Video Editor
Now we came
to the crunch. Let’s try and use the captured clips.
The default layout of the editor has a more familiar feel to it than 5.2, which I encountered briefly but left.
With
a timeline below, the production library to the right, and two windows
for video content (source and preview -- preview is pictured at left)
centre and left, a Premiere user at least has a sense of familiarity.
However, not all is as it seems. The right clicks in various places don’t
do the same – so there’s some unlearning to do! Then there’s the track
logic. Premiere is “top down” – the highest track takes highest priority.
I could follow that logic. MSP – bottom’s up, folks! The highest priority
track is the lowest (the tracks number down the screen). If there’s one
suggestion I would make to Ulead about the user interface, it’s about
this track logic. I would, at the very least, offer the user the option
of putting highest numbered tracks at the TOP. Here's a wide, full screen
shot of MSP6's interface.
But once you’ve come to grips with where the menus are found, and how the tracks are configured, importing a video file and placing it on the timeline becomes straightforward. Scrubbing involves a tiny star, a bit smaller than Premiere’s triangle. Once you’ve figured that out, work can proceed.
I’m the type of editor who likes to drop the whole clip on the timeline and shift the “handles” to set the in and out points. Others prefer to do this in the source window. Either mode works in MSP6.
Adding colour mattes was straightforward. Likewise simple scrolling titles. MSP6’s internal titler seems to produce much crisper text than Premiere’s. Perhaps its anti-aliasing is superior.
Transitions, well the VE set is smaller of course, but adequate. No real issues there.
A neat feature is the group function. One presses the SHIFT key, and rolls the cursor around a bunch of tracks – one can then move them all together.
To export required Make Movie – I knew that! (Timeline export for OHCI DV is not yet released.) But where’s the Make Movie command? After all, that’s what it’s called, isn’t it? NO! In MSP, we “CREATE” a video file (it’s found under the FILE menu).
After that, export went well. With the MS driver, the four settings were available: Preroll, transmit pause, record pause, delay record time. There are no camera model presets, and this takes some experimentation. Again, participation in user forums and newsgroups can give the benefit of others’ prior experiences.
You’ll notice I haven’t said anything about preview and scrubbing performance. More of that when we look at the FULL version – and try a more challenging project, rather than just test a few clips and transitions.
Install and See
MSP6 with the Raptor
Troubleshooting
What Next?