you intend to put those movies on a DVD you should keep them
at 720 x 480 because 640 x 480 is not a legal resolution for DVD.
Also 720 x 480 is the Storage resolution. There is also
a Display Aspect Ratio which actually controls the display.
It can be set to 4:3 on a 720 x 480 and that's how it comes out.

You don't need to crop

The problem is that the Canopus is capturing my 4:3 aspect ratio at the 1.5:1 of 720x480. I get the black side bars no matter what and need to crop them. Because I am storing on hard disk I want the file size as small as possible.

You make a good point on the resolution for DVDs. I wonder if it would be difficult to burn these MPEG-2 files to a DVD? It might come in handy some day. Is the VBR of 2600 kbps in DVD standards?

Thanks

[FOO]

You mean the black is actually in the captured frames ?
40 pixels of black on both sides ?
Strange.

If that is the case I would crop to 640 x 480 and then resize to
720 x480 or 352 x 480 and encode that . The you could stick it
on a DVD later.

[neo]

You mean the black is actually in the captured frames ?
40 pixels of black on both sides ?
Strange.

If that is the case I would crop to 640 x 480 and then resize to
720 x480 or 352 x 480 and encode that . The you could stick it
on a DVD later.

It is strange. Yes, the black is in the captured frames. It is uneven with 1 side being larger than the other.

I wonder if there are a variety of approved DVD formats? With MPEG-2 UL VS gives only preset options for resolution even under custom. The only factor that has complete freedom is the bitrate. I may have to try burning a DVD with UL VS with a rendered file and then see how it plays.

[FOO]

As a matter of fact there are approved formats.

https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

[winifreid]

How do you use Vdub to produce the Ken Burns effect? I have the zoom and pan filters, but I don't see how to import a picture.

[Tommyknocker]

Well, you can use VS 7 to make a video clip from a picture. Load the picture and tell VS 7 how long you want the video to last.

TMPGEnc can do it to by loading a image as input video, and a few seconds of silence (from Gold Wave) as input audio.