Hi! Welcome to this video! Let's see the newest Cyberlink PowerDirector 14
and all you need to know to start with it.
Please, leave us comments to improve our guides in the future.
PowerDirector 14 is one of the best video editing softwares available so
far. When you open it, a dialog box appears showing you different options.
Full Feature Editor is the most advanced and complete one, used to create
the most personalized and professional clips you need. Easy Editor creates
a video starting from the files you import and the template you choose. The
procedure is fully guided step by step.
Express Project is a new feature for the Full Feature Editor we will
see later.
Theme Designer is another new feature used to create clips and sequences by
using ready-made templates. Differently from the Easy Editor, the video is
not created immediately, but simply imported in the Full Feature Editor, in
order to be edited if you need.
Slideshow creator creates slideshows using ready templates, just import
your photos and eventually any soundtrack. Similar to the Easy Editor, the
procedure is fully guided.
All these Themes and Templates can be downloaded freely through the
DirectorZone site, check it out!
Let's see the Full Feature Editor. This is indeed the most complicated one
but also the most powerful tool to create your videos. While opening it,
choose your project's aspect ratio, from the first dialog box.
The Full Feature Editor comes with four main different workspaces, one for
each phase to create your project. Capture is used to record media from
your camera, microphone, any data disk or record your computer screen
itself, using Cyberlink's Screen Recorder. Then, you use the Edit workspace
to import and edit your media to create your video. After this, you go to
Produce to render or extract the final video, ready to be played. And, if
you ever need to burn the video onto Discs, you go to Create Disc.
Let's see now how to create your project from the start. The Edit
workspace is composed by different parts: on top and on the left you have
the Rooms, that collect all media and features inside the software. On the
right, you have the Preview window, used to check how your project is going
on. At the bottom, you have the timeline, where you manage and edit the
content of your project.
Before starting with your project, you have to import inside your sources,
that are all videos, pictures and sound files you will use for your
final video.
The first Room on top of the list is the Media Room, that collects all
sources available and ready to be imported. Use the bar on top to choose
between different sources: in Media Content all pictures, videos and audio;
in Backgrounds and Color Boards basic backgrounds; in My Projects all your
past Projects and, in Express Projects, you can use basic templates that
will be imported inside your timeline below, in order to import directly
your media and start right there.
If you select any media, you can check its preview on the right, using the
Player right below.
In case you miss any of your media inside this Room, you can add those
simply by dragging them inside the Media Room. Just the sources inside the
Media Room can be imported directly on the timeline, dragging them at the
bottom. These will appear in the timeline as rectangle elements called
clips. PowerDirector shows previews on these as well, like thumbnails for
videos and pictures and audio waveforms for sound files.
The timeline is composed by different rows called Tracks: Video Tracks,
indicated by a frame icon on the left, contain video frames, pictures and
text; and Audio Tracks, indicated by a loudspeaker icon, for audio files
and soundtracks.
Videos that have frames and audio do occupy both Video and its
Audio Track below.
Video and Audio Tracks are the most important ones, but there are also
other minor tracks, with different icons on the left, which are not
mandatory to create your project.
Each couple of Video plus Audio Track has a number on the left. This
indicates the position in the Tracks order: if you have clips in different
tracks, and overlapping in time, PowerDirector shows on top the content of
the lower Tracks on the content of the tracks on a higher position. To
change the order, simply click and drag a track up and down from the left.
On the left you can manage each Track easily. The second icon is used to
mute and unmute a Track. This means making its content invisible or
completely silent. The third one locks and unlocks a Track: a locked Track
can't be edited in any way. More on the right, you can check and edit the
Track name. To create new Tracks instead, simply click on the third
icon above.
Let's see how to preview your video. You can zoom in and out the timeline
around the playhead by holding CTRL down and using your mouse wheel.
You can also enlarge Tracks by dragging their borders.
The Preview window shows your project content exactly where the red
playhead is placed in the timeline. You can fix it in time by clicking once
on the timeline, when you see your pointer being a blue clock icon.
You can also click and drag the playhead to check your project frame by
frame with the speed you prefer. You can move clips in time simply dragging
them on the left or right, in the same Track or in another Track. In case
you have videos with audio you will move everything together. You can also
the clip and go to Link/Unlink Video and Audio.
To move and edit more clips together, just click and drag to create a
selection area, and do include all the interested clips to be selected. All
selected files are highlighted in blue.
The Preview window is not used just to preview and playback. You have two
modes you can select at the bottom: Movie is the preview mode you use to
check how your project and clips are going on. You can even take Snapshots
from it pressing CTRL+P, or check all in Fullscreen mode double-clicking
on the Preview. Use Escape key to exit.
If you select the Clip mode instead, you will be able to edit the selected
clip, through some nodes appearing: use the white ones in the corners to
scale, the blue ones to skew and distort; click and drag to move, or rotate
by dragging from the central blue circle.
You can edit clips fully from the timeline. Stretch and shorten clips in
time dragging their extreme edges. You can stretch pictures without
problems, but you can't with videos and audio files, since those have
an ending.
To change the playing speed of a clip, simply hold CTRL down and drag its
edges. You will decrease the speed if you stretch it, you will speed it up
if you shorten it. Differently from before, in this case you can stretch
videos and audio clips without problems. Changing the clip speed is an
effect that will be indicated through an orange i on a corner.
If you want to know how to apply effects and how to add text, check out our
full guide in our channel!
If you right-click on a clip you can cut, copy, paste or delete it from the
timeline. Use CTRL+Z to undo your latest operation if you mistake.
You can split clips in a particular position. Just fix the playhead where
you like, and go to the second button in the top left corner.
You can also crop pictures imported in your timeline. This is used to
remove parts you don't want to show in your project. Select the picture and
go to the third button in the top left corner. The Crop Image window
appears: just move and shape the visible part that you want to keep. All
darker sides will be cut. Just make sure to keep the same aspect ratio
chosen for your project, or blank bars may appear on the image in preview.
You can adjust transparency and volume in clips directly from the timeline.
On the thumbnails, you can notice a thin green line, that represents the
opacity level of such clip. Pull it up and down to edit it: the less is the
opacity level, the more the clip will be transparent. Also in audio
waveforms you have a blue line, that regulates the clip volume, measured
in dB. Drag the points on the extreme edges of such line, or add a new one
on your own, changing the volume in time.
Check out our effects tutorial if you want to know how to apply
changes in time.
When you are done, save and export your project. To save, go to File and
then to Save Project As... PowerDirector .psd projects are used to open
and edit your project in the future.
To export and render your final video, click on the Produce tab. You have
different options above: Standard 2D is used to render your video inside
your computer. Choose the file format on top and its settings below. On the
right, choose the Output Folder and check the final video preview. Your
video will be rendered from the beginning of your timeline to the end of
the last clip imported. Click to Start to start rendering!
Check out our next video to know the best render settings for YouTube.
If you want to render videos in 3D, render by using the settings in
the 3D tab.
If you need video formats for devices, such as tablets and smartphones,
use the Device tab. If you want to directly render and upload your video
on the net, just go to Online instead.
Thanks for watching this video! Check also our guide for Cyberlink
PowerDirector in our channel!