http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux December 2019 LXF257 63Video editing TUTORIALS
Right-click a video
file and choose
‘File Properties’
to examine its
format, codec,
bitrate, resolution
and more.ADD SPECIAL EFFECTS
the Video track and place it right at the start of the
timeline. Your clip will appear as a draggable object, its
length corresponding to the duration of the track. The
play-head/ruler above the track helps indicate the
length of each track as well as your overall movie.
If you’re working with short clips, you may want
to adjust the magnification of the ruler; by default,
15-second intervals are denoted, which can be altered
using the slider above the ruler. Drag the slider left to
zoom in and reduce the intervals (5-10 seconds is
usually enough), or drag it right to zoom out for an
overview – typically, 720-second or 12-minute intervals
is perfect for a two-hour movie. You can adjust the
magnification as you edit your movie as required.Transition clips
The Video Preview window above the timeline enables
you to see how your editing is progressing, providing a
rough view of your video and audio tracks, plus any
additional effects applied. Use the playback controls
underneath or adjust the playback position precisely
using the play-head ruler. If the previews seem jerky,
try reducing the quality of the preview via ‘Edit >
Preferences > Profile’ to prioritise smoother playback.
Some clips may be perfectly formed, but chances
are one or two will need trimming, while other, longer
files might benefit from being split into separate clips.
Why choose the latter option? One reason is to
introduce fades or other transition effects within a
single clip. The step-by-step guide on page 67 shows
how to trim your clips. Once created, remove the
original, unedited clip from your timeline (right-click it
and choose ‘Remove Clip’) and drag the new, edited
clip into its place.
Now add your second clip by dragging it into place
on the timeline. Drag it so it bumps up to the clip or
image on its left. Play back your movie and you’ll see
one clip goes directly into the next. Sometimes this can
appear a little jarring. To smooth the switch between
each clip, drag the second clip left so it overlaps the
first clip slightly – say for a couple of seconds.
OpenShot will now automatically apply a fade effect –
look for the semi-translucent blue object with a small V
at the top appearing over your second clip – to ease the
transition between scenes. Play back the clip and you
should find clip one fades seamlessly into clip two. More
on transition effects later.
You can now quickly stitch together a rough edit of
your basic movie by dragging and dropping clips into
position as outlined. Again, use the preview window to
see how it’s progressing – you can use the play andforward/rewind buttons underneath
it or click and drag the play-head
(the red vertical line) on the timeline
into your chosen position.
When you add photos, they will
appear on screen for a default of 10
seconds per image. This may sound
like a long time, so you can change
this via the ‘Image Length
(seconds)’ setting you’ll find under
Edit > Preferences > General tab, or
edit an individual photo’s time
on-screen by clicking and dragging
its right-hand edge on the timeline
left or right to reduce or extend the
length. Again, we recommend
overlapping images to produce a
more seamless switch between
them using the Fade effect.Adding effects
Image slideshows can appear rather static, even with
the transition effects in place. One way to inject some
more pizazz into them is to make use of OpenShot’s
various Animate effects. To access these for a particular
image, simply right-click it to reveal a pop-up menu of
options. Use the Rotate menu to correct the orientation
of portrait photos, then have a good look at the options
under Animate.
You can apply animated effects to the start or end of
the clip or have them run for the entire duration it’s
on-screen. Whichever option you choose, you have five
selections: Zoom enables you to zoom into or out of the
clip, while Center to Edge, Edge to Center and Edge to
Edge enable you to move the clip to and from top,
bottom, right or left edge of the screen and the centre.
Random basically lets OpenShot choose; you’d select
this in a slideshow where you want to animate each clip,
but don’t want to choose which effect to select.
One potential issue with rotated photos is that the
top and bottom get chopped off. One solution is to
employ ‘Animate > Start of Clip > Zoom > Zoom outClick Effects on the Project Files pane to apply one of 14 different
special effects to your video clips. Just drag the effect onto your clip
and you’ll see a small letter appear next to the filename or clip name;
right-click this and choose Properties to configure it.
The Chroma Key effect is a rough and ready way to introduce
greenscreen effects such as removing backgrounds. Just select your
Key Color from the effect’s Properties and use the Fuzz property to
refine the edges. If your background isn’t as clean as you’d like, or
you’d like to add a greenscreen effect to an image, you’ll need to do a
little more work by creating a simple black (areas to keep)/white
(areas to erase) mask in an image editor.
Save this as a PNG or JPEG file and put it in the hidden .openshot_
qt/transitions folder inside your Home folder. When you next open
OpenShot, your custom mask is available as a transition. Drop in the
original image or clip on Track 3, then drop this new mask on top of it.
Right-click the transition and choose Properties, then set Brightness
to 0.00. Place another image or video behind it by dragging it on to
Track 1, and that clip will appear in the area you erased.These days
most of our raw
video footage
sits on our
phones. The
easiest way to
transfer this to
your PC is via a
cloud provider.
Simply upload
to the cloud,
wait for it to
sync, then get
ready to edit.Arranging your video, photos and audio is a simple case of dragging and
dropping them into place on the timeline.6662Decmbr rb2c019vb09alsho December 2019 LXF257 63
Video editing TUTORIALS
Right-clicka video
fileandchoose
‘FileProperties’
toexamineits
format,codec,
bitrate,resolution
andmore.ADD SPECIAL EFFECTS
the Video track and place it right at the start of the
timeline. Your clip will appear as a draggable object, its
length corresponding to the duration of the track. The
play-head/ruler above the track helps indicate the
length of each track as well as your overall movie.
If you’re working with short clips, you may want
to adjust the magnification of the ruler; by default,
15-second intervals are denoted, which can be altered
using the slider above the ruler. Drag the slider left to
zoom in and reduce the intervals (5-10 seconds is
usually enough), or drag it right to zoom out for an
overview – typically, 720-second or 12-minute intervals
is perfect for a two-hour movie. You can adjust the
magnification as you edit your movie as required.
Transition clips
The Video Preview window above the timeline enables
you to see how your editing is progressing, providing a
rough view of your video and audio tracks, plus any
additional effects applied. Use the playback controls
underneath or adjust the playback position precisely
using the play-head ruler. If the previews seem jerky,
try reducing the quality of the preview via ‘Edit >
Preferences > Profile’ to prioritise smoother playback.
Some clips may be perfectly formed, but chances
are one or two will need trimming, while other, longer
files might benefit from being split into separate clips.
Why choose the latter option? One reason is to
introduce fades or other transition effects within a
single clip. The step-by-step guide on page 67 shows
how to trim your clips. Once created, remove the
original, unedited clip from your timeline (right-click it
and choose ‘Remove Clip’) and drag the new, edited
clip into its place.
Now add your second clip by dragging it into place
on the timeline. Drag it so it bumps up to the clip or
image on its left. Play back your movie and you’ll see
one clip goes directly into the next. Sometimes this can
appear a little jarring. To smooth the switch between
each clip, drag the second clip left so it overlaps the
first clip slightly – say for a couple of seconds.
OpenShot will now automatically apply a fade effect –
look for the semi-translucent blue object with a small V
at the top appearing over your second clip – to ease the
transition between scenes. Play back the clip and you
should find clip one fades seamlessly into clip two. More
on transition effects later.
You can now quickly stitch together a rough edit of
your basic movie by dragging and dropping clips into
position as outlined. Again, use the preview window to
see how it’s progressing – you can use the play and
forward/rewind buttons underneath
it or click and drag the play-head
(the red vertical line) on the timeline
into your chosen position.
When you add photos, they will
appear on screen for a default of 10
seconds per image. This may sound
like a long time, so you can change
this via the ‘Image Length
(seconds)’ setting you’ll find under
Edit > Preferences > General tab, or
edit an individual photo’s time
on-screen by clicking and dragging
its right-hand edge on the timeline
left or right to reduce or extend the
length. Again, we recommend
overlapping images to produce a
more seamless switch between
them using the Fade effect.Adding effects
Image slideshows can appear rather static, even with
the transition effects in place. One way to inject some
more pizazz into them is to make use of OpenShot’s
various Animate effects. To access these for a particular
image, simply right-click it to reveal a pop-up menu of
options. Use the Rotate menu to correct the orientation
of portrait photos, then have a good look at the options
under Animate.
You can apply animated effects to the start or end of
the clip or have them run for the entire duration it’s
on-screen. Whichever option you choose, you have five
selections: Zoom enables you to zoom into or out of the
clip, while Center to Edge, Edge to Center and Edge to
Edge enable you to move the clip to and from top,
bottom, right or left edge of the screen and the centre.
Random basically lets OpenShot choose; you’d select
this in a slideshow where you want to animate each clip,
but don’t want to choose which effect to select.
One potential issue with rotated photos is that the
top and bottom get chopped off. One solution is to
employ ‘Animate > Start of Clip > Zoom > Zoom outClick Effects on the Project Files pane to apply one of 14 different
special effects to your video clips. Just drag the effect onto your clip
and you’ll see a small letter appear next to the filename or clip name;
right-click this and choose Properties to configure it.
The Chroma Key effect is a rough and ready way to introduce
greenscreen effects such as removing backgrounds. Just select your
Key Color from the effect’s Properties and use the Fuzz property to
refine the edges. If your background isn’t as clean as you’d like, or
you’d like to add a greenscreen effect to an image, you’ll need to do a
little more work by creating a simple black (areas to keep)/white
(areas to erase) mask in an image editor.
Save this as a PNG or JPEG file and put it in the hidden .openshot_
qt/transitions folder inside your Home folder. When you next open
OpenShot, your custom mask is available as a transition. Drop in the
original image or clip on Track 3, then drop this new mask on top of it.
Right-click the transition and choose Properties, then set Brightness
to 0.00. Place another image or video behind it by dragging it on to
Track 1, and that clip will appear in the area you erased.Thesedays
mostofourraw
videofootage
sitsonour
phones.The
easiestwayto
transferthisto
yourPCisviaa
cloudprovider.
Simplyupload
tothecloud,
waitforit to
sync,thenget
readytoedit.Arranging your video, photos and audio is a simple case of dragging and
dropping them into place on the timeline.