CyberLink PowerDirector Help
Click the 
button to open the Particle Room to access a library of effects you can place on a video track to add a particle effect (snow, cloud cover, fire effects, and more) on top of a video or image.
Note: this section outlines the procedures for adding particle effects in timeline mode, as all the program's features are available in this mode. If you prefer to use the storyboard mode, and you find one of the outlined features is not available, you can press the Tab key on your keyboard to switch to timeline mode. |
To insert a particle effect to the timeline, do one of the following:
Note: you can download additional particle effects from the DirectorZone web site. See Downloading from DirectorZone for more information. |
•use the timeline slider to set the position where you want the particle effect, select it in the library, and then click 
to add it to the selected video track.
•use the timeline slider to set the position where you want the particle effect, right-click on it in the library, and then select Add to Timeline to add it to the selected video track.
You can also manually drag and drop a particle effect to a desired position on a video track to add it to the timeline.
Note: hold down the Alt key on your keyboard when moving or resizing particle effects on the timeline to temporarily turn off the snap to feature for smoother clip movement and placement. If you'd like to duplicate a particle effect template on the timeline, hold down the D key on your keyboard and then click and drag your mouse to a new position in the timeline. A duplicate particle effect template will be placed at the new position. |
When adding a particle effect to the timeline (inserting or dragging and dropping), if the timeline slider is over an existing clip, or you drop it on an existing clip, you are prompted to use one of the ripple editing options to insert the clip:
•Overwrite: select to overwrite the existing clip with the particle effect.
•Insert: select to split the clip and insert the particle effect between the two portions. CyberLink PowerDirector also only moves the clips on the same track to the right.
•Insert and Move All Clips: select to split the clip and insert the particle effect between the two portions. CyberLink PowerDirector also moves all of the media clips on the timeline that lie to the right of the inserted clip, right.
•Crossfade: select to lay the particle effect over a portion of the existing clip and auto add a fade transition between the two clips.
Note: the Crossfade option does not overwrite the content on the track, instead adding an overlap transition between the two clips. See Setting Transition Behavior for more information. The Crossfade option is only available if the end of the new clip is not over any existing content on the track. |
•Replace: select to replace a current clip on the timeline with the particle effect. Use this option if you don't want to change the structure of the current content on the timeline.
Note: if the duration of the clip you are replacing is longer or shorter than the particle effect, CyberLink PowerDirector automatically resizes it to fit the original clip's duration. |
If the timeline slider is in a gap between two clips on a timeline track when inserting a particle effect, you are prompted to use this ripple editing option to insert the clip:
•Trim to Fit: select to have CyberLink PowerDirector auto set the duration of the particle effect to fit the gap to the right of the timeline slider.
Once added to the timeline, select the particle effect and then click the Designer button to edit its properties in the Particle Designer. See Modifying Particle Effects in the Particle Designer for more information. For information on setting the amount of time the particle effect appears in your video production, see Setting a Media Clip's Duration.
