Some trouble adding still images (superimposing)
 

Been searching all over the internet... On the one hand I saw tutorials that dealt witht he pan/clip setting and another on this forum dealt with track motion. Using the pan/crop settings didn't get me anywhere because the image was always occupying the full frame size regardless of various properties dealing with locking aspect ratios, etc.

The track motion approach got me close but it still did not present me with a means to resize and simply drag ther image to the place in the frame I want.

So basically, I just need a simple way to do this:

1) Import an image (all set with that)
2) Place that image appropriately on timeline (all set with that)

Now here is where I am getting stuck

3) Force image to appear in frame at image's original size (say 300x200).

4) Easily place image anywhere in the frame

5) apply effect to image so that it gradually appears. I figure this must be done through a transition effect or through keyframes but I am not sure because I was reading something about how compositing is used (which I know nothing about...).

If anyone knows of a very simple way to do this, please point me in the right direction.

thanks,

brian

Event Pan/Crop. Right click preview window> Match Output Aspect. Resize and position as required. Add a fade to the beginning of the event.

For #3, open Pan/Crop. The top two options are "Width" and "Height". These will now be different than the project width and height. Just change the "Width" back to the PROJECT Width and it will return to it's original size. If you have a BUNCH of these, Excalibur has a "Logo Resize" option which will do this for you.

For #4, Pan/Crop can do this as well. Just move the "F" window around and the image will move to a different location on the screen.

For #5, you simply need to do a standard Fade-In. Move the mouse to the upper left corner of the event on the timeline. It will then turn into a quarter circle. Click and drag toward the center of the event. The farther you drag, the longer the fade-in. Once again, scripts can do this for a bunch of clips at once.

I have followed these steps and it just isn't working.

For instance. The project size is 1440x1080. The image is 300x200. Here is what I do:

1) Insert video track
2) Import the image
3) Drag it onto the video track timeline
4) Go into Pan/Crop. Here is what happens with various settings:

-Match Output Aspect is selected; under Source, Maintain Aspect Ratio is Yes and Stretch to Fill Frame is Yes; I resized the box - result: on Preview, image occupies full frame, and the image portion corresponds to the resized box (i.e. I had the box occupy lower right and so lower right portion of image is blown up to fit in entire project frame.

-Match Output Aspect is selected; under Source, Maintain Aspect Ratio is Yes and Stretch to Fill Frame is No (thinking this must be the culprit);I resized the box - result: on Preview, image does indeed occupy the lower right of the project frame but it is a cropped portion of the image

So I just can't get this working...

thanks,

brian

Here's what I did:

1. Start a new project. Change to 1440x1080.
2. Insert a 320x180 image onto the timeline. It filled the screen
3. Open Pan/Crop (the Position width reads 320 and width reads 180)
4. Right-click the image and choose "Match Output Aspect" (which had no effect on this particular image because it was the right aspect but would for other shaped images)
5. Change the Pan/Crop Position "Width" to 1440. The image is now the ORIGINAL size in the center of the screen. Move the "F" window around to move it to other areas on the screen.

Ok, that is sort of working, but it is extremely awkward to place the image... Very counterintuitive. As I move the F box down, the image moves up in the frame! Is there a way to have precise control so that I can drag a mini box (size of image) around in the big box (total frame)? Maybe I am just missing something but I can't figure out an intuitive way to get the box to where I need it.

thanks,

brian

Well... think of the "F" window as the SCREEN. You move it to the top of the "F" window and it moves to the top of the screen. The position numbers on below the width/height numbers will let you precisely place the image on the screen.

Ok - now everything makes sense!

thanks,

brian