SpiceFX 6 PanZoom Wizard Turns You Into a Ken Burns Pan Zoom Pro!
The PanZoom™ Wizard easily creates CUSTOM pan zoom effects for your Movie Maker projects. Simply drag the blue START and red END frame in the Wizard's window to set the start and end of your pan zoom effect, then drag either frame's edge to set the zoom amount by enlarging or reducing the frame's size. It's easy and completely visual -- you will have the professional "Ken Burns effect" look in no time!
The PanZoom Wizard features ultra-smooth sub-pixel rendering and exclusively has adjustable acceleration and deceleration (i.e. ease in and ease out) in the pan zoom motion for a true professional touch. It also includes a high-res option for large still-images, such as digital photography stills and panoramas, that will 'attach' the high-res source image to the exported effect, providing MUCH SHARPER output than Movie Maker can do with pan zoom effects. Last but not least, easy-to-use but powerful keyframing is available to easily make a complex, multi-part pan zoom in one effect, greatly simplifying the applying of pan zooms in the Movie Maker timeline. New in Version 6: Flicker removal for even better output quality with high-res zooms, enhanced keyframing for complex pan zoom motion, improved subpixel rendering for HUGE panoramas, reference video image chooser, set preview duration exactly, more flexible matching of frame size and/or position, and more new features.
Tutorial: 7 Easy Steps to Using the PanZoom Wizard
Double-click the Wizards for Movie Maker icon on your desktop (installed by our demo or purchased version). Or choose it in your Start > Program Files > Pixelan menu. Then the Wizards window will appear. If necessary, choose PanZoom effects from the top submenu to see the window shown below.
1. Optionally, click the Reference Clip button to load a still-image of the background video (.wmv, .avi, or .mpg format) or photo (.bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif, .tga, or .pct format) you will use in your pan zoom segment, for reference to better position the start and end frames of your pan zoom effect. TIP: Reference images are NOT part of your exported custom pan zoom effect, unless you are working with a still-image and turn on the Attach the above still-image check box (see step 3 below). Otherwise, the Movie Maker timeline is where you will apply your pan zoom effect -- to any video or still-image clip you desire.
2. In the right window, drag the center 'handle' of the blue START and red END frame to position the pan. Drag either frame's outer edge to resize it, thus setting the zoom amount. Optionally use the Center and Match buttons to center either frame or to match their size or position to create a hold or pure zoom in/out. You can also right-click inside a frame to set values numerically.
3. If you are creating a pan zoom for a high-resolution still-image, turn on the Attach the above still-image check box to produce ultra-sharp output in Movie Maker. TIP: Do not later move (or remove) the hi-res source clip on your drive, or the custom PanZoom effect will not be able to find it to produce the sharper output.
4. If you are ZOOMING in or out of a high-resolution image, click the Anti-Flicker button to turn on flicker removal algorithms which will further optimize the output for best results. If you are not zooming, there is no need to use this feature; turning it on may slightly reduce the pan zoom sharpness.
5. Click the blue Play button under to preview to watch the effect. Note you can adjust the preview's duration by clicking the blue duration indicator under the preview (to match your actual clip's duration in Movie Maker).
6. To create more than one PanZoom effect, click the Bin button to select another effect bin, then repeat steps 1-4 above. Forty bins are available.
7. When you are done creating effects, click the Click here to export button to send your custom PanZoom effects into Movie Maker. Re-start Movie Maker, then they will appear in Movie Maker’s Effects list (at the TOP of the list) as "PanZoom 01" "PanZoom 02" etc., ready to be dragged onto any video or still-image clip in the Movie Maker timeline.
PanZoom Effects -- Tips and Tricks
Note: All of these tips are also in the built-in Help panel that appears with PanZoom.
• To ease-in or ease-out the pan zoom’s movement, click the Ease button and choose from the options to add a professional ease (i.e. acceleration/deceleration) to the beginning and/or end of the pan zoom's movement. The top row of options only affects the active (selected) keyframe; the bottom row affects the entire PanZoom effect.
• To keyframe a more complex pan zoom move, follow step 2 of the 6 steps listed above on this page, then: (3) Click the Add Key (+) button to add an intermediate keyframe, labeled as "1". Slide that key left or right along the keyframe line to move it earlier or later in the clip. (4) In the preview, drag the center ‘handle’ and/or outer edge of the (green) intermediate frame to a desired size and position. To add more keyframes (seven is the maximum amount), repeat these steps.
• To apply a pan zoom effect to only part of a clip’s duration, split the clip into a few pieces in the Movie Maker timeline (use Movie Maker’s Clip > Split command) where you want the effect to start/end, then apply the exported PanZoom effect only to the desired piece.
• To revise a previously exported PanZoom effect in Movie Maker: 1. Revise the effect in this Wizard. 2. Click the Click here to export button. 3. Re-start Movie Maker. 4. Drag the SAME effect onto your clip to replace the prior version. Important Tip: Revisions will NOT affect any other project. Each Movie Maker project file retains the Wizards information that was active at the time of applying it, no matter what Wizards changes occur later.
• To move a frame only horizontally or vertically,Shift-drag the center 'handle' of a frame. To change the size of a frame (thus the zoom amount) without moving its center point,Shift-drag the frame edge.
• To only zoom in or out during a pan zoom effect (thus no pan), click the Match button and choose a "Match position of..." option to have two different-sized frames share the same center point. To hold a pan zoom (have a constant zoom and position), set one frame to the desired size/position, then click the Match button and choose a "Match size and position of..." option.
• To re-center an active frame (or center only vertically or horizontally), click one of the Center buttons that are to the left of the Match button shown above.
• To activate a frame that is exactly under another frame, click the frame's keyframe marker in the keyframing line that is at the bottom of the right window.
• To load a Reference Clip image that has a different format than the Wizard can show (thus a clip that is not in .wmv, .avi, .mpg, .bmp, .jpg, .png, .tif, .tga, or .pct. format), place the video clip or still-image in your Movie Maker timeline, display a desired frame in the Movie Maker preview window, then choose Tools > Take Picture from Preview. This will save a separate image file on your drive. Then load that image into a Wizard by clicking its Reference Clip button.
• To copy/paste a Bin's effect to another Bin in the same Wizard, right-click the Bin. This is handy to organize your effects and to create several variations of a complex effect.
• To undo/redo, click the small buttons at the window's top right corner (if active). Up to 100 undo/redo levels are possible -- great for experimenting with pan zoom effects.
• To optionally append up to 16 characters to an effect’s name to help you remember its intent when viewing Movie Maker’s list of effects, use the Add to Name text box.
• To change the Wizard’s preferences, such as preview duration, video format (NTSC or PAL), aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9), and more, click the white Preferences button at the bottom of the window. For best preview accuracy in the Wizard, match the video format and aspect ratio to your Movie Maker project. These values will not alter your exported effect; they are only for the Wizard’s preview.
• To save a favorite PanZoom effect (or a set of effects), click the Save Favorites (disk) button. To load it later, click the adjacent Load Favorites (folder) button. Note there is no need to save a favorite unless you intend to use the same effect in a future project, because each Movie Maker project file holds all Wizards info applied in that project. That remains true even if you later use the same bin to make a new custom item for a different project.
• To clear only the currently displayed effect, or all effects in this Wizard, or all exported items in Movie Maker from this Wizard, click the yellow Clear (-) button at the window’s bottom. Clearing all exported items is how you can create a fresh set of custom PanZoom effects for each new project. Note that existing projects will still retain their earlier PanZoom effects unchanged.
• To exit the Wizards, click the green Save and Exit (check mark) button in the lower corner of the window. Although you must re-start Movie Maker each time you export items from a Wizard, you can keep the Wizards window open for reference or further changes.
3. If you are creating a pan zoom for a high-resolution still-image, turn on the Attach the above still-image check box to produce ultra-sharp output in Movie Maker. TIP: Do not later move (or remove) the hi-res source clip on your drive, or the custom PanZoom effect will not be able to find it to produce the sharper output.
4. If you are ZOOMING in or out of a high-resolution image, click the Anti-Flicker button to turn on flicker removal algorithms which will further optimize the output for best results. If you are not zooming, there is no need to use this feature; turning it on may slightly reduce the pan zoom sharpness.
