The Video Project Interface

After you open a project, a video editing interface is shown. Its middle portion is divided into a top and bottom half. Click and drag the bar separating these halves to adjust their sizes against each other. The top area contains a preview of the video being created. The bottom area contains a timeline to which files can be added and track controls. Controls for adding files are shown at the start here. However, before adding files of any kind, you must first verify that the FPS value at the top of the right panel is correct. The default FPS value is 25. If the framerate of the video captured is different from this, the correct framerate must be set in the video project. Once files have been added to the project, this value can no longer be changed!

Adding Files to a Project

To add files to a project, click Add Selected Files or Add All Files, or drag and drop from the Filmstrip onto the timeline. Videos and photos can only be added to a video track, and sounds can only be added to an audio track. The supported audio formats are MP3, WAV, AAC, and FLAC.

To select multiple files on the Filmstrip, hold down Ctrl while clicking them. To select a series of consecutive files, select the first file in the series, then hold down Shift while selecting the last one.

If you are pasting multiple files onto the timeline at once, a window with pasting options is displayed. Pictures can be pasted as separate items or as a timelapse. For timelapses, you can set the picture display length. For individual items, you can configure the duration, a transition effect, a pan&zoom effect, and intensity levels for these.

Tracks and Timelines

By default, there is only one video track V1 in a project, but you can add any number of additional tracks, whether video or audio. Video tracks are indicated by the letter V and a number, and audio tracks are indicated by the letter A and a number.

A track can be added either using the icons in the toolbar on the left, or by dragging a new file into the timeline with the mouse.

Basic Functions in the Right Panel

The top row of the right panel in the Video module contains these icons:

Back – click this to go back to the list of already created projects.

New Project – creates a new empty project named "New Project (X)" ("X" here indicates the number of the new project), which is opened immediately.

Rename – use this to rename a project.

Duplicate – this creates a copy of the current project with the same contents, and with the same name plus "- copy" at the end.

Under the picture representing the given Video module project, three options are shown – for resolution, frames per second (FPS), and the video background.

Resolution offers 12 possibilities. The default value is FullHD 1081p (1920 x 1080). You can change this value at any time during your work with a project.

The FPS is set to 25 by default. Six values are offered. The FPS value can only be changed if no files have been added to the project yet. That is, it can’t be changed in the middle of a project.

The video background color is black by default. It can be changed at any time during your work with a project. The background color appears in the final video whenever no image or video clip is present in the timeline and whenever a clip has empty areas on two sides because it doesn’t match the ratio of sides chosen under Resolution.

Tools

– no clip has been selected.

– an image clip has been selected.

– a video clip has been selected.

– a text clip has been selected.

– an audio clip has been selected.

– a transition has been selected.

Center Control Panel

Playhead – the name for the moving slider on the timeline that indicates the currently displayed position in the project. During video editing, it is the starting point for any edits you make using the buttons.

Buttons

Set in point – trims away the whole part to the left of the marked point.

Separate – splits the clip into two halves in the marked spot.

Marker – this adds a red visual aid, a marker, to the timeline. Double-click a marker you have inserted to open a window with other options. You can change a marker’s color, add a comment to it, or rename it.

Set out point – trims away the whole part to the right of the marked point.

Duplicate – the marked item will be copied to the same track and added in accord with the pasting method you have chosen.

Link – this option is only available when multiple clips are selected on the timeline. Clicking this icon links the clips into a group. From then on, selecting any clip in that group then selects all the clips in the group. The linked clips can all be moved or deleted together.

Delete – if a specific video clip (or clips) is selected, it deletes only the selected clip(s). The trash icon in a video or audio track deletes the whole track.

Insertion options – the selected files from the Filmstrip are inserted in the given location in accord with the insertion method you have chosen.

Insert – when inserting content into the middle of a video clip, this will split the clip into two parts and insert the whole new clip.
Overwrite – when inserting content into the middle of a video clip, this will overwrite a corresponding amount of the clip.
Replace – when inserting content into the middle of a clip, the entire rest of the clip will be replaced with the contents of the new files.
Place on top – the selected files from the Filmstrip will be inserted into the given location within a new track.
Place at end – inserts the given files from the Filmstrip at the end of the current track.
Fit to fill – the entire original clip is erased and replaced with a new clip.
If the new clip has a different length, the length is adapted to the original clip.
Replace whole clip – the entire original clip is erased and replaced with the new clip.
If the new clip has a different length, the new clip’s length will be respected.

Export frame – exports the current video frame as a file in the JPG format.

Fast Preview – use this to set whether preloaded lower-quality previews should be used for video previews, or full-quality videos instead. Work with preloaded previews is less of a drain on a computer’s performance.

Compact header – adjusts the layout of the controls, moving some of them under

for individual tracks.

Add video track – adds a new video track named Vx (with x being a number).

Add audio track – adds a new audio track named Ax (with x being a number).

Snap – the newly added picture snaps to the existing pictures.

Automatically move playhead on click – when this option is active, clicking a video/audio track in a project automatically shifts the Playhead to the given position.

Automatically select clip under playhead – when this feature is active, all the clips in the main video track, "V1", will be selected. If the video track is empty, the clip in the track with the next higher number will be selected. If a clip in a higher layer is selected and highlighted, it will stay selected for the clip’s entire duration.

menu icon – opens more options. If Compact header is selected, some of the options move to this menu.

Set Overwrite Mode as default – with this mode turned on, Overwrite Mode is active unless you turn it off, so newly inserted frames overwrite existing frames in a video track by default.
Show playhead controllers – shifts the options for setting the starting/ending picture and splitting the video from the main panel into the Playhead indicator on the timeline.
Show levels – displays the volume and image opacity within individual clips and enables adjusting them to different levels within a clip. You can set multiple nodes on these indicators and use them to adjust effect strength within a clip. To then remove one of these nodes, double-click it.
Show filenames – Displays the names of the files used in video/audio tracks.

Lock track – locks the video/audio track, making it uneditable. If the

symbol is not visible, then it is located in the drop-down menu for the video track under the

button.

Overwrite mode – when Overwrite Mode is turned on, every newly inserted frame overwrites the existing frame in the video track. When it is turned off, a newly inserted frame splits the existing frame into two parts, and the remaining clips in the video track are shifted by the length of the newly inserted clip.

– shifting the slider changes the intensity with which the frame is displayed.

– shifting the slider changes the volume of the audio track.

Show audio – shows or hides the audio track in the video.

Display keyframes – clicking this icon turns on keyframe editor display. Editor controls then appear in the timeline under clips that have keyframes. If no clips have keyframes, clicking this icon has no apparent effect.

Several video editing tools are located in the right-hand toolbar.

All changes made to a project are saved automatically.

Green Export button – this button creates an MP4 video based on the project. After clicking this button, set the location for saving the file. In the next step, choose the settings for the resulting video. These affect its overall size and quality. After you configure these settings and click “EXPORT,” the video will begin to be generated. This export runs in the background. To check export progress, check the Notifications – under the bell icon.

Adding Text and Transition Effects

Add text – to easily add text to a video track using one of several available templates, click the T button on the side panel’s toolbar. Then select the template you want, and then drag it to a location of your choice on the timeline.

Add text item with metadata – if an image is selected on the timeline, the icon is displayed in the Clip properties. When this function is used, a text field is created over the image. This text field is a new image layer with an identical duration, and it takes information from the base photograph. Use variable text within the text field to make use of information contained in the picture’s metadata.

Text Field Editing Options

To start editing the text field’s settings, first select it on the timeline.

Clip length – text display length, in the format (h:m:s:FPS).

Frame margin – sets the margin around the text field’s edges.

Alignment in frame – defines the overall alignment of all text fields together. This function is dependent on text field width.

Video fading – use this to manually set the duration of the transition effect that makes the text gradually fade in/out at the start/end of the clip.

Animation – use the drop-down here to select the text’s animation type.

Text box – use this to add the text. Use the controls under the text box to control its settings, such as its font, size, color, line spacing, and indentation. You can also set how the text is aligned within its text field and adjust the field’s width (default value 100). The Text padding option sets the text’s indentation from the frame borders.

Metadata Source – the text field can be connected with a photo of your choice used in the project. You can do this at any time. To make this choice, use the eyedropper and select a photo, or choose from the drop-down menu.

Variable text inside the text field – when you are linking a text field to a photo, you can use variable text in the text box to display selected parts of the photo’s textual metadata. To see what variable-text items are available, click the triangle next to the text field.

Transition Effects

To add transition effects between pictures, click Add Transition Effect. Choose the effect you want from the menu, and drag it between two videos in a video track. On the timeline, a transition is shown in the form of a green rectangle at the border between each pair of clips. Double-click the green transition to view the

Edit Transitions section of the right panel. Use this section to set the length and other settings for a transition. The settings offered vary among the different transitions.

To organize the list of available transitions, click the star icon in the top right corner of the transition animation field. Clicking the star moves a transition into the Favorites section at the start of the list.

To remove a transition that has been added to a track, select it (click it) and then press Delete, or right-click it and use the Delete item.

Transform in Place

Use the

Position and Transformation section in the right panel for creative work with pictures in your videos. You can adjust individual video clips’ size, position, rotation, and other parameters. You can also adjust these by working directly inside the Video preview. To do so, first choose the Position and Transformation section in the right panel. A control rectangle is then displayed around the selected video clip. Click and drag this rectangle’s control lines to change the Scale X and Scale Y values. In the middle of this rectangle, there is an Anchor. Its position sets the point around which the picture is rotated when you use the Pitch, Yaw and Rotation functions. To control the picture’s rotation from the preview, work with the space above the rectangle. To set its rotation, work with the space above the rectangle’s corners. To set its Pitch, use the sides of the rectangle. To change the X Position and Y Position, click and drag the area inside the rectangle.

More information

Creating Videos in Zoner Studio: Part 1

How to Create Videos in Zoner Studio – Part 2

The Improved Video Editor in Zoner Studio: Compose Like a Pro, Easy and Fast

Video Editing in Just a Few Clicks? We’ll Show You How