The Main Asset Behavior (located under Group settings, by clicking the Main Asset Lane) is a collection of settings that control position, animation, and scale of the main asset chosen for the group.
A basic concept that you need to be aware of is that Video Studio always scales your image to the most efficient fit for the format chosen. We'll always make sure it fills the format. So, you will always get some basic start scale happening, unless your asset exactly corresponds with the storyboard format. We will address the issue of asset scale further down.
The settings are grouped in the basic settings and then a section with properties that you can show with the "Properties" toggle. Let's go through the settings and what they control.
Basic scaling
As mentioned, in Video Studio we always make sure that your asset fills the frame in the most efficient way. This is the concept of how that initial scaling works for assets of different ratios over the different formats in Video Studio.
X-position
Align your main asset left, center or right. If an asset is of the same format as the storyboard (for instance a square asset on a 1:1 storyboard), this control won't make any difference unless you apply animation, in which case the position (both X and Y) will be the starting point for the animation movement. So the same animation choice will have different outcomes due to the position.
Y-position
Align your main asset top, center or bottom. If an asset is of the same format as the storyboard (for instance a square asset on a 1:1 storyboard), this control won't make any difference unless you apply animation, in which case the position (both X and Y) will be the starting point for the animation movement. So the same animation choice will have different outcomes due to position settings.
Animation
From the dropdown menu, you can select an animation to use on your asset. If you want to apply animation on a video asset, you will have to activate that by checking the "Animate Video Asset" checkbox beneath the Animation dropdown.
Animation choices (Default: Scale & Wiggle)
No animation:
Applies no animation to the main asset. It will hold the position that is set in X- and Y-position and – if applicable – the Asset Scale that is set in Properties. Note, though, that the "Rotate" function you can activate also works in conjunction with "No animation". So you could have a rotation on the asset while it retains its position.
Scale & Wiggle
Applies a scale-up and a slight wiggle effect.
The scale part of the animation defaults to scaling max 130% from the Asset Scale and a max scaling speed of 1% unit per second. This means that for a 7-second long group the asset will scale to 107% of its start scale with a speed of 1% unit per second. It also means that for a 45-second group the asset will scale to 130% of its start scale with a speed of 0,67% unit per second (that is 30/45).
You can set a higher max scale, and you can also force the scaling to reach its max scale regardless of the length of the group. These settings reside under "Properties".
All scale based animations also react to X- and Y-position, which means that the scale movement will move from the set positions. So if an asset has Left and Top position, the scale will seemingly move down and right, to keep that top left corner position intact.
Scale up
Applies a scale-up effect from the chosen start scale.
The scale defaults to scaling max 130% from the Asset Scale and a max scaling speed of 1% unit per second. This means that for a 7-second long group the asset will scale to 107% of its start scale with a speed of 1% unit per second. It also means that for a 45-second group the asset will scale to 130% of its start scale with a speed of 0,67% unit per second (that is 30/45).
You can set a higher max scale, and you can also force the scaling to reach its max scale regardless of the length of the group. These settings reside under ”Properties".
All scale based animations also react to X- and Y-position, which means that the scale movement will move from the set positions. So if an asset has Left and Top position, the scale will seemingly move down and right, to keep that top left corner position intact.
Scale down
Applies a scale-down animation from a calculated or forced end scale value.
Per default, the scale it will start at is either 130% of the Asset Scale if the group is 30 seconds or longer – or based on the scale speed of 1% unit per second if it's shorter. So a 7-second group will start at 107% of the start scale as default.
You can set a higher max scale, and you can also force the scaling to start at its max scale regardless of the length of the group. These settings reside under "Properties".
All scale based animations also react to X- and Y-position, which means that the scale movement will move from the set positions. So if an asset has Left and Top position, the scale-down will seemingly move down and right, to keep that top left corner position intact.
Pan
Applies a horizontal or vertical panning movement of the asset based on the X- and Y-position. The pan moves, so to speak, in the opposite direction from the position. So if the asset is placed Left the pan animation will, by default, move the asset all the way over to the other side – which would be a right alignment. And the same logic applies to other positions.
Note: If your position is Center on either X- or Y-position no pan will be applied since we can't calculate in what direction that animation would go. But, there still is a way to create a pan that moves from the center position to either edge. Read more on that further below – under Pan Start Position and Pan End Position – when we get into "Properties".
Rotate (Default: Off)
The checkbox for Rotate applies a clockwise rotation to all animation options above. Per default, this rotation is set to 3 degrees and starts from 0 degrees rotation. You can change the rotation settings under "Properties" if you need to.
Note: When rotating an asset, regardless of which animation you have chosen, the rotation will also apply a scale on the asset to make sure that it always fills the format. This "rotation scale" can in extreme cases of rotation actually counter-act your chosen animation in certain parts of the animation. This is not necessarily bad since it can create cool animations. Use your preview rendering to check that out.
Animate Video Asset (Default: Off)
Position settings are active per default on all assets – but if you want to animate video assets (this is automatically detected in the system), you need to check this checkbox.
Properties
Nestled under "Properties" are many options that let you finetune how your asset behaves during the group duration. These settings are always active, even if the "Properties" toggle is set to "Hidden".
This is what the different settings do.
Asset Scale (Default 100%) – No preview
With Asset Scale, you can apply a scale-up on the asset already from the start and also when using No Animation. This means that you can scale the asset up from the basic scaling that Video Studio does automatically – if you would need to. This could come in handy when you have smaller issues with the position in regards to text or when you are re-using older video assets that have graphics or text burned-in, that you then could "crop out" of the frame.
When changing Asset Scale this becomes the new baseline for Scale Up and Scale Down – and with it the Max Scale setting. So, if you set your Asset Scale to 110% and then apply a Scale Up to 120%, it means that you have scaled your asset to 132% from the automatic scale-fit (1,2x110=132). So bear that in mind, that these are composite figures.
Flip Asset Horizontally (Default: Off) – No preview
With this checkbox, you can flip your asset horizontally to mirror it along the x-axis.
Flip Asset Vertically (Default: Off) – No preview
With this checkbox, you can flip your asset vertically to mirror it along the y-axis.
Animation Bounce (Default Off)
Animation Bounce is a "ping pong" behavior that makes your chosen animation go all the way and then back to its original position during the group duration. Check this control to make your animation bounce.
Animation Bounce Position (Default 50)
You can set the relative point at which the animation "bounces" and turns around by setting its position. So when the slider is at 50, that means that the time is equally divided in each direction. But if you set it at 10, that means that the first part of the bounce takes 10% of the group duration and the second part 90%. So it's a useful way to control your animations and create unique looks.
Max Scale Settings
Max Scale (Default: 130%)
The Max Scale setting lets you set the maximum asset scale for a scale animation of any kind. As mentioned in the part about the different scale animations the default setting is 130% and that if the Max Scale is not forced (more on this below) the animation will move at a scale speed of 1% unit per second if the animation length (group length) is less or equal in seconds to the scale parameter – so with the default setting that applies to all groups that are 30 seconds or less.
The Max Scale setting is always in play and affects the scale animation whether it is forced or not.
Force Max Scale (Default: Off)
This setting forces scale animations to reach the setting for Max Scale regardless of the length of the group, which allows you to create dramatic scale-animations and override the default scale speed. Read above regarding "Max Scale" for more information.
Here are a few examples of how these settings affect animation.
Example 1: Default (Leave the "Max Scale" at 130% and "Force Max Scale": Off)
If you have a group that is less or equal to 30 seconds the scale animation will move at a speed of 1% unit per second. So if the group is 15 seconds long the scale at the end of the group will be 115%, and the scale speed will have been 1% unit per second. If the group is 45 seconds long the scale at the end of the group will be 130%, and the scale speed will have been 0,67% units per second.
Example 2: Default with Force Max Scale (Leave the Max Scale at 130% and "Force Max Scale": On)
In this example, the scale animation will go to (or from in the case of Scale Down) 130% regardless of the length of the group. So if you have a 15-second long group the scale at the end of the group will be 130%, and the scale speed will have been 2% units per second. And if you have a 5-second long group, it will reach 130% with a scale speed of 6% units per second.
Example 3: Lower Max Scale without Force (Max Scale at 110% and"Force Max Scale": Off)
In this example, you are lowering the max scale, which does not affect the scale speed if the group is less or equal than 10 seconds long. But for longer groups, it then changes the scale speed. So if your group is 30 seconds long the scale at the end of the group will be 110% with a scale speed of 0.33% units per second.
With the combination of Max Scale and Force Max Scale, you can create a lot of different scaling behaviors to suit your storytelling and assets.
Pan Position Settings
The Pan Start/End Position works in conjunction with the Pan animation. We outline in the segment on Pan how that works, and that the pan will have a direction depending on the settings under the X- and Y-position settings. So an image that can pan horizontally (along the x-axis) and is positioned Right will then pan to the left, and vice versa.
Pan Start Position (Default: 0): No preview
Pan Start Position controls where in that movement the pan will start, and therefore is another way of positioning the asset from the outset in a group. The default setting is 0, which means that the asset will start "where it is placed," meaning that it has completed 0% of the pan at the start of the group.
Pan End Position (Default: 100): No preview
Pan End Position controls where in that movement the pan will end so you can control how far the pan goes. The default setting is 100, which means that the asset will complete the whole pan from one edge to the other.
This means that with these settings you can control precisely what part of the image the pan will be active for. Here are a couple of examples of what you can achieve:
Example 1: Panning from the center
If you set your Pan Start Position to 50 and the Pan End Position to 100, it means that the asset will start "halfway through" a pan and in effect be a "pan from center."
Example 2: Pan to center
If you set your Pan Start Position to 0 and the Pan End Position to 50, it means that the asset will stop "halfway through" a pan and in effect be a "pan to center."
Example 3: Cherry pick your range
With these settings, you can hone in on a particular part of an asset and still create an attractive animation. So you could focus more or less on a point of interest in the asset – and also use that in conjunction with the Start Scale setting. So perhaps "finding" a particular person in a group shot with a maxed out Start Scale and a very narrow pan range (the difference between the Pan Start Position and Pan End Position) can be useful.
Note: You can have a Pan Start Position that is greater than the Pan End Position, and this will also work – but it means that the pan animation will change direction. So if you set X-position to Left and have Pan Start Position at 60 and Pan End Position at 30 it means the same as if you have X-position Right, Pan Start Position at 30 and Pan End Position at 60.
Rotation Settings
With these rotation settings, you can control the behavior of the Rotate motion that you enable by checking the Rotate checkbox.
Rotation Start Angle (Default 0): No preview
This setting controls the position for the rotation start. The range is -90 degrees to 90 degrees.
Rotation End Angle (Default 3): No preview
This setting controls the position for the rotation start. The range is -90 degrees to 90 degrees.
Rotation Bounce (Default: Off)
Rotation Bounce is a "ping pong" behavior that makes the rotation go all the way to the Rotation End Angle and then back to the Rotation Start Angle during the group duration.
Rotation Bounce Position Default: 50
You can set the relative point at which the rotation "bounces" and turns around by setting its position. So when the slider is at 50, that means that the time is equally divided in each direction of the rotation.
But if you set it at 10, that means that the first part of the bounce takes 10% of the group duration and the second part 90%. Note that this Bounce setting is independent of the one for the main animation, which means that you have a lot of flexibility to play with.