Movie Studio 2023 Moving an object one frame at a time.

browj2 wrote on 2/14/2023, 9:39 PM

Hi,

I presume that you have Platinum or Suite.

There are a couple of ways to move an object. My preferred method is to use the Object Trimmer (Shift+N) or the Edit Trimmer and the controls in the rectangle in the image below:

You can see the first and last clips, so if you also want to trim or fade, this is the place to do it, with frame-level precision.

For more info on how to use the trimmers, see this tutorial at about 8:16:

John CB

CubeAce wrote on 2/15/2023, 8:07 PM

@tyounis

Hi Toby and welcome to the user to user forums.

When you say it is useful to sync objects are you referring to syncing video to music or many video clips as in picture in picture to a sound track?

Ray.

tyounis wrote on 2/22/2023, 12:00 PM

@tyounis

Hi Toby and welcome to the user to user forums.

When you say it is useful to sync objects are you referring to syncing video to music or many video clips as in picture in picture to a sound track?

Ray.

Thank you for responding, Ray. It's the first time I've used the forum, so I'm interested to see how it goes.

It's the second, I'm trying to synch two video clips for picture-in-picture using the audio from each. After I've synched them, I mute the audio from one. As I mentioned before, in the older versions of Movie Studio, I could use the 1 and 3 keys on the numeric keypad to move the object one frame at a time either left (1) or right (3). I'm hoping there's a similar feature in the 2023 version.

Toby

browj2 wrote on 2/22/2023, 12:35 PM

@tyounis

Hi,

I showed you how to do. Look at my reply.

Also, there is a feature in Magix Movie Studio Platinum/Suite to align video clips using the audio of each.

John CB

johnebaker wrote on 2/22/2023, 12:58 PM

@tyounis

Hi

. . . . As I mentioned before, in the older versions of Movie Studio, I could use the 1 and 3 keys on the numeric keypad to move the object one frame at a time either left (1) or right (3). I'm hoping there's a similar feature in the 2023 version. . . .

From the above and your later comment this must have been Vegas Movie Studio 17 or earlier for which development was stopped in July 2021.

Magix Movie Studio 18 and later are an entirely different program with different keyboard shortcuts, work flow and arrangement of tracks.

There is no keyboard shortcut equivalent for moving an object frame by frame, the method described by @browj2 above is the only way.

The keyboard shortcuts are listed and editable in File, Settings, Keyboard shortcut and listed in the PDF manual downloadable under Help in the program.

I would advise not changing the keyboard shortcuts, for identical functions, to match those of Vegas Movie Studio, - as we will refer to the default settings for these when you have other queries.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

tyounis wrote on 2/22/2023, 2:39 PM

@tyounis

Hi,

I showed you how to do. Look at my reply.

Also, there is a feature in Magix Movie Studio Platinum/Suite to align video clips using the audio of each.

John CB

John, thank you. You did, and I appreciate it. I made a mistake the first time I used Shift-N and had other objects adjacent to the first clip. It of course did exactly what you had warned against - the affect on adjacent objects. But, I've noted that and had success with it today. Thank you for your help and your very informative videos.

Toby

tyounis wrote on 2/22/2023, 2:42 PM

@tyounis

Hi

. . . . As I mentioned before, in the older versions of Movie Studio, I could use the 1 and 3 keys on the numeric keypad to move the object one frame at a time either left (1) or right (3). I'm hoping there's a similar feature in the 2023 version. . . .

From the above and your later comment this must have been Vegas Movie Studio 17 or earlier for which development was stopped in July 2021.

Magix Movie Studio 18 and later are an entirely different program with different keyboard shortcuts, work flow and arrangement of tracks.

There is no keyboard shortcut equivalent for moving an object frame by frame, the method described by @browj2 above is the only way.

The keyboard shortcuts are listed and editable in File, Settings, Keyboard shortcut and listed in the PDF manual downloadable under Help in the program.

I would advise not changing the keyboard shortcuts, for identical functions, to match those of Vegas Movie Studio, - as we will refer to the default settings for these when you have other queries.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

Thank you, John. I figured it out with John's help above. Last week I printed the Keyboard Shortcuts part of the manual, hoping to find the old 1 and 3. Please ask your developers to add that feature in the next iteration. 8)

t.

johnebaker wrote on 2/23/2023, 3:50 AM

@tyounis

Hi

. . . . Please ask your developers to add that feature in the next iteration . . . .

You can make a feature request, if you wish, by sending an email to infoservice@magix.net - put 'Movie Studio feature request' in the Subject.

Do note that :

Magix Movie Studio has more features then Vegas Movie Studio had, many of which have assigned keyboard shortcuts.

The number keys 1 - 5 are already assigned to the Automation feature for adding video, images and audio to the timeline - see the manual p46 Paste modes
Users who are working on laptops or use mini keyboards may not have a full keyboard layout ie no arrow keys, or a number pad.

John EB

AAProds wrote on 2/23/2023, 4:31 AM

@tyounis @johnebaker

I think one-frame bumping would be great idea. Using the trimmers is painful.

There are plenty of potential keyboard options using the arrow keys; there would be very few half-decent keyboards, onboard or external, that didn't have dedicated arrow keys, and if they didn't, they'd have an arrow function.

me_again wrote on 2/23/2023, 5:03 AM

@tyounis & @AAProds

I agree about the trimmer - I find it too much faff.

To be honest I've never really thought about this "problem" as a want or a need, it's just something I've always done with the left and right arrow keys which move the pointer/cursor one frame left or right and then move the oblect so that it snaps to the pointer. I find it quick and easy to move a whole gaggle of pics and auido clips in this way.

But then I don't like progress these days, I'm very much an "I've always done it this way" person. What really narks me is when some (well meaning?) software developer changes something so I can't always do it my way.

AndyW

johnebaker wrote on 2/23/2023, 5:39 AM

@AAProds

HI Alwyn

I use the same mode as Andy ( @me_again ) for moving an object a specific number of frames - the combination of arrow keys with and without the Ctrl key and drag object to cursor position I find quick and easy

I do use the Object trimmer when necessary and have also swapped the keyboard shortcuts over between Object trimmer and Edit Trimmer to make it faster to access one handed - the other hand is usually on the mouse or Shuttle. I cannot remember the last time I used the Edit Trimmer if ever 😕.

Edit: Personally I would prefer a 'move object to timeline cursor' options ie object start or end options to align with timeline cursor - that would be great.

Added:

. . . . that didn't have dedicated arrow keys, and if they didn't, they'd have an arrow function . . . .

Exactly my point, they do have one or the other on mini keyboards and many laptops.

. . . . There are plenty of potential keyboard options using the arrow keys . . .

There are and many have already been assigned in MEP/MMS/VPX with and without the Ctrl modifier key, AFAICS the Alt + arrow key combination is the only one not assigned.

John EB

browj2 wrote on 2/23/2023, 6:58 AM

Hi,

Notes to self:

Use the right tool for the job
Use the best tool for the job
Practice what you preach.

I can live without a nudge shortcut or button, but it would be nice. Three methods have been mentioned for nudging/moving an object:

Use the Object Trimmer - very quick but it's best to remember the shortcut and which arrows to press.
Set playback marker, drag object and it will snap into place - no shortcut or key to remember.
Zoom way in and drag the object - you can see how many frames you need to move and if there is something else there that is in the way.

Yesterday, I did up a project of night-time visitors that wander through the yard, as captured by the security cameras. I needed to trim each clip to where the animal was just coming into and going out of the view, plus about 20 frames for transitions. I wanted it obvious that there was a change of animal/scene. I used the playback marker to find the beginning and end points manually, more or less. I should have used the Object Trimmer and I would have easily seen both ends and been able to make adjustments using the counters. Then, I could overlap and switch to the Edit Trimmer to adjust the crossfades. Instead, I made transitions by dragging then fixing and sometimes by pressing on the transition button and Crossfade, then adjusting. By not using the Trimmers, I just gave myself more imprecise work and still ended up using the Trimmers to fix them up.

Finally, after adding music that was shorter than my video, I went back and trimmed clips using the playback marker and Z/U. Then, I switched to the Move Object Content mode (Alt+Shift+6 - a shortcut I have never used) and adjusted the contents more or less, and had to check the start and end to see if they were acceptable. If I had opened the Trimmer, I would have been able to see both the start and the end and use the Object Content arrows to get what I wanted. By not doing so, I made more work for myself.

Off Topic, but what other things did I do yesterday that were inefficient (other than watching YouTube videos)?

I had to zoom and pan on most of the scenes and use keyframes. I did this using Size/Position/Rotation instead of Camera/Zoom Shot. As a result, I did a lot of playing around to see where to go and where the edge was. Using CZS would have been a lot more efficient and accurate. Right Alwyn?

The source videos, taken over a couple of years, were in various folders. I used Windows Explorer to go from one to the other, double-click to view the video, then change the name slightly (Deer-xxxxx) and drag onto the timeline, or not. For the first few, I just renamed the clips. Then I had to go back and find them. I have Photo Manager with the automatic viewer open which I should have used to simply click, watch, click watch, drag to timeline,,,repeat. And, I could have categorized them right then and there. But, I didn't.

I added a sound effect and wanted it at a particular point. Instead of adding a snap marker at that point and another on the effect, I played around with moving the sound effect back and forth until I got it. Use snap markers to line things up.

The videos were recorded in FHD but at 10fps, so I transformed them using Handbrake. To start, I would do them one at a time. But, each folder had other videos that would need transformation to be done at some point. I realized this late in the game and went back and read the folder into Handbrake, adjusted the output location, and used the batch method after removing any videos that had already been done from the queue. Inefficient.

In the above cases, I took the easy way way, but not the best way. Easy was not efficient.

So, once again, work flow and using the right tools for the job are important. Learn to use what you have.

@me_again

I agree about the trimmer - I find it too much faff.

I disagree. Your "faff" is very useful, but you have to learn how to use it to your advantage. Practice and use.

@johnebaker

I am debating as to whether or not to change the button on my Shuttle Pro to the Object Trimmer. I think that you are right and that the Object Trimmer is used more often.

John CB

AAProds wrote on 2/23/2023, 8:19 AM

@browj2

I had to zoom and pan on most of the scenes and use keyframes. I did this using Size/Position/Rotation instead of Camera/Zoom Shot. As a result, I did a lot of playing around to see where to go and where the edge was. Using CZS would have been a lot more efficient and accurate. Right Alwyn?

Correct! 😍

An application for bumping objects: trying to line up videos to music or other videos. I use the snap markers but quite often I am out by a couple of frames. It would be great to just go Shift+L or R Arrow to move one of the objects along. The object trimmer just faffs my head in trying that. Even messing around with the audio sync would be easier if we could just ungroup, bump, then regroup.

@johnebaker

Exactly my point, they do have one or the other on mini keyboards and many laptops.

But that was my response to your comment "Users who are working on laptops or use mini keyboards may not have a full keyboard layout ie no arrow keys, or a number pad."

The reality is that "many" laptops not having arrow keys is more like "almost all laptops have arrow keys, especially ones big enough to edit video on". My tribe has had three sub 13" and smaller laptops and they all had arrow keys.