User's Guide NeroVision Express 3 Bringing the world of video closer to home - Creating your very own DVD, VCD, SVCD and miniDVD Ahead Software AG Copyright and Trademark Information The NeroVision Express 3 User's Guide and the NeroVision Express 3 Software are copyrighted and the property of Ahead Software AG, Im Stoeckmaedle 18, 76307 Karlsbad, Germany. All rights are reserved. This Quick Start Guide contains materials protected under International Copyright Laws. It is expressly forbidden to copy, reproduce, duplicate or transmit all or any part of the Guide or the software without the prior written consent of Ahead Software AG. All brand names and trademarks are properties of their respective owners. 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Copyright © 2001-2004 by Ahead Software AG REV. 3.0 Contents 1 Introduction.......................................................................................... 6 1.1 Welcome to NeroVision Express 3 ..................................................6 2 Installing NeroVision Express 3 ......................................................... 7 2.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 System Requirements.......................................................................7 Installation / deinstallation ...............................................................8 Installing from CD ................................................................................8 Installing from hard disk ......................................................................8 Deinstalling NeroVision Express 3 ......................................................9 3 Getting Started................................................................................... 10 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3.1 3.3.2 3.3.3 3.3.4 3.3.5 3.3.6 3.3.7 3.3.8 3.4 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 3.4.4 3.4.5 3.4.6 3.4.7 3.4.8 3.4.9 3.4.10 3.4.11 3.4.12 Opening NeroVision Express 3 for the first time..........................10 Getting to know the user interface ................................................11 Buttons.............................................................................................15 'Help' button.......................................................................................15 'Export' button....................................................................................15 'Save' button......................................................................................15 'Undo' button .....................................................................................15 'Restore' button .................................................................................16 'Back' button ......................................................................................16 'Next' button.......................................................................................16 'Burn' button ......................................................................................16 Extended section.............................................................................16 Normal and sticky mode....................................................................17 Use no black miniature images .........................................................17 Create menu on disc .........................................................................17 Create chapters automatically...........................................................17 Elements on the timeline ...................................................................17 Time stamp of DV files ......................................................................18 Effects in the timeline ........................................................................18 'Configure button' ..............................................................................18 'Default Video Options' button ...........................................................19 'Erase disc' button .............................................................................20 'Disc info' button ................................................................................20 'Make covers and labels' button ........................................................21 NeroVision Express 3 Contents · 3 4 Capturing Video from DV cameras and other external video devices ............................................................................................... 22 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.4 Capturing .........................................................................................22 Digital video vs. Analog video .......................................................22 Setting up your hardware ...............................................................22 Digital Video ......................................................................................22 Analog Video .....................................................................................23 Capturing your first video ..............................................................24 5 Making your first DVD-Video, VCD, SVCD or miniDVD .................. 28 5.1 5.2 5.3 Choosing the right format ..............................................................28 Information on the DVD-Video plug-in ..........................................30 Starting a video project ..................................................................31 6 Open Existing Project ....................................................................... 43 6.1 Open Existing Project .....................................................................43 7 Editing Your Video............................................................................. 45 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.3.1 7.3.2 7.3.3 Editing Your Video ..........................................................................45 Trimming video titles ......................................................................47 Adding Chapter Marks ....................................................................50 Creating chapter marks manually......................................................50 Adding chapter marks automatically .................................................52 Working with chapters .......................................................................52 8 Create your first slide show.............................................................. 54 8.1 Create your first slide show ...........................................................54 9 Create your first movie...................................................................... 64 9.1 9.2 Create your first movie ...................................................................64 Exporting the movie ........................................................................75 10 DVD-Video (VR).................................................................................. 79 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 DVD-Video (VR) ...............................................................................79 Making DVD-Video (VR) disc from videos stored on the hard drive or on disc................................................................................80 Adding videos stored on the hard drive to a DVD-Video (VR) disk82 Making a DVD-Video (VR) disk directly from a capture source ..84 NeroVision Express 3 Contents · 4 11 Menu Layout ...................................................................................... 87 11.1 Menu Layout ....................................................................................87 12 Preview Settings ................................................................................ 97 12.1 Preview Settings..............................................................................97 13 Technical Support ............................................................................. 99 13.1 13.2 F.A.Q.'s.............................................................................................99 Contact Information ......................................................................101 14 15 Glossary ........................................................................................... 102 Index ................................................................................................. 106 NeroVision Express 3 Contents · 5 1 Introduction 1.1 Welcome to NeroVision Express 3 NeroVision Express 3 is the new video capturing, authoring and burning software with an incredibly user-friendly interface that allows you to 'capture' your videos from DV cameras and other external video devices, and record them to DVDVideo, Video CD (VCD), Super Video CD (SVCD) and miniDVD. With the many features offered in this powerful multimedia software, you will have numerous options for creating and collecting your memories. Even for those who are new to the world of video will find that NeroVision Express 3 is fun and easy with no worries! With NeroVision Express 3 you can ... Trim your videos in a fast and flexible way Create chapters using automatic scene detection and/or set chapter marks manually Create video discs with your own and customize menus using pre-defined layout templates and button frames Add your own background pictures and text design Use the preview mode and the handy remote control to view your video project ... and much much more! Once you have your DV camcorder, 1394 Firewire card, and appropriate hardware, you are on your way to creating your own movies. If you have a DirectShowcompatible Video Card, you can use NeroVision Express 3 to capture video from the Video Card directly. If you don´t have any video hardware at all, you will still be able to work with video files that are on your system or that you downloaded from the internet. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the easy-to-use features of NeroVision Express 3! NeroVision Express 3 Introduction · 6 2 Installing NeroVision Express 3 2.1 System Requirements Supported Operating Systems With your system should come a pre-installed operating system. Below you will find a list that NeroVision Express 3 supports. Please check to make sure that you have one of the following operating systems: Windows 98/SE Windows ME Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows 2003 Server In addition, DirectX 9.0a should be installed. To download the latest version of DirectX please visit www.microsoft.com/directx/default.asp. Minimum Hardware Requirements Your PC must have a 500 MHz processor or higher. 800 MHz (for capturing to hard disk), 1.6 GHz (for capturing to DVD). A faster processor is recommended for best performance. You must have at least 128 MB RAM memory. Generally, more would be better. Hard disk space: 100 MB for the standard installation and up to 9 GB (for DVD projects, VCD/SVCD projects require up to 800MB) of HD space for temporary files. To burn a DVD-Video disc, you need to have a supported DVD recordable drive connected to your system. To burn VCD/SVCD/miniDVD discs, you need to have a supported CD and/or DVD recordable drive connected to your system. (Please visit www.nero.com or the list of currently supported drives). Even if you do not have a recorder capable of burning DVD and/or VCD/SVCD/miniDVD discs, you can still burn a disc image on your hard drive and save it for future use. Once you have the appropriate recordable drive connected to your system, you can open disc images using Nero and/or Nero Express at any time, and burn real video discs. Graphics card (800x600 display, 16-bit color) with 8 MB or higher Sound card Firewire (IEEE 1394) and/or USB port (optional) DirectShow compatible video capture card (optional) NeroVision Express 3 Installing NeroVision Express 3 · 7 2.2 Installation / deinstallation 2.2.1 Installing from CD Step 1: Insert the NeroVision Express 3 CD-ROM into your CD/DVD drive on your ...