At it's simplest, the editor requires only that you select a valid input file; indicate the path and file name of your target file and then, using the preset default properties, select a file type (MPEG-1, VCD, SVCD or DVD).

The Input File properties  are displayed on the Video and Audio tabs.
By default, all frames within the source video will be saved to the target but you can select a range of frames to produce a trimmed version of the source.
You may also perform more complex actions such as changing the input audio, the audio and/or video codecs or many of the output movies properties. To load a separate audio file, uncheck the box to the left of Use Source Movie's Audio.  The Audio In text box will appear between the Video In and Movie out text boxes as pictured below.

	The standard MPEG file format.
	The VCD format is a subset of the MPEG-1 standard specifically for creating Video CD's to be played back by devices that support the standard.

To keep the frame count of the target clip equal to the source, check the Keep original duration box.

To pop up a list of all installed AVI audio codecs or to set the audio properties for MPEG files, check the Display Audio Codec Dialog box.

To set dithering for 256 colors or less, change the Dithering  dropdown.

To access the advanced MPEG settings, uncheck the box to the left of Use MPEG Presets. Be aware that changing from the presets can produce files that do not comply with the standard. Such files might be rejected by editors, CD/DVD authoring tools and other applications that expect standard format parameters.

When the Use MPEG Presets option is not checked the MPEG Settings tab is enabled.

The default presets will set the size, bitrate, frame rate and other variable properties to the normally accepted standard for the video format that you have selected. If your CD or DVD burning software does not accept the presets you will have to modify the MPEG settings to meet the requirements.

See Understanding File Formats for more.

The Enhancing tab provides low-level image manipulation to brighten, darken, change contrast, gamma, hue and saturation plus special effects to soften, sharpen or enhance edges.

Make broad changes with the sliders then increment or decrement with the arrows and apply. Clicking next to the slider's drag handle will make 5 point changes.

You can also embed text directly on the target file's frames.

Type the text that you want embedded, set the left and top point in pixels, select a color and optional shadow.

If you preview the process during a save the encoding will be slowed somewhat.

If the source file codec fully decodes all frames during conversion you can change the appearance of your target movie by enabling Output File Enhancing. Codecs that interpolate frame images such as DivX or XviD will cause a flicker. To overcome this obstacle you can convert the source to MPEG with no enhancements, then enhance your new MPEG file.

• Brightness - (-100 to 100) Values from -1 to -100 make the movie darker, those from 1 to 100 make it brighter.
• Contrast  - (-100 to 100) Negative values will decrease the contrast within the movie (colors will shift towards gray) while positive values will increase it.
• Gamma - (1 to 500) Values below 100 make the movie darker, values above 1 make it brighter.
• Hue  - Number of degrees (-180..180) to shift colors. This enhancement has no effect on shades of gray including black and white.
• Saturation - Percent of saturation from -100 to 100. Positive values make the colors richer, while negative values reduce the amount of color in the movie. The value of -100 removes all color information and produces grayscale images within the movie.
• Soften - Makes the images within the movie smoother by applying low intensity pixel averaging.
• Sharpen - Increases visibility of details of the images within the movie.
• Edge Enhance - Enhances the edges of objects within movie frames.

Original before enhancing

Brightened, contrast boosted, sharpened

Brightened, contrast boosted, edge enhanced

You can also crop the output to fit pre-selected bounds.

To draw the crop bounding box, click on the frame image then drag the mouse pointer until the hashed area covers the portion of the frame that you wish to keep.

You can drag the bounding box by clicking and holding inside the box. The mouse cursor will change into a size-all cursor when in position.

You can resize the box by positioning your mouse on the top, bottom or either side. The mouse cursor becomes an east-west arrow on the sides and a north-south arrow on the top and bottom.

Cropping will produce a movie of the cropped width and height unless the new movie is stretched.

• When saving as MPEG the cropped file is stretched to match the standard width and height that you choose.
• When saving as AVI the cropped file is stretched to match the source file's width and height. Note that the AVI codec can over-ride the output file dimensions which may cause encoding to fail.

Flip: