Playing Video Backwards with Pinnacle

Peter writes, "I have captured some video and now I would like to play it backwards and insert it into a film to give the appearance of catching a knife when in fact I threw it. How can I do it? I have Videowave II and Pinnacle Studio, neither of which seem to be able to do this. Do I need extra software?"

To the best of my knowledge, even the newest version of Videowave still lacks support for playing film clips in reverse. The latest version of Pinnacle Studio does support playing video clips backward, although the way you get there is a not intuitive. I'll also show you another way to play your video backward using AVISynth and VirtualDubMod to make a reverse clip compatible with any video editor.

Playing a Clip Backward with Pinnacle Studio

With the clip you want to play backward on the timeline selected, open the Video Toolbox Effects lists by choosing Toolbox > Add Video Effects. (You can also do this by clicking the video camera icon above the timeline and then clicking the power plug icon, but the menu gets you there faster)

In the Standard RTFX category of Video Effects, choose Speed and click OK.

On the Speed effect configuration, check the box next to Reverse. You can speed up or slow down the reverse playback by changing the Speed percentage.

Your video should now play backward on the timeline.

Read how to play a video backwards using AVISynth and VirtualDubMod. (This method works for any video editor, including Windows Movie Maker and Roxio Easy Media Creator).