Nationalsolo

Hi

From your description this is a bit odd. What type of clip(s)  are you using?

"......Also, the rest of the sound waves have been mixed up so the sound from one clip will be playing along with a different clip. ..."

Each clip would usually have its own attached sound and this being so,  sound from one clip would not play with a different clip. It seems therefore that you may have unlinked the sound track somehow and moved the audio  along the track although any unlinked clips that now have no sound would not show anything on the audio track least of all a "solid bar" You may also have perhaps unlinked the sound track and added in (inserted) somewhere some images. This would produce a gap in the audio which you may have closed so shifting the sound to the left so sound from one clip would possibly play with a different clip These are just scenarios that could produce the effect somewhat like you are seeing. Without examining  your actual project it's difficult so say.

Is this solid bar just a thin blue horizontal line?

OK...Save the Project As.  so at least you can reconstruct your work as far as you have it.

Run a check as follows...Close VP and reopen it and load  just  the clip that seems to show the solid bar. Has it still got a "solid bar" or does it show a normal waveform and play correctly.

Add further clips/images from your project to this one if it looks OK and check each time that they are all contiguous and they play (preview) correctly in the order of placement.

Report back with what you find.

Nat

Hi AlanR

I agree with your sentiments entirely.

".....Try studying a good professional documentary - you will generally see only 2 effects, cross fade and instant cut into a new clip or out of an old one.  That immediately makes virtually all VP effects redundant - so making no point in producing loads more. ...."

Exactly!...But on the the other hand a good selection of effects/transitions can always be useful for some users and even though they might be there it doesn't mean you have to use them.

".......When there are bugs - I want them fixed.

When there are new algorithms that improve performance - I want them.

What i don't want is overloaded s/w struggling to perform, bogged down by unnecessary bells and whistles -..."

I think this is something all users wish for and I am sure NCH also. For the most part bugs are fixed but often means downloading a later version of the program. It is only by contributing to the forum and reporting problems that the software can develop. NCH are continually revising ways that processes like threading and cache storing and retrieval are made more efficient. VP does a lot but, as I mentioned many of today's users are producing projects that are.. to put it bluntly pushing even the current film editing capabilities to the limit.  My orchestra recently produced a prize winning multi screen compilation, not being able to meet due to Covid restrictions. This used  at one point a 10 x 10 matrix with all orchestra members in their own box with effects over the general screen. This, along with the merged and treated sound tracks was done on a professional system that cost ..(well-a lot!)  VP manages 5 x 5 multiscreen at a fraction of the cost and even 10 x 10 pretty easily with certain manipulations and work-arounds.  Even with powerful systems a limit has to be reached and it is approaching. Things will slow down! Most amateur films in the past using real film rarely exceeded 40 -45 minutes due to cost and often were much shorter. As you say effects were (and are)  limited to straight cuts and, if the equipment was sophisticated enough dissolves and fades. The latter were often done by graded dyeing of the ends of the cut points before splicing. With video editors and digital film today this is easy to do as is filming HOURS of action. editors like VP are expected to cope with the WHOLE of this footage..remember it is not a destructive process as with film where one's project becomes shorter as editing proceeds, so huge amounts of date has to be stored and this  inevitably puts a strain of the software. If you have to run a mile to get your next bit of data instead of few feet it's going to slow things down.

Nat

Hi

This seems to be your first post here so welcome! As you are apparently a seasoned user, constructive criticism is always useful and the developers of the software are always open to suggestions.

In general VP does all I want it to...I'm not a professional; just a keen amateur with modest equipment. In fact I'm not sure what a professional would want. Some editing suites that I have seen are pretty sophisticated but don't come in the same  price range as VP which is, let's face it; pretty good.

"......VP is way behind the curve in terms of what it can do......."

Please put forward suggestions .. What would you like it to do that it doesn't already do?

"......Each release is the same old same old and playback preview is problematic in VP when other software lets you drop down the preview resolution......."

Previous versions did allow one to set the preview resolution but as I understand it, allowing this, caused difficulties in the way clips were processed for preview.  This was overcome by eventually fixing the preview resolution at an intermediate value. The higher resolution clips used today and the project sizes being created  means that that limitations are becoming more evident. Each release has to start somewhere of course and this is usually the previous version. If it was rewritten totally each time a release was made then it would very quickly become  incompatible with previously created projects. Even so this must inevitably happen at some point particularly when one takes into account the specs of currently produced videos and the different systems used....big formats and very long (sometimes very very  long) projects using multiple tracks.   Granted there are bugs that inevitably creep in with some revisions but once found and reported they are corrected as soon as possible and often this forum is where these are reported.  I am sure NCH think carefully about the impact some changes will have but changes have to be made from time to time that make previous versions obsolete.  Just think about Windows as an example....

"..........Videopad's effects are getting old and tired........."

How can an effect, like fade or Zoom etc. become old and tired?  They are basic requirements of any editing software. Where do you feel they are not up to scratch? How would like to see them revamped?  Suggest some new ones.

Nat

Hi

Not sure what things you are trying but the simplest way (one of several) to remove a section is ......

• Open VP and Add your video using Add Files tab. This will place your video in the Clip bin
• Drag and drop your video from the clip bin onto the timeline., or right click it and Place Clip on the Sequence.
• Move the red cursor line to start of the section you want to delete and Split  the clip using the scissor icon
• Move the red cursor line to the end of the section you want to delete and Split the clip again.
• Right the click the section between the splits and select the Delete  option. This will remove the unwanted section and leave a gap.
• Right cluck the gap and select the Close Gap in Track option. The timeline will close up and your unwanted section will no longer show.

Nat

Hi

You can control the duration of the Zoom effect by altering the time between the start point and the end point of the effect. Obviously the effect can last no longer than the length of the clip it is applied to.

Video clips cannot be made longer so for a particular clip the zoom speed cannot be slowed down (decreased) more than than this duration. If you want a slower zoom then you would need to make the clip longer either by shooting a longer clip in the first place or by changing the speed of the clip so it lasts longer. (Setting values of less than 100%)

If you use an Image clip  then the duration, which is set by default in Options/Media ,  can be made effectively as long as you like although this value will be global for all image clips. If you don't want to reset the default value you can simple drag the end of the Image clip along the timeline to the right or use Storyboard mode to enter a specific value for the clip in question..

The start and finish points for the zoom effect in a clip are, (or can be) set by using keyframes, the zoom level  being set for each keyframe. The shorter the interval between start and end the faster the zoom.

Pan and Zoom act on the whole clip and consists of setting the first frame position in clip preview and then the final zoom position in clip preview. As mentioned the speed will depend on the duration of the clip. The longer the clip, the slower the zoom/pan.

Once you have set a zoom effect that you like and are going to use repeatedly it can be saved to the effects list by clicking the blue cassette tab and providing a suitable name. Once this has been done your new zoom effect can be added to your clips like any other effect.

Nat

Hi

As far as I am aware there isn't a website that deals with VP bugs. It's best to either report anything found directly to NCH from the Menu/Help or as you have done mention problems in the forum as someone will usually reply or offer advice.

With reference to the brackets; I haven't seen a problem here and usually, hovering over the white blocks at either end of the clip will produce the left/right brackets. I can't recollect these not appearing even when the timeline is zoomed out or the clips are very short.but as you say if the red cursor bar happens to be positioned on that specific clip edge then you will inevitably get the double headed arrow that will allow you to use the cursor line to drag a blue delete zone on the timeline. You could use this to delete/export etc. the designated area so you could still shorted a clip in this way.

Of course you can't lengthen a clip unless you have shortened it first although that doesn't apply to image clips.

It's probably best to simply move the mouse marker from the body of the clip to the join when the bracket(s)s should appear in any scenario.

Nat

Hi

Should be no problem. It will load back. You may have to restart your computer. You should find it in

User name/AppData/Roaming/NCH Software.........

Nat

Hi

"........What I want to happen is that the stopwatch displays and counts from 0:00:00.000 to roughly 0:00:02.000 in normal speed, then play 0:00:02.00 to 0:00:18.00 at 4x with the stopwatch numbers also playing at the fast speed keeping the timing sequence, then at 0:00:18.00 to 0:00:20.00 back at 1x........"

This is too difficult.... Example with just the timer...

• Place the clock on the timeline and extend it to 20 seconds. It will play then play from 0:00.00  to 0:20.00
• Save this as a Sequence by clicking the + that follows Sequence 1 x at the left end of the track. This will clear the timeline and place the 20 second timer clip in the Sequence bin.
• Drag and drop the "new" sequence from the bin back to the timeline
• Play the clip to the 2 second point and split the clip
• Play the clip to the 18 second point and split the clip
• Right click the central section between the splits and in change the speed to 400%

The clip will now play 0 - 2 secs normal;   2-18 secs speeded up 4X  and 18- 20 normal

You can if you wish save this as another sequence to use in your project.

Nat

Hi

In VP 8.77 Shake applied to jpg images does not appear to work at all. Applied to mp4 clips it works intermittently. This has been reported.

Text shadow in 8.77 works OK and colour can be changed, but ensure the colour contrasts with the background. There is no thickness or shadow direction adjustments however which would be a definite enhancement and has been suggested to NCH.

Image shadow seems to work here OK but subject should be scaled down so shadow has a space to show up...

Colour changes also seem to work on the shadow OK, but check opacity is set to 100% or it may not be what you expect. Note default is 50%

Nat

Hi DIY

Top of the forum page is a sticky

http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/25970-videopad-show-and-tell/

For a leap of faith....Try there.

Nat

HI B

Odd!  I'll try a different clip.....I've just realized it was an mpg2 I used.

Empty cache; added 9 second 1920 x 1080 mp4 clip twice with second one reversed on the timeline.

• Previewed as expected.
• Exported as mp4; Auto match content 1920 x 1080; Default quality, Letterbox; V1ariable Smart max  45fps
• First 50%..........120 seconds
• second 50%.....135 seconds

On my old Vista machine this is much (much) slower than your test.  However despite that not a huge difference between the two halves (but quite a bit longer than using the same sized mpeg2 clip! which is to be expected)  CPU used 98 - 100% during this.

Checked the first mpg2 clip again and got the same timings as before.

Nat

Hi

You might try this.

Open users/Your name/AppData/Roaming/NCH Software and delete the Components file.

reopen VP ; the Components  folder should reload automatically and might cure the problem

Nat

Hi

Not confirming this here. Using VP 8.77 a 10 second clip added to the timeline twice and then the second copy reversed. (Pretty well instantaneous reversal)

The timeline  played normally in preview  Export  rendering progressed  at a constant speed throughout. (47 seconds 1st half and 49 seconds for second (reversed half).  The exported clip played normally.

Nat

Hi

Simplest way... (There are others..)

• Place the full clip on the timeline
• Drag the red cursor line to the point where you want to divide it.
• Click the scissors icon that appears when you release the cursor line. This will split the track. (Clip A and Clip B)
• Grab  Clip B (RH clip) and drag and drop it in the clip bin (You will see a green clover leaf shape when you do this.) This will leave Clip A on the timeline
• Export Clip A.
• When exported delete the clip if you don't want it or drag it to the clip bin if you want to keep it.
• Drag Clip B to the timeline
• Export clip B

You now have two clips.

Nat

Hi

Your mp4  downloaded OK and loaded OK into VP 8.77

Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E4500@ 2.2GHz, 2.0 GB RAM
NVIDEA GeForce GT 730.

(...so nothing super.)

From an empty cache the project loaded to timeline (eventually) with no particular hitches. A 90 min 1920 x 1080 clip takes a bit of time to load first time around.  (This took around 45 mins to cache fully   (around 30 seconds /min...CPU working around 91 -95%))

Once in the cache the project re-loaded into a re-opened VP from scratch in a second. (almost immediately)

Project loaded into VP from a vpj file in about a couple of seconds.

This played fine in VP 8.77 in an expanded sequence preview screen. There were no glitches or "building Preview" messages even when the timeline was jumped from place to place with the red cursor line in sequence preview.

The project exported as a 1920 x 1080 mp4  HD Default quality @38fps, and did this in 2mins 39 seconds.

Can't see anything wrong with this mp4.

Nat

Hi

Something odd happening then.  With VP 8.77 all the Ariel characters appear as normal in the editor; clip preview and Sequence preview.....

....and the exported mp4 is also correct......

Can't think of any reason why - and _ won't appear in VP .....  They appear in the forum entry and presumably in your EMs.

Nat

Hi

What font are you using?

Nat

Hi

Glad it resolved OK but I am a bit puzzled. In one image the 5x5 grid is as I expect to be....each box is rectangular  (16:9/5 = 3.2/1.8 = 16:9 for each box.

In the other they are square.

What settings reproduce this?

Nat

Hi

With this method (above) I have even made a 10x10 matrix in which all the videos played with no problem...

Can't tell from this thread but are you placing each clip on a separate track?

Nat

Hi

Also...check the split screen resizing mode. The AR of the boxes for different matrices is not the same and what might be OK for 3 x 3 may not be correct for 5x5.  If you run into difficulties with running a 5x5 matrix directly check out using 5 exported clips with just the left vertical 5 used and then using those clips to make the 5x5

Nat

Hi

I can appreciate that in your raw timeline you would have many separate clips but the audio (so it seemed in the film I downloaded, had just three music clips. If you lock all the video tracks once you have them as you want them they should not be affected by changes made to the audio. Altering the audio speed on any/all the music clips should be a fairly simple procedure along the lines Borate suggests. Regular Saving Project As  is indispensable to prevent failure frustration.

Your last download played OK with all the sound in VLC and the top line had gone.   As I said Crop should work for the RHS. I also noticed that although VLC played the sound OK ..if you jumped along the bottom blue progress bar to view the video further on, the soundtrack was lost and even jumping back didn't restore it so I am wondering if that is what you initially had?

Nat

Hi

Bravo!   ... and yes,  it must have taken some time to do!  VP don't guarantee that Virtualdub  plugins will all work being  third party apps, just that the facility to incorporate them into the program is available. The principle one being Deshaker for stabilization. A few years ago you could run your clip with the plugin on the virtualdub website and download the result. (Or something similar) I don't think that can be done now.

Nat

Hi

If you are using one audio track and your audio clips are A and B and you want them in that order then place the red cursor at the start and then load audio A to the sequence at the cursor position. Step along the timeline  using the >II  button (or drag the cursor line) until you are at the end of audio A. Now add audio B to the cursor position. You will now have audio A  followed by audio B

If by some chance you got them in the wrong order (B A) then right click audio A on the timeline and delete it. Click the I<  button under the sequence preview pane to move the cursor to the startof the tracks and then select audio A again and place it on the sequence at the cursor position. Audio A will insert and push audio B along the right. You will then have the audio A followed by B.

If your video  moves along the timeline with audio B leaving a gap, click the gap and select Close the gap.

Nat

Hi

Are we looking at a full length video or just a few frames? If the latter you might try the mask effect.?????

Nat

Hi

In short...I am afraid not. If there are a lot of silences in your video the only recourse you have is to edit them out. VP can't do this for you.

You can either split the clip either side of the silence and then remove the section between the splits closing the gaps as you go.

A simpler alternative is

• Split the clip at the END of the first silence.
• Drag the right hand section up to a higher track and then to the left so it overlaps the silent area,
• Split the upper track at the START of the next silence.
• Drag the clip down to the first track and then to the left so the next silence is covered
• Continue in this fashion.
• In this way each silence is covered by the upper track. The advantage here is that you can easily adjust the silences by varying the overlap and there are no gaps to remove and only a simple split is involved for each one.

Nat