Messages posted by MarkS001

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can help optimize my graphics performance:

Here's my setup. I know it's old and I'm upgrading soon but I've been building my own since '89 and get remarkably good performance out of it. Just looking to tweak some more because editing bogs down as I add more elements and PD only uses about 11% of card during rendering. I also use VideoPad for some things and it'll use up to 25-30% of card for rendering:

Intel Quad Core2 Quad Q9650 @ 3.00mhz OC'd to 3.76
8gb DDR3 @ 1333mhz
Win10 Pro 64-1909- Display > Graphics Settings > High Performance
Pagefile- Windows managed
MSI GTX 980Ti > Nvidia 451.67 (Latest)
Open GL 4.6
Audio offloaded to Creative X-fi Fatality Xtreme Gamer- 24bit

PD365-64 v18.6.3120.0

Please see attached pic for my Nividia Settings. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Quote You have to set the project aspect ratio to 1:1 then use the PiP designer to set the appropriate crop & zoom for your various clips and images:

When you go to the Produce page, you'll then see all the square output options, including 1080x1080:

Thanks!

You've solved my problem. What I was really after was to be able to use the many more Overlays/Particles/Text elements available for 16:9 for 1:1 output which I couldn't do when setting the Project at 1:1 initially.

For example, I have: Overlays- 188 @ 1:1, 435 @ 16:9, Particles 38 @ 1:1, 177 @ 16:9, Text 137 @ 1:1, 358 @ 16:9.

So I've figured out this workaround which you probably know already:

Import 16:9 vid

Set Project for 16:9

Complete all editing

(If 16:9 final product is desired Produce now and/or save Project with different filename)

Then change Project Aspect to 1:1

Use Tools > Crop/Zoom/Pan to Crop video clips to 1:1 MANUALLY by using handles to size the crop box to video frame. Do NOT set the Aspect in the Crop window to 1:1 or it shrinks the vid inside a 1:1 black box

May have to tweak added elements for positioning, size, etc.

Can Produce at 1:1

Thanks again!

Hello,

I shoot business vids in 16:9 (1280x720) for YouTube and some SM but otherwise want to crop it to 1:1 (1080x1080) because it works in just about every post/ad/story format in FB/IG/LI.

I'm new to PD365 and my first couple vids back in April I was able to apply a 1:1 crop to a 16:9 clip during editing and then output to 1080x1080. Now, I can't seem to.

I can apply the 1:1 crop and edit the vid that way but no matter how I set-up an output profile it wants to revert to 16:9 or 4:3.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Quote

PD will use the GPU (Nvidia, or AMD, or iGPU) discrete SIP core to decode the timeline video during playback if set in pref and timeline content is supported by GPU decode capability and no PD anomalies occur. Some Fx will use the GPU cores to assist render the effect for timeline playback or produce if configured in pref, else CPU does it. Most other timeline items like transitions, titles, color adjustments, speed adjustments, shadow file generation, waveform generation, render preview,.....on and on, are all CPU based activities.

GPU capabilities can be especially helpful performance wise when producing H.265 content, however, if timeline content has color adjustments or the like, they are handled by the CPU first prior to encoding so net gain often driven by CPU performance. Also keep in mind not all GPU models support the same encode formats, as an example, a Nvidia GTX 1070 will support H.264 60i formats while a Nvidia RTX2070 will not in PD18. Also what a particular NVidia card supports, AMD, Intel can be different, quality too.

Also, keep in mind, for the most part PD only utilizes a single GPU interface. So, if using the Intel UHD630, any other discrete GPU will do very little while PD timeline editing or producing. There are few exceptions, but generally not the norm at least for most typical percentage of timeline edit content.

Jeff

Hey Jeff,

So, if I understand correctly, most editing tasks are always functions of the CPU while some playback and rendering may or may not be offloaded to a discrete GPU, depending on the GPU? And I suppose it depends on the particular GPU variant within a series, no? As always it seems figuring it out is a Gordian Knot untangled only through trial and error. Well, I've been doing that beginning with the 286 platform running DOS 3.3 up to 6.22 and determing compatible yet alone optimal hardware and efficient TSR load-order since the mid-'80s. My first graphics card was the industry leading ATI Graphics Ultra with ONE whole MB of VRAM! Bought to run Falcon 3.0. Cost $430 and worth every penny at the time.

Does PD put out a recommend GPU compatibility list?

I did notice the H.265 option in Produce lit up after installing the 980 so perhaps I should go that way to render especially since it reduces output file size, no?

And sorry to be dense about it but I'm still unclear if the Intel UHD630 will or won't assist overall with PD given it's integral to the CPU?

I really appreciate you taking the time to help out.

Thanks again.

Quote No real optimization that's pertinent for functionality.

Can you provide more info on what your timeline consists of edit wise and details of your footage? Pic of timeline would help with what effects you have used. 1920x1080/1280x720 or 1080x1080 vids at 30fps is not really adequate, can you attach MediaInfo txt results of say your most challenging timeline playback issue footage?

Bottom line, more than likely what you experience with timeline fluidity is probably not uncommon. PD is not real good at fluent timeline playback when any editing features have been applied. Low preview display resolution, shadow files, usually most common methods to aid somewhat. These issues are especially true if high bitrate source video is used. One can also use "Render Preview" to get a fluent view of some critical highly modified timeline section.

But yes, a Core 2 Quad 9650 will be a significant challenge.

Jeff

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for the help. You pretty much answered the question. I know it's a basic horsepower issue. The timeline problems are having to run previews at lower res, mismatched timing of vid vs. audio and an occasional crash if I leave all tracks on while editing effects, PIPs, motion texts, etc.

I just acquired the 980Ti at a great price in the hopes it would make a difference because it is way more powerful than my previous GTS450. PD says it won't really use a card with only 1gb like the 450. This sort of video editing is the only really heavy work I task the machine with. I haven't played PC games in 20 years thus it's still more than adequate for ny daily word processing, internet, social media marketing and even CorelDraw 2019 I use.

What I find annoying is why isn't PD coded to offload most tasks to the GPU especially since Nvidia's drivers allow you to elect "Basic Compute Functions" to their later generation cards?

Anyway, one last question maybe you can help with:

If I upgrade my MB and, say, a 10th Gen Core i7-8700K (Coffee Lake) with UHD630 graphics functions will that benefit vid/graphics work or will programs like PD still rely on basic compute functions of the CPU and whatever bone they throw to a dedicated GPU? In other words, is UHD630 only for systems using onboard graphics and bypassed if using a dedicated card? Will any graphics functions and programs take advantage of both UHD630 and GPU??

Thanks again.
Mark

Hello,

I'd really appreciate some master level hardware help optimizing my GPU with PD365 to get the most out of it. I have an older rig I built 10 years ago but know what I'm doing. Been building my own since '89 and use first rate components and always have an upgrade path. In short, I'm no Master or professional builder but definitely an Advanced Amateur.

New to PD but not to video editing. Again, not a pro but not a beginner. I'm not doing exotic work. Standard 3-8 minute1920x1080/1280x720 or 1080x1080 vids at 30fps for educational/sales purposes with static or animated text overlays, a PIP graphic or two, maybe a PIP vid once in a while and two short intro/outro music clips. Output is rendered the same as .mp4.

I'm getting what I think are slow previews in the timeline on anything above High Preview mode and have to turn off effects/overlay tracks as the project develops.

I've included screenshots of my PD365 settings.

Here's my rig:

Win10-64 1909 always up to date
MB- Intel P5P43TD/USB3 w/ Intel10 chipset (BIOS & all drivers latest available)
PCI-E 16x 2.0
Twin SATA HDD: WD Black 720gb @7200rpm
CPU- Core 2 Quad 9650 @3000mhz OC- 3.76mhz (Max possible for board. Can OC to 4.2 but stability/temp issues not worth it)
8gb DDR3- 1333 (board supports max of 16gb @ 4x 4gb. System managed pagefiles on all drives)
All MB onboard peripherals, serial, lan, parallel, etc. disabled.
Audio is offloaded to Creative X-fi 24bit card.
Wi-fi offloaded to PCI card w/ Intel 9260 160mhz

GPU: MSI 980Ti 6gb 384mhz GDDR5
Nvidia Drivers latest: 446.14 WHQL
(see attached screenshots for PDR specific settings)
Windows: Settings > Display > Graphics Settings > PDR.exe > High Performance

Any help with the PD & Nvidia settings or other recommendations aside from the obvious one of a new computer build is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi,

I'm making educational/sales vids for my FB/LI/YT/IG pages. I prefer 1:1 because it works on all platforms without re-editing/rendering for different aspects. However, I prefer to shoot and edit in 16:9 because PD365 offers way more templates, FX, presets, etc. than for 1:1.

Here's the problem:

1. Vid shot in 16:9
2. PD365 Project Aspect is set to 16:9 (If I set to 1:1 I lose 3/4's of the elements)
3. Vid is cropped to 1:1 all the way through
4. Will not render to 1:1. I can only select various 16:9 resolutions which then view as letterbox. I tried making a custom rendering profile to no avail.

What am I missing?

Thanks.

Quote It would help if you could post a screenshot of what your timeline looks like with the missing #1 track. I'm also not clear on what you're calling "tabs," but they aren't related to autosaves. Are you using Nested Projects? Are any of your clips stored on removable drives?

You can set the autosave folder and frequency of saves from the Preferences > Project screen. If you want to quickly go to the default folder, select the entire current folder name in the box to the left of the Browse button and copy it, then open File Explorer. Paste the folder path in the main box above the drives to see the folder's contents.

You'll have to keep going back through the autosaved versions until you find one that opens all the way. You may want to turn off shadow files if you've got them enabled. That may allow you to open up more project versions.

Hello,

Just wanted to let you know for future reference I couldn't correct all the issues with the existing project no matter what I tried. So I did the easiest and timeless fix of all I simply couldn't think of in my mania to run down the problem:

Shut off shadow files and made all settings as simple as possible. Closed and reopened program.

Simply dragged a selecton box over all elements in the timeline and copied/pasted them into a New Workspace/Project.

PD imported all related media, etc and retained all effects and elements.

Saved with new file name.

Everything worked perfectly, it saved perfectly with no tabs adding every time I reopen it. Further, I forgot to mention it was also adding monster temp files (for the shadow files I presume) and crashing periodically which it's no longer doing as well.

It runs faster, smoother with no hiccups or crashes, no monster temp files and I see no difference whatever in display or timeline qualities with the shadow files off.

I've said for 30 years there is always a workaround but sometimes overlook the easy one right under my nose.

Thanks again.

Quote It would help if you could post a screenshot of what your timeline looks like with the missing #1 track. I'm also not clear on what you're calling "tabs," but they aren't related to autosaves. Are you using Nested Projects? Are any of your clips stored on removable drives?

You can set the autosave folder and frequency of saves from the Preferences > Project screen. If you want to quickly go to the default folder, select the entire current folder name in the box to the left of the Browse button and copy it, then open File Explorer. Paste the folder path in the main box above the drives to see the folder's contents.

You'll have to keep going back through the autosaved versions until you find one that opens all the way. You may want to turn off shadow files if you've got them enabled. That may allow you to open up more project versions.

Thanks for the speedy reply,

As you can see in the attached pics:

Pic #1. The "tabs" I refer to run along the top of the timline box. Every time I open the project to work on it if I hit save the "Save As" box opens rather than just overwriting the file. So, I simply resave over the original file but it creates another tab. The editable tab is furthest right.

The red circle on the timeline indicates where the missing #1 vid track was and ought to be but is now gone. The project I'm working is the circled one above and its thumbnail shows.

Pic #2. Shows the next tab to the left. As you can see, it shows as a .pds on the timeline but is not editable. If I double-click on it the program freezes. None of the all menu editing options are grayed out. There are 14 of these tabs altogether at this point.

None of the autosave files will open. I shut off shadow files as you suggested and have my autosave set at 10mins with temp file deletion at 3 days. I run single previews at High, Normal or Low res and otherwise keep overhead down as my rig is a little dated. I disable any tracks I'm not working on or don't need to see or hear at the time. I keep all other programs closed while I work, especially graphics.

My rig:

Win 10 Pro-64: Build 1909
Intel Core2 Quad 9650 @3ghz
8gb DDR3 at 1333
Nvidia GTS 450 w/ 1gb GDDR5
SB X-Fi audio

I run it lean and know what it can do and don't overtax it. I built it 10 years ago and it's held up remarkably well. Will build another later this year.

Thanks again.

Mark

Hello,

New to PowerDirector 18/365 but not video editing. Not a pro but better than average. Just worked on a vid for over a week and went to render it only to discover the main video track disappeared. Not just the vid file(s) themselves but the #1 track itself. It was comprised of sections from four takes of the same presentation. It's combined audio track on #1 and all effects, titles, background music, etc. are still in their proper places in their respective tracks.

Couple questions:

Why does PowerDirector create new tabs on the timeline window every new session I open a project? I assume they represent autosaves, yes?

2. I cannot get one to reload. If I click on the .pds file of an earlier tab the program freezes. Further, I found the autosave directory buried deep in Windows and tried to manually load an earlier autosave but no go, it just freezes up also.

I really don't want have to recreate the main vid timeline all over again.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Mark