Picture-in-picture effects

With a picture-in-picture effect, also called insert, a smaller picture is positioned in front of or above a larger background picture. The following picture-in-picture effects can be implemented via the keyframe control and via screen fields:

• Static image at a fixed location in front of background  ...the small picture is at a fixed location in front of a background image or video.  Show example.
  Further info

  Depending on your individual plans, the following two options make sense: For individual placement of pictures use a combined control track for positioning for the object. See Motion: Position - Zoom - Rotation. If several pictures of a sequence are always to be displayed at the same size and location, use a new screen field, which you position accordingly and link up with a track. All the objects you place on this track will automatically appear at the desired location. See items 1 to 7 further below in this topic at Insert with Screen field clipping.

• Image is moving in front of the background  ...the small image is moving in front of the background image and may also change in size. Show example.
  Further info.

  For this variant you need a minimum of two key frames with smaller picture sizes and different locations. Information on how to do this can be found under .Motion: Position - Zoom - Rotation.

• Static insert at a fixed location in front of some background picture with the image changing  ...the small picture is located in front of a background picture with only the insert content changing in size and position, with the size and location of the insert, however remaining fixed. Show example. See Insert with screen field clipping in this topic.

• Insert and image can be changed  ...the small picture is located in front of a background picture with the image content changing and the insert content changing in size and location. Show example. See Insert with screen field clipping in this topic.

• Several inserts arranged in a matrix  ...several small images are arranged in front of a background image. For this purpose create several screen fields arranged in a matrix, i.e. three horizontal and three vertical screen fields. See Arranging several screen fields in a matrix.

Insert with screen field clipping

In this case the location of the insert is static whereas size and position of the image can change, i.e. this corresponds to a camera movement within an insert.

1. First of all, add a new screen field. In the Media Pool click on the plus sign next to category Screens and highlight the corresponding screen below it for the contents to be shown.

2. Right-click the corresponding screen and select Add field. Following this, a new screen field is created.

3. Link the new screen field for the insert with the corresponding tracks by right-clicking a track head, selecting Properties and specifying the new screen field under Field. See also Picture tracks and video tracks.

4. Usually, the screen field for the insert is created at the same size as the screen. In column Aspect ratio enter the format for the insert, e.g. enter 4/3 for 4 : 3. After confirming with Enter quotient 1.33 will be displayed.

5. Now enter the size of the insert screen field. Open the screen window and move the Locator to a position where an image or a video is to be output on the screen field to be adjusted. Important: The object whose picture is displayed on the screen for adjustment purposes must not have a control track for size, position and rotation!

6. In the Media Pool right-click the previously defined screen field and select Position + Size and a dialog will appear.

7. In this dialog reduce the screen field for the insert, which is displayed by a pink frame, to the desired size. To do so, grab one of the small squares in the corners with the mouse and drag it. Grabbing the square in the centre allows shifting of the whole screen field. As an alternative, you can also enter numerical values. The modifications will immediately become visible in the screen window. Finish by clicking on OK.

8. Right-click the object to be displayed as insert and select Properties.

9. There is only one option for screen field clipping, which can be enabled by placing a checkmark next to them::

10. Enable screen field clipping combined with Lock clip area  ...the insert is not modified; the parameters affect the image only.

10. After making the corresponding settings, close all dialogs by clicking OK.

• If the image is smaller than the insert screen field, it looks as though the insert screen field was smaller. This, however, is not the case. To check this, you can have the screen field frames on the screen displayed. See Displaying screen field frames.

• Whether screen field clipping is to be enabled automatically for new picture objects can be selected in the Options. This is very useful for designing a number of inserts with individual clipping areas or for camera movements in stereo shows. See Options - Project Options - Pictures.

• You can add auxiliary lines in the screen and snap objects to them. See  Auxiliary lines in the screen.

• You can now choose whether new objects are to be created with control tracks for keyframes or not. See Objects - Global Options - Objects.

• The keyframes of the objects usually refer to the screen, i.e. they have absolute character. However, you can also use relative keyframes referring to the screen field. If you move the screen field or change its size, all objects with a control track for size and position output to this screen field are also modified in terms of size and position. See Properties of Picture tracks, Text tracks or Video tracks.