|
How to Make Lightning Fast Timelines Using dpsVelocity
by Bob Bolson
One
thing that none of us have enough of nowadays is time. With
this in mind, DPS developed its next generation of NLE, dpsVelocity.
A great feature of the software is its advanced trim window.
Using
this, and dpsVelocity's Auto Append feature, we'll build two
lightning-fast timelines, one with cuts, and one with dissolves.
What you'll need is a gallery full of raw clips, and, of course,
a dpsVelocity system.
Organize your clips in the order you'd like to use them on the
timeline by dragging and dropping them in that order within
the gallery. Now, away we go!
First, let's do a straight-cuts timeline. Double-click on the
first clip in the gallery. This will expand the advanced trim
window into trim mode. Now, place your mouse over the left video
image. You'll notice the cursor has turned into a "glove". You
can now scrub left or right to adjust the in point of the clip.
 |
| Click
on image for larger view |
Do
the same procedure with the right video image to adjust your
out point. Hit the Play In-Out button (hot key P) to view your
trimmed clip. When you're happy, hit the tab key to load the
next clip.
Follow the above steps again, until you have trimmed all the
clips in the gallery to your liking. Now, right-click in the
gallery, and select "Detail Text".
 |
| Click
on image for larger view |
Your
gallery thumbnails will now disappear, replaced by, well, detailed
text. Single-click on the first clip and then Shift+click on
the last clip. Now, all your trimmed clips are selected.
 |
| Click
on image for larger view |
Finally,
hit F, the hot key for auto-append. All of your clips have been
put onto the timeline as straight cuts. And that's all there
is to it.
Now that you've got straight-cuts under your belt, let's go
to a timeline comprised of dissolves. The steps to building
this timeline are very similar. Again, get your clips in the
proper order in the gallery. It should be noted that you can
use video files or graphics files or a combination of both…dpsVelocity
is not picky. Now, double-click your first clip to load it into
the trimmer. Trim the clip to your satisfaction.
Then, on the right side of the expanded trimmer, place your
mouse over the large preview window. You'll notice that the
cursor has changed into two small arrows. Move the cursor left
and right, to adjust the position of the playhead on the timeline.
When the playhead is in the place where you'd like to begin
your timeline, hit the Insert From In button (hot key +) on
the left side of the trimmer. This will place the trimmed clip
onto the timeline at the desired location, and simultaneously
load the next clip in the gallery.
 |
| Click
on image for larger view |
Next,
since we're making a timeline of dissolves, let's define this
dissolve. Right-click anywhere in the advanced trim window to
open your options. In the box labeled "Default transition length",
enter the length you'd like your transition to be. Hit OK.
 |
| Click
on image for larger view |
Now,
trim your next clip, and hit the transition button (hot key
/ ). You'll see that it has been added to the timeline, automatically
forming a dissolve with the previous clip. Again, the next clip
in the gallery has automatically been loaded. Continue to trim
each clip, and add it to the timeline with the transition button,
until you're through the entire gallery. Just like that, you're
done.
 |
| Click
on image for larger view |
Feel
free to go back to the timeline to customize transitions, and
add titles or music. I find this method to be particularly beneficial
when building photo montages; that is, a project consisting
of a series of dissolves between still images.
Have fun with both methods, and take advantage of the time you
save by fine-tuning your projects to make them a cut above the
rest….or maybe a dissolve above the rest….you decide. For more
information on DPS and its products, please visit the DPS website
at www.dps.com
|
