Introduction

MediaEditor 3 (ME3) was designed with a new interface and a new host of features to provide the highest quality display content design software available to date. The graphical user interface makes creating dynamic movie files simple with features such as timeline effects, popup menus, and frame templates. ME3 is both powerful and simplistic, requiring a short learning curve to transition from basic movies to utilizing advanced concepts.

About This Manual

This manual is designed as a quick start to using MediaEditor 3 and is written with the assumption that the user has basic computer knowledge of common file operations and mouse operation. Reference descriptions, tutorials and advanced tips throughout the manual. The following items are used throughout the manual and are provided to give a visual reference to either software of specialized information. A button image is to show which performs the action in the instruction The right mouse menu icon means to click the right mouse button over the described item and select from a pop-up menu This icon means double click the left mouse button over the describe item.

Items in this font are File Paths

Information in this format is an advanced tip to give ideas on how to use different features of the software or to provide a simplified method of completing a task

Installed with the software are all the files needed for the tutorials in this manual. These files are located in the Tutorials folder of the MediaEditor 3 installation directory.

The Interface
The ME3 interface is broken down into three sub-sections, each progressing through the movie creation process. Beginning with the files section to create a new movie, or open an existing movie for modification, to the edit section for detailed editing of each frame contained in the movie, and finally the frames section for adding frames and transitions before exporting the final movie.

Page 1 of 13

Each section of the interface has common items such as the standard menu, process tabs, and Common Tasks Menu area. One can quickly navigate through the different sections of the interface by selecting the appropriate process tab.

Files Section
The files section is the point at which the interface begins. The Task Launch area provides buttons to begin a new movie, open a movie, import a movie, or save a movie. The Recent Movies area provides a list of the most recent movies opened for quick access to modify an existing movie. The common tasks menu also provides selections for these items in addition to exporting a movie to AVI file format.

Edit Section
The edit section of ME3 is where the bulk of the movie creation process will occur. This section of the software provides all the tools necessary to layout, each frame by creating shapes, adding text, images and video. The Common Tasks menu provides selections for cut, copy, paste, adding or deleting frames and exporting of frames, sprites or effects for future use. The advanced tools area provides an effects timeline to animate the objects in the frame, or access exported templates, objects and custom effects that were previously exported. In addition, a real mode preview is available to see how each frame will actually look in the Page 2 of 13

final output. Due to the complexity of the edit section all features will be discussed in the following sections of the manual.

Frames Section
The frames section of the software provides a frame by frame overview of the current movie and allows for the assignment of slide transitions. The Common Tasks Menu provides selections manage frames such as add, insert, delete, export, cut, copy and paste. The currently selected frame is outlined in red, and is the frame that will be affected by the Common Tasks menu selection. Selecting from the available transition types in the Transition Area will provide an animated preview of the transitions. Frame transitions can be assigned by dragging the transition preview to the assigned transition area for each frame.

Advanced Tips

Double clicking on any frame opens that frame in the editing section Multiple images can be drag and dropped from a file browser into the Frame Preview area to quickly create multiple frames. The Random slide transition in the special types allows the software to randomly assign frame transitions.

General Topics
The Color Palette

The color palette sets the solid fill color of any selected object by clicking on the color well. Colors for outline, shadow, and fill can also be set by clicking and dragging the color over the appropriate object toolbar button. When using gradient fills colors can be dropped on each half of the fill style button to set color 1 and color 2 for the gradient. Alternative palettes can be selected by choosing from the palette selection drop down menu. There are four custom palettes that allow for custom colors to be selected and used during the current ME3 session. To add a color to the custom palette simply right mouse click on the color well and select the color from the pop-up dialog box. The new color will then replace the current color in the well and can be used by simply clicking on the color well to set fills.When working Page 3 of 13

with a grayscale display the color palette will only display the colors available for grayscale displays for example only shades of red, and it is highly recommended to use the grayscale palette.

Opacity
The opacity of any objects fill, outline or shadow can be adjusted by selecting Opacity from the appropriate object toolbar buttons menu and selecting the percentage of opacity desired.
Advanced Tips Use Opacity to create color filters over an object or to highlight a text object. Use Opacity and Pattern Fill styles to create image effects.

Outlines
The outline of any object can be set by using the outline button on the object toolbar. To add and outline to an object select thickness and the number of pixels from the outlines buttons menu. To change the color of the outline select color from the button menu or drag and drop a color from the palette on the outline button. To remove and outline from an object select no outline from the buttons menu.

Shadows
A shadow can be added to any object. The shadow can be toggled on and off by simply selecting the object and clicking the shadow button on the object toolbar. The color for the shadow can be set either by dragging and dropping a color on the shadow button or by accessing the shadow buttons menu and selecting color. The shadow position can be adjusted from the shadow buttons menu and selecting offset. Adjusting the horizontal and vertical sliders will adjust the shadows position.

Creating Templates
Templates will allow for different portions of a message or a frame to be exported for reuse later. For example one could create a Frame Template for a standard announcement that is desired to be reused commonly in different movies. By choosing Export Frame from the Common Tasks Menu in the Edit Section, the frame would be exported. When exported all of the objects and effects are saved, then by simply clicking on the frame template from the advanced tools area the frame can be added to any movie. Export Sprite saves the currently selected object to be exported to the templates area. Export Effects saves the effects timeline of the currently selected object to be exported. Using templates will save time when designing movies as the effects, objects, and frames that took minutes to make the first time can be applied with a single click. Experiment with the example templates provided with ME3

Page 4 of 13

Advanced Tips Templates can be sorted by using the check boxes at the top of the templates area to show only certain template types or combinations thereof. Create reusable animated backgrounds with Frame templates Export complex Animation Effects to create a custom effects library

Tutorial One
Creating Movies The Basics
The following tutorial will start by creating a basic movie that contains basic shapes, images, video, and text. Proceeding through this tutorial will familiarize one with the basic operation and process of ME3. The example created in this tutorial will be further modified in future tutorials to contain special effects, transitions and introduce more advanced topics. Begin by opening the ME3 software, by clicking on the program icon on the desktop or selecting from the windows start menu. In the Files Section, click new movie. The new movie dialog box will appear for the movie size and type to be selected. For this example use the following settings. Sign Width: 128 Sign Height: 96 Sign Type: RGB Full Color After these settings have been made, click the OK Button. ME3 automatically switches to the edit section, to begin creating the movie. Zoom in by clicking the magnifying glass with the plus symbol, until the frame almost fills the editing window. Add a rectangle to the frame by clicking on the Add Rectangle button on the object toolbar. If any other shape is listed or shown select the triangle on the right of the button to access the pop-up menu and select Basic Shapes then Rectangle
Advanced Tips Tooltips appear whenever the mouse pointer is placed over any of the object toolbar buttons describing the function of that button. Any object toolbar button that has a triangle beside it, has an additional advanced options menu that can be accessed by clicking on the triangle.

Page 5 of 13

Click on the shadow button to toggle the drop shadow off of the newly created rectangle. Right mouse click on the rectangle and select Size then Fit Frame from the pop-up menu. The rectangle should now cover the entire frame. Click the triangle on the right hand side of the fill style button to access the pop-up menu and select fill effects. The fill effects dialog box will appear, if it does not appear make sure the rectangle object is selected and repeat step 5. Click on the color square in the top of the dialog box, a color dialog box will appear. Select a medium blue and click OK. In the Direction area of the fill effects dialog box, select from corner, and then from Variants area select so that the blue is in the lower left hand corner and click OK.

Example 1

To add text, click the Add Wordart Button. A text box will appear in the frame and the Text Edit Tab in the advanced tools area will be automatically selected.
Advanced Tips There are multiple fill styles such as textures, patterns, picture and video. All objects in ME3 are capable of using the different fill styles. Try using a video fill on a Word Art Object or add use a texture fill on a rectangle for a dynamic background. Use the Shapes tool to add to the graphic design of the frame.

Page 6 of 13

Example 2

Resize the Text box by clicking and dragging the handles in the corner of the bounding box so that the box is approximately of the frame height and width. Set the font from the drop down list in the text area to Arial, click on the button to bold the text, and set the justification to center. Edit the text in the text edit area to read: Welcome to With the object still selected, click on the white square in the color palette to apply a white fill to the text. Click the Add Rectangle button on the object toolbar to add a rectangle to the frame. Adjust the settings in the properties sheet to match the example to the left. Using the property sheet to set values provides exact control of the size and position of the rectangle. All values are in pixels with the frame 0,0 coordinate being the upper left corner. With the rectangle still selected click Copy on the Common Tasks Menu. Then click paste to paste an exact copy of the rectangle.
Note the paste command places the object in the exact position of the copied object.

In the property sheet adjust the value for top to 88. The first frame is now complete and should look like the example above. If not work with the software until a close facsimile to the example is ready.

Page 7 of 13

The Second Frame

In the common tasks menu click Add Frame. A new frame will appear in the Frame Selection area. Click the newly added frame to begin editing. Begin by setting the frame background color. To do so locate the item listed Bkcolor in the property sheet on the right hand side of the screen. Click the button at the end of the line to open the drop down list. Click the tab titled Web and select Royal Blue towards the bottom of the list.

Click the add image button on the object toolbar.

An Import Image dialog box will appear. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Optec Displays\Mediaeditor3\Tutorial\Images. Open the file called ME3 Splash.JPG Turn off the shadow. Right mouse click and select Position, Center on Frame from the popup menu. The logo will be centered on the frame. Save your work by clicking the file menu and save. A Save File dialog box will appear. Save the file as Tutorial One.me3. Select Frame 1 in the frame selection area by clicking on it.

Click the Play button on the preview controls to see a real mode preview of the movie.
Advanced Tips ME3 supports image file types of JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF, and TIFF. JPEG images can be found using the image search at many Search Engines like www.google.com . PNG images can have transparent backgrounds. PNG images can be created in Microsoft Office Programs using Word Art or auto shapes.

Watch the movie for a couple of cycles and notice that the frame transitions change every cycle. This is because ME3 automatically selects a random transition mode by default. Page 8 of 13

Adding Transitions and Exporting the Movie

To finalize the movie frame transitions need to be set and the movie exported to a standard format. To begin finalizing the movie click on the Frames process tab to begin setting the frame transitions.

Example 3

Once in the frames section you will see that there are two frames and each frame is assigned a random transition. From the transition types list at the bottom of the screen select Pushes` Click and drag the Push Left transition from the transition preview area to the assigned transition area for frame 1 Assign the Expands from Middle transition to Frame 2 from the transition style Expands Save the movie and return to the edit section by clicking on the Edit process tab and preview the movie. Return to the frames area and select Export Movie from the Common Tasks Menu An Export Video dialog box will appear Click Export. After the progress meter reaches 100% click the Close button.

Page 9 of 13

The movie has been exported as an AVI file. This video can now be scheduled for the display using the UserEnd scheduler software included on the installation CD. The movie file can also be viewed in any Media Software that supports AVI playback such as Windows Media Player. The following concepts should have been understood from this tutorial
Beginning a New Movie Adding Shapes Adding Text Applying Fills and Fill Effects Turning the Drop Shadow On and Off Using the property sheet Copy and Pasting Objects Adding Frames Adding Images Adding Frame Transitions Saving the movie and Exporting the movie

If these concepts are not completely understood it is recommended to review this tutorial. If necessary practice these concepts before continuing to the next section.

Tutorial 2
Adding Some Excitement
Building upon the previous session this tutorial will teach the concepts of adding video and animation effects to the message that was created in tutorial one. Begin by selecting the Frames process tab and selecting Open Movie Open the file
C:\Program Files\Optec Displays\Mediaeditor3\Tutorial\Movies\Tutorial One- Complete.me3

The software will automatically move to the frames process tab, after opening the file. Select Frame 2 then in the Common Tasks Menu click on Add Frame A new frame will appear, double-click on that frame to begin editing the frame in the edit section. Click the Add Video button from the object toolbar. Select the video Abstract 5. AVI from
C:\Program Files\Optec Displays\Mediaeditor3\Tutorial\Videos\Abstract 5.AVI

Page 10 of 13

The Import Video dialog box will appear. Click the Import button to begin the import process. After the progress bar has reached 100% then click Exit

Since the imported video is larger than the display it needs to be resized to fit the window. With the video object selected click the Shadow button on the object toolbar to turn the shadow off. Right mouse click over the video object and select Size and then Fit Frame. The video should now fit in the frame completely. Add a word art object to the frame using the Arial Black font. Adjust the size, position, and color to match the example.

Preview the Frame. During the playback of the video notice that the text is somewhat difficult to read due to the amount of red in the background, this can be corrected by changing the color of the text or providing an outline on the text to separate it from the background. With the Word Art object selected click on the outline buttons menu access on the object toolbar and select Thickness and 1 pixel. From the color palette click and drag the white color well over the outline button to set the outline color. From the File Menu choose Save As Save the movie as Tutorial Two.me3

Page 11 of 13

Advanced Tips ME3 can import AVI and MPEG videos. ME3 will automatically rewind and repeat the video for the duration of the frame. Using short videos that have a seamless transition allows for small file sizes with dynamic results

Adding Animation Effects

Throughout the tutorials there have been many different objects were created, those objects can be animated applying effects to the individual objects. To begin select frame one from the frame selection area. In the advanced tools area select the timeline tab Select the top rectangle in the frame Double click the Move In button on the right side of the timeline. A red bar will appear beside Shape 7 on the timeline. Right mouse click on the red bar and select copy from the pop-up menu. Right mouse click on the Shape 8 timeline bar and select paste from the pop-up menu. Example 4 Click on the Shape 8 timeline bar to select it, and change the direction in the property sheet to Right to Left the time line Preview the frame. You will notice the rectangles now move in to the frame from opposite sides. Based on the timeline settings the rectangles begin to animate immediately after the frame transition occurs and lasts for one second.
Advanced Tips The duration for each effect can be adjusted by moving the mouse over the end of the effect bar and clicking and dragging to the desired length or by adjusting the duration in the property sheet. The start time for each effect can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the effect bar on the timeline or by setting the start time in the property sheet. Multiple effects can be assigned to a single object to create complex effects.

Page 12 of 13

Select the Word Art object and add scale in, rotate, and fade out effects to the objects timeline. Adjust the settings for the effects to match the example below.

Example 5

On Frames 1 and 2, experiment with the effects on the objects, change the properties, durations and start times to see what each effect or combinations of effects do. Remember to preview the frame after each change is made to gain an understanding of the settings. When satisfied with the results continue on. The video object imported into frame 3 earlier in this tutorial is actually longer than the duration of the frame. In order to see the entire video clip the frame duration must be extended. In Frame 3 of the movie, click in the edit window away from the frame itself. Change the duration on the property sheet to 7 Add animation effects to the objects in frame 3 and save the movie and preview the entire movie. Open the movie named Tutorial Two Complete.me3
C:\Program Files\Optec Displays\Mediaeditor3\Tutorial\Movies\Tutorial Two - Complete.me3

Preview the movie visualize the possibilities of the animation effects. Review the effect settings to understand how different combinations and settings can create complex animations. The following concepts should have been understood from this tutorial Opening an existing movie for editing Adding video Adding Outlines Drag and Drop Colors Adding Animation Effects

Conclusion
At this point an entire movie with frame transitions, objects and animation effects can be created and exported for use on the display. The Quick Start Manual is provided to give a basic understanding of the movie design process using MediaEditor 3. To unlock the true power of the software requires practice and experimentation. The foundation has been provided take time to work with the software and become familiar with the process, review the examples provided in this manual, and most of all be creative and have fun.

Page 13 of 13