Jerky output (and timeline preview)

RP_Melb

Newbie Location: Melbourne, Australia Joined: Dec 31, 2016 19:04 Messages: 5 Offline

Solved by

Jan 20, 2017 23:38

Hi All,

I've just purchased PD 15 as a replacement for a video editing product no longer supported. I suspect the problem I am having is fairly common and simple to resolve but I haven't been able to find an answer in my searches (maybe using incorrect terminology in my searches).

I am typically working with input files from a GoPro and an Olympus TG-4 at 1080p @60fps and 1080p @30fps respectively. My PC is fairly old, an i5 with 4gb ram. My system disk is at 30% capacity and recently defragged, video disk is essentially empty, I just have a few small sample video files for PD testing purposes. Running a fairly trim version of Win10.

When I import video and preview, I see clean footage. When I move some footage to the timeline and preview (before or after edits), I get jerky output with the odd flash of green screen. It doesn't seem to matter whether I am in HD preview or normal. If I go back to the Media Content pane and preview from there, I can still see clean footage.

If I render, the output is pretty much the same as the timeline preview. It seems worse if I change the resolution, say step back to 720p. My 2 initial problem causes were frame rate mismatch between input and project, along with performance capabilities of my PC. I've played with frame rates and don't think that is the issue.

In terms of PC power, I've had zero problems with my old editing package (trakaxpc) using the same input files (often editing up to 2gb files). I know if I switched in a solid state drive or upped the memory, that would be useful but want to understand the issue better first. Similarly, I could replace the PC given its age, but since it performs well for all other products I use, I don't want to unless I know that PC performance is the issue.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has ideas or could point me towards other threads with the same theme if they exist.

thanks in advance.

the_spazmataz

Newbie Joined: Jan 21, 2017 01:56 Messages: 1 Offline

Jan 21, 2017 02:16

Quote Hi All,

I've just purchased PD 15 as a replacement for a video editing product no longer supported. I suspect the problem I am having is fairly common and simple to resolve but I haven't been able to find an answer in my searches (maybe using incorrect terminology in my searches).

When I import video and preview, I see clean footage. When I move some footage to the timeline and preview (before or after edits), I get jerky output with the odd flash of green screen. It doesn't seem to matter whether I am in HD preview or normal. If I go back to the Media Content pane and preview from there, I can still see clean footage.

This is the exact issue that I am having. I am starting out on YouTube and needed something better than Windows Movie Maker for editing my videos, so I bought PD 15 Ultimate.

My issue is slightly different though. I can add video game footage, and it is perfect throughout. Crystal clear in both media center and on the timeline. When I add my intro video though, that is what becomes choppy. The video is perfect in the media center, but the graphics becomes choppy and laggy when added to the timeline. The audio remains perfect though, haha.

I am running the following specs:

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770

i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz

12GB DDR3 RAM

12GB https://twitter.com/the_Spazmataz / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6D5LcVB6XySY-wxj5lK-9A / Starting out, but going strong!

Dissenter

Newbie Joined: Jan 22, 2017 17:19 Messages: 1 Offline

Jan 22, 2017 17:57

I haven't been able to fix the ridiculously choppy playback from the timeline. However I have apparently been able to figure out how to end up with at least a video that doesn't stutter/jerk after production.

When you are ready to produce, under the Standard 2D tab you'll see a little bar that says "Intelligent SVRT". Click that and select the option that matches best (for me it only showed on Custom option). This gave me a final MP4 (h.264 AVC) file that doesn't stutter. It seems that I was producing it as a 30fps file when the original one is 29.xxxFPS. This caused the choppiness and color flashes.

RP_Melb

Newbie Location: Melbourne, Australia Joined: Dec 31, 2016 19:04 Messages: 5 Offline

Jan 23, 2017 05:58

Quote I haven't been able to fix the ridiculously choppy playback from the timeline. However I have apparently been able to figure out how to end up with at least a video that doesn't stutter/jerk after production.

When you are ready to produce, under the Standard 2D tab you'll see a little bar that says "Intelligent SVRT". Click that and select the option that matches best (for me it only showed on Custom option). This gave me a final MP4 (h.264 AVC) file that doesn't stutter. It seems that I was producing it as a 30fps file when the original one is 29.xxxFPS. This caused the choppiness and color flashes.

Thanks for the response. I spent a lot of time looking at tech pages and came across some discussion on SRVT so this was something I was going to look at. I was still a bit hung up on the age of my PC and started to wonder about hardware acceleration. I ended up disabling hardware decoding and enabling OpenCL. I put together a simple 2 minute mix and the problem seems to be fixed. Rendering is slow but I can live with that for now.

I was wondering about 30fps VS 29.97 but it doesn't seem to matter in terms of jerkiness. Als no problem reducing 59.97 to 30fps.

I'll add to the post if behaviour changed.

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jan 23, 2017 10:26

I haven't been able to fix the ridiculously choppy playback from the timeline

If your computer is not powerful enough, you can lower the preview resolution to take the load off the video system. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

BarryTheCrab

Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline

Jan 23, 2017 10:53

Any use of color correction, FX, anything that alters the original media, can make your machine struggle mightily. Think about it, the preview is making your computer apply any alterations on-the-run and underpowered machines, or machines with something not functioning properly will suffer. A DXdiag attached will allow members to "read" your hardware/driver setup and possibly provide assistance or suggestions for upgrades. Each member should do that on a seperate thread to limit confusion. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

cincydroneboy

Newbie Joined: Jan 21, 2017 13:36 Messages: 37 Offline

Jan 24, 2017 18:23

hello! im having the same issues, i am running 12g ddr4 memory on intel core 15-6200u 2.3hz i even converted video to a 720 reolution but still in color and powerdirector it is very poor quality, plays fine right from my sd card in media player?

ShakerAwaiting

Newbie Joined: Sep 01, 2015 16:12 Messages: 5 Offline

Jan 29, 2017 22:09

I am struggling with choppy previews also. And I havea very powerful laptiop. 32RAm, all ssd drives, an advanced GeoForce GTX 970 Graphics card, an i7 4.0 Ghz processor. I am using PD15.

And previewing on a second monitor is nearly useless. Why would I wish to make my preview small...? I wish to see it and edit it.

And I have a beast of a computer!!!

So is the problem in PowerDirector or in my computer...? Or is that it's just that thats the way it is on any powerful computer with any program....?

Right now my modus operendi is to load all of my fottage (uneditied) and apply vibrtation reduction to all of them at once ... and then export the batch to a high quality movie, which I then work on .... cutting and pasting and aranging.

And then I render (export) that stage

And then get into crossfades, color correevtioon, pan n zooms, etc.

I am also beginning to test other production software so that I can discern if the problem is in my computer or in the PD15 program.

cincydroneboy

Newbie Joined: Jan 21, 2017 13:36 Messages: 37 Offline

Jan 30, 2017 06:47

Im not sure why PD will not run on your laptop, it seems it should run great with those specs!

ShakerAwaiting

Newbie Joined: Sep 01, 2015 16:12 Messages: 5 Offline

Jan 30, 2017 10:32

Quote Im not sure why PD will not run on your laptop, it seems it should run great with those specs!

I know!!!! It is one of the best computers out there!!! Custom made ade by an amazing small comapny in Maryland. Eluktronics. I am contacting the manufacturer today. (They almost always answer the phone themselves) And their customer service is way above any other company I have dealt with.

If I come up with an answer, I'll post it here.

The Shadowman

Senior Contributor Location: UK Joined: Dec 15, 2014 13:06 Messages: 1831 Offline

Jan 30, 2017 10:56

Quote

Quote Im not sure why PD will not run on your laptop, it seems it should run great with those specs!

I know!!!! It is one of the best computers out there!!! Custom made ade by an amazing small comapny in Maryland. Eluktronics. I am contacting the manufacturer today. (They almost always answer the phone themselves) And their customer service is way above any other company I have dealt with.

If I come up with an answer, I'll post it here.

Hi

Low powered PCs are always going to have problems editing video, that is a fact of life. Also, high frame rates and high bitrates are going to cause timeline problems even on higher end machines as well. The problems with, in particular, 4K editing is well documented, and there are a few ways that will assist the struggling PC to succeed where in the past editing has been almost impossible.

Method 1 is to use shadow files. PDs own method where your high bitrate material is converted into low resolution proxy files that will allow much easier editing. On production,PD replaces these files with the originals. The downside of this is that shadow files are very slow to generate, and every clip must be generated before editing commences or funny things can happen.

Method 2 is the substitution method see here http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/43102.page See in particular the post from Tony (ynotfish) This method works very well and is reasonably quick.

Method 3 is a very good way of editing 4K and other high bitrate material. It involves downloading a small program developed by members of this forum. The program creates AVI files that are very easy to edit in PD and then, on production the project is produced to the original spefication and is totally lossless. The downside here is the AVIs created are about 10 times the size of MP4 so they generally need to be deleted when the project is finished. On the upside the proxy files are created about eight times faster than shadow files (method 1) See here: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/46177.page

All of these methods will make your timeline stress deminish if not go away. So give them a try, you have nothing to lose.

Robert Panny TM10, GH2, GH4,

ShakerAwaiting

Newbie Joined: Sep 01, 2015 16:12 Messages: 5 Offline

Jan 30, 2017 11:38

Thank you, Robert, for your very very informative advise and guidance.

I am going to look into all of those suggestions. And I am very grateful for the leads.

Still ... the laptop I am using is no slouch at all! Here are some of the basic specs.

Eluktronics P770DM-G 17.3" Eluktro Pro-X Gaming Laptop(Operating System: Windows 10 Home, Processor: Intel™ Core i7-6700K Quad Core, DDR4 RAM: 32GB, Graphics Card: 6GB NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 970M with G-SYNC®, Primary Storage: 1TB Eluktro Pro SSD, Secondary Storage: None, Primary M.2 SATA/PCIe SSD Drive (Configured as an OS Drive (if selected)): 512GB Eluktro Pro-X Performance M.2 PCIe SSD,

cincydroneboy

Newbie Joined: Jan 21, 2017 13:36 Messages: 37 Offline

Jan 30, 2017 20:50

I downloaded magic+PD saved a avi loaded it to Powerdirector, it is slower and more choppy than when i dont use it and it has a water mark?

RP_Melb

Newbie Location: Melbourne, Australia Joined: Dec 31, 2016 19:04 Messages: 5 Offline

Jan 31, 2017 05:35

Just to add to my earlier notes. Using my circa 2009 I5, I'm about 8 minutes through an edit of underwater footage that will probably end up in a 12-15 minute video. Primarily using 1080p @60fps as input. I've done a lot of colour correction, using about 8 tracks as well as a few enhancement features and power tools. PD 15 has hardly missed a beat since I turned off hardware acceleration. I've had a couple of freezes but I save constantly, so no real issue. I'll upgrade to a more powerful machine at some point but so far, I have no compelling reason to do so. Very impressed with the product at the moment.

cincydroneboy

Newbie Joined: Jan 21, 2017 13:36 Messages: 37 Offline

Jan 31, 2017 06:49

Quote Just to add to my earlier notes. Using my circa 2009 I5, I'm about 8 minutes through an edit of underwater footage that will probably end up in a 12-15 minute video. Primarily using 1080p @60fps as input. I've done a lot of colour correction, using about 8 tracks as well as a few enhancement features and power tools. PD 15 has hardly missed a beat since I turned off hardware acceleration. I've had a couple of freezes but I save constantly, so no real issue. I'll upgrade to a more powerful machine at some point but so far, I have no compelling reason to do so. Very impressed with the product at the moment.

are you able to get these results using your original clips?

ShakerAwaiting

Newbie Joined: Sep 01, 2015 16:12 Messages: 5 Offline

Jan 31, 2017 13:22

Is it possible that an inadaquate dual monitor or an inadaquate cable (display, HDMI, etc) could be a factor...?

I also am quite happy with PD15 in the moment. Just need to overcome this one glitch. And I have tried trial versions of other much more expensive programs, but PD15 does so much with such ease. It's just this one (major) glitch.

RP_Melb

Newbie Location: Melbourne, Australia Joined: Dec 31, 2016 19:04 Messages: 5 Offline

Jan 31, 2017 16:34

Quote

Quote Just to add to my earlier notes. Using my circa 2009 I5, I'm about 8 minutes through an edit of underwater footage that will probably end up in a 12-15 minute video. Primarily using 1080p @60fps as input. I've done a lot of colour correction, using about 8 tracks as well as a few enhancement features and power tools. PD 15 has hardly missed a beat since I turned off hardware acceleration. I've had a couple of freezes but I save constantly, so no real issue. I'll upgrade to a more powerful machine at some point but so far, I have no compelling reason to do so. Very impressed with the product at the moment.

are you able to get these results using your original clips?

I have 40 or so input video files taken directly off both a GoPro (1080p @60) or Olympus TG-4 (1080p @30), imputting these into PD15, chopping segments into the timeline, enhancing etc, then rendering. Have also upped the preview settings back to hi-res. Not sure if that answers your question. I suspect I am getting to a tipping point in terms of performance but this is meeting my needs for now.

AlS

Senior Member Location: South Africa Joined: Sep 23, 2014 18:07 Messages: 290 Offline

Feb 06, 2017 09:09

RP - Just as a matter of interest what happens when you edit those files using GoPro Studio? Power Director 13&14 Ultimate, Photo Director 6, Audio Dir, Pwr2Go 10
Win 10 64, Intel MB DH87MC, Intel i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 16Gb DDR3 1600, 128Gb SSD, 2x1Tb WDBlue 7200rpmSATA6, Intel 4600 GPU, Gigabyte G1 GTX960 4GB, LG BluRay Writer

RP_Melb

Newbie Location: Melbourne, Australia Joined: Dec 31, 2016 19:04 Messages: 5 Offline

Feb 06, 2017 14:28

Quote RP - Just as a matter of interest what happens when you edit those files using GoPro Studio?

I haven't used GoPro Studio for a number of years, so sorry I can't answer that. I'm travelling at the moment but might have a look when I get home, even just to see what changes have been made there.

AlS

Senior Member Location: South Africa Joined: Sep 23, 2014 18:07 Messages: 290 Offline

Feb 06, 2017 14:54

Quote

Quote RP - Just as a matter of interest what happens when you edit those files using GoPro Studio?

I haven't used GoPro Studio for a number of years, so sorry I can't answer that. I'm travelling at the moment but might have a look when I get home, even just to see what changes have been made there.

It's free and worth a try to see if you have a similar experience and may help to narrow the cause.

Al

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Feb 06. 2017 16:39

Power Director 13&14 Ultimate, Photo Director 6, Audio Dir, Pwr2Go 10
Win 10 64, Intel MB DH87MC, Intel i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 16Gb DDR3 1600, 128Gb SSD, 2x1Tb WDBlue 7200rpmSATA6, Intel 4600 GPU, Gigabyte G1 GTX960 4GB, LG BluRay Writer