@dbarton

Hi,

The optimize that you are talking about is Magix PC Check & Tuning 2019 that you likely installed with MEP as it is on the download list, checked by default. You only get a 30-day trial version and then you have to buy it. I let mine expire, but it did seem to make VPX run smoother. You can open it from Windows, Open programs and you'll see that it has expired. If you want it, then you need to purchase it. I suggest that you check out the details first to decide if you think that it's worth the money. You'll have to pay every year if you want to keep it after a year.

John CB

Thanks CubeAce and Browj2, It was the Magix PC C/T program. I was able to restart it, and it is "popping up" once again. Yearly charge? That seems a bit opportunistic, but it does help some. I already have Bitdefender doing most of this stuff already though. Really enjoying learning and using MEP2019.

I have thought about getting Xara Photo/Graph Designer, but I have Affinity Photo already, and when it comes to adding graphics to a video, I can just import and use the size/positioning features over time within MEP. Any experience with Xara that could change my mind? thx

@dbarton

About Xara, see this tutorial:

and this one:

You could have had Xara Designer Pro X for 25$ on HumbleBundle recently, or Xara P&GD for 10$ with a previous one. Watch for special pricing.

John CB

Oh, you are the same guy who did those tutorials! Great job. I've watch both more than once, and like the idea of a within program access. I would definitely buy it if it is only $10/25. My only hesitation was I could do the same thing in MEP by importing a graphic. My primary use in my recent project was rectangular background for text. I can do that in Xara, but it doesn't load the text, just the video, so I have to guess size/position of the rectangle - so I end up resizing and positioning in MEP anyways, so importing is not much different. I am sure there are other uses that would be more significant.

@dbarton

Glad you liked the tutorials. The big thing is the rotoscoping that can be done using Xara, which is just making an animated mask that moves and changes shape to follow the action. You can change the form of shapes and Xara tweens between the changes, like going from a star to a hexagon. If all you need are some static images or masks that can be resized and moved around, then that can be done with any graphics editor. However, with Xara, if you need to tweak your image, just double-click on it and it's open in Xara.

Xara can also replace the bitmap editor in MEP - PhotoDesigner 7, which I think was an early version of Xara Xtreme. You identify the exe of the editor that you want in the Program settings under the Folder, Image Editor. I use PaintShop Pro instead of Xara for this. Try changing it to Affinity to see if it works. Import a photo (a duplicate because it will be changed) onto the timeline in MEP. Right-click and select Edit in External Editor. Affinity should open with the photo. Make some easily identifiable changes to the photo and exit Affinity. It should modify the photo, automatically save it and MEP should update the image on the timeline. I found that often I have to reload the project to see the changes.

I see that we've gone way off-topic.

John CB