Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Step Five:
There's something very cool you need to
know about trimming your video clips: it
doesn't permanently trim your video—it's
non-destructive, so the original is always
protected. The trimming is applied to a
copy when you export the file (more on
exporting later), so while that exported
video will be trimmed (and what you see
in Lightroom will be trimmed, as well), you
can always come back to the original video
clip anytime and pull those trim handles
right back out (as shown here).
Step Six:
Okay, let's look at another handy feature:
Have you ever had a friend upload a video
they made to YouTube, and when you see
the thumbnail for that video, you see them
in mid-sentence with their mouth gaping
open? Not the most flattering look, right?
That's because the thumbnail is chosen
randomly from a frame a few seconds into
the video clip itself (if it chose the first
frame, and the video faded in from black,
the thumbnail would be black, which
doesn't help identify the video clip, right?).
Well, in Lightroom, you actually get to
choose which individual frame becomes
your thumbnail (called a “poster frame”
in video speak). Being able to choose your
poster frame is especially handy if you
have four or five similar-looking clips—you
can choose thumbnails that show which
video has which important part in it (you
don't just see it here in Lightroom, that
thumbnail goes with it when you export
it outside of Lightroom, too). To choose
your custom thumbnail, first find the
section of the video that has a frame
you'd like as your thumbnail, then go to
the control bar, click-and-hold on the
Frame button (the little rectangle icon to
the left of the Trim Video button) and
choose
Set Poster Frame
(as shown here)
and now your video clip will have that
current image as your thumbnail.
