How to Customize Videos with the Video Trimmer?

Customizing Videos with the Video Trimmer

ProShow Producer - How To Add Video to a Show?

How to Customize Video in your Show with ProShow Producer?

The Video Trimmer is an excellent tool to use when you have long video clips, but you only want to feature a small portion of the video in your slideshow. 

Let’s say you have a video of a family member getting married.  The video includes the walk down the aisle, the kiss, and the departure from the ceremony.

Now if you only want to include the kiss in this part of your show.  You can use the Video Trimmer to cut the video down to just that section and include it on the slide.

Just like with all editing in ProShow, the trimming a video is a non-destructive edit.  Your original video file will not be changed in anyway.   You're simply telling ProShow which parts of the original video you want to use.

To Access the Video Trimmer:

1. Open the Slide Options for a slide which contains video.
2. In the Layers List, select the layer that contains the video clip, and go to the Layer Settings tab.
3. In the Video Clip Settings area, click the Trim  button.

The Trim Video Clip window gives you access to quite a bit of information at once. 

At the top of the window you'll see the Video Timeline. The timeline shows you still frames from different points within the video.  It also shows you an audio waveform for any sound in the video.  

Along the top, you'll find the video length.    Just below the audio waveform is a slider bar that you can use to move to different points in the clip. 

Using the Video Timeline,  you can visually pick just the part of the video that you want to include in your slide

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Below the Video Timeline, you'll find three preview panes.   All the way to the left is the Preview window.  Use the playback controls to preview the changes you’ve made.  If you want to reset the video to the original state, simply press the Reset icon.

Just beneath the preview you will also find time and frame information. 

This information will update as you move your mouse over the Video Timeline.    You'll find this very useful when making precision edits.

In the Start Frame and End Frame windows, you will see the exact frame and time where the video will begin and end.    You can select these points using the Video Timeline, or by typing in time values.   The back and forth arrows below the Start and End Frame previews also make it easy to advance one frame at a time in either direction.

At the very bottom of the Trim Video Clip window you'll  find the Zoom slider.   When you need to make precision edits, you'll  use this to "zoom in" on the timeline to see smaller increments of time, right down to individual frames of the video.    You can also control the Zoom using the scroll wheel on your mouse.

The last bits of information you'll find in the Trim Video Clip window are details about video file you are working with.  The file location, the original video length and the trimmed video length can all be seen in the lower left corner.

 

Picking Just the Clip you Want

The Video Trimmer is designed to make using just the right part of your video as easy as possible.   

Begin by finding the area in the video where you want the trimmed down clip to begin playing.  You can do this by moving the mouse cursor across the Video Timeline.  Notice that the Preview window updates to show you exactly what you’ll see at that point in the video.

Once you’ve found where you want your video to start, go ahead and click in the Video Timeline. This will place a marker in the spot where you clicked.

In the Start Frame preview, click the Set Start Time icon.  This will move the starting position of the video clip to the marker you set in the timeline.

Now do the same thing for the End Frame. Move the mouse across the Video Timeline to find where you want to stop the video.  Once you’ve found that point, click to place a marker and click on the click the Set End Time icon. 

The highlighted region between the two markers is your clip.  You can see how the clip looks by clicking on the Play button.   If the clip looks good, click on Ok to apply your changes.

You can also trim your clip by clicking and dragging the start and end time flags.  The amount of the video in between those flags will be the trimmed clip.

Making a Clip with Precision

For quick edits, you'll probably find typing in values for the Start Frame and End Frame to be very useful.   Have a 30 second clip, but only need 5 seconds of it?  Just type in 10 and 15 then press ok.   Your clip has now been trimmed to 5 seconds long.

When you may need to be extremely precise with your edits, as mentioned previously,  there are several areas in the Trim Video Clip window that help you determine very specific points in time. 

With the Zoom slider, you can stretch out what you see in the Video Timeline to show your clip in time increments as small as 1/10th of a second.  As you hover over the timeline,  you'll be able to see each individual frame of the video in the Preview.

When you find the right spot, set your marker, or go ahead and enter the value in the Start and End Frame.   For extreme precision, as you type in 10ths or 100ths of a second values, you'll even see the number of the frame change as well.

Note: like the other editing features in ProShow, creating a clip of your video will not change or alter the source video in any way.  Making your own clips is a completely non-destructive process.  It doesn’t save changes to the original video so you’re free to be as creative as you wish.

Using Clips of the Same Video

So what happens when you have one long video and you want to use several different trimmed clips from that video in your show?  

Not a problem!  Simply go back to your Slide List and re-add the same, original video as a new slide in your show.  The process is exactly the same as making the first trimmed clip.  You’re simply creating a new clip that features a different section of the original video .

See more:

ProShow Producer - How To Add Video to a Show?

How to Customize Video in your Show with ProShow Producer?

How to Customize Video in your Show with ProShow Producer?

Customizing Video in your Show

ProShow Producer - How To Add Video to a Show?

Video files have a dedicated section of the Slide Options window which you can use to control how the video is played, make clips, adjust the volume, and more.

To Access the Video Settings

1. Open the Slide Options for a slide which contains video.
2. In the Layers List, select the layer that contains the video clip, and go to the Layer Settings tab.
3. The Video Clip Settings will be on the bottom right side, just above the Ok button.

Note: If you do not have a video layer selected, the Video Clip Settings pane will be hidden.

Using the Video Clip Settings

The options in the Video Clip Settings area allow you to trim your video clip, adjust audio settings and make changes that affect your slide timing.

Let’s begin with options that affect your slide.

Adjusting Video Clip Settings

It’s important to remember that videos play for a set period of time based on how long that video is.  This is not part of your Slide Time.  If your Slide Time is longer than the video, your video might stop before the slide ends.  If the Slide Time is shorter than your video, the slide will end before the whole video can be displayed.

Let's review the settings that affect Slide Time:

• The Length value shows you how long your video clip is, in total. This is so you know exactly how much time that video will take if you want to view the whole thing.  When you create a new slide using a video file the Slide Time will default to the same value as your video.   Remember, total Slide Time also includes Transitions.
• Looping causes the video to play on repeat until the slide comes to an end.  This can be a quick and easy way to make sure your video plays for the whole slide if your slide is longer than the video.  Just check the box to turn on Looping.   You'll find this very handy when using video layers as backgrounds.
• The Slide Time checkbox lets you lock the time of your slide to the length of the video.  If you never want the Slide Time to change beyond what is required to exactly match the video, check this option.
• The Speed option changes the rate at which the video is played.  This can make the video seem faster or slower.  It’s important to remember that changing the speed of a video will disable the video’s sound to prevent it from being distorted.

You also have 3 buttons in the Video Clip Settings pane. These are used to further customize how your video will appear within the slide.

• The Trim button opens the Trim Video window, which we’ll cover in more detail in a moment.   The Trim Video window is used to make shorter clips from your videos when you have longer video clips but only want to feature smaller portions in your slideshow.
• The Preview button plays the video file and shows you how it will look based on the changes you have made to it so far.
• Sync Time will change the time of the slide to match the length of your video.  This option is useful if you want to make sure the Slide Time and video time match, but don’t want to lock the times together.

If your video clips have audio, you'll also find some Volume control options in this pane.  Using the slider, you can mute the volume by moving the marker all the way to the left, or  boost the volume to 200% by moving to the right.  Additionally, you can adjust the Fade In and Fade Out times for the audio within your video clips. 

You  also have the option to override the default show settings for Soundtrack  volume when ProShow detects audio within a video clip.  This can come in handy when you don't need a change in the Soundtrack volume to hear the audio in your video clip.  You can learn more about controlling the music and sounds in your show in Chapter 12.

See more: ProShow Producer - How To Add Video to a Show?

ProShow Producer - How To Add Video to a Show?

Working with Video

Layers are just layers, so you can think of a video as an image layer that does a little something extra.  While that layer is present on the slide, the video will play.

When we talk about video in ProShow, we’re also talking about animations. ProShow supports animations like animated GIF files that are found all over the Web and in many clip-art packages.  Everything you see here about working with video also applies to animations.

Adding video to your show uses the exact same method you already use to add images.

To Add Video to a Show

1. Use the Folder List to open a folder which contains your video.
2. Select the video in the File List.
3. Drag & drop the video into the Slide List to create a new slide.

You can also use the same keyboard shortcuts to add video to existing slides.  For example, hold CTRL on the keyboard and drag the video to a slide to add it as a layer to that slide.

Using Video Files

ProShow will directly import almost all video files you want to use in your show.  It’s a simple process of dragging and dropping the video into your show and letting ProShow do the rest.

There are some cases where you may want to use an alternative method for importing video files.

Importing Video Files

Unlike images, ProShow must import video files that you use in your show so that they can be easily worked with.

This process can take different amounts of time based on how large your video clips are.  Once you’ve added the video to the show you can see the import progress displayed on the Task Monitor.

ProShow Producer - How to Manage and Create Effects?

Managing and Creating Effects

Later in this manual you'll find chapters dedicated to Transitions and Slide Styles that will cover creating and managing these effects in more detail.   For now, let's get familiar with where to look for these options.

 The Effects (FX)  Window

 Located  at the bottom of the Effects (FX) window you'll find all of your Effects  management tools.  These tools and options are the same for both Transitions and Slide Styles.
From the Effects (FX) tools you can: 

• Add  
• Create
• Remove
• Edit
• Categorize
• Select Favorites
• Export

 To access the Effects (FX)  window, simply click the Effects (FX) icon in the Build Workspace Toolbar or the Design Workspace Toolbar.  You can also use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + E.

ProShow Producer - How to Apply the Effects?

Applying Effects

When it comes to applying effects, you basically have two categories, "automatic " and manual.

The "automatic" effects are Transitions and Slide Styles.  These effects are pre-built and ready to go.  All you have to do is select your desired effect and press Ok.   Whatever motion, timing or adjustments are needed for the effect will be created for you.  All you have to do is add your content.

The manual effects are Motion effects and Adjustment effects.   You'll use these when starting with a blank canvas and creating your own, new effects.  You'll also use these manual options to customize existing effects.

Let's start with the "automatic" effects...

Applying Transition Effects

There are two ways you can apply  a Transition effect.  The first is to use the Transition icon in the Slide List.

To Apply a Transition from the Slide List

1. Click on the Transition Icon on the right side of the Slide Thumbnail in the Slide List.
2. From the Choose Transition window, browse through the categories and select a Transition effect. 
3. Double-click to apply the effect, or press the Apply button.

As mentioned in Chapter 2, there are over 500 built-in Transition effects to choose from.  As you single-click on any effect, you will see a preview of what each Transition Effect will look like when applied to your slide.

The  second way to apply Transition effects to your slides is to use the Effects (FX) window.  From this window you can also apply and manage other effects as well, but  for now, just note that you can apply Transition effects using this window.   Regardless of which method you use, the available effects that you can apply to your slides will be the same.   

To Apply a Transition from the Effects (FX) Window

1. Click the Effects (FX) icon located in the Build Workspace Toolbar or the Design Workspace Toolbar.
2. Select the Transitions tab in the top right corner of the Effects (FX) window.
3. Browse for your desired effect and press the Apply to Slide button in the bottom right corner.

Transition Effects Tip:  To change the Transition effect for multiple slides at once, simply select all of the slides you wish to change before clicking on either the Transition or Effects (FX) icons.   When you apply your desired effect, all of your selected slides will feature the new transition.

Applying Slide Styles

Much like Transitions, there are also two ways to apply Slide Styles: from the Effects (FX) window and by using the Slide Options window.   

To Apply Slide Styles from the Effects (FX) Window

1. Click the Effects (FX) icon located in the Build Workspace Toolbar or the Design Workspace Toolbar.
2. Select the Slide styles tab in the top right corner of the Effects (FX)  window.
3. Browse for your desired effect and press the Apply to Slide button in the bottom right corner.

As you browse for effects, you'll notice that information about each Slide Style will appear on the far right side of the Effects (FX)  window. 

In this information area, you'll see:

• A thumbnail preview of the Style
•  The name of the Style
• Publisher information
• Notes about what the effect does
• Any categories the Style belongs to
• The number of Layers the Style uses
• Aspect Ratio information
• Optimal slide time and transition time
• A link that will take you to the saved location of the effect

The details listed in the information area are often overlooked, but they can be a great resource when looking for the best effect for your slide(s).

When  using the Effects (FX) window to apply Slide Styles,  you can also apply the Styles to multiple slides at once.  In the Slide List, simply select all of the slides you wish to change before pressing the Effects (FX) icon.   When you apply your desired effect, all of your selected slides will feature the new Slide Style.

The second way to apply Slide Styles is by using the Slide Options window.

To Apply Slide Styles from Slide Options

1. In any Workspace, double-click on the slide you wish to add an effect to.
   OR
   Click the Edit Slide icon located in the Build or Design Workspace Toolbar.
2. Select the Slide Styles tab in the top left corner of the Slide Options window.
   
   
3. Below the Preview, browse for your desired effect.  Press Apply to Slide to add the effect to your slide.
4.  If you're happy with the effect, press the Ok button to close the Slide Options window.  

Much like using the Effects (FX) window, you'll see an information area on the right that provides details about the Slide Style.  Right away you'll also notice one of the key advantages to using this method...the preview.   When you click on a Style, you'll see a real-time preview of exactly what the effect will look like once applied to your slide.

Just like Transitions, the exact same effects are available to you regardless of the method you choose to apply them.

Manual Effects:  Motion and Adjustments

Manual effects are exactly what the name implies, they are effects that you control on your own.  You'll use the manual control options when customizing Slide Styles or  when creating brand new effects for your shows.

We'll cover how to use these options is greater detail in later chapters, but for now, let's take a look at where these manual controls can be found.  

All of the Manual Effect controls will be found in Slide Options.

 To Apply Effects Manually

1. In any workspace, double-click on the slide you wish to add an effect to.
   OR
   Click the Edit Slide icon located in the Build Workspace Toolbar or the Design Workspace Toolbar.
2. Select either a layer from the Layers List, or a caption from the Captions List on the left side of the Slide Options window.
   
   
   
   
3. Above the Preview, select the Effects tab.
   
   
   
   
4. Below the Preview, Set your Motion or make your Adjustments
5. Press Ok to apply the changes to your slide and close the Slide Options window.

The most important thing to note is that manual controls work on an individual basis.  Each layer or caption on a slide has its own settings that you will configure separately when creating effects.

ProShow Producer - Watermark

Watermarks

A Watermark is simply an image that will appear on every slide in your show.  Typically a Watermark will be a logo or some other form of identifying mark -perfect for advertising or branding your shows. 

When viewing a slideshow, you can think of a Watermark as being like one of those network logos that appears in the lower left or right corner of almost every TV channel.

In ProShow, Watermarks by default will be semi-transparent. This is to make sure they are seen without causing too much of a distraction as your shows are viewed.

To Enable a Watermark

1.  Click on the Watermark tab in the Slide Options window.
   
   
   
   
2. To the right of the Preview, you'll see the Watermark With Image pane.  This will provide you with more information about your chosen Watermark. 
   If you don't have an image selected, simply press the Browse button to search your computer.
   
   
   
   
3. Once you find your desired image, click the Windows Open button. 

A Watermark is basically a show-wide layer. It will appear on every slide you have in the show in the same position, and with the same settings, that you specify for it.

Once you’ve chosen a Watermark you can configure the appearance of it by dragging or using your mouse wheel in the Preview pane, or by changing the options found in the Position and Size, Adjustments and Editing Tools panes.  For more information on how to use these options see Chapter 8.

ProShow Producer - Optional and Customizing the Workspaces

Optional Workspace Elements

In addition to the areas of the three Workspaces that you’ve just seen, there are two additional areas that you can optionally display. These areas are not visible by default, but can be turned on by selecting Window > Show from the Menu. Bar.  

The Lightbox

The Lightbox is a different way of looking at your slides. Unlike the Slide List, which shows all your slides in one long horizontal list, the Lightbox shows your slides in multiple rows, allowing you to see more at a time.

The Lightbox provides all the same functionality as the standard Slide List. You can have both open at the same time, and can switch back and forth anytime.

Note: The Lightbox can be especially useful if you have multiple monitors. To make the best use of your screens, try tearing out the Lightbox (see Tearing Out Workspace Panes, below) and placing it on your second monitor.

Favorites

The Favorites list is a list of bookmarks for frequently used folders.

 If you always access the same folders to get content for your show, try enabling Favorites. You can right-click on any folder in the Folder List to add it to your favorites.

Within Favorites, you can right-click to add folders, which allow you to categorize your favorites by dragging them into folders.

By default, the Favorites list will automatically populate with folders that you’ve frequently used. This is an option you can turn on or off from the Preferences. See Chapter 27 for information on changing preferences.

 

Customizing the Workspaces

Now that you have a sense of what each pane in the main workspace does, feel free to customize and adjust the panes to suit your own personal preferences.

Most of the sections in a Workspace can be “torn out”.  This means that they can be taken out of their normal spot, placed elsewhere,  and used as individual windows.  This gives you the chance to completely re-arrange the windows layout and come up within a workspace that makes the most sense to you.

Tearing Out Workspace Panes

Tearing out a pane in the main workspace is as simple as click and drag.

Try it with the slide list. If you look on the upper left edge of the Slide List, you will see a border there that says “Slide List” on it. Click on this and drag. You will see an outline of the Slide List appear as you move your mouse around.

Move your mouse far enough and release the button, and your Slide List will appear in an independent window. The Slide List has now been torn out of the Workspace and you can place this wherever you want, even on another monitor if you have more than one hooked up.

Using Workspace Layouts

The ability to reposition and hide/show  the assorted panes in the Workspaces means that you can customize the window layout to best fit your needs.  But what happens if your needs change based on the type of show you are making?  Don't worry, ProShow has a solution for this.

You can save your custom Workspace at any time, and load that layout whenever you need it.

Saving a Custom Workspace

Once you have arranged your Workspace in a way that you like, you can save that Window Layout for future use:

1. Click on Window in the Menu Bar.
2. Choose Save Window Layout from the menu that appears.
3. Enter a name for your layout and click on Save.

Your layout has now been saved.

The next time you open ProShow that custom Workspace and Window Layout will appear.

 If you tinker with your layout one day and want to restore your Workspace to your custom layout, simply choose Load Window Layout from the same menu.

Loading a Custom Workspace

You can load any saved Window Layout at any time.

1. Click on Window in the Menu Bar.
2. Click on Load Window Layout
3. Select the layout you’d like to use.
4. Click Apply to apply the custom Workspace.

Normally you will not need to access these files directly, but in the event you need to, window layouts are saved in your computer’s common application data folder. This folder is the standard location for saving program settings that are shared between users.  Saved layouts are stored as .DPR files in the Window Layouts folder.

Restoring the Workspace to Defaults

If you experiment with different Workspace layouts and decide that you prefer the standard look, you can always restore your window layout to the  defaults settings:

1. Click on Window in the Menu Bar.
2. Click on Default Window Layout.

Your workspace will now be reverted back to the standard ProShow window layout.

See more:

ProShow Producer - The Publish Workspace

The Publish Workspace

With your show complete, it's time to Publish your work and share it friends, family, customers, pets or random strangers on YouTube and Facebook.

The Publish Workspace Toolbar

The Publish Workspace Toolbar features the same New, Open and Save options found in other Toolbars, but the rest of the options are all optimized for this Workspace and are there to help you finalize and output your shows quickly.   

Let's take a look at the options:

• Menu takes you to the Menu Theme And Layout options.  From here you can customize the look and feel for your DVD and Blu-ray disc menus.
• Watermark takes you directly to the Watermark area in Show Options. From here you select and adjust any image that you wish to appear across every slide in your show.  A very nice finishing touch if you are selling slideshows. 
• Collect opens the Collect Show Files window.  Perfect for creating archived back-ups of your shows
• Capture allows you to take snapshots of whatever is in the  Preview and save the results as either a JPG or PNG image file.
• All Formats opens the Publish Your Show window.  From here, choose the output that works best for you and your audience.
• DVD takes you directly to the Create a DVD menu.

• 
  
• Blu-ray takes you directly to the Create a Blu-ray menu.
• Executable opens up the options window for Create an Executable.
• Video opens the Video for Web, Devices and Computers window.  From here, simply select the format that best matches how you plan to share the slideshow.
• The YouTube and Facebook icons will create a video clip of your show and upload it directly to your online account. Simply add a little information about the slideshow and press Upload.

 

The Size Meter

Just above the Slide List, is the Size Meter. You can think of this bar as being a guide for the actual file size of your show. Notice that it shows an output format on the left side of it, with a series of guidelines and number markings.  This is showing you the total allowed size for a particular format.

The Size Meter updates as you work on your show, letting you know if your show will fit in a particular format. For example, the DVD indicator lists values from 0 to 4.1 gigabytes, which is the max that you can fit on a DVD. If your show gets bigger than that, it won’t fit on the disc.

To change the format type shown by the Size Meter, just click on it. You can cycle through the various options to find the one that is relevant for you.    

Publishing Formats

To the right of the Preview you'll find the Publishing Formats pane.  This is an even faster way to select the output option that's best for you.  Simply scroll down the list to select your preferred method and press Create when you're your ready to publish your show.

Publish Workspace Tip:

• As you select different publishing formats, the Size Meter will automatically change to match your selection.

The Project Pane

 If you plan to add multiple shows to a DVD, Blu-ray, Executable or Flash, show,  you'll use the Project Pane to help manage the shows within your project.   From here you can add or remove shows, change the order of the shows and see the total combined length of all of the shows in your project.

ProShow Producer - The Design Workspace

The Design Workspace

Once you have all of your content loaded into your show, head on over to the Design Workspace.  Here you'll notice right away that the Folder List and File List do not appear. This is to give you more room to preview your show as you customize and add effects.  Naturally, if you need more content, you can always toggle back and forth between the Workspaces by using the Workspace Selector.

The Design Workspace Toolbar

The Design Workspace Toolbar is nearly identical to the Build Workspace Toolbar, with the exception of two additional options:

Reset will reset any and all effects applied to the currently selected slide(s).  This is a very handy tool for those times when you simply want to erase all effects and start over from scratch.  

Combine will take a range of selected slides and combine them all into one.  This can be a very useful tool when you plan to use effects that feature multiple layers.

The Slide Inspector

The Slide Inspector provides detailed information about each slide as you design your show.

Beginning with the slide name and the position of the slide in the show. 

Next you'll see the Slide Summary.  Here you'll find details that include:

• The name of any Slide Style applied to the slide
• The Style Timing recommended for the optimal use of the effect
• The Duration of the slide (including the transition times both in and out of the slide)
• The Timing of the slide relative to its position in the show
• The type and length of the Transition In
• The type and length of the Transition Out
• Special Notes  for the slide.  Typically you'll see this if there is a slide sound or custom background

Below the summary, you'll find the Layers and Captions information for the slide.  This tells you how many layers and captions can be found in each slide.

At the bottom of the Slide Inspector you'll see any Notes that have been added to the slide.  If no Notes have been added, the Notes pane will not be visible.

ProShow Producer - The Build Workspace

The Build Workspace

The Build Workspace, is where you'll begin each new show.   Within the Build Workspace, you'll find all of the tools you'll need to add content to your show.

The Folder List

The Folder List is found beneath the information bar on the upper left side of the Build Workspace. This is part of two sections that are used to locate your images, audio, and video files to use in your show.

The Folder List works just like Explorer in Windows. That is, you can see all of the folders on your hard drive and other connected storage. You double-click on those folders to open and browse through them. Once you have found a folder that contains media you want to use, click on it in the Folder List. From there, those files that ProShow can use will appear just beneath it, in the File List.

You can right-click in the Folder List to add and remove folders, fine-tune the way the Folder List looks,  add commonly used folders to your Favorites, or Open an Explorer window.

There are also some special entries in the Folder List.  One is Media Sources. This entry is for any content that comes with ProShow, or that you may have purchased or downloaded from Photodex, you will find those listed there.

By right-clicking on the Media Source folder, you can open the Manage Media Sources window.  From here you can see which titles you have, where they are located on your machine and add or remove your Media Source titles.

Another special entry you may see Imported Content or ProShow Imported Content.  These entries will appear when you import content from Social Media Services, like Facebook or Instagram.

Note: These folders are actually the same!  Any changes made to one, will affect the other.  To learn more about  importing content from Social Media Services, see Chapter 8.

The File List

Once you’ve located a folder that contains the images or video clips you want to use in your show, you'll see those files appear in the File List. This is located  just beneath the Folders List

By default, the File List shows your images as thumbnails.  These smaller versions of your images are used to help you identify your content more quickly, and without having to memorize file names.   You will also see digital audio files like MP3 and WAV files using their standard icons. Video files will also appear as icons.

ProShow will only display file types that it recognizes in the File List. For example, if you have some unrecognized file types in the same folder with your images, those files will not appear in the File List, so you can’t accidentally try to add them to your show. Don’t let this concern you, though,  ProShow supports almost any media file you can throw at it.

You can also control how your files are shown and organized in the file list. This is done by right-clicking anywhere inside the File List.

Once you do this, you will see a sub-menu with a series of options.  At the bottom of the sub-menu, you will the following options:

Sort will let you change the order of the files that appear in your file list. This is set to Name (numeric) by default, which means that numbered files show in order, followed by named files in alphabetical order. You can change to almost any sorting order, including sorting by the date the file was created. This can help keep your images in chronological order.

View allows you to check whether you want to see small versions of your images, or thumbnails, or a list of file names and other information, without thumbnails.  Select the one that is most useful to you.

Also found under the View option is the ability to change the Thumbnail Size for images that appear in the File List.

Choose the size value that captures the best blend of size and space for your file list.  ProShow saves these sorting and other File List preferences for you automatically, so next time you open the program they will remain this way.

In the Preferences, you’ll find even more options for customizing how your thumbnails appear. These options include custom thumbnail sizes as well as options for what information appears below each file. That includes things like filename, date, size, and more. For more information on changing your preferences, see Chapter 27.

There are also several other options available by right-clicking in the File List  including, Adding Files to a Show and Adding Files to Placeholders (used with Slide Styles and show Templates).

Selecting File also gives you the options to view more details about each file, delete a file from the folder, open an Explorer window, or edit your files in an external editing program .

Using the File List to Identify Files Added to a Show

Any and all images, audio, or video that you’re using in your show will appear with a green check mark and a number on the lower right corner of the image. This is a great way to tell, at-a-glance, whether you’ve added that file to your show or not.

If you use any content more than once, the number of times that image, video clip or audio track appears in the show will be shown next to the green check mark.

Build Workspace Tip:

• If you need more room to see folders, or files, you can adjust the size of the Folder List and File List.  Simply hover your mouse in between the two panes to activate the size arrows.  Click and drag up or down, or left and right to achieve the desired size.
• When in doubt, Right-Click! You can right-click on just about everything in ProShow, and in almost all cases, this will help you find what you are looking for in any pane.  Plus, you'll often find additional options.

The Task Monitor

The Task Monitor is a simple, but still very useful, part of the Build Workspace The Task Monitor appears just beneath the file list and above the Slide List and acts and an indicator when ProShow is loading something.

Refer to the Task Monitor to see how far along your show loading is going, how long a video clip is going to take to import, etc.

It’s also used as a progress indicator for downloads or uploads within ProShow.

The Build Workspace Toolbar

As mentioned previously, each Workspace has slightly different options in the Toolbar.  Options that are best suited for what you'll be doing within the selected Workspace.  In the  Build Workspace, these options are focused on adding content, quickly adding effects and performing some simple soundtrack adjustments.

Let’s take a look at each of the buttons:

• New opens the New Slide Show window.  From here you can chose to use the Wizard, start a new, blank show, create a show from a template or open a previously saved show.
• Open allows you to browse your system for a saved show file, to open a show you were working on previously.
• Save will save a show you’re currently working on, or have just created. If you click this with a brand new show, it will ask you where you want to save that file, and what you want to call it. Clicking it with a show that has already been saved will update that existing save file.
• Wizard opens the ProShow Wizard.  Use the Wizard to create a complete show, or use it as a starting point for show creation.  If you click this icon with a show open, ProShow will close the open show and start a new show using the Wizard.
• Add Blank will add a Blank Slide to the show you are currently working on.
• Add Title will add a Title Slide to the show you are currently working on.    This is very similar to adding a Blank Slide.  However, in addition to inserting a new slide in your show, the Slide Options window will open and you'll be ready to begin typing your text right away.
• Import will take you to the Import from Service or App window. From here you can connect to your online social media  accounts and download files directly into your shows.
• Remix is a great tool that will use the Wizard to create, or redo effects on any slides you have selected in your show.  You can remix one slide or a range of slides.
• Edit Slide opens the Slide Options window, which is where you go to create and customize the effects for each slide. 
•  Effects (FX) opens the Effects (FX) window.  From here you can apply slide styles and/or transitions to any slides you have selected in the Slide List.  If you have a range of slides selected, whatever effect you choose will be applied to all of the selected slides.
• Show Opt will open the Show Options window, which is where you configure settings that impact your whole show at once. This includes your show title, aspect ratio, background, watermark and more.
• Music opens the Show Options window and takes you directly to the Soundtrack area.  From here you can add or remove songs, change the order in which they appear in your show, or edit your soundtrack settings.
• Sync Music opens the Synchronize Show to Soundtrack window.  From here you can adjust exactly how you'd like your show and soundtrack to line up with each other.

ProShow Producer - Common Workspace Elements

Common Workspace Elements

The three Workspaces share several common elements that will always be there for you, regardless of the Workspace you have chosen.

The Menu Bar

In the upper-left corner of the workspace, you will find the Menu Bar. The Menu Bar is a standard feature found in almost all Windows applications. Here you can access almost every feature within ProShow using the categories shown. We’ll discuss what all these features do later in this manual, but for now, let’s take a look at the types of things you’ll find in the main menu. Each category contains a certain set of options:

File contains all of the options related to your show files and their management. Here is where you will find options to create new shows, save shows, create and save Projects, import content from Social Media Services, the ProShow Remote App or import shows from ProShow Web.

Edit contains options for changing aspects of your show. You will find tools like copy & paste, undo & redo, combining slides, copy settings as well as the Preferences for ProShow.

Show gives you quick access to the tools which impact your whole show. From here you can open the Show Options window and set a show title, show background, manage your soundtrack and quickly add content to placeholders used by templates and Slide Styles.  You'll also find Play/Pause/Stop and Full Screen options for playing shows in the Preview window.

Slide is much like the show menu, as it gives you quick access to your Slide Options window.  Additionally you can add/remove slides, flag slides, navigate between slides and apply effects to slides from here.

Audio contains all of your sound tools. Here you can open your soundtrack options for your show, add new music to your show from CD, match beats to slide timing with the Record Slide Timing feature, and perform a Quick Sync of your show and music.

Tools is where you'll go to manage your effects, manage Media Sources, manage your Show Templates, access the ProShow Remote options, create new effects, revert to backups, collect show files or find any files that may be missing when you open a show.

Publish features  all of the output options available once you are ready to publish and share your shows.  From here you can go directly to the options to Upload to YouTube or Facebook, Create a DVD or Blu-ray, or export a show to a device using the ProShow Remote app.

Window is where all of your options to view/hide menus, toolbars, and window arrangements are found.  This is also where you can save and restore window layouts.

Help is where you can open the built-in help guide, enter your registration information, contact support and check for upgrades.

As you can see, there’s quite a bit to be found in the Menu Bar. In fact, we have summed up quite a few of the features of ProShow in just that overview. Just remember that while there’s a lot of information there, you only need to use the menu bar as it helps you.

The Toolbar

Beneath the menu bar is a bar that contains a series of icons. This is your Tool bar. The Toolbar is designed to give you quick access to the features that you’re likely to use over and over again.

While the Toolbar does appear in each Workspace, most of the options that appear in the Toolbar are different for each Workspace.  The Toolbar changes as you select a new Workspace  and is optimized to give you access to the tools you'll most likely need for that specific part of the show creation process.    

A little later in this chapter we'll cover all of the Toolbar options for each Workspace.

The Workspace Selector

In the top right corner you'll find the Workspace Selector.  Simply click the text to change to a different Workspace.  The current Workspace will always be highlighted.

You can also switch between Workspaces using the keyboard.  With the CTRL key held down, press the TAB key to cycle through the Workspaces.

The Information Bar

Just beneath the toolbar is a small, but important, section called the Information Bar. Here you can see the name of the show you’re working on, as well as how many slides are currently in the show, and how many audio tracks are in the show. You'll also see the length of those elements to get a quick, at-a-glance summary of exactly what makes up your show.

When you are working with multiple shows in a project, this area will contain tabs which allow you to switch between shows with ease.

By default, you’ll notice that the title in the Information Bar for a new show is always "ProShow Slideshow". You can change that quickly by double-clicking on the title and making changes to your Show Settings.

The Slide List

The Slide List is the bar at the bottom of each Workspace where your slide thumbnails are displayed.  From here you can change the order of slides, adjust timing or even change your transition effects.

The Slide List is numbered from left to right, just like you would read. When you create new slides, they appear at number 1, on the far left, and increase in number as you add more slides. Playing the show starts at the beginning of the Slide List and plays your slides in order from left to right. Creating a show is just a process of sequentially creating the slides you want to see in the Slide List. For now, don’t worry about actually creating slides. We’ll cover that in another chapter.

The Soundtrack Bar

The Soundtrack Bar appears just beneath the slide list, and is labeled “Soundtrack”. This is where you can drag and drop audio files to add them into your show soundtrack. It’s also where those audio files will appear to indicate that you have music in your show’s soundtrack. Double-click any track in the Soundtrack Bar to adjust its options.

Music that appears in the soundtrack list is shown as a waveform. It’s a histogram of the audio, making it easy to see where the music ebbs and swells as it plays during your show.  To get a better look at the waveform, press the Tab key or click on the  Slide List and Timeline tabs that appear at the top of the Slide List.

As you add multiple tracks, the waveforms will alternate in color: green, blue, green, blue etc.  If any of your slides feature a slide sound (such as a voice-over or sound effect), those sounds alternate in color as red, yellow, red, yellow, etc.

The Preview Window

The Preview is where you can see enlarged versions of your images and slides as you select them in the Build Workspace.  Additionally, this is where your show is displayed when you play back and watch your show as you build it.   During playback, what you see in the workspace Preview is what your audience will see once you publish and share your show.

Just beneath the main display area of the Preview window, you will see playback controls for your show. The Play button starts playing the preview of your show. During playback this will change to a Pause button, allowing you to temporarily stop the playback. Stop will end the preview playback. The Advance Left and Right arrow buttons allow you to go the next or previous slide while previewing your show, or jump to the beginning or end of your show. 

The final icon you'll see is the Full Screen Playback icon.   Notice that the arrows will point outward if Full Screen Playback is not selected (outward, meaning you can make it bigger).  When the arrows point inward, that  indicates that Full Screen Playback is active (inward, meaning you can make the preview smaller).

Full Screen Playback  of a Show

1. Make sure you have at least one slide in your show.
2. Click the Full Screen Playback icon beneath the Preview window

or...

1. Right-click on the Preview window.
2. Click on Full Screen Playback to toggle it on.

To exit Full Screen Playback, just press ESC on your keyboard.  If you want to turn off full screen playback, simply repeat the steps above.

Next to the playback control buttons, you’ll  also see two numbers.   The number to the left of the "/" is the spot in your show that is currently visible in the Preview. It’s accurate down to 1/100^th of a second.  To the right of the "/" is the total  length of your show.

On the bottom right-hand side of the Preview you'll see even more information about your slides as they become visible in the Preview including:

• Number of the slide currently visible in the Preview
• Total number of slides in your show
• Slide Style used by slide currently in the Preview (when applied)
• Number of layers in the slide currently visible in the Preview
• Number of slides selected in the Slide List
• Total length of the selected slide(s).
• Transition effect for the slide currently visible in the Preview

Above the controls, you'll also see a slider bar.  In addition to being a visual representation of where you are in your show, it can also be used to control playback. Simply click and drag the slider to scrub backwards and forwards through your show.

ProShow Producer - Begin With Basics

Begin With Basics

In the quick introduction, you learned how to begin with a blank canvas and create a simple show by adding the entire contents of a folder.  Now let's take a more detailed look at the Build Workspace and learn how to use the interface to make shows using only certain images.

Using the Proper  Workspace

ProShow features three different Workspaces that you will use for creating and sharing shows.   The Workspaces are Build, Design, and Publish.  Each will be covered in more detail in the next chapter, but as they all have slightly different options, it's important to know what each does and how to tell which one in selected.

• The Build Workspace is where you'll begin making a show. This is where you'll  have access to the Folder List and File List.
• Once you have all of your content added,  the Design Workspace gives you more room to preview your show and see details about each slide you are working on.
• Once you're ready to share your show, use the Publish Workspace to choose from your output options.

The Workspace selector is located in the top right-hand corner and will always highlight the selected Workspace.

For creating new shows, you'll want to use the Build Workspace.  This is also where we'll spend  the rest of this chapter.  

Locating Your Images

The Folder List, which appears in the upper left corner of the main workspace, is almost exactly like any folder browser you use in Windows. While looking at it, you’ll notice that it shows you your hard drives, My Pictures folder, and more. You can think of this just like browsing around the contents of your system – it works the exact same way.

Double-click on a folder to open it, and in that folder you can see any sub-folders that are there. Here’s a quick example:

If your images are stored in your “My Pictures” folder, you can access that by finding the “Pictures” entry in the Folder List, double-clicking on it, and choosing the sub-folder with your images from the list that shows up beneath the “Pictures” entry.

On that same note, if you keep your images in a general folder on your hard drive, like C:\PhotoShoots\Wedding2014, you can access those just as you would in Windows.  Double-click on the C: entry, locate the “PhotoShoots” folder, and then click on the “Wedding2014” folder that appears beneath it.

Note: various versions of Windows place virtual folders like “My Pictures” in different locations. Consult your Windows documentation if you’re not familiar with this.

When you have found a folder that contains images, the File List will show thumbnails of the images there. This gives you the ability to visually figure out which images you want to put in your show.

Build Workspace Tips:

• If you need more room to see folders, or files, you can adjust the size of the Folder List and File List.  Simply hover your mouse in between the two panes to activate the size arrows.  Click and drag up or down to achieve the desired size.
• In the Files List, right-click to access the Files List sub-menu.  From the sub-menu you can change the size of your thumbnails, see details for your files, change the sorting order and more.

• 
  

Creating New Slides

Go ahead and pick an image that you want to use to start your show. Once you’ve chosen that image, click on it. This will highlight it in the File List. Now click on it again, but hold your mouse button down.

As you hold down the mouse button, move the mouse cursor over the Slide List, which is the blank bar at the bottom of the main workspace. The slide list looks like it contains a series of placeholder squares.

When your mouse cursor is over the slide list, release the mouse button. Notice that ProShow creates a new slide using the image you chose. This process is called drag and drop.  Just drag an image, or images, from the File List and drop them into the slide list. ProShow will do the rest.  Double-clicking on an image in the Files List will also add it your Slide List, but you'll most likely find drag and drop may be the better way to go.

Changing Slide and Transition Times

Once you have an image in place, take a look at the slide. You’ll notice that it displays a thumbnail of the image, the slide number, and two values. These, by default, should by say 3.0.

These time values are referring to seconds. The number at the bottom of your slide is your Slide Time or the length of time the slide is going to be displayed.  Again, by default, this is 3 seconds.  The number to the right of the slide is the Transition Time, or the amount of time it will take for this slide to transition into the next slide.

Each slide will always have two time values. In this example, it means that the total time for your first slide is 6 seconds -the slide time, plus the transition time.  If you want your slide to be longer or shorter, you can adjust either time by clicking on the value and typing in any number you want. Remember that the time is calculated in seconds.

Note: the 6 second total time is a default because it works well when used with a wide variety of effects and soundtracks.   It’s generally just enough time to see a slide and appreciate the contents of a slide before moving on to another one.

Seee more:

• ProShow Producer 6 - How to Make a Show Right Away?
• ProShow Producer 6 - How to Pick a Transition Effects?
• ProShow Producer 6 - How to share informations with text?
• ProShow Producer 6 - How to add Effects to your image?
• ProShow Producer - How to add Audio to your show?
• ProShow Producer - How to save, public and share your show?

ProShow Producer 6 - How to Make a Show Right Away?

Make a Show Right Away

1. When  you first open ProShow,  you'll  be asked how you'd like to begin your new Slide Show. Select the Blank Show icon.
2. In the Show Title box, give your  new show a name.
3. Select the Aspect Ratio.  By default, it will be set to 16:9 (Widescreen) as this is the most common for playback on most PCs, Televisions and Devices
4. Once you press Create, you'll be in the Build Workspace. This is where you'll  start out each time you are ready to make new show.
5. Use the Folder List to browse for any folder on your PC that contains images. Try to find a folder with 100 images or less in order to make your first show more quickly.
6. When you select the desired folder  in the Folder List, right-click on any one of the thumbnails that appears in the File List below.
7. Select Add All Files to Show from the sub-menu that appears.

Depending on the number of images in the selected folder, it may take a few moments to import everything into ProShow.  A task monitor indicator will appear just below the File List  that will show you how far along you are in the import process.

Once all of the images have been added as slides in your Slide List at the bottom of the screen, continue creating your first show by following the "1, 2, 3" method. 

The "1, 2, 3" method uses some of the many keyboard shortcuts found in ProShow to randomly re-arrange the order or your images, add random motion effects to your images and randomly select transition effects to go in between each of your slides.

1. Select every slide in your show by clicking on any slide and pressing CTRL + A.
2. Randomize the order of your slides by pressing CTRL + Shift + 1.
3. Add some random motion by pressing CTRL + Shift + 2.
4. Finally, randomize the transition effects between slides by pressing CTRL + Shift + 3.

With just a few simple steps, you now have a brand new slide show, complete with motion and transition effects. To see what you've created,  click  the Play button that appears beneath the preview window.

So there it is, you're very first show!   Now that you see how easy it is to get started,  let's dig a little deeper and get you on your way to doing even more with ProShow.


Seee more:

• ProShow Producer - Begin With Basics
• ProShow Producer 6 - How to Pick a Transition Effects?
• ProShow Producer 6 - How to share informations with text?
• ProShow Producer 6 - How to add Effects to your image?
• ProShow Producer - How to add Audio to your show?
• ProShow Producer - How to save, public and share your show?