Will Digital Juice transitions, etc.. work ?

[photo250 Profile Private message]

I just bought PS Producer and learning it, but found www.DigitalJuice.com with a ton of video backgrounds, transitions, animations, etc... and wanted to know if any of you are familiar with Digital Juice and know if those resources will work inside Producer ? I think many people in the real animation/video world use Final Cut Pro or Sony Vegas...but I wanted to stick with Producer since it seems easier to learn and "may" do very similar things as those other 2 more expensive, high end video editors.

Thanks
Paul

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Welcome to the PSE Forum!

Yes, they work just fine. You will need to become familiar with masks to use a number of their products tho. ProShow does not recognize video alpha channels. So, you have to export the alpha channels from the video using the Juicer. I have a large collection of DJ stuff.

I'm pretty certain more than a few have their stuff. DJ recently changed up a whole bunch of stuff. They had, at one time. a slideshow presentation on how to use their stuff with Producer. You'll be hard pressed to find that thing now. Have fun experimenting and learning!

Dale

[photo250 Profile Private message]

Thanks Dale.

Thanks for the reply. I am considering buying into Digital Juice membership so i can have access to more resources, elements, etc... the price is $250 but I dont guess that is too bad when some places sell 1 HD video background for $50-$100. So you would recommend the DJ resources then ?

Thanks for your thoughts.
Paul

[photo250 Profile Private message]

Dale (or others)

I did join Digital Juice and downloaded an "overlay" and separated the alpha layer in the download. In Producer I can drag that overlay into a new slide and I see it playing fine, but it has a solid black area on one side (for something to show through I guess like another image or layer)... but that black area stays solid and I cant get anything to show through. I have tried highlighting that overlay layer and clicking the "mask" and greyscale and transparency and chromekey and nothing seems to work.

HOW or what am I supposed to do to a pre-made video layer that has a solid black area inside it ?

I hate being a beginner !!
Thanks
Paul

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

The concepts in this tutorial should help you do what you want to do. It's definitely dated since it was created in Producer v3.2 and updated in Producer 4.0. However, the masking information is what you should find most relevant.

You will need to set the alpha channel as a grayscale mask got anything to show through. This should mask the corresponding video from which the alpha channel was exported. THAT is when you get the transparent regions from the DJ video.

http://www.photodex.com/share/im42n8/xd8ddmg4

We were all beginners at some time or other. After awhile, some things start making more sense. Eventually, we get comfortable with the stuff we thought was confusing or downright impossible. Then, it's on to learning that there's even more to learn! And so on and so on ....

When some of us first started with this program, there were very few resources available that would help us. Photodex was pretty much a cases of "you're on you're own ... we just provide the tools and it's up to you to figure it out." While that's similar to what they do today, at least the manual and help file have improved and they now have their blog. But, we had the Yahoo forum and this site to help us. That's where other users would share what they discovered about the program. The Yahoo forum became 3 and now only 1 remains. This forum got bigger and is now the main source of help and such. So, we've grown as the program has and the forum here as evolved.

Just take your time and don't rush it. There's more to the program than it looks like. Just when you think you've learned all there is to learn, there's something else you'll discover that you didn't know about. Mostly tho, that's for the advanced users and some of the experts. There are a number of resources from some of the long time users ... check their sites out. Also, there's the Forum Book located in the user created files section. Just take things a step at a time. Ask questions when the going gets a bit tough. That way, instead of increasing your frustration and damaging your forehead as you bonk it on the table, you can find out if what you're trying to do is possible before you get to that point!

Basically, experiment and have fun. It's easier that way ... and before you know it, all this tough stuff you're doing now will seem like a breeze!

Dale