Problem with Fades / Transitions not working properly MEP 2013

prizm4 wrote on 12/17/2012, 6:15 AM

I have demonstrated the problem in the above video. When I have two video tracks, one under the other, that both have fades occurring at the same time, the fades can become corrupted. You can see in the video that one image is set to wipe horizontally, but it only gets halfway. Once the second video track starts transitioning in, the horizontal wipe on the other track disappears.

And if you watch closely, you'll even see a magic (magix?) trick. At 0:27, I drag the top clip down past the lower clip (without letting go of the mouse button), and they swap transitions. The first clip now has the "blinds" fade instead of the original horizontal wipe, and the second clip now has the horizontal wipe ("glide" I think it was called). The transitions have traded places.

At 1:06 I turn off Hardware Accelaration and that makes a bit of difference. The Fades still glitch, but it's a different kind of glitch (1:19).

I tried to render the timeline, but it won't render. It just stays red. Why?

I'm using Windows 8 with a GeForce 560 Ti. I'm really hoping it's a video card driver problem or something.

The other problem I have is that most of the "Design elements" are missing. See 1:38 in the video. There's no Test Images, no Backgrounds or Collages. I tried to do a basic colour matte (black background), but the option for "Color Spaces" is missing. According the manual it should be below Collages in the Design Elements menu.

I'm using the trial version with only 10 days left. Is all this stuff missing because of the trial version?

I'm really disappointed with the Fades. I was really hoping to tick off enough must-have boxes for me to buy the program before the trail ends. But I don't want to buy it if I have to deal with glitchy transitions right from the start.

Comments

cpc000cpc wrote on 12/17/2012, 9:09 AM

prizm4,

Trial versions (and download purchases vs box sets) don't come with all the transitions, design elements, DVD templates etc.They can be downloaded -- see 'Help' >> 'Free downloads'. There may be some items, like say Dolby 5.1 support, that are only available after purchase and registration due to licensing restrictions.

"...Once the second video track starts transitioning in, the horizontal wipe on the other track disappears." This is because the second clip is in a lower (higher number) track. The MEP convention is that lower tracks appear in front of the tracks above (lower number).

The odd behavior with the fades I've not noticed before but just checked and something like that is apparent way back in MEP14! I think the problem may be your expecting two fades (which are by definition an effect as an object begins or ends) to behave like a transition between two objects. In MEP transition are applied to the region of overlap between two objects on the same track:

Above (from MEP 14) the fades (which really shouldn't overlap in time) are on tracks 1 and 2 and the transition is on track 4.

Color mattes, black or white or green or blue or alpha, are available on the 'Effects' tab >> 'Video effects' >> 'Chroma key'. The color spaces below the collages are test images for monitor calibration:

Check your trial period -- it can usually be extended to 30 days or perhaps you already have?

Regards,

Carl

terrypin wrote on 12/17/2012, 11:27 AM

Hi,

Two quite separate questions. Best to post separately. The latter query is an FAQ.

The former is a much more interesting issue! As you'll see from my many recent posts in the Forum section, there are several obscure bugs in 2013. Some appear related to whether HWA is selected as display mode. Others seem some sort of 'scrambling' in MEP's memory of which file and which object is currently selected. The worst aspect is that they're inconsistent and hard to reproduce. I've reported all of these and most have been acknowledged by Magix Support, although no clear causes or fixes have been found yet.

For example, the behaviour I've reported in
http://www.magix.info/uk/mep2013-color-correction-buggy.forum.892933.html
has some similarities to the 'swapping' aspect of your issue.

While trying just now to reproduce your problem, at one stage I had object #1 with no effects or transitions applied, and yet the preview monitor was displaying the transition I had assigned to object #2.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

prizm4 wrote on 12/17/2012, 4:48 PM

Thanks for the reply,

Trial versions (and download purchases vs box sets) don't come with all the transitions, design elements, DVD templates etc.

I figured that and that's ok (and yep I've already extended my trial). I'm not after chroma key though. I just want to create a custom color background. The manual says regarding Color Spaces: "You can also use the colored backgrounds for your own color transitions, for instance. The special "User" template opens a color selection dialog where you can choose the desired color." So I thought that's the way to create a custom color background.

This is because the second clip is in a lower (higher number) track. The MEP convention is that lower tracks appear in front of the tracks above (lower number).

Yeah though it doesn't seem to matter whether I put the track above or below, the incoming transition has an opaque black space that covers the transition underneath, instead of being transparent. For instance at the beginning of the video, I should still be able to see the horizontal wipe between the blind slats of the incoming image. Some transitions seem to work fine together, but other ones seem to clash with each other.

In MEP transition are applied to the region of overlap between two objects on the same track

Which means you can only use one transition between the two tracks if they're overlapping. I love the overlapping feature, but it looks like if I want to use two transitions at once, it might be a hit and miss affair as to whether they will work properly together.

Terrypin: I'll look into your advice when I've got some more time.

thanks