Problem animating Hitfilm Gleam effect (and other effects).

jaslan wrote on 11/3/2018, 5:01 PM

I am using Movie Edit Pro Premium 2019 (latest update) and I can not get the effect animation to work correctly. I wonder if someone would try a small test. I am using the Gleam effect (from the variety pack). I am able to successfully animate things like Ray Length and Intensity. BTW, I am trying to do this to a simple picture and I have done it before in an old project about a year ago but since then, that project no longer properly animates and I also can't get it to work correctly with a new and simple project. But here is what I am trying to do...

I want to animate the X and Y positions of the Gleam effect so as to create the effect of sun rays moving slowly. Just as a test, I was trying to animate the XY position from one corner of the picture to the opposite corner. I have tried typing in values directly in the editor and using the curves on the timeline. What always happens is when I change one of the values, usually, one of the other values changes to a seemingly random, usually very large number, sometimes even "infinity". When I say one of the other values, I mean either the X or Y value of the keyframe I am changing or the other keyframe. If I try to change that value back, then one of the other values changes and so on. I have tried removing the effect an starting fresh, using the reset for the values, etc.

My Hitfilm Variety Pack is version 1.0.7910.52712 and my MEP is version 18.0.1.209.

Since this used to work the MEP has updated a few times and I believe the Hitfilm Variety pack has also updated. Perhaps I will try reinstalling older versions of those to see if they work. I will also check for new updates of the Hitfilm.

Comments

jaslan wrote on 11/8/2018, 8:37 PM

Bump. Can anyone try to reproduce this please?

CubeAce wrote on 11/9/2018, 3:13 PM

I don't know about the others here but I have no idea about a 'Gleam' effect or what you mean by the variety pack. How old is it and does it work in a 64 bit environment? I can't even find mention of it on the FXhome site.

jaslan wrote on 11/9/2018, 4:04 PM

The Variety Pack was includd with my 2017 MEP Plus. It appears now it is only included in MEP Premium (which I upgraded to). Maybe it’s not on the FXHome website because it is an OEM type package that only gets included with a host platform...

CubeAce wrote on 11/9/2018, 4:34 PM

Perhaps you need to reregister it. Have you looked at this page?

https://fxhome.com/software-install/hitfilm-variety-pack

jaslan wrote on 11/9/2018, 4:55 PM

Thanks for your response and help. I will check that out but I don’t think that’s the problem. The effects pack is “activated” and they all work (lens flare, gleam, flicker, etc.) there is just some strange behavior with the automation that actually seems more like a problem with the automation editor within MEP. I suppose I need to send a tech support request and see if they can duplicate it. It usually seems quicker figuring problems out in the forum but maybe not this time.

BTW, are you also CubeAce on the Steinberg Forum?

CubeAce wrote on 11/9/2018, 5:36 PM

Yes, and Flickr, but haven't been on the Stienberg forum for some years :-) Still running version 5. I was younger then and got stuck being known best from that forum name :-) Happy to be called Ray though. I'm relatively new here but getting into the video side of editing with some enthusiasm.

jaslan wrote on 11/9/2018, 5:53 PM

Ok. Thought I saw you posting more recently but it was probably a close variant of your username. I’ve been on since Cubase 5 and have been having fun making videos for my music. Still a beginner but having fun.

browj2 wrote on 11/10/2018, 4:35 PM

@jaslan

I didn't think that I had this as I have HitFilm Toolkit pack, but it's there. I just tried it in VPX and I can confirm that there is a major problem with the keyframing of the Y value. You can't even set a kf on Position: Center: Y.

I tried out some other parameters and there are even more problems.

Time to raise a ticket. You should raise one as well.

John CB

jaslan wrote on 11/10/2018, 4:47 PM

Thanks for checking it out. I did submit a support ticket. Out of curiosity, I am going to try the Video Pro X Trial just to see what that does. In the features descriptions it looks like it may be the same or a very similar engine though but it looks like your saying you tried it in Video Pro X (VPX?). Do you have the "Radial Blur" effect? It also has an X,Y center point that behaves similarly when I try to automate it. I can successfully automate the X,Y coordinates of an object using the stock "Size/Position" effect so it is possible it is specific to the HitFilm effects but as I said in the OP, I have done it before successfully with the Gleam effect about a year ago.

jaslan wrote on 11/10/2018, 6:24 PM

I downloaded and installed the Video Pro X Trial and tried the same test. The first time I applied the Gleam effect, I also did not even have a "Y" parameter available for setting at the key frames. But then I removed the effect, re-applied it and I had all the parameters and I was able to successfully animate the X and Y values to create a diagonally moving gleam effect. I also tried this on the Zoom Blur and Radial Blur effects (from the Hitfilm Variety and Stylized Packs) and those worked also! I went back to MEP Premium and still no luck. So it seems to be specific to the MEP program (for me at least). I did an uninstall and reinstall of MEP last week to try that and it didn't help but maybe I need to do one of those "remove every trace of Magix" procedures.

browj2 wrote on 11/10/2018, 8:29 PM

Hi,

I used VPX, but likely not the same build as you. I have 16.0.2.291, which is the latest patch.

Usually, things like this are do not require a reinstall. You should always verify first with others.

I will try Zoom Blur and Radial Blur tomorrow in both MEP and VPX to see if there are differences/problems.

John CB

browj2 wrote on 11/11/2018, 11:19 AM

Hi,

I tried all 3, Gleam, Zoom Blur and Radial Blur in both MEP and VPX and the results were the same - major problems with x and y when keyframing.

John CB

jaslan wrote on 11/12/2018, 7:32 PM

I got a response from support today and they also confirmed the problems. It is being forwarded to the developers.

I would also like to say that I have submitted three support requests in the last few weeks and all were handled within two business days. Very good support so far I would have to say.

CyberMikeFilmer wrote on 12/24/2018, 5:33 PM

Thanks for pointing me to this post chain. I did not see it, I was searching for lightining and superhero pack.

This does sound like the Issue I was having. I noticed the Y value seemed to increase as scrubbing was performed, until it grew too big and caused an overflow error. I asked Hitfilm about it and they said it was a bug, but as of a few days ago, there was no timeline for fix. I was using MEP Premium 2019. Noticed it with lightning and laser beam effects.

CyberMikeFilmer wrote on 9/11/2019, 2:59 PM

Hi. Just bumping this. I reproduced the major errors. I have not seen a fix. I have seen offers from HitFilm to buy more special efx, not going to buy any of them...