Strange behaviours identified and possibly some bugs.

FernandoBadler wrote on 12/3/2021, 7:56 AM

I'm pretty much just using titles and the zooming effect to create videos and I've come across some particular behaviors.

Some identified problems:

1 - Selecting titles can be impossible under certain criteria.

I've placed a large label in the middle of the screen and then I animate it to move it to the top of the screen over time, using the Size/Position/Rotation effect; this label is persistent throughout the whole movie. The problem happens if I now place other labels in the middle of the screen as I no longer can select them. Trying to it so, will always select me the large persistent label I described above, even if the label is now on the top. It's former selection area remains in the middle of the screen (which is very weird).

2 - Double-clicking a title removes the title component itself.

I'm not sure what to make out of this. Is this a feature? Shouldn't the 'delete' key be the way to remove the component or use the context menu instead?

3 - Deleting all text from a title removes the title component from the timeline.

This must be a bug; I have no other explanation. Whenever I copy&paste a title and delete its former text to add a new one, the title disappears. I have first to select /highlight the whole input text before inputting a new one in order to counter this.

4 - The undo system.

I find it weird and non-responsive overall. Sometimes, I have to issue the undo action a few times to undo my last action. When redoing the removal of the title component from the problem described above (point 3), this happens 100% of the time.

Some things that I believe could be improved:

1 - When I select a title from the timeline, shouldn't the title properties become visible immediately? As it is, I always have to select the title effect in order to bring the title effect options on, if it wasn't already selected. This is very annoying, especially when you are working with other objects in the timeline that use different effects. Perhaps a double click in the title would automatically select its base property option set?

2 - I really would love to have the option of selecting a title in the timeline and having it immediately be selected on the preview screen with its transform options on. Sometimes, I want to adjust a label but I'm not sure which one is it. This would also mitigate/solve the problem I described above: "1 - Selecting titles can be impossible under certain criteria".

3 - I encountered several refresh problems when using the keyframe timeline for controlling zooming and doing title animation. I'm still not sure what triggers it, but for the most part, when it happens, it's by doing copy&paste of keyframes, the keyframes that are pasted remain invisible until I click on an existing keyframe in the timeline. Sometimes the keyframe timeline is hidden and doesn't show up until I start switching effect components to make it appear again.

Alas, to be fair, I'm new to Movie Edit and perhaps I'm doing something wrong. So I would like to hear your thoughts on this matter and validate all that I've mentioned.

Thank you.

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 12/3/2021, 10:35 AM

@FernandoBadler

Hi and welcome to the forum

. . . . Alas, to be fair, I'm new to Movie Edit . . . .

Have you come from a program where the track order is reversed and 'appears to be' in proper order ie the background track is the lowest and subsequent tracks are 'layered' above it. In Movie Edit Pro the reverse is the case and makes for better editing track 1 being the bottom layer subsequent tracks are on top off each other in order of track number - by analogy track 1 is the ground floor of a building, the higher numbered tracks are the floors of the building

Selecting titles can be impossible under certain criteria.

This is normal - click the appropriate object on the timeline instead.
Double-clicking a title removes the title component itself

I cannot replicate this - double clicking enters the title in text editing mode for me.
Deleting all text from a title removes the title component from the timeline

I cannot replicate this - deleting the text leaves the cursor flashing in the empty text box.
The undo system.

In the Program settings, System tab how many levels of Undo/Redo are set - by default it should be 9 if this is not enough try increasing the number.

Other items:

. . . . When I select a title from the timeline, shouldn't the title properties become visible immediately? . . . .

No - selecting the title object, or any object on the timeline, with a single click makes it the focus of other actions you may want to do to it eg animate it to move across the screen using Size Position and Rotation and Keyframes.

. . . . I really would love to have the option of selecting a title in the timeline and having it immediately be selected on the preview screen with its transform options on. . . . .

As for above, if you have transformations/effects applied, eg Size & Position + Blur + Brightness, with the title object, or any object on the timeline, selected, you have to select the appropriate effect to see the values.

. . . . it's by doing copy&paste of keyframes, the keyframes that are pasted remain invisible until I click on an existing keyframe in the timeline . . . .

I cannot replicate this, when a keyframe is pasted it using the copy/paste button above the keyframe timeline appear immediately. Are you using Ctrl+C/V for this action ?

. . . . Sometimes the keyframe timeline is hidden and doesn't show up . . . .

This appears when you click on a control that can be keyframed, some effects you also need to change the value slightly. Some effects cannot be animated eg Section.

What you are describing may be related to the computer hardware - to help us help you we need more information:

Computer specification and program version, see this topic for what is required and please quote processor and graphics card make/model in full - I would suggest you put this information in your profile signature so we do not have to keep asking for it.
Are the graphics card drivers up to date?
A screen shot of the Program settings, Device options tab.

John EB
Forum Moderator

FernandoBadler wrote on 12/3/2021, 11:54 AM

Hello, thank you for the answer. I made a video showing problem the first 3 problems before you responded, have I had a feeling I was going to need it.

"This is normal - click the appropriate object on the timeline instead."
I see that the solution requires me to resort the layer structure, because, if I simply select the title on the timeline to reposition it on the preview screen, I'm still unable to reposition it, since I have to use the mouse to move it around. Let me now if a video is needed to demonstrate this.

Suggestion: Instead of basing the selection of an object based on its layer position, you could cycle through the layers selecting the next object in order. I've encountered this behavior for objects that overlap each other, like in Inkscape and Affinity Designer,

2 - I cannot replicate this - double-clicking enters the title in text editing mode for me.
3 - I cannot replicate this - deleting the text leaves the cursor flashing in the empty text box.

Please, see it in action for problem 2 and 3 on this video:

The undo system.
In the Program settings, System tab how many levels of Undo/Redo are set - by default it should be 9 if this is not enough try increasing the number.

I now understand that, when the title component disappears through issue 3, the undo system doesn't work. I have to click on the timeline and then issue the undo order for the title that disappeared to reappear. My issue was not the number of levels available but the number of times I had to issue the undo action to actually undo my very last action.

. . . . I really would love to have the option of selecting a title in the timeline and having it immediately be selected on the preview screen with its transform options on. . . . .

As for above, if you have transformations/effects applied, eg Size & Position + Blur + Brightness, with the title object selected, you have to select the appropriate effect to see the values.

Please, consider the image below (I'm not sure if the image will expand, as it is just a thumbnail in the preview).

1 - Is me clicking on the title in the timeline that is located at point 2. What I'm suggesting is that point 2 becomes as shown in point 3 when I select it via the timeline. The only way I can see the transformation controls as in point 3 is if I click point 2 directly with mouse and not through the timeline.

. . . . it's by doing copy&paste of keyframes, the keyframes that are pasted remain invisible until I click on an existing keyframe in the timeline . . . .

I cannot replicate this, when a keyframe is pasted it using the copy/paste button above the keyframe timeline appear immediately. Are you using Ctrl+C/V for this action ?

I was expecting this since it doesn't happen always, as I mentioned. I will make a video about it if the problem occurs again. I'll get back to you once I have the video.

What you are describing may be related to the computer hardware - to help us help you we need more information:

Computer specification and program version, see this topic for what is required and please quote processor and graphics card make/model in full - I would suggest you put this information in your profile signature so we do not have to keep asking for it.

Are the graphics card drivers up to date?

A screenshot of the Program settings, Device options tab.

Yes, everything is up.

MOBO: ASUS TUF-Gaming 450B-PLUS
CPU: Ryzen 5600X
GFX Card: RX5700XT
32GB RAM

As a side note, I don't have any UI problems in the other software I use, which includes:

- Visual Studio 2017, 2019
- Unity
- Photoshop
- Corel Paint Shop Pro
- Affinity Designer
- Inkscape
- OBS
- Sound Forge
- Fruity Loops
- Office
- Pro Tools
- Cinema 4D
- Blender

Also, I understand that you must keep all options open but, for whatever this may be worth, I've been assembling and fixing computers my whole life as well as developing desktop software. The last thing I would tie these problems to would be to faulty hardware. My professional opinion on the subject tells me that this is merely a software issue.

Thanks again for the attention and please, let me know your thoughts on the new information supplied.

CubeAce wrote on 12/3/2021, 3:36 PM

@johnebaker @FernandoBadler

I can confirm that highlighting existing text within the Text editor can cause the text object to disappear. However it is better to edit the text once selecting a text object on the timeline by editing the text from within the monitor window.

Do any of the other above programs deal with video encoding? most of the ones I do know in the list with one or two exceptions are fairly light in that department and the others rely more on pure number crunching.

While I don't at present get what your difficulties are in text placement problems it could be the way MEP is distributing the workload between the CPU and graphics card. Hard to tell. With a system that has both a third part GPU and an internal GPU within a CPU, (both within the specifications needed) the 3D graphics (text) gets shared across both.

To be honest I don't have difficulties with moving text but I have no idea how complex your text movements need to be. Text can certainly cross over another text area.

I just thew some nonsense together as an example. If this is not showing your type of problem can you give me a clue as to what you need so I can try for myself to see the problems. I'm afraid your example with so many 'and'/s all over the images is just confusing me.

Ray.

FernandoBadler wrote on 12/3/2021, 5:58 PM

Well, I appreciate your posts but from what I get in response, it is clear I'm unable to successfully convey the full picture of the mentioned problems. But it is understandable, It's like asking a mechanic to fix / spot problems of a car through photos and videos; no easy task. This is the type o situation I would need to share my screen live so everything could be thoroughly explained.

The overall experience of the software feels unpolished, which baffles me since it's currently on version 21; it's not exactly a new product that went open-beta. I should have used the demo a bit longer to spot all these problems, so, I guess that's on me.

I won't follow this post anymore as it already penalized my productivity and I don't think that investing time in another round of responses will make any difference.

AAProds wrote on 12/3/2021, 6:45 PM

@CubeAce @johnebaker

I can confirm that highlighting existing text within the Text editor can cause the text object to disappear.

Ray, what do you mean by "can"?

On MEP 2021, highlighting the text in the text editor box does not make the text object disappear. Even clearing the text out still leaves the monitor preview text and object intact. Perhaps a bug with MEP 2022?

johnebaker wrote on 12/3/2021, 7:55 PM

@FernandoBadler, @CubeAce, @AAProds

. . . . It's like asking a mechanic to fix / spot problems of a car through photos and videos; no easy task. . . . .

A very good analogy 👍. This is where screenshots are very useful, jpg format is suitable; also short, ie no more than about 1 min long, video captures can also be useful - MP4 h.265 encoded are best with a resolution no higher than 1920*1080.

The video you tried to upload has failed for some reason - what format was it?

We still do not know which version of Movie Edit Pro you are using - we are assuming it is Movie Edit Pro 2022, ie the current version, if this is correct?

If so, is the program patched up to date ie v21.0.1.104 ?

I have checked again both MEP 2021 and 2022 and cannot duplicate the original issue or Rays with titles.

Also we need the screenshot of the Device options tab in the program settings.

Can you clarify 'Double-clicking a title removes the title component itself' do you mena the text only is removed leaving the marquee around the text box is visible or the title object on the timeline disappears?

John EB

CubeAce wrote on 12/4/2021, 1:28 AM

@johnebaker @AAProds @FernandoBadler

Hi Al.

😆😆😆😆😆😆😆

Can (Dictionary) ;

verb, can

Example: 'The small boy can complete the task asked of him by his mother as opposed to can't, that the mother refuses to believe is a proper word or acceptable action'.)

I am not using can as a noun as in

noun, can

Example: 'The small boy took a refreshing drink from his can of fruit juice'.

Video evidence of ' I can replicate the problem of Text Objects disappearing by means of removing text within the text field'. I do realise I used the word 'highlighted' as opposed to 'removed' in my previous statement and I'm sorry for any confusion this may have caused. I can also confirm that this has happened to me in all versions of MEP I remember doing this in and thought it was normal behaviour for the program. I had never questioned it before but now realise it may be a hardware specific problem somewhere.

It is always a cause for amazement to me that any program can be made to work sufficiently well as to function adequately although not identically across many interchangeable components that home computers can be made from.

Ray.