Detailed instructions for use are in the User's Guide.
Instant VideoAlbum
The fun and easy way to share your home movies on CD or DVD
User guide
Special thanks to Chris Zamara, Mike Iampietro, Brian Lane, Charmine Tung, Keith Thompson, Louis Gentry, Bin Zhu, Christine Wang, Jim Sugg, Sandra Thiel, Mark Van Bellingham, Don Oh, Ivan Maltz, Brad Rudolph, Mike Funk, Darrel Chen, Kurt Gallant, Rich Edgley, Michael Fleischhauer, William Chien, and Bill Loesch. Documentation: Nick Sullivan, René White, Patrick Roscoe Instant VideoAlbum, Pinnacle Systems, and the Pinnacle Systems logo are registered trademarks of Pinnacle Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. QDesign MPEG-2 Layer II Fast Encoder/Decoder © 1996-2002 by QDesign Corporation. Windows Media is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. You agree not to remove any product identification or notices of the property restrictions from Pinnacle Systems' products or manuals. All products mentioned in this manual are trademarks of their respective owners. Instant VideoAlbum User Guide copyright © 2003 by Pinnacle Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be copied or distributed, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, manual, or otherwise, without the express written permission of Pinnacle Systems, Inc. Pinnacle Systems, Inc. 280 North Bernardo Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043 Printed in the USA.
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Instant VideoAlbum
Contents
CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW.............................................. 1
Computer requirements............................................................................. 2 Technical specifications ............................................................................. 2 Input formats ........................................................................................... 3 Output formats......................................................................................... 3 Installing your software ............................................................................. 4 Obtaining software updates ..................................................................... 5 Connecting a digital camcorder ................................................................ 5 On-line help................................................................................................. 5 Abbreviations and conventions ................................................................. 6 Terminology ............................................................................................ 6 Dialogs and window names ..................................................................... 8 Choosing menu commands...................................................................... 8 Keyboard conventions ............................................................................. 8 Mouse clicking ........................................................................................ 8
CHAPTER 2: IMPORT ................................................... 9
Importing .................................................................................................. 10 Importing video from your camcorder................................................... 10 Importing video from your PC .............................................................. 12 Importing photos from your PC............................................................. 12 Importing assets from Windows Explorer ............................................. 12 The Asset List ........................................................................................... 13
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CHAPTER 3: DISC SETTINGS.................................... 15
Settings dialog........................................................................................... 15 Output format ........................................................................................ 16 Media..................................................................................................... 17 TV standard ........................................................................................... 17 Video quality / disc usage...................................................................... 18
CHAPTER 4: MENU STYLES...................................... 21
The Style Chooser ................................................................................. 21
CHAPTER 5: PREVIEWING ........................................ 23
The Remote Control................................................................................. 23 Number pad ........................................................................................... 24 DVD navigation buttons........................................................................ 24 Movie controls....................................................................................... 25 The TV screen........................................................................................... 25 Cursor navigation .................................................................................. 26
CHAPTER 6: BURNING .............................................. 27
Burning the Disc ....................................................................................... 28 Temporary files ..................................................................................... 28 File conversion ...................................................................................... 30
CHAPTER 7: CUSTOMIZING MENU STYLES............ 31
Backgrounds .......................................................................................... 32 Frames ................................................................................................... 32 Layout.................................................................................................... 33 Type....................................................................................................... 33 Music ..................................................................................................... 34
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CHAPTER 8: EDITING VIDEO AND PHOTOS............ 35
The Edit Video dialog............................................................................... 35 The Asset List ........................................................................................... 37 Renaming objects .................................................................................. 37 Rearranging objects ............................................................................... 38 Duplicating objects ................................................................................ 38 Deleting objects ..................................................................................... 38 Opening and closing video chapters ...................................................... 39 Opening and closing slideshows............................................................ 40 Importing images from Windows Explorer ........................................... 40 The Preview Screen .................................................................................. 41 Editing tools and options ......................................................................... 42 Project options ....................................................................................... 42 Chapter options...................................................................................... 43 Change thumbnail.................................................................................. 47 Enhance ................................................................................................. 48 Split ....................................................................................................... 51 Information Display Area........................................................................ 52
CHAPTER 9: MAKING LABELS AND INSERTS ........ 53
The Make Custom Labels dialog............................................................. 53 Label type tabs....................................................................................... 54 The Edit toolbar..................................................................................... 55 The Edit Window .................................................................................. 58 The text controls .................................................................................... 61 The Print Custom Labels dialog ............................................................ 62
APPENDIX A: TECHNICAL SUPPORT ...................... 65 APPENDIX B: LICENSE AGREEMENT ...................... 69 INDEX .......................................................................... 73
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Instant VideoAlbum
Chapter 1: Overview
Pinnacle Instant VideoAlbum lets you use your personal computer to turn your home movies into DVDs and VideoCDs. Soon you'll be able to send a friend or family member movies that they can play in their DVD player. There are four simple steps: First, Pinnacle Instant VideoAlbum lets you "capture video" -- transfer the video from your camcorder or VCR to your PC's hard drive. You can also add videos and pictures you've already saved on your PC. Next, select a menu style. This will determine what the on-screen menu for your finished disc will look like when viewed on a television. You can also customize menu styles for a more personal feel. Now, preview your disc using the onscreen remote control, or by clicking directly on video and photo "thumbnails" in the preview area. This screen also allows you to arrange, edit, and enhance your videos and / or photos. To save you time, Pinnacle Instant VideoAlbum automatically breaks up your video into scenes, and creates a scene menu for you! Finally, burn your completed project onto a DVD or CD using your disc burner. Pinnacle Instant VideoAlbum lets you create DVDs, VideoCDs, and Super VideoCDs.
Chapter 1: Overview 1
COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS
In addition to your Instant VideoAlbum software, you will need a PC-compatible computer with:
· Intel PentiumTM or AMD AthlonTM processor, 700 · · · · ·
·
MHz or faster (1.5 GHz recommended) Windows® 98/Me/XP/2000 (XP recommended) Direct X compatible graphic and sound boards 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended) 100 MB of free hard disc space to install software Minimum 1GB needed for project and temp files Your hard drive must be capable of sustained reading and writing at 4 MB/sec. All SCSI and most UDMA drives are capable of this. DV-format video consumes 3.6 MB of hard disc space for every second of video, so four minutes of DV video will require almost 900 MB of hard disc space. CD or DVD Burner
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Instant VideoAlbum supports several types of digital video and photo formats. The program recognizes several common input formats for importing video from your camcorder, or video and photo files from your PC. Instant VideoAlbum also enables you to burn your final project to its destination disc in a number of standard and custom playback formats.
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Input formats
· Capture video from Digital (DV and Digital8)
camcorders (requires a PC with an OHCI-compliant IEEE-1394 / FireWire port or interface card)
· Capture video from any camcorder with analog
(composite or S-Video) outputs (requires optional Instant VideoAlbum Plus capture hardware)
· Video Import: AVI, DV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 · Digital Image Import: BMP, JPG, PCD, PCT, TGA,
WMF, TIF (LZW compression not supported)
Output formats
· DVD: A DVD disc is the ultimate in video quality.
Instant VideoAlbum can burn up to 90 minutes of high-quality video and audio (or up to 232 minutes at decent quality) onto a DVD-R/RW or DVD+R/RW disc.
· VideoCD (VCD): A VideoCD disc allows up to 70
minutes of VHS-quality video to be burned onto a CD with any CD-Burner. This video format is supported by a large number of DVD players.
· Super VideoCD (SVCD): Super-VideoCD is an
enhancement to the VCD format. An S-VCD disc allows up to 39 minutes of near-DVD quality video to be burned onto a CD. This video format is supported by a number of DVD players. Check the Pinnacle web site and VCDhelp.com for a list of compatible players.
Chapter 1: Overview 3
INSTALLING YOUR SOFTWARE
To install your Instant VideoAlbum software:
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Insert the Instant VideoAlbum CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. If you have Autorun enabled for your CD-ROM, Setup will run automatically. If you do not have Autorun enabled, navigate to your CD-ROM drive, and double-click on Setup.exe. Select the language of your choice. Enter your serial number (found on the Instant VideoAlbum CD or printed on its sleeve). Agree to the Instant VideoAlbum software license terms (click "I Agree"). If you do not accept or understand the terms, you should promptly ret ...
