Hi

That version looks too old to be MEP2018 or it is missing the most recent update. Have you tried doing an Online Update from the Help menu?

Do you have any NB FX applied to the clips in the project.

Ss

Hi

That version looks too old to be MEP2018 or it is missing the most recent update. Have you tried doing an Online Update from the Help menu?

Do you have any NB FX applied to the clips in the project.

Ss

In the process of updating to the new version currently. Hopefully That fixes it. And all I did to the clips was slowed them down slightly and little contrast and gamma tweaking.

@TheDuffourc

Scenestealer wrote:

That version looks too old to be MEP2018

Indeed it does! You say you have version 16.0.4.124; the latest version is 18.x.x.xxx

Jeff

@emmrecs

as of last night I am on 18.x version and it still did the same thing.. :/

Greetings,

Which feature of MEP have you used to tweak the contrast & gamma? I've never had a problem when using "Video Effects" in the Effects window. It's well known that MEP doesn't seem to like quite a few of the new fangled 3rd party effects being shipped with it, as mentioned by Scenestealer above.

Another point, have you actually taken note of the black sections in the timeline of the exported video and then looked at the timeline in MEP? Expand the timeline to maximum  magnification and see if anything is hiding on a lower track. Have you tried removing ALL the effects from your editing and exporting again to see if the missing sections appear?

Obviously the program and your system are OK as some of the exported video can be seen and all of the audio heard so I can only assume that your using an effect MEP doesn't like, the blank bits of video are not compatible with MEP (I wouldn't think so as they wouldn't load into the timeline would they?) or you've done something you shouldn't have (no offence intended; we've all done it, working intently on editing and forgetting a little something).

That's all I can think of at the moment

AndyW

Greetings,

Which feature of MEP have you used to tweak the contrast & gamma? I've never had a problem when using "Video Effects" in the Effects window. It's well known that MEP doesn't seem to like quite a few of the new fangled 3rd party effects being shipped with it, as mentioned by Scenestealer above.

Another point, have you actually taken note of the black sections in the timeline of the exported video and then looked at the timeline in MEP? Expand the timeline to maximum  magnification and see if anything is hiding on a lower track. Have you tried removing ALL the effects from your editing and exporting again to see if the missing sections appear?

Obviously the program and your system are OK as some of the exported video can be seen and all of the audio heard so I can only assume that your using an effect MEP doesn't like, the blank bits of video are not compatible with MEP (I wouldn't think so as they wouldn't load into the timeline would they?) or you've done something you shouldn't have (no offence intended; we've all done it, working intently on editing and forgetting a little something).

That's all I can think of at the moment

AndyW

 

Thanks for the response. The problem is, it’s never the same videos. It’s always different sections every time..

Aahh, presumably that's what you meant by "random clips" and if that's the case i.e. exporting sometimes and not others, then I don't think it's the program more likely a system error - overheating perhaps? Does your system hang for a few seconds (or more) while MEP's exporting?

Without knowing your full system details (as requested in the "PLEASE DO" at the start of the forum and indeed mentioned by terrypin in #2) it's difficult to hazard any sort of guess, but you won't know until you've tried.

AndyW

edited to make sense - I 've begun writing in tongues.

@me_again

I'm going to quote and bolden some key words in what you wrote above

Without knowing for full system details (as requested in the "PLEASE DO" at the start of the forum and indeed mentioned by terrypin in #2) and even then I'm not sure anyone can help you, but you won't know until you've tried

because, @TheDuffourc we really do need all that information from you.

I also think AndyW's suggestion of a system error is very pertinent here, especially since you say the video drop-outs are "random" and not always repeatable.

Jeff

Windows 10 home version 1803

Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) X4 740 Quad Core Processor 3.20 GHz

RAM: 8.00 GB

System: 64-bit os

Is it practical to make a small, non-confidential project that consistently exhibits the problem? If so, then use File > Backup copy > Copy project and media into a folder, zip it up and upload it to a host site, such as Dropbox. We could then see exactly what you mean and maybe try to reproduce or diagnose it.

Is it practical to make a small, non-confidential project that consistently exhibits the problem? If so, then use File > Backup copy > Copy project and media into a folder, zip it up and upload it to a host site, such as Dropbox. We could then see exactly what you mean and maybe try to reproduce or diagnose it.

It’s random though. Hard to say. And the file being so big would take a long time to upload. I tried to upload it to Dropbox and it just failed after a few hours.

I did say 'small'! Did you attempt to do that?

I did say 'small'! Did you attempt to do that?

Sorry. Yea it doesn’t really do it as much on smaller projects. Just the randomness of it is what I don’t get.

Greetings,

Are all the video segments from the same source - for example, are you combining phone and camera sources (although it doesn't look like it from your stills)? Some info about the video would help enormously (as mentioned in the PLEASE READ sticky on the forum main page) - media info is a free program readily available

When you play back the video are you using your computer, a USB stick on tv or maybe a dvd/blu-ray player?

I think we can eliminate problems with the program itself causing the blank segments; you say you've upgraded from v16 to v18 and still the problem remains. To me this can only mean the problem lies with your system and/or your MEP settings.

Are you always using the same settings to encode? - try encoding using CBR (Constant Bit Rate) not Variable Bit Rate (VBR) - your current setting are VBR

Have you tried encoding using one of the presets? - You seem to have adjusted the settings of the one you're using as it reads "User Defined" presumably changing the fps to 24.

Try encoding to a much smaller resolution, for example preset "Standard"? - if so do all the encoded segment play properly?

Have you tried to encode to a different format using a different codec? - for example WMV (Windows media Video), MEP loves that format.

Have you tried "File/Settings/Reset program settings to defaults"?

Can't think of anything else to try at the moment.

AndyW

Greetings,

Are all the video segments from the same source - for example, are you combining phone and camera sources (although it doesn't look like it from your stills)? Some info about the video would help enormously (as mentioned in the PLEASE READ sticky on the forum main page) - media info is a free program readily available

When you play back the video are you using your computer, a USB stick on tv or maybe a dvd/blu-ray player?

I think we can eliminate problems with the program itself causing the blank segments; you say you've upgraded from v16 to v18 and still the problem remains. To me this can only mean the problem lies with your system and/or your MEP settings.

Are you always using the same settings to encode? - try encoding using CBR (Constant Bit Rate) not Variable Bit Rate (VBR) - your current setting are VBR

Have you tried encoding using one of the presets? - You seem to have adjusted the settings of the one you're using as it reads "User Defined" presumably changing the fps to 24.

Try encoding to a much smaller resolution, for example preset "Standard"? - if so do all the encoded segment play properly?

Have you tried to encode to a different format using a different codec? - for example WMV (Windows media Video), MEP loves that format.

Have you tried "File/Settings/Reset program settings to defaults"?

Can't think of anything else to try at the moment.

AndyW

 

Thanks for your comment. I’ll try those options out. But yea I’ve tried 3 different export formats and it still does it.

Greetings,

Are all the video segments from the same source - for example, are you combining phone and camera sources (although it doesn't look like it from your stills)? Some info about the video would help enormously (as mentioned in the PLEASE READ sticky on the forum main page) - media info is a free program readily available

When you play back the video are you using your computer, a USB stick on tv or maybe a dvd/blu-ray player?

I think we can eliminate problems with the program itself causing the blank segments; you say you've upgraded from v16 to v18 and still the problem remains. To me this can only mean the problem lies with your system and/or your MEP settings.

Are you always using the same settings to encode? - try encoding using CBR (Constant Bit Rate) not Variable Bit Rate (VBR) - your current setting are VBR

Have you tried encoding using one of the presets? - You seem to have adjusted the settings of the one you're using as it reads "User Defined" presumably changing the fps to 24.

Try encoding to a much smaller resolution, for example preset "Standard"? - if so do all the encoded segment play properly?

Have you tried to encode to a different format using a different codec? - for example WMV (Windows media Video), MEP loves that format.

Have you tried "File/Settings/Reset program settings to defaults"?

Can't think of anything else to try at the moment.

AndyW

 

@me_again

ok after changing the video bit rate to “Constant Bit Rate” like you said, it fixed the issue. But now the quality is horrible...

Excellent, now we may be getting somewhere.

What rate did you use? Can you show a screencap of the settings you used please?

Andyw

PS try an encode to WMV at a very high bitrate.

To be honest, I've never had much success with H.264 Mp4s encoding and MEP. I know this may sound perverse, but a few times I've encoded an edit to WMV preset HDTV 1920x1080 (using the standard settings) and then if required re-encoded that to H.264 MP4 with a 3rd party encoder (currently XMedia Recode - it's free!)

Having said that, I tend to leave them as WMV's, the quality is not noticeably lower (on a 42" HDTV from 7') than H.264 MP4s. No doubt others will decry this, but hey ho.

@me_again well I hit reset Now, and it changed it back to VBR. But I noticed it dropped the Bit Rate from 90 to 75. And this time worked just like CBR did. But with better quality of course. So makes me wonder if the Bit Rate of 90 was too high? If that even makes sense.

im now trying to export the full 17minute project with the new change to the Bit Rate. So I will get back to you once it’s complete and I check the results.

You've lost me completely now. Bit Rate 90? 75? For a video bit rate those are extremely low, I would expect at least around 2000 kbits/s.

When you've completed the latest export, a screenshot of the settings would be much appreciated.

AndyW

@me_again haha sorry I’ll screenshot once finished. Lol. Only wording what I see on the settings.

@me_again 

ok here’s the screenshot for you. But what I was referencing is the section that says Bit/quality. I Honestly don’t know what those numbers represent. Maybe you know. Also it looked like the issue was gone but then towards the end of the video it started happening again. Sigh..

OK, you're now exporting the video as WMV (Windows Media File). The 75 etc is the quality setting, it doesn't represent bitrate.

75 is OK but 90 is considerably better, 100 represent almost no compression (I believe).

It's encouraging that most of the video is now OK, but I can't think of how to progress now EXCEPT why not try cutting and pasting the bit that didn't encode properly in to a new movie and try encoding that.

I have no idea why that should work but it might (?)

AndyW