Picture in Picture (PiP)

The Picture in Picture (PiP) technique can be used to add fun effects to your movies or slideshows. For example, PiP can be used to display different camera angles simultaneously or show close ups of the star sportsman as well as the entire game. PiP has its uses for tutorial style videos too!

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to:

• Create a simple PiP effect using only two video tracks.

• Adjust PiP audio.

The Picture in Picture effect looks really impressive and can create an element of fun. Although it can take on many forms, the techniques used to create the PiP in MoviePlus are very similar.

Creating a simple Picture in Picture effect

To create Picture in Picture, you will need to use at least two video tracks. Ideally, you'll need at least two different clips (or images). The effect we are about to create is one commonly used in tuition videos (e.g., martial arts, guitar tuition) so that the viewer can see more than one angle at the same time.

To create a simple PiP effect:

1. Add your main video clip (or image) to the Video Track. This will be the primary, full-size clip.
   If necessary, change the Fit to match your project settings. (See Resizing your video if you're unsure how to do this.)

2. Click the track header and then, in the Properties pane, on the Properties tab, rename the track ‘Primary Video’.
   
   

3. Click the ‘Primary Video’ track header and then click Insert > Video Track. Check that this track is above the ‘Primary Video’ track. If not, use the Arrange menu to reorder the tracks.

4. Drag your PiP video clip from the Media pane to the ‘Video Track 1’, leaving a second or two gap before the clip starts.
   
   
   
   The grid-like box indicates that a new audio track will be created on release.
   
   
   
   If you preview your movie in the Video Preview pane, you will see that the second video clip starts 5 seconds into your movie, but it obscures the background video clip.
   
   
   
   Let’s change the size of the second clip to create the PiP effect.
   
   The size of the clip is changed by using a transform. We will need to apply this at track level so that it effects the entire PiP track.

5. Expand the Galleries pane and click the Envelopes tab.

6. Navigate to and expand the Transform folder. Next expand the Split Screen and Quad folders.
   
   

7. Drag the Quad Bottom Left thumbnail from the Galleries pane and drop it onto the 'Video Track 1' header.
   
   

8. In the Video Preview pane, resize and reposition the clip if necessary.
   
   

9. Preview your movie to see the effect. (You might need to press  to ‘rewind’ the movie first.)
   
   

10. Why not add some title text to your movie? Select the 'Overlay Track'  and either insert a Text clip from the Insert > CG clip menu or use a title preset from the Galleries pane Titles tab.
    
    

PiP audio

If you have used two video clips, you may notice that the audio plays for both clips at the same time. There are several ways that you can approach this:

• Mute only the unwanted audio track.
  
  - or -

• Apply a volume envelope to the audio clips (or tracks) so that you can ‘blend’ the clips together.
  
  - or -

• Mute all of the original audio track(s) and insert background music or narration.

See the Audio Techniques tutorial for more information about managing audio clips.

Using these techniques, you can create some really impressive Picture in Picture effects. This effect can also be used at any point in a movie—just move the clips to a different point on the timeline.

Above all, have fun experimenting!

• Learn shortcuts!
  
  Shortcut keys are available for many of the common tasks. For example, the F9 key adds a new video track, F11 adds a video group. The shortcut key is either displayed in the menu next to the command or on the tooltip on the button.