Using drop zones

I have a template from motion that I exported to generators in fcp x. When I drag to the timeline I can't seem to drop my videos into the drop zones. I used to be able to select the drop zone in the inspector but for some reason I can't find that option anymore. Did I somehow disable the dropzones? or am I looking in the wrong place?
please help,
Brian

Koen
That worked well for me, once I found the menu. It is an auto hide menu to the right of the "To" button in the Image tab. Once you have published a zone, you can also "Unpublish" is as you can see from the screen grab.
One other thing. You can select Layers, and then the top layer "Project", and in the inspector, it will show you everything that you have published.
Thanks for sorting that one out for me Koen, saved me lots of re work
G

Similar Messages

How does one use 'drop zones' in DVD menus?

Hi
I have Premiere Elements 4.0. How does one use 'drop zones' in DVD menus?
Thanks
NBK

There are a number of ways, but the easiest is to swap in your video the way you swap in a DVD background -- i.e., select a menu with a drop zone and, in the DVD menus area, click on the background of the menu in the Disc Layout monitor. This will open up a screen that will allow you to browse to the video or still you want.
Once it's in place, hold down the Shift key and, grabbing a corner handle on the Disc Layout monitor, size the image and drag it to position it in the drop zone.

RANT! : still no resize option when using drop zones!

Picture this: you drop a photo into a drop zone. But it's a little too big, and doesn't fit well. So, in a perfect world, you right-mouse-click, say resize, and some handles come up and you can resize on the fly.
I really don't understand why this option isn't in yet. It seems so obvious and usefull.
Really... sometimes the software is too simple for it's own good!!! grrr...

There is a way around this.
In iPhoto, crop the image to a more suitable width, but make the crop higher than it is wider (keep the full height).
Now, when you drop the cropped photo on a drop zone you can at least move it up or down.
I do it all the time, or I deliberately take and/or use vertical photos.
Regards
Santa

IDVD quits using drop zones

My iDVD'08 automatically shuts down when ever I click on the Media button or the 'edit drop zones' button. It is very frustrating. I've resorted to dragging photos in from the photo browser. I would really like it to work the way it is supposed to. Any ideas please?

what have you tried so far? did you already Repair Permissions? did you drag the plist for iDvd to the trash and Restart the mac?
com.apple.iDvd.plist
tell us more about the mac you are working with. As in available HD space on the startup volume and the amount of ram, etc. The more we know, the sooner we'll be able to help troubleshoot.

Motion 5 / FCP X - Frustrating Drop Zones

I've been (trying) to use Drop Zones lately on a number of projects and while I've been able to kludge things here and there to get them to work properly, they sure have frustrated me. The projects I'm working on need snippets of properly timed video floating around the screen, usually within the opening sequence for the video. The trouble is I've never been able to really figure out the timing for these things.
1) Initially, the logical thought was (for me, at least) to set at least an in point for the video before dropping it into the Drop Zone in FCP X. That certainly didn't work because it appeared as though FCP X totally ignored my clip's in point. I wanted that clip video to start exactly at the beginning of that drop zone.
2) Since that didn't work I did some Internet research and someone posted that Drop Zones ignore clip in points. They said that when selecting the clip for the drop zone to place the cursor on the exact frame where you want the video to start before applying it to the Drop Zone. Well, that works to an extent.
Here's what I found after doing some experimentation in both Motion 5 and FCP X (latest versions of each). First, I created a video with timecode in it so that I could accurately track where the video really started on the first frame of the individual Drop Zone. The video starts with 10 seconds of color bars followed by 5 minutes of burned in timecode, then another 10 seconds of color bars. I created a simple Motion Generator with four Drop Zones - upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right. Each Drop Zone was placed exactly 10 seconds apart. So, for example:
For the first test I placed each Drop Zone within one Group in Motion. Drop Zones start at the following timecode for each location as follows:
UL: 00:00:00:00
LL: 00:00:10:00
UR: 00:00:20:00
LR: 00:00:30:00
After publishing the project, I loaded it into FCP X. I used the same timecode video for each Drop Zone starting it at timecode value 00:01:00:00. Now, one would think that each drop zone window, having been placed exactly 10 seconds apart, would show timecode values for the inserted videos also each 10 seconds apart. But they don't! All four Drop Zones show exactly the same timecode value. They are acting as if all four were placed within the Motion 5 timeline starting at 00:00:00:00. But they weren't.
So, I thought, what would happen if I placed each Drop Zone in Motion in a separate Group? I created four Groups, each one holding only one Drop Zone. It didn't make a difference. The timecode videos in each window were still in sync with one another.
The only way I can get this to work properly is to offset the beginning of each clip by -10 seconds. Unfortunately, if there's not enough "preroll" in the clip to do that, I'm out of luck.
But it gets stranger! Further experimentation leads me to believe that all of the Drop Zones within a project reference themselves to the very first Drop Zone within the project. I picked a new point within the timecode video - in this case, the 2 minute point (00:02:00:00) and dropped it into the UL drop zone. I did the same then for the other three and now they all track based on that 00:02:00:00 point within the video!
But it gets even stranger!!! I tried one more experiment, this time loading the Drop Zones in reverse order. That seemed to work. But still, why should I have to mess around like this trying to sync drop zones in some of weird order?
The question is, why do Drop Zones work this way and what can be done to fix this problem? However I select the first frame of video for a particular drop zone should be what that drop zone references when rendering. Ideally it would be great to be able to use an in point on the clip, but I'm also happy with just moving the clip's cursor to the first frame. It's easy enough to do. Hopefully the software team working on these apps can come up with a solution that makes sense. Thanks.
John

I've had this too and the fix then was to delete my project render files (FCP that is).
Russ

Drop zone inquiry

I used drop zone 1 and drop zone 2 for two presentations in iDVD.
What settings or what do I do to make the zone 1 play and then go immediatly into the zone 2 presentation?

Hi
Not really sure that You uses the name "Drop Zone" right. As I understands it it's not the real way to play movies in iDVD but only as menu trailers.
So they are only meant as buttons to play the real content.
So I do
• Never in iMovie use "Share to iDVD" - But Share to Media Browser and as Large - then in iDVD I import from it's Media Browser.
Then I figure on Your note - to play one after the other. There is no Play All button in iDVD - but has to be worked around.
a. One can put several movies into a SlideShow project - this works as a Play All function - ONE ONLY also has to un-check "Scale Picture" here else one get a big black frame on all sides when played
b. I rather do this - I make one more movie - containing all of the others and with Chapter Marks - this I also add to iDVD project.
This will take x2 space on DVD but is easy to be done and to understand.
Yours Beng W

Drop zone movie play

i have a movie playing in the drop zone, which is about 1hour in actual length. is there a way to specify the start and end points of what is played in the menu/drop zone.
at the moment it only plays from the start of the movie, but i want it to playback footage at a certain point in the movie?? eg not from 0 sec - 30 sec, but 45sec - 1min
thanks

You have a one hour movie in a drop zone?? Um ...why?? You know that is not the place to be playing your movie, right? And you know iDVD has a maximum length capacity of 2 hours using Best Quality?
Most people use Drop Zones to show little teaser/highlights of the main movie
To that end, you will have to use an editing app like iMovie or FCE to create a separate little movie to play in the drop zone. I just go back to my original movie and cut out the segment that I want to high lite, give it a new name, an ddrop it into iDVD

Drop Zone referencing time code 00:00:00:00

FCPX drop zone is referencing timecode 00:00:00:00 in my Motion template. How can I use drop zone footage with a different timecode?

I appreciate the post Fox and the link to your fine video on using the Comparator Generator; however, what I'm finding is that when multiple drop zones appear in a project clip they seem to reference the first drop zone. (Your example uses only one drop zone. I've never had a problem syncing video with only one drop zone.) My post, that I referenced above, didn't specify using this procedure, but that is exactly what I did. Just to review a portion of that post:
For the first test I placed each Drop Zone within one Group in Motion. Drop Zones start at the following timecode for each location as follows:
UL: 00:00:00:00
LL: 00:00:10:00
UR: 00:00:20:00
LR: 00:00:30:00
After publishing the project, I loaded it into FCP X. I used the same timecode video for each Drop Zone starting it at timecode value 00:01:00:00. Now, one would think that each drop zone window, having been placed exactly 10 seconds apart, would show timecode values for the inserted videos also each 10 seconds apart. But they don't! All four Drop Zones show exactly the same timecode value. They are acting as if all four were placed within the Motion 5 timeline starting at 00:00:00:00. But they weren't.
I perfectly aligned the start point for each timecode clip segment for it's appropriate drop zone, (first one at 00:00:00:00; second at 00:00:10:00; third at 00:00:20:00 and fourth at 00:00:30:00) but found that FCP X ignored the clip's cursor location for all but the first drop zone. Each of the other three referenced that first drop zone and when playing the project back, the timecode readout in each window precisely matched when they should have been 10 seconds apart.
However, I also found that if I loaded the drop zones in reverse, starting with the last and moving to the first, using the exact same procedure, then all four drop zones synced perfectly. Honestly, it's got me scratching my head. I'm now working on a project that uses 12 drop zones and I'm seriously considering creating each drop zone video clip separately, exporting them from FCP X, importing them into Motion directly, then export the Motion project as a video which I can then import into FCP X. I shouldn't have to do that, but at least that seems to work.
John

Loss of quality in drop zone video

I am creating a DVD project where I've created a drop zone that is approximately half the size of the screen, split vertically (446 x 480 pixels). I have a video asset I wish to use in this drop zone, but no matter how I export the video (from Motion), it loses quality in the drop zone. It is not a matter of bad compression settings. It almost appears as if the footage has been scaled up from a smaller image.
Is there a limit to the resolution of a drop zone? If I scale down the image, the video looks crisp again... of course then my original layout is no longer intact.
Any idea of a workaround for this? Hopefully I am not missing something obvious.
thanks,
ak

You really don't have to use drop zones at all, just make everything part of the background. you might have to combine your motion workflow with some editing in FCP. I would suggest not using Uncompressed Animation, but simply using the DV-NTSC project preset.
You have the option to either import the .motn file directly into DVDSP, exporting your motion project as a quicktime movie, or a quick edit in FCP and export as a quicktime movie. I would suggest whichever route you take, export it as a quicktime movie and use compressor to encode to MPEG2 before importing your asset into DVDSP. This will give your greater flexibilty and control on the quailty of your final video.

FCP X / Motion 5 Drop Zone Video Freeze Frames Only!

Hmmm, well, I've followed the other discussions here regarding what appears to be an on-going issue with videos not playing (freeze frame only - usually the first frame of the clip) in a Drop Zone. I'm using the latest versions of both FCP X (10.1.1) and Motion 5 (5.1). I created a video generator in Motion with 15 drop zones for use in an open for a project I just started on. These drop zones are sliding left and right in three bands across the canvas. I can't get any of them to display moving video. I've used drop zones before and had some success with getting video clips to play in them, but in this case I'm batting zero.
Has anyone found a way around this problem? I may just import the videos into Motion and render them there since this open more than likely won't ever be used for any other project; nevertheless, I'd like to be able to use the Motion 5 template as it was designed to be used.
Thanks.

The good news, Russ, is that I've made some progress! To say that using Drop Zones can be a bit quirky is an understatement! Nevertheless, your Pro Res hint seems to have fixed my issue. I've been recutting the clips from the master archived files and saving them as Pro Res 422. The file size is considerably larger that the H.264 files, but since it works I guess I won't argue that point! :-)
I need to do a bit more investigation of this next point, but it also seems as if I need to move a frame or three into the clip before inserting it into the drop zone. I had just been taking the clip and dumping it in as is. When doing that I noticed that in some cases the clip either didn't play (freeze frame) or it started at some random (or at least what seemed to be random) location within the clip. However, since I moved the start point in 2 or 3 frames (end point doesn't seem to matter) so far, at least, the clip plays every time and starts from the proper point.
I don't know if this mattered or not, but I completely deleted the library with the project and event that I was originally trying to edit to. Since it wasn't working anyway there is nothing lost and I felt it was worth starting the project "fresh", so to speak.
So far I've only re-clipped and inserted 5 of the 15 drop zone videos but for now, at least, they are all working!
Thanks again for your help and suggestions.
John

Drop Zones in FCPX used to be videos, now show icons

I made a long video using motion transitions and build-ins with drop zones. When originally applied, you dropped them onto the timeline above the vide you wanted them to work with, and the video would play behind it with it showing through the drop zone portions. It was a very nice effect. I have to reexport my movie, and I'm now updated with FCPX 10.0.5 (I believe I lasted exported at 10.0.2 in Lion), and now the dropzones just show the downward arrow, the video won't display through.
Anyone else encouter this? Any solutions? Adding them into the dropzone frame just creates still images, which is stupid.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
FCPX 10.0.5
ML 10.8.1

Have you tried trashing your preferences?
Unexplained faults like this can often be fixed by clearing out FCP X's preferences (for some reason, they get knotted up from time to time).
Download Digital Rebellion's Preference Manager (free, simple to use, and perfectly safe, both to download and use).
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/
With Preference Manager, you can backup the Prefs when FCP X (or any of the Apple Professional Applications) are working normally. Then when either of the applications are acting strangely, Trash the Preferences, then Restore from your backups (just a mouse-click).
If you trash the prefs and don't restore them, you will need to manually restore all your FCP X settings again, so it's a great idea to backup Preferences from time to time when FCP X is working well, then your backups are up to date.
Doesn't fix every problem, but it fixes a lot.
Andy

Using a movie with sound in a drop zone

I want to use a movie, and its sound, in a theme drop zone. The movie plays just fine, but no sound. I tried using the inspector and turn up the sound (it's set at zero) but no luck. I know I can drop music into the background of a theme, but how can I use both a movie and sound?
Thanks

Thank you for the quick feedback. The fact of the matter is disappointing. Is there another software I should look at, to convert still images (I use Photo to Movie to manipulate those) and movies (I use iMovie) into DVDs?
Thanks again,
John Nall

Drop Zones shows correct image but previews using old photo with same name

Everyday I do my customer DVD's in the same format. I capture, then edit, take eight screen shots (as jpeg's) to use in iDVD for the title screen. Then after I have checked the completed DVD I delete the Jpeg's and the iDVD project. I also delete the iMovie project as I use a standard template with promo at the start and credits at the end.
After upgrading to iDVD 6 (i did upgrade iMovie 5 to 6 but had to go back because of bugs) I have noticed that when I add my jpeg's to the drop zones they appear correct but the preview in the background shows another jpeg. Looks like a previous jpeg used for another project that I have since deleted.
Has anyone else had this problem. I found that if I go back and rename the latest images I want to use (i normally just use a generic name like c1, c2, c3 etc) it works fine until now. But I am sure this problem will resurface with time even using full names.
iBook 14" Mac OS X (10.4.4) 1.5GB Ram

All,
I had the same issue.
In my case, Blob Cache was enabled for the web application in which the image issue was occuring.
I cleared blob cache, and after doing a hard refresh of my browser, the correct image was then displayed.
To clear blob cache, do the following:
Navigate to:
http://yourwebapp:port/yoursite/_layouts/objectcachesettings.aspx
Select: "Object Cache Flush" and "Force all servers in the farm to flush their object cache" check boxes
Click the OK button
Hope this helps.

Is there a way to use the drop zones as a preview area for highlighted video

I'm making a fairly simple dvd menu, using the centre stage theme Title Page and I was wondering if there was anway to use the drop zone as a preview area for the highlighted video.
Thanks!

Hi
It is at least possibly to use some buttons like this - But to get this right I had to make special button movies from the big original movie.
My problem started when I used the original movie that I could not go back far enough for the last buttons and not precise enough either - so by making the small button movies I got 100% control.
Yours Bengt W

How to add more drop zones or movies in an idvd menu

I was building a dvd in idvd and ran out of drop zones to fill but I couldn't figure out how to add more drop zones.
I tried different templates but I could find none that had more than 12 drop zones.
Then I was adding movies to the main menu and idvd refused to allow more movies added when I reached 10 movies. It said that the template did not accept more movies.
I tried a few other templates and could not get it to accept more.
I don't want to add submenus because the movies being used do not lend themselves to being put into different submenus.
Is there some way to add more than the default drop zones in an idvd template and to add more movies in a menu without having to use submenus?
Thanks for any advice.

I couldn't figure out how to add more drop zones
Sorry, the templates 'are what they are'.
I don't want to add submenus because the movies being used do not lend themselves to being put into different submenus.
You need to figure out how to work with what is available.
If you want more freedom, buy Apple's Final Cut Studio and learn to use DVD Studio Pro.

Using drop zones

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