Feature Request: Video overlay track

Former Member
Former Member
Greetings, as agreed I'm opening a thread for the feature request for a video overlay track. Or in other words, a "transparent" video track with only the gauges, to be used with other editing software. Ideally this track can be exported by itself, without exporting the video as well (currently on version 3 the .png overlays are exported after the video has been exported, but can't be exclusively exported)

Out of curiosity, here's my set up:
1 Virb Elite (my main camera with integrated GPS tracks)
2 extra Virbs for more angles (no gps tracks here)

Here's the use case:
I make videos with different angles and I use overlays only on specific parts of the video (start to finish of my activity, but not during preparation of my activity).
Since there are different angles, to keep the gauges in place for all angles, or to make a miniature of another angle in a corner is not possible with virb edit. Since it's a more "pro" feature I need to export things from virb edit and use it in Final Cut Pro X for instance. The .png overlay is insufficient as it takes too long, takes too much space and crashes the application (my videos are 2:20hrs long which would result in 252.000 png files if the application didn't crash - it'd still be unusable).

Here are the benefits:
Video compression ought to be much faster, and the end result fairily smaller (for the overlay track). - If it's exported exclusively without the rest of the video.
Easily importing that track into other editing software can provide a great level of flexibility on when those gauges should appear.

Thank you in advance, all comment are appreciated!
  • Hello shaolao,

    I don´t really understand your problem. You´d like to export a video, just to have the gauges. Then overlay that video in a different video cutting application?
    Why not editing the video with a 3rd party program, the use Virb Edit to overlay the Gauges onto the finished video? Currently it´s not working properly with 3.0.1. But in next version it´s announced, that videos will be usable from different cameras / different cutting software.
    Then, you´ll have exactly the same result, but still got timing difficulties, if the edited video(s) weren´t exactly as long as the GPX.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 10 years ago
    Hello shaolao,

    I don´t really understand your problem. You´d like to export a video, just to have the gauges. Then overlay that video in a different video cutting application?
    Why not editing the video with a 3rd party program, the use Virb Edit to overlay the Gauges onto the finished video? Currently it´s not working properly with 3.0.1. But in next version it´s announced, that videos will be usable from different cameras / different cutting software.
    Then, you´ll have exactly the same result, but still got timing difficulties, if the edited video(s) weren´t exactly as long as the GPX.



    Hey HerrRiebmann, the deal is that the finished video will have overlays only in specific parts of the video. On some prespectives it makes sense, on others not so much. On certain periods it's important and useful, and others not so much. Indeed that's what I'm doing today and the result is far from great. Plus everytime I encode the video I lose a bit of quality. I do 3 conversions in total, and I can clearly see the loss. I do an export without overlays, do a color correction, then export it. Then off to virb edit to do one with overlays, then i go back to final cut pro and expose the overlay periods that I want. It's less than ideal. And with different prespectives it's lost.

    3.0.1 introduced png overlays however like I explained they are unusable for my purpose, but pretty much exist to solve this problem. I think a better approach and far more manegeable would be to have the video overlay exported and in final cut I just need to assign a transparency. and expose the overlay over any perspective whenever necessary.
  • @shaolao

    I want to make sure I'm not jumping to any conclusions here: The overlay export video wouldn't truly be transparent, but the intended transparency would be indicated by a key color, correct?
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 10 years ago
    @shaolao

    I want to make sure I'm not jumping to any conclusions here: The overlay export video wouldn't truly be transparent, but the intended transparency would be indicated by a key color, correct?


    Yes CVarley, it'd be keyed. :)