I have tried Merge with 16.0.0.50, but is stubbornly wanting a non-dissolving version ;)
For the sake of clarity I will use the term "MultiZoom" instead of Merge (which btw afaik is not a common video editing term either).
I beleive Madness, Ice, and many others with us have imagined a MultiZoom effect where one video from a multiview setup is made more/less prominent. That is either zoomed to full frame, or largest and in front. Typical use cases include:
- sports casts, like athletichs, with before the effect you have video from four sources (eg sprint, triple jump, discus, and high jump) and you effect zoom into one (eg sprint), going to full frame.
- skype interviews, before the effect a double box with interviewer and the skype participants, and zoom into the latter full frame, after a while zooms back to a double box, and then into the interviewer.
- news coverage, with the news anchor's camera next to a live coverage, zoom into the latter, and so forth.
I have personally never condidered overlapping video frames, nor a dissolve effect, in a Merge. Although I look forward to see what I can do with that. But so far, it does not look "right".
To answer Madness, how I did it the way we want it. I created two identical Multiviews, and then modified one of them to full frame zoom of the layer I wanted to be full frame. Then Merged from one of the Multview to the other Multiview. Actually, for a double box (two videos side by side on a common background, you need three Multivew inputs. One for both, one for left box full frame, and one for right box full frame. Furthermore, for one of the latter you need to flip the layers so that the one going into full frame is at the top layer. Otherwise it will be obscured during the zoom (sorry, the dissolve as a fix just looks bad). One issue here is that it is challenging for the operator to quickly distinguish between the "single source" input, and the Multiview with that input full frame on top. Both inputs look the same...
It would be much easier if it was possible to MultiZoom in/out between a single source Input (eg a camera) and a Multiview, using only one Multiview (instead of three). Pondering about this for a couple of days, I summarize how I think this could be done.
If going from/to a single source to/from a multiview, temporarily make that single source the top layer (make sure it is not obscured by other layers during the transition). On completition, assign it's layer as defined in the Multiview.
Leave Inputs in Output that does not exist in Preview as they are, until the transition is complete, then remove non matching Inputs. And for Inputs in Preview that does not exist in Output, these would be cut in, at the very start of the Merge. It is up to the user to make sure that non-matching inputs are layered correctly, eg under merging layers. (And as aboe, for single sources its layer is put on top automatically).
Not sure if it would be best with a MultiZoom transition AND a Merge transition. Or just one, with the option "Dissolve non-matching layers".
Another extremely useful addition would be a "Duplicate" (or "Clone") button in settings for Multiviews. As far as I have been able to imagine, Merge/MultiZoom between Multiviews is based on two or more very similar Multiview inputs. It is painstaking to manually create the second (and third, and fourth...). Much easier if you create the first, with lets say three layers. Then duplicate it and make the desired alterations in the duplicate.
