Can someone tell me how to move a video on the timeline?

[Michael Richards]

I have tried everything I can think of. Can't seem to reset the start time. They always start at the very beginning.

Michael

[Larry Jones]

I stopped trying to do this five years ago, after a week of frustrated attempts. CbB may have "fixed" this issue since then, but if so I don't know about it. (Fixed is in quotes because, after all, CbB is not meant for video editing, so the developers probably don't think it needs to have more video capabilities.) I would advise using a video editing program, and bringing the audio in there from CbB. When you get your video editing done and synced to the audio, render it from there.

Good luck!

EDITED TO ADD: If you're wanting to create music, dialog, FX to the picture, @Lord Tim's suggestion is the way to go, but your workflow won't be the most efficient.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Larry Jones

[Michael Richards]

51 minutes ago, Lord Tim said:

No, this is still as it was since the Media Foundation Engine was introduced, unfortunately.

By the sounds of it, it's not an easy fix and would need a fair overhaul with how it's currently implemented. Hopefully they get onto that sometime after Sonar is properly underway.

Thank  you, Lord. I really want to learn how to score a movie and want to start with short video clips. I think this is the only music skill I didn't learn in music school. I really don't want to make the expensive move to Cubase so I can try my hand at this. I really don't think Sonar will have this capability, though I am holding out for it. I would think they know almost all of the competition offers decent video scoring.

[Jimbo 88]

4 hours ago, Michael Richards said:

Thank  you, Lord. I really want to learn how to score a movie and want to start with short video clips. I think this is the only music skill I didn't learn in music school. I really don't want to make the expensive move to Cubase so I can try my hand at this. I really don't think Sonar will have this capability, though I am holding out for it. I would think they know almost all of the competition offers decent video scoring.

So take some advice from an old man with a storied history of scoring to picture...and I've done the lion's share in Cakewalk.  Cakewalk's capabilities for scoring as they stand are fine,  more than fine.

People will argue with me about this, but I have the royalty checks and I don't need to debate this the slightest.  If you want to make $ scoring to picture, you need to be prepared to do some editing.  Just a fact. So get a simple video editing program and learn the basics.  It might just save your life.   No matter what DAW you use, there are formats and codecs that work better in that DAW.  Editors and clients will send you all different formats.  Find what works best and render every cut you get in your DAW's preferred format.  When you have a sample to send back to the client for approval, or you want to create a video...do it using the video app not the DAW.  I've outputted video files from Cubase, CbB and ProTools. Sometimes the client can view them, sometimes not.  When i export out of my video app there is never a problem.  CbB renders audio files quickly and more efficiently than video.

You want the picture to start later?  Slide it in your video app to where you want it to start.  I'll admit, this feature is available in Cubase and other DAW's, but that is the only small advantage.  And I would warn you not to do that in the DAW.  Spend a thousand hours working under deadlines and you will find out why.

OLD MAN RANT!

PS.  Want to look like a pro?  When sending  samples to clients for approval, put your name and version number on a title card at the start of your video.  Include Time code for referencing...that is all

[Michael Richards]

2 hours ago, Jimbo 88 said:

So take some advice from an old man with a storied history of scoring to picture...and I've done the lion's share in Cakewalk.  Cakewalk's capabilities for scoring as they stand are fine,  more than fine.

People will argue with me about this, but I have the royalty checks and I don't need to debate this the slightest.  If you want to make $ scoring to picture, you need to be prepared to do some editing.  Just a fact. So get a simple video editing program and learn the basics.  It might just save your life.   No matter what DAW you use, there are formats and codecs that work better in that DAW.  Editors and clients will send you all different formats.  Find what works best and render every cut you get in your DAW's preferred format.  When you have a sample to send back to the client for approval, or you want to create a video...do it using the video app not the DAW.  I've outputted video files from Cubase, CbB and ProTools. Sometimes the client can view them, sometimes not.  When i export out of my video app there is never a problem.  CbB renders audio files quickly and more efficiently than video.

You want the picture to start later?  Slide it in your video app to where you want it to start.  I'll admit, this feature is available in Cubase and other DAW's, but that is the only small advantage.  And I would warn you not to do that in the DAW.  Spend a thousand hours working under deadlines and you will find out why.

OLD MAN RANT!

PS.  Want to look like a pro?  When sending  samples to clients for approval, put your name and version number on a title card at the start of your video.  Include Time code for referencing...that is all

Jimbo88, that is excellent and hard earned information. It also gives me hope. I can’t believe you have scored so much to picture in Cakewalk. That’s the best news I have learned in a long time.

Michael

[Andres Medina]

I would add:

• If you opt to use an external editor, one way to go is:
  • just add 5 secs of blank video before frame 1 - export the video  (MP4- H264 codec works great inside CW even at high resolution) 
  • Import the video in CW
  • Now you know that your video starts at precisely 00.00.05.00 SMPTE. 
  • You need to set up a tempo for your music. Doing this will change the measure-beat relation to the video, and probably won't match your compositional needs. If so:
  • Insert your desired initial music tempo 1 or 2 measures before your video starts, and draw tempo changes in the tempo view before this initial tempo. This will change the position of your measures vs the video. (this takes time, but once you understand how it works, it's not that difficult)
• All of the above is really a tedious/long workflow for something that should be as easy as "drag your video to the point you want it in the timeline"
• Studio One already has this ability, so I guess it's something that can definitely be done.
• I would LOVE to see this basic feature in the new Sonar!!

 

[Helios.G]

I am not a professional arranger by any stretch, but for scoring Davinci Resolve is what I go to. It's got a daw built in, and it's editing features for video are pro level. Me personally, I'll never leave sonar/cakewalk, unless it dies again, but for video/film I don't touch it. Oh, also, davinci has a free version that is full functional, with the exception of some fancy effects plugins for video. Which in your scenario shouldn't be a problem.  Just my 2 cents, good luck.

[Helios.G]

6 hours ago, Lord Tim said:

Resolve doesn't do a lot of of MIDI and soft synths and routing that CbB allows you to do, unfortunately, so if you're serious about scoring to picture (as opposed to mixing to picture, which Resolve is more than capable of doing a professional job) then you'd need a dedicated DAW of some kind.

There are a few shortcomings with video in CbB at the moment that I've brought up with the devs and it's on their radar, but I doubt we'll see anything like that soon since the focus is on rolling out the final CbB and bringing the first Sonar online with the new UI, which is a massive job in itself. Hopefully we see some love in that area in the future though.

But yes, until then, Andres and Jimbo have excellent advice. It can certainly be done (I mixed short film about 2 or 3 weeks back, in fact) but you have to deal with the workarounds.  

Yeah Tim, I think I conflated mixing to picture with scoring in this case. My bad.

[Michael Richards]

I say, after Sonar is released Lord Tim , Jimbo, and Andres should head up some subcategory for film scoring in Cakewalk. I am sure there are many others in our forum that have a serious interest in this. I am amazed by how many people started out, like me, with Cakewalk on floppy disks. People usually evolve, their interests expand, and moving into film composition is a very natural transition. We probably lose a lot of composers who can't get over these hurtles that we have been discussing and move to a program like Cubase. That's a shame and also a business loss.

Michael

[Michael Richards]

I've seen most of Guy Michelmore's videos. Funny guy with what seems to be a wonderful career. He's happy, therefore not using Cakewalk to score video games.

I just started using the free version of DaVinci Resolve and can't seem go get one of their export formats to work. As Andres said, I've tried all their MP4- H264 codecs. Nothing works. I did get some free-for-a-day software (either Vimeo or Filmora) and was able to convert an iPhone video to an mp4 h264 and it worked. I just didn't like them and figured Resolve would be better. 

Anybody using Resolve and exporting successfully into Cakewalk? If so, what am I doing wrong?

Michael