Video Editing in Blender Workshop - v.1

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Video Editing in Blender

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‐ Table of Contents ‐
Welcome to Blender - 5
Introduction - 6
The Interfaces - 8
How-To Save & Open a Project - 12
3D Text - 15
Audio - 31
How-To Record a Narration - 37
Using Headphones as Microphones - 39
Clean Up Audio - 41
How-To Save & Export an Audio File - 43
Graphics: Photoshop Tutorial - 45
Graphics: GIMP Tutorial - 53
Video Editing - 63
Add a Strip (Movie) - 66
Add an Image - 67
Adding Sub-Titles - 68
How-to Create Sub-Titles & Text in Lower-Thirds - 70
Add Audio - 74
Trim & Edit a Strip - 75
How-to Fade In/Out - 76
How-to Save your Project - 77
How-to Export your Project - 78
Notes - 80

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Welcome to Blender -
Here is the default interface that will greet the user upon launching Blender. This software is
capable of creating 3D models, 3D Animation, 3D Game Design, and HD Video Editing.
Best of all - this software is 100% FREE to download for PC, Mac and Linux. At the time of this
writting, Blender 2.6x was just recently released. The workshop will operate under version 2.6x
since it is currently available in the Computer Lab. An updated version of these notes will be made
available at a later time. Download Blender: http://www.blender.org/

Introduction -
As part of the Educational Technology
Courses (Ed-Tech) offered at the University, we
have introduced Video to the students in the
Masters Level of the Teacher Education
Program. In a previous workshop, students
learn "how-to" set-up and shoot video footage.
The problems we then faced involved how to
edit the footage. Some tried Windows Movie
Maker Live. Others tried iMovie. Some tried
online Web 2.0 sites to edit their footage. All
had strict limitations on what these students
wanted/needed to do with their videos.
Purchasing software was not an option.
I've used Blender in the past to create 3D
models, basic animation as well as a simple First
Person Shooter Game (FPS) with the Blender
Game Engine. I was even certified in how-to use
the software before the major makeover into
what it is today. Back then I knew there was a
Video Editor known as the Video Sequence
Editor (VSE) built directly into the software.
As a Video Editor, I have used Avid, Final Cut
Pro, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas Pro and
several other products, so I never really gave the
VSE much thought. At least, until we really
needed to find a solution for the students. This
workshop will take the novice video editor
through the basics of importing video, graphics
and audio as well as how-to edit and manipulate
the timeline to get a finished product.

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The prime focus of this workshop is
Video Editing. However, there are some
components editors may need from other
applications such as Graphics. Adobe
Photoshop is used throughout many
industries, but so is GIMP, which like
Blender, is open source.
(http://www.gimp.org/).
Audio is another component for
creating great video. There are many
commercially produced pieces of software
that will work fantastically with your
project, but they are pricey. An
alternative to the expensive solutions is
the open source software known as
Audacity which will allow you to record
and edit most, if not all forms of audio.
(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
Open Source software is both free and
legal to download, use, and share. They
are the equivalent (or very close to) the
"Closed Source" or commercially
produced versions that one has to pay for
in order to use. Open Source is FREE for
life and is available on multiple platforms
such as PC, Mac and Linux computers.
And finally, once your video is
completed, we'll show you how-to upload
to YouTube and/or burn to a CD/DVD, or
transfer to a mobile device and more.

The Interfaces -
Blender has several interfaces.
Select the interface for the type of work
one needs to do. The two interfaces we
will cover are the Default and Video
Editing.
The DEFAULT interface is the one
you come to when you first open the
software. This is also the interface you
use to set your video settings.
To find the Media Information about
the video you shot, view your video with
the VLC Media Player. Click: TOOLS >
CODEC INFORMATION and a prompt
will appear with information about your
video [and audio] such as: Resolution,
Frame Rate, Stereo or Mono, Sample
Rate, etc. These terms will be discussed
later on in this workshop.
VLC Media Player can be downloaded
from -
(http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html)

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While on the DEFAULT interface, set-up
your video project based on the information
provided to you via the VLC Media Player.
(See previous page for VLC information and
how it relates to the information below.)
Since our video also has audio, we'll
scroll down to set-up the audio settings
for our project based on the format we
pre-determine.
Meaning, if we want a DVD, we set
this prompt up for DVD by selecting
from the PRESETS drop-down menu. In
this example, I'm creating an AVI file to
serve as my Master Copy from where I
can then create ALL other variations of
the project such as: MPEG-2, MP4, etc.
Note that AVI files are MASSIVE in
size. The quality of a true AVI, both in
Picture quality and Sound are excellent.
When working with such huge files,
store onto a separate hard drive and not
on your computer's main hard drive.
Video files of this magnitude tend to
crash hard drives. Also note that the
sound quality is set to 48000Hz, which
DVD quality and not 41000Hz, which is
CD quality.

Now, head over to the Video Editing
Interface by making your selection from
the Menu Option.
This is your Video Editing Interface.
Here is where you will create your video
project by placing your video clips into a
sequence that will tell a story or convey a
message.
You will have unlimited audio and
video tracks. There is also the
availability of adding some transitions as
well as including graphics.

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The effects include: Add, Subtract,
Alpha Over, Alpha Under, Cross, Gamma
Cross, Multiply, Over Drop, Plugin, Wipe,
Glow, Transform, Color, Speed Control,
Multicam Selector, and Adjustment
Layer.
Later on we will discuss how to
incorporate effects into your project.
We'll cover how-to create a Fade-In to
start your project and and a Fade-Out to
end it.
At the very bottom of your screen are
the playback control that will allow you
to Play, Pause, Rewind, Fast-Forward, or
move frame-by-frame in either direction.
Information found on the Controls Bar
include: The first frame of your project
as well as the last frame of your project.
It will also tell you how many frames are
in your entire video.
Note: The controls may or may not be
immediately visible. You may need to
adjust your interface window to see the
full screen that includes the controls bar.

How-to Save and Open a
Project -
Save the project just as you would any
other work you do on your computer. FILE
> SAVE AS - then select the folder you
want to store your project in.
To Open a project, FILE > OPEN and
search for the file.
When you want to go back or up one
level, simply click the arrow.

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Learn how to create 3D text in Blender

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Create 3D Text in Blender -
Using the same parameters* that you
set-up for your video project, go to your
DEFAULT interface. You may need to
LOAD FACTORY SETTINGS to see the
original default screen.
You should see a 3D Cube.
After you set up your screen, you'll
want to view the cube via a camera. Use
your numberpad on your keyboard to
access the different camera point-of-
views.
Press "0" to look through the main
camera. Numbers 1 - 8 will give yo
different perspectives while "0" is the
default.
*LOAD FACTORY SETTINGS can be
found under the FILE menu at the top of
the interface.

To begin, click the Cube to select.
Press DELETE on your keyboard. Then
click, DELETE.
Your space is now ready for text.

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Now, at the top of your screen, click:
ADD > TEXT
The default text will appear.

Now to rotate the default text so it faces
your camera, click the ROTATE icon
located at the bottom of the screen.
The controls to rotate your text will
appear on screen. Each color represents
a different axis so you can position the
text as you see fit.
Red Green Blue White

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Now to edit the default text, select the EDIT
MODE from the menu. This will bring up
the cursor which allows you to type.
This is your opportunity to type the
text you need for your project.
Make sure to select the arrow.
Second from the left.

To change the FONTS, note the panel
to the right of your screen. The "F"
stands for FONT.
Whatever your text is on screen, re-type
it in this window.

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Scroll down to the FONT section and
browse for the FONT of your choice by
clicking on the folder icon.
As soon as you select the FONT, your
text will change. It will then need to be
adjusted. In the example below, characters
that appear in the dark area will never be
seen by the camera.
To adjust your text, first select
OBJECT MODE. Then grab one of the
three arrows and move your text to the
proper position.

With your text in position, it can now
be seen by your camera. This means,
your viewers will see the entire text as it
will appear in your video.
Now lets bring the text from 2D to 3D
by using the EXTRUDE control - located
in the right-hand panel above FONT.
Play with the depth of the EXTRUDE,
but keep in mind that it will still need to
be legible.

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Let's give the text some color. Click
on the MATERIAL icon to active the
panel you see on the right.
Click on DIFFUSE to access the
Color Palette where you'll be able to
select the color of your choice.
The Color Palette is where you select
the color for your text.

Now that we have added color to the
text, let's ADD a light source. From the
menu, there are five choices: Point, Sun,
Spot, Hemi, and Area.

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Light sources help your text stand out.
Here is a side view of the "workshop" text
with one camera (on the right) and three
light sources. To acheive this view, press "1"
on your numberpad. To return to camera,
press, "0".

Each item within your composition
can be access and manipulated via the
list of items on the right-hand side of
your screen. To begin, click on an item.
In this example, I have clicked on one of
the "Spot" lights.
Once selected, you'll instantly see where
you're light is in relation to your text. The
lite-grey area is what your camera's view,
while the dark areas will not be seen by
viewers.

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Use your numberpad to change your
point-of-view (POV) to give you a better
understanding on where your lights are
positioned. This will also help you to
better position your text.
Here is the 3D text as it rendered out
from Blender. You can toggle back and
forth between a Rendered view and the
Raw view by pressing F12 for Render
and ESC to go back to the Raw view to
continue working. We'll discuss
RENDERING later on in this workshop.
For now, let's save this file as
TITLE.blend. We'll come back to this file
to do some light animation.
You'll find tools and properties for
each item in your composition can be
adjusted and tweeked from the prompts
on the right of your screen. In this
example, since SPOT [light] was selected,
these are the prompts needed in order to
get the desired appeance and effect.

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Working with Sound:
Dialogue, Narration, Music, and Ambience

Traditional view of Audacity.
View based on Operating System and Theme
To record, mix, and/or edit audio, we
will use Audacity. This is an open source
program that is free and legal to
download, use and share.
Audacity is a multi-track recorder /
editor with a vast library of effects. You
can download Audascity from:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

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At first, this software may look a bit
intimidating, but, we're going to break
this down one component at a time. This
way, you will become familiar with the
interface and a variety of features.
Let's begin with the Control Panel
that sits at the top of the application.
Now, we'll take the Control Panet apart.
First up is the Transport Toolbar.
Your controls consist of the following:
Skip to the Start, Play, Record, Pause,
Stop, and Skip to the end.
The position of these controls depends
on the platform you use as depicted by
the example below..
This is the Tools Toolbar. These tools
allow you to work and manipulate the
recorded audio track.
Let's find out what these controls actually
do.

The Selection Tool -
This places the playhead anywhere on
the track. Clicking the SPACEBAR will
begin to play the track. Click again to
STOP playing.
The Envelop Tool -
This tool allows you to create Fade-Ins,
Fade-Outs, and Cross-Fades.
The Draw Tool -
Zoom-In as far as possible. Next, use
this tool to change, alter, re-write some
parts of the audio.

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The Zoom Tool -
Zooming into a part of a track will allow
to see where you can synchronize a
second audio track to a specific beat or
word.
The Time-Shift Tool -
Allows you to Grab-and-Drag a track to
re-position it to a desired location.
[A]
[B]

The Multi-Tool Mode -
This tool allows you to utilize a number
of the previously mentioned tools at once
depending on where the cursor is on the
timeline.
Output Levels Input Levels
Playback Speed Cut, Copy, Paste, Trim and Silence
Undo and Redo Magnify and Adjustment Controls
Selection Toolbar -
For CD Quality audio select 44100Hz.
For DVD Quality audio select 48000Hz.

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HowTo Record a Narration
There will be times in which you'll
need to record a narration for a
project - whether its a video or a
podcast or for a PowerPoint
presentation. Good audio is essential
to how the public views your work.
First off, have a well-written script
ready. You may need to wordsmith in
order to have the correct wording for
the amount ot time you have
available. Use a stopwatch to time
yourself reading the script. Practice
makes you better. A "dry run" or
rehearsal will help you in both your
delivery of your lines as well as re-
writting any bit parts that may need
to tweaking.
Secondly, a good microphone will
help you to record good audio. In a
pinch,if there are no good
microphones around, an inexpensive
method of recording audio has been
to use headphones and plug them into
the microphone jack. You won't get
great audio, but your audio may just
be enough to get the job done.
Next, find a location where you
can record your voice without too
much noise pollution.
Finally, Audacity - a Free Open
Source multi-track audio recording
software loaded with an arsenal of
plug-ins and filters. Once you have
that, you're ready to record yourself.

You've done the "dry runs" and are
ready to record yourself.
Press the RECORD BUTTON to begin
recording. Wait 5-seconds before you
actually begin to speak.
Speak across the microphone and not
directly into it.
As you record, you'll see a visual
representation of your voice appear
on the track.
When you are done, wait 5-seconds,
before you click STOP.
Its good practice to record AMBIENT
sound after you record your voice.
Ambient sound refers to having
Audacity record the sounds around
you.
Do not wave the microphone around.
Do not make any movements, stay
perfectly still. Do not speak.
Record a couple of minutes worth.
This audio will help you to mask or
eliminate any "bad" audio caused by
noise pollution a found in the every
day world.

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Using Headphones as Microphones
Plug your headphones into the MIC
JACK. Check your hardware settings.
Follow these steps if you're running
Windows:
Right-Click on the SPEAKER icon and
select OPEN VOLUME CONROL.
When the VOLUME CONTROL
prompt opens, click OPTIONS and
select PROPERTIES.
Select RECORDING and OK
Your MICROPHONE stting will be
checked off because your
HEADPHONES are in the Mic Jack.
Begin recording in Audacity

If you are running Linux, follow the
following steps:
With headphones in the Mic Jack
Get to the ALL SETTINGS control panel
and select SOUND
Your settings should look like the image to
the right.
Begin recording in Audacity.

Clean up Audio
Use the MAGNIFY TOOL to zero in
on a hotspot to clean up.
Use your Mouse to drag across the
hotspot you wish to work on in order
to highlight it.
With your file opened of if its's
IMPORT - click FILE > IMPORT and
search for your file in order to bring
audio into the Audacity interface - we
can clean it up a bit.

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Click GENERATE > SILENCE
Click OK
Done.
Save.

HowTo Save and Export an Audio
File
To save your work as a project, go
to FILE > SAVE PROJECT AS give it a
name and locate a folder to save to.
You will get a message that warns
that you are about to save as an .AUP
file. Click OK. Then,give it a name.
An AUP file allows you to make
changes to your project by saving it
into individual tracks.
Now to EXPORT our projects
Give it filename and the default
setting will be a WAV file. These
WAV files are much bigger than
MP3 because they capture all the
robust harmonics of a music track.
These are the BEST to use when
editing video.

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Creating Components for Titles, Motion
Graphics and the Video
The Photoshop Tutorial

Exercise 1: Typography and Texture
Let's begin to create a grunge-style
graphic that can then be imported in
another Adobe product known as After
Effects or in this case, Blender.
Both Blender and After Effects,
a.k.a. AE, will allow us to add effects
such as a light source that we can
then animate. The end product can
then be used in video, television,
websites, and film.
We can also use this image and
replicate some of the effects found in
Adobe AE using Blender - a cross-
platform, open source application that
can be used in 3D creation, 3D
animation, 3D Game Design and HD
video editing.
For this workshop, we'll look at
Google images, but keep in mind, any
professional caliber work that will be
produced by you, will need to have
permissions, licenses and fees paid up
before you begin working on projects
of this nature.
Working with Photoshop
Photoshop is a powerful world
reknown image manipulation program
that is used in virtually every corner
of industry. It is also available for
both PC and Mac.
There are various versions of
Photoshop. The full version with all
the "bells and whistles"; then there is
Photoshop Elements - which strips the
program down significantly; and
Photoshop Express - which is Web 2.0
and works online by allowing you to
create an account, uploading your
photos or creating your graphics in
cyberspace.
As if this writing, Adobe, the
makers of Photoshop have migrate
away from their CS (creative Suite)
versions to bring you the new CC
(Creative Cloud) versions.
The following tutorial will take you
through the paces of creating a
graphic with text that can be used in
your video. Simple substitute our
background and text for your own.
Now, although the tutorial talks about
Adobe After Effects, we are going to
prepare this graphic exactly the same
way, except that it will be imported
into Blender instead.

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Begin by searching for a grunge
texture with a size of 1920 x 1080*.
Afterward, save the file to a folder for
this new project.
*1920 x 1080 is for HD. Your image
parameters should based on the
parameters of your video. This
information can be found using the
VLC player.
This project works best with black
and white, however, if you find an
image that you wish to work with, we
can always remove the color via
DESATURATION. The font we'll need
is IMPACT.
Once you have the background
image to work with, open it up in
Photoshop and unlock the layer.
Here are the steps to removing color
from an image. Please skip this
section if your image is already black
and white.
1.0 - Go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS
> DESATURATE
2.0 - Next, IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS
> AUTO CONTRAST
3.0 - Next, IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS
> AUTO LEVELS
If you need an extra boost in levels, go
to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS >
LEVELS to tweak black, grey and
white level.
Further adjustments, go to IMAGE >
ADJUSTMENTS > CURVES

Now you have your background set to
go. Select the TYPE or TEXT TOOL
to create your text on the image.
Press CTRL J to duplicate the layer.
Make sure to select IMPACT as your
font.
The size of the fonts in this example
are as follows:
"AE", "PS" are set at 400pt.
"after" is set at 300pt.
In graphic design, the size of the
fonts are measured in "points" or
"pt".
Place your mouse on the white box of
the TEXT LAYER, press CTRL, and
CLICK to select the entire text in the
layer.
While the TEXT is selected, click on
the layer just underneath the text to
activate it.
Next, press, CTRL C, then CTRL V.
You'll notice that a new layer has
appeared with the newest text already
in place.

Turn OFF the layer with the original
text.
Your image may appear to look as if
there is no text - DON'T PANIC - the
new text is there, however, it also has
the texture effect on it so we cannot
see it right away.
Now we need to start to separate text
from background. In this next set of
instructions we will focus on the
background layer.
Make sure to activate the next layer
down in order to view the effects.
Click IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS >
CURVES to make adjustments that
will allow you to see your new text.

Now we can see the new text. Click to
activate your TEXT LAYER. Then click
IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS >
EXPOSURE. Give the text as much
contrast as possible without losing any
much of the texture details.
With the TEXT LAYER activated, click
the FX button at the bottom of the
LAYER PALETTE and select DROP
SHADOW.
When the LAYER STYLES prompt
opens, keep the DISTANCE at 0, but
feel free to adjust SPREAD and SIZE.

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At this point, we are done and all
that's left is to SAVE. Since we can
use this image in both Blender and
Adobe After Effects, we will need to
save this work as both a PSD file and
then as either a GIF, JPEG or PNG file -
which, does the work of both GIF and
JPEG.
Adobe AE can import PSD files
directly. This means the projects
individual layers can be accessed
through AE to create a variety of
effects. If you are importing this into
Blender, a GIF, JPEG or PNG file is
acceptable - but you will NOT have
any access to the images layers.

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Creating Components for Titles, Motion
Graphics and the Video
The GIMP Tutorial

Exercise 1: Typography and TextureWorking with GIMP
GIMP - GNU Image
Manipulation Program is Free
Open Source Software for PC, Mac
and Linux. What this means to you, is
that no one person or company owns
the software and that it is 100% OK
to download, burn to disc, share, etc.
It is as powerful as Adobe Photoshop.
However, it's only limited by your
imagination and patience.
Saving a file in Photoshop as a
PSD file, will allow you to open it
back up again in GIMP and vice-
versa. What we're going to do here is
replicate the same image we created
in the "Graphics: Photoshop Tutorial"
strictly in GIMP.
There are many features in GIMP,
like Photoshop, to explore. You'll find
that like Photoshop, there is always
more than one method to acheiving
your goal and/or effect.
As in the previous version of this
tutorial, we will begin with our grunge
image, again, black and white works.
Let's also select, IMPACT as our font.
Let's use the same parameters as in
the Photoshop Tutorial: FILE > NEW
Set your parameters to 1920 x 1080 x
300ppi*. Font is IMPACT. The "AE"
and "PS" are set to 400pts and the
"after" is set to 300pts. You may find
yourselve adjusting these measures
with the SCALE TOOL. When
completed, click SCALE for the re-
sizing to take affect.
*300 - Is the resolution quality of the
image. Most publications and
professionally printed photos are
printed with no less than 300ppi.
PPI - Pixels-Per-Inch

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After you have created your
canvas - for this tutorial our canvas
specs are 1920 x 1080 x 300ppi -
OPEN the grunge image.
Drag the LAYER of the grunge
image and drop it on the NEW
canvas. You'll see the new layer
appear with the grunge image.
Now drag the LAYER and drop it onto
this ICON. Your layer will be
duplicated.
Here is the duplicate layer.

To create TEXT, go t o your TOOL
BAR and select "A" tool. Check to
make sure your FOREGROUND color
is set for black.
To begin typing, simply click on
anywhere in the image where you
want the text to appear. With this
prompt, you will be able to select
fonts; select a size; pick a font color;
increase/decrease the spacing
between letters.
Don't worry if the text is not in the
correct place, we will adjust it later.
Your new layer will appear on the top
of the layers stack. Click on the layer
itself in order to give the layer a new.
GIMP allows you to see the changes
to your text almost immediately.

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Once the text is up, if size and
position are in need of some
tweaking, then click on the SCALE
TOOL...
... then click directly onto the text
to activate the SCALE controls.
Resize your text to your liking. When
set, click SCALE.
For proper positioning, select the
MOVE TOOL, as the image below
demonstrates, then click on the actual
layer to activate it.

With the TEXT layer selected, go to
SELECT > BY COLOR and tap the
TEXT. This will select and outline the
TEXT.
Next, in the LAYERS palette, select
one of the duplicated background
layers, as demonstrated below.
Once the grunge layer is selected,
TURN OFF the TEXT LAYER.
Since your text was highlighted and
selected, and now with the
background grunge image is selected,
click CTRL C (Copy) and then CTRL V
(Paste).
Now, you'll have a NEW TEXT layer -
though you may not see the actual
text at this moment. We need to make
some adjustments to the grunge
image in order to make the NEW
TEXT pop.
Click the grunge image again to select
the layer.

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Click COLORS > LEVELS
This is where adjustments to the
White Levels, Grey Levels and Black
Levels are made to increase contrast
and brightness.
You should start to see the NEW TEXT
layer begin to reveal itself.
Next, click COLORS > CURVES
This gives your LEVELS a boost and
helps increase/decrease the
brightness/contrast of your image.
Again, helps your NEW TEXT to stand
out.
Grab your NEW TEXT layer drag-n-
drop it onto the DUPLICATE icon...
...highlight and select the NEW TEXT
COPY then go to the MODE and select
any of the blending modes available
that suites your needs. In this tutorial
GRAIN MERGE helps to enhance the
TEXT to make it stand out.

Save your work as a PSD file by
clicking FILE > EXPORT and
selecting Photoshop PSD. This format
will allow you to make changes to the
individual layers at a later time or
continue working on a computer that
has Adobe Photoshop.
Let's give this text a Drop Shadow to
help seperate the text from the
background.
This technique will create a faux
(false) drop shadow using the original
text layer.
Next, select the SCALE tool and
adjust the size of the text.
You may need to use the MOVE tool
to properly position the text.

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Next, click IMAGE > MERGE
VISIBLE LAYERS. All your layers
that have a visible/open "eyeball" will
be merged into a single layer.
Finally, FILE > EXPORT and select
PNG file for importing into your video
project.
PNG does the same job as JPEG and
GIF. This is really helpful when you
are creating Close Caption or Sub-
Titles or providing Motion Graphics
in the lower-thirds of your screen.

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Working with Video:
Graphics, Effects, Editing, and
Exporting

Here is the interface for your video
editor. We are going to take the vital
parts of this interface apart before we
begin. It is important to know what you
will need in order to get the job done.
Individual tracks can be used for both
video and audio. There is no limit to the
amount of tracks you can have in any
given project. This is the Timeline
where you will edit your video, lay in
effects, and add audio as well.
The Preview Screen allows you to
view your video as you are working on
it. You can use your scroll wheel on
your mouse to enlarge or shrink the
video. Keep in mind, shrinking and
enlarging the video is only for preview
and will not affect the actual size of
your video.
[Preview Screen]

Version 1.0
Leader: Slate, Bars & Tone,
Countdown & Title -
At the very beginning of your video,
its good practice to include a Slate. The
purpose of the Slate is to identify the
video that is about to play, as well as
gives other information about the
project. Information may include, but is
not limited to:
- Title of the Video
- Date (of Completion)
- Producer/Director/Editor Name(s)
- Running Time (a.k.a. "RT")
- File Size (Only if working with
Digital Video)
- Subject Matter and/or Genre
- Aspect Ratio
- Frames-Per-Second (a.k.a. "FPS")
- Rating (R, NC-17, PG-13, PG, G, NR)
Your project may not be so complex. A
simple slate will suffice.
- Title of the Video
- Date (of Completion)
- Your Name
- Running Time (a.k.a. "RT")
- Subject Matter and/or Genre
If you are planning to air your video
project then you may want to consider
having "Bars & Tone" at the beginning of
your video. The purpose of the "Bars &
Tone" is for stations to synchronize and
calibrate their professional equipment so
it can delver your video with optimum
picture and sound clarity.
"Bars" are color bars which allow for
equipment caliberation for color
correcting of a video image. "Tone" is a
1KHz of sound that can sound annoying
but is vital for establishing good audio
levels.
An example of "Bars & Tone" can be
found here:
http://footage.shutterstock.com/clip-
421426-stock-footage-hd-standard-
bars-and-tone-computer-generated-
seamless-looping.html
"Bars & Tone" are usually set for
30-seconds on the Timeline. Then its
fades to black for 1-2 seconds before
a countdown begins. Some
countdowns will start at 10-seconds,
while others will begin at 5-seconds.
Countdowns usually run down til
they hit 2-seconds. Then
"1"..."0"...are black until the Title
Sequence of the video comes on-
screen. This sequence may also have
what is known as "Music Under" in
reference to music under text or in
this case video. After the Title
Sequence is completed, it fades to
black, the music also fades out and
your video fades-in with its own audio
track fading in.

Version 1.0
Add a Strip (Movie) -
With your video somewhere on your
computer, preferrably on an external
drive, you can insert or ADD > MOVIE
to your timeline.
The ADD button is the one located at the
bottom of your interface and NOT the
one at the top of your screen.
Your video clip(s) will appear on
tracks within your timeline.
NOTE: The video itself is the BLUE strip
and the audio is the GREEN strip which
sits on top. You can, however, switch
there positions as well as switch their
color schemes.
The LIGHT GREEN line on the left is
actually the Playhead and it also tells
you what frame you are currently on.
The playheads currently position is in
Frame 1.
To Move a Strip -
Place mouse on the text of the strip,
right-click and drag it to the desired
frame. Then left-click to UNSELECT it.

Add an Image -
From the bottom ADD button, select
IMAGE to add a graphic to your timeline.
Images can be in any of the following
formats: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and TIFF. And
look for the file on your computer
Once the image is in your timeline, its
duration on-screen can be stretched out
to cover the desired timespan.
NOTE: In terms of quality, if your images
are of a high quality (resolution, pixels-
per-inch, size, etc), your image will look
great when the final video is rendered
out. Conversely, low-quality images will
look much worse after the rendering
process.

Version 1.0
Adding Sub-Titles -
First. Create a graphic in Photoshop or
GIMP. Use the same parameters for
Width & Height as you have for your
video.
NOTE #1: Create your text in the lower
thirds of your canvas.
NOTE #2: Adding a Drop-Shadow will
increase the visibility of your text against
any background in your video.
Drop‐Shadow SampleDrop‐Shadow Sample

Second. In Blender, ADD > IMAGE
look for your PNG or GIF file and bring it
into your Timeline.
Grabbing either of the small arrows and
pulling them in either direction will
stretch the image out over a desired
piece of video.
Third. You will need to blend it into the
Timeline so the image appears over the
video clip to give the appearance of text
over video. Try the very first setting -
Over Drop - and see how that works out
for your project.
To test it out, simply place the playhead
over the text (in your Timeline) and see if
it works or if you will need to continue
making adjustments.
Next, SAVE IT!!!
NOTE #3: When saving/exporting your
text, be sure to eliminate or "turn-off"
the bottom layer; "merge visible"; and
SAVE AS > filename.png or filename.gif
GIMP Photoshop

How to create Sub-Titles and
Text in Lower-Thirds -
Your parameters for how-to create
your sub-titles or lower-thirds text will be
based on the parameters of how you shot
your video. For this demonstration, the
screenshot is 1920 x 1080.

Version 1.0
First, begin by viewing your
footage with the VLC Media Player.
As the video plays, click TOOLS >
CODEC INFORMATION and see what
the RESOLUTION for your video is.
Next, in GIMP create a new
canvas with the same exact
parameters you saw in the VLC
Media Player for your video. Create
your text for the video based on the
"Rule of Thirds".
This "rule" implies that the
image/video you see before you is cut
up into 3 equal row running left to
right and 3 equal columns running
top to bottom. Totaling 9 boxes on
the screen.
The "Rule of Thirds"Your text should be placed in the
lower-thirds of the screen. Note that
the text is not flushed to the left
margin of the image or screen. So, in
this example of 1920 x 1080, while
we keep the height of the image at
1080, the width is kept around 1500.
Also, text should never touch the
bottom of your screen.

Add video to Blender.
Add PNG file of your text.
Should look like this.
Text should be placed over the
video clip.

Version 1.0
Adjust the blend type of effect for
the text. In this example, OVER
DROP works best.
You should be able to read the text
at least 3 times before it
disappears of the screen.
Save your work.

Version 1.0
Add Audio -
Audio can be in the form of Music,
Narration, Sound Effects, Voice-Overs,
etc.
Although there are a few audio
formats that Blender can import, by far
the best option is to import a WAV file.
These WAV files are significantly larger
in files sizes than their MP3
counterparts.
However, MP3 files are already
heavily compressed files and are usually
rendered in Mono. While a WAV file is
robust in harmonics, full dynamic range
and is usually in stereo. Hence, why the
files sizes are so large.
Whatever format you output your
video to, it will go through a compression
phase. Re-compressing and already
heavily compressed audio track will
perhaps ruin your work. Better to start
off with a large format and then
compress it further, if need be.
Note: When working with music, if you
do not own the copyright, you cannot use
the music - at all! Instead, look for
"copyright free" music or music that has
fallen under "public domain" or
"podcasts".
A "podcast" is music created by artists
who are trying their hand at the music
industry and do not have contracts with
any major (or minor) record labels.
It is possible that these artists may
also have a "creative commons" license.
This type of license may give you certain
privledges, however, it is always a good
idea to read the license thoroughly and
give the artist credit where credit is due.

Trim and Edit a Strip -
To TRIM a strip:
Right-click to select the strip you want
to work on. Then again with the right-
click button pressed down, use your
mouse to grab the small triangle at the
beginning or at the end of a strip. Slide
your mouse left and/or right will TRIM
the strip down. When you have reached
the appropriate frame, a simple left-click
with end the trimming.
Why do we TRIM?
Simply to move past an undesireable
scene and get to the place in the video
we want to show the audience.
To EDIT a strip:
Right-click to select the strip you want
to "cut". Place the playhead on the frame
where you want to make the EDIT. On
your keyboard, press "K". You will now
have two strips where one of them may
be deleted.
Since this is non-linear editing or non-
destructive editing, deleting a portion of
a strip does not mean you have ruined
your video if you have made a mistake.
CTRL+Z is the UNDO button. Plus,
grabbing the small arrow at the end of
the video strip, will allow you to extend
the strip to its original form.

Version 1.0
How-To Fade-In & Fade-Out
(Video) -
Fade In:
Use your playhead to note the frame
and the shot you want the video to start
with on-screen. On the right-hand side of
your screen, you will see EDIT STRIP.
In the section that says, BLEND,
select REPLACE. Then, right-click on
the word OPACITY and select INSERT
KEYFRAME.
Now, move your playhead to the
beginning of the clip and go back to
OPACITY.
While on OPACITY, use your mouse,
slide to the left and decrease the
OPACITY down to ZERO. Then, right-
click on the word OPACITY and select
INSERT KEYFRAME.
Note: Though OPACITY indicates its
default is 1.000, this translates to 100%.
Decreasing this number value down to 0
transitions an image from either black or
another image or video.
Fade Out:
Use your playhead to note the frame
and the shot you want the video to end
with on-screen. On the right-hand side of
your screen, you will see EDIT STRIP.
In the section that says, BLEND,
select REPLACE, if its not already.
Then, right-click on the word OPACITY
and select INSERT KEYFRAME.
Move to the end of the clip, slide the
OPACITY bar to the left to reduce its
intensity down to 0, then right-click and
select INSERT KEYFRAME.
(Image) -
Follow the instructions for Video -
remember to have the correct clip
selected before you begin.
Also note that you can stretch out
the image in order to get the fade-in
and fade-out just right.
(Audio) -
Follow the instructions for Video
and for Image - remember to have
the correct clip selected before you
begin.
Also note that you can stretch out
the image in order to get the fade-in
and fade-out just right.

How-To SAVE your Project -
First, click FILE > SAVE AS,
which will take you to a new
interface.
Replace, UNTITLED [only] in
"untitled.blend" with your own file
name.
Then click "Save As Blender File" -
this will give you the extension of
" .blend" after your file name.

Version 1.0
How-To EXPORT your video
Project -
Press, "A" to select ALL of your
tracks (video, audio, graphics,
photos, sound fx, etc.). Now click,
RENDER > RENDER ANIMATION or press
CTRL + F12 to begin the process.
Sit back and let the computer do the work.
Rendering will go through EVERY frame in
your project. While your computer is
rendering, make sure, your system is not
occupied with other work.
Not Rendering? Here are
some tips -
You clicked RENDER ANIMATION,
nothing happened and you got an
error message that reads somewhat
like this: "Error initializing audio
stream".
a) Switch the interface back to the
DEFAULT and check you're AUDIO
codecs. It may be that your video
files may require a different setting
prior to exporting/rendering. Try them
all if you need to.
b) Make sure the OUTPUT you
selected the correct folder to store
your project in.

NOTES:

Eddie Vega
Digital Media Specialist
phone: xxxxxxxxxx
email: eddie.vega@plattsburgh.edu
web: http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/edwin.vega/

Video Editing in Blender Workshop - v.1

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