Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-8130U CPU @ 2.20 GHz 2021 GHz

Installed Ram: 12.0 GB

Windows Specs: Windows 10 Home

Version 2004

Installed on 10/20/2020

OS Build 19041.630

Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack

120.2212.31.0

I'm only using one monitor, its a laptop, and I doubt there's a graphics card unless it came with it

Hi Tracy.

The good news is you at least have an Intel GPU 620 embedded into the CPU that Movie Edit Pro can use and should have enough ram if you are not editing 4K video. If you are editing 4K video, even from a mobile phone then you may need 16GB minimum or if your projects are particularly long it may need more ram.

It could also be using titling or some effects can slow down playback a lot. If you are using effects, can you say which ones?

In the task bar at the top of MEP (Movie Edit Pro) click on and go down to File \ Settings \ Program and open. Then click on the Display options box.

Does it look similar to this?

[Edit] If you right click your mouse anywhere on the screen and see anything similar to this nvidia box then you have a second GPU.

Ray.

@Tracy-Thorsen@Tracy-Thorsen

Hi Tracy

If you only purchased the program 3 weeks ago I am surprised you say it is up to date but you have MEP2020. You should be able to update to MEP 2021 at no extra charge?

What is your actual version number as shown in the top menu " Help>About Movie Edit Pro"?

Peter

Ray, I looked up everything and it was already as you said it should be. I'm not editing 4K, its only 5 min. It shakes if its mere seconds, and I don't have a second GPU.

My Version # is 20.0.1.73(UDP3)

@Tracy-Thorsen

Hi Tracy.

That is the latest update of MEP 2021.

Do you have your files you use in the project on the main C: drive?

Do you have a second drive in the machine?

If not do you know if you have a USB3 or USB-C port?

If you do have either of those ports and no second drive I would suggest getting an external USB3 drive of a fair size to put your original files for the project on to.

Sometimes if all the files are on the same drive as the program then it can cause speed problems as too much data is going back and forth.

Ray.

My files are all on main drive c, I'll transfer the video files to my external hard drive. Is 2 TB enough?

@Tracy-Thorsen

Hi Tracy.

Another thought. First.

Check your C: drive.

Go to Settings \ System \ Storage. The Drives (if you have more than one) will show up there.

Tell us the size of the dive (in GBs) and how much space is on each.

Then click on Configure Storage space Sense or run it now.

Click on the Clean now button.

When it has finished it will tell you how much space it has cleared from your C: drive. Do not worry, it should only clean up temporary files.

Then scroll down to the bottom of that page and select Optimise drives and see if it has been de-fragmented recently.

If it shows it hasn't been done for while you can press Optimise.

Close all program down and restart the computer using the restart command

That will ensure the boot up is a clean one.

Re-open MEP and see if it runs better before buying any extra gear.

Ray.

@Tracy-Thorsen

Hi Tracy.

Depends on how many files you have and how big they are. It's worth trying but don't move files that are being used in a current project or MEP may lose where they were placed for that project.

Put some files on the other drive (You could copy and paste some existing files) and start a new test project to import the files from the second drive and see if it runs better.

You do need some free space left on the drives though. That goes for both drives. In case the program needs to move files around.

Ray.

Ok, I think I know what is happening. The video that is shakes is 1920/1080, where as another that plays fine is 1360/768. What is the recommended resolution for videos to not shake

@Tracy-Thorsen

Hi Tracy.

At this point the image ratio (that was the correct word) is not important as to finding out what is going wrong.

Did you try to do the steps I asked for in the two replies I made above yours?

That is important for a few reasons. First we need to find out how much free space is on your main C: drive and make as much space to be free as possible. We also need all the files on that drive to be in a good a good order so that the processor can get to the files as quickly as possible and not searching for them while the program is running. That could slow it down and produce the jittery images you are seeing.

Next the files you want to use in the project need to be on another drive so that the C: drive is not being overworked doing two jobs at once. That is, running the program and searching and playing the video files at the same time.

Once that is sorted out it will be easier to diagnose other possible problems or you may find the projects play fine and there will be no need to go further.

At present I have no idea of project lengths or how many files are being used or what effects are being added or how you are editing your video.

All I do know is the specs of your computer should be good enough to do this. So why isn't it?

I'm assuming that at the moment, that you being new to video editing with Movie Edit Pro are probably keeping things fairly simple at present. If I'm wrong then there could be further steps to take, but for the present I would like to know your computer is in good order so we can rule that out as a problem.

Ray.

I did do what you said and put the file on a new external hard drive. There was no change, still shaky

My C Drive has 498 GB of free space

I don't know what he means by "shaky." If it's shaky in the conventional sense, then it's not the software's fault.

@Tracy-Thorsen

Hi Tracy.

That's more than enough spare space so one fault less to look at.

If the files are now being read from a second drive it may be time to look at the files themselves.

What produced them? Are they from a phone or a screen recorder or camera or other source?

Can you download and use this small and free tool MediaInfo and use if to get the information embedded in video files to look at? The file can be got from the link in blue above. Then once loaded just right click any video clip and in the drop-down menu you will see MediaInfo listed. Click on it to bring up the program that will read the files data. Post the results of the file here using the 'Text View' that will allow you to copy and paste the info here.

Then we can see the files' compatibility with the program.

I'm off to bed now. Will read your reply later.

Ray.

@Tracy-Thorsen

Hi

. . . .  It shakes if its mere seconds, . . . .

Can you clarify what you mean by this - do you mean the playback in the Preview monitor stutters ie stops, misses a few frames and starts again only to repeat the process while playing back the timeline?

If that is the case then I suspect that is not the program, it is your laptop - while it is just within the minimum specification required it is, IMHO, not powerful enough, it has a dual core processor, to keep up with the requirements of playing back with source video which is greater than 702 x 576, more so, if you have added any effects to the video on the timeline

Are you using proxy files? These are lower resolution less compressed files which reduce the load on the processor, however they do take up more space on your drives and are only used for previewing the timeline. For exporting the original files are used. The Use proxies option is in the Project settings

Is the lightning symbol bottom right of the Preview monitor turned on ie is it blue?

John EB

@pmikep @johnebaker @Tracy-Thorsen

Hi Mike, John.

I noticed it came out in 2018 and had Intel UHD 620 but I missed it was only a two core processor with a relatively low clock speed. That probably means a weaker motherboard capability as well even though it is using DDR4 ram. So the current resolution of the files is going to be a problem.

Sorry Tracy.

Ray.

Ah.finally, sorry it took so long....

P.S. this is just one of MANY that shake all crazy in the playback screen

eneral
Complete name                            : C:\Users\tpgsj\Videos\Luke 2.avi
Format                                   : AVI
Format/Info                              : Audio Video Interleave
File size                                : 544 MiB
Duration                                 : 5 min 30 s
Overall bit rate                         : 13.8 Mb/s
Writing application                      : Bandicam 4.6.4.1728 / GDI

Video
ID                                       : 0
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Baseline@L5.2
Format settings                          : 1 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : No
Format settings, Reference frames        : 1 frame
Codec ID                                 : H264
Duration                                 : 5 min 30 s
Bit rate                                 : 13.6 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 30.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.218
Stream size                              : 536 MiB (99%)

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : MPEG Audio
Format version                           : Version 1
Format profile                           : Layer 3
Codec ID                                 : 55
Codec ID/Hint                            : MP3
Duration                                 : 5 min 30 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 7.57 MiB (1%)
Alignment                                : Split across interleaves
Interleave, duration                     : 24  ms (0.72 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration             : 17  ms

I still don't understand what he means by "shaky," but since it appears that he used BandiCam for the video above, then I presume his video is "stable" because he's recording his screen.

Unless there's something goofy with the recording.

It the video also "shaky" if played back with VLC? (BTW, there's a new version of MPC-HC out now. Apparently someone picked up the project.)

Can he post a short video taken from a cell phone of the screen to show us what "shaky" means?

@Tracy-Thorsen, @pmikep, @CubeAce

Hi

The MediaInfo information is actually giving the information about the potential issue with the video.

The 2 important elements are:

1. the recording device/software used Bandicam - screen recording software
   
   and
    
2. a missing piece of information - whether the frame rate is constant or variable.

As this is screen recording software the frame rate of the video is most likely to be variable, this is the default of Bandicam, it may also have dropped frames, without seeing the Bandicam recording logs (if there are any) we may never know.

Running the video through a video converter, eg Handbrake, to create a new source video file with constant frame rate should fix the issue and enable somewhat smoother playback in the program.

John EB

@johnebaker

High John.

I wasn't sure as it just said frame rate 30fps. I have never used Bandicam although I've heard of it.

But the line that worries me most is

P.S. this is just one of MANY that shake all crazy in the playback screen

Ray.

So "shaky" really means "stuttery"? Or is the video tearing?

@pmikep

I would think stuttery Mike.

As John pointed out, it could be dropped frames or missing frames. (VFR) or maybe even a combination of both. Like I've said in past threads, too many variants of established codecs. Difficult to point the blame on user vs programmer when people are new to something and parameters of operational requirements are so varied.

Considering the amount of possible variables when video editing it's surprising it ever works as well as it does. 🙏

Ray.

So, when I say shaky, I mean, stop, stuttering, the picture vibrating. The closest similarity would be playing a dvd with a scratch on it. All the videos that I have captured using Bandicam are this way. I have old ones that I captured years ago using Fraps that work just fine. Do you have any suggestions? You all seem really knowledgeable so thank you all so much for helping me with this.

By the way I'm a she not a he