Precisely the test made earlier and just repeated - per your instructions.  No discernible difference between the black image created with Irfanview and the VP blank, black image.

https://www.nch.com.au/kb/10265.html

Are you using the most recent VP version?  If not, install it (retaining your old installer file) and report back.

You can also share your project, so someone can attempt to replicate your result.  Here's how...

http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/23659-tips-for-getting-help-on-this-forum/

You might want to check playback elsewhere.  Here, using MPC-HC for playback, all your examples are solid black - no artifacts.

Duplicated here.  May be a bug, and has been reported.

Think I see what you describe.  Click the CLIP PREVIEW tab above the preview window and you should see only the clip as the scrubber is scrolled through the effect.

In repeated tests, was unable to duplicate your results...

Created a pure black frame in a graphics program and compared it side-by-side in Videopad to a black blank frame.   Export showed no difference between the two.

Set up an eight-minute, five-clip video and plotted effect keyframes for several clips.  Preview always displayed the scrubber position as the effects window was scrolled.

Higher numbered tracks overlay lowered numbered tracks.

Place a background image on track one.  Place the less-than-full-screen image on track two.  The background will be seen around the edges.

Seeing the same here.  Created a DVD with four chapters but playback from the PC's optical drive lists only one.  A bug report has been filed.

When you say "render" are you referring to editing, such as adding effects?  Or is it slow in exporting?  What format and file sizes are involved?

Videopad runs fine on 64-bit machines.  A 64-bit VP version reportedly is in the works, with no target date.

You need to make the link public, so anyone can access it.

http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/23659-tips-for-getting-help-on-this-forum/

Follow instructions in this link to upload your project.  Paste the public (shared) link here, and someone will check it out.

It appears that the original audio files are six channels, which is causing the issue.  A report has been submitted to NCH.

A reinstall won't hurt.  Give it a go.

No, export isn't for sharing your project files.

Use the FILE menu|SAVE AS PORTABLE PROJECT.  The zip the results if there are more than a few files - or upload ALL individual files (source files + VPJ) to a free server.

On that server, make the file/s public (share) and post the shared link here.

Just follow the 'sharing" instructions in the link above.

That behavior hints at an issue that was corrected in later versions.  Save your installer.  Then d/l and install the latest and see if the problem persists.

Obviously, something is not kosher.

After downloading the latest version from the VP home page, did you register it?  Click the FILE menu|REGISTER and input the info provided when you purchased.

If no joy, please upload and share your project.  Here's how.  Someone will test it for you.

Please share your project and we'll see what it does here.  http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/23659-tips-for-getting-help-on-this-forum/

Not seeing that here.

Placed A/V clips on tracks one and three, and added an audio-only cut on tracks 2.  Each could be muted or gain adjusted with the slider at the far-left of its track.

What VP version are you running?  Here is the latest.

Describe the problem.

If it would help to share your project, so folks here could take a look, please follow the instructions here.

Attempted to duplicate your project here.  Several times, created two-second videos with title supers followed by fifteen-second video cuts, and music track throughout.

Default settings.  No mp4 export issue seen.  Please share your project, per Jimmy's suggestion.

Haven't personally tested this feature, but a user recently posted success using the VD video noise-reduction plugin.  NCH says that VP supports them.

http://help.nchsoftware.com/help/en/videopad/win/effects_virtualdub.html

https://www.nchsoftware.com/videopad/free-plugins.html

Not seeing other recent reports of this behavior.

If might be helpful to know your system's specs:  RAM, CPU, GPU, free space on C:\,. and to have a description of what mask manipulation is attempted when the app crashes.

Good sleuthing.  The underlying puzzlement:  Why do preset saves not work for you when they do for others?

Where did you get VP 7.01?  Though it had been listed on the pre-release channel, 7.0 was vended, according to the installer header.

You have programming knowledge;  how did you determine what specific changes were needed?

Share the project and someone will check it out.  Here's how...  http://nch.invisionzone.com/topic/23659-tips-for-getting-help-on-this-forum/

Preview playback is slow and shows 'Buffering' message

If you are seeing the 'Buffering... Please wait.' message while previewing video in VideoPad, it means that your video can not be rendered for preview in real-time.

The performance of the video preview player depends on many factors, including:

• The specifications of your computer
• Running other resource demanding applications at the same time
• The complexity of your VideoPad project
• The preview settings of VideoPad

How to increase the performance of the preview

• Upgrade your computer. More RAM and a faster CPU will always help. Also consider a solid state drive (SSD) to speed up reading of media and cache.
• Close other applications while using VideoPad. Examples of resource demanding applications include video players and 3D games.
• Reduce the resolution or frame rate of the video preview in VideoPad. To do this, go to the Options dialog and change the Preview Format settings.

Note: The performance and quality seen in the preview does not represent what will be seen after the video is finally exported from VideoPad. The final export will generally look much better.