<h2>Overview of Operations</h2>
<table class="dl">
- <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Session > Open Video</kbd></th>
+ <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Session > Open Video…</kbd></th>
<td>Add/replace a video to/on the timeline</td></tr>
- <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Window > View Monitor</kbd></th>
+ <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Window > Video Monitor</kbd></th>
<td>Open/close external video monitor window</td></tr>
- <tr><th><kbd class="menu">View > Video Monitor > …</kbd></th>
+ <tr><th><kbd class="menu">View > Video Monitor > …</kbd></th>
<td>Various settings of the video monitor</td></tr>
- <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Session > Export > Video</kbd></th>
+ <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Session > Export > Export to Video File…</kbd></th>
<td>Export session and multiplex with video-file</td></tr>
<tr><th><kbd class="mouse">Left</kbd>-drag the video in the timeline</th>
<td>Re-align video and move 'locked' audio-regions along</td></tr>
- <tr><th>Context-menu on the video-timeline: <kbd class="menu"> 'lock'</kbd></th>
+ <tr><th>Context-menu on the video-timeline: <kbd class="optoff">Lock</kbd></th>
<td>Prevent accidental drags</td></tr>
- <tr><th>Audio region context menu: <kbd class="menu">Position > Lock to video</kbd></th>
+ <tr><th>Audio region context menu: <kbd class="menu"><em>Name_Of_The_Region</em> > Position > Lock to video</kbd></th>
<td>Mark audio region(s) to be moved along with the video.</td></tr>
</table>
-<h2>Adding Video</h2>
+<h2>Adding a video</h2>
+
<p>
- Adding video is a two-step process: select a video file, and choose
- import mode and optionally select an audio track to extract.
+ Adding a video is a two-step process: selecting a video file, and choosing
+ import mode and optionally selecting an audio track to extract. Only one video
+ can be present in the session, so opening a video when one is already opened
+ results in replacing the video.
</p>
+
+<h3 class="clear">Launching the video server (optionnal)</h3>
+
+<figure class="right">
+ <img class="mini" src="/images/launch_video_server.png" alt="The Launch Video Server dialog">
+ <figcaption>
+ The Launch Video Server dialog
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<p>
- The first step is rather straight-forward. The panel on the right side
+ Importing a video makes Ardour start the video server automatically. If
+ the <kbd class="option">Show video Server Startup Dialog</kbd> option in the
+ <kbd class="menu">Video</kbd> section of the
+ <a href="@@preferences#preferences-video">preferences</a> is checked, the
+ <kbd class="menu">Launch Video Server</kbd> window is shown, allowing more
+ complex operations, e.g. connecting to a remote video server instead of a local
+ one.
+</p>
+
+<h3 class="clear">Selecting a file</h3>
+
+<figure class="right">
+ <img class="mini" src="/images/set_video_track.png" alt="The video open dialog">
+ <figcaption>
+ The video open dialog
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>
+ This step is rather straight-forward. The panel on the right side
allows to seek through the video and displays basic file information.
- It is also useful to check if the video format/codec is supported:
+ It is also useful to check if the video format/codec is supported.
</p>
-<img src="/images/a3_video_open.png" alt="video-open-dialog" width="300" />
<p>
- The second step analyzes the video file in more detail and offers import options:
+ The lower part of the window shows some options:
+</p>
+<ul>
+ <li><kbd class="option">Open Video Monitor Window</kbd> to automatically show
+ the video monitor (Harvid). This can also be done later by using the
+ <kbd class="menu">Window > Video Monitor</kbd> menu which is binded to
+ <kbd class="mod2">V</kbd> by default.</li>
+ <li><kbd class="option">Adjust Session Framerate to Match Video Framerate</kbd>
+ which can also be set later with the <a href="@@session-properties">Session Properties</a>.
+ Having the session and video framerate at the same value allows their sync not to
+ drift off.</li>
+</ul>
+
+<h3 class="clear">Import options</h3>
+
+<figure class="right">
+ <img class="mini" src="/images/transcode-import_video_file.png" alt="The Transcode/Import Video dialog">
+ <figcaption>
+ The Transcode/Import Video dialog
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>
+ This step analyzes the video file in more detail and offers import options:
</p>
<table class="dl">
- <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Import/Transcode to Session</kbd></th>
+ <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Import/Transcode Video to Session</kbd></th>
<td>This is the default. The video will be imported in a suitable
video format/codec for the timeline and video monitor and saved inside the
session folder. A location other than the session folder can also be
chosen (external disk, or network storage of the video server on a different
- machine).</td></tr>
- <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Reference from Current Location</kbd></th>
+ machine) by using the <kbd class="menu">Output File:</kbd> field.</td></tr>
+ <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Reference from Current Location (Previously Transcoded
+ Files Only)</kbd></th>
<td>Only useful for opening files that were previously encoded (are already
- in a good format/codec). Use with care.</td></tr>
- <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Do not Import Video</kbd></th>
+ in a good format/codec for Ardour). Should be used with care.</td></tr>
+ <tr><th><kbd class="menu">Do not Import Video (Audio Import Only)</kbd></th>
<td>Useful for extracting audio only.</td></tr>
</table>
-<img src="/images/a3_video_import.png" alt="Video Import Dialog" width="300" />
-
<p>
By default the video is imported using the original width/height.
- If it is a large video (e.g. full-HD) it makes sense to scale it down
+ If it is a large video (e.g. Full HD), it makes sense to scale it down
to decrease the CPU load and disk I/O required to decode and play the
- file.<br>
+ file.
+</p>
+<p>
A small, low-quality representation of the image is usually sufficient
for editing soundtracks. The default bitrate in kbit/sec is set to use
- 0.7 bits per pixel. (Compare: the average DVD medium uses 5000 kbit/s;
- at PAL resolution this is about 0.5 bits per pixel. But the DVD is
+ 0.7 bits per pixel (in comparison, the average DVD medium uses 5000 kbit/s;
+ at PAL resolution this is about 0.5 bits per pixel, but the DVD is
using the <dfn>mpeg2</dfn>—a denser compression algorithm than the
- <dfn>mjpeg</dfn> codec used by Ardour.)
+ <dfn>mjpeg</dfn> codec used by Ardour).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ The <kbd class="menu">Extract Audio:</kbd> offers options regarding the Audio
+ part of the stream, allowing to either not extract audio, or to choose which audio
+ stream to add to the session.
+</p>
+<p>
+ When extracting any audio, if it includes <a href="@@timecode-generators-and-slaves">
+ LTC timecodes</a>, those can be extracted and used to sync the video by checking
+ the option below.
</p>
<h2>Working with A/V</h2>
<p>
- Well now,..
+ Working with A/V in Ardour is similar to working in a pure audio setup, except
+ for the presence of a video timeline in the <a href="@@ruler">ruler</a> zone,
+ and a Xjadeo video window, showing a preview of the result.
+</p>
+
+<figure class="center">
+ <img class= "mini" src="/images/video_timeline.png" alt="The Video Timeline">
+ <figcaption>
+ The Video Timeline
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
+<p>
+ The Xjadeo window supports some user interactions, such as showing some OSD
+ information or changing the zoom level. Xjadeo's documentation is available
+ on its <a href="http://xjadeo.sourceforge.net/xjadeo.html#heading8">website</a>.
</p>
-<img src="/images/a3_videotimeline.png" alt="Video Timeline" width="600" />
<h2 id="export">Exporting Video</h2>
+
+<figure class="right">
+ <img class="mini" src="/images/export_video_file.png" alt="The Video Export Dialog">
+ <figcaption>
+ The Video Export Dialog
+ </figcaption>
+</figure>
+
<p>
The video export will take audio from the current Ardour session and
multiplex it with a video file. The soundtrack of the video is taken from
original file (before it was imported into the timeline) should be used.
This is the default behaviour if that file can be found. If not, Ardour
will fall back to the imported proxy-video which is currently in use
- on the timeline. Any existing audio tracks on this video file are stripped.
+ on the timeline. Any existing audio tracks on this video file are stripped.
</p>
<p>
The range selection allows to cut or extend the video. If the session is
</p>
<p>
- Audio samplerate and normalization are options for Ardour's audio exporter.
+ Audio sample rate and normalization are options for Ardour's audio exporter.
The remaining settings are options that are directly passed on to ffmpeg.
</p>
<p>
- The file format is determined by the extension that you choose for it
- (.avi, .mov, .flv, .ogv, .webm,…)
+ The file format is determined by the extension chosen for it
+ (.avi, .mov, .flv, .ogv, .webm,…).
Note: not all combinations of format, codec, and settings produce files
which are according to specifications. For example, flv files require
sample rates of 22.1 kHz or 44.1 kHz, mpeg containers can not
- be used with ac3 audio-codec, etc. If in doubt, use one of the built-in
- presets.
+ be used with AC-3 audio codec, etc. If in doubt, one of the built-in
+ presets should be used.
</p>
-<img src="/images/a3_video_export.png" alt="Video Export Dialog" width="300" />
-
<p>
- Ardour video export is not recommended for mastering! While ffmpeg
+ Ardour's video exporter is not recommended for mastering! While ffmpeg
(which is used by Ardour) can produce high-quality files, this export
- lacks the possibility to tweak many settings. We recommend to use winff,
- devede or dvdauthor to mux & master. Nevertheless this video-export c
- omes in handy to do quick snapshots, intermediates, dailies or online videos.
+ lacks the possibility to tweak many settings. We recommend using
+ <a href="http://www.biggmatt.com/winff/">winff</a>,
+ <a href="http://www.rastersoft.com/programas/devede.html">devede</a> or
+ <a href="http://dvdauthor.sourceforge.net/">dvdauthor</a> to mux and master.
+ Nevertheless this video exporter comes in handy to do quick snapshots,
+ intermediates, dailies or online videos.
</p>
-
projects / ardour-manual / blobdiff