Hi Bill,

your post has been out there since (my) morning, and you havn't had any reply yet, so I'm
giving it a bump. There are some facts in your post I do not get my head quite around, because
I am not familiar with them.
You have a " Panasonic Lumix pocket camera". I have googled for such cameras, and there are
numerous editions out there, so looking for the specs of it I had to give up.

I am editing a 10-minute video in SD Widescreen. Source is from a Panasonic Lumix pocket camera as
QuickTime Photo JPEG, 848x480, 30 FPS / PCM S16 BE, Mono, 16,000 Hz, 16-bit).

This is a format: M-jpeg? Motion jpeg.
Not being a QuickTime- user other than rendering files and maybe a flash sometimes,
I am not familiar with this format.

I hope someone else can give you some answers or suggestions.

Nina

Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com

Nina, thank you for your reply and jumping out in front.

My Panasonic pocket camera records video in the QuickTime Photo JPEG format, which is a video codec that uses a JPEG compression algorithm, where MJPEG (Motion JPEG) uses an MPEG algorithm. In theory, both compression schemes at 100% quality are about the same.

Reading between the lines, the source of my problem with freezing and crashing may be the inability of PD9 to handle this particular codec well. Okay, let's assume that is the issue and reason why I have had no answers.

That begs the next question. Since I can convert any codec to any other, which codec does PD9 like the best? The idea being I could batch convert all my footage first, then edit in PD9 without hiccups. Is the theory plausible? Bill Spicer
Spicer Pro, LLC, Ocean City, MD
Win7 Professional 64-bit, Xeon 2.80GHz (4 CPUs)
6144MB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 580
It takes a community to resolve editing software issues.

Hi Bill,

converting might be a good idea.
Now, where is your production to be displayed?
Are you burning dvd for TV screen?
You might get different answers from members here, most depending on
where the video is to be displayed and on what "gear".

If you don't have a good converter already, FormatFactory (free) is widely used among members.
I am an mp4-person, but PD9 has a problem with this format on my system.
WMV is "safe", and can produce quite nice, lots of choices.
H.264- very good.
Mpeg2- safe choice, I think.

You can alter the built-in templates by clicking the + sign in "produce"-mode
after you have chosen format.

Nina

Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com

Hi Bill,
I see you have Xeon CPU's. PD may not be designed to work with non-consumer server CPU's. In the past such server cpu's were "out on a limb" for use with editing software.

The Mjpeg codec is one that's been around a good while in video editing. I have a number of micro-cameras that use it. It's a popular safe compression codec. Various carriers are used, avi, mov etc.

Please attach a sample video and see if members can extract the audio.

Edit:

PCM S16 BE, Mono, 16,000 Hz, 16-bit).

Mono format.......!!!

QuickTime Photo JPEG, 848x480, 30 FPS

You wont find any template which will suite that size in PD. You have a 16:9 footage you'll need to up-scale, as every frame will have to be resized and rendered. The frame rate = 30 and not 29.97 may not be a problem.

1. Ask yourself, who are your target audience?
2. There are a number of HD lite format choices available to you.
Mp4 or wmv. Look for 720p (1280x720)

Full HD could be an option BUT the full up-scalling of your lower res mjpeg will be more noticeable.

Experiment yourself and find which suits your needs is by far the best action you can do.

My Panasonic pocket camera outputs SD Widescreen at 848x480, 30 fps and HD at 1280x720, 30 fps. Ironically, QuickTime Player identifies the codec as Photo JPEG and another player identifies it as Motion JPEG. Apparently they are one in the same.

This old SD footage is to burned onto a DVD at 16:9. I have performed this successfully many times with other editing and DVD authoring software.

I have attached a short sample clip from the camera to see if anyone can extract the audio. In PD9, the process stalls, producing a WAV file with no content.

Per QuickTime Player, the audio format is 16-Bit Big Endian, Mono, 16,000 kHz. Hey, it's a pocket camera! As a an ex-news photographer, I learned a small camera in the pocket has more value than a high-end camera at home in the bag.

All my recent footage is HD at 1280x720, and that will be burned to Blu-ray. That is why I purchased PD9, because my old editing software and computer was not designed for HD. I am using the old SD footage just to get up to speed with PD9.

As far as conversion, I have been using different programs. However, I will indeed download FormatFactory. Thank you Nina for the tip!

It sounds like MPEG-2, WMV and/or H.264 are the codecs of choice. MOV not so much. So, perhaps conversion prior to editing will resolve the issues.

Gee Dafydd, I did not know Xeon processors were "Server CPU's" and may not be suitable for use with editing software. Information it would have been nice to know before buying that particular PC. Last year, I went for "Dell, Workstation, Quad Core" without any knowledge about the differences in CPU's. Does that mean PD9 may never work with Xeon properly, or could work with at little patience?

















Bill Spicer
Spicer Pro, LLC, Ocean City, MD
Win7 Professional 64-bit, Xeon 2.80GHz (4 CPUs)
6144MB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 580
It takes a community to resolve editing software issues.

Bill,

I could not extract audio from your clip in PD.
I tried 2 computers with 2 different systems and patches.
In fact, the computers froze and had to be restarted.

What I suggest you do (which I often do myself when wanting audio extracted or in different format):

use FormatFactory to make mp3 or wav of your clip(s), it'll work fine.
You then have audio-files to place where you want.

Nina
Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com

Original doesn't work for me either.
Converted the original to .mov in FF (just using default settings) the audio can then be extracted but only c.50%? of it becomes playable - then silence.

Convert to 1280x720 25fps .mp4 with FF and it seems fine. Can't judge the quality fully tho'.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Hi Bill,

Now this is interesting, neither Nina or Adrian can extract audio from your clip, yet I do not have an issue. The clip plays fine and I am able to extract the audio, both parts play correctly when positioned at different points in the timeline.
So, unless I am misinterpreting the actions that need to be taken to reproduce your issue, this is another situation where computer specs become suspect, YET, Nina's computer specs are almost identical to mine, the gal has a Nvidia card and I have a Radeon, that's the main difference.
Screen shot attached

Robert

Edit1: Unable to extract audio, by right clicking and choosing Extract Audio, wav dialog box opens, then hangs, necessary to use task manager to exit, in timeline click on edit audio, it hangs

Edit2: Just for a Giggle & Hoot (Australians would know what I mean) I imported the clip into PDR8 on my laptop, Win 7 32bit, Clip can be played, audio can be extracted, wav file generated instantly, no issues whatsoever, audio can be split in timeline and audio is moved to voice track.

so, where do we all go from here? is it a 64bit issue, as neither Cranston or I have issues on 32 bit Intel i7 930, 16GB ram, Radeon HD 5770 1Gb,Ver. 14.12 Win7 64 bit
Intel i7 7700 HQ, 16 GB ram Nvidia GTX 1050Ti 4GB dual drives 1 TB SSD + 1 TB HDD Win 10

PDtoots

Bill,

I, like Robert, had no problems with the sample clip. Seperated the audio and moved it around, played it and then moved it back and recombined it.

I also use ATI graphics, system specs in my signature.

Hal OS - Win11 Pro, Alienware R13, CPU - Intel Core I7-12700KF 12 CPUs), 16g DDR5 4400 RAM, Video - Geeforce RTX 3080ti 12g, PD11 & PD365
My YouTube

Hi Bill,

I too am in the HalCon - RobertOz camp.

Edit: Is there possibly a matter of semantics involved here, with the definitions of the terms Extract versus Separate(Un-Link)? Either way, both worked fine for me.

I downloaded your SpicerPro sample, placed it in my PD9 media library, right clicked and chose Extract Audio. I had no problems extracting and obtaining a .wav audio extract.
The .wav audio extract was instantly and completely successful, and the audio/sonic quality of the extract is identical to the audio in the clip.
I also dragged the extracted audio to a separate audio timeline, removed the video clip’s audio (via Unlink Objects), and the extracted audio posed no problems, and it easily and correctly served as a replacement audio in perfect sync with the video clip.

And for what it’s worth, I also placed 25 copies of your clip into my timelines, applied 23 random transition between each clip, added separate .wma music, and a few images and two other .wmv video clips in other tracks. All without observing any hangs, stalls or crashes.

XP Pro SP3 32bit / PD9.0.0.2930 / Dual Core E7400 / 4GB / Radeon HD 3450 / K-Lite (Full) Codec Pack

Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips

Unable to extract Audio from your WAV file. Hangs when I right-click and choose extract (or place it in the time line and choose the edit audio button).

PD8 on 32bit XP no issues, all works great, perfect.

PD9 on 64bit win7, very sluggish but can play, can not extract audio in media library, hangs, I can split audio in timeline. Audio does play when in timeline or media viewer. I can copy several clips in timeline, add transitions, produce to h264 and produced file is fine. Sure sign of potential trouble for me is whenever waveform details never appear in PD9 timeline PDHanumanSvr.exe issue?? Looks to be a audio issue to me.

Original file plays fine in QT and WMP.

Jeff

EDIT:
Added pic, PD9 for me, audio stero, PD8 mono. Cranston with PD9 pic shows mono. Might be a key...

Well spotted Jeff,

In PDR9 win 7 64 bit, channel shows as Stereo, but in PDR8 win 7 32 bit, channel shows as Mono.

Robert Intel i7 930, 16GB ram, Radeon HD 5770 1Gb,Ver. 14.12 Win7 64 bit
Intel i7 7700 HQ, 16 GB ram Nvidia GTX 1050Ti 4GB dual drives 1 TB SSD + 1 TB HDD Win 10

PDtoots

Thanks everyone for testing out the issue on 32bit and 64bit set ups. The "mono" observation I highlighted in my post was what I wanted to check out and see if that was the cause.

This type of mono audio issue has been posted and answered on the forum previously. Nina has provided (a very suitable answer) the same solution which was given then. http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/17844.page
Item 215 It's down as an eBug

Item 229

In this case, it appears the crashing of PD9 was rooted in the audio portion of the video clip. In addition to the varying and inconsistent experiences other members had with audio extraction from my sample clip, here are additional curiosities:

FormatFactory - No matter what codec I tried, only one frame of the conversion would process. However, using another source video converted perfectly.

Freemake Video Converter - I found this converter at CNET (also free). The conversion from MOV to MP4 worked perfectly and imported into PD9 fine, along with a visible waveform (see attachment). As Jeff noted, whenever the waveform does not appear in the PD9 timeline, there's trouble ahead. Let that be a red flag to us all.

Now, the next test is to batch convert all the clips to another codec and try editing again. If no more PD9 freezes, then problem solved. If the problem returns, then I do not know what I will do.

To Nina, Robert, Adrian, Hal, Cranston, Fred and Jeff...thanks for all your input. I think when experiencing problems, our initial reaction is, "What did I do wrong?" However, it is more often a combination of factors that are generally outside our control. Perhaps the problems never get fully resolved, but at least we feel vindicated and discover we are not alone.

To Dafydd, thank you for your support and submitting the bug report. To reiterate, I did not know Xeon processors were "Server CPU's" and may not be suitable for use with editing software. Info nice to have known before buying that particular PC last year. I went for "Dell, Workstation, Quad Core, 6 GBs" thinking that would cover everything, without any knowledge about the differences in CPU's. So, does that mean PD9 may never work with a Xeon properly?

Bill Spicer
Spicer Pro, LLC, Ocean City, MD
Win7 Professional 64-bit, Xeon 2.80GHz (4 CPUs)
6144MB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 580
It takes a community to resolve editing software issues.

Ok- my FF, ver.2.70, converted your clip to .mp3 and .wav, both in full length.

However, FF would not convert your clip in full length neither to .mp4 nor .wmv.
I tried various settings. The converted bits were about 50%.

I have another, more "sophisticated" converter.
Gave your clip a shot there, modest settings: 640x480, H.264, fps 29.97,br 2000/ACC 44100, 96kps,2 channels.
Clip came out 100%.

I havn't given FF more chances so far. This is the very first time for me FF has not delivered right away.
Attached are the 3 files.

Forgot:all files played as they should in PD9, waveform also in split-segments.


Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com

Nina,

Thank you for the three clips. Like you, they all played fine in my PD9.

It is interesting that you also had poor results with FF. With FVC, I batch-converted my 29 original MOV files to MP4 @ 44,100/stereo with no issues. Although there is only 10 minutes of total content, the conversion went smoothly and quickly. The files then imported into PD9 without issue and populated the timeline (with waveform) without issue.

This workaround should hold me over until PD9 is fixed...perhaps with the next build. Bill Spicer
Spicer Pro, LLC, Ocean City, MD
Win7 Professional 64-bit, Xeon 2.80GHz (4 CPUs)
6144MB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX 580
It takes a community to resolve editing software issues.

Hi Bill,
"Out on a limb" is the only answer I can give. PD wasn't in the past tested on non-consumer cpu's and therefore you use at your own "risk". If PD currently works and you're happy it does, carry on editing.

Note for all:
This is a PowerDirector forum, it isn't the place to give support for other company's software products - please take that to another place or means.



Moderator.