I checked with an older version of PhotoStory, and adding audio objects in Storyboard mode had a different wrinkle. With the playback marker at the beginning, I added 3 audio files. Each went to a different track, all at the beginning of the timeline. The placement depended on where the playback marker was located in Storyboard mode. Interesting. No longer the case.
John CB
Just found the range markers in PhotoStory - Left click for the left end, right-click on the timeline for the out point.
I was looking for the buttons; had to read the manual.
John CB
Hi John
. . . . Left click for the left end, right-click on the timeline for the out point. . . .
A small point to add to the above:-
The manual states that playback will loop between the 2 markers, however I do not see this in Storyboard or Timeline mode - it plays once then stops.
Can you confirm this please, I cannot find any setting for play once or loop.
John EB
The manual states that playback will loop between the 2 markers, however I do not see this in Storyboard or Timeline mode - it plays once then stops.
Can you confirm this please, I cannot find any setting for play once or loop.
Perhaps it's a misprint in the Photostory 2025 manual. If you read further on page 48, there is a discussion of the tracks available in timeline mode. The manual recommends Track 1 for videos and photos, Track 4 for sound objects? And all other tracks for other objects. I could not find any reference to Track 5 with regards to it being a "special" music track. In fact, I could not find any reference to Track 5 at all.
I think that the problem is an oversight as whoever made the changes to Storyboard mode ignored the Change photo length feature or wasn't aware of it. The changes to Storyboard were probably developed first for PhotoStory and ported over. So, while this may not be a bug, having the audio on track 5 move automatically when Change photo length is used in Storyboard mode is not desirable.
I agree with you. And as @AAProds and @Gid commented; it's not desirable on any track in timeline mode either. Why restrict advanced users to Track 5 for music objects only. It limits the entire system.
Hi
. . . . misprint in the Photostory 2025 manual . . . .
IIRC older versions of PS, pre Infusion engine (?), did loop between the set markers.
The track 5 as an audio track is for MMS and VPX. PS uses track 4.
. . . . Why restrict advanced users to Track 5 for music objects only. It limits the entire system. . . .
This is a 'Catch 22' situation.:
There is nothing stopping a user putting audio on any track, they are universal, however like other image and video objects some tools actions, and mouse modes will affect the positioning, possibly unwanted, of those objects if the audio is not on track 4 (PS) or track 5 (MMS, VPX).
At this point I was going to say this is where track locking is necessary, however I have a quick check on track locking in MMS/VPX has raised another potential bug/unwanted action with the Change photo length tool behavior.
Will get back later today when I can spend more time on this.
If anyone wants to try this, set up the timeline as shown below with the audio track, not 4 (PS) or 5 (MMS/VPX) locked, then try increasing the photo lengths, one by one.starting with 1st image.
What happens?
John EB
If anyone wants to try this, set up the timeline as shown below with the audio track, not 4 (PS) or 5 (MMS/VPX) locked, then try increasing the photo lengths, one by one.starting with 1st image.
Using VPX16 (ver: 22.0.1.253)
Note; each photo is initially 3 seconds long. Then each is increased to 4 seconds.
When the sound track (Track 3 in your example) is not locked, basically the photos lengthen to reflect the time increase and a gap is created between the sound objects.
When the sound track is locked, a number of things happen. Increasing the first two photos; their length do not change visually but their properties show the increase in time. When the time is increased in photo 3, transitions are created between photos, 1, 2 and 3 amounting to the 1 second increase to each photo. When photo 4 is increased, it lengthens as expected.
The track 5 as an audio track is for MMS and VPX. PS uses track 4.
Thanks for clarifying the difference between the systems. That is surprising in terms of consistency.
So does this mean that a Photostory user creates a project and saves it. He then decides to upgrade to MMS and opens his Photostory project in MMS to continue editing in Storyboard mode. Does that mean the sound track is now hidden from the user in Storyboard mode because it is not on Track 5? Or is the system smart enough to recognise the project was created in Photostory and moves the sound track from Track 4 to Track 5 when it is opened in MMS?
Hi John EB,
The manual states that playback will loop between the 2 markers, however I do not see this in Storyboard or Timeline mode - it plays once then stops.
Can you confirm this please, I cannot find any setting for play once or loop.
I can't find a way to make playback loop in PhotoStory either. It plays just once.
Interestingly, with a range set, pressing L plays to the end of the range, stops there, and removes the out point. Another quirk, press L then try to stop using the spacebar; nothing happens except a ding sound. K will stop playback after L has been pressed.
More interesting tools are on the preview monitor transport control. There is no go to range; instead, the double arrows go to previous and next object. I guess that this is more in keeping with the idea that PhotoStory is more for photos.
BACK TO MMS - CHANGE PHOTO LENGTH
If anyone wants to try this, set up the timeline as shown below with the audio track, not 4 (PS) or 5 (MMS/VPX) locked, then try increasing the photo lengths, one by one.starting with 1st image.
I see that @Can-Dive posted while I was trying to post.
Here is the result with a twist. Interesting.
John CB
Hi,
So does this mean that a Photostory user creates a project and saves it. He then decides to upgrade to MMS and opens his Photostory project in MMS to continue editing in Storyboard mode. Does that mean the sound track is now hidden from the user in Storyboard mode because it is not on Track 5?
Yes. The user does not see the audio in Storyboard mode in MMS. Of course, it plays back and is on track 4.
John CB
Hi
@Can-Dive, @browj2 Thanks for testing the scenario I gave you - that is exactly what I am seeing and is definitely not what is desired, locking of the track should not stop the images, that are spanned by the first audio object from being being changed.
@browj2 has commented the audio from an imported PS project stays on track 4.
As an aside note, in MMS and VPX the file type selection does not offer the PS project .MPH extension, you have to select all files. The import and conversion do complete correctly.
John EB
@johnebaker John, I made a comment about that a couple of pages back when someone suggested I try locking the audio track. It's borked.
Thanks for the feedback regarding the differences between Photostory and VPX/MMS. I didn't expect that they would use Track 4 for Photostory and Track 5 for VPX/MMS as the default for the audio track. Also, having a different file extension is a surprise too since, as far as I can tell, Photostory is really just a cut down version of MMS. While VPX/MMS can read Photostory projects, can it work the other way around; Photostory read mvp files? (understanding that the converted project file may risk missing things due to the limitations of Photostory).
Hi
. . . . can it work the other way around; Photostory read mvp files? . . . .
The simple answer is yes, however on import you do get this error mesage
A quick import test with:-
In all cases the project can be saved as a MPH and they load correctly, ie as imported.
Further work would be needed to determine which effects are editable and whether PS is using effects components of MMS/VPX ie plugins DLL's, and vsx etc.
John EB
Thanks for taking the time to test the import of MVP files into Photostory. Although not specifically related to this post, as a new user, it has helped me gain a better understanding of the three Magix photo/video editing products.
Initially, I thought Magix was using a top down development approach to produce the three products; meaning that VPX is at the top level where all the new development happens. Then to create MMS they just turn off features and functions. To create Photostory, they further turn off features and functions.
I now understand that, while VPX and MMS probably follow this top down approach, Photostory has forked onto its own development path and functions and features are being developed independently of VPX/MMS.
Photographers and slideshows obviously have different requirements as compared to video production. For example, Photostory has a rudimentary favorite and category feature in the Media Pool which is not available in VPX/MMS. This is not to suggest the more advanced software is lacking. VPX has Project Folders where favourites and categories can be created. Movies in MMS could be used as category bins if one desires.
So while the programs share the same code to a great extent, they are unique, even though their differences appear subtle.
Photostory is Storyboard centric while VPX/MMS is Timeline centric which is a big difference in terms of User interface. And an underlying principle for VPX/MMS which is stated in the VPX16 manual on page 271 is that any track can be used as an audio track. There are no specific track types.
It's now obvious, based on the group discussion in this post, that the "Change Photo Length" function was specifically built for Photostory not VPX/MMS. Due to the track limitations of the Storyboard layout, the developers had to specify "reference objects" so they could link/group other objects and titles to these reference objects if a user decided to rearrange the photos in a slideshow.
For advanced users in Timeline mode, all these assumptions are irrelevant because they have full control of the grouping of objects on all timelines (nothing is hidden). @AAProds request was simple, logical and reasonable. Just change the length of a selection of photos, without moving anything on other timelines. Pretty straightforward in my opinion.
Unfortunately, he couldn't perform this simple task because the VPX/MMS programmers just cut and pasted the code from Photostory without understanding the ramifications or conducting thorough testing. And in doing so they broke the principle they were supposed to follow as stated above.
Based on the testing conducted by members of this forum, the developers need to fix the bugs discovered and align the Change Photo Length function to the fundamental principle stated in the manual for VPX/MMS.
Hi
. . . . Photostory has a rudimentary favorite and category feature in the Media Pool which is not available in VPX/MMS.. . . .
The favourites feature is available in MMS and VPX, like PS they are limited to the Titles (PS), Effects, Templates (including Titles - MMS/VPX) and Audio categories, they are not available for project media.
John EB
The favourites feature is available in MMS and VPX, like PS they are limited to the Titles (PS), Effects, Templates (including Titles - MMS/VPX) and Audio categories, they are not available for project media.
True, and we can also add that the HUB has a favourites feature which I currently use to identify the audio and video clips I have downloaded. My previous comment was specifically referring to the favourites and categories in the Photostory media pool which are not available in VPX/MMS highlighting that Photostory is on a separate development fork.
Hi
My apologies and thanks for the clarification, I misunderstood what you were referring to, ie the Photo Explorer pane in PS terminology, the Media pool being to the right of it as in your image above.
MMS and VPX, refer to these 2 panes as being the 'Media Pool' .
John EB