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Pinnacle Studio - Editing your video

File/Save as...Before you go any further, go to “File/Save as…” and save your project in the same location as your scene clips. Since video editing is a resources-hungry process, you will face lockups and other problems. "Save early and often" was never more important!

 

You have three editing views, clickable on the middle/far right of the main window:

Storyboard: The scenes are arranged in sequence, and there’s no representation of time.
Timeline: Time is represented graphically, so shorter scenes occupy less space.
Text: This gives a simple list of the components of your project.

Storyboard is easier for rough construction, or  whenever you need to select a scene that appears quite small on Timeline. Timeline gives a better visual representation of your project in time, and is the only environment that gives access to all the layered items (sound, titles, etc.) at once. 

I. Rough construction

Find each of the scenes you captured through the file window. Drag and drop them onto the Storyboard or Timeline in the order in which you want them to appear. If you get anything wrong, or change your mind, you can simply drag and drop them from one location to another at any time.

II. Scene editing

Click on a scene. Click on the Video toolbox  icon at the left end of the timeline/storyboard window. You can then play the scene in the view window. The green marker marks the start point of your video clip, and the red marks the end—since you captured more than you needed, you’ll have to adjust this. You can drag the green and red markers, and use the play controls to test your selections. You can also run the scene from its beginning, and simply click on the green and red brackets under the edit windows at the instance you want the clip to start and stop, or adjust using the up and down arrows which move one frame at a time. Close the toolbox when you’re done.

III. Transitions

With the toolbox closed, click on the “Transitions" tab. Select a transition—double-clicking on them will cause them to run in the view window, showing what they’ll do. Drag and drop them in between two scenes to use. Adding transitions actually shortens your project, since the transition overlaps a portion of the two scenes involved. You may have to adjust the scene lengths again to make sure things appear as you want. This is why scenes need pads on either end!

VI. Titles

Video ToolboxTitles come in two types—full-screen, and overlay. Full-screen titles are just like film clips (drag and drop one on the timeline or storyboard anywhere), except that you can make them longer or shorter simply by dragging them in the timeline. You can create them from scratch from the toolbox, or - somewhat easier - select one in the "Titles" section of Editing (toolbox closed) which pleases, and double-click on your selection (which opens TitleDeko, the title editor) to edit the text. It’s a good idea to place a 5-second or so full-screen dummy title at the beginning, so that cueing the video is easier - be really clever and put a five-second countdown! Backgrounds can be a solid color, or a digital picture (see "Select Background" in TitleDeko).

If you want the title as an overlay, you must be in Timeline view. Drag the title into the Title Overlay channel (it’s below the video channel). Again, you can shorten and lengthen it as you see fit. Do not use a background, or your video will be completely covered up!

Audio ToolboxTransitions can be applied to titles as well - both as full-screen titles and as overlays - by dragging the transition to the beginning or ending of the title (remember that overlays are only visible in Timeline view). Titles can also be used to insert digital pictures as stills into your project - insert the picture into the title as a background or insert, and remove all the text.

V. Sound

Icon . . . in . . .  Application
Toolbox 1)  Adding Voice Overlay: Use the Toolbox option for this. It is best to use a headset with earphones, since the presence of speakers near a microphone will give feedback. It is possible to use the camcorder as a microphone if it's still connected, but you should still use headphones.
Toolbox 2) Adding sound from CD:  You must have the CD in the CDROM tray when you render - don't choose a music selection and then finish the project after the student has taken his CD home! Editing CD selections is very much like editing video scenes with the toolbox. If you want easier and more dependable control over music, use "Adding sound from file".
Editing (toolbox closed) 3) Adding sound from file:  Studio accepts sound files in .WAVor MP3 format. It also gives a collection of sound effects and music in their package which you can use—browse to effects through the file window. Drag and drop your selections onto the Timeline channel marked for sound. It is very much easier to add music by this method, but you must convert it to WAV or MP3 first. Studio will not accept Windows Media files.
Toolbox (may need Pinnacle installation CD) 4) Adding music using Studio's automatic music tool:  If you are using this video project for other than classroom instructional purposes, your music cannot be copyright protected, or you must have secured permission for its use. Studio provides some free-to-use canned music files which sidestep this problem The tool has the added advantage of automatically tailoring your music selection so that it seems to fit exactly in the timeframe you choose, with beginnings and endings included to give this impression - you will not need to use fade-outs and fade-ins to control time span. Simply select the musical style you wish to use, click "Add to movie," and drag to expand or shrink it to cover your chosen time span. Studio will automatically generate a musical except that exactly covers the time you choose. Be forewarned - if you did not do a full install of Studio, this option will ask for the installation CD.
Toolbox 5) Adjusting volume of all sound sources in "real time": The sound volume selection in the toolbox allows you to play your video project and adjust volume in real time as the video plays. Three volume tools are given to give control over video sound, sound effects, and music.
none On timeline 6) Adjusting volume of all sound sources on the timeline: In Timeline view, all sound sources show volume as a red line in the middle of the sound window. Volume may be adjusted by dragging this line up and down. If you wish to make adjustments at isolated points on the line, click on it to place an editing point (a square red dot), and drag those points up and down. Some experimentation is required to get used to it, but it gives better and easier control than the "real time" adjustment tool.

VI. Adding stills

To add a still picture you have created as a GIF or other image format, either drag it directly onto the timeline from the toolbox images window, or add it as a title and insert the picture into the blank title frame. To capture a still picture from the video, use the capture tool in the video toolbox - this tool allows you to select a still frame from your video project by clicking a button as the video plays. It then gives you the option of inserting it in your project, or saving it as a separate file. The latter is how you can grab a frame for use as a hyperlink if you intend to use the video on a web page. Here's a collection of resources for copyright-free images you can use in your video.

VII. Watching the entire project

You can watch your entire project from the Timeline. Make sure that transitions don’t cover parts of scenes (remember, you’ve got extra footage at the beginning and end of each scene to help with this). Make sure the overall video is the right length, the sound effects are well-timed, and the title overlays are visible and don’t cover anything important.