Hi Mark

Can you include the top bar and left side of the timeline as in the image I posted please.

Thanks

John EB

Like this?

Hi Mark

Thanks for the image - that looks fine.

I have just had VPX (and Movie Edit Pro) crash with a project containing 2 timelines each holding a 55 min long video.

At the moment I do not know the cause, however the files on the timeline were .ts files, not mp4 as in your case, the audio did not import and I lost audio playback on other video files.

Whether the 2 issues are connected I do not know, however I am rebuilding the projects with new files to test.

John EB

Progressing (albeit slowly) here. But playback is stuttering badly and making accurate editing impossible. The same project played back smoothly before I moved it across and back again. I have ticked the lightning symbol. Any other selections that are essential to smooth 4k playback?

Hi Mark

. . . .I have ticked the lightning symbol. . . . .

Check that the two options below are checked - right click the Lightning symbol to get to them.

If you are using proxy files, ensure that the third item is also checked.

If you are not using proxy files then you have to consider whether to press on as you are or create them, however do be aware that:

1. they will take a long while to create for the entire project
2. they take up a lot of hard drive space as they are less compressed, and at least 2x bigger than the original file

Given your deadline and the the gigabytes of video files, if you are not already using proxy files then I would advise against creating them.

HTH

John EB

Alas, all were already ticked!

Believe it or not, I have a 90-minute movie on Blu-Ray. It's not the finished article; I spotted some errors when we watched it on our TV. But these should be simple to put right, and I know now that we have the means to burn Blu-rays. I took your advice (followed it carefully) and, hey presto, a result. So, guys, thanks for your advice and patience. I appreciate it. The film will now be screened at our local cinema, and we are hoping for a full house.P.S. I want to move a scene. Is there a way of creating a gap, however small, in a project? i.e. how do I split the film across all the timelines at the same point? I have been through the manual and found nothing.

Thanks again.

Hi

. . . . how do I split the film across all the timelines at the same point? . . . .

I presume you mean make a cut through all tracks at a particular point and all objects on all tracks are cut at once.

Ensure no clips, audio, images etc are selected, position the timeline cursor where you want to make the cut and press the T key.

All objects on all tracks at that point will be cut.

The hard part is getting the objects to the right of the cut to move together - change mouse mode to Mouse mode for all tracks (keyboard shortcut 7) and drag the object on track 1 immediately after the cut to the right to create the gap, everything to the right and below will then move in unison.

Switch back to Mouse mode for single object (6 key) while inserting new object(s) then back to Mouse mode for all tracks (7 key ) to close up the gap again dragging the object that was immediately after the cut used to create the gap.

Please to hear you have finally got a disc done and good luck with the showing.

HTH

John EB

Hi Mark,

Glad to hear you have made serious progress now 🙂

I just quickly put together a demo so you can see the insert being done, hope it helps.

Roger

Hi Roger.

That is seriously helpful. Thank you so much. Easy when you know how!

Proceeds from the screenings are going to charity, so your kind help is benefitting many people.

Mark

Hi Mark,

Glad to be of help 🙂

Were you intending to keep one of the new PCs or have one built for future use? If so, we can help you set it up from scratch stage by stage, without you having the pressure to get a project out quickly and running into the difficulties and frustrations you had on this one.

Roger

Hi Roger. The first two PCs were, I am certain, faulty. If things go wrong when you are merely setting up a computer, I see no point in wasting time trying to put things right. The third PC has struggled as much as my old one. So, yes, I am considering something built from scratch (although someone who is in the film urged me to buy an Apple Mac). One concern is the price quoted just to upgrade my old PC - more than £800. How much would a new one set me back?!?

Your offer of help is much appreciated and I will take you up on it.

Am about to resume work on the film: I opened it this morning before 10am and it has still not finished creating proxies.

Hi Mark

. . . . I opened it this morning before 10am and it has still not finished creating proxies. . . . .

Creating proxies means one of 3 things has occurred:

1. Proxy files were not being used and the option has now been turned on in the project settings.
    
2. Proxy files were being used and have been deleted.
    
3. Proxy files were being used and have been moved to another folder or drive.

John EB

Definitely not option 1. Is this a clue: I transferred all the files to the new PC... but a handful of clips have been replaced with clips from different scenes. Not enough to lose sleep over, but I am going to have to do some replacing.

Hmmm... after writing that last post, I have gone back to the project, and it is asking me to create proxy files again. But it has spent all day doing that already!

I think the clue is that I am using the third new PC. As I said, these things don't happen with my old one.

Now I am getting a series of message boxes saying "Read error in file", then it lists an audio clip, then "Requested 648473 Actual -1". And the screen is going weird.

I have done nothing that the software hasn't prompted me to do. Does anyone have any advice?

Hi Mark,

Just to catch up, you mentioned in a post earlier that you now had a 90min Blu-Ray which just needed some simple corrections. Did you make that on your old system or on one of the new ones? Are the new problems related to using the same PC and files that you created the 90 min Blu-Ray with?

On one of your other points, most folks in the film industry use Macs because that's how it has always been since the days when PC were less stable than Macs and far less open to virus infection. Editors tend to stick with what they know and what they have been trained on and they also usually don't have to pay for Mac based systems themselves. The problem with Macs for individuals and small companies like mine is that once you buy into Mac, you have to use the limited and expensive software that is available. The hardware and software is much more expensive in just about every case, so I have always stayed with PCs where you have much more flexibility and choice at much lower cost.

As regards updating your old PC, I don't see what advantages that would give you as you would only be updating to the same components that a new build would give you at the same sort of price. If you try to update your old motherboard, it will be limited to what type of CPU, ram and other peripherals that it was designed for. I don't know what part of the world you are in, but if it is the UK, I will be very happy to give you the details of the long established company that built mine. They will also be building me another faster one in the new year.

Roger

Hello Roger.

I noticed that Old PC was better for editing than new PC, whereas new PC is better for rendering and burning. So I finished the edit on Old Pc, transferred it to external hard drive, then transferred it again to New PC. The burn to Blu-Ray was successful, but some of the video clips had been replaced with others already present in the film. I also spotted some errors, and decided to re-edit. Taking a chance, I opened it on New PC. It asked me to create proxies, so I let it do this for many hours. When this finished, I started the edit, but it wanted me to make proxies again. I said no. Then problems started, and those error messages about audio clips kept coming and coming. Then the screen went berserk.

So now I am doing the final edit (I hope!) on Old PC. I suppose the big consequence of all of this is that everything is taking ten times longer than it should. Not helped by playback on Old PC having deteriorated for no obvious reason.

What do you make of it all?

P.S. Will take your advice about PC vs Mac.

BIG ADVICE NEEDED

After I have finished editing the film on Old PC, I intend to copy it across to an External Hard Drive, and then on to New PC (for burning). It is this movement of folders, files and projects which causes issues. I feel that I must be doing something wrong. Why else would audio and video clips swap or go missing?

Am I wrong to assume that after these two transfers, I should be able to open VPX, call in the project and start editing? Am I supposed to manually move items as well? And if I am asked to use proxies when I resume editing (as seems to happen), do I click yes or no?

Hi Mark

. . . . So I finished the edit on Old Pc, transferred it to external hard drive, then transferred it again to New PC . . . . Am I wrong to assume that after these two transfers, I should be able to open VPX, call in the project and start editing? . . .

You are not wrong - however it is clear that the proxy files, needed for the project, are not available on the second PC or are in the wrong folder.

This may be a result of the method used to transfer the project and files from one PC to the other.

If you use the Backup project method to transfer from one PC to the other, all the project files, including proxy files will be put into one folder.

This single backup folder should then be copied, as is, to the 2nd PC and the project opened from this folder. VPX knows where everything is - there is no need to recreate the original projects folder structure on the second PC.

You can go back and forth between 2 PC's as often as you wish so long as you use the Backup project each time you want to move the project from one PC to the other and work from the single folder.

There are a couple of things to note:

• your original project folder structure becomes redundant using this method, after the first backup you are working from a single folder, this has 2 advantages - everything is in 1 folder and files are not lost during the transfer.
   
• only resources that are already in the project will be copied across, eg if you decide to add a video clip that was not used on the other PC, then it too must be copied across manually.

Hope this makes sense.

John EB

I have been using Backup Copy - Copy Project and Media into Folder. Correct?

Hi Mark

. . . . I have been using Backup Copy - Copy Project and Media into Folder. Correct? . . . .

That eliminates part of the potential causes.

After you have copied the backup folder on to the second PC are you opening the project from that folder or moving the files to recreate the same folder structure on the first PC and then opening the project?

John EB