Creating a video

How do I get started?

The first thing to do is to select a theme for your video. Then you'll enter the video editing interface, which will look at first like an open canvas with buttons at the top. The open canvas has two parts: the top part is where you can add audio elements to your movie. The larger part below is the video timeline, where you can add images, pictures, maps and texts to be shown in your movie. In the video editing interface, start by adding images and videos to your video timeline, by clicking on the Add Images button in the menu at the top.

How long will my video be?

The video will show all the elements in your video timeline (pictures, video clips, text slides, maps, transitions) in the order they are inserted. Once this is done the video will stop, even if the background music has not finished playing (the audio will fade out).
The total duration of the video is the sum of the durations of each element and transitions - not the duration of the music.
We tell you the approximate duration of your video as you are making it in the editor: look for the video project duration at the bottom of the screen.
The maximum duration of videos made on Stupeflix is 20 minutes. Free videos are limited to 1 minute.

How do I change the properties for an element?

Different elements have different properties. For a map, for instance, properties are the address shown, the zoom level and the duration. For a text slide, it's the text displayed and the duration. There are two ways to change properties for an element. The fastest way is to double-click on the element. Another way is to open the menu for an element, then select the Edit option.

How do I add multiple audio tracks to my video?

Each video can have two audio tracks which will start playing at the same time. An audio track can be a song chosen from our library, or a song or voice-over file uploaded from your computer, or text spoken by a computer voice (Text to Speech).
Power tip: You can drag and drop an audio file (green element) on top of a text slide, to synchronize a sound or recorded voice with a title slide.

Can I have two songs play one after another?

This is unfortunately not possible. If you add two songs to your movie project, they will start playing at the same time... which you probably don't want.
If you really want to have 2 songs play one after another, you can use this workaround: open up a 3rd-party sound editing software and create a new MP3 file by importing and queuing the songs you want. If you don't have sound editing software on your computer you can use Aviary Audio Editor right in your browser.

How can I add text to my video? How long can it be?

There are two ways you can add text to your movie. You can either create a Title Slide that will appear on its own, between photos, or you can add a Caption on top of photos.
To add a Title Slide, click on Add More... in the top-right corner of the editor.
To add a Caption, roll your mouse pointer over the picture you want to add a text to, click the down pointing arrow that appears and choose the Add Text option.
The amount of text that can be displayed in a Title Slide or Caption depends on the theme you chose. We recommend keeping texts as short as possible: people do not watch videos to read!

How do I add a map to my video?

To insert a map (courtesy of Google Maps) in your movie, click on the Add More button in the top menu and select the Map option. This will bring a small window where you can enter the address that the map will be centered around. You don't have to enter an accurate street address, as Google recognizes businesses names, places and abbreviations, like "Rainbow Grocery, sf" or "Eiffel Tower". You can also adjust the zoom level by dragging the small grey lever in the bottom-right corner of the map, and moving it left or right. Once a map is inserted in your movie, you can change the address and zoom level by double-clicking on it, or clicking in the small arrow that appear when your mouse is over the map.

How can I change for how long a photo is shown in the video?

You can set a custom duration to display a photo, map or text slide for exactly how long you want. To do that, double-click on the photo (or map, or Text Slide), and tick the checkbox that says Custom duration. You can now set for exactly how long this element will be shown in your video. To fine tune things to the tenth of second you can enter decimal values.

How can I trim a video clip I've uploaded in Stupeflix?

To trim a video clip, just double-click the thumbnail of your video in the timeline. This will open up a window where you can play the clip and define where your video should start and stop playing. Just drag and drop the yellow borders of the film strip. It can take a few moments for the video player and the film strip to appear in the window, as we need to do some processing to make it happen.

How do I use the computer voice / text to speech?

In the top menu, click on Add Audio and select the option Text to Speech. Now you can type in the text you want the computer to speak in your movie. There are two voices available: Julie and Paul both speak US English. You can also change the volume for the Text-to-speech.
Power tip: You can drag and drop a Text-to-speech (purple element) on top of a Title Slide, to synchronize the voice with a title slide.

How can I change transitions between elements?

Transitions are a great way to structure your video, or to force a photo to appear by itself. To manually add transitions between elements, use the Add More button in the top-right corner of the editor and choose Custom Transitions. There are currently 4 custom transitions available: Fade to Black, Crossfade, Blur and Sharp Cut. Try them all!
In your video timeline, transitions will be represented by a small square between the visual elements (pictures, videos and so on). To change an existing custom transition, double-click on the small square.

How do I remix / change a video I have already exported?

To make changes to an exported video, go to the page where you can play your exported video, and select the Edit as a new project option that's right under your video. Doing this will not change your exported video project, but will open a new video project in the editor using the exported video as the starting point. If you make another export, it won't delete or change the original export.

How can I make my video slower, or faster?

You can change the overall speed of your videos by setting how long you want photos to be shown. By default each photo - or map or text slide - will be shown for about 5 seconds. You can give your video a faster pace with 3 seconds per photo, or a slower pace with 7 seconds per photo. Here's how to change it: on the right side of the grey bar above your timeline, there's a little icon that looks like a gear wheel. Click it and you'll see the setting for your movie. Under Pace, you can choose between Slow, Normal and Fast.

Where are the Top 10 and Celebrate themes?

Top 10 and Celebrate were the two themes that were the least used by our users. We decided to discontinue these two themes when we added Blueprint and Unreel. More exciting new themes will soon come to the Studio!