Thanks for the reply. Audio setting is as you suggest - multiple tracks for video/audio. I just deleted that clip and the sound is still there. I deleted the one just in front of it, too since the Phantom track just starts near its end.

I scrolled down through the tracks. The others are empty.

I have 16 tracks but only use up to five.

1920x1080.

Heading out on a bike ride to blow off steam... (g)

@FF22

Try to make a note of the video clip file name, then go to the project file folder using the import to project view and delete any files with the clip name.

See if that works.

Ray.

@FF22, @CubeAce

Hi

It would be better to move the files to another folder rather than delete them and then put them back if there is no change in the phantom audio.

John EB

@FF22, @CubeAce

Hi

It would be better to move the files to another folder rather than delete them and then put them back if there is no change in the phantom audio.

John EB

I like both of those ideas. I will change their names and folders. I will also change the "harmonica" file's name and folder, too. After recovering from my 19 mile bike ride.

Never simple is it.

I seem to have lost my CONSTANT FRAMERATE copies of the videos.

I have purchased Movavi, I have VCL. I thought I did it but the results when imported into MEP said there was a problem. I "continued" but the video is distorted. How do I go about converting from variable to constant. I thought I tried but the videos stubbornly remain variable from what MediaInfo tells me. Is there a batch method?

@FF22

@johnebaker

Hi.

No, it never is. I'm having different problems of my own at the moment with a novel experiment using the Chroma Key plugin combined with the Cookie Cutter. Dealing with variable frame rates is not my speciality I'm afraid or batch converting with those types of programs. This is something John EB will be able to help with when he sees this. I've copied him into this reply to get his attention when he gets back online. I'm also wondering if there would be a way of converting the previous problematic clip without its soundtrack so this problem doesn't raise itself again for you.

Ray.

@FF22

Hi

Using MovAvi you can batch convert, the easiest way is to start MovAvi and then drag all the clips you want to convert from Windows Explorer onto MoviAvi.

Set the output to mp4, matching the resolution of the source clips, the frame rate to 29.97 fps and audio to 48kHz samplerate, 128kbs and set a destination folder, it must not be the same folder as the source videos.

Conversion should relatively quick as it is only fixing the frame rate to constant and the audio to a standard compatible with MEP.

HTH

John EB

Although I can't unfortunately help fix your specific problem, as per my previous reply to your earlier post on the same topic, I'm fairly sure it's probably an obscure bug causing project corruption. Similar to those examples I gave.

For instance, if you extract this ZIP
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nnwalktgovy6eq2/PhantomObjects.zip?raw=1
and open Phantom-1.MVP in whatever recent version of MEPP you're using, I'm sure it will play exactly as you'd expect from its timeline appearance. Namely show a slow, silent zoom of the single image.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ubpik3a4ubea8w6/PhantomTimeline.jpg?raw=1

(There are no objects on any of the other 31 tracks.)

But if instead I open it in MEPP 2016 it plays phantom audio (extending to 12:03, i.e. beyond the image) and also fades in a phantom title as well.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/os1rl4zeovxutti/Phantom-1.mp4?raw=1

MEP moves in mysterious ways!

After discussion with Magix Support back in 2013 that and similar bizarre issues were never resolved. But I assume from examining the file content that it's project corruption. If a new movie is opened and the entire original timeline is copy pasted into it, then the phantoms survive. If only the single visible object is copied, the phantoms are exorcised.

P.S. The site appears unable to upload files for me at the moment, hence the links.

Terry, UK

@FF22, @terrypin

Thanks for the download Terry after a little playing with it there is a potential solution.

In MEP 2016 I get the phantom audio and title, in MEP 2020 I only get the phantom audio.

To fix this in 2020:

Locate the track with the phantom audio, in Terry's example track 1, move all the objects from that track and all tracks below down 1 track, delete the track that is now empty.

Using MEP 2016 is a little more complicated as it does not have the delete track feature plus there is the phantom title.

The principle is the same however once the objects on that track have been moved down, add an image object to the now empty tack - this is to show the track controls and then Mute the track.

Repeat for the tracks where the phantom titles.

In Terry's example the auido is on track 1 and the phantom titles on tracks 2 and 3.

To get rid of the phantom objects this is what the timeline ends up looking like

HTH

John EB

@FF22

Hi

Using MovAvi you can batch convert, the easiest way is to start MovAvi and then drag all the clips you want to convert from Windows Explorer onto MoviAvi.

Set the output to mp4, matching the resolution of the source clips, the frame rate to 29.97 fps and audio to 48kHz samplerate, 128kbs and set a destination folder, it must not be the same folder as the source videos.

Conversion should relatively quick as it is only fixing the frame rate to constant and the audio to a standard compatible with MEP.

HTH

John EB

 

 

RESOLVED (for the moment)

I thought that is what I had done but slipped up somewhere. What seems odd is that it appears that some have a constant framerate while a few stubbornly adhered to VARIABLE.

This experiment (mentioned below), while time consuming, worked. I imported each clip into MEP 2016 then exported each one in turn to mp4. IT WORKED.

Trying a new experiment. Not batch but... I tried importing one clip into an older version of MEP (just so I don't unsettled the new version) and then exporting it again. With tweaking framerate.

Although I can't unfortunately help fix your specific problem, as per my previous reply to your earlier post on the same topic, I'm fairly sure it's probably an obscure bug causing project corruption. Similar to those examples I gave.

For instance, if you extract this ZIP
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nnwalktgovy6eq2/PhantomObjects.zip?raw=1
and open Phantom-1.MVP in whatever recent version of MEPP you're using, I'm sure it will play exactly as you'd expect from its timeline appearance. Namely show a slow, silent zoom of the single image.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ubpik3a4ubea8w6/PhantomTimeline.jpg?raw=1

(There are no objects on any of the other 31 tracks.)

But if instead I open it in MEPP 2016 it plays phantom audio (extending to 12:03, i.e. beyond the image) and also fades in a phantom title as well.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/os1rl4zeovxutti/Phantom-1.mp4?raw=1

MEP moves in mysterious ways!

After discussion with Magix Support back in 2013 that and similar bizarre issues were never resolved. But I assume from examining the file content that it's project corruption. If a new movie is opened and the entire original timeline is copy pasted into it, then the phantoms survive. If only the single visible object is copied, the phantoms are exorcised.

P.S. The site appears unable to upload files for me at the moment, hence the links.

Terry, UK

@johnebaker

@terrypin

@CubeAce

Okay, good, I'm not totally crazy - but being driven there. Just for clarity, I am using MEP 2020 (although, I did start the project in an earlier version (17, perhaps. I still have 2016 and 15 installed).

My most recent problem in trying to sort out moving those video clips elsewhere is that I confoundedly lost all of the CONSTANT FRAMERATE versions. If I point to the regular VARIABLE versions, I expect that I will once again wind up with gaps everywhere as MEP "helpfully" sorts out those variable rate clips.

(If anyone is familiar with the tire commercial where the old lady returns the tire through the shop window, I, an old man, am planning to do the same with Google and its Pixel 3 forcing variable rate videos)

Well, it's merely 7am and I have a whole rainy day to get further exasperated.

But, again, thanks for chiming and and confirming the bug.

And I would love to follow John's advice in sliding everything down a track (or two or three) and deleting errant tracks but I've lost those constant framerates at the moment and trying to get those back is needed.

@johnebaker

Thanks John, great forensic work! It got me very close to a fix but as you see I still had trouble with the text. Also, oddly, I had to move to track 5 to exorcise the sound, not 4 as you did. And deleting and 'muting' seem equivalent here.

(File uploading now working.)

BTW, MEPP 2017 ran the original with no phantoms.

Movavi or I am doing something wrong in the conversion. I get distorted results.

(the image is in the next post) The only reason for the "mep handles" are to rotate 90 degrees. The image was already squished or spread.

That occurred for about 5 of the newly (framerate) fixed clips. But once in MEP 2020, I deleted the distorted versions and merely reimported them again and the distortion was gone. The exact same clip just reimported.

Oh, now that all is copacetic (for the moment), I will attempt to move tracks down and our of range of the phantoms. I only have the phantom audio and not titles. I do have a couple of spots were the main music/audio cuts out for a few seconds.

Well, as another thread mentions.... Moving the existing tracks down and away from the Phantom Audio heard on Track 2 did not solve my problem. Moved the tracks down and erased/deleted the two upper tracks. Then moved the remaining tracks back up to Track 1, etc. I don't think I missed anything.

@FF22

Why did you move the track back up? You should delete the upper tracks. Then your lower tracks will be renumbered and any left over code that may reside in the upper tracks should have gone with the deletion of the tracks. Also, in your other thread you showed an image showing track curves. Is it the volume curve or another curve like panning? I think my volume curves are yellow.

Ray.

@FF22

Why did you move the track back up? You should delete the upper tracks. Then your lower tracks will be renumbered and any left over code that may reside in the upper tracks should have gone with the deletion of the tracks. Also, in your other thread you showed an image showing track curves. Is it the volume curve or another curve like panning? I think my volume curves are yellow.

Ray.

I misspoke. I DELETED Tracks 1 and 2. Actually, I probably did both (g). I moved down the tracks and deleted the upper tracks. Trying to get rid of that volume curve, I moved everything down again, deleted the track that showed evidence of the volume curve but this time moved the tracks back up. Not sure why I did it that way. I think they are yellow when in the track (selected). But once it was a hanging curve it was alone and green???

@FF22

You may be viewing the wrong curve. I think they are selectable by right clicking the object and selecting the correct curve. I'm not 100% sure about that but seem to remember looking for different curves a while back on another project.

Ray.

@FF22

Try this to see if there are any more curves stored.

@FF22

The green curve is the Volume curve - that track should also be emptied and deleted as you may not be able to edit the curve to remove.

@CubeAce

The other curve colours are:

• Aux1 - magenta
• Aux2 - red
• Sharpness filter - cyan
• Smooth filter - black (?)
• Panorama (balance) - white

John EB

@johnebaker

Smooth filter is a blur effect John. It is a part of the sharpness effect.

I don't really know about video, but over sharpening produces what we refer to as 'worms' or white spots appear in still photography and I guess this would help smooth that out but you would have to zoom in to an area quite a bit to see the effect or the screen would have to be quite large.