Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
LiVES can play back video and audio material using a variety of looping methods.
The default is Loop video to fit audio.
This means that video in a clip will loop until the audio for that clip or selection ends.
A second loop mode is Continuous loop.
This means that video and audio will keep repeating until playback is stopped manually.
A modification of loop mode is ping-pong mode. In this mode, when video reaches the last frame,
it will play backwards until the first frame is reached, and then it play forwards again.
If you set the preference for audio to follow video changes then the audio direction will also reverse.
All of these modes can be selected/deselected from the Play menu.
Now that we know the basic functions, let's start to learn how to edit a clip.
Each clip in the clip editor has what is known as a Selection.
The selection runs continuously from the start frame to the end frame by default.
The largest selection is from frame 1 to the final frame of the clip,
and the smallest selection is a single frame.
Note here we are talking only about video clips - clips that are audio only may not have a selection.
The selection is used for various editing and effects operations as will be explained ahead.
Selections are the basis of almost all operations in the clip editor, so it is important to understand them.
There are various ways to create a selection for the current clip.
One way is to change the values in the start and end spin buttons.
Also notice that left clicking with the mouse in the timeline bars
will move whichever end is closest (start or end) to the mouse position.
If you want to draw a selection, just right click with the mouse on the timeline bars and drag.
You can also adjust the selection from the menu. For example to select all the frames in the clip,
go to Edit / Select / Select all frames, or you can press control-a.
You can copy frames from the current selection into the clipboard.
This is done with the menu option Edit -> Copy Selection, or by using the keys ctrl-c.
The clipboard is used for Paste, Insert and Merge operations as will be explained soon.
The clipboard is initially empty, until frames are placed into it, by using either Copy or Cut.
You can view the details of the clipboard contents using the option Info / Show clipboard info.
The information shown is in the same format as a normal clip information.
The clipboard contents can be played back, either by using the menu option Play / Play clipboard,
or by pressing the "c" key when nothing is playing.
Using the Cut function will delete the selected video from the current clip and copy the deleted
selection to the clipboard. Cut is achieved using the menu option Edit / Cut Selection,
or with the key combination ctrl-t. The operation can be undone with the menu option Edit / Undo Cut.
Paste is achieved using the menu option Edit -> Paste as New, or with the key combination ctrl-n.
It causes the clipboard contents to be copied to a new clip.
The new clip inherits all of the properties of the clipboard,
for example frame width and height and frames per second, and audio values if applicable.
The clipboard contents remain unchanged, so further paste functions can be done.
Insert copies the frames in the clipboard and inserts them in the current clip.
You can select whether to insert before or after the current selection, and the number of frames
to insert. Before inserting of course you can change to another clip.
If the target clip has audio, then the option Insert to Fit Audio can be checked.
In this case enough copies of the clipboard will be inserted so that the video continues
until the exact end of the audio.
You can insert either into the clip which the video was copied from, or any other clip,
simply by switching to the other clip. In the case that you insert into another clip,
the video (and audio) will be resampled or sped up/slowed down to fit into the target clip.
You can set Preferences to define which operation will be used.
In addition the frames will be resized to match the target clip.
Delete will delete the selected video without disturbing the contents of the clipboard.
By default, Delete, Copy and Cut are applied to both video and audio in a clip.
If you would like these functions to apply only to video, this can be achieved by checking
Decouple Video from Audio, in the Edit menu.
If frames have just been inserted into a clip, then they can be easily selected,
using the menu option Edit / Select / Select Last Insertion/Merge.
Single frames from the current clip can be saved quite easily. Simply right click on the frame image
in either the start frame, the end frame, or in the separate window. Enter the name of the file to save
the image to, including the file extension, and the frame image will be saved.
The image format is determined by the file extension,
and you can use jpg, png, bmp or gif or several other image formats.
Almost all operations in the Clip Editor can be undone; however there is currently only one level
of undo for each clip. To undo an operation, use the menu option Edit / Undo or press ctrl-u.
To redo an operation use the menu option Edit / Redo or press ctrl-z
LiVES has two types of effects, realtime effects and rendered effects.
While realtime effects are designed for speed, rendered effects may take longer to process,
but may produce more interesting or accurate results.
Effects can also be divided into several sub-types depending on their function.
Generators (or sources) take no video input, they simply produce video (and possibly audio).
Transitions merge or overlay two video inputs into one video output.
Effects take one input video stream and produce one output.
We will look at realtime effects shortly.
In the Effects menu, we see here just the rendered effects, but you can see there is
a wide range available.
Just select the one you would like to apply, adjust the parameters
and even preview the results before actually applying it to the clip.
Frames can be merged between clips or within the same clip. In fact, merging is done between
the current selection and the clipboard, so the frames to be merged first need to be copied or cut.
Then the frames which these are to be merged into need to be selected.
Once this has been done, the frames from the clipboard and the selection can be merged together.
This is done with the menu option Edit / Merge Clipboard with Selection.
Menu option, once it is selected, causes the Merge window to appear. At the top you will see
the Merge details, how many frames from the clipboard will be merged with how many frames
in the selection. In many cases, frames in the clipboard will need resampling in order to match
the target clip. In this case you will see the number of resampled frames displayed.
You can choose whether to align the starts of the clipboard and selection, or whether to align
the ends. Aligning the starts means that the first frame of the clipboard will be merged
with the first frame of the selection. Aligning the ends means that the last frame of the clipboard
will be merged with the last frame of the selection. This of course makes a difference if
the number of frames differs between the clipboard and the selection.
If the clipboard contains more frames than the selection, you will also have two options
for how to handle the extra frames: Drop the extra frames, or Insert them.
If the clipboard contains fewer frames than the selection, you will be offered the option
to loop the clipboard to fit the selection. Below these options, you can choose
the Transition Method. Depending on the Transition Method, there are other options
which define how the frames will be merged together.
Once you have set all the options to your satisfaction, click OK to begin the merge.
As with effects, you can Preview the merge, and you can also Pause it and keep the currently
processed frames, or Cancel it. Otherwise, simply wait, and the Merge should take place
as requested. The Merge can be undone using the menu option Edit / Undo Merge.
After a merge, it is possible to select both the merged area and the area of any insertion and merge.
Look, going to Edit / Select / Select Last Effect: will select the merged area.
And going to menu Edit / Select / Select Last Insertion/Merge: will select the merged area,
plus any frames which were inserted with the merge.
In the multitrack window, we will see another method of transitioning between clips.
Sometimes, it is useful to be able to lock the selection width.
For example, you might want to apply various effects to each block of 100 frames.
To lock the selection width, select the menu option Edit / Lock Selection Width.
Once the selection width is locked, the following effects will occur:
Clicking in the timeline to the left of the selection will cause the selection to move
to the previous block of n frames.
Clicking in the timeline to the right of the selection will cause the selection to move
to the next block of n frames.
Adjusting the start or end frame value will shift frames left or right,
keeping the same selection length.
To unlock the selection width, deselect the menu option Edit / Lock Selection Width.
LiVES can render frames from a variety of rendered generators.
The sub-menu Tools -> Generate, can be used to show a list of these generators.
In this case let's choose to Generate a New Coloured Frames. Every generator has its own
option window. Here you can choose whether to render to a new clip, or whether to render
into the clipboard. Here you can choose the frame size, the number of frames to be generated
and the frame rate. Also you can choose the colour you want to apply, and here you can get
a preview of the results by clicking on the Preview button.
When you are happy with all of the settings, click OK. As the frames are being generated
you will be offered the standard options of Preview, Pause and Cancel.
Now you can see the color frames generated in the timeline.
On the LiVES website you can find various custom effects.
On the add ons page of the LiVES site you can browse the available options.
Also note that many of these require optional external components, and are thus not included
in the core LiVES package. So please read the description of each effect before downloading it,
to make sure you have all of the pre-requisites installed if you intend using it.
After downloading a custom effect, you can install it from the Advanced menu.
It will then appear in one of the LiVES menus, ready for use.
Let's see the Tools now. They are similar to effects in many ways, but whereas an effect
or transition will apply only to a selection, Tools are always applied to an entire clip.
The Clip Editor has various built-in tools, and it is also possible to install Custom Tools
and to create test tools.
Let's begin with the Resize tool. It can be used to change the frame size.
To resize the current clip, click on Tools -> Resize All Frames.
Enter the new frame size and click OK. All of the frames in the clip will be resized.
Note the Maintain Aspect Ratio check-box which is offered as an option.
If this is checked (the default), then LiVES will lock the width and height
so as to maintain the Aspect Ratio of the clip. You can uncheck this if you want
to set the height and width values independently.
During processing, you can Preview the resized frames, you can Pause the processing, or you can
Cancel. Once Paused, you can again Preview the processing, Resume resizing, or Cancel.
Resize can be undone using the menu option Edit -> Undo Resize all Frames.
Another tool available for use in the Clip Editor is the Rotate tool.
This tool can be used to rotate all video frames in the current clip by a constant amount.
To rotate the current clip, click on Tools -> Rotate Clip. Enter the number of degrees to rotate
the frames by and click OK. All of the frames in the clip will be rotated by the chosen amount.
You can also enter a background colour. This is used to fill in any blank space
to make the frames rectangular.
As usual, during processing you can Preview the rotated frames, you can Pause the processing,
or you can Cancel. Once Paused, you can again Preview the processing, Resume rotating, or Cancel.
Rotate can be undone using the menu option Edit -> Undo Rotate Clip.
The next tool in the Clip Editor will allow you to trim down a frame,
reducing its size and visible area, and optionally add a frame border.
To select this tool, click on Tools -> Trim Frames/Add border.
A new window will appear which will allow you to enter the desired values.
The upper part allows selection of the area to be trimmed. You can also use the mouse
to select part of the image in the preview area, by clicking and holding.
The slider below the preview allows you view various frames in the clip. You can also choose
to keep the trim area centred, and there is a button to reset the values to show the full frame again.
In the lower part, you can choose to add a border of any colour and size. If you choose to
Add Border, and keep the default values, the border will exactly fill the trimmed off area.
Otherwise you can choose the border size and the position of the video frame within the border.
Once you are happy with all values, click OK.
Once again, during processing you can Preview the trimmed frames, you can Pause the processing,
or you can Cancel. Once Paused, you can again Preview the processing,
Resume trimming, or Cancel.
Trimming and bordering can be undone with the menu option Edit -> Undo Trim frames/Add border.