Hi Gang
I'm using MEP15 - I know some versions of video editing software require adjustment/tweaking when you swap out/upgrade a video card. I just picked up a GForce GT710 - driver loaded fine - works fine - but is there any adjustment needed? I work with strickly SD footage. Unfortunately I still get a 'stuttering effect' in the program window which creates a challenge trying to get precise edits. But the rendered footage appears fine.
Thank You!
Within the editing window, there is often a 'stuttering effect' when editing depending on the performance of your system in general. It is not solely dependent on the graphics card but down to other components as well, such as hard drive speeds and the amount of data throughput depending on the processing requirements.
Within MEP in the editing playback screen, you will see a lightning flash symbol in the lower right corner. It should be blue if you are having playback issues and want to see if you can achieve a smoother playback.
Ticking the 'reduce frame rate' can be of benefit or make things worse. Try adding different options one at a time to see what works best for you.
If you still have problems but can work within the limitations then you are correct, it will not impede the quality of the finished rendered file.
Hi Cube Ace
Nice to see you! And thanx for tying to help. Unfortunately I don't have that option (the lightening flash symbol) in MEP15. The HD is a typical 1TB WD 7200 RPM. I'm thinking it could also be my processor rated: i3-2120 CPU 3.30 Ghz? I've got plenty of RAM = 16GB's and the new video card is an inVidia with 1GB. Its not that I'm having any problems with rendering (just the flicker in the tiny viewer).
Thanx again!
The lightning flash symbol was introduced in a later version of MEP than 15, which is now rather old!
I don't have any of the older versions on this machine so can't check this but there was a setting "somewhere" to allow reduced resolution playback, perhaps under the Edit menu? @CarpentersMate if oyu do a search in Help for Reduced Resolution I think you should find it!
HTH
Jeff
Hi
. . . . there was a setting "somewhere" to allow reduced resolution playback . . . .
Based on MEP 14 - I managed to install this on my old Win 10 PC a few days ago - there may be an option in Programs settings, Video/audio tab on the left side under Movie Display you should have options to lower the resolution of the playback.
HTH
John EB
Thank you John EB
I tried your advice - it only helped slightly (if at all)?
What type of SD footage are you editing is it DV-AVI or MPEG2? If it is MPEG you could check the box in Program Settings>Display Options that says Acceleration for high resolution MPEG files. Also make sure Wave Driver is selected in the Playback Tab in Prog. settings. If your footage is progressive then unchecking Automatic Interlacing helps.
I would not have thought that your machine should struggle with SD as it has a reasonably fast albeit only 2 core Processor. Maybe post a screen shot of Task Manager Performance Tab whilst the stuttering is occurring. A shot of the timeline would help also so we can see what tracks and effects are in use.
I do not believe the the hard drive (unless it is a slow USB2 externally connected) makes a jot of difference in MEP if you are working with Compressed formats. Even with 4k footage and effects a 7200rpm drive is just loafing.
Peter
Hi Scenestealer - No No (no USB here) :) I have a 1TB system drive (currently more than adequate). I could switch over to an external 1TB drive but for now would rather not since I'd probably have to RECONNECT all the media ...I'm working with VOB extracts (currently converted as QT files). Perhaps I could change the conversion file type but I wonder if it would make a difference as to Stutter? I've tried using MEP15 for conversion but its way too slow and taxing. Instead I'm using Wondershare:
Thank You!
Hi
I think you misunderstood - External drives can be bottle necks so don't change!
OK, so you said SD, but 720(P?) is actually classified as HD just not Full HD. As far as I can remember MEP15 was not optimised for HD.
Thanks for the Additional info. As you are converting the footage any way, I would encode it as MPEG2 and not in a .mov container, and choose a "standard" bitrate 160kbps or 192kbps not 157kbps as in your screen shot. Experience has shown that non standard BR can cause problems in MEP and I have always felt that .mov material plays a little jerky for some reason.
Peter
Hi again Scenestealer
I want to thank you for all your help. Unless you see other alternatives (improvements), I found a 'work-around' as long as I'm working with VOB's:
I can import and edit in MEP15 adding music and sound effects with mimimum Stutter. Also (it seems) I can additionally export to 1080X720 (giving a slight increase in picture size). In summation I have friends and historians who can enjoy watching these clips with dual player compatibility. And I appreciate the cordiality here! 🤓
Thank You!
Hi
. . . . I'll still need Wondershare for speedy stable conversion but I'll export to VOB with native resolution . . . .
Conversion should not be necessary, MEP15 can handle VOBS directly, if they do cause a slight issue, change the file extension .VOB to .MPG and they will import., and all editing, can be done in MEP15.
. . . . The other missing element with older Magix software is the absence of H264 codec. So it creates the necessity of one last step thru a converter like Wondershare. . . . .
Is h.264 necessary and if so why? Have you tested the mp4 exported video on various devices for compatibility?
. . . . it was a little odd hearing the use of externals 'could' create possible road blocks . . . .
Using external hard drives on your system based on the assumption that it has an IDE hard drive and USB2 ports will give a very significant slow down in MEP15.
The data transfer speed is very slow compared to an internal hard drive - for internal IDE drives, in real world terms, ~ 80 - 100 MB/s, whereas USB2 , in real world terms, ~ 20 - 25 MB/s max, ie ~ 1/4 of the speed of the internal hard drive.
HTH
John EB
John you've been very helpful about many things and I do appreciate it.
Hi
. . . . Its a problem that simply won't go away until one spends the extra money for Pro X or goes thru the extra hoops. . . . .
Had I known in your comment here that you were wanting to export as h.264 HD, I would have recommended you move up to MEP 17 Plus which does support h.264 export in HD (720p) and Full HD (1080p) as shown below
I am puzzled by the Preview files on your website, are they test files that are going to be replaced by mp4 versions?
John EB
Hello again johnbaker and thanks for the update - as I mentioned since H264 has been around since at least 2008, I just assumed MEP15 would already have H264? Take a look at this WONDERFUL project!
Hi
. . . . I have to differ with you if you're comparing MEP15 with Wondershare . . . .
There would be no point in comparing, both programs have different functional objectives so comparison is not necessary.
The rest of your questions I have responded to in your other topic on MEP 17.
HTH
John EB
I wouldn't even consider trying to improve the colour of old film without the help of the measuring instruments available in VPX. I am going through the difficult process of fixing old 8 and Super8 film.
John CB
"I wouldn't even consider trying to improve the colour" That's exactly my point (thanx browj2). I'm not sure why John was puzzled? I tried to explain that's rare 70 year old archival footage (in color) even more obscure and unique. Aside from minor contrast and color adj that's about as good as it gets ...(for the program used).
I think that those old films were originally B&W and have been colourized. Do you have any information about this?
Amongst the many regrets in my life, I did not record one of my uncles many, many years ago, when he described his enlistment in the British army for WWI, and subsequent capture and internment by the Germans. He was underage when he enlisted, and his capture probably saved his life. At least I kept the copy of the family tree that he gave me and have since updated it. But, the stories of folk from way back when are mostly lost. Why did we not think to ask and document these?
John CB
Hi browj - No John - not that content identified as 342-USAF-24845. I'm an independent researcher at NARA. 'Colorized' footage is done by a 3rd party and NARA almost always keeps the original footage. BTW: I've got TONS of footage and that particular piece is over 1 hour long! (very unique silent footage). Mike 😉
Hi
. . . . I'm not sure why John was puzzled? . . .
Now I am puzzled at what I have said that makes me puzzled about the colour correction 😕
To be perfectly clear - the only puzzlement I have stated is over the use of MOV files on your web site instead of MP4.
I do understand the need for the h.264, however MP4 is the 'universal standard' for Internet video, MOV files are virtually obsolete in a Windows environment and for use on websites.
John EB
Does anyone see any difference in the quality of these two files? (any difference at all)? Both are the same file size ...
Don't be concerned with the audio bit rate - I can change that easily ...
http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/VOB-2-MP4.mp4
http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/VOB-QT-2-WS.mov
Hi John.
They Shall Not Grow Old.
Taken from British Imperial War Museum footage, (over 60,000 hours worth was sorted through to choose the best footage.) Mostly it was restored by hand by 400 rotorscope artists working for a company called Stereo D which also does a lot of work for the Marvel and Star Wars films. It took them up to eleven months to complete work on one clip of a few seconds. Each frame had to be gone through one by one. They even had to create frames for better motion as a lot of the film was taken with hand cranked cameras and not to 24fps but closer to 13fps. Some frames were missing and joined so had to be replaced painting additional frames to fit between the frames they had. The reason rotorscope artists were used is that it was originally released in cinemas in 3D. The film was then scanned into 4K video footage. Some automation was done but mainly it dealt with the scanning and producing video for the team to sort through the hours of footage to see what was worth including. I've no idea of the cost but it's unlikely to be repeated on that scale again. Old newsreel footage tended to have a lot of captions and dates and place names which the film maker Peter Jackson didn't want. He wanted the feel of what it was like and not a documentary on the war itself which he felt had already been done adequately enough before. There was a lot more work than that before they even got to that stage, removing dust and broken sprocket holes and stabilising the footage which was mainly cellulose nitrate film and can become inflammable at best over time.
The museum I volunteer my photography skills to is a part of the Greenwich Maritime Museum and associated with Imperial War museum so we get news letters on stuff like this and links to other sites to do with preservation.
There are many projects that use very long winded processes to extract information from old artifacts. We worked on wooden tally sticks from a sunken ships stores from 1749 (HMS Invincible for which we store all of the artifacts recovered from the Solent) on which nothing was visible until we combined images taken at different light wavelengths to show up what was written on them. I've also worked on some 3D imaging that allows an object to be turned around in virtual space on some exhibits just using a compact camera and hundreds of frames. I was only the junior part of that team and general dogsbody at the time as I trained and learnt. We live in interesting times.
Had I known in your comment here that you were wanting to export as h.264 HD, I would have recommended you move up to MEP 17 Plus which does support h.264 export in HD (720p) and Full HD (1080p) as shown below
I still have MEP16 Plus installed and that has H.264 HD export presets but I think MEP17 HD handled it better hence the HD moniker.
I'm sure you're aware when using FC you designate an external Scratch Drive which is dedicated for RENDERING as the system drive is dedicated to the peek performance of the MAIN software. The other externals are organized for Media: Music,Sound Effects, Graphics and more.
I don't think rendering to an external drive is such an issue because the data is being written (only) governed by the speed it is being processed, which is relatively very slow. The issue of access speed would be greater during editing and preview where it may be accessing multiple fies simultaneously if you had all your source files on an external, but I imagine other programs that utilise this separate drive system would be using separate drives for source and rendering. Also as I have said previously highly compressed MPEG2 / 4 files put very low demands on disk throughput and these Professional set ups are often designed to handle pro High bitrate formats and sometimes uncompressed files, utilising high speed SCSI 10, 000rpm or RAID configurations.
it was a little odd hearing the use of externals 'could' create possible road blocks. But I do understand that's simply the case with Magix. It is a shame however considering files could accumulate on your system drive eventually robbing processor speeds.
This is not a weakness of just Magix NLE's, as you could attach high performance peripherals and eliminate data throughput bottlenecks, it applies to all Video Editing setups.
It is a shame however considering files could accumulate on your system drive eventually robbing processor speeds.
Just for correctness for others reading this thread - having everything on your system drive limits the speed of access to your files for processing and has nothing to do with processor speeds as such.
Sir Peter Jackson's WWI restoration was amazing and some of the sequences were so perfect you felt you were watching a recreation.
Peter
"but I think MEP17 HD handled it better hence the HD moniker" I just purchased MEP17 Plus hoping it will eliminate some of those headaches ....
I never answered John EB's question: "the use of MOV files on your web site instead of MP4"
The only reason (at this point) is because MEP15 will not allow me to export to MP4 @ 1080X720. If I export to a QT movie it will. However again I hope this will be rectified with MEP17, (which as you say is optimized for HD)?