Basic Video Editing and DVD Authoring with Ulead
VideoStudio
by Douglas Dixon
Manifest Tech
Ulead VideoStudio 10
Even Easier Editing
Editing Step-by-Step
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Capture
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Effects
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Overlay
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Titles
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Audio
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Sharing Formats
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DV to DVD
References
Ready to
get started with video editing? Maybe
you've some video that you'd like to
make into a nice little movie
production, complete with transitions
between scenes, background music, title
text, and some fun video effects. And
you can share your movies as video files
for computer playback, or post for
friends to view over the Web, or
download to a iPod to take with you, or
even burn on DVD to watch in the living
room.
It's
easier than ever to create good-looking
productions with these kinds of
features, thanks to the latest
generation of consumer video editing
software, like Apple's iMovie and iDVD,
and Windows-based applications including
Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle
Studio, Roxio Easy Media Creator, Sony
Vegas Movie Studio, and Ulead
VideoStudio -- and available for only
around $49 to $99.
So let's
walk though the video editing and DVD
authoring process, using Ulead
VideoStudio 10 to demonstrate some
of the latest capabilities in these
applications (www.ulead.com/vs).
VideoStudio uses a nice step-by-step
approach in its interface, which makes
it easy for beginners (and occasional
users) to figure out what to do and how
to do it.
VideoStudio version 10 was released in
April 2006 in two versions: the base
VideoStudio 10 for $69.99 (list), and
the full VideoStudio 10 Plus for $99.99.
The Plus version, which we'll cover
here, adds support for higher quality
formats with high-definition video,
Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, and
MPEG-4 support (also for portable
players).
Get
VideoStudio Base
VideoStudio is focused on making editing
straightforward and easy, with an
approachable interface, accessible
controls, and text prompts. But there
are times you want it even easier -- to
just quickly assemble a group of clips
into a movie or DVD. So the start screen
for VideoStudio offers three options:
run the full VideoStudio Editor, or
quickly assemble a movie with the Movie
Wizard, or directly transfer a videotape
to disc with the DV-to-DVD Wizard.
Start Screen
The
DV-to-DVD Wizard is for
getting your videotape transferred to
disc with a minimum of fuss -- so it's
convenient to view and easy to share.
Hook up your DV camcorder to your
computer (i.e., with a FireWire cable).
Then simply specify the length of the
tape and choose a menu design template,
and VideoStudio will do the rest:
rolling the tape, capturing the video,
compressing to DVD format, and burning
it to disc. You also can use automatic
scene detection (based on the times you
shot each clip) to split the tape into
separate chapters.
For more
control, you can use the DV
Quick Scan feature to zip though
your tape and display the scenes -- so
you can choose whether to include them
on the disc. You also can save these DV
tape scene digests for future use, and
print them as a handy reference for the
contents of your tapes.
The
Movie Wizard is designed
for quickly assembling a list of clips
to make into a movie. You can insert
video and image files from hard disk,
capture video from tape, and import from
DVDs or mobile devices. Then choose a
theme template, with a title, background
music, and nice fades/transitions
between clips. Finally, save the result:
export as a video file, burn to disc, or
send to the VideoStudio Editor for
further editing.
Movie Wizard
VideoStudio can help scan your clips to
find poorly shot scenes, or use the
Ad-Zapper to automatically detect
commercials. You can split scenes, and
trim and delete them as desired.
But for
more editing control, the main
VideoStudio Editor has a full-screen
user interface, with tabs for each
editing step along the top of the main
window. The interface has three main
areas: the Library of clips and other
elements on the right, the large Preview
window on the left, and the Storyboard /
Timeline for assembling clips along the
bottom (you also now can switch between
several alternate layouts).
You can
start creating your movie by importing
clips under the Edit tab.
Edit
The
Library not only provides access to
pre-supplied editing elements (including
Colors, Transitions, Video Filters,
Titles, Decorations, and Animations),
but you also can use it to import and
organize your own media clips -- Video,
Audio, and Image. Just click the Add
button, or drag and drop files from
Windows Explorer.
Then use
the Preview window to view your clips,
or the production you are building in
the Storyboard / Timeline.
VideoStudio provides a
Storyboard view for quickly
assembling a list of clips. Like the
Movie Wizard, you can use the Storyboard
to quickly drag and drop to build a
collection of clips. You then can save
the result, or move on to perform more
editing under the various tabs.
The
multi-track Timeline
provides more control for laying out a
series of clips, and then adding Overlay
and Title text to the video, and mixing
Voice recordings and Music tracks with
the audio. You can drag clips in the
Timeline to adjust, trim, and split
them, and to sync them with other
tracks.
But the
big news in new consumer video editors
is support for high-quality media.
VideoStudio now can work with HD video
and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. To handle
the big HD files, even if you don't have
the highest-performance machine,
VideoStudio uses a Smart Proxy
technique. You edit with lower-res
versions of your clips, and then the
final production is created by going
back to the HD originals. VideoStudio
even has a Surround Sound Mixer to steer
and pan sound channels between the 6
speakers.
To bring in more clips to
edit in VideoStudio,
use the Capture tab to
capture video from a camcorder, or to
import from a DVD or mobile device.
When
capturing video, as with the DV-to-DVD
Wizard, you can use DV Quick Scan to
split the tape into scenes (based on the
time when you shot each segment),
preview the scenes as a collection of
thumbnails, and then decide which ones
to capture.
VideoStudio now supports high-definition
video and the new HDV camcorders, so you
now can capture from devices including a
DV and DVD camcorder, VCR, Webcam,
set-top DVD recorder, TV tuner, Digital
TV, or HDTV.
If you
already have some material on DVD that
you would like to re-use, VideoStudio
can extract tracks from a DVD or DVD-VR
(from a set-top DVD recorder) -- but not
from copy-protected commercial DVDs.
And it can
interface to portable media players and
other external devices, to list and copy
video and image files.
One you've imported and
captured all your clips and assembled
the basic flow of your movie in the
Storyboard / Timeline, it's time
to move on to enhancing your production
with effects and overlays.
Use the
VideoStudio Effect tab to
first add transitions between your clips
so they do not cut abruptly from one to
the next. Try conventional Wipes and
Slides, or have fun with more dramatic
Film and 3D transitions, even with mask
patterns.
Next,
apply video filters to correct and
enhance the video, much the same way we
now enhance and get creative with
photos. Use Auto Exposure and Auto Level
to clean up the tone and brightness, or
Anti-Shake, Enhance Lighting, or DeNoise
to correct problem clips. Then have fun
with the more creative filters, to add
Strobe or Ghost Motion, or Clouds, Rain,
Wind, or Lightning look.
Video FIlters
You also
can adjust the playback speed to slow or
fast motion, without altering the pitch
of the audio. Or use reverse playback to
play the video backwards.
Once your main video
production is in good shape, you can add
additional elements in the
VideoStudio overlay tracks.
Use the Overlay
tab to size and position additional
clips in the frame for
picture-in-picture and montage effects.
Add motion to have the overlays fly and
spin over the frame, with up to six
overlay tracks.
Use Chroma
Key to have video shot against a
green-screen (or other flat color)
background superimposed on the main
video. Ulead even offers a handy blue
Chroma-Key Cloth for $14.99 for shooting
blue-screen productions, 2 x 1.6 meters
square.
VideoStudio also supports Flash
animation overlays using Macromedia
Flash moving objects or clips. For
example, the built-in animations include
clapping hands, floating bubbles, and a
beating heart.
Just as
with clips, you can move overlaid
objects in the Timeline to synchronize
their timing with the other tracks.
Also use
the Title tab to add text
overlays to the clip. Type the text and
adjust its position and size, or use the
pre-defined style templates.
Title styles
Apply text
backdrops with color gradients and
transparency. Animate the titles to have
the characters fly into position.
VideoStudio even supports multiple
titles that appear and move
independently.
After all
that work on the video, move on to the
Audio tab to add and mix
additional audio tracks, and to apply
audio enhancement filters.
Within
VideoStudio, you can import additional
material from Audio CDs, and record your
own voice tracks using your sound card
and a microphone.
As with
video, you then can adjust the playback
speed, and apply audio filters to
enhance the sound -- level the volume,
remove noise, or even shift the pitch
(with a nice preview as you adjust the
options).
Then mix the tracks together
in the Audio View to see the actual
audio waveforms in the tracks, adjusting
the stereo (or surround-sound) balance
between the tracks. You also can
precisely adjust sound levels
within the tracks using rubber-band
lines.
VideoStudio also includes
the SmartSound Auto
Music Maker to create royalty-free
music compositions in your selected
style and variation, and adjusted to
exactly fit the duration of your
project.
When
you're done editing, it's time to save
and share your project, in an almost
bewildering variety of formats.
Click the Share
tab in VideoStudio to build your final
movie production and choose how and
where to save it. You can export as a
disk file or to the Web or to a mobile
device -- or burn a disc, or record to
tape. In addition, you can take any
Library clip and use it for a creative
project -- output as a Web page,
via E-mail, as a greeting card, or as a
movie screen saver.
The most
direct export option is Create
Video File -- saving your movie on
hard disk, typically in a compressed
video format. Similarly, use
Create Sound File to export
an audio-only file in a variety of
formats.
For
full TV-resolution video
playback (720x480 for NTSC),
VideoStudio can export in DV
or DVD formats -- either 4x3
standard aspect ratio or 16x9
widescreen, and stereo or Dolby Digital
5.1 surround sound on DVD.
And it can export in compatible MPEG-2
and MPEG-1 formats for VideoCD (VCD) and
Super VideoCD (SVCD).
For computer-based and Web
playback, you can export in Windows
Media Video (WMV), Apple
QuickTime, and RealNetworks RealVideo
formats, each with a variety of options
for compression type, resolution, frame
rate, and therefore size and data rate.
For Web video, you also can use the
Share Video Online presets
for WMV (640x480, 30 fps, to 160x120, 15
fps).
Plus, there are presets for
MPEG-2 HD and WMV HD
for new high-def videos
(1280x720, 1440x1080), and a range of
MPEG-4 and WMV presets for low-res
portable devices.
For specific portable
devices, use the Export to
Mobile Device presets to choose the
appropriate format, resolution, and
frame rate for the devices (i.e.,
320x240, 15 fps and lower),
including WMV for PocketPC and
Smartphones, and MPEG-4 for the iPod,
PSP, PDAs/ PMP (Personal Media
Player), and Mobile Phones.
To move
your movie back to the living room, use
the DV Recording option to
transfer back to a DV camcorder, or
Project Playback to play
full-screen out to a recorder (i.e.,
through your DV camcorder's video
output).
Finally,
you can burn your project to DVD.
VideoStudio actually contains
significant portions of Ulead's
DVD MovieFactory application, so the
Create Disc tool actually
is a mini DVD authoring tool. You can
assemble clips (import files and
VideoStudio projects, import from DVD or
mobile devices), add and edit chapter
points (which also can be set in the
VideoStudio Editor Timeline), select a
menu design template, customize with
menu effects, and then burn the result.
DVD creation
VideoStudio 10 also adds some cool DVD
menu options, including menu filters to
animate static menus with ripples, waves
and pan/zooms; menu transitions to segue
smoothly between menus and DVD content;
and SmartScene menus where the project
titles share a single preview area,
rather than appearing as separate motion
buttons.
As you can
see with Ulead's VideoStudio 10, the
process of getting from DV to DVD is
getting both easier and more creative.
For quick viewing, you can transfer a
tape directly to DVD, or assemble a list
of clips into a single movie. And these
can look quite snazzy, with pre-built
design templates and default transitions
and slideshow effects.
But with a
little more effort you can go a lot
further, enhancing the video and audio
quality, adding dynamic overlays and
flying text, and mixing background music
and voice-overs from multiple audio
tracks.
And we're
not just talking standard-definition
video: VideoStudio also supports
widescreen format (very nice for DVD),
the new high-definition formats, and
amazingly Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
sound.
So if
you've got video on tapes, this is a
great time to do something interesting
with it. Try extracting some clips to
play on your computer, or transfer from
tape to DVD so you can share your fun.
You then can get more creative in making
a movie.
You can
download trial versions of VideoStudio
and similar applications over the Web,
so go ahead and give it a try.
Ulead
VideoStudio 10
www.ulead.com/vs
Originally
published in
Camcorder & Computer Video magazine,
Buyer's Guide 2007.
Manifest Technology®
Copyright 1999-2007,
Douglas Dixon, All Rights Reserved
Manifest Technology is a
registered trademark of Douglas Dixon
to get Ulead VideoStudio 10
