QuickStart Manual v6.0
Overview
The Big Picture
MovingPicture
is used in place of an animation camera to perform pans and zooms on high-resolution images, similar to those used by Ken Burns in his documentaries. MovingPicture can pan and zoom through images up to 8,000 by 8,000 pixels.The Parts of the Screen
The Stage is the most commonly used portion of the screen and starts in the top left corner. The stage is a bird’s-eye view of the scene. The magnification of the still image can changed from 10% to 100% using the Stage size control at the bottom left.
The floating Viewer, to the right of the stage, previews what the camera sees, and plays the animated sequences. The window can be sized by dragging the left side, but keep in mind that the display may slow as the window gets larger.
Below the Viewer, the Player control, which mimics a VCR control panel, is used to play animated scenes on the Viewer's screen.
The Timeline sits on the bottom of the screen and provides a way to set the timings of the Pictures as the move across the screen. The concept is similar to that used by most nonlinear editing systems.
In a Nutshell
Load an image by selecting the Load Picture option in the File menu.
Move the yellow box atop the image until your starting position is set up.
Click on the Timeline to the place in time you want the move to end on.
Move the yellow box atop the image until your ending position is set up.
Play your move.
A brief step-by-step guide can be found at: www.stagetools.com/stepbystep.htm
NOTE: When using the plug-in version, you need to place a clip on your editor's timeline and then apply the MovingPicture effect to that clip. MovingPicture will ignore the contents of the clip and uses it only as a "Trojan Horse" to carry MovingPicture into the editor. The clip should be video clip or a video-size still. Placing the hi-res still on the editor's timeline will slow rendering and may cause other problems.
About KeyFrames
A KeyFrame is a "snapshot in time" of the Camera’s position and size. MovingPicture uses KeyFrames to move from one view to another without having to define all the in-between positions by hand.
You simply need to define two KeyFrame positions, and the Camera will move from the first to the second position over the course of time you have defined.
The first KeyFrame is already defined for you (you have to start from somewhere), but you can easily change it to where you really want to start.
The manipulating of KeyFrames is done both in the Stage and the Timeline. The actual positioning of the camera's viewpoint is done in the Stage, while the timing is established on the Timeline.
Getting Pictures to Use
MovingPicture uses bit-mapped digital images as Pictures to pan and zoom around. The images can be scanned from photos or magazines, shot with a digital camera, or drawn in a paint program, such as Adobe’s Photoshop.
Although MovingPicture can work on images as large as 8,000 by 8,000, this will result in huge files and will take longer to render than is necessary. For most video applications, 1,000 to 2,000 pixels across will produce excellent results. Try to use 16 or 24 color images for the best quality.
The easiest way to bring a picture into MovingPicture is to scan it in, using an inexpensive (many are under $100) color scanner. Set the scanner to a resolution that will create an image is close to the desired size.
MovingPicture accepts these images in the form of bitmap files, in the Windows BMP, Targa TGA, Win/Mac TIFF formats (uncompressed only), and PICT files on Macs. The Windows versions can read Jpeg files if the MovingPicture Jpeg driver is installed. Most paint programs can output these common types and can provide conversion from the myriad of other formats out there.
Understanding DPI and Pixels
Some scanners only allow setting the resolution in Dots Per Inch (DPI). DPI is the number of pixels generated for each inch of the original image scanned. For example, an 8 by 10 inch photo scanned at 150 DPI would yield a 1,200 by 1,500 pixel image (8x150=1,200 and 10x150 =1,500). That same image scanned at 1,200 DPI would yield a 9,600 by 12,000, which is larger than MovingPicture can handle.
NOTE: TIF image files are more complex to load and decode than other formats. This will translate into longer render times on editors such as Premiere, which tend to reload the image from disk every frame. Use TGA or BMP files instead. They are identical in quality, but load faster.
Loading Pictures
Pictures are added to MovingPicture by selecting the Load Picture option in the File menu. This will bring up a dialog box showing a list of all the possible graphics files in the current directory. The default graphics format is for all graphics files supported by MovingPicture.
If the images you are looking for reside somewhere else, use the dialog controls to go to that folder. The default folder for images is always set to the last folder you loaded an image from.
Once selected, that Picture will appear simultaneously as a bar in the Timeline, as an image in the Stage window, and in the Viewer window. The picture will appear in the top left corner, but you can have it displayed in the center of the screen by clicking on the Center Pic on Stage item in the Options menu will center the image on the stage area, for easier positioning of images and rotation.
JPEG Images
The Windows versions are able to load images in the JPEG format. In order to do this, you must download the MovingPicture Jpeg Driver file from the Downloads section on our website. When you run it, it will extract itself into your default Windows directory.
You can use JPEG images on Mac-based systems by turning on the MacOS File Translation option in the File Exchange Control Panel item in MacOS 8.5 to 9.2 (see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58098). Make sure you have QuickTime loaded on this computer. OSX-based Macs will typically have this feature automatically enabled.
Matching Moves to New Pictures
Sometimes it is useful or necessary to create you moves initially with a lower resolution image initially, and then remake the how with a higher spatial resolution image for the final show. To facilitate this, a dialog that will appear whenever you re-load a picture to an existing show, asking if you want to match the current moves to the new picture's size. Saying yes will scale to existing KeyFrames to the new picture's size.
Using Pictures with an Alpha Channel
MovingPicture will respect the values in the alpha channel of your 32-bit images. The Alpha Channel is a fourth component (aside from the red, green and blue channels) that will determine the degree of transparency each pixel will have. This is useful in floating logos over a background.
The two image formats that can hold an alpha channel are Targa (.tga) and Native Photoshop (.psd).This is available on all editors (and Producer) with the exception of Canopus, which does not support alpha in its transition plug-ins.
Since Avid does not support alpha in plug-ins directly, the alpha information is used to merge the contents of the clip MovingPicture is attached to (the "placeholder clip") with the MovingPicture image on top of it.You can turn ignore the alpha channel by selecting the Ignore Alpha Channel item in the Image Prep dialog box. If you are not using alpha, this will speed up rendering by 25% and insure that you will not have your image intentionally altered by whatever the contents of the alpha channel happens to be.
Image Preparation Options
Clicking on the Image Prep option in Edit menu will bring up a dialog box that has a number of image-related features.
These options are saved with the clip and/or show file, so you can have multiple settings on the same timeline and be assured each will render as they were set initially. Multiple pictures in the Producer version will all share a single setting however. Adding these any of these options should not increase render times on most systems.Video Safe Color
Clicking on the Video-Safe Color check box will make sure that the color range of the incoming image when initially loaded is now shaped to the NTSC/PAL color space, rather than the straight RGB color space (i.e. black level at 7.5). For example, an RGB 0 will be raised to 17, and a 255 will be compressed to 235.
Pre-Blur
Clicking this option will add a small gaussian blur to the image to reduce moiré and noise artifacts on very crisp images. If blur is turned on, a notice will appear in the bottom center of the screen. This will not increase rendering time on most systems.
Border
You add a colored border around your image by adjusting the slider from 0 (no border) to 100 (50% of the image's width). Clicking on the color option will bring up a color selection dialog that you can choose the color in RGB, HLS or choosing one of the color or grayscale chips. This is useful for zooming beyond actual picture.
Contrast and Brightness
Setting the brightness and contrast sliders will change these factors of the image. These factors are saved in the show when it is reloaded, and will remain in effect until changed, with directly, or from loading a new show.
Image Tint
You can tint images to a particular color, (for example to add a Sepia tone). Click on The Image Tint option and click on the color bar to select the color to use. The image will be converted to gray tones and then tinted to the hue and saturation (40 looks good) of the color bar you have chosen. To remove the tint, set the Color Mode to Normal.
Ignore Alpha Channel
If you are not using alpha, this will speed up rendering by 25% and insure that you will not have your image intentionally altered by whatever the contents of the alpha channel happens to be. NOTE: if alpha is being considered on the image, the word "Alpha" will appear under the timeline
Loading Multiple pictures (Producer version)
The Producer version can now load in up to 64 images on a single timeline. This makes it easy to batch record a number of moves in one operation. Selecting the Load Picture option from the File menu will cause a new image to be loaded at the current position of the timeline. If you add a new picture between 2 existing pictures, it will be added at the end of the show.
Dragging the head of a picture segment cause that position to be moved, contracting or expanding the picture that came before it. If you drag a clip beyond the start the adjoining pictures, the pictures will flop their relative positions.
You can delete a picture, by clicking on the picture segment in the timeline you want to remove and selecting the Delete Picture option from the Edit menu.
Adding Dissolves Between Pictures
You can add a dissolve between images by dragging the green triangle above the clip to the time you want the dissolve to last until. The Timeline will show that portion as green in its timeline bar. The previous picture's end-point is then extended to cover the dissolve duration. The dissolve will appear when you make the movie file, but pressing the '+' or '-' keys will show you what the dissolve will look like frame-by-frame.
Batch Rendering( Producer version)
Choosing the Batch Render Movies option in the File menu will allow you to render a collection of show files as a QT or AVI movie. A "choose file" dialog box will appear. Select the shows you want to render, using the Shift or Control keys to allow the selection of multiple files. The standard Make Movie, codec and movie file name choice options will appear, as with making a single movie. Each show will then render into it's own file, using the name of the show file it used and adding a 'B' to the name (i.e. myShowB.avi or myShowB.mov).
Moving the Camera Around
The Camera performs the same function in MovingPicture as you would expect in real life. It provides a look onto the Stage, which is seen in the Viewer’s window, and is represented on the Stage by a yellow drawing of a camera’s viewpoint (know as the reticule).
By dragging various portions of the Camera on the screen, you can control what it sees, by changing its position, magnification and rotation. As you pass the mouse over the yellow box, your mouse cursor will change, depending on which part you are over.
Moving the Camera
Dragging the center of the box will position the move the reticule through the image. If you press the Shift key while dragging, will constrain the motion in the direction you are dragging most. If were moving left to right, the vertical position would remain the same, while the camera moved in a perfectly horizontal path and vice-versa for up-down motions.
Sizing the Camera
Dragging the corners of the box will allow you to change the field of view (the magnification size). Keep in mind however, if you magnify too far, the image may break up.
Rotating the Camera
Dragging on the circle in the left-hand corner will cause the box to rotate as you move left to right. You can exceed 360 degrees for multi-revolution spins, (such as in spinning newspaper headlines). If you press the Shift key while dragging, the rotation will snap to no rotation (0 degrees), as a convenient reset.
3D Camera Moves
Dragging the circle in the upper left hand corner of the yellow camera box left/right with the CONTROL key pressed, will allow you skew the image horizontally. (Command key on Macintosh) Dragging the circle left/right with the CONTROL and SHIFT keys pressed will allow you skew the image vertically. The numeric values are displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
Setting Things Numerically
Right-clicking (Control-click on the Mac) within the yellow camera box will bring up a dialog box for changing the size, position and rotation parameters numerically.
Setting a KeyFrame
The Camera already has its initial position KeyFrame already added at the first frame of where it appears in the Scene. This first KeyFrame can be easily reset to reflect where you want the motion to start.
Making a new KeyFrame involves two steps:
- Choose the frame in the Timeline where the KeyFrame should appear.
- Position the Camera box into the position and size you want.
A new KeyFrame will be added to the Timeline, containing the framing you set using the Camera box, and the position.
Auto-Adding KeysThere is a setting in the Options menu to change the ways KeyFrames are added. Un-checking the Auto-Add Keys item will not automatically add or update KeyFrames whenever the camera box is move. Instead, you will need to ‘record’ the position by clicking on the Add Key button in the Viewer window.
Holds
If there is no change in the Camera’s position, size or rotation from the previous KeyFrame, a "Hold" message will appear between the two positions.
Changing an existing KeyFrame
If there was already a KeyFrame at that frame (indicated by the red icon on the Timeline), it will be updated with any changes you have made to the Camera framing. At any given frame, there will be only one KeyFrame.
MovingPicture will automatically figure out the in-between positions between this KeyFrame and the one that preceded it.
Scrubbing the Timeline
Dragging the cursor in the Timeline area will cause the position to "scrub" (i.e. the Viewer frame moves with the cursor as you drag it). To scrub, click the mouse in a clear area of the Timeline that does not contain a KeyFrame. As you move the cursor left to right, the Viewer will show the motion for that frame.
Changing a KeyFrame
Changing the Size and Position
Simply click on the KeyFrame icon on the Timeline and then reposition or size the Camera. The key icon on the timeline will turn red when you are within 4 frames of it, indicating you are in range to change it.
Changing the Time
You can move the time when any KeyFrame (except the first one) becomes active by dragging its icon in the Timeline to where you want it to go.
When moving a KeyFrame on the Timeline, you can have all the KeyFrames that come after it to be moved in relation to that key's new position. Pressing on the SHIFT key when dragging a KeyFrame on the Timeline will shift all the keys that come after it up or back by that amount of time.
Eases
The ways in which movements start up and end are adjustable by setting their eases in and out. The "Options" menu will bring up a list of possible ease options. Picking "Slow In/Out", (which is the default) will cause a move to start out and end slowly. "Slow In" will ease the start; "Slow Out" will ease the ending. "None" does not apply any slow-ins. Selecting the "No curves" option will cause the camera to move in a straight line from KeyFrame to KeyFrame.
This will reset any individual settings that are set on the individual keys to this value.
Please note that there may be a slight slow-down as a move goes around one of the KeyFrames. If this is a problem, turning on the "No curves" option will eliminate the slow down.
Per-KeyFrame Eases
You can change the slow ease of any particular KeyFrame. Right-clicking (Control-click on the Macintosh) on a KeyFrame in the timeline will bring up a dialog box that will allow you to control how the move will flow from that key to the next.
Selecting the Use Default radio button will cause the motion to follow the default set via the Options menu setting mentioned before. The Ease Speed slider sets the speed in which eases in and out will occur. Drag the slider from 0 (slowest) to 100 (fastest). The timeline will show the setting to the right of the key icon.
There are also boxes in the dialog that will let you numerically set the position and size. This is useful when trying to position the camera off screen, or some other particular place or size.
Removing a KeyFrame
You must first select the KeyFrame on the Timeline you want to remove (it will turn red), and hit the Delete key on the keyboard.
Cut and Paste of KeyFrames
The "Edit" menu contains the standard options for Cutting, Pasting and Copying the positional information of the currently highlighted KeyFrame (the red one). There are also 32 levels of Undo/Redo. When pasting a KeyFrame and there is no KeyFrame highlighted, a new one will be added to the timeline at the current frame position.
Showing KeyFrames on the Stage
Checking the Show Camera Path item in the "Options" menu will cause the camera path you have defined to be drawn as a yellow line on top of your image in the Stage. Red circles indicate the actual KeyFrame positions. Clicking on a red circle will set the timeline to that KeyFrame.
Deleting all the Keys
Choosing the Delete All Keys item in the Edit menu will cause all the keys of your show to be deleted. The picture will stay the same.
Make Moves a Uniform Speed
Clicking on the Uniform Speed option in the Edit menu will space whatever KeyFrames in your show to be spaced across the timeline by the amount of distance they travel from KeyFrame to KeyFrame on the image. This is useful for creating a smooth path across a number of positions, and having the velocity remain constant throughout the move.
TV Safe Area Boxes
Clicking on the Show TV Safe option in the Options menu will draw a square box on the viewer screen, showing the Safe Action area. Within that box is a rounded corner box that defines the Safe Title area. These boxes will not appear in the rendered video.
Previewing your Moves
The Viewer contains VCR-like controls to play whatever moves you have set up in it's window. The moves will play in real-time, but will drop frames if it cannot render it fast enough. Setting the Draft Quality option from the Render menu sacrifice image quality for speed.
If a move is playing, clicking on the Timeline will cause it to play from the point in time you clicked. Clicking outside the Timeline will stop playing.
TV Safe Area Boxes
Clicking on the Show TV Safe option in the Options menu will draw a square box on the viewer screen, showing the Safe Action area. Within that box is a rounded corner box that defines the Safe Title area. These boxes will not appear in the rendered video.
Scrubbing the Timeline
Dragging the cursor in the Timeline area will cause the position to "scrub" (i.e. the Viewer frame moves with the cursor as you drag it). To scrub, click the mouse in a clear area of the Timeline that does not contain a KeyFrame. As you move the cursor left to right, the Viewer will show the motion for that frame.