@KEITH-HOLMAN

Hi Keith and also welcome to the user to user forums.

If I can add to Jeff's comments of which I wholeheartedly agree I would also say look really carefully at the computer specs as your nvidia card should work but may be a bit slower in use that you are used to working within your Vegas product.

Also I too was intrigued with the offer of ProDad Hide so got the offered package and have personally found it to be of practical limited use. Of course you may find otherwise but there are serious limitations as to what is can achieve and if you render at any serious level of quality can take hours (think of eight hours plus) to render 30 seconds or less of video. It uses no hardware acceleration I can detect and is very heavy on CPU usage. Results will vary depending on the capability of the CPU. I currently run an Intel i9900K.

While Hide is a brilliant concept, as a piece of software I find it less than well developed and not something I would at present buy the full version of.

Here is my modest effort at trying to tame this piece of software.

It took days, actually possibly over a week to compile.

There is nothing to stop you buying third party effects that will work with the software. OFX plugins will normally work although most seem to use only the CPU in my experience so far.

The problem for me personally is compatibility. Always check that a new version will actually be of benefit and that the performance of the software will not be less than your current software because of the newer capabilities needing more processing power either from a CPU of GPU.

Ray.

Thanks Jeff & Ray for such prompt responses. I’ve used Grass Valley EDIUS for 5 years now as my main software, on version X now.
So the Magix software that I got 20 months ago was mainly for getting DVD Architect with it as I’ve used Adobe Encore for 14 years but that’s a bit buggy as it’s old and unsupported.

I’ll have a look at the links Jeff included and certainly the comments about Hide V.1 are very useful to know. I’ve used Mercalli’s stabiliser but there’s a better one included with EDIUS so that’s now redundant. I’ve used their Heroglyph titler for 5 years, which is great when getting used to it. But I think that is a Prodad/Mercalli thing - not very intuitive which is still sometimes frustrating.
I’ve recently retired, at 68 so can pursue my love of creativity a bit more now. Hence the interest, but not by subscription. At $59.99 for Movie Studio 18 Suite, it’s probably worth a punt, though the leading Interest was Hide V.1, that may not be developed enough for now.

Thanks again, I’ll keep you posted of what I decide. Regards,

Keith

@KEITH-HOLMAN

Hi Keith.

I'll try to be precise about Hide's shortfalls which are not really shortfalls when I thought about it but more of what type of video clips can actually be used.

First Hide must know and have a relative knowledge of what is behind the object you are trying to remove. Panned shots seem to work best as long as the pan is not that slow and the object not too large within the frame.

That allows the background to be stored just ahead of the objects movement. That then replaces the object as it travels along. If the object is slow it needs more frames of the background ahead of it. There are sliders that allow for that but the more frames you need the more calculations are needed to replace the missing background and the slower the render is. As you pan the perspective of the background changes and that has to be calculated and the background may have to be stretched or shrunk slightly and maybe even twisted a bit along with any exposure of colour change than may occur. That's a lot of processing. That obviously means any still shot (no camera movement) or an object coming directly towards or away can't be processed as there is no visible background for the program to replace the object with.

Static shots with lateral movement can also be used but so far I have not found a suitable clip.

Also at low quality this is all done in blocks of colour and looks messy at best although the render time is much shorter. Replacing the background almost pixel for pixel is much more data intensive and that is what pushes the processing time up a lot. Also if the program needs to use more frames ahead of the objects travel, then that too adds to the amount of processing. I felt that if the program could have used a GPU instead of having to use the CPU, those calculations would have been made much quicker.

It is also a stand alone effect. It can't be used within the program so the end file has to be re-imported into a project to be used.

That aside it is a neat idea. Just one that needs a lot more work from the developers I think.

At least that is my personal view but I'm not sure there is another way to achieve that effect retrospectively so if it needs doing I can't think of another program that can currently do that,so at least a thumbs up from me for ProDad to even try.

Ray.

Hi Ray,

Wow!

That was a comprehensive explanation. I really appreciate you taking the time to give such good information.

I’ll absorb what you & Jeff have given me then decide if I really need the upgrade with Hide etc. I did find when following Jeff’s links that there is a choice between purchase and subscription. The subscription gives a slightly different name, with the 18 Suite being available as an upgrade at £41.99. I must have been on the USA site when I got the $ price.

Could either of you tell me if there is an anti-flicker effect? If so, how well does it work?

Thanks again,

Keith

@KEITH-HOLMAN

Hi Kieth.

I know that the higher priced Vegas Pro comes with an anti flicker plugin (part of a Boris Effects package) and there are a few de-flicker alternatives out there but some will not run with Magix products and some others are quite expensive. I assume this has happened when shooting mixed artificial lighting? LED lighting can be really bad if it is the dim-able variety. If you have the ability, try shooting such footage at 24fps.

This plugin is not sanctioned to work with Magix products but will apparently work with DaVinci Resolve as an Open FX effect so that version may work. There is a free trial version to try out and good support.

Ray.

@KEITH-HOLMAN

Hi Keith,

I don't know about any anti-flicker effect that can be applied within the program. However, upon exporting to MP4, there is a check box for "Apply anti-interlace filter (suppresses flickering)."

I would recommend getting MEP2022 and not Movie Studio 18. They will eventually converge, maybe. As far as I know, right now opening a vf file only imports the objects on the timeline, nothing much else. I would recommend finishing any Vegas MS projects in that, starting new ones in MEP.

MEP has many features that are not in the Vegas MS line - multiple timelines, Travel Maps, Soundtrack Maker, music with Slideshow Maker, Collages, and many more transitions and title templates, including 3D Maker templates. There is also a lot more content, including Intros and Outros, Movie Templates, etc. There is more, but that's enough for now.

John CB

@KEITH-HOLMAN

Hi Keith.

It has just occurred to me you may be wanting to reduce blurred movement in panned or action shots.

Is that the case?

Ray.

Thanks again Ray & also John, great information. I’m off out now so will absorb the details and take your comments into account.
I rarely get flicker but got it when using my iPhone 11 at 60fps in a church. Again I rarely use my iPhone for video or stills to that matter but sometimes you want something when not expected.

Cheers,

Keith