PowerDirector 15 Ultra bloats file size 4 times

AndrewN

Newbie Joined: Nov 10, 2013 19:10 Messages: 5 Offline

Solved by

Oct 20, 2016 23:02

Clipping the ends of MP3 sound files is fast and easy task. I tried to do the same clipping with a short video. The original video was 144 seconds long. File size: 69 MB. Resolution: 1920x1090 | Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC | 30 frames per second

I used PowerDirector 15 Ultra to clip the ends of the video. The new video was 117 seconds long. All the specs were the same. I tried to "Produce" the clipped video using the "Intelligent SVRT." It failed, so I selected the specs manually, including "Fast video rendering technology - Intel Quick Sync Video." To my surprise, the "Fast video rendering technology" struggled for half a minute with this simple task. The file size of the clipped video was stunning - 223 MB. The bit rate of the clipped file was 4 times bigger than the bit rate of the original file despite the same specs.

Am I doing something wrong, or is PowerDirector 15 Ultra a very bad program?

By the way, the "Intelligent SVRT" also failed on "beach 360.mp4" demo included in the PowerDirector 15 Ultra.

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Oct 21, 2016 03:26

Quote Clipping the ends of MP3 sound files is fast and easy task. I tried to do the same clipping with a short video. The original video was 144 seconds long. File size: 69 MB. Resolution: 1920x1090 | Codec: H264 - MPEG-4 AVC | 30 frames per second

I used PowerDirector 15 Ultra to clip the ends of the video. The new video was 117 seconds long. All the specs were the same. I tried to "Produce" the clipped video using the "Intelligent SVRT." It failed, so I selected the specs manually, including "Fast video rendering technology - Intel Quick Sync Video." To my surprise, the "Fast video rendering technology" struggled for half a minute with this simple task. The file size of the clipped video was stunning - 223 MB. The bit rate of the clipped file was 4 times bigger than the bit rate of the original file despite the same specs.

Am I doing something wrong, or is PowerDirector 15 Ultra a very bad program?

By the way, the "Intelligent SVRT" also failed on "beach 360.mp4" demo included in the PowerDirector 15 Ultra.

Bloating umm. Ok, if you run through the page here: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/49533.page and fill in the "blanks", members will then be able to assist you.

We'll need to know what the MediaInfo is on the video you're editing, your PC set up, a visual/screenshot and what you're actually selecting as a template/profile to output the video as? Creating a customised template is relatively easy. Members will be able to assist you better, if you provide the extra data.

Dafydd

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Oct 21. 2016 03:27

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Oct 21, 2016 05:20

Hi Andrew -

If it's bloating the file size, it's probably the video bitrate causing it... even if all the other properties are the same/similar.

As Dafydd said, it'd be good to know the detailed properties of the original clip & the produced file... including the bitrate.

I just took an MP4 of the same duration as yours, trimmed it to 1:53 & produced to AVC H.264 MP4 1920x1080 @ the same bitrate as the original (I used the + button to customise) and the file size is about what could be expected. See attached screenshot showing original & produced file properties.

Cheers - Tony


Filename	PDR15 Production.png	Download
Description
Filesize	174 Kbytes
Downloaded:	42 time(s)

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AndrewN

Newbie Joined: Nov 10, 2013 19:10 Messages: 5 Offline

Oct 22, 2016 00:30

I have attached two files to this message.


Filename	PowerDirector bloating bug 1.jpg	Download
Description
Filesize	221 Kbytes
Downloaded:	41 time(s)

Filename	AndrewN64DxDiag.rar	Download
Description
Filesize	17 Kbytes
Downloaded:	303 time(s)

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Oct 22, 2016 08:17

Hi Andrew -

What a staggering coincidence! Grandson #1 was watching some YouTube videos the other day. When I saw your screenshot and saw motorcyclist+flood, I realised that may have been one of the videos he was watching. I checked & it was - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOoy7_l2EbI

Downloaded and the properties matched your screenshot. Yes - the bloating is because of the video bitrate. The original clip is 3.93Mbps & your produced file is 15.5Mbps.

If you click on the + button in Produce, you can adjust the parameters to match your original (see attached screenshot).

The other screenshot shows that - with bitrate matched - file sizes are similar.

Cheers - Tony


Filename	MP4 Properties.png	Download
Description
Filesize	99 Kbytes
Downloaded:	43 time(s)


Filename	MP4 Profile Match.png	Download
Description
Filesize	92 Kbytes
Downloaded:	46 time(s)

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AndrewN

Newbie Joined: Nov 10, 2013 19:10 Messages: 5 Offline

Oct 22, 2016 13:57

Quote
I just took an MP4 of the same duration as yours, trimmed it to 1:53 & produced to AVC H.264 MP4 1920x1080 @ the same bitrate as the original (I used the + button to customise) and the file size is about what could be expected. See attached screenshot showing original & produced file properties.

Thanks. I used your method to reduce the bitrate to 4.2 Mbps. (It is very difficult to set the bit rate to exactly the same bit rate as the original.) Next, I used VLC media player to take snapshots of video frames of three videos: original, clipped and bloated, clipped and unbloated. The frames are shown below. The quality of the frames is similar.

The PowerDirector is unable to simply clip the ends of the video. It decompresses the original video into pixels and compresses them in the "Produce" stage even if there is no need for all this time-consuming decompression and compression.

P.S. It seems impossible to rename videos made by the PowerDirector. If I rename the videos using the operating system, the PowerDirector later complains that the videos are missing.


Filename	VLC snapshot - clipped, bloated.png	Download
Description
Filesize	2025 Kbytes
Downloaded:	23 time(s)


Filename	VLC snapshot - original video.png	Download
Description
Filesize	1979 Kbytes
Downloaded:	21 time(s)


Filename	VLC snapshot - clipped, unbloated.png	Download
Description
Filesize	1947 Kbytes
Downloaded:	28 time(s)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Oct 22. 2016 15:49

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Oct 22, 2016 16:48

What you've found about renaming media is correct. PDR recognises media by its name & file path - so changing either will upset the applecart. Best to avoid, but use "Browse" to locate media if an alert pops up.

A more realistic test would be to use an original file from your video camera. In this case, you're comparing a video that has already been heavily processed by YouTube.

Anyway, you've been able to resolve your bloated file size problem.

Cheers - Tony
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