Resizing Your Video

At some point in time, you'll want to resize your video, either to change the aspect ratio from normal (4:3) to widescreen (16:9) or to create some funky picture-in-picture or other animation effects. You'll be pleased to know that this is really easy to do in MoviePlus X5.

• Change the aspect ratio of a video clip.

• Change the size of a video clip using a transform.

• Change the size and perspective of a graphic.

• Use a preset transform.

Let’s begin...

• Start a new DVD (Widescreen) or HD project, and import your movie clip to the Media pane Project tab.

Changing the aspect ratio

Many of us want to display our video on a widescreen TV, however, many camcorders are still in a native 4:3 format. Instead of accepting that you'll have to watch it with black lines either side, why not change the aspect ratio to 16:9?

• This tutorial shows you how to convert 'old style' 4:3 media to widescreen 16:9 format. If you have a camcorder that uses a widescreen (or HD) format by default, you could always substitute a video clip with a standard photo, or use one of the overlay samples in the Media pane Library tab to try out this example.

To change the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9:

1. Drag the clip (or image/overlay) onto the timeline (or storyboard). When prompted to update the project settings to match the media, click No.
   
   The clip will display in the Preview window.
   
   

2. With the clip selected, on the context toolbar, click Fit. In the drop-down list, click Crop.
   
   The clip is expanded to fit the new aspect ratio and the top and bottom part of the clip is cropped.
   
   
   
   Hopefully, when you were filming your clip, you ensured that your subject had plenty of headroom. If not, you might end up cropping the subject as in the examples below.
   
   
   
   The best thing about cropping a clip in MoviePlus is that it's very easy to reposition the crop for maximum effect.

To modify a crop:

1. On the timeline, the clip has a Gray/Yellow attributes button to show that one or more of the attributes has been modified.
   
   
   
   Click the button to reveal the attributes menu and click Crop. Notice that a single keyframe is displayed in the Crop envelope and is red to show it's selected.
   
   

2. The  Attributes button has four different states. This tells you at a glance whether you already have envelopes or effects applied to the clip, and whether the strips are currently displayed for editing on the timeline. For more information, see the Timeline Basics tutorial.

2. Click to expand the Properties pane.
   
   
   
   The selected (and only) keyframe is displayed as a thumbnail.

3. Drag the time indicator to the position where the crop needs to be changed. On the Crop strip, hover the cursor over the time indicator and when the cursor changes to + click once to insert a keyframe.
   
   

4. On the Properties pane, the new keyframe is displayed in the thumbnail. Drag the crop up or down as appropriate.
   
   

5. Continue to add keyframes and position the crop as necessary. The number of keyframes that you'll need to use depends entirely on you video clip.
   
   
   
   

6. Play back your clip and view the results!

7. Keyframes
   
   If you are modifying an existing keyframe, remember to select it first!
   
   If you make a mistake and want to remove a keyframe, click to select it and then press the Delete key.
   
   To delete all of the keyframes at once, click on the strip header and press the Delete key. Warning: this will remove all the keyframes on the clip.

• You can also crop a video to remove unwanted distortion at the edges of your clips.

To change crop size:

1. On the timeline, ensure that the crop attributes are displayed and select the keyframe that you want to modify.

2. In the Properties pane, drag on the crop handles to resize the crop. (If Match project aspect is selected, the aspect ratio will be maintained.)
   
   

Pan and zoom

The Crop envelope is also used to pan and zoom your video clip. You'll find a lot of useful presets in the Crop envelopes found in the Gallery pane Envelopes tab.

Changing the size, rotation and position of your clip

There will be times when you'll want to change the size, rotation, perspective or position of your video clip or graphic overlay. This is done using the Transform envelope. When used in conjunction with multiple keyframes, the Transform envelope enables you to create great looking Picture-in-Picture and animation effects. It can also help to ‘straighten’ wayward footage.

The Transform envelope can be used on an individual clip, a keyframe, or it can be applied at track level (or a combination). The principles are the same whether using a CG clip (QuickShape or Text), still image or a video clip.

To add a preset transform to a clip:

1. Open a new project in timeline mode and then click Insert > CG clip > QuickShape.

2. In the Properties pane, on the Properties tab, change the QuickShape type to Arrow using the drop-down menu.
   
   

3. Click the Galleries pane and then click to display the Envelopes tab.

4. Click to expand the Transform folder, and then the Scroll folder.
   
   The thumbnails show a preview of the effect. Some previews are animated. Hover over these to get a ‘live’ preview of the effect.
   
   

5. To add the effect to your clip, drag the thumbnail from the Galleries pane and drop it on top of your clip.
   
   

6. Preview your clip in the Video Preview pane to see the transform in action.

To reset the transform:

• To reset the clip, right-click the Transform strip header and select Reset to Default.
  - or -

• Select the Transform strip header and in the Properties pane, click Reset.

• This will remove all but the first keyframe on the strip.

To rotate a clip using a preset transform:

1. Click the Galleries pane and then click to display the Envelopes tab.

2. Click to expand the Transform folder, and then the Rotate folder.

3. Drag one of the rotate thumbnails from the Galleries pane and drop it on top of your clip. The clip is rotated.

To rotate a clip in the Video Preview pane:

1. On the timeline, on the QuickShape 1 clip, click the  Attributes button and choose Transform from the drop-down menu.

2. Hover the cursor next to one of the bounding box handles. When it changes to the rotate cursor (highlighted), click and drag to rotate the clip.
   
   

3. In the Properties pane, click Reset to undo all of your changes.

To change the size of a clip in the Video Preview pane:

1. On the timeline, on the QuickShape 1 clip, click the  Attributes button and choose Transform from the drop-down menu.

2. In the Video Preview pane, click and drag on one of the bounding box handles to change the shape and size of the clip.
   
   
   
   (If you press the Shift key while dragging, you can change the aspect ratio of the clip.)
   
   Try dragging the clip so that it is bigger than the preview window (you may need to zoom out using  Zoom Out on the Video Preview pane so that you can see the clip’s bounding box).
   
   

3. In the Properties pane, click Reset to undo all of your changes.

To change the size and rotation of a clip using the Properties pane:

1. On the timeline, on the QuickShape 1 clip, click the  Attributes button and choose Transform from the drop-down menu.

2. In the Properties pane, in the Parameters section of the Properties tab, change the X scale and Y scale percentage values to 200%. Your clip is now twice its original size.

3. Change the X scale and Y scale percentage values to 50% to make your clip half of its original size.

4. Change the Rotation (degrees) value to 45. The clip is rotated 45 degrees to the left.

5. Change the Rotation (degrees) value to -45 to rotate the clip 45 degrees to the right.

6. Click Reset to undo all of your changes.

To change the perspective of a clip:

1. On the timeline, on the QuickShape 1 clip, click the  Attributes button and choose Transform from the drop-down menu.

2. On the Video Preview pane, press the Ctrl key and click and drag on one of the bounding box handles.
   
   

3. Experiment by Ctrl-dragging the other handles in various directions.
   
   

4. In the Properties pane, click Reset to undo all of your changes.

You can use transforms to create split screen effects, Picture in Picture (PiP), fade your movie into the distance as it ends, or even straighten that lopsided horizon on your favorite home movie!

When combined with other editing techniques (and a little bit of imagination), the possibilities are endless!

• If you create a transform that you really like you can save it for later use:
  
  1. On the timeline, select the transform envelope that you want to save.
  
  2. In the Properties pane, click Add to Gallery.
  
  3. Type a new name for your transform and click OK.
  
  The custom transform envelope will now be listed with the other presets in the Galleries pane.