@kate-m

Hi Kate.

What I do is use the size, position, rotation effect first to place the object where I want it and then use the cookie cutter to shape and feather the edges. You have to apply the effects in that order or you can't position the size,position, rotation effect laterally. I use the technique a lot for my somewhat cheesy effects or title sequences for my videos for my grandson. Layer upon layer if need be. Sometimes as many as eight layers.

Forgive the lack of soundtrack and I have pixelated my grandson's name out.

I have only used the programs effects plus one New Blue lighting effect and the free to download Boris Particle Illusion for the animation layers of smoke, fire, etc.

Ray.

Hey John, Ray,

thank you so much for your quick responses.

Wow! Your Harry Potter video has amazing effects in it :-D

You're doing so much more than i am.

And also, John, all those layers! Right now i just have 3.

To further clarify:

I have filmed myself before a green screen, applied the Chroma Key Pro effect and would like to animate myself in front of a picture.

Without the Picture in Picture effect from NewBlue Elements, everything looks fine. There is no visual jagged edge or an outline around me in front of the background picture. It seems to me, this may have something to do with the picture-in-picture effect, because once i apply it to my isolated chroma key human form, there is a white outline (which i did not choose) around me or otherwhise a very thin but visible jagged outline.

Of course i could buy Movie Studio, if that helps me with the edges/ outline issue?

The cookie cutter effect unfortunately only has simple shapes to chose from, but of course not my human form, which is also always changing because i move my arms and head.

Thanks for your ideas.

lovely evening :-)

Kate

@kate-m

Hi Kate.

I'm not sure why you would use the picture in picture effect over the size position rotation effect.

Have you tried using size position rotation?

Also the re-scaling of image can sometimes cause fringing problems when trying to blend two different resolutions or frame rates.

If you would be willing, you could either. Personal message a few people willing to try to blend your footage using two clips that you could supply using google drive, or put two downloadable links into this topic for anyone to try out.

We in turn could send you back our finished efforts along with the settings used via Google drive back to you via the personal message system here if you wish the clips to be kept private. To access personal messaging just click on any of our avatars and on the page that opens up click on the write a message box.

We may even find other solutions or problems that is preventing your blending from being perfect. This type of work is as much an art form as a technical challenge and what will work on one clip may not work as well without a small amount of adjustment to the parameters used within a given plugin.

Most of my chroma key work is computer generated and working with black or clear backgrounds so my blending methods can sometimes be different depending on how I want that one clip to layer blend with the others and include other effects such as tonal control. The only green screen I have touched to date is from other people offering examples. The most common problems I have seen with those supplied clips has been the use of too slow a shutter speed causing the image itself not to be sharp at the subjects edges from frame to frame where movement occurs, and / or, shadow casting where the person is too close to the green screen for it to work effectively or there is not enough even back lighting to the green screen.

The blending controls to the chroma key effect can be very sensitive. One notch too many in either direction offered by any of the controls can make large differences to the output quality.

Ray.

@kate-m

Hi,

Please always indicate which version you are using. There have been significant differences between MEP2021, 2022 and MS2023 concerning the View/Animation effects.

John CB

Hey Ray, that did it :-D!!!

With size position in MEP there are no outlines or jagged edges. I'm so happy :-)

And thank you also for that kind offer.

Then i won't hesitate to ask. For now it looks like i can edit away again.

Have a good night

Kate

Hey John CB,

sorry, i have:

"C:\Program Files\MAGIX\Movie Edit Pro Premium\2020\Videodeluxe.exe"

Enjoy your evening

Kate

@kate-m

Hi,

Thanks for that. Can you also go into Help, About and look at the version number and post it?

It should be Version 19.something.

You should put this information, along with your computer specs into your forum Signature so that we don't have to ask you each time.

Here is what the Size/Position screen looks like in MEP2021:

Here is what it looks like in Movie Studio 2023 and is now combined with Rotation:

Quite a bit different, so when we give you instructions on how to use this effect, it's important to know what you have.

You can see in my images that I have a background video, full screen, and 2 photos on top that are reduced (zoomed out) in size.

So, how far along are you?

Have you done any keyframing yet?

John CB

@kate-m

Hi Kate.

Glad that is sorted.

A few posts back you mentioned a new PC being built so I agree with @browj2 that your computer specs and video editor version would be nice to see in your signature for future possible problems or inquiries.

Happy editing.

Ray.

Hey John CB,

thanks for showing me size / position & rotation / mirror in the MEP 2021 version and the combined version in Movie Studio 2023.

With size / position i found no problems setting keyframes. But with rotation / mirror (all i need at the moment is rotation in this effect) setting keyframes didn't work. Or maybe it's not possible? Or maybe i don't get it. Very likely ;-D

Thanks for your suggestion: I just added my specs in my signature.

Enjoy your evening :-)

Kate

Hey Ray,

it's so wonderful you remember. Yes, i have a new silent computer, it's amazing :-D

But i will probably have to put the graphic card back in, so i can see the effects and editing better (then my PC won't be silent no more).

lovely evening :-)

Kate

@kate-m

Hi Kate.

My memory is not that good. I don't know about the other people on the forum but personally I sometimes look at the old posts an inquirer may have put up before for possible clues.

Sorry to spoil any illusions you may have had 😂😂😂.

Nice processor! Good amount of ram. What GPU did you get?

As for noise.

My editing room (yes I have a dedicated one) is sound proofed and without my computer turned on all I hear is my breathing, the occasional squeak from moving my chair around and slight tinnitus which increases in annoyance due to the lack of other noises and becomes a potential focus of my attention.

That is the problem with quiet environments. The quieter they get, the slightest noise is amplified in my head. The fans are a distraction that can be more easily put aside as the noise produced is constant and at a lower frequency then my tinnitus. Not that my tinnitus is that loud. In a normal environment I don't notice it at all.

Once engrossed in the editing process, the fan noise magically goes away from my consciousness. If it doesn't I just turn my speakers up a bit more 🤣.

Ray.

Hey Ray and everybody :-)

unfortunately i am not gifted in understanding computers, but fortunately i have a dear friend, who advises me what to buy and he also assembles everything for me. My graphics card, which he installed into my computer yesterday is called: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650.

Now i can see the effects i'm applying in MEP much better :-D !

Since i'd like to know, whether MEP is also truely accessing my graphics card, i read through some of our old posts i copied into an open office document, but couldn't find the part, where you and maybe everybody else had told me, where i can choose the GPU for MEP.

So sorry, but maybe you could tell me again?

Fortunately the white outline around my isolated green screen shot of myself is gone as well as the ragged edge when applying the size/ position and rotation/ mirror effects, since you told me about those effects :-D !!!!

The only issues i have left are ragged edges around a cut out picture of a painting in the background when applying the camera/ zoom shot effec to it. Here's a screen shot to demonstrate:

I`ve applied the camera/ zoom shot effect to the lizard on an ant hill in the background, which caused it to have jagged edges now.

Do you or anybody here maybe know why, and how to possibly fix it?

Thanks so much :-)

Maybe it is worth it for me to buy Movie Studio?

I'm so sorry to hear about your tinnitus. I understand you. I also have one, since a hearing fall in India. Getting enough sleep helps me.

lovely evening to you all :-)

Kate

@kate-m

Hi Kate.

My tinnitus is really very low in the background. On a day to day basis it only troubles me when I either have time to think about it or realise it's there. It has never been a real distraction and mainly in the 12kHz region. Like a pure sign wave with a few sub harmonics 😉. A pin drop is still a lot louder.

Are the images in question gifs with clear backgrounds or jpegs with black backgrounds? Gifs with clear backgrounds tend to work better in that environment. Larger subject matter with a lot of shrinkage will work better than a small resolution image as it also shrinks the edge as the size is decreased. If it's a scanned image, scan it at 600dpi or higher.

Sometimes with a gif image I will soften the edges with an eraser set to around 25% opacity and about 9 to 12 pixels across with the image zoomed in 700%. I do this when I take stills of miniatures. It takes forever to do but the results are reasonable if one takes care.

The hard part is making sure you have completely erased the background. Sometimes it looks clean but bits of semi opaque background that is hard to see against the checkered background is left behind.

The results can be quite good.

MEP 2020 should work just fine. It will be easier on your system as well to keep the tracks running smoothly.

I only upgrade because I'm an idiot with curiosity but I think I have reached my present systems limits with the latest offerings. Only really upgrade to get a new ability or something doesn't actually work. If it's stable and working then it is just a question of fine adjustments and learning how to do things. The basic tools and techniques needed for most things are already in the program.

Ray.

@kate-m

Hi Kate.

I forgot.

Regarding settings. In the program, open File / Program / Settings and in the Device options section just make sure the nvidia card is selected.

In the last tab in your version I think it has a box that says ' Use hardware acceleration where possible'. Tick it if it is there. If it isn't don't worry. The newest versions don't have that box but I can't remember when it disappeared.

In Windows settings go to System / Display / Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Graphics Settings.

Open the box 'Choose an app to set preference'. Choose 'Desktop app' and click on Browse.

On Local Disk C: open Program files ( Not Program files x86)

Scroll down to the Magix folder.

Open the Movie Edit Pro folder.

Open the next newest folder if you have more than one. For me it is Movie edit Pro Premium 2022.

Scroll to the bottom. Click on the videodeluxe.exe icon to add to the list and close.

You should now be back in the Graphics settings and now see Magix Video deluxe (version) under the desktop and browse buttons. Click on the Magix Video deluxe button. You will see an options button.

Choose 'Let Windows decide and save. Close Settings.

Open MEP.

Load project and play.

Open Task Manager. by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete all at once.

In Task Manager Open the performance tab while the project is playing. You should see all the bits of your computer that are hard at work.

Ray.