Clip scenes

What it is. A scene that plays a finished video file: a recording from a phone, a piece of an older demo, a logo animation, some footage. It sits on the timeline like any other scene, with narration, captions and dissolves.

Steps

1. Put the video file beside video.ts.

2. Add a scene with clip in place of run or motion:

   {
     id: 'on-site',
     say: 'Here it is on the warehouse floor.',
     clip: 'warehouse.mp4',
   },
   

3. To use part of a file, fill the frame, or keep its sound, use an object:

   {
     id: 'on-site',
     say: 'Here it is on the warehouse floor.',
     clip: { file: 'warehouse.mp4', from: 12, seconds: 6, fit: 'cover', sound: true },
   },
   

   Setting	Default	Meaning
   file	(required)	The video file
   from	0	Start this many seconds into it
   seconds	to the end	Use this many seconds
   fit	contain	contain: the whole picture, inside the frame. cover: fill the frame, cut the overflow
   sound	false	Keep the clip's own sound

4. Render a draft and look:

   bunx showcase make --draft
   

How long the scene lasts

The longer of the two: the part of the clip you use, or the narration with its pauses. If the narration is longer, the clip's last frame holds.

A clip scene may have nothing to say. Set say: '' and it plays for its own length:

{ id: 'logo', say: '', clip: 'logo-sting.mp4' },

Check it worked

The log marks the scene: scene 4/5 on-site @ 23.5 s (clip). In the video the clip dissolves in and out like any other scene, and the captions sit on it.

Good to know

• Sound. With sound: true the clip's sound plays at full level when the scene is silent, and is turned down under the narration when there is some.
• Shapes. A landscape clip in a vertical video is shown whole with dark bars (contain). Use fit: 'cover' to fill the frame, or give the scene formats: ['landscape'] to keep it out of the other shapes.
• Banned names. The kit cannot read what a clip shows. The banned text check does not cover a clip: look at it yourself before using it.
• Rights. Use only footage you may use. The kit bundles none.
• Captions already in the clip. If the file has burned-in captions, they will show under the kit's own. Use a clean file.
• Clip scenes work in a hand-written defineVideo file too.