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It used to be quite quick to load VideoPad, but now it's taking ages. I just counted to 27 before anything appeared, and that's just double-clicking the desktop icon to load it with no project or clips.

Is it just me, or does anyone else have a slow down?

Hmmmm... I'm not familiar with that.

Can you play it OK in Windows Media Player, Media Player Classic or VLC?

If you can't select a different codec output from Photo Slideshow then you might have to ask the good people at http://forum.videohelp.com/viewforumlatest.php

I used to get problems with WMVs created from MJPEG MOVs by Super© and needed to let a utility called "WMV indexer" sort the clips out. It works its magic on each clip very quickly and then Windows Movie Maker had no further problems with them.

If it's the same sort of thing, try http://www.artech365.com/winvdr/down.htm and look for "Download the TOOL WMVINDEXER(FREE) to reindex a WMV file(Enable Fast Forward or Rewind)"

The other solution is... don't use WMV!

What camera did it come from... what's the file extension (avi/mts/mkv etc?)... and codec?

At the moment the crossfade works well for video, but the soundtracks are simply overlaid at the join. It would be much nicer to crossfade the audio too. I'm spending a lot of time adjusting the audio volume envelopes to remove clicks and poor joins, when it could all be done automatically!

I hope the programmers do read these comments from time to time and pay heed

While I'm whingin' about titles.... three suggestions/pleadings :

1) allow a cr/lf in the text field so that multi-line titles can be done?

2) how about a checkbox for "Auto-size" which would select the right size so that a title would cover about 90% of the frame width? (so long as the title is 10 chars or more otherwise it would be silly huge... and likewise down to minimum font size too. And put an explanation in a tooltip when anyone hovers the mouse over it!)

3) can it PLEASE remember the last font details used and default to them for new titles? Most people will stick with one font if they've got any sense for consistency, and it's SUCH a chore to select the same font time and time and time and time again!!

Cheers

The most annoying shortcoming of VideoPad at the moment (the only one I can think of, to be honest!) is that with some titles I get the same size results no matter what size I change the font to! And once in a while it looks one particular size in the timeline preview but when I create my movie the final result is a different size text completely!

I hope it can be fixed.... has anyone else noticed this and found a way to force it to behave itself?

Well, Prism has stopped moaning at me, the last nag message said something about not being able to use some features any more, but it's still allowing me to do what I want.

Help.. About.. says it is "Unlicensed Basic Free Version", so I'm not going to worry about it.

It would be nice if they were clear and up-front about exactly what's what

Glad it worked! I hope the programmers read these forums from time to time and fix it

Yesterday I 'unlinked' the sound from a clip, and then when I deleted the video the sound went with it! I was kinda expecting the sound to remain... I ended up moving the sound to a new track, shifted it sideways, changed the length of the video, then it managed to delete the video and it left me the sound behind. I didn't investigate further just which one of those steps was actually required

I was playing with that yesterday and noticed that I couldn't get the up/down arrow buttons to appear (and so I was stuck with 2 tracks) until I selected Move Track -> New Track and then the buttons appeared and I could scroll downwards to track 40 or more

It must be a bug. Just try adding a track to a New Track and see if the buttons appear?

There's a tutorial from NCH, showing VideoPad in action, at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2h0h8X6jcY

YouTube does support stereo, so it's worth keeping if your clips have a stereo soundtrack.

Sound is a smaller component of the final bitstream than the video, by far, so I wouldn't worry unduly about it. Video is typically in the 1000s of kbits/second, whereas stereo audio can be carried along the internet wires happily with just 200 or so. It's not worth skimping on.

I believed that Prism was free, likewise the basic version of VideoPad, but both have just given me warning messages of being about to expire and would I like to look at upgrade options?

Am I about to end up with dead software here, or will it carry on working in free mode?

It's even more baffling with Prism (rather than VideoPad) because the home page http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html says "is completely free."

I've been starting to sing its praises on forums but now I'm wondering if it's not the free solution I've been looking for. What's going on?!

Hi Hugh, have you tried the suggested settings here?

http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=13558

OK, glad it's working now, thanks for letting us know.

By the way, I don't profess to be an expert on video playback and codec issues - I'm aware that some people recommend "codec packs" and others don't.

http://www.howtogeek.com/wiki/Why_Codec_Packs_Are_Bad

It's a confusing state of affairs that I aim to research more thoroughly. I do have the K-Lite codec pack with Media Player Classic, and VLC player, and Quicktime player... but I'm still hazy about how codecs are selected, how they coexist, how one has priority over others, etc. I'll get back to you when I ever make sense of it all

Actually, I've just opened a handful of .mp4 files quite happily in VideoPad, so maybe you're missing a codec?

Can you play the clips on the PC at all? If not, try downloading MPC from http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/download-media-player-classic-hc.html and see if that plays them - or install a full codec pack that also installs MPC at the same time - try http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/codecs_and_filters/k-lite_codec_pack_full.cfm

or install VLC Player http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

or Apple Quicktime Player (all free)

Once you can play the files, with the codec installed, you may have better luck with VideoPad.

I think the difference is just the number of options in save formats, because every time I select anything other than MPEG4 and then change the sound format from the default PCM it goes back to MPEG4 again. I'm not aware of any other missing features, correct me if I'm wrong someone

You might need to use NCH's Prism Converter software to make copy clips to work with (then delete them once you've made your movie). It's quick and easy. Download it and take a look. I've used VideoPad OK with AVI files containing MPEG4 (AVC/h.264) codec streams, so it should be possible. What type of camera is it, and if there's an example clip somewhere to download I'll see what works with it...?

(Stick a short clip on rapidshare.com and give us the URL it presents you with (you don't need to complete the email stuff) then we can download take a look)

Newcomers to these forums, be advised that v2 was released recently, so please don't be put off by cries for help here that relate to the previous version

http://www.efytimes.com/e1/36731/NCH%20Launches%20New%20Version%20Of%20Video%20Editor.htm

Saturday, August 22, 2009: NCH Software, a provider of audio, video, business and telephony/VoIP tools and utilities worldwide, has released the latest version of its video editing software -- VideoPad. VideoPad is a video editor with the ability to capture video from your DV camcorder, VHS player or a webcam, and import it directly into your project. With VideoPad anyone can create professional looking movies.

"It's been exciting to watch VideoPad develop," said Jennifer Saksa, marketing manager, NCH Software. "VideoPad is one of our younger applications but we've seen over 300,000 downloads of the movie making software in the past six months and we've had a lot of great feedback. In this edition we have greatly increased the video editing capabilities so it will almost feel like an entirely new video editor."

VideoPad, now, adds a project control panel and a clip control panel. The clip control panel allows you to edit the in/out points of a video and save as a clip; for cutting up long blocks of video footage. Plus, simply click the clip control panel to add a marker to edit the volume.

With the improved timeline control, users can zoom, scroll and select the right spot in their footage quickly. Video transitions can be applied faster by selecting the transition points in the timeline. Narration can be recorded while watching your movie and will automatically be added to the timeline for you.

YouTube recommend "you may get the best uploading results from converting your file to MPEG4 video with MP3 audio" - http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55744

For the sound, use 44100 Hz instead of 48000 - http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en-uk&answer=132460

I use AVI, 1280x720, framerate as per original clips (YouTube preserves this, allowing 25 or 30 fps for example - and so do Vimeo), and it works well for me with Encoder Options as follows: MPEG4 (Native) with average/max bitrate 9000, sound: MP3, 44100, 320 kbps, stereo.

I have also found that if I convert AVCHD Lite mts files in NCH's Prism converter (because they don't work 100% well in VideoPad otherwise) it's best to select [Options]... [Conversions]... and tick the box to use FFMPEG. Otherwise it looks shoddy. YouTube do say "it is recommended that you use FFMPEG" (see first link above).

Those settings should get you some good looking results... it works for me!

For the benefit of newcomers, there has been a new version since these problems.

For the titles requirement, the new clip and crossfade idea will work.

To make a title come and go during one clip, split the clip into 2 or 3 parts and apply the title to the part you want.

There's a "Video Track" window pane to the left of the timeline, and that has a [split Clip] button. So you can divide up a clip into many parts and delete bits you don't want - (highlight the unwanted clip in the timeline and press the Delete key (or right-click for a "Remove selected clip" option). Trim unwanted bits from the beginning or end of any clip by clicking the side of a clip (in the timeline) and drag back and forth.

I wonder if that's fixed in the current version?

Anyway, for YouTube, they recommend "you may get the best uploading results from converting your file to MPEG4 video with MP3 audio ... it is recommended that you use FFMPEG" ( http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=55744 )

(so if you're using Prism converter, select Options.. Conversions.. and tick the box to use FFMPEG)

For the sound, use 44100 Hz instead of 48000 ( http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en-uk&answer=132460 )

I use AVI, 1280x720, framerate as per original clips (YouTube preserves this, allowing 25 or 30 for example), and it works well for me with Encoder Options as follows: MPEG4 (Native) with average/max bitrate 9000.

Trim a clip in the timeline by clicking on the sides of the clip and drag the beginning or end back and forth. The relevant first/last frame will appear in the preview window as you drag.

Or you can work in the preview window by playing the clip there and press the marker buttons (red/blue flags) at the required points. Or click on the red/blue triangles in the time ruler strip and drag them back and forth.

Split a clip by stopping at the required point in the timeline (you can click on the time ruler strip when it's not playing, to move to that point) and press the [split Clip] button in the Video Track pane to the left. There isn't a Split Clip option in the Edit menu, sadly.