Here you can look (~ down yournose~) and
~ over my shoulder
~ at me (Me
Meeee !)
<<messin'
about>>
with some of the ------>.SUPER
SOFTWARE PACKAGES.
<------
that allow us to
<<express ourselves>>
on this 'ere wondr'ous, wondr'ous Intyweb.
No longer prepared to be .[HELD
!] TO <RIDICULOUS>
[RANSOM !].
by Adobe Systems Inc. (who
will not
allow the provision of previous years'
versions of their software (orof the
programs that <theytook
over> from
OTHER companies) and don't think it
unreasonable to [CHARGE !]
the unwaged .5
times the amount.
they would do a well-heeled individual
who just happens
to qualify for a reduction because they
have access to a 5-year-old (child
that is - not computer
- .Adoberefuses
to acknowledge the EXISTENCE of
5-year-oldhardware.and, as of the
summer of 2010,the only
PC version of .Premiere.
that they will sell requires a
64-Bit operating system) I am searching
for a video-editing package that is less
likely to ~ leave me in the lurch ~
with much-laboured-over .film.-projects
.utterly unacceptably.
[OBSOLETE !] and [INACCESSIBLE !].
~
Vague As Vegas ~
Havingvery
briefly tried SONY's .Vegas
Pro 9 DEMO. [SEE
HERE]
- I abandonned it.after
not really
getting on with the GUI.
(Where was the "Razor" Tool ?)
(How could I fling pictures around ?),
I am now downloading the trial version
of Magix' .Movie
Edit Pro 16 Plus HD..
~
Magix Moments ~
The Magix
website promotes this
<pleasingly affordable> (£50) program
as being extremely FEATURE-RICH
and
I may be about to get my first taster
of it at a moment when its maturity
(.audio.-scrubbing
- an <.absolute
ESSENTIAL.> has only JUST been introduced
(!!)) may
make it equal and exceed my expectations
;
there should certainly be some improvements
in it that streak ahead of the limitations of my 2003-build of Adobe's
.Premiere
Pro ..
Before beginning, my only "pauses"
are to do
with .Movie
Edit Pro 16 Plus HD.'s
lack of
a .PAUSE.
button, [NESTED SEQUENCES]
and pre-rendering.
~
A Week is Weak ~
Trial Version
Installation
[BLOGGED] July
17, 2010
09:32
How spooky that I should start this
second
<"Blog-esque"> Post this
second when again
it is 09:32.
Despite wanting to finish my Sub-Prhyme
explanation before "indulging" in the "Toys
& Games" of new software, I have succumbed
to installing the Trial Version of
Magix Movie Edit Pro 16 Plus to the better
of my two laptops NOW because I have an
opportunity to buy the full retail version for
as little as £42 tomorrow.
I'm glad I switched the target PC
off and clean/cold booted before adding the
program because the process was quite
lengthy and multiple extras
(includng an SQL server and some
Microsoft .Net thing) were.
~
Phased by a Phase ~
The "Welcome! screen has surprised me
with the information that the program's
test phase is limited to a decidedly LIMITED
7 days.
I expect 30 Days from any Demo software,
think allocated hours are more sensible
and prefer "Learning" packages or Crippleware.
Nonetheless, I am in a position, I hope to
dedicate most of today to exploration and
will proceed.
I want to test input from my video camera,
green-screening, image manipulation -
particularly of transparent gifs and pngs
and the import of flash films and DVD
material.
I've read that some people have had
trouble with audio output. I want to
see what the pre-rendering is like
and how you can handle Stops and
Starts in a video-editing package that
doesn't have a Pause Button.
09:52
Oh right. When you elect to Start for the
first time there's an option to extend the
"Test Phase" to 30 Days.
10:00
Movie Edit Pro 16 Plus has recognised
my Sony DCR-TRV240E video camera
and the Capture Window looks pleasingly
comprehensive. It has a PAUSE control.
10:03
You can make really precise captures
using Play Controls on the PC, request
HOUR MINUTE SECOND FRAME
and even take a "Snapshot!".
10:08
Attempting first Camcorder Capture.
No Video Preview is showing.
It's brilliant that stat's for the FileSize
are show as it is created. My first file
runs to 233MB of Video will Audio separately
detailed at 12MB. No images were dropped
- the film is 1m 07.
10:12
Trying to continue to play the tape
and capture an additional segment,
the Preview Window now shows
nothing but BLACK.
10:14
Closed Capture Window.
Film File saved with a Generic "Record"
name instead of the Title I had typed in
for it.
10:16
Tried to re-name the Video Clip, was told
my chosen filename was already in use.
10:17
Closed MEP and re-named the film.
10:19
Re-started the software. Tried to
Capture again - got the message :
"Unfortunately, the function 'MPEG-2
Codec' is not available due to licensing
conditions.
10:21
Turned Camcorder Off and On and the
"DV Recording" Panel automatically
popped up again.
Now when I play the tape I can SEE
the footage again.
10:26
Found that you can make a List of
"Planned" Recordings. This seems very
useful and I don't mind them having
Sequential Names "Record1, Record2,
Record3 etc. as I can adjust them later.
10:43
Set up Four Film Segments to be recorded.
Stopped the tape for the fifth request
and lost visual preview capacity again.
10:54
Switching CamCorder off and on brought
the image back again.
11:08
About to capture the film I made yesterday
detailing a physical method of muting the
Lenovo ThinkPad T61's internal microphone.
My ad-libbed VoiceOver is appalling,
hesitant and full of incorrect terminology.
It will be great to test this clip - firstly
for output quality and uploading to
YouTube - more or less as it is and then
- when I get a chance - edited with a
more coherent (less cringe-inducing)
narration.
11:14
Film Capture folder has small
.HDP .HO and .AVD files generated along
with the AVIs. I don't know what these
are and will delete them when I re-name
the clips with logical titles and remove them
to external hard drives.
11:44
Just starting first use of the program proper.
You have to click "Edit" to get going. Immediately
the software wants to HELP you to stay organised
by creating a Special Project Folder that can
contain copies of all of the media assets you
want to include.
This is great. It takes lots of disk space
but it's
something that I used to have to so manually
when using Premiere Pro.
11:48
The Program Icons are nice and big, you can
re-size the Windows and they all move
really fluidly to accommodate one another.
11:50
You can use the SPACE BAR to STOP but this
takes you back to the START of a clip.
I'm uncomfortable without a PAUSE.
You can, however, drag the PlayHead to
whererver you want to be. It feels alien
but Magix must have decided that's a better
way and that PAUSE was redundant.
12:01
Tried to import a wmv file to test green-screening.
MEP complained that the audio was not PCM
Wav and so the clip has no sound.
12:06
The Chroma Key Video Effect has some pre-sets.
There's Basic Green and Blue but I'm used to
using the Color Picker Tool and matching
EXACTLY what is in my source images.
12:09
Oh Wow !!! The initial "Quick" Chroma
Keys are for "Green", "Blue", "Water" (?)
"Alpha", "Black" and White" - but if you click
on "Color" you get access to a Color Picker
Tool.
Fabulous !
12:11
Oh Lord ! Making lots of mistakes now.
I lost my bearings when I wanted to
clean up the Green Halo Residue and
have made a really odd but interesting
Posterised Effect.
12:13
The automated Green setting did a
better job. Adjusting "Threshold" and
"Fading Range" are good for tweaking.
Plus you can change the video transparency
and keyframe everything. I had to make
some changes to my test Gordon Brown
because his teeth were vanishing.
THIS clip brought the sound in O.K.
That's good.
I'm liking this software a lot so far.
It's seven years younger than the version
of Adobe's Premiere Pro that I have been
using and its youth shows.
12:19
Now I've found the "Art Filters"
and my
tummy has turned over with excitement.
12:21
Footage is brought in with audio and video
next to each other so you can SEE what
is going on. Premiere Pro kept them awkwardly
apart.
12:26
Crikey !!! You can stretch the video
to any weird angle you like - AND - so
it NATURALLY by dragging the shape
yourself NOT having to type in numbers
or fiddle with really TINY dials.
I really can't see me NOT buying this
software now. I'll check the Rotation
feature next. Rotation can be hard in
Premiere - often I'd find I couldn't get
around the edge of my TINY film preview
window.
This is so much easier to work with so
far - easier than Premiere, easier than
Vegas. "Easier" also means "Faster" - so
why are those "Pro"s so lumbering ?
12:34
Think I just added my first keyframe.
12:38
You seem to be able to RESTORE
footage after you have cut it off !
Amazing !!
13:01
Scaling up DV video to BIG, disproportionate
proportions in MEP and it doesn't look disgusting.
13:02
Bemused that I struggled so compositing
with Premiere and its racks of tiny, hidden
make-you-go-blind cogs and dials.
13:50
Tried first export. Chose a 720p avi.
The 22 seconds took 5 or 6 minutes
to render. The resultant film won't
play in Windows Media Player.
14:23
Have updated Windows Media Player
but it still won't play the film.
It's fine in VLC Player though.
14:24
Have re-opened First Project and am
trying to find out how to hear the Audio
Scrub.
14:26
To see an audio waveform you have
to Right Click and select an option
to have that graphic created.
That's odd.
I can't HEAR the sound as I scrub as
I would do in Premiere.
14:35
RTFM ! Great that TFM is included WITH
the Demo. You have to ACTIVATE scrubbing.
Oh....that doesn't explain AUDIO Scrubbing.
14:43
Found it !!!! This is GREAT ! There's a
Drop Down Arrow by the MUTE button
and if you tick "Scrubbing 1 frame"
you get ACCURATE audio Scrubbing.
Perfect !
15:09
Miraculously - MEP can recognise and
import the ScreenCasts I have made with
CamStudio that are supposedly in "a really
funny format". I didn't expect to EVER
be able to edit them. I hadn't realised
that it was just Adobe Premiere Pro
being super picky.
15:13
I'm amazed !!
16:56
Magix can edit flvs and m-peg4s !
This really DOES open up a universe
that was shut to me when I was mired in
Adobe Premiere Pro and utterly blinkered
to the possibility of breaking out.
18:09
I'm going to give MEP a break for a while.
It "broke" my sound temporarily when it
was unhappy about screen-recording.
It reported : "You have selected a framerate
or resolution which is not supported by your
device. Therefore the values have been reset."
and then got stuck in a loop of non-compliance.
I think it was really upset by the sound cards
(I have two) and the framerate moan was
a red herring.
Trial Version
Installation
[BLOGGED] July
18, 2010
12:52
My internet connection
has been
dodgy this week for the first time
since my ISP sent a replacement
router a few months ago.
It's carked TWICE today
and so I have
put in a bid to buy this software well
ahead of its auction finishing time.
I've just started to
explore more of
what the program includes. There
are collages, pre-set pans and zooms
and collections of themed transparent
graphics.
I only have single examples
from the
various categories and I am not going
to download any further ones as I assume
that I will need to uninstall the Trial
Download version and perform a fresh
install with the boxed version which I
may be fortunate enough to receive as
early as Tuesday.
13:05
I've always thought
Transitions were
corny - but I'm playing with the MEP
Pre-Sets - and they're impressive.
Depending on how much
control you
can have over them - I might grow
to like them very much.
So far I can only see
how to alter
the duration.
13:34
Getting my first look
at "Secondary Color
Correction" - it's incredible. You could
keyframe FAKE blushes onto people's
faces.
Lorks ! Never believe ANY recorded
material to be a faithful representation
of "reality".
FULL Version
Installation
[BLOGGED] July
21, 2010
15:29
I have uninstalled the
Demo from my
Toshiba laptop and installed the full
program from the DVD.
The complete caboodle
(at around 5GB)
is more than 10 times the size of the
download.
A surprise bonus on
the disc was the
full-version of Magix (I think it is a
Xara product) Photo Designer 6.
The codecs I required
for M-PEG 2,
Stereo Sound and mp4 had to be downloaded
but they were all FREE where I had had
concerns that there would be a charge.
This was disconcerting
as I had no idea
what the fee would/could be.
Apparently the 256 page
printed manual
is a cut-down (!!) version of all the instructional
material available from within the program
interface and in a pdf.
I'm on Page 45 of the
Booklet and have found
everything so far to be very encouraging.
A method for assigning
the PAUSE facility
to the SPACE BAR is indicated and I've
just learnt about the "Takes" Folder.
This is a destination
that you can access
from any Project and store Sequences.
When I was using Adobe's
product, I only
knew how to use Sequences WITHIN
single Projects - so this could be a great
leap forward.
18:38
Tried importing Transparent Gifs into
MEP. These are files that I made years
ago, using PhotoDraw - they are exported
with just a black edge.
MEP showed them with full, blocking,
black backgrounds. I thought this
might be a problem and that I might
be forced to re-save them all as pngs.
However the BLACK Chroma Key removed
the unwanted material and I have found that
positional 3D keyframing is immediately
accessible.
This software is looking very, VERY good.
22:41
AVI Export render will only play in VLC,
it's very large but the motion is smooth.
The m-peg output jerks and is smudgey.
MP4 required me to alter the frame-rate.
Fair enough.
23:25
Made first animated gif. It's a terrific,
unexpected feature - you appear to be
able to tweak everything about the
dimensions and framerate.
Absolutely brilliant.
23:45
Uploaded first Magix MEP 16 Pro HD Plus
video to YouTube. It's a 5MB mp4 and the
data transfer was successful on my second
attempt.
First Test of Magix Movie Edit Pro
16 Plus
FULL Version
Installation Update
[BLOGGED] July
22, 2010
10:26
Currently downloading
the latest MEP
Patch from within the program.
There have been a LOT
of bug fixes since
the spring release, How fantastic that this
company addresses them and doesn't leave
users in the lurch. The Patch is about
160MB but has only taken about 10
minutes to acquire.
10:33
Program updated from
the 9.0.1.60 (C1)
on the DVD to 9.0.6.6.
ART PROGRAM
GRAPHIC DESIGN
GRAPHICS EDITOR
PHOTO EDITOR
FAVOURITE PROGRAM
UNDER-RATED
COMPOSITING
EDITING SCREENCASTS
GUI SCREENCASTS
FULL PROGRAM
WACOM COMPATIBLE
WINDOWS XP
ANIMATION
2D ANIMATION
3D ANIMATION
CHARACTER CREATION
DIGITAL PUPPETRY
FACIAL ANIMATION
LIP-SYNCHING
MACHINIMA
PHOTO ANIMATION
WEB GREETINGS
FULL PROGRAM
SEVERAL VERSIONS
WINDOWS XP
ANIMATION
3D ANIMATION
CHARACTER CREATION
CLOTHES DESIGN
DIGITAL PUPPETRY
FACIAL ANIMATION
FULL-BODY ANIMATION
FULL PROGRAM
SEVERAL VERSIONS
WINDOWS XP
JUST FOR FUN
ONLY MY FAVOURITE
CRAZY TALK LIP SYNC
FACIAL ANIMATION
3D FULL BODY ANIMATION
ICLONE MUSIC VIDEO
SONG & DANCE
SUBTITLED
VOICE ACTING
VOICE PROCESSING