@DesertSweeper

Hi.

While it's true there are a few bugs, whether anyone is affected by them depends on their requirements. The only one that really affects me and not that often is the inability to export to an mp3 sound file. Other earlier problems I had with other versions I am no longer suffering from. Some have not been please with the withdrawal of being able to export aac 5.1 surround sound while others don't like the fact that the main concept codec is no longer available. Those things don't impact on how I use MEP. Others have been plagued with problems due to their systems not being of ample enough in the processing departments to run the latest version that well.

Every 'upgrade' to the program is only really an upgrade if a system is sufficiently powerful enough to cope with the newer demands the program makes. Otherwise quite often a system will take a performance hit and be less effective.

MEP 2020 is the first version using the Infusion Engine and may or may not cope with the GoPro files you have. I have no idea. The only way to find out is if anyone here still has MEP 2020 on their system and tries your file.

It could at least handle 4K video but still not a given as the hardware requirements are more than for MEP 2017 and I'm still not convinced the lack of an Intel inboard GPU is not responsible for your import problems as MEP uses it for importing where present. At least in the latest version that is true of the infusion engine III but not sure about the Infusion Engine 1. I am not one of the people here who keep records of earlier versions.

Maybe John EB could be of value in that department or John CB.

Ray.

@DesertSweeper

Hi

. . . . the behaviour is identical on my Lenovo P50 Intel Laptop . . . .

Was this also with MEP 2018 v17?

MEP 2020 is v19.x.x.x

Added: . . . . John EB could be of value in that department or John CB . . . .

@CubeAce - afraid not - I jump from MEP 2015 and 16 to 2021 on my PC, and 2022 on my laptop - the reverse for VPX, 12 on my laptop and 13 on the PC - there is logic in my 'madness'.

John EB

I set the import to use igpu and then the nvidia on my Intel laptop and it does exactly the same thing. I have an old i7-8700k desktop on a shelf I will try tomorrow too.

I Installed the trial 2022 and it does not do motion tracking. It computes but then the title vanishes. I tried it with the supplied demo footage of theirs as it will not import my gopro footage, needs a licensed codec that I guess is not in the trial version.

I will know soon enough if 2020 version works when it arrives and will update for others who may come looking. Thanks for all your help!

@DesertSweeper

Hi

. . . . the behaviour is identical on my Lenovo P50 Intel Laptop . . . .

Was this also with MEP 2018 v17?

MEP 2020 is v19.x.x.x

@CubeAce - afraid not - I jump from MEP 2015 and 16 to 2021 on my PC, and 2022 on my laptop - the reverse for VPX, 12 on my laptop and 13 on the PC - there is logic in my 'madness'.

 

Yes I was testing your theory that it may be my Ryzen CPU so I installed my legal v17 MEP on my laptop where I can selectively choose to use the iGPU or the NVIDIA QUADRO and it does the same thing so I do not believe it has anything to do with the CPU in this case. After this test I installed the 2022 demo on my laptop and played with it - wow it is WAY faster. Scrubbing the timeline is absolutely smooth when I choose to use the NVIDIA GPU. But as I said I go to attach a title to motion and it simply vanishes. I opened a support ticket with MAGIX asking them about this bug and if I purchased 2022 would they allow a "downgrade-rights" to 2021 several days back, but have yet to hear back from them.

So for now I will be going from v17 to v19 (and for just $60 (retail box) no complaints). I think within two iterations they MUST surely have fixed that issue given Gopro dominance and MEP's target market of retail

@DesertSweeper

Hi.

Motion tracking does depend on selecting a part of the image where there is sharp contrast to work well. If at any time that disappears or something blocks it momentarily, it can drift.

The first few seconds of this video I used tracking for the titling opening. Not a very good example I'll admit. There are one or two other examples further in that are better.

VPX 13 has a more robust tracking system according to the Magix website. How true that is or what may may it unstable is anyone's guess.

Ray.

I used the clip of the dude on the bicycle that comes in the "demo" folder of most versions. I set his white left shoe as the contrast lock and it does a perfect tracking calculation following him as he moves towards the bench. And then it finishes, apparently without error, and then the title vanishes, never to appear again.

@DesertSweeper

You may have to deconstruct the clip in the demo to find out what is going on. A tracking marker and text can only go as far as the clip.

The clip even if edited may be one continuous video file snipped at various points.

It has never really been a problem for me so far but if necessary it could be edited manually.

I used a lot of text with tracking in this video.

Ray.

@DesertSweeper

Hi

The result of tracking effect as you described is normal, once the object being tracked moves off screen, is obscured for a very short period or changes through a scene change.

See this tutorial which shows an example of how the tracking is lost.

. . . . VPX 13 has a more robust tracking system according to the Magix website. How true that is or what may may it unstable is anyone's guess. . . . .

VPX 13 and MEP 2022 have a tracking bug, objets is offset from where it should be - I raised a support ticket on this

John EB

@johnebaker @DesertSweeper

VPX 13 and MEP 2022 have a tracking bug, objets is offset from where it should be - I raised a support ticket on this

Hi John.

Why does this sound like it is linked to the size position problems? Do you think we will get a Magix "Christmas present" in the form of a patch? 🤣🤣🤣🙏

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

I do believe I mentioned it in another topic.

In further testing the potential cause being the change of anchor point for Size, Position and Rotation - leaving the anchor point in the centre,  the object being attached is offset after running the effect analysis.  Setting the Anchor point to top left corner - the old 0,0 reference point, and the object tracks correctly.

John EB

@johnebaker

If only we knew how to rewrite the base code 😉

Ray.

UPDATE: SO MAGIX finally responded and provided a download-link to the previous 2021 version and also stated that a serial number for 2022 would work with 2021 so I pulled the trigger and now have three legal copies of MEP :) 2018 and 2020 and 2022 and this is what I have discovered for anyone else out there who has the GoPro upside-down problem:

Only 2021 and 2022 will import the footage the "right-way" up. 2020 and backwards - same problem - it comes in upside down and effects go wonky.

Only 2021 tracks an attached object correctly. I tried this in both and 2021 is flawless, while 2022 dumps the attached object - it computes just fine but then vanishes. I can share a video showing this if anyone is interested.

MAGIX apologised for 2022 issues - in their response (and offering of the 2021 version) - which I take as a tacit acknowledgement of "issues". It is also nice to know that one can use a serial number for a previous version

Further updates: MAGIX got back to me today on my other ticket regarding the upside-down" bug itself stating:

"Dear User,
Thank you for your message. This is a bug with these older versions so the solution here would be an update."

And in other news the 2022 serial number did NOT work in the 2021 download they provided so have opened another ticket on that...

@DesertSweeper We appreciate the feedback, thanks.

Possibly the final Update...!:)

They got back to me and provided a new key that works with 2021 and I am off to the races. They also stated: "We are sorry for any inconveniences. We are working with high pressure to solve the problems in the latest version."

So I look forward to that since I have a valid 2022 license waiting in the wings now!

@johnebaker @DesertSweeper @AAProds

I hope they do fix the problems with a patch and not wait for the nest release for fixes as I for one would not be well pleased with that solution. To my Mind Infusion Engine III needs a rewrite. On complex 4K projects it seems I either need faster motherboard ram to cope with using the CPU or Microsoft WARP without a project crashing of if using the nvidia 1650 Super I have running out of Vram casing either graphics to disappear on playback and sometimes on exporting or losing frames from one video track or another. No variation of GPU or CPU setting works completely well although, I suspect it comes down to have enough ram and fast enough ram. Nothing else maxes out. Most of the problems seem to be caused with Size /Position although I can free up a small amount of Vram or system ram by lowering the audio buffers. Sometimes that works but other times it doesn't. Proxies are not helping nor is pre-rendering.

Here is an example of what used to work just fine in MEP 2021.

Note that every time the Vram maxes out I have problems.

Ray.

Wow that is an impressive edit there. I have a whole bunch of GPU's with loads of VRAM I could test that on. But that object tracking problem is my main killer for a Bike-project I am working on and I stick with FullHD so I suspect VRAM is not going to be an issue for me.

@DesertSweeper

The problem is I can only see what is happening at any particular point. Not why it is happening. The Intel GPU is also doing an amount of work as is all 16 cores of the processor. Which it is doing what at any one time and how often bits are being switch from one processor to another or what is being placed in which ram is a complete mystery. Tracking must also be a part of the size position section in some form I would guess but it's only a guess. Is that dropping frames? Why does the section that has the time lapse suddenly increase the Intel GPU usage?

I've too many questions and not enough answers. I will just have to wait like everyone else I guess and hope.

Ray.

@CubeAce

Hi Ray

. . . . On complex 4K projects it seems I either need faster motherboard ram to cope with using the CPU or Microsoft WARP without a project crashing of if using the nvidia 1650 Super I have running out of Vram casing either graphics to disappear on playback and sometimes on exporting or losing frames from one video track or another.  . . .

Are you actually seeing the 1650 running out of VRAM as I believe the playback issue could be related to the playback cache which is only ~ 30MB in size.

While doing some testing this afternoon I got a blank screen, the double click x2 works, however I also found that the Edit, Empty undo and cache memory option also fixed the display - I have temporarily assigned the a key as a keyboard shortcut if it occurs again while testing.

John EB

@DesertSweeper @AAProds

@johnebaker

Hi John.

Thanks for that. I tried your suggestion but to no avail.

Perhaps an image of the project timeline may help. The clip boxed in yellow is the only 1080p clip which is the time lapse. The rest are 4K 29.97fps.

Ray.

Man that is so way above my level. But may I ask - why not just work with 2021? It is working very well on my system - why not just leave them to get 2022 right sometime down the line?

@johnebaker @AAProds @DesertSweeper @emmrecs

The patch that has come out today has improved things quite a bit but I fear any project I tried to 'repair' in the last version is now broken in some of the repair places. Good job I have kept another unaltered copy on my hard drives. Will try that next.

Ray.