Add to "static" graphic

  • Hi, I'm wondering if this can be done in videoscribe. Can I add content to a static graphic? For example, could I add Christmas lights to an existing house image? In other words I don't want videoscribe to render the house, only the lights I add. I can't figure out how that is done or even if it possible - extensive web searching/etc has come up blank, it looks like VS can only render images and not add to a prexisting static image. Please correct me if I'm wrong and if you have a video or something I'd love to see that.


    Thanks - Jim Wagner/wagnerjames@vmware.com

  • Hi,
    yes, assuming you have the house image and an image with all of the lights....

    import the house
    import the lights
    position them how you want them
    with both images selected, click "set camera" to save the camera position for both

    Your lights image can be an SVG  or it can be a png with a transparent background.
    Either way, you'll probably need to make a custom image so that the lights match the shape of the house.

    instead of one image containing all of the lights, you could us an individual image of one light and import many copies of it, but that might be more time consuming.

    -Mike (videoscribe user)




     

  • Hi Mike. That's not exactly what I want to do but evidently what I want to do isn't supported in VS...


    Question - do you use an external video editor for VS? that's the only way so far I've been able to come close to what I'm trying to accomplish.


    And I see that they don't support MP4 - any idea why?


    Also I can't figure out how to stop all that panning and zooming - selecting items and clicking the Camera icon is not working, it's still zooming...


    Anyway thanks again for your help.


    -- Jim

  • 1) I'm pretty sure videoscribe can do it, but maybe I need a clearer description of what you want. If you want the house to just appear without being drawn, then use a draw time of zero seconds.

    2) I don't usually use external video editing

    3) if you publish your scribe to sho.co, you get an mp4

    4)  CAMERA SETTING TIPS for Videoscribe version 2 (2015)

     

    -Mike (videoscribe user)

  • Thanks a million for all your help Mike. What I want to do simply is not directly supported in VS - even the "static" image is drawn when all options are set to 0 - there's a very brief "blink" before it appears. I can fix that in a video editor but I was hoping I could do that directly in VS.


    But thanks again, you've been very helpful. I'll check out the Camera Setting tips.


    -- Jim

  • It has been my experience that an image with a zero draw time appears instantly with no drawing and no blink whatsoever.

    I just thought of one more thing that might possibly cause the blink. delete the house image. import a new copy (not from the recently used images but from your hard drive) and choose the middle "convert to line drawing" option in the bottom row.


    -Mike (videoscribe user)

     

  • Thanks again Mike, this works nicely.


    Someone else sent along an example of panning to an image drawn offscreen but I absolutely can't replicate. How do you pan around the screen? For example, with two small images how would I pan to the first image and draw it, then pan over to the second image and draw that?


    And finally how do you control the amount of "automatic zoom" applied at the end of the video? 


    Thanks for all your help!

  • James,


    Mike Metcalf has been giving you good advice. For your questions about panning and zooming, you will find the answers covered really well in the tutorials:


    http://help.videoscribe.co/support/solutions/folders/1000157449


    Well worth the time! 

  • glad that worked.

    camera tip 1) start with the understanding that there is one camera setting for each element in your scribe. no more. no less.
    camera tip 2) how you move the camera:  you can move the camera around by click+dragging empty spots on the canvas, or by clicking the arrow icons below the canvas. and you can zoom in or out with the plus and minus icons below the canvas. This does not automatically "save" or "remember" the new camera position.
    camera tip 3) with an element selected, if you click the "set camera" icon in the lower right corner to manually assign the current camera position to that element.
    camera tip 4) if you don't manually set a camera position, videoscribe assigns a default position for you
    camera tip 5) building on "camera tip 3": you can assign the same camera position to multiple elements if you want them all to be drawn without the camera moving
    camera top 6) building on "camera tip3": you can set the camera to look at something other than the current element that is being drawn
    camera tip 7) building on tips 2,3,5 and 6: if you want the camera to pan to something already drawn. you have to set the camera to look at something else while the image is drawn. then add an extra element (any element that will be hidden offscreen somewhere) and set the camera for that new element to look at the already drawn image.  It may sound confusing, but try to build a simple scribe file with just 3 images to experiment with it until it works right.

    Returning to Previously Drawn Images
    http://help.videoscribe.co/support/discussions/topics/1000040889


    "zoom-at-end" can only be turned off or on (the setting is in the lower right corner when you are previewing (playing) your project.

    you might find other examples with a google search

    -Mike (videoscribe user)

     

  • Hi Mike, well thanks again, I'm figuring this out and your advice has been very helpful indeed, much appreciated.


    -- Jim W.

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