I am working in Camtasia Studio 9 on a PC. I have over 300 image files as I am creating a slideshow to music. I would love ideas how to manage these files - a. how do I know which ones I have used already, b. It seems difficult to make folders in the library, would that help?
Would love ideas or solutions here.
Wendy Stubbs
Would love ideas or solutions here.
Wendy Stubbs
Posted 2 years ago
Rick, would adding them only to the clip bin as needed suffice?
On a similar last year I wanted/needed to see the images for matching to the music. For that project unused images were placed on the same track and moved to a lower track when "used".
I do like your approach of having all the images on a track and moving them as you use them. However, I would think one big issue in working this way would be navigating the timeline back and forth.
kayakman, Champion
Rick's suggestion re unused images on their track is a good one; that technique works very well; I've used it for years
to make navigating timeline easier in such a scenario, use temporary markers or captions
captions for nav works great; you can search/find/nav using the captions UI list; easily hide them when appropriate by keeping then on 1 track and disabling the track when appropriate
I've made thousands of photo slide show music videos over the past 11 years, some with 400+ photos in a single project; unfortunately, there is is no way to annotate "used" media on timeline
a strict image numbering system can help; I number all images in order expected to be used; I simply number them like 001, 002, 003 etc; this helps finding in bin and on timeline
also, I often put a [temp] caption at each image that is the same as image number; then I can quickly navigate to any given image using the captions UI
finally, it can help a lot if your images are sized outside of Camtasia; this can make rendering much faster, and can optimize fidelity [CS does not scale images very well IMHO]
if you expect to be making a lot of these types of projects, consider using a product like Adobe's Lightroom; it makes managing all this image work a snap
to make navigating timeline easier in such a scenario, use temporary markers or captions
captions for nav works great; you can search/find/nav using the captions UI list; easily hide them when appropriate by keeping then on 1 track and disabling the track when appropriate
I've made thousands of photo slide show music videos over the past 11 years, some with 400+ photos in a single project; unfortunately, there is is no way to annotate "used" media on timeline
a strict image numbering system can help; I number all images in order expected to be used; I simply number them like 001, 002, 003 etc; this helps finding in bin and on timeline
also, I often put a [temp] caption at each image that is the same as image number; then I can quickly navigate to any given image using the captions UI
finally, it can help a lot if your images are sized outside of Camtasia; this can make rendering much faster, and can optimize fidelity [CS does not scale images very well IMHO]
if you expect to be making a lot of these types of projects, consider using a product like Adobe's Lightroom; it makes managing all this image work a snap
(Edited)
Actually, the suggestion should be attributed to ExpertNovice. ;)
kayakman, Champion
oops ... my bad;
sorry for the mis-credit ExpertNovice
sorry for the mis-credit ExpertNovice
I've used this method successfully - if you import them all, and add them all to the timeline, you know they're all accounted for and can re-order or cut and paste into the right spots... I also use hotkeys like SHIFT + MOUSE DRAG on clips or on the playhead to move large sections at a time as needed.
-Aaron
-Aaron
heh. Wasn't important enough to mention! :D
It seems we agree it would be nice to reorder, rename, flag, etc. media in the clip bin for better organization. Renaming is probably the easiest implement and less likely to create lag as it is a one-time change and doesn't require maintaining a list.
If you want to maintain your own list using actual file names this command or batch file will help.
chcp 1252
dir /b "C:\path\*.*">filename.txt
LOL, you may think so and like you, I'd feel the exact same way.
But I never want to knowingly unfairly be credited with something. Just a personal oddity of mine. ;)
But I never want to knowingly unfairly be credited with something. Just a personal oddity of mine. ;)
Hello Wendy,
You could look over all your images before importing them. Determine the order you want them to appear in and rename them 1 through 300. That’s a lot of work and if you start rearranging them” I know I would” that system takes a hit.
Bottom line.Camtasia hasen't been designed to do what you
want to do. This is functionality that's needs to be addressed.
In your case I recommend turning to a program better suited
to your needs. Any new program has a learning curve so you would need to invest
some of your time either way. However, I know a program that offers much more
than Camtasia and it’s free for 30 days with no strings attached. No watermarks,
no legal restrictions, nothing holding you back. A ton of transitions, effects,
etc. They have a chat line if your concerned about the legal usage.If you get done in 30 days your all set.
http://www.videostudiopro.com/en/products/videostudio/
Adobe’s Premier Pro is my primary editor of choice. I used Corel extensively in the past, there’s a lot of good things I can say about it and a lot of bad things as well. For what you’re doing, and for Free. I say you cannot go wrong. The library lets you create as many folders as you want. If an image is on the timeline a checkmark appears on it’s thumbnail.So that problem is solved. The thumbnails are resizable for easy viewing.
It’s another option anyway, I downloaded the trial just to
take a peak for old time’s sake. Here’s an image as well.
Regards, Joe
kayakman, Champion
This is why I think Camtasia needs some basic media management tools. coming from the still photography world. DAM tools (Digital Asset Management) are an important part of the workflow, and it seems to be a gaping hole in the video world.
DAM tools, like ACDSee and Lightroom do support the basic media file types like Mp4, but they haven't got a clue when it comes to bringing all the disparate components together into an organized workflow.
DAM tools, like ACDSee and Lightroom do support the basic media file types like Mp4, but they haven't got a clue when it comes to bringing all the disparate components together into an organized workflow.
(Edited)
I don't know anything about DAM tools of ACDSee.
I do know this, Adobe's video editing products, Corel Video Studio. And a lot of other video editing programs have a highly versatile system for organizing a projects media and letting you know what's on the timeline.Most let you control the size of the size of the thumbnails among other things.
Regards,Joe
I do know this, Adobe's video editing products, Corel Video Studio. And a lot of other video editing programs have a highly versatile system for organizing a projects media and letting you know what's on the timeline.Most let you control the size of the size of the thumbnails among other things.
Regards,Joe
