The Director Buttons and Tabbed Control Panels

The Director Buttons

Feature

What it does

Rehearse button

Runs your show without recording so you can check and adjust action timing.

Record button

Runs your show and records the video with all your final adjustments.

Review button

Plays back your recorded show.

Publish button

Opens the Video Publisher screen. You must Record before you Publish. See Using the Publisher.

Stop button

Stops your show in Rehearse, Record, or Review modes.

 

The Tabs and Controls

The Project Tab Controls

 

Tab

Control

What it Does

The Project tab provides controls for creating and saving Project files. You can launch the Wizard and start capturing video from other devices as well as print your teleprompter script. To learn more about Project files and how to manage them, see Managing Files and Projects.

Set Thumbnail button and Thumbnail Display

Click this button to grab the current frame of the show as the thumbnail that can be displayed as a link to the Vlog within a blog.

Project Name
field

This is the name by which the project will be saved, with an extension of .msh appended to it.

New button

Click to create a new show and a new default file name is entered in the Project Name field.

Open button

Click to display the contents of the My Projects folder where you select which file to open.

Wizard button

Click to start the Wizard. See Using The Wizard.

Capture
button

Click after connecting your camera to capture pre-recorded clips from tape. Read Capturing Video From Other Recordings to learn how.

Save button

Saves your project.

Save As... button

Displays a window where you can choose a new file name and destination for your saved file. In newer versions, also sets the default directory for new projects.

Print Script button

Click here to print your script.

Clear Recordings button

Deletes all audio and video recorded within the current show.

 

The Director Tab Controls

 

Tab

Control

What it Does

Use the Director controls when you rehearse or record to control the Teleprompter and Action area. If Vlog It! has a driver's seat, this is it. Get in, sit down and make videos! To learn more about using the Teleprompter, see The Teleprompter.

 

Pause button

Pause and resume the Teleprompter and Actions during Rehearse and Record. You can also quickly Pause and Resume by pressing the Ctrl Key and the Space Bar.

Advance button

Scrolls the Teleprompter and Actions down one text line.

Next Effect
button

Advances to the next tray in the Action Area.

End Effect
button

Ends the effect that is currently being displayed.

Scroll Speed Slider

Slide to the left to slow down the speed of the text in the Teleprompter. Slide to the right to speed it up.

Timer Display

Displays the current show duration.

 

The Actions Tab Controls


Tab

Control

What it Does

The Actions tab is where you make timing, volume and other adjustments to your Actions and Media. Click an effect, graphic, audio or video file in an Action Tray to display its properties and controls. The controls that you see will change based on the type of media or effect selected. To learn about Actions, Media and their controls in detail, see Adding Media, Text, and Transitions.

Actions Tab for Video Effects


Audio & Video Clips

Title Graphic

 Common

Icon window and description

Displays a thumbnail image, effect name, file name and description for the selected action in the action tray.

Preview Button

Click to preview or hear the selected action, media or clip or title.

Video Effects

Duration field

Displays the current duration of the effect in seconds. Change the duration by selecting the text in the field and typing in a new duration. Duration is not changeable on some effects that cannot be altered, like Cut.

Pause Time field

For effects that come on screen, pause, and then move off screen, this setting defines how long the effect pauses while on screen. For some transitional effects that don't have a pause time set by default, entering a value here will effectively convert the effect into a non-transition effect. Shown in seconds.

Audio & Video Clips

Volume Control

Drag the slider up to raise the volume and down to lower it. Normal is 100%.

Volume meter

Displays the rise and fall of your audio volume. All meters have clipping lights. The two tiny boxes on the top of the meter light up when audio is too loud and certain sounds may be clipped or truncated.

Mute checkbox

Mutes the audio associated with the video file or for an audio only file, turns the file on or off.

Trim button

Opens the Trim window, where you can indicate where you want a video clip to begin and end. For more information see Trimming Video Clips or Trimming Audio Clips.

Video Clips and Still Images

Adjust Colors button

Opens a dialog through which you can adjust the brightness, hue, RGB color, contrast and offsets of clips or photos.

Title Graphics

Edit button

Click to edit the text in a title.

 

The V-Screen Tab Controls

 

Tab

Control

What it Does

If you choose to add virtual sets or green screen effects to your show, the V-Screen tab is where you'll select your background and perform chroma keying and color correction. To learn more about using V-Screen, see Using V-Screen to Create a Background.

 

V-Screen Background window

Shows the currently assigned background image or video that displays behind you when you use the V-Screen feature. Also displays the name of the file displayed to the right. You can drag and drop files onto this icon to replace the current background. You can also switch to another background during a show by using the Change Background effect.

Active checkbox

Turns the V-Screen effect on and off.

Auto-Set Key button

Automatically calibrates the V-Screen settings.

Adjust Key button

Displays the manual V-Screen settings window.

Don't Show V-Screen During Rehearse/Record checkbox

Disables the V-Screen effect during rehearse and record only. When selected, this can improve
performance on slower PCs and only affects the preview output, not the recorded show.

Adjust Colors
button

Brings up the color correction window where you can change the brightness and colors of the default background image or video.

V-Screen Tips button

Takes you to the Using the V-Screen page in this help system.

 

The Setup Tab Controls

The Setup tab is where you configure your audio and video input devices like cameras and microphones and test their connection. Click the Audio or Video button to switch between the two control panels.

The Audio Setup tab


Tab

Control

What it Does

Audio Input Device drop-down list

Displays the name of the currently selected audio input device. If your audio device is connected but not listed here, it is likely because the device or its driver is not installed properly.

Input Source On drop-down list

If you have an audio input device connected to your PC that has multiple input sources available (such as Microphone or Line-In), select between them here.

Audio Output Method drop-down list

If you have an audio input device connected to your PC that has multiple input sources available (such as Microphone or Line-In), select between them here.

Input Volume Hardware Level slider and meter

Adjusts the volume level of your current audio input card. Adjust this level first so that the meter is just in the yellow range.

Input Volume Digital Boost slider, meter and clipping lights.

The amount of amplification applied to the Hardware Level. If you get low volume from your input source, adjusting the slider will make your audio louder. The meter displays sounds levels and the clipping lights indicate that sound is too loud and some sounds may be truncated.

These controls work the same way for all audio controls.

Input Mute checkbox

Silences the corresponding input or output when checked.

Output Volume slider

Adjusts the output volume of the PC's main speakers.

Output Mute checkbox

Silences the corresponding input or output when checked.

Output Volume Test button

Play audio test file on the PC's main speakers.

The Video Setup tab

 

Tab

Control

What it Does

Current Video Input Device drop-down list

(Video Only) Displays the current video input device. Select which device to use here. If a device is connected but not listed, it may not be installed properly or does not have a standard DirectShow software driver. See Installing Your Camera for help.

Input Source

If the current device has more than one input source, (such as Composite Video, S-Video or a TV tuner), you'll see the Input Source drop-down list appear with available input sources listed. You can select between them here.

Properties button

Displays settings for current device. Not a part of Vlog It! but part of the driver software for the currently selected device. Different devices display different settings which may include: Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation and Sharpness. Refer to your device manual for information. In general, if the device has "Auto" settings, disable these and adjust settings manually.

Advanced button

At present, the dialog that this button opens has only one option, Pause Camera when Offscreen, which controls how data stream is handled when Vlog It! is not using it. In other words, it affects processes within the computer, not anything directly to do with the camera itself. The sole purpose of this option is to resolve a problem involving how Windows 2000 works with the drivers for certain DV camera. If you're not running Windows 2000 or using a DV camera, then you can ignore the Advanced button and forget you ever read this.

Adjust Colors
button

Displays color correction window where you change colors and brightness of selected video input device. When using V-Screen, adjust colors before using Auto-Set Key.