Transitions w/o clip length change?

I think I recall seeing in a post on this forum instruction on how to add transitions, or at least some transitions without changing the affected clip duration.
But, of course, I've forgotton.
Comments and suggestions appreciated.
C

When you add a transition it does not alter the length of the clip (or the length of the video) but some of the clip may be partially obscured by the transition.

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Using photos and after adding transitions the clip length changes

I am making a movie on imovie 11 and as I am adding transitions and music each time I add or change the clip duration changes. I have it set at a particular time but it changes regardless. I keep having to change durations of transitions and photo clips in order to bring it back.

Try this...
Click EDIT/TRANSITION OVERLAP
FULL will borrow frames from the photos to make the transition. The project gets shorter.
HALF will add frames to the transition so that the project stays the same overall length.

SUPERBUG? Transitions / Unbalanced Between Clips & Unsync Audio HELP! 2006

I have been able to reproduce this SUPERBUG every time.
I have split the audio track from the video clips to solve the bugs in iMovie that many have listed here in the forums. Also, it was a live music performance that I added other clips in the middle to compensate for shakey camera and bad shots.
All was fine till I started adding a 'simple' "Cross Dissolve" transition.
Both clips in the transition would not be evenly balanced in the cross dissolve, and would un-sync the audio if it was locked in place or not.
If you center the play head in the middle of the croos dissolve and delete it, you can see how much it is off from where the clips join.
This is the WORST case scenerio, since the only way to use transitions would be to place them, and the re align the live video with the audio clips, and then there is blank black clips EVERYWHERE!
My last problem was the new Slick 8 Plug-In Stabilizer which still doesn't work in iMovie 6 ( Gee Three says it's on the way ) ... and now this?
Who is programming at Apple these days?
They better get some real talent there quick .. I'm furious.
Has anyone else figure this out .. or is there some trick I don't get?
Help

"..Both clips in the transition would not be evenly balanced in the cross dissolve, and would un-sync the audio if it was locked in place or not.."
Applying any transition in iMovie (..except 'Overlap'..) will "un-sync the audio", because any transition lays the tail of the first clip OVER the head of the following clip to merge them both, one into the other. This shortens the overall running time of the two clips - and anything else which follows - by the total duration of the transition.
It's always best to practise with a few clips, or another "test" project, first ..just to see what the effects will be before starting a major project, and then you can test the effect of adding a transition. Same with doing a bit of woodwork, or stain removal: it's always best to do a test first, and see what the result is ..then you know how to apply that to the 'real thing'.
All that you have to do is to allow some extra length to the tail of the first clip, and to the head of the following clip, to match the duration of the transition you want to use. This is easy to do if you're dropping in a "cutaway" shot to replace some shaky footage, for example.
So if you want to use a one second Cross Dissolve, say, (..that's 30 frames in NTSC American video, or 25 frames in European PAL video..) then leave an extra 30 frames (..25 frames for PAL..) at the end of the first clip, and an extra 30 (.. or 25..) frames at the head of the next clip, for this second to be "eaten away" by the transition. Your underlying music will then still be in sync after the transition has been applied.
"..Who is programming at Apple these days?.." ..This is the way that iMovie has worked since Version 1. It isn't a "bug", but simply the way that editing works in this easy-to-use "consumer" (..i.e; amateur..) editing program.
"..the clips that where split EXACTLY at the playhead ( and audio extracted from the video ) return as one frame away from each other.." ..If you do a few tests, you'll see what happens to the frame count where clips are split and re-joined. I've an NTSC project here (..I'm in the UK and usually work in PAL..) which is a single clip with a total running time of 27:10. If I split the single clip at 02:00 ..i.e; exactly 2 seconds.. and the second clip lasts 25:10, then when I recombine them the total running time becomes, once again, 27:10. If I split them at 01:29, then the second clip becomes 25:11 long, and if I delete the split, they revert to a single clip of 27:10 ..i.e; no frames lost.
However, American (NTSC) video is slightly odd in that its real frame rate is 29.97 frames per second, so every minute or two a couple of "imaginary" frames are lost - not really lost, but the frame count simply jumps - to try to "round things up" to 30 frames per second again. This is called "drop frame time code". No frames are actually dropped ..the numbers are just "rounded up" now and again.
So if your frame count seems slightly off ..don't worry about it.
This is the way that video editing works.
In the "professional" editing programs (Final Cut Express and Pro), the program tries to find extra frames on the ends, or beginnings, of clips, so that those excess frames can be "eaten up" by transitions, and total clip length remains the same. But that relies upon more footage being available than you're actually working with ..so someone new to those programs might ask "Why do I have to import more footage than I need?"
Just practise with it a bit, and you'll soon see that it works OK ..just leave extra frames on the ends of clips to allow for the footage which gets used up in the Cross Dissolves, or whichever transitions you use.

Compressor quality changes with clip length

Hello,
Im on a max OSX 10.6.5, compressor 3.5.3, FCP 7.0.3.
I am taking footage off the SONY XDCAM, running it through the XDCAM Transfer software and having it wrapped in quicktime so i can edit in FCP. The project was filmed in HD 1280x720, XDCAM HD422, 720p60(50 mb/s).
The destination is SD DVD.
Problem- Since going from HD to SD can be a bit tricky, I made a half dozen sample compression clips. I found that the compressor DVD 90min Best quality preset with a slight bitrate change to look the best. When I compress the 3 minute clip, it looks really great. But when I compress the entire sequence (only 83 minutes.. well within the 90 minute preset) it looks like garbage. The difference is night and day. What is the issue? suggestions?
Thanks,
Brian

Sorry for the slow reply, I hit the road for a while shortly after posting...but I'm back.
Also, I'm embarrassed to say that the problem turned out to be the nut holding the tool (in other words, user error). It doesn't matter how carefully one changes the clip length if you somehow forget that clicking on the clip then selecting "pasteover at playhead" does not paste the selected clip but pastes whatever is in memory. As I'm sure you can guess, the clip copied earlier was 3:12 in length.
Sheesh.
Sorry for the false alarm, and thanks to both of you for the help.

Change default import clip length

Is there a way to change the default import clip lengths? It seems the default import length is 5 sec (00:05:00). So all photos import at 5 seconds. I would like to import all my photos to come in at 1 frame (00:00:01).

When you select a photo in the Photos Media pane, does not a "Photo Settings" window appear? You can drag the slider all the way out to 60 seconds if you like.

Photo clip lengths - trouble adjusting!

I have a new project consisting of 80-100 photos, all with a transition in between. Via Project Properties (Apple Key - J), I can set the photo duration but it's only in even increments -- 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, etc. I want to pick 2 1/2 seconds but the slider scale won't let me do that.
If I try to select just a photo properties (Apple Key - R) manually, from 2:00 to 2:50, it auto-adjusts it to 3:20. Having it set to that (or higher) makes the overall project runtime too long. Can I get it to something between 2 and 2 1/2 seconds??

There is an interplay between clip length or photo length and the length of transitions.
For example, if you have two photos each with length 4 seconds and 0 frames, and a transition between them of 30 frames (1 second), then each photo will have a length of 3 seconds and 15 frames. Note: this behavior can be changed in either Preferences or Project Properties: I can't remember which (this applies to clips).
Further, when you set the length of the photo to 2:50, you are really setting it to 2 seconds and 50 frames. In the NTSC system, one second is approximately 30 frames, so 50 frames yields 1 second and 20 frames ( or a total of 3 seconds and 20 frames, as you observed.)
Two and a half seconds in this notation would be 2:15.

How do I add a transition between every clip in Premiere Elements 11?

Greetings -
Folks, I'm looking for a feature that even the cheesy old Windows Movie Maker used to have. I'm trying to figure out how to get Premiere Elements 11 to add a transition between every clip via some shortcut/quick means. I find it obnoxious and inefficient that I need to manually drag a transition between every clip. If I import 200 short clips that I took with my point and shoot camera, it'll take me over an hour alone just to put the transitions in place.
Is there any way to select a transition and have Premiere Elements add it between every clip? I've stumbled on the fact that you can click a transition and make it the "Default" but have not been able to figure out what that does for me.
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you.
Andy

CDR0920 wrote:
........... but the time was set by defaul as 0 seconds and I have not been able to change that. Tips???
I think trying Edit > Preferences > General > Video Default Transition Duration will fix it. Mine came with 30 frames set at installation.
Bill S

Transition and Still Clip Time Adjustments Don't Work Correctly

When I have a group of still photos and transitions in a movie along with a music track I can't seem to get the transitions or the clips to keep a time setting I apply using the "Transition Adjustments" drop-down menu.
I put in 2.9s and when I click "Done" they all become 3.4s. When I try to change the transition time same thing, 0.9s becomes 0.6s.
There must be something obvious I'm missing in the overall approach to times with a music clip or not? I tried removing the music clip entirely in case it was pinning the time of each clip cumulatively to the music, but same thing with no music.
Any help?
JoeL
Atlanta, GA

Watch this and adjust your project then tell me if you have the same issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHMIUSeI0Gs
Daniel C. Slagle
Keeper of the "Unofficial" iMovie FAQ
I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link

Clip Length

I am trying to make an animated movie. How can I make all my clip lengths, several hundred, the same length in one go? eg 0.1 of a second.

oldscotsbloke
From your prior posts, you appear to be working with Premiere Elements 12 on Windows 7 64 bit.
Are these clips - videos or stills? For now I will assume stills.
For now I will assume that you are set up for NTSC (30 frames per second) and not PAL (25 frames per second).
If you want all clips with duration of 0.1 second
a. import, take to Expert workspace Timeline, select all, right click anywhere in the selection, select Time Stretch, and set the Time Stretch dialog Duration field to 0.1 second which would be 3 frames. So you set the timecode Duration readout in the Time Stretch dialog to 00;00;00;03 (hours;minutes;seconds;frames).
or
b. BEFORE importing any, go to Edit Menu/Preferences/General and set the Still Image Duration to 3 frames.
Then AFTERWARD all stills imported into the program will have a duration of 3 seconds until you go back to preferences and change the setting.
Some Time Lapse information if needed
http://www.atr935.blogspot.com/2013/07/pe-time-lapse-video-basics.html
http://www.atr935.blogspot.com/2013/08/pe-numbered-stills-in-time-lapse-and.html
Please review and consider and then let me know if you are OK with the details above.
Thank you.
ATR

Is there a way to apply the same transition between all clips?

Or is there a way to apply random transitions? Either way I'm too lazy to drag a transition between every clip and hope there's a bulk way I haven't found yet. I'm using iMovie HD 6.0.2 (267).
Thanks!
--Daniel

Daniel,
To apply the same transition between all clips, select all the clips, select the transition (and timing) then click ADD (at the bottom right of the transitions screen). The transitions will be rendered, one at a time between all the clips. If you wish to change the transition, again select the required clips, select the new transition, then click UPDATE.
I'm not aware of any way to apply random transitions.
John

Wrong clip length calculation

I only just noticed, but iMovie calculates clip lengths/ transition lengths wrong.
If you have two clips of 1 second, the total duration is 2 seconds. If you introduce a 10-frame transition, it reduces BOTH clips by 10 frames each, not 5 frames each. The total duration is now 1 second 15 frames.
I was making slideshows of a lot of images with cross dissolve transitions, and it is really noticeable.
This is a genuine bug, right? How does Apple get to hear about it and fix it?

If you take ten frames from the end of clip one, and ten frames from the beginning of clip two, that transition takes 20 frames.
No, you take the last 10 frames from clip one and play at the same time as the first 10 frames of clip two. At the beginning of the 10 frame transition you can see only clip 1 and at the end only clip 2.
Logically you should then reduce clip one by 10 frames, and clip 2 by 10 frames, leaving the project duration the same.
You can't do that without duplicating frames.
In the example I started with, I introduced a 10-frame transition and it reduced both clips by 10 frames, reducing the duration of the project.
Yes, that's how most transitions works.
But it shouldn't reduce the duration of the project by inserting a transition, should it?
It must, unless you duplicate frames. (The "Overlap" transition does just that.)
Take a look at:
http://geethree.com/slick/galleries/s1demopages/s1transbarnopen.html
You see that you must show frames from clip A and clip B at the same time.

Clip lengths

I've been using IMovie to make some time laspe films. When i've been importing the photos (around 300 at a time) i've been trying to set the clip of each photo to be 0:03 of a second. The first photo imported will be 0:03 seconds long and then all the others end up being 9:29 seconds long. So far i've been manually changing each photo from 9:29 to 0:03 seconds - this ***** when you have to do it 299 times. Does anybody know if there is a way if you can select all the photos and change the clip length once you have the pictures in the clip viewer?

Hi Schoonerman - yes, sure you can. Simply select them all (Select the first, then Shift-Click the last in the sequence, or go Command-A if you want the entire movie selected), then go to the Photos pane, make the duration adjustment with the slider, then hit the Update button.

How to name individual clips without changing the name of the original file...?

Hi,
Theres likely to be a really simple solution to this, but i can't find it! I've done my in & out points, i've created a new clip and i'd like to give it a unique name. When i rename the clip the original file name also changes. How can i rename the new clip without changing the original file name?
Please help,
Thanks
Ed

Either make the clip a subclip or convert it to a new master clip. Both can be done in the Modify menu.

Clip length revert in themes

Hey all--
I'm an iMovie newbie with a question about themes. I'd like to use some of the theme elements, but whenever I drop in a clip it reverts to the original clip start point and doesn't retain any of my clip length edits. Do I need to prepare my clips differently or am I missing a setting or..? Any ideas?
Thanks for your help!
--Myrah
iMac 1.83Ghz Duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Welcome to the forum, Myrah.
You got it just about right; you're not missing something. There's a bug in themes that causes a clip placed in a Drop Zone to play from the beginning of the clip's FILE, not the beginning of the clip.
The trick is to export (share) only that clip to a Full Quality movie, then import THAT movie to the project and drop it in the Drop Zone.
To export (share) just one clip, check the "Share selected clips only" checkbox in the Share dialog window.
After the theme has been rendered you can discard the clip.
Karl

Clip length and Workflow with iPhoto (I need a pdf for a final...)

I'm feeling like a total lunkhead after taking a number of passes at this in the past year.
Short question:
How do I control clip length in iMovie? Does it work one way when you bring images in and another way when you bring in a slideshow?
Long question:
I need to get from images organized in iphoto to a pdf or ppt presentation and right now this means I am organizing the photos in iPhoto (a breeze), exporting as wmv and then importing this into iMovie. In iMovie I am just adding a title on the first "slide".
Now I am trying to make sure I have no dissolve effects between slides, make sure I can control the length of each slide and to get this exported into a "manually" advanced pdf.
At some point I would like to get some vector based linework into my presentations as well and for some reason I am bypassing Keynote in the above setup.
Can anyone help me get to a manual pdf so I can get out of the ditch here?
Thanks for any help.

It sounds like you've got a somewhat complicated issue.
I'm simply trying to create match a single image file with a 35:00 min podcast so I result in a movie that I can upload to Vimeo (they don't accept audio, only video). I'll watch your post to see if anyone can explain making still images longer (mine caps at 10:00 min).

Transitions w/o clip length change?

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