Ok so I relocated the video files to a different folder, opened the project anew and had PD13 browse and find them in the new folder to build the project. So now things are back to normal. A random and desperate act on my part.

Would be nice if someone have any theories on what actually happened here. This has happened before some time ago.

Are you sure of what you are doing. You have shadow files enabled on 1920x1080/60p video. You will see full hd on the clip where shadow files are still generating (gold icon) and low resolution 720x480 preview quality on the clip where the shadow files finished generated (green icon).

If you want to see full hd at all times then disable the shadow files if this pc has enough processing power.

As I said, it's not only the preview window but also the result from the production.



As for shadow files I've never got into their function however, as of now I have 2 of the videos who's shadow file is generating, 1 is normal and the other is poor. The problem reoccurred today. Turning off shadow files doesn't do anything. Now I need to find out how the error came to be and how to fix it permanently. I've been using PD for years, producing countless of videos with 1080p 60fps mp4 files and have never run in to this problem.

*This time, re-starting PD with shadow files turned off fixed the problem. Turning shadow files back on doesn't re-produce the problem. From where I stand the problem looks to occur at random.

**Issue reappeared in mid-session but this time production is fine. Turned shadow files off again, problem solved.

Hi Jonas Abraham -

Shadow Files are lower resolution (720x480) versions of your clips created by PDR, only for the purpose of making editing easier on your PC. When you go to Produce, the original files are used. You only need to use shadow files if your PC is struggling with the clips you're using.

If you have Shaadow Files enabled, it will affect what you're looking at in the preview screen but not the quality of your produced file.

Side note - after importing some 4K clips with shadow files enabled, I tried to take some snapshots to show a comparison - but PDR dished up 3840x2160 snaps from the shadow file!

From your description, it's hard to say what might be causing the quality loss in production.

Cheers - Tony
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Ugh, you know the most probable (only) explanation I have is that I must have by accident produced with the first default settings for mp4 (480p) multiple times when wanting to find out if the poor (Full HD quality) preview quality resulted in a poor production and then erroneously confirmed the problem. Sheesh, how embarracing.

At least I learned something new about shadow files. Sorry for wasting your time.

*I don't think this thread adds to the forum, a deletion would be in order (save me from the embarracement!).

Cheers

This is what I was attempting to show...


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No need to be embarrassed Jonas -

If you never made any mistakes, you wouldn't learn so much!

Cheers - Tony
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Thanks ynotfish!