Computer Videotape Editing Basics [aboutcomputer99.blogspot.com]

Computer Videotape Editing Basics [aboutcomputer99.blogspot.com]

Question by :)!: how can i make a colorful timeline on the computer for a project? i have to make a timeline of the mesozoic era and i have to make it really colorful and include many many pictures... and i have to include all the dinosaurs from jurrasic park with the times they began/ ended. whats a program i could use to do this timeline? it should also all fit on one sheet of paper... landscape version.. can i do it on word or something? Best answer for how can i make a colorful timeline on the computer for a project?:

Answer by SonicD
If your goal is to make it as visually-appealing as possible, you're going to need to use a graphics program like Adobe Photoshop or GIMP (Gimp is free for download at http://www.gimp.org). These programs do have a bit of a learning curve, but they'll provide the best looking results. If you have experience with Excel, you can create very accurate charts with limited graphics. Here are some Excel timeline resources to get you started: http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelArticles/create-a-timeline.html http://www.microsoft.com/education/createtimeline.mspx http://www.ehow.com/how_2049740_create-simple-timeline-excel.html

[computer timeline]

aboutcomputer99.blogspot.com My Computer Timeline

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Videotape editing on a computer is tons of fun, once you know how.

Using video editing software can transform you and your video into creative visual story-telling wonders. Editing video is quick, exciting and fairly cheap.

Unfortunately, the steep learning curve of most video editing software programs intimidates lots of folks and they give up in frustration.

I'm here to help...stick with it! Once you know the basics, frustration will be replaced by self-satisfaction and you'll be having more fun than pig in mud.

As a lifelong professional video producer, I think the biggest thing that confuses people when they first open any video editing software is the window-laden interface. No other computer program genre packs as much onto the screen as video editing.

Window Movie Makers is a basic program with a relatively universal interface. In other words, virtually all video editing programs share WMM's basic on-screen layout.

As y ou examine the Movie Maker screen, you can see that there are four open windows and they all have separate functions. Additional windows can be called up in WMM, but not all at once.

Some windows can be hidden and something else will display. In all, a computer video editing program can have anywhere from eight to about twenty different windows. No wonder people get confused! What the heck is all this stuff?

(See the very bottom of this article for an explanation about why there are so many windows.)

When you divide the screen shown in the picture above into two sections horizontally, the top half contains three windows and the bottom half is one large window. Here is a list of all four.

TIMELINE: This is the bottom half, horizontal, turquoise section.

TASK PANE: Upper left section of the top half.

COLLECTIONS: Middle window on top half

OUTPUT: Far right on top half of screen.

Let's start with the timeline, which ta kes up the entire bottom half of your screen in Windows Movie Maker.

The timeline window is universal to all video editing programs. The timeline is where you build your movie. The timeline is a visual representation of your story. You can see which clips you have put where. Also, you can see a waveform representation (the squiggly line inside the white) of your audio. Across the top is a running time.

In WMM, your timeline has one line for standard video, one for video effects/transitions, one line for titles, and two lines for audio. They are labeled on the far left of the screen and the thin, black lines running horizontally separate them.

More sophisticated programs have more lines available for video and audio. Some have an infinite number, but that's overkill in my opinion. I've never gone over twenty-five lines and that was an enormous headache!

You use multiple lines to mix together multiple sources of video or audio. For simple prod uctions, you won't need any more than WMM gives you. If you want to get fancier, you'll have to look at a more expensive program.

Looking at the top half of your screen, you see three open windows in the picture above. The first one on the left is the "task pane." The task pane lists such tasks as importing video or audio. You also have a list called "Edit Movie" which brings up different windows or functions. Next, is a set of links that bring up functions for saving your movie to your hard drive or a disc. Lastly, the task pane has links to tips on how to edit. You can turn the task pane on/off in the "view" pull down menu located across the top.

(Like ALL computer programs, video editing has a pull down menu tool bar across the top. In WMM, they include: file, edit, view, tools, clip, play and help.)

The middle window in the top half of your screen shows either "collections" "effects" or "transitions." This is your viewer window. The shot ab ove shows four clips in the collections window and they are displayed as thumbnails.

"Collections" is the name given for all the media you have collected within your projects. Every clip of video, every audio clip and every still picture. If you click the small field in the middle you can switch between the three options.

The blue symbols represent different video transition effects you can click and drag down into your timeline.

The window on the far right is called the output monitor window. This is where you watch your edited movie. The output monitor shows you what is in your timeline and is very much like a mini-TV.

In fact, in order to get a better understanding of WHY there are so many windows in a video editing program, it helps to know just a bit about the history of editing videotape.

Before computers, it took about one million dollars of separate components to edit video using motion effects and graphics. A well-stocked edit room had dozens of pieces of equipment.

Today, one computer using a simple program like Windows Movie Maker can do what it took all those separate pieces to do. Each component translates into a different window on your computer screen.

Once you become familiar with all the different windows and what they do, editing videotape in a computer will make a lot more sense.

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