User Guide Ulead Systems, Inc. March 2004 English edition for Ulead VideoStudio 8, March 2004. © 1992-2004 Ulead Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or storing in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form without the express written permission of Ulead Systems, Inc. Software license The software described in this document is furnished under a License Agreement, which is included with the product. This Agreement specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of the product. Licenses and trademarks ICI Library © 1991­1992 C-Cube Microsystems. All rights reserved. Ulead and the Ulead Systems logo are registered trademarks and Ulead VideoStudio is a trademark of Ulead Systems, Inc. Intel, Pentium and MMX are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Intel Corporation. Microsoft, Windows, DirectX and/or other Microsoft products referenced herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Adobe, the Adobe logo, and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All other product names and any registered and unregistered trademarks mentioned in this manual are used for identification purposes only and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners. Sample files Files provided as samples on the program CD can be used for personal demonstrations, productions and presentations. No rights are granted for commercial reproduction or redistribution of any sample files. North & South America Ulead Systems Inc. http://www.ulead.com Support: http://www.ulead.com/tech International Ulead Systems, Inc. http://www.ulead.com http://www.asiapac.ulead.com http://www.ulead.com.tw Support: http://www.ulead.com/tech http://www.asiapac.ulead.com/tech http://www.ulead.com.tw/tech Japan Ulead Systems Inc. http://www.ulead.co.jp Support: http://www.ulead.co.jp/tech China Ulead Systems, Inc. http://www.ulead.com.cn Support: http://www.ulead.com.cn/tech Germany Ulead Systems GmbH http://www.ulead.de Support: http://www.ulead.de/tech United Kingdom http://www.ulead.co.uk Support: http://www.ulead.co.uk/tech France http://www.ulead.fr Support: http://www.ulead.fr/tech ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 3 Welcome to Ulead VideoStudio .................................... 7 How VideoStudio works ......................................... 7 What's new .......................................................... 8 System requirements ...........................................12 Installing and running VideoStudio .........................13 Setting up your computer .......................................... 15 Installing a capture card .......................................15 Connecting a video camera to the computer ............15 DV or Digital 8 camcorder ....................................... 15 Analog video sources .............................................. 19 USB camera .......................................................... 24 Preparation for video capturing and editing .............25 Getting started ........................................................... 26 VideoStudio Movie Wizard .....................................26 Step 1: Add video and images ................................. 26 Step 2: Select a template ....................................... 29 Step 3: Finish ........................................................ 32 VideoStudio Editor ...............................................33 The The The The The The The user interface ................................................. 33 Step Panel ...................................................... 34 Menu Bar ..................................................... 35 Options Panel ................................................. 36 Navigation Panel .............................................. 36 project timeline ............................................... 37 Library ........................................................... 41 Starting a new movie project .................................44 Saving your project ................................................ 45 Setting your preferences ......................................... 46 Setting project properties ....................................... 46 Adding clips .......................................................... 47 Previewing ............................................................ 47 Capture ...................................................................... 49 Seamless DV and MPEG capture ............................49 The Capture Step Options Panel .............................50 Capturing video ...................................................51 Digital Video (DV) .................................................. 53 Analog video ......................................................... 55 4 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE Direct video capturing to MPEG format ......................58 Direct video capturing to Windows Media Video ..........59 Batch Capture ..................................................... 62 Capturing still images ........................................... 63 Edit ............................................................................. 64 Adding clips to the Video Track .............................. 64 Video clips .............................................................64 Images .................................................................65 Color clips .............................................................65 The Edit Step Options Panel .................................. 66 Split by Scene ..................................................... 67 Trimming a clip ................................................... 69 Multi-trim Video .................................................. 71 Saving trimmed clips ............................................ 73 Playback Speed ................................................... 73 Capturing still images in the Edit Step .................... 74 Pan & Zoom ........................................................ 75 Applying video filters ............................................ 77 Key frame settings .................................................79 Effect .......................................................................... 81 Adding transitions ................................................ 81 The Effect Step Options Panel ................................ 82 The Album transition ............................................ 83 Overlay ....................................................................... 87 Adding clips to the Overlay Track ........................... 87 The Overlay Step Options Panel ............................. 91 Adding decorations .............................................. 92 Title ............................................................................ 94 Adding text ......................................................... 94 Modifying text attributes ....................................... 97 The Title Step Options Panel ................................. 98 Applying animation .............................................. 99 Animation effects ...................................................99 Audio ........................................................................103 The Audio Step Options Panel .............................. 103 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 5 Adding voiceover narration .................................. 104 Adding background music ................................... 106 Adding audio files .............................................. 107 Trimming audio clips .......................................... 108 Fading-in/out ................................................... 108 Mixing audio tracks ............................................ 109 Using the Clip Volume Control ................................109 Using the Audio Mixing Panel ..................................109 Volume rubber banding .........................................110 Applying audio filters .......................................... 111 Share ........................................................................ 112 The Share Step Options Panel .............................. 112 Creating movie templates ................................... 112 Creating and saving a video file ........................... 114 Burning a DVD, VCD or SVCD .............................. 116 Assembling files ....................................................117 Adding/Editing chapters .........................................118 Creating selection menus .......................................120 Previewing ..........................................................122 Burning your project onto a disc .............................122 Project Playback ................................................ 124 Exporting your movie ......................................... 126 Exporting videos to Ulead DVD-VR Wizard ................126 Recording back to a DV camcorder ..........................129 Posting your video on a Web page ...........................130 Sending a movie by e-mail .....................................131 Electronic greeting cards ........................................132 Creating an audio file ......................................... 133 Appendix A: Menus and dialog boxes ...................... 134 Menus .............................................................. 134 File menu ............................................................134 Edit menu ............................................................135 Clip menu ............................................................136 Tools menu ..........................................................137 Help menu ...........................................................138 Dialog boxes ..................................................... 139 Audio Save Options ...............................................139 Batch Convert ......................................................140 6 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE Burner Advanced Settings ..................................... 141 Border/Shadow/Transparency ................................ 142 Capture Options ................................................... 143 Change Capture Plug-in ......................................... 144 Output Advanced Settings ..................................... 144 Preferences: File menu .......................................... 145 Preferences (Create Disc) ..................................... 151 Preview Playback Options ...................................... 152 Project Properties ................................................. 153 Project Options .................................................... 153 Project Settings (Create Disc) ................................ 154 Preview Files Manager ........................................... 155 Select Device Control ............................................ 156 Video and Audio Capture Property Settings .............. 157 Video Color Manager ............................................. 159 Video Save Options ............................................... 160 Appendix B: Shortcuts .............................................166 Menu command shortcuts .................................. 166 Step Panel shortcuts .......................................... 166 Navigation Panel shortcuts .................................. 167 Timeline shortcuts ............................................. 168 Multi-trim Video shortcuts ................................... 168 Others ............................................................. 169 Appendix C: Technology Overview ...........................170 Analog vs. Digital .............................................. 170 SmartRender Technology .................................... 171 DV SmartPlay .................................................... 171 DVD, VCD, and SVCD ......................................... 172 Appendix D: System tweaks ....................................173 Enabling DMA for IDE disks ................................. 173 Disabling Write-Behind Caching ........................... 176 Setting the Paging File size ................................. 179 Appendix E. Tips and techniques .............................182 Glossary ...................................................................184 Index ........................................................................194 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 7 Welcome to Ulead VideoStudio Thank you for purchasing VideoStudio, the video editing software that allows even beginners to come up with professional-looking movies. It provides you with a complete set of tools to capture videos, edit them, and share your final production on tape, DVD, CD, or the Web. How VideoStudio works VideoStudio follows a step-by-step paradigm so that editing tasks remain uncomplicated from start to finish. VideoStudio also offers more than a hundred transition effects, professional titling capabilities and simple soundtrack creation tools. Learn in seconds, create in minutes. To make a movie production, first capture footage from a camcorder or another video source. You can then trim the captured videos, arrange their order, apply transitions, and add overlays, animated titles, voiceover narration, and background music. These elements are organized in separate tracks. Changes to one track do not affect other tracks. Components of a project as displayed in Timeline View A movie production is in the form of a VideoStudio project file (*.VSP), which contains information on the path location of the clips and how the movie has been put together. After you have finished your movie production, you can burn it to a DVD, VCD or SVCD or record the movie back to your camcorder. You can also output your movie as a video file for playback on the computer. 8 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE VideoStudio uses the information in the video project file to combine all the elements in your movie into a video file. This process is called rendering. What's new Take advantage of VideoStudio's latest features and enhancements: VideoStudio Movie Wizard The new VideoStudio Movie Wizard helps novice users finish stylish movies in only three steps. Choose from preset styles such as romantic, travel, celebration and more. (See "VideoStudio Movie Wizard" on page 26). Batch Convert Batch Convert your video, audio and image files to other formats and save valuable time. (See "Batch Convert" on page 140). Shuttle Control Shuttle Control lets you navigate to exact scenes in your DV camcorder. (See "Controlling the DV camcorder with the Navigation Panel" on page 54). ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 9 More effects, filters and content Stylize your videos with objects and frames. (See "Adding decorations" on page 92). The Album transition simulates leafing through a book full of memories. (See "The Album transition" on page 83). Pan and Zoom lets you scan over and gives you a closer view to add more emphasis to your still images. (See "Pan & Zoom" on page 75). The Auto Exposure filter repairs uneven brightness. Amaze your viewers with effects like the Duotone Filter for tints on videos ­ perfect for creating scene flashbacks ­ or the Diffuse Glow Filter for a dream-like appearance. Filters are fully adjustable to match your theme. (For information on applying video filters, see "Applying video filters" on page 77). 10 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE Audio Filters like Audio Normalization, Remove Noise, Amplify, Long Echo and Stadium, can repair tracks or add special effects. (See "Applying audio filters" on page 111). Enhanced Overlay Step VideoStudio gives more flexibility in using video and image overlays. You can now apply filters and special effects on overlays; and also move and resize them directly on the screen. (See "Overlay" on page 87). Versatile title design Easily make informative and eye-catching titles. · Multiple Text Objects can be placed anywhere on a single title clip, each with its own look and animation, directly on the screen. (See "Adding text" on page 94). · Title animations such as Drop, Swing, and Moving Path give new options in making text move gracefully on the screen. directly on the screen. (See "Applying animation" on page 99). · Add Solid and Gradient Bars behind Titles to increase the visibility of text. (See "Modifying text attributes" on page 97). ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 11 Greater audio control VideoStudio helps you match volume with particular scenes in the movie. · Audio Mixer is ideal if you want to change the volume of specific points in your audio track or decrease background music during dialogue. (See "Using the Audio Mixing Panel" on page 109). · Rubber Banding Timeline lets you visually adjust audio levels at any point simply by clicking and dragging. (See "Volume rubber banding" on page 110). · Stereo Panning allows you to mix and balance the volume for left and right audio channels. This can be used to direct sounds to the left or right speaker. For example, make the realistic sound of an object moving from left and right. (See "Using the Audio Mixing Panel" on page 109). Auto Music Generator Need background music for a scene? VideoStudio's Auto Music Generator uses award-winning SmartSoundTM technology that provides original tunes to fit perfectly with each scene's mood and duration. (See "Adding background music" on page 106). Enhanced DVD authoring wizard DVDs without Pre-Rendering can be accomplished by sending projects to the DVD Wizard directly from the Timeline. Choose from a wider choice of DVD menu templates for more variety and customization in layout and design. (For information on creating movie projects on disc, see "Burning a DVD, VCD or SVCD" on page 116). Full Screen Preview Full Screen Preview lets you see your movie on the entire screen with no distortion at any time during the project. (See "Tools menu" on page 137). 12 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE System requirements Video demands a lot from your computer. When setting up your system for video editing, the basic factors to consider are the size and speed of your hard drive, RAM, and processor. These determine how much video you can store and how quickly you can process or render your files. If you can afford a bigger hard drive, more RAM, and faster chip, go with it. Just remember that technology is changing so rapidly and by evaluating first the kind of video editing projects you plan to do, you can better determine the setup that works best for you. The following are the system requirements for VideoStudio: · Intel® Pentium® III 800 MHz or higher · Microsoft® Windows® 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP · 256MB of RAM (512MB or above for editing) · 600MB of available hard drive space for program installation · 4 GB+ hard drive space for video capture and editing · Windows-compatible display with at least 1024x768 resolution · Windows compatible sound card · CDROM, CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW Real-time features perform best with at least: · Pentium 4, 2.0 GHz CPU · 512 MB of RAM · 7200 rpm IDE hard drive Input/Output device support · 1394 FireWire cards for use with DV/D8 camcorders · Support for OHCI Compliant IEEE-1394 and 1394 Adaptec 8940/8945 · Analog capture cards for analog camcorders (VFW & WDM support) · USB capture devices and PC Cameras ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 13 · Windows-compatible DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW · Sony MicroMVTM Tip: Follow the installation instructions of your hardware components carefully (especially your capture card), and consult the operating manual of your camcorder or capture device. File format support · Video: AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MICROMV, WMV, QuickTime, FLC, FLI, GIF, UIS · Image: BMP, CLP, CUR, DCS, EPS, FPX, GIF, ICO, IFF, IMG, JPG, PCD, PCT, PCX, PIC, PNG, PSD, PXR, RAS, RLE, SCT, SHG, TGA, TIF, WMF · Audio: AIF, AIFC, AIFF, AU, AVI, MOV, MP3, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, QT, WAV Output formats · Disc: DVD, Video CD (VCD), and Super Video CD (SVCD) movie titles · Video: AVI, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, QuickTime, WMV, FLC, FLI, FLX, UIS, WMV · Image: BMP, CLP, EPS, FPX, GIF, IFF, IMG, JPG, PCX, PNG, PSD, PXR, RAS, RLE, SCT, TGA, TIF, WMF · Audio: WAV, MPA, RM, WMA Installing and running VideoStudio The VideoStudio CD has an autorun feature that automatically starts up the installation. Back up your projects and media files first before installing the new version of VideoStudio. 14 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE Note: If you have a previous version of Ulead VideoStudio installed in your system, it is recommended that you uninstall it only after installing Ulead VideoStudio 8. During installation, the Setup Wizard will auto-detect your capture device plug-in and specially supported codecs (such as MPEG-4, AC-3, 3GP, DivX) from the previous VideoStudio version and integrate them onto VideoStudio 8. However, if you installed Ulead VideoStudio 8 then you uninstalled the older version, program files and fonts that are used by both versions will also be deleted. To install them back to VideoStudio 8, double-click Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Ulead VideoStudio 8, click Change/Remove, then click Repair. To install VideoStudio: 1. Insert the VideoStudio CD into your CD-ROM drive. 2. When the Setup screen appears, follow the instructions to install VideoStudio onto your computer. Note: If the Setup screen does not appear after loading the CD, then you can manually start it by double-clicking the My Computer icon on your desktop, then double-clicking the icon for the CD-ROM drive. When the CD-ROM window opens, double-click the Setup icon. 3. Install also the following applications for playing back video files and for viewing the electronic file of this user guide. The installation program will walk you through the installation. · · · · QuickTime SmartSound Windows Media Format RealPlayer · · · · Acrobat Reader DirectX Sony MicroMV Indeo Note: Skip this step if you already have newer versions of the above supporting applications installed in your PC. To run VideoStudio: · Double-click the VideoStudio icon on your Windows desktop. OR, · Select the VideoStudio icon from the VideoStudio program group on the Windows Start menu. ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 15 Setting up your computer Before you can start making movie projects using your own video footage, you first need to capture video from your video camera into your computer. Your computer needs to be equipped with the proper capture card or interface port for connecting your video camera and for capturing video to your computer. Since capturing and video editing require a lot of computer resources, your computer must also be properly set up to ensure successful capturing and smooth editing of your videos. Installing a capture card If your capture card is a PCI-based card, install the card on your computer by inserting it in an available PCI slot on the computer's motherboard. Connecting a video camera to the computer To connect your video camera to your computer, the type of capture card or interface port that you will need depends on the type of video camera you are using. DV or Digital 8 camcorder If you are using a DV (Digital Video) or Digital 8 camcorder, you will need an IEEE-1394 interface on your computer. Some newer computers already have built-in IEEE-1394 ports. If you do not have them on your computer, install an IEEE-1394 card. 16 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 6-pin IEEE-1394 ports on a desktop computer 4-pin IEEE-1394 ports on a notebook computer Connecting the camcorder to the IEEE-1394 interface Use an IEEE-1394 cable to connect your digital camcorder to the IEEE-1394 port. Before purchasing one, check first the pin connectors used on your camcorder and your computer. Most DV and Digital 8 camcorders have a 4-pin connector, whereas desktop computers that come with IEEE-1394 ports or installed with IEEE1394 cards usually have 6-pin connectors. The IEEE-1394 cable that is required for desktop computers is a 4-pin to 6-pin cable. Most notebook computers have 4-pin connectors which require a 4pin to 4-pin cable. Connecting the IEEE-1394 cable to the DV camcorder Connecting a 4-pin to 6-pin IEEE-1394 cable to a desktop computer ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 17 Connecting a 4-pin to 4-pin IEEE-1394 cable to a notebook computer Checking the hardware setup After connecting your digital camcorder to the computer, check if the device is detected by your Windows system. If you installed an IEEE-1394 card on your computer, check also if the card is detected. To check if the IEEE-1394 card and digital camcorder are detected: 1. Insert your video tape into the camcorder and switch it on. Make sure it is in playback mode (usually named VTR or VCR). Check your camcorder's manual for specific instructions. 2. Open the Control Panel, then open System: Hardware Device Manager. 3. Make sure the following device names are listed in the Device Manager. Under Windows XP or Windows Me: · 1394 Bus Controller · DV Camcorder (The brand name depends on the DV camcorder connected to the IEEE-1394 interface.) Under Windows 2000 or Windows 98SE: · 1394 Bus Controller · Image Device: Microsoft DV Camera and VCR (For Microsoft DV driver only.) 18 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE · Sound, video and game controllers: 1394 camcorder (For Texas Instruments DV driver only.) Windows XP: Device Manager Windows 2000: Device Manager Note: In addition to commonly used Texas Instruments and Microsoft DV drivers, there are other drivers available. Consult your camcorder's manual for suitable drivers. 4. If your digital camcorder has been detected properly, it will be listed as a source device in VideoStudio's Options Panel. In VideoStudio, select the Capture Step and check if your camcorder is displayed under the Source list in the Options Panel. ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE 19 Analog video sources VHS, S-VHS, Video-8, and Hi8 camcorders and VCRs are examples of analog video sources. To capture video from analog sources, you will need to install an analog capture card in your computer. (See "Installing a capture card" on page 15). Conventional broadcast television is also an analog source. To capture TV footage, you need to have a TV tuner card installed in your computer. Note: TV capture cards provide S-Video/Composite inputs and a TV tuner, which can be used to capture both video and TV footage. Connecting the video device to the analog capture card To connect your video device to the analog capture card, use either an S-Video or RCA Composite cable depending on your device's video output. If your video device has both types of output, use the S-Video connection for higher video quality captures. S-Video cable Connecting the S-Video source to the capture card 20 ULEAD VIDEOSTUDIO USER GUIDE If you want to use the Composite output of your video device, connect the yellow plugs of the Composite cable to the video output of your video device and the video input port of the analog capture card. Composite cable Connecting the Composite video source to the capture card Tip: If your analog capture card provides SVideo input only and you are using a Composite video source, you need a Composite to S-Video adapter to make the connection. Most higher-end analog capture cards do not have the Composite/ S-Video input ports crowded on the side of the cards. Instead, these cards come with an external breakout box that provide all the video input ports at the front of the box. Video devices can be connected to the capture card more easily through the breakout box.