This section leads you step by step, click by mouse click, through a movie creation session using QuickFLIX!. It uses sample files to help you become quickly familiar with the most commonly used commands so you can start making your own movies sooner, rather than later.
This tutorial begins with file handling and movie editing and moves on to special effects like slow motion, color processing and layering.
Opening and Playing a QuickTime movie
• Double click the QuickFLIX! application icon to start QuickFLIX!
QuickFLIX! will display its start up screen.
• Choose Open from the File menu.
• Open the Sample Media folder.
• Select the file named ‘ape’. Click Open.
• Click the play icon to start the movie.
Creating a new QuickFLIX! document
• Choose New from the File menu.
• Enter a name for your new movie such as ‘MyDemo’ and click Save.
This file is not a QuickTime movie, but a QuickFLIX! document. They are different. The QuickFLIX! document stores more information about your movie.
The Storyboard view of your new movie is displayed.
• Drag the Storyboard by its title bar to the right.
• Resize the Storyboard by dragging its resize icon in the lower right of the window.
• Drag the ape movie into the first cell of the Storyboard by dragging the movie frame.
When you click in the movie frame the cursor will change to a drag hand.
• Choose Open in the File menu to open the movies ‘flamingos’ and ‘headturn’.
Drag flamingos into Clip 2 of Scene 1 in your Storyboard and headturn into Clip 3. The box highlight around a clip indicates that the clip is selected.
• Click the Player icon at the left of the ribbon controller in the Storyboard to bring up the Player View of this movie.
• Choose Select All from the Edit menu.
• Click the Play icon to play the movie.
You have constructed a movie. Note that the clips play back based on their position in the Storyboard.
• Double click on any clip in the Storyboard to play the clip directly.
• Choose Save from the File menu.
Save your work regularly.
Changing movie speed and direction
• Click the ape clip in the Storyboard.
• Choose Reverse from the Movie menu.
A new movie will be created that consists of the current movie running backwards. A progress dialog will show you each new frame as it is made.
A preview window containing your processed movie is shown. This movie is stored in a temporary file on your Scratch Disk.
• Drag the player labeled Reverse Preview-1 into Scene 2 Clip 1 of your Storyboard.
• Choose Set Duration from the Movie menu.
• Enter a new length for the movie of 9.0 seconds.
The time is entered in hours: minutes: seconds and frames. So a value of 9.0 is 9 seconds and 0 frames.
• Click OK.
A new movie 9 seconds in length will be generated.
• Play the new clip by clicking the play icon in the Player View.
The movie that use to play in 3 seconds will now play in 9 seconds, creating slow movement.
• Drag this slow motion movie to Scene 3 Clip 1.
Applying a color effect
• Select the flamingo clip in Scene 1 Clip 2.
• Choose Negative from the Effects menu.
• Click Preview.
• Click OK.
• Drag the new movie to Scene 2 Clip 2.
Opening a still image as a movie
• Choose Open from the File menu.
• Select ‘pie chart’ from the Sample Media folder.
• Click Open.
• Enter 3.0 seconds into the Import PICT dialog for the duration of the movie you are creating.
• Click OK.
• Name the new movie ‘pie chart movie.’
• Click Save.
Layering one movie over another with motion
• Control-drag the pie chart movie over the Negative of flamingos in Scene 2 Clip 2.
Control-drag by holding the ctrl key down while dragging with the mouse.
• Drag the marquee off the left side of the movie in the Begin Time frame.
Mouse down on the movie frame with the arrow tool to position the marquee.
• Click the positioning button in the middle of the right side at the End Time.
The nine Quick Position buttons allow you to quickly position a movie to the preset location shown on the button.
• Click the Enable check box to turn keying on.
• Click the eye dropper tool to set a transparency color.
• Click on the white background of the pie chart movie to make it transparent.
• Click Preview.
• Click OK.
• Drag the resulting movie to Scene 3 Clip 2.
Resizing a movie
Open the skyline still image and convert it to a movie the same way you did with the pie chart image with the following commands.
• Choose Open from the File menu.
• Select ‘skyline’ from the Sample Media folder.
• Click Open.
• Enter 3.0 seconds as the duration in the Import PICT dialog.
• Click OK.
• Name the new movie ‘skyline movie’.
• Click Save.
• Drag the skyline movie into Scene 2 Clip 3 of your Storyboard.
• Click Resize to change the size of the movie to that of the Storyboard.
Once resized, place the resulting movie into the Storyboard in Scene 2 Clip 3.
Setting Contrast
• Choose Contrast from the Effects menu.
• Set the upper Contrast sliders to 144 and the lower to 118.
• Click Preview.
• Click OK.
• Drag the Contrast movie into Scene 3 Clip 3 of your Storyboard.
Layering two clips with no motion
• Select two clips for layering.
First select the contrast movie in Scene 3 Clip 3 by clicking it. Then select the original ‘headturn’ clip in Scene 1 Clip 3 by Shift-clicking it. Both clips will be outlined indicating they are selected.
• Choose Layer from the Effects menu.
• Press the Reset button.
• Check the Enable box to turn keying on.
• Select the eye dropper tool.
• Click on the white sky to set it transparent.
• Click Preview.
• Click OK.
• Drag the Layered movie to Scene 4 Clip 4.
Saving your work
• Choose Save from the File menu.
Save your work regularly while editing.
Composing with the Storyboard
A Movie IN A Movie IN A Movie is still a Movie.
You have created the separate clips for the first part of your movie. Next you will place them in order in a single scene and save them out as a separate QuickTime movie.
• Option-drag Scene 1 Clip 1 (original ape clip) to Scene 4 Clip 1.
Option drag by holding down the option key while dragging with the mouse. The clip you drag will be copied to the new Storyboard cell.
• Option-drag Scene 3 Clip 1 (slow motion reversed ape clip) to Scene 4 Clip 2.
• Option-drag Scene 3 Clip 2 (pie chart layered over flamingos) to Scene 4 Clip 3.
Scene 4 now contains the four clips that make up part one of your movie.
• Select Scene 4 by clicking the Scene 4 row label.
You can also Shift-click the four clips in Scene 4 separately.
• Click the Player icon in the ribbon controller of the Storyboard to display the Player view of your movie.
You can also choose Show Player from the Windows menu.
• Click the play button.
The Player will play your selection, which is the four clips in Scene 4 of your movie.
Saving a selection
• Choose Save As from the File menu.
• Select Self-contained QuickTime movie in the File Format Pop-up.
A self-contained movie contains all the media, sound and video, required to play the movie.
• Check Save Selection Only.
Only the part of your movie currently selected will be saved into the new movie.
• Name your movie ‘My Demo Part One’.
• Click Save.
A message will notify you that QuickFLIX! is making your movie self-contained to a new file. Self-contained means that all media required for your movie will be written to the new file and no references to other files will remain. This can, therefore, be easily copied to floppy disk or to other machines across a network.
• Click the play icon to play your movie.
Closing windows
• Click the close box on open windows to clear your desktop.
Click Save if you are prompted to save or discard any files.
Learning more about QuickFLIX!
In this tutorial you have opened and played QuickTime movies, used the Storyboard to put several movies together to create a longer movie, read in PICT files to create backgrounds and added special effects to complete your first QuickFLIX! movie.
For more information please refer to the Index in the back of the manual for assistance on any particular command and to the Reference section for more detailed coverage of movie making with QuickFLIX! An additional Tutorial sequence which covers editing video material to remove unwanted parts and adding transitions and music is also provided in the manual.
