Converting graphics for realtime photo montages

You can easily convert any of your graphics to single-frame AVI clips on Matrox RT2500, such as to create a realtime video photo montage of your still images with Adobe Premiere. While you can't create a realtime dissolve between two graphics, you can create one between two AVI clips. You can drag the borders of your single-frame AVI clips on the Timeline to make them as long or as short as you want, which allows you to easily set the pace of your photo montage sequence.

In this tutorial, we'll use Adobe Premiere's Batch Processing feature to convert your still images into single-frame AVI clips. Your stills can be any size or any format that is supported by Adobe Premiere, such as BMP, JPEG, or TGA. Keep in mind that if your images are not full-screen, such as 720x480 on an NTSC system, the images will appear distorted (stretched or squeezed) in order to conform to the correct video resolution.

1. Save your images
   Place the images you save into a common folder. It doesn't matter what image format you use.
2. Set the duration of still images
   Start Adobe Premiere and choose Edit > Preferences > General and Still Image. Under Still Image, set Default Duration to 1 frame, then click OK. By doing this, the Batch Processor will create 1-frame AVIs from your images.
3. Open Batch Processing
   Choose Project > Utilities > Batch Processing to open the Batch Processing dialog box
4. Add your images
   Click the Add button, then select the graphics you want to convert to AVI clips. To convert all files in the folder where you saved your images, simply select that folder, then click the Select 'foldername' button at the bottom of the Batch Processing dialog box. This will open the Export Movie Settings dialog box.
5. Configure export settings
   In the Export Movie Settings dialog box, make sure Microsoft DV AVI is selected as the File Type. Since you do not need audio, clear the Export Audio check box and click OK.
6. Run the Batch Processor
   In the Batch Processing dialog box, click Make and choose whether you want to export the entire Batch Processing list (Make all sources in list), or simply export selected files (Make selected sources only). Click OK.
7. Import and edit the single-frame AVI clips in the Timeline
   Once the Batch Processing is complete, import the single-frame AVI clips into your project and edit them in real time as you would with any video clip. You can add realtime transitions between two single-frame AVI clips to create a dramatic photo montage sequence. The ability to set the duration of a single-frame AVI clip to whatever length you want by simply stretching it on the Timeline, is one of the unique features of Matrox RT2500.

Expert tip	You can use Matrox MediaTools to grab TGA images or capture single-frame AVI clips directly from your video camera.