Video Playback and Sync

Studio One Professional has a built-in video player that enables you to score to picture by syncing Song and video playback. The following chapter describes how to use this video player in detail.

Video Player Interface

Open the Video Player by clicking on the Video Player icon in the toolbar or by selecting it from the View menu. When first opened, you see a black screen with the text “Movie Not Loaded” displayed. The bottom toolbar contains controls for the video player as follows:

Remove Video Click to remove the currently loaded video.

Extract Audio Click to extract the audio from the video and place it on an audio Track in the arrangement. This will enable the original audio to be part of the Song when the video is exported.

Video Offset Set a value.

Video Options Choose to display the video as Half Size, Default (original) Size, or Double Size.

Stop/Play Click to stop or start video playback independent of the Song.

Online This is engaged by default and enforces sync between the Song timeline and the video playback. Click to disengage if you prefer that the Song and video playback positions not be synced.

Mute This is engaged by default and mutes the audio output from the video. Click to disengage if you want to hear the audio output from the video.

Size Click-and-drag the lower right corner of the video player to freely size the window.

In the upper right corner of the video player, there are buttons to maximize the video player window and to close the video player.

Import Video

The simplest way to import a video file is to drag-and-drop it from the File Browser into the arrangement. Supported video files appear in the browser with a Film Strip icon. You can also use the Import Video menu in the Video Player to import any supported video file.

Drag a video file from the File Browser to the arrangement to import the video file to the Video Player. When doing this, note that the position to which you drag the video is used to set the offset for video playback. For instance, if you drag-and-drop a video to 10 seconds in on the timeline, the offset is set at 10 seconds, and video playback does not begin until that position is reached.

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Hold [Ctrl]/[Cmd] while dragging to only extract the audio from the video and place it in the position to which you drag. Hold [Alt] while dragging to simultaneously import the video file to the Video Player and extract the audio from the video and place it on an audio Track.

Sync to Video

Once the video has been imported, as long as the Online button in the Video Player is engaged, Song and video playback will be in sync.

When you locate the timeline cursor while stopped or during playback, the video adjusts to the correct frame.

When video playback starts, a small amount of data needs to be pre-loaded. Should there be a resulting timing offset between the video and Song playback, Studio One syncs the video during playback. This may cause the picture to jump a little after start, which is normal.

For a smooth start of video playback we recommend that you stop, locate, and then start.

Frame Rates

In common practice, it is good for you to know the frame rate of the video you are working with, and to set that frame rate in the

Song/Song Setup/General menu. You may choose from the thirteen Frame Rates shown above. Ideally, you should have a reference timecode burned into the video itself so that you can compare the Song frame position with the video timecode position and ensure accurate frame sync.

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Using Follow Edit Position with Video

It is common to use markers to denote hitpoints in the video; that is, time positions where the sound should sync closely with the video.

Refer to

Using the Marker Track

for information on how to use markers. When adjusting the position of a marker, it is possible to have the playback position, and thus the current video frame, follow the marker position. To do this, enable Follow Edit Position in the toolbar, next to Follow Song. This helps you accurately place markers to use as hitpoints while viewing the exact frame to which the marker corresponds. Similarly, Follow Edit Position helps when trying to sync Event or Note position with video.

Time Offset to Cursor

Time offset to Cursor allows you to set a time offset relative to the timecode (Frames) and musical (Bars) offsets, which can be reset to zero at any point in your Song, independent of SMPTE.

Time Offset to Cursor requires that your Ruler Timebase is set to “Seconds,” and can be accessed via the contextual menu when rightclicking inside the Ruler. You can also trigger it from a Keyboard Shortcut or Macro by linking either to the Time Offset to Cursor command.

Exporting Video Files

The process of importing a video and extracting its audio track is described in the

Video Playback and Sync

chapter. Extracting the audio from the video file is an important step, because otherwise the audio from the video will not be exported with the Song.

To export the Song to a Video file, select Export Video from the Song menu. Choose a file name and storage location in the pop-up window, and then choose the File Type, Video Codec, and Audio Codec. Note that the codec options are provided by your computer's operating system, and the options could change when an OS update is released.

Next, choose the Export Range. This can be defined by the length of the video, by the Loop points, or by certain Markers within the Song.

Mixdown Options are provided too, such as the preferred Output, Mono export, and whether to include the master effects when the file is rendered. Select Use realtime processing if external devices are part of the mix.

Once those decisions are made, click OK or Save to export. The Video file will be created and given the appropriate file extension.

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