Layouter compositing questions -

[rob stowell]

1. Is there any tool in Edius that allows one to manipulate the size and angle of an image by moving each corner? In layouter I can stretch or compress the image vertically or horizontally separately, by unticking the 'preserve frame aspect' box. I would like to move each corner on its own.
2. Is there a way to rotate an image more finely? I can rotate to eg 1.10 degrees or 1.20 degrees- but if I try to rotate 1.23 it reverts to 1.2; 1.26 reverts to 1.3 etc.
3. Is there any way to see both the image I'm working on and, eg, a half-mix with another image? I'm trying to get as exact and seamless a match as possible and it would really help if I could see each change as I work, rather than having to save the changes in layouter each time to check the match. (I had a storm card in a previous machine running 5.5, and I'm pretty sure I could do that on the external monitor. But haven't put the card into this machine running Edius 7.)
Thanks!

[Jerry]

1. Edius doesn't have a 'pin cushion' filter.....not for the lack of asking mind you. This will be in a third party plugin.

2. If you want a more detailed rotation, you will have to go to a third party plugin for this. I don't know if it is worth the price though.

3. Place either Layouter or Transform on the top clip and find the Opacity and color section. Move the Source slider to the left and you will see the clip underneath coming into view.

For number 1, you could get Image Mapper from New Blue and that would work as a pin cushion. The problem is it isn't sold separately.

For both Numbers 1 and 2 and for the things that you are wanting to do, Red would be perfect for you.
You mentioned that you had a DV Storm card. On occasion Boris has Red on sale for $295, for owners of any Boris product. This includes the BorisFX disc from the DV Storm package.

[createmedia]

Yes I agree with Jerry.

To me it seems strange to provide 2 decimal places for Rotation and then not allow it to accept the 2nd decimal place, obviously it has never been programmed in.

Boris RED will do two decimal places of Rotation, New Blue Picture in Picture will not, it is single decimal place as is Edius.

Mike

[rob stowell]

Thanks Jerry - that's very useful. Didn't think of the opacity slider- that's helping a lot already.
I might look at image mapper/Elements Elite, as I've got NewBlueFx 'credits' from buying stuff I almost never use (titler pro 3 is painful on every machine I've tried) and they offer a 'crossgrade' (though without any info on what products apply.) Boris is a bit pricey and also (I used it a decade ago in Avid) has a steepish learning curve.
'Corner pinning' would be great. I started cutting on Premiere 5 and even back then (along with much that was undesirable) they had something like this that was fun and effective, even though you had to attempt any detailed work in a tiny box.

[Jerry]

Since you have TP3 already, the upgrade price to TP4 is $99. They have made a few changes. Before TP4 returns to the Edius time line, the title is cached (rendered)
The title, no matter how complex will play in RT.
At this point, there is an after exit issue in the Edius version and I have read that Vegas users are getting similar issues.
I don't know how long the $99 price point will be around, but I can say that TP4 is the best of the 4 versions released. Once it has been fixed, you will be surprised at how Titler Pro has changed, especially for Edius users.

[LewS]

I was on the TP4 beta test team and as Jerry has said the program is much improved over the earlier version. The new interface is much better and the response of the program in use is much improved. The render on exit means RT playback in Edius. I was not a big fan of the previous versions, but this one is really good.

There is an issue where after TP4 is installed on some machines, Edius does not exit properly. You have to go to task manager and shut it down manually. I think I may have found out the reason for that and passed the info onto New Blue today. Hopefully they will be able to repro and fix it. Still, I think it is well worth the upgrade from TP3.

[Jerry]

The issue is an old one going all the way back to Edius 6.x, New Blue filters have had consistent exit hang issues. Each version is fixed....... until the next is released.
TP 1-3 had the same problem.
The most stable version is the Total FX 3 package. This has all of the filters, transitions, and Titler Pro 3 bundled into a single installer. I have yet to have an issue with that.

As far as the render goes, it is more of a cache system. It works, but only to a point. Yes, the title will play realtime as I said in the previous post. But, if you have a file underneath with a non-native filter on it, even if it plays RT on your system, this will cause both individual real time clips to choke (I can't remember if it does it with native filters).
Remove the filter from the background clip and both will play RT.

There are some useful features that have been added and others improved
If you have TP3, it is worth the $99 upgrade price.