Video Clips

Vlog It! allows you to build video clips into your shows. Such pre-recorded clips are handled differently from content recorded within the program (i.e., live video) in two significant ways:

Video clips also differ from audio recorded within Vlog It! (live audio) in that a video clip's audio track stops playing when the show transitions to another tray, whereas the live audio persists even when the live video is not being shown.

Supported Formats

The supported video formats are:

Because the resolution of an image deteriorates with each decompression/compression cycle it goes through, you'll get the best results by using uncompressed .AVI clips as inputs in your vlogs.

Trimming Video Clips

Vlog It! provides two methods of trimming video clips through the Actions Tab and an additional way of doing so through the Action Area. Only video clips, not live video, can be trimmed. Remember to leave enough time at the beginning for the Transition In effect to finish before anything important happens in the video segment, and enough time at the end so that good content finishes before the Transition Out effect begins.

Using the Trim feature, you can carve several segments out of a single video clip and then either link them up in sequence or drop them in different places within your show. Vlog It! imposes no limit on how many times you can use a given clip (or any other type of media file or effect) within a given show, and each instance of a clip can be trimmed independently of others in the show. So if you want to skip some content in the middle of a clip but use the good stuff on both sides of it, drop two copies of the clip into the Action Area, trim the first to cover the keeper segment at the beginning of the clip, and then trim the second instance to play the quality material from the back end.

Trimming through the Actions Tab

The trim controls on the Action Tab allow you to set in and out points either through a scrub bar or by directly entering the desired time values.  To switch the Action Tab to these controls, click the Trim button.

Trimming by Scrub Bar
  1. To find the point in the clip where you'd like the video to begin or end, click and drag the slider and watch the Output Monitor. To fine-tune the position one frame at a time, press the right or left arrow key or the Frame Advance or Frame Back button . The Current Time reading below the slider shows where you are in the clip; the Length reading will not update until you complete the next step.

    Scrubbing is Silent: Audio does not play when you're scrubbing with this slider.

  2. To set the current position as the start point, click the Mark In button; to set it as the end point, click the Mark Out button. The In Point or Out Point field will show the time that is now set, and the Length reading will indicate the length of the clip with the new trim point.
  3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 for the other end point if desired.
Trimming by Entering Time Points

If you happen to know the time code where you want a clip to start or end, you can trim the clip by typing the desired values in the In Point or Out Point field. To apply the entered value, press Enter (or move the focus by clicking the Preview button or just about any other control or field); do not click the Mark In or Mark Out button as that will overwrite the time you entered with the current slider position.

Reviewing a Trimmed Clip

Vlog It! gives you the option of reviewing a trimmed clip either from the beginning or from the current position of the Trim slider.

Resetting a Clip's Length and Undoing Trim Changes

To revert to the last saved In Point or Out Point for a clip, click the appropriate Revert button. To roll back recent changes to a clip's Trim settings, then the Undo feature (CTRL+Z) is just the ticket.

Frames, not Hundredths: In case you're not used to thinking in video-time, be aware that it works in frames. The three nations of North America and about a dozen other countries including Japan use a video standard known as NTSC in which a second of video consists of 29.97 frames-commonly referred to as 30 frames per second. Most of the rest of the world uses the PAL standard, which runs at 25 fps. The last two digits of time codes displayed in the Trim dialog indicate the current frame number, not hundredths of a second, so they roll over to the next second after 29 or 24, not 99. For audio clips, by contrast, the last two digits represent hundredths of a second.

While the Play button allows you to view content before the In Point, both playback commands stop at the Out Point. If you want to view content after that spot, you will have to move the Out Point to the right.

Working with Video Clips in the Action Area: The Trim-In-Place Control

When you click the icon for a video clip in an Action Tray, a gray band appears. This feature serves two purposes. It provides a graphical indication of the clip's trimmed and overall duration, and it allows you to trim the clip right there in the Action Area. The duration bar for a given clip remains displayed until you select the media input in another tray or click a blank spot in the Action Area. If you want to see the changes reflected in the Actions Tab, you may need to click the Trim button at bottom of that control area.

The Duration Bar for a trimmed clip has two shades of gray. The light gray area represents the clip's trimmed length, or the full length if the clip is untrimmed. With trimmed clips, a darker gray band above the tray or below the Trim Out bar indicates content that will not be shown.

How to …

To trim the beginning of a clip (the "In Point") with this control, mouse over the gray band and when the pointer turns to a hand icon, click and drag up or down. As you make this adjustment, the Output Monitor will display the current frame, which would become the In Point if you released the mouse button. The indicator that pops up next to the clip's icon in the Action Tray reflects the time of the current frame.

To trim the end of a clip ("Out Point") through the Duration Bar, click and drag the bar at the bottom in the desired direction. The mouse pointer will become a double arrow when you're in position to do this. The Output Monitor will display the current frame, which would become the Out Point if you released the mouse button. The indicator that pops up next to the Trim Out bar reflects the trimmed length of the clip.

When the Out Point Isn't the End Point: Note that there's one situation in which the light gray band does not reflect what will actually be played in the show: if a transitional effect is positioned above the Out Point, it will override the trim settings. Say you're putting together the retrospective for the roast for Chuck, the retiring Chief Financial Officer, and you include the clip of him doing the bunny hop at the Christmas party. You trim it from twenty seconds in length down to fifteen seconds but then drop a photo of an actual bunny ten seconds below the clip's tray. The transition to the still of the actual cottontail will effectively trim off the last five seconds where Chuck looks straight into the camera and wiggles his nose.

The Duration Bar helps you to see such inconsistencies. If you want to preserve the current Out Point, you can either use the Smart Position feature or manually move the second tray. Another option is to use an effect such as a Non-Transition Double-Box or Flyby, which would show the video and the still image simultaneously.

Come 'n Go Arrows: The arrows above and below the Trim Out bar indicate which direction you can trim. If the arrow below the bar is gone, then you're at the end of the clip; if there's no arrow above the bar, then you're at the current Mark In point.

What's Up with the Numeric Readings: If you have the Trim Dialog of the Actions Tab open, the Current Time reading updates in real time as you use the Trim-in-Place feature; the Trimmed Duration, In Point, and Out Point update when you release the mouse button.

Adjusting the Color of a Video Clip

To tweak the appearance of the currently selected video clip, click the Adjust Color button at the bottom of the Actions Tab. This opens a dialog with standard image editing controls such as brightness, hue, contrast, and color levels. The RGB offset sliders may be less familiar. These sliders add the associated colors across the board whereas the basic RGB sliders affect only pixels that contain some of the given color.

Making Adjustments to the Audio of a Video Clip

Vlog It! lets you set the volume for each audio clip and set a variable length audio fade at both ends. To view and adjust these settings, click the clip's icon in its action tray. This will bring up the Actions Tab (unless you had already selected that clip and subsequently gone to a different tab, in which case you'll have to click the Actions Tab).

If the Trim controls are shown on the Actions panel and you want to adjust the volume or fade settings, click the Basic button to switch back to the main panel of the Actions tab.

Setting the Volume of the Audio

  1. Click the Preview button.
  2. While the clip is playing, drag the Volume slider on the Actions Tab until the volume is as desired.
  3. Rehearse or review the section of the show featuring the audio clip to ensure that the volume is appropriate in the context of any other audio in the same section. If necessary, repeat steps 1 and 2 to further refine the clip's volume.

Fading the Audio In and Out

  1. Click the Fade In or Fade Out checkbox to enable the feature. This activates the Duration field with a default setting of 1 second.
  2. Click in the Duration field and type the desired value in seconds and hundredths of a second.
  3. Press Enter to apply the new value.
  4. Click the Preview button to check the fade settings.

Use Vlog It! to Save a Digital Video Clip from Tape — The Capture Feature

The Capture feature allows you to record segments of video from a tape in your video camera or VCR that is connected to your PC. Connect a VCR to your computer to record video played from a video tape. Connect a camcorder to record video from a camera tape. When you have finished capturing, the files are saved to your hard drive and you can browse to them from the Media area and add them to your show as you would with any other media file.

If you haven't already connected your camera, see Installing Your Camera. Make sure that your camera is turned on so that Vlog It! can recognize that it is there.

  1. Click the Capture button on the Project tab. This brings up the recording and tape transport controls.
  2. Enter a unique, descriptive name in the Capture File field.
  3. Cue up the tape to a point a few seconds before the content you will be using in your show. Allowing extra time at the beginning and end of the desired segment allows you extra room for scene transitions and effects.
    If you're using a VCR (or a DV camcorder in the VCR mode) that is connected to your PC by a FireWire (IEEE 1394) cable, then you can use the Tape Control buttons. Otherwise, use the controls on the device itself.
  4. Click the Record button.
  5. When the tape has played a few seconds beyond the content you plan to use, click the Stop button.
  6. Click the Done button to exit the Capture window.

Which way did it go? If you captured the clip to the default path, then you'll find it in the folder named My Captured Clips under within the Output Library. That library does not exist in the trial version; you can navigate to captured clips at My Documents\Vlog It\My Output\My Captured Clips through the Browse Library.