Videowave - How To Centre An Off Centre Video

[Chris Nicola]

I have a video 4:3 (aspect ratio) of a lecture where the speaker is way too far to the right side of the frame. I would like to correct this in video wave and centre the subject as much as possible. I tried with the pan and zoom editor which has the disadvantage that there is little room to work with and centering the image results in too much cropping of the lower part of the frame. I think I will have better results if I can switch to a 1:1 aspect ratio or maybe keep the 4:3 aspect ratio and shift the subject to the centre with a black overlay to the right and left. Is this possible in Videowave. If so what are the steps I need to take? Your advice would be appreciated.

 

kind Regards
Chris

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you both for your suggestions. I have some questions I need help with please.

 

1- How do I move the video to the FX layer? I tried dragging and also copy and paste but that does not work.

 

2- How to I apply a black rectangle to cover 15% of the left and 15% of the right of the frame without covering the top and bottom of the frame? I tried right clicking and "Insert color panel" but that just covers the whole video and I can't see how to resize it.

 

Kind Regards

Chris

[Jim_Hardin]

1- How do I move the video to the FX layer? I tried dragging and also copy and paste but that does not work.

 

Actually it is the 'Overlay' layer as Karri mentioned. And this is done when you "Add Photo/Video".

 

2- How to I apply a black rectangle to cover 15% of the left and 15% of the right of the frame without covering the top and bottom of the frame? I tried right clicking and "Insert color panel" but that just covers the whole video and I can't see how to resize it.

You don't! Right click your clip in VideoWave and select 'Aspect Ratio Handling. I would bet you have a 16:9 Project and you clip is listed as 4:3???

 

Either way you are going to need to start a New Project. Assuming that you clip is 4:3, make sure you choose that type of project.

 

Add Color Panel and stretch it out so that it is longer than your clip. (I work mostly in Timeline view where this is easy to change. I also use the Storeline view when it is needed)

 

Add your clip to the Overlay panel. I would ignore any 'black lines' you see. Folks seem to get hung up on this, but nearly every movie you buy/rent has black lines on your TV somewhere People don't notice them but think about it. A studio spends millions making a movie and there are black lines... If they can't "fix it" how can you expect $100 program to

[cdanteek]

 

A studio spends millions making a movie and there are black lines... If they can't "fix it" how can you expect $100 program to

 

 

 

This may explain it a bit better.

 

The Changing Shape of Cinema: The History of Aspect Ratio

[karri]

ugh ... yes you are right, you can only use 2 Effects layers in VideoWave's Main track.

So to not affect your black panel with the Camera Flash effect you would have to use an Internal track to start with. With your black colored panel on the Main track, click on the Internal Tracks button. In the Internal Tracks editor, add your video as an overlay, and then add your Camera Flash to the FX2 track and make your color adjustments.

Click Done and in the Main track add your black overlay so it won't be affected by your color adjustment.

[karri]

 

2- How to I apply a black rectangle to cover 15% of the left and 15% of the right of the frame without covering the top and bottom of the frame? I tried right clicking and "Insert color panel" but that just covers the whole video and I can't see how to resize it.

 

Like Jim and cd said for various reasons it's difficult inside VideoWave, but if you want to want to make overlays in Photosuite, you can use them in VidoWave.

 

Here is how to make a black overlay in Photosuite to cover the left and right areas of your video.

Open Photosuite.

 

Go to File, New, New Canvas.

 

In the New Canvas dialog, choose Custom Size, size it to 1 x 5 inches (it can be resized later in VideoWave), Portrait Orientation, Choose Black from the color picker and click OK.

 

Click File, Save As ... Save as a png file somewhere where you can find it.

 

In VideoWave choose Add Photo/Video, and find the black rectangle you just made in Photosuite. Add as an overlay. Now do it again, Click Add Photo/Video and add the black rectangle again as an overlay.

 

Drag one of the overlays you just added to the left of your preview window and the other to the right. You can click the black rectangle in the Preview Window to highlight it and then resize it to cover the precise area you want.

 

Let us know if that works for you.

[Jim_Hardin]

One other approach is to Export As and create an intermediate file...

 

You do as much as you can and then Export. This file will apply all that you have done to that point.

 

Then start a new project with that file and apply what else you need

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you all for your help. I understand I cannot move a video from the main timeline to the overlay track. When I go to add a video and select the movie I cannot see any option to import it to the overlay track. I have to import it to the main video track. After something has been placed on the main track only then I can drag a duplicate copy of the movie from an external folder to the overlay track. Then when I delete the main video the video on the overlay track does not play at all.

 

1- So I need to know how to play a video from the overlay track.

2- The other problem is I need to know how to shift the video in the frame so the subject is centered and leave a black space on the right. After that I will tackle the problem of inserting a black panel on the left.

 

Kind regards

Chris.

[bimicher]

You always have to have something on the main track before you can add a video to the overlay track. It does not have to be video, it can just a black image.

 

Insert a black panel on the main track and set its duration to 30 seconds. Then using add video/photo add your video clip to the overlay track. Adjust main track equal to the duration of the overlay track. Then double-click the overlay and the overlay editor opens and you can make your adjustments

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you for this advice. I have now nearly succeeded. Here are the steps I have taken.

1- Started with a blank 4:3 project.

2- Used insert black color panel and later adjusted the length to the same time as the video.

3- Dragged my video from the source folder to the overlay track. Trimmed the start and end point and increased the volume of the audio.

4- Double clicked the video and using the options enlarged the frame and moved it to the left. Because there is a black panel in the main video above it there is a black bar to the right of the frame which is what I want.

5- Used add photo and imported a black jpg rectangle to a second overlay track.

6- Resized and moved the black jpg to the correct position on the left.

 

So the only thing left to do is to increase the contrast and brightness by 3 points. Is it possible to do this with a video on the overlay track?

 

Kind Regards

Chris

[karri]

Brightness and Contrast can be done on an Overlay but it's a little less straightforward than if it were on the Main Track.

 

Try this,

 

Add a second Effect track to your Timeline by clicking on Show/Hide Tracks and clicking Add Effect.

 

In in the Effects panel, choose Camera Flash and drag it to the FX2 layer and then drag it out to match the length of your Overlay clip.

 

Double click on the Camera Flash effect in the Timeline to open its Properties panel.

 

Click on the Keyframeable Properties button (three red dots).

 

For Key frame, select 2 in the drop down and click the Delete button, then select 2 again and click the Delete button, so you only have one key frame, which is basically no key frames.

 

Now you can use the Contrast and Brightness settings for the camera Flash effect to Brighten and Contrast your overlay clip.

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you very much for this tip, it works great. I note that if the camera flash FX layer is placed on the bottom of the layer stack it also adjusts the brightness of the black bars either side of the movie as well. Its hardly noticeable though. Do I understand correctly that an effects layer will apply to all layers above it in the layer stack?

Kind Regards
Chris

[Jim_Hardin]

You can't change aspect ratios, they are mathematical LAW! That is why you get cropping...

 

As you already noted, you don't have enough left to work with.

 

I think your best bet is to leave it alone... People watching will notice at first then get used to it and if they are listening to the lecture, the visual goes away.

 

You could dabble with putting a frame on your Video Track and adding your actual video on the FX Track. Then you can resize and position the video to fit the window of the frame they way you want.

 

Issues there are that you have to blow it up so big that it becomes pixelated. Another issue is the frame you choose. You want it subtle enough that it does not distract. Black is really good

[karri]

Just to add to Jim's suggestions, you might try adding a color panel (black or otherwise) to the Main Track in VideoWave and then, as Jim said, add your clip to an Overlay Track ( Ovl1). Click on your clip in the Overlay track to highlight it and then click on Settings. In Settings, click on the second tab, Position. In the Position dialog, adjust the Size % of your clip and then move down to the Overlay Placement Dialog. Play with the Size %, and X and Y positions to move the clip's contents around within itself. Once you get a feel for how it works, you might get it to look closer to how you want it, even if you still might need to put a frame around it.

[Jim_Hardin]

Let us know what you do, always ready to learn

[Chris Nicola]

Thank you all very much for your help in helping me to complete this project successfully.

 

Kind regards

Chris.