Latest version is better, but some problems still remain

[takis]

As said in the title, version 7.51 is better than its predecessors.

Snapping is more reliable, without surprises. However, some problems still remain and were left unaddressed by the programmers:

1) The "ALT and the hamburger menu" problem is still there. Pressing ALT to anchor a clip also invokes the hamburger file menu. Windows moves  keyboard and mouse focus away from the timeline, to the menu. Very annoying... I would kindly suggest, if possible, to appoint another key (other than ALT) for the menu.

2) Clips can be resized only from left to the right.... Resizing "right to left" causes automatic snap of the next clip, even if ALT is kept pressed. We have discussed this issue before, I strongly believe it should be possible to resize both ways, and ALT should have absolute priority over snapping.

3) In projects with many short clips, there are severe program delays... I do not refer to the preview window, but to the entire program. Delays in button and menu selections, delays in the control console. My latest project is a 7 minute piano lesson of a song, with many small clips. Unfortunately the delays makes it impossible to edit anymore...  I cannot figure out why, but the bigger the project, the bigger the delay. A memory usage issue? I installed a real time mem-cpu counter and it reports memory 43%, CPU 7%. It is not that much, therefore it must be something else. I installed a top-line video card with 4GB DDR5 but still, no noticeable improvement.  Maybe too much automation and gadgets overload the software?

4) The "beat white lines" are haunting me even in this version.... There was supposed to be an option to disable them, but I cannot find it. Anyway, at least they are dotted and not so visible...

5) It is not of this version, but what happened to the "track lock" buttons in the timeline? Were they removed for a reason?

6) The small all-time emerging gadget-window "split / start /end time", could be annoying, since it is pressed by mistake and messes the timeline.

In conclusion, the biggest setback (from my point of view) are the delays I mentioned above, and I kindly put it at the programmer's attention.

[borate]

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1) The "ALT and the hamburger menu" problem is still there.

Confirmed.  That needs to be fixed and has been reported.

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2) Clips can be resized only from left to the right.

We may disagree there, but your suggestion has been forwarded.  First detaching the following clip (drag right) overcomes this, though it does add extra steps.

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3) In projects with many short clips, there are severe program delays.

Some very lengthy projects have been run here without delays.  Does the caching drive (OPTIONS|DISK tab|Cache Folder) have ample free space?  Toggle Hardware Acceleration, under OPTIONS|EDITING.

The way to definitively get to the bottom of this issue is to test your project here.  Please upload it, per the "Tips for getting help..." post at the top of this forum.  The link can be sent to me privately via the envelope at the top-right of the window and won't be shared with anyone except the developers, if necessary.

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4) The "beat white lines" are haunting me even in this version.

Tried a right-click on the audio track, then unchecking SHOW BEAT LINES ON WAVEFORM?  If this fails to vanquish them file a bug report by clicking the chevron at the top-right of the VP window.

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What happened to the "track lock" buttons in the timeline?

If the buttons aren't there right-click|LOCK TRACK .  For testing and marketing purposes (especially in beta), different builds with slight variations are offered.  The version # doesn't reveal this.  If you reinstall, the lock icons may appear.  It can take several attempts.  No need to re-download.

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6) The small all-time emerging gadget-window "split / start /end time", could be annoying, since it is pressed by mistake and messes the timeline.

Strikes me as a good feature, but might be improved if the 'gadget' blanked out after a few seconds instead of remaining on the scrubber line.

[Nationalsolo]

HI

Split/Start/Stop........Just click above the Timeline .....it goes without altering the cursor position or messing up the timeline

Lock Track options.....Just click the left end of the timeline under the Track label........Options menu will appear.

Beat White lines.......... Click the Audio track and select Scan or Show Beat marks.. Un-tick option to remove beat marks.

• This is not a particularly useful feature as the beat marks are not always accurate. Using NCH Metronome app, it's not too bad....
• 

But with a decidedly "beaty"  sound clip the result is not so good...........

The actual beats are here (yellow lines)....... The program seems to pick up on sound volumes more than beats. (Must try a Beethoven symphony!)

So this aspect needs a bit more work.

Clips can be resized only from left to the right.  ..Sorry..Agree with Borate. All clips can be shorted from either end. First clip does not have the handle but dragging the cursor line using the Horizontal double headed arrow will highlight a section in  blue which can be deleted. The handles on all the other clips in a sequence can be dragged left or right to shorten (or re-lengthen) a clip.

The ALT problem....I don't find this is particularly annoying  BUT what IS annoying is that when I drag a clip to the right (with or without ALT pressed) it overwrites anything that follows instead of simple pushing them along as one might expect.......OK ..so it does it..but more annoying is that when I drag it back again it leaves the following clip truncated and a gap. Obviously I could INSERT a clip but the behaviour outlined above does not simulate what one would do with actual film.

Nat

 

[borate]

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What IS annoying is that when I drag a clip to the right (with or without ALT pressed) it overwrites anything that follows instead of simple pushing them along as one might expect.

Select all the clips, Nat.  Then drag right and nothing will be truncated. 

[takis]

Thank you Borate for forwarding my comments to the programmers. Also, thank you Nationalsolo for your answer.

I understand that what is convenient for me, could be annoying to somebody else. However, since I have been using VideoPad for many years to produce my piano lessons and  the video clips of my songs, I have found some features to be practical and others unfortunately not...

Concerning the "Clips can be resized only from left to the right"  issue, in early versions I could freely resize clips at any direction with full ALT anchoring. Sadly, in the latest versions ALT anchors only from L to R and not vice versa. Of course, as Nationalsolo mentioned,  one can resize R to L, but the automatic snap pulls clips following to the left.... Please understand that in musical editing, you have to fully control the start and stop margins of every clip, beat has to match and instruments have to be timed to the millisecond. I really do not understand the presence of this complicated gap-closing automation in the software, for me it causes a lot of wasted time since I am compelled to correct timeline discrepancies caused by it. Of course, if you want to produce a quick project i.e. vacations video, a party/event video,  etc. it might be useful to automatically close gaps in-between sessions. But, in professional audio-video you need to control the timeline at all times and gaps are a useful tool to setup and tune your whole project. At least I do.  The way that Borate suggests (first disconnect the clip from the next one and then resize) is plausible, but YES it employs more steps and in most cases there is no free space on the timeline to disconnect, either to the left or right. For now, I transfer it on another track, but still it is complicated and errors occur. CTRL+Z has to be used all the time.

Concerning the delays in the software, I have tried to check-uncheck almost everything in options, to no avail... I have a separate 2GB WD-purple disk mapped as drive D,  only for videopad caching. A lot of free space there... I also tried to delete all cache form older projects, still nothing...  It is difficult to submit my latest project as portable, since it is more than 300MB (including videos). However, if there is no other option, I will try to create a smaller test project, that still has the delays and upload. Memory, CPU power are reported plenty,  but obviously I am short of something for the delays to appear...

For the other issues, thank you for the info. Borate told me before how to make the beat lines go away. But, I forgot it was the right mouse click and I was browsing the menus...

 

 

[borate]

By all means, if a portion of the project that demonstrates the slowdown can be isolated and saved as a PORTABLE project, please submit it.

There's always room to isolate a clip.  Select all clips to the right of the one to be isolated. (Click the first and hold <shift> while clicking the last.)

Drag them to the right, then drag the leftmost of those clips to the left, to isolate it - leaving a gap to its right.

Testing the latest beta here, selecting several clips and dragging them to the left (no <alt>) also leaves a gap.

Once a clip is isolated, either handle can be dragged to alter its length, without employing <alt>.

[takis]

Another issue, that I just happen to notice is with the equalizer (EQ).

Unfortunately, saving a project does not save (at least always) the EQ settings of individual clips! I have to have different clip EQ, and loading a saved project loses all EQ settings to flat! Impossible to work with, since every day I have to reset the desired EQ values...

[borate]

Here's how that works - using v7.50 for the test here...

Create the curve, then SAVE PRESET and give it a name or clip #.

When restoring the project, open the audio effects window and click on CONFIGURE EQUALIZER.

Then click SELECT PRESET, choose the desired saved EQ and Apply.

[takis]

This is what I currently do...

Unfortunately, there are many different audio clips, with different equalization (due to different organs). Therefore, almost every time I load the project, in order to continue working, I have to re-configure all the clips... I have around 6-7 customly saved  presets.

Is it not possible -once applied and saved- to keep it permanently and load it automatically next time? Individual audio volume levels are saved, why not the EQ settings?

Forgive my asking, I am not a programmer and there might be technical limitations to what I ask, but anyway I put it into your consideration.

[borate]

Sounds like a reasonable request.  Please file it as a suggestion by clicking the chevron at the top-right of the Videopad window.

Here's a method that might work for you...

Configure EQ for all the clips, then click the SEQUENCES TAB above the bin.

Right-click on the sequence and SAVE SEQUENCE AUDIO AS NEW FILE.  That file will appear under the Audio Files tab in the bin.

Set the cursor to the beginning of the project.  Right-click on the newly created audio file and OVERLAY ON SEQUENCE AT CURSOR.

Now mute the original audio track and re-save the project.

When it's reloaded all EQ settings will be heard and the original audio track, now muted, will be left undisturbed.