@CubeAce

I know and agree with all you say but this was like nothing I've ever had in over 20 years of using MEP, with or without antivirus. There's been no new downloads (except for a Windows update in the past couple of weeks), no new software, no new hardware, I've had a wash. Nothing is different that I've done - except maybe having a wash!.

In the picture I posted, MEP used the project name as it always does (I hadn't saved the project with an official name as it was only 10 minutes work and didn't bother renaming) and MEP also added the filenames of the 2 clips I used.

I'm sure that the filename being added during Batch Processing is somehow new. Or at least I've never noticed it before.

It was really the hanging and excessive disk/CPU usage that I was concerned about. Norton Security history shows nothing out of the ordinary at that time.

Ho-hum, all now seems to be OK so probably no harm done. It'll be interesting to see if anything else peculiar pops up over the next few days.

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy

Like @CubeAce I have seen this occasionally and as far as I can tell it looks like it is the Store doing some housekeeping.

Normally, as you have seen, it takes a few minutes, however sometimes it is much longer, particulalry if you keep killing the process to shut down quickly.

John EB

@me_again

Hi Andy.

You don't say whether the files were being exported to an SSD or mechanical hard drive. Since the last Windows update I've noticed writing to SSDs seems to make MEP hang on a bit longer. No idea why but doesn't effect writing to a standard SATA drive. I have no explanation, only the observation on my system behaviour.

Ray.

@johnebaker

Thanks for that both. The major problem with the Store was a few months ago and Magix did repair it; it still occasionally happens now but this was nothing like that. It was tiresome and frustrating but that problem didn't occupy MEP for 5 minutes (for me anyway) and there was certainly no high speed disk spinning.The hard disk sounded like the DVD drive at full read speed.

I didn't stop MEP by using Task Manager, I used the normal file / exit method as recommended from the previous store problem. MEP shut down with no problem - the previous store problem caused MEP to hang until the Store had finished collating itself (again, for me anyway). There was no evidence that MEP was still running, apart from the disk noise, until I opened Task Manager and saw the usage in red..

As I've said, this was nothing like anything that's gone before.

Still the real query remains though, about the filename being appended to the Project name during Batch Processing. That really puzzling me why I've I've not seen it before. I only noticed it this time when I went to rename the files after completion the way I always do.

Oh well, hopefully it's just one of those unexplainable things that we all love and look forward to with MEP.

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy

. . . . filename being appended to the Project name during Batch Processing. That really puzzling me why I've I've not seen it before . . . .

After adding the file manually to the Batch conversion dialog clicking the Advanced settings, Specify filename and folder option you can adjust the filenames and save location, work through the dialog(s) - to use the existing file name delete the prefix that is added or change it to one of your own.

HTH

John EB

@johnebaker@johnebaker

Thanks for the reply John. I have used Batch Processing innumerable times and all I'm saying is that I'm sure that the naming format of files in "Queued entries" has altered and I've only noticed this since the spinning disk episode.

To illustrate - a project called Test with 2 movies:

Open batch conversion window:

and the queued entries show as above, name of project, MVD(?) file then name of movie which I don't think used to be like that but just the name of the video clip

Incidentally, I thought project files these days are MVPs - Movie Edit Pro Premium Project, not MVDs - Movie Edit arrangement (aren't these from some years ago?).

It was out of curiosity that I started this thread to see if anyone else had had a similar episode with MEP recently, and maybe the naming format has always been like that. Its probably just coincidence that there was a peculiarity in MEP operation that led me look for further problems when all had quietened down which is when I noticed the naming..

Sorry Ray, didn't spot your post about the drive. The clue was hidden away. It's just a standard, old fashioned spinning drive, which was spinning like a demented spinning thing that was spinning for it's life for 5 minutes.

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy

The displayed names are indicating the source of the files to be converted in your case these are the 2 timelines of the project ie the project and movie names as you have chosen the Multiple movies option of the Batch conversion dialog.

Using the :

Default options - the exported files will have the names of the movies (timelines) in the project:

Advanced options to set the name eg Test1 for the 1st movie, the second movie will be named Test1_001 and so on for the number of movies in the project.

I assume you are using this option to export both timelines as single videos for speed and no user intervention instead of the normal export route.

HTH

John EB

@me_again @johnebaker

Hi Andy.

First. Yes, project files are MVP files not MVD . As far as exporting, I've never batch processed so can't say with certainty but for normal exporting the file will have the same name as the project name unless it is changed in the export section before you commit to the export. I'm not sure you get that choice on batch processing.

As for your drive spinning up like that. I've never experienced anything like that. The 'grabbing and holding on' of my SSDs are low level. Hardly any data flow, less than 1MBps but can hang on for up to 20 minutes in the worst cases and cannot be accessed while the drive is in that state. Five minutes on other occasions and only happens with my D: drive. None of the other four internal drives in my system are effected and nor is my external USB-3 drive. My mechanical drives are 7200rpm with reasonable cache sizes.

Ray.

[Edit] I see John has beaten me by some margin 😄 That's what I get for making a cup of tea half way through a reply.

@johnebakerThanks John. It's not the renaming as such that's the problem. It is the renaming that MEP has started to do - in my example above both titles have gained an additional name of ******.MVD which is a Magix extension not used for some time.

In fact only seen these days in examples installed by MEP - search for "_TV-Anti-Cropping.mvd" for example, whixh I think I've seen in every version of MEP I've had. And that's a lot.. Please correct me if I'm wrong about this extension.

As I've said, this is whole renaming thing is not a problem as such; I was initially concerned about the spinning incident. It's just strange that the extra ******.MVD name has seemingly appeared after the spinning incident and I wonder if maybe it's the result of a pushed update. I'll never know probably.

@CubeAceThanks Ray. It wasn't so much that MEP hung (hanged?) the system, just itself. While I was waiting I did some Excel work without a problem, althoughadmittedly Excel isn't really that memory/CPU intensive. And MEP has never hung for 5 minutes since Magix repaired the Store problem.

Oh well, just one of those things I expect. No-one else seems to have had the problem so I'll let it rest I think, Until........

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy.

I probably didn't explain better.

MEP closes but hangs around in the background and for whatever reason, if I've exported to my D: drive, and only my D: drive, that drive is just not accessible to either view or work on. Other drives and programs run as normal while that drive is occupied doing whatever it's doing. But as I said, the date rate of what is being read (nothing is getting written at that point) is extremely low. Apart from being able to see this happen in Task Manager I have no further clue as to why that SSD is not functioning or available to other programs. Not that it matters as it' only used by MEP. MEP itself vanishes from the desktop on shutdown or the program but still hangs on in the background in Task manager. Not as a running program but as a background application.

Ray.

@CubeAceAah, I understand what you mean now. My D: drive is purely for video and audio as well so that's probably why Excel worked without any apparent slowing down.

As I've said before, I'm not unduly bothered by any of this, I just don't like things happening that's never happened before - well not to that extent anyway.

And strange renamings? MFDs making an appearance? Curious yes but not a problem. Maybe one day I'll get to the bottom of it.

Thanks for all your input Ray & John. I think I'll draw a line under this now.

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy

. . . . It is the renaming that MEP has started to do - in my example above both titles have gained an additional name of ******.MVD which is a Magix extension not used for some time. . . . .It's just strange that the extra ******.MVD name has seemingly appeared after the spinning incident . . . .

I do not have MEP 2019, 2018 or 2017, installed however the naming convention is not new and AFAICR has always been in that format - this is from MEP 2016.

The MVD extension is still in use and always has been - it refers to the individual movies in the project, when you save the project you do not normally see the MVD files as they are saved into to the project file.

You can also save them individually for adding to other projects using the - File, Manage project options Export and Import.

One thought on the 'spinning disc' issue - do you fully shutdown the PC when finished or just make is sleep?

John EB

Greetings John,

Thanks for the explanation re MVD files. That must be the reason for it. It seems a little strange though to have 2 different file extensions that seem load the same project settings..

I always shut down the computer overnight. It's on for about 10 hours per day.

There is quite often a small but noticeable bit of disk activity when Norton does it's stuff. MEP when it does the Store check usally only uses about 0.5Gb of memory, It does get to almost 2Gb sometimes when exporting a project - no Intel graphics hardware unfortunately.

Maybe MEP decided to try and export the project I was working on, It was only about 2 minutes long at the time so that could explain the 5 minutes spinning disk activity and high memory use, but if that's the case then how could that possibly happen without me initiating the export and where is the exported file? I think I'll discount that idea.

So the MVD bit has been sorted, thanks again, even though I'm still not sure that the current default file name including the MVD is the same as it was only a few weeks ago when I'm sure the MVD didn't appear, but I'll put it down to age.

MEP seems to be behaving itself and my computer seems to be behaving itself - if I've not just jinxed both of them - so I'm slowing climbing up the happiness scale.

AndyW

I think I may have got to the bottom of the spinning disks and high memory / CPU usage.

This afternoon I received an mmail from Magix telling me my update service was about to end and I can buy another 12 months for £59.99 with more "free" 3rd party software (no mention of fixing the bugs in the basic program though) etc etc but only untilJune 9th.

I thought this odd as my subscription isn't due until the end of July so I checked on my account at Magix and would you believe that my copy of MEP 2020 was "Last Activated On:" yesterday.

It could be that there was a corruption somewhere and MEP re-registered itself but it's too much of a coincidence for my liking.

AndyW

@ Hi Andy.

It's not unusual to get those emails early.

That MEP re-activated itself is a bit of a mystery to me though unless it means the last time it was used?

Ray.

Yes Ray, last years "reminder" was 2 months early but re-activating itself on the same day?. And MEP is used virtually every day.

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy.

I went to my account and mine also shows last activated as today so I think it just means the last time you used the program. I think it's part of the security process of not having more than two instances running or perhaps checking IP addresses in use?

Greetings Ray,

I can't believe that MEP re-activates itself every time the program is loaded. I've just loaded MEP without a connection and checked the activation status after 10 minutes. I reconnected and loaded MEP. The activation date is still yesterday.

When is your update service due for renewal? if it's within the next month, it could be interesting?

Ahh, just thought. Do I remember in other posts you saying you weren't on 2020? If so. maybe you'll get an email soon suggesting you upgrade.

AndyW

@me_again

Hi Andy,

In your account under MEP, the upper part should show the "Serial Number," "Valid until," and then "Update Service." What does your Update Service show as the date?

You can have 2 computers activated at once. They will show up when you click on "Show more details." Then you will see "Device name," "Device information," and "Last activated on." "Last activated on" is that date that MEP called home, usually the last time that you started MEP." This has nothing to do with the Update Service, which is explained here. I suggest that you read this.

John CB

@me_again

Hi Andy.

No, I renewed my subscription a few weeks ago and have the latest version of MEP Premium running with the New Blue Titler 6 package. The offered additional packages changed last week, so I don't have those but MEP is the current version. 19.0 2.58.

Ray.