File Menu (Continued) Making Video Movies

Make Movie Files

The Make Movie File is in the Creator Plus and Creator Pro upgrades.  To be sure you have one of these versions look in the lower right hand corner of the screen.  It will say Video Plus or Video Pro depending which versions you are working with.  Upgrades are available for purchase. If neither video option has been purchased then this corner of the screen will not contain any text.

Make Movie Clicking on Make Movie File selection under the File Menu initiates the creation and saving of an AVI movie file.  The Plus and Pro products operate exactly alike.  The difference is in the out put resolutions that the Pro version can manage.

The Plus version is limited to 399 vertical lines this is more than enough for any Internet application.  The pro version provides files of resolution suitable for professional video applications.

AVI files are created to be compatible with CODEC files that must be resident on the viewers’ machine.  There are dozens of different CODECs in use and every PC comes with a variety of them.  ISMC will run with any Windows compatible CODEC.  CODECs are available from a variety of sources.  The Resource area of the ImageMatics site provides links to online sources for them.

The dialog box that appears under Create Movie is shown.  Some of the features offered here will only be of interest to those familiar with video editing and video applications.

Width The width of the movie in pixels

Height The height of the movie in pixels

Start Time Code The embedded time code start (first frame) of the video.  The default is oo:oo:oo which is zero minutes, zero seconds and zero frames.  Standard editing packages will be able to read the embedded time code and can modify it during the editing process.  Setting the Start Time Code to any thing but zero will cut off the frames prior to that code.

End Time Code.  The End Time Code is initially calculated by the length of the Movie and is set in place when the dialog box is called up..  Lowering the value cuts off the end of the Movie at the specified frame.  Using End and Start Time Code together crops

the video being created.  

Head / Tail Holds      The Head/ Tail Holds provides a “leader” and a “tail” on the video of the length specified.  The leader will be the first frame repeated and the tail the last frame.  This feature is used to provide some extra “width” in the video sequence if it is going to be “insert edited” into another video.  It lets you match up the gap you are inserting into exactly.  

Frame Rate.  The Frame Rate specifies the number of frames per second to be rendered.  For video applications this must be set at 29.97, which is the analog video standard.  For Internet applications frame rates of 10 – 15 frames per second can give good results.  Note: The more frames per second the bigger the file and the more bandwidth required.

Quality The Quality value is passed to the CODEC, which will actually create the AVI file.  The higher the value, the better quality the video will be and the larger the file size and bandwidth required.  The specific CODEC and the content of the movie will determine the Quality factor that gives best results at a reasonable bandwidth and file size.  Experimentation and experience are the best guidelines here.

Render Field? The Render Field? check box determines if the video will be interlaced or not.  Check it the video is to be used in analog (video tape etc) applications leave unchecked for Internet applications.

Reverse Too The Reverse Too will generate a forward and then backwards playing version of the video.  This is so a zoom-in and zoom-out can be exactly matched for an analog video application.  This function is oriented toward those who come from a video production background.  The effect is easily duplicated within ISMC.

Batch Render Movies

Batch Render Movies lets you select multiple Movies (MPX files) to be rendered into AVI files.  Selecting the function provides a standard FIle Dialog Box.  Multiple files may then be selected to be rendered in a batch process.  Depending on the number and sizes of the files this process can take some time. Scheduling the Batch run over lunch is not a bad idea.  After the files to be rendered (converted to AVI) are selected the Make Movie Opinions dialog described on this page is then displayed. All the files selected will be rendered according to these settings.

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