SmartMovie
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To open the SmartMovie tool, click the SmartMovie button at the bottom of the Library window.
At the bottom of the Library window, click SmartMovie to create a movie project instantly. To create a slideshow, choose SmartSlide instead.
SmartMovie, like SmartSlide, presents its controls on a panel that slides up into the Library from below. Again there are three subpanels. The leftmost presents information and advice concerning your SmartMovie. The center subpanel is a storage area with bins for video and photos (top) and audio. The right subpanel contains controls for customizing the show.
Adding media
The visual elements in your SmartMovie can include photos and other still images along with the video. Drag the assets you want to use from the Browser into the upper bin in the storage area. You can also drag thumbnails within the storage area to get the order you want. Continue adding further material until you are satisfied.
To add music, drag one or more sound files to the lower bin in the storage area. Alternatively you can click the clef button in the bottom left corner of the audio bin to create a music soundtrack in ScoreFitter.
As media are added, the total running time of the source material is displayed in the top-left corner of the bin. This is not necessarily the length of the resulting movie.
Preview, edit and export
Having placed your media, click Preview on the footer bar below the tool. The project is created and opened in a preview window. If necessary, you can return to SmartMovie to modify your media selections.
The analysis phase of generating a SmartMovie may take some time to complete the first time the material is analysed. Full rendering of the project, with progress indicated by shading on the time-ruler of the Player, may introduce an additional delay before a fully-detailed preview is available.
When you click Preview, the media you have chosen are automatically saved in a Collection named Latest Smart Creation. If you expect to make further use of this grouping of assets, rename the Collection to prevent it being overwritten the next time you generate a SmartSlide or SmartMovie preview.
The Edit button brings your production to the Movie Editor timeline for detailed editing. As usual, it’s a good idea to check that the timeline video settings match your requirements for the show. The video settings button on the settings panel (below) provides access to these.
When the presentation is the way you want it, click Export to burn a disc or create a file for upload.
The visual assets in the upper bin are displayed as icons, while the music and sound files in the lower bin appear as text lines giving the file name and duration of each asset. Both bins support multiple selection, drag-and-drop reordering, and a short context menu:
Delete selected: The selected media are removed from the SmartMovie production. They remain available in the Library for other uses. (Shortcut: Delete.)
Open editor: This command opens the Corrections tool of the Video Editor, the Photo Editor or the Audio Editor. Any modifications you make to the media apply only within this SmartMovie production. (Shortcut: double-click.)
The settings on this subpanel are for customizing the SmartMovie production.
Here the mouse pointer selects the ‘long’ Clip Length setting on the SmartMovie settings panel. At the bottom of the panel are buttons for adjusting video settings for the generated project, and for starting over from scratch.
The settings entered will be used the next time the movie is generated. The video settings button lets you set up the timeline options that will apply if you take the production into the Movie Editor. The clear project button removes all media from the project and returns to default settings.
Title: Enter a caption to be used as the main title of the movie.
Clip lengths: The visual tempo of your movie increases as the clip length is shortened. To use the original length of the asset, choose Maximum.
Pan and zoom: Checking this option enlivens your presentation with simulated camera moves.
Fit image: Check this option to enlarge material that is too small for the frame format of your project.
Video volume: Set the volume of the original audio in the video segments you are using. If you want the soundtrack to contain background music only, set this value to zero.
Media order: Select an option for the order of slides, from ‘As defined’ (the sequence is set by you), ‘Chronological’ (according to the file timestamp), and ‘Random’.