Quick Look: Sony Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0
Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0 is the entry level video editor that was formerly known as Sonic Foundry Video Factory. Sony has continued the Sonic tradition with Screenblast Movie Studio, maintaining the look and feel of Sony's professional Vegas application, but without some of the features that professionals need in their NLE.
While Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0 is an entry level system, what is nice about it (and what other purveyors of entry level video editing tools may take notice) is that once you learn Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0, moving up to the higher end Vegas is easier, if the user chooses to go that route. The learning curve is virtually eliminated if you decide to make the switch. With that said, we'll take a look at how the Screenblast Movie Studio 3.0 workflow is set up.[an error occurred while processing this directive]The Interface
The Screenblast Movie Studio interface is not like anything you'd see in an entry level product. It is Timeline-based rather than Storyboard-based, and there are arguments over which is the preferred format for entry level editors that we won't delve into here. The interface is comprised of four main areas and several sub areas. these include the main toolbar at the top of the workspace, the timeline, the multifunction area, and the video preview window. The main toolbar is where you start assembling your project. It is comprised of the main functions and features found in Screenblast. This is where you create a new project, open existing project, save your project, show your project's properties, enable snapping and ripple edits, ignore event grouping, select envelope or normal edit tool, split event, insert text media, Make Movie, access the help features, and access the how to tutorials.
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| Main Interface with Video FX tab open |
In the lower left corner are five tabs marked Media Pool, Transitions, Video FX, Text and Backdrops, and Explorer
Think of the Media Pool as a library where you store the media files that you want to place into your project. From the Media Pool you can import media from another location, capture video, extract audio from CD, get media from the Web (Sony Screenblast service), remove media from project, access the media's properties, preview the media, and change the view to /from thumbnail, list mode, and list details mode. You can also preview your clips from the Media pool by selecting the clip and pressing the play button located in the Media pool toolbar.
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| All of your clips are stored in the Media Pool |
The clip will play in the preview window at the right or, if it is a still image, will display in the preview window. When you highlight a clip or piece of media in the Media Pool, the clip's technical details (video format and frames per second, duration of clip, audio format) is displayed at the bottom of the Media Pool window.
The Transitions tab is where you go to access the varying transitions that you wish to place in your project. Point your cursor over each one and get a quick look at how they will play out on the Timeline. Screenblast Movie Studio includes 16 categories; Barndoor, Clock Wipe, Cross Effect, Dissolve, Iris, Linear Wipe, Page Peel, Page Roll, push, Slide, Spiral, Split, Squeeze, Swap, Venetian Blinds, and Zoom. Each of these categories contains several different presets within each category, all within the category but varying in the way they perform. Mousing over each preset will give a preview of how that preset transition looks. Many of these transitions can be customized and previewed in real time.
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| Page Roll Customization window |
For example, the Page Roll transition enables you to tweak the roll angle, the fold radius, the slide amount, the roll opacity, and the perspective. You can also adjust the color via the red, green, and blue sliders. Once you adjust the parameters of the Page Roll to your liking, you can then save them and use them on another project if you wish.
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| Video FX Tab |
The Video FX tab houses all the special effects filters that ship with Screenblast Movie Studio. These effects include Add noise, Black and White, Black Restore, Border, Chroma keyer, Color Balance, Cookie Cutter, Deform, Film Effects, Gaussian Blur, Glow, HSL Adjust, Invert, lens Flare, Light Rays, Linear blur, Mirror, Pinch/Punch, pixelate, Quick blur, Radial Blur, Sepia, Sharpen, Spherize, Swirl, Threshold, and Wave. These effects can also be customized and saved for use on other projects or later on down the Timeline.
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