Best preview for applying effects

[Pat88]

In Timeline mode, is there any problem with applying Video Effects > Censor in Sequence Preview rather than Clip Preview?

On my underpowered system the playback is jerky with no sound in Clip Preview (Win 8.1, 2 GB RAM, 1.33 GHz, VideoPad 6.30 installed without any choice to SSD C:\ and Options > Disk set to cache files on SD card D:\ and preview set in Tools > Options to 512x288).

I'm seeing if I can use VideoPad on a 2 minute 250 MB .mov 1920 x 1080 video as it seems to be the best software for low spec computers. It only seems to use about 70% of RAM and 50% of CPU, plus 112 MB of 45 cache files, but I'm having quite a struggle and have about 4 days left of the 14 day trial period of the free version.  (The video was reduced to 112 MB when I tried saving it as a lossless .mov). Things seemed okay adding Censor effects to the first clips of the 60 or so clips in total, but then seemed to start getting more and more difficult.

[borate]

Your system does seem lacking for resource intensive video editing;  eight gigs of RAM is often cited as minimal.

A few things to try...

In OPTIONS|DISPLAY, temporarily lower the frame rate.  Playback may become jerky,  depending upon the nature of the project.

In OPTIONS|EDITING, try toggling "Use Hardware Accelerated Video" to the other state.

Update Direct-X.  Update the video driver to the latest, from the chip or card manufacturer's WEB site.  See this FAQ for info on both procedures.

Or, greatly lessen the load while editing by using proxy files...

Convert the large video files to 320 X 240 and save to a unique folder.  (NCH's Prism software can do the job.)  Give them precisely the same names as the originals.

Move the originals from the project folder to another.  Then, using the PC file manager, copy the low-res files to VP's project folder and edit the film.

When done, In the VP video bin right-click on each of the low-res files, one-by-one, and click CHANGE FILE.  Locate the hi-res versions and replace each.

SAVE and EXPORT the project.

[Pat88]

Thanks Borate! Wow, that's a great method for using proxy files and I bet it would solve all my problems! NCH should post that advice on the page that lists "system requirements"! I tried to delete my post (after discovering VP automatically switches to Clip Preview) and thought I had done so since it didn't appear in the latest posts then, but I'm very grateful for the advice. 

I did previously try lowering the frame rate from 30 to 15 fps, which did smooth out the operation (on this ASUS X205TA that was $200 five years ago and not at all suited to video editing!) Unfortunately, that wasn't suitable for me because for reasons I won't go into I needed to split into clips on a frame by frame basis, and when set at 15 fps the editor only displayed every second frame when I clicked "Next frame" and the splits were sometimes then off by a frame.

I did try toggling hardware acceleration off, and that may have helped though I'm not certain.

DirectX is supposedly 11.2 for Windows 8.1, which is updated, but dxdiag seems to report "11" in one place and "11.0" in another; I don't know how to update it further, but I doubt that's the problem, and this laptop doesn't have a video card.

I had numerous confusing problems such as the time bar jumping around, which I strongly suspect were due to the laptop being underpowered. Perhaps the software then can't keep everything in order; just patiently waiting works sometimes and not others. Other problems were more mysterious. For example, on launching the program I started getting the error message: "Error loading files   There was an error loading one or more of the effect or transition icons.  Please reinstall VideoPad to fix this problem. If the problem persists, contact NCH Software support at http://www.nch.com.au/support/index.html" Using the Control Panel to uninstall/change brought up an NCH module with a "reinstall" option which I chose, but I still got the same error message on opening VP. So then I deleted VP entirely and reinstalled from scratch, and that fixed that problem.

Other things were confusing for a newbie because things would work one time and not the next, presumably because I didn't go slowly enough for my laptop, and I found the instructions for applying effects were not detailed step-by-step enough for me so I was guessing. Found I could use Google to search site:nchsoftware.com since the site itself had no search box, just a table of contents. Had to use the undo button a lot, and start from a previously saved version of the project file a lot. By trial and error I think I've developed a work pattern that will suffice. For example, usually I can find the place I need to apply the Effect using the large red time position slider in the Sequence preview, note the exact time, select the clip, select Video Effects, VP then switches to Clip Preview and I can go from there...but if Clip Preview automatically opens in a different (wrong) clip, which seems quite often, then I can use the small red time position slider in the Clip Preview to get to the right clip using the time I previously noted being careful since that timeline doesn't expand (would be problematic on a long video).

It seems great software though a bit short on the documentation for a beginner, and the video tutorials were mostly not helpful. I was a little surprised that effects could not be applied to random portions of the video rather than just to demarcated clips.

Thanks again  

[borate]

Effects can indeed be applied to a portion of a clip - by splitting a clip on the timeline or by using the animation editor to plot keyframes.  See this FAQ.

Check out storybook mode;  it's helpful in sorting out individual clips.

Be aware too that you can right-click|COPY a master clip in the video bin, then right-click|PASTE CLIP.  Each copy can be trimmed independently.  Employ the START|END buttons under the PV window and drag a trimmed clip to the timeline, drop it in by using the ADD button or get the same result via the (right-click) context menu.

If you want someone to check out your project, share it.  See the "sticky" near the top of this forum:  "Tips for getting help..."

 

 

[Pat88]

Thank you! I've been splitting clips a lot! I didn't try the animation keyframes as I expected it might be too much extra for my underpowered laptop and also I haven't learnt how to use them.

Is there any advantage to storybook mode if a person is not re-arranging the order of clips?

Is it possible it would put less strain on the computer, and therefore work more reliably, if I dragged clips from the timeline to the video bin (I assume both video tracks and the stereo audio track would go together) and applied effects there? Then I'd have to be careful to drag them back when I was finished all of them in the correct order, but it would save many hours if I could avoid freezeups every so often. I do need to save the project versions more often!

[borate]

There are several ways to reorder clips on the timeline.  Storybook mode displays individual clips prominently so it may facilitate that - depending upon the project's complexity.  SB mode also reveals inconsistencies or gaps between clips that might not be visible on the compressed timeline.

Effects can be applied to a clip on the timeline, then that A/V clip can be dragged to the video bin and later reassembled to the original or a new sequence, if that's your style.

Add transitions last, after the rearrangement is complete.

 

[Pat88]

Thank you Borate, I gather then the best method to cope with an underpowered laptop is to use proxy files for editing as you gave instructions above.

I'm going to keep using "File > Save project as" every quarter hour or so, naming the saves as version12, version13, etc., so that I can go back to start over with a good version and not lose too much work when I encounter problems of my own making or due to a computer problem.

Thanks again

[Pat88]

PS  I set the switch at the bottom of this form to "Notify me of replies", which is a nice facility. It might be better to have this default to On rather than Off?

Also, every notification that came was in an excellent format, with both the message and a link to come here to respond, but every time Gmail put it in my spam folder! I keep clicking on "Not spam" but Gmail doesn't seem to learn. NCH might want to check why Gmail is doing that, as there might be small changes that would reduce that.

[borate]

The SPAM filtering is a GMail issue.  Click its settings wheel, then the SETTINGS item and choose the FILTERING tab.  Configure a filter with the NCH email address if necessary after confirming that the address isn't in the blocked list.

A few minutes up front, to convert the file/s, should pay great dividends in ease of editing.  Proxies are especially suitable for low-end PCs.

Two key considerations:  name the proxies exactly the same as the original files, and keep copies of the originals.  One method, after creating the low-res files, is to delete the originals to the recycle bin.  Later, they can be restored from the bin, which will slot them back into their original folder.

  Report results here.