To understand why you're seeing an error when you try to load the clip that VirtualDub2 desqueezed, it would help to know what the version number is of PD16. Here's how to tell, and please post a screenshot.

Also, please use the Preview button at the bottom to make sure the URL is clickable. For some reason, there have been extra characters in your previous posts that prevent the link from working.

If you aren't running v3424, try downloading and installing the patch from here and then see if PD will then allow you to import the desqueezed clip.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

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Quote To understand why you're seeing an error when you try to load the clip that VirtualDub2 desqueezed, it would help to know what the version number is of PD16. Here's how to tell, and please post a screenshot.

Also, please use the Preview button at the bottom to make sure the URL is clickable. For some reason, there have been extra characters in your previous posts that prevent the link from working.

If you aren't running v3424, try downloading and installing the patch from here and then see if PD will then allow you to import the desqueezed clip.

Thanks Optodata, sorry about the links--I will get em right from now on. Here's the link to my PD version as requested: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZeetMkZ7cgQkNEFbQVQubOzfT31sjQoTRfX

Thank you, 2bskyhi

I have managed to solve the problem with PD17 importing the VD2 saved video as being black blank video described in the previous post. It is the same problem in PD14. See the screenshots. Apparently these older versions of PowerDirector are less forgiving than in PD18. I have saved the VD2project file. PD16 is in between PD18 and PD14 so it is possible that the same fix will work for the OP.

VD2 appears to be FFmpeg with a very good GUI. I checked the profile and quality settings.

EDIT: Supplied the missing screenshots. 2160 x 2.4 =5184 not 5148 used in the VD2 project file. This may be the reason that the changed saved video works now in both PD17 and PD14. optodata - You may try your PD14 with the original saved VD2 file and see if you get the same result.

Quote I have managed to solve the problem with PD17 importing the VD2 saved video as being black blank video described in the previous post. It is the same problem in PD14.

I read your posts but wasn't sure if you meant that the whole preview was black or just that there were black bars at the top & bottom. Now I see that the video tracks of the desqueezed and PD-produced clips are blank in PD14.



What was the step needed to make it work properly in PD17? Was it the resolution change to 5184x, or something else?

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

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optodata - It looks like you replied while I was preparing the screenshots and editing my previous reply. That seem to be reason. I also changed the VD2 project file to HEVC 35 Mbps.

It looks like a previous version of PD with the same problem in your screenshot...

Got it. It's not the resolution, it's the encoding! Once I changed the VD2 output to H.265, PD14 shows the content. I've just created two improved .vproject files and have attached them.

2bskyhi, give these two new projects a try and see if you can import the new desqueezed clip into PD16. You'll also want to modify your existing Profile.ini settings to change 5148 to 5184 on the Video Width, change the 2880 value to 2900 on the Video Height, and also change the Description to match. You can also copy the attached settings.

With all those changes, I can now successfully import all clips into PD14 (shown below) and also PD18, so things should now work out on your PD16 system!



YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Here's the finished clip just in case



YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

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Quote Here's the finished clip just in case

OK Optodata, I did all as you said & everything looks good except your screen shot of the VLC player looks better than mine.
Here's the link to mine: black border: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZGvOMkZ1OWtbvhlVxfvlASlAY9wM4CKy9jy
Specifically, I used your latest intermediate file(5184x2900) as instructed...
Also, in an effort to evolve, I purchased PD18... Are your work flow instructions different for PD18?

Thanks Sooo much again, 2bskyhi

Oh, BTW, I understand this widescreen ratio will give me black bars top & bottom, but thought image would fill width...

OK, now I'm feeling really stupid. I selected Fullscreen mode and wal-ah Normal Letterbox bars top & bottom only. And normal letterbox in PD too...

THANK YOU OPTODATA AND EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!
Is there a specific source I can study to learn more of the why's & how's of VDub2 & this whole process?

I'm glad things are working better, but if you have any black bars and they won't go away when you resize the player window, that means you're actually looking at the PD-produced clip and still need to run it through VDub2 using the Post PD project to trim the upper and lower bars.

Download my finished clip from my previous post and compare it to yours once you've run the final VDub2 pass. You should absolutely see the same thing as in my screenshot with no letterboxing at all.

As for learning resourcesfor VD2, I don't have anything specific to direct you to. I'm self-taught and learned through experimentation, trial and error, and various internet searches for specific questions. Searching for tutorials or forums will probably lead you to some useful knowledge.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Quote I'm glad things are working better, but if you have any black bars and they won't go away when you resize the player window, that means you're actually looking at the PD-produced clip and still need to run it through VDub2 using the Post PD project to trim the upper and lower bars.

Download my finished clip from my previous post and compare it to yours once you've run the final VDub2 pass. You should absolutely see the same thing as in my screenshot with no letterboxing at all.

As for learning resourcesfor VD2, I don't have anything specific to direct you to. I'm self-taught and learned through experimentation, trial and error, and various internet searches for specific questions. Searching for tutorials or forums will probably lead you to some useful knowledge.

Thanks Optodata, I did download your clip, but it does not play on my machine--I see a black screen only, as progress bar moves across bottom of VLC player. Screen shot here: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZKeUMkZ29cQYkEbUR7tllMo4d0caX9noGek

Also, I'm not sure just what workflow steps you're recommending to "run a final Vdub2 pass" with your "post" file. I have the file, I just don't know the procedure.

And, do I need to use VDub2 in the same way you first described for ALL future anamorphic videos I shoot, or does the custom ini file do it all?

Thank you again for your patience & walking me thru all this. I have copied, saved & backed-up that precious .ini file for my Anamorphic Custom Profile...

2bskyhi

Ok, lets go back a couple of steps.

You should have 2 finished clips that you downloaded from my OneDrive folders: 2bskyhi 1.33 desqueeze test.mp4 and 2bskyhi 1.33 desqueeze test_2.mp4.

The first clip is encoded in AVC (H.264), and I imagine it plays correctly in VLC but it doesn't work in PD16; The second clip is encoded in HEVC (H.265) just like your Drone.mp4 source clip, but for some reason it doesn't play in VLC but it does work in PD16. Is everything I've stated here correct?

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Quote Ok, lets go back a couple of steps.

You should have 2 finished clips that you downloaded from my OneDrive folders: 2bskyhi 1.33 desqueeze test.mp4 and 2bskyhi 1.33 desqueeze test_2.mp4.

The first clip is encoded in AVC (H.264), and I imagine it plays correctly in VLC but it doesn't work in PD16; The second clip is encoded in HEVC (H.265) just like your Drone.mp4 source clip, but for some reason it doesn't play in VLC but it does work in PD16. Is everything I've stated here correct?

Yes--I do have both files & both clips behave just as you stated in each situation.

2bskyhi

OK. Welcome to the fascinating world of video incompatibilites!

I see several directions we can go here. The first is: How important is it to play your finished videos in VLC? Does Windows Media Player or the Win10 Movies & TV app play the problematic clip properly?

If they work, do you have the latest version of VLC? I was at v3.0.6 and I've just updated to 3.0.8, and both work as expected.

I've also bought the HEVC Video Extensions codec from the MS Store. It only cost US$0.99 and there's a chance that having that installed makes a difference.

Another option is to take a look at how your system is configured. I went back to your DxDiag results and saw that most of the crashes at the end of the results were from wmplayer.exe, and that strongly implies that something's wrong with it.

You can try uninstalling/reinstalling it, although it's not a standalone app and you have to go through some hoops to do so.

I honestly think that's worth a go, however, and if the issue persists, I'd go to the next logical steps of using sfc and dism as described in the paragraphs with those commands in bold type here (just ignore the last part about the patch).

Please post back when you've run through these items.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

gentlemen.
you're doing wayyy too much work in my opinion.

care to try my way of modifying the Profile.ini and troubleshoot why having the Production unsuccessful error messages???

Update (04122020): how to desqueeze decompress 1.33x Anamorphic w PowerDirector & change Aspect Ratio w FFmpegYAG 파워디렉터및 에프에프엠팩야그로 종횡비 변경: https://youtu.be/5_KaNmxTyyM

oh happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garbage in garbage out' 'no bridge too far'

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Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1

Quote OK. Welcome to the fascinating world of video incompatibilites!

I see several directions we can go here. The first is: How important is it to play your finished videos in VLC? Does Windows Media Player or the Win10 Movies & TV app play the problematic clip properly?

If they work, do you have the latest version of VLC? I was at v3.0.6 and I've just updated to 3.0.8, and both work as expected.

I've also bought the HEVC Video Extensions codec from the MS Store. It only cost US$0.99 and there's a chance that having that installed makes a difference.

Another option is to take a look at how your system is configured. I went back to your DxDiag results and saw that most of the crashes at the end of the results were from wmplayer.exe, and that strongly implies that something's wrong with it.

You can try uninstalling/reinstalling it, although it's not a standalone app and you have to go through some hoops to do so.

I honestly think that's worth a go, however, and if the issue persists, I'd go to the next logical steps of using sfc and dism as described in the paragraphs with those commands in bold type here (just ignore the last part about the patch).

Please post back when you've run through these items.

Hi Optodata, so several things here.... First, all 3 of the players you mention above play this final video great--I just need to select fullscreen on VLC to get full width display. Here are screen shots of all 3 viewers--plz let me know if you see something amiss:
https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZSAIMkZk9HCAyM3ayV9HTFXPW5lPQdRNy0X

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZYAIMkZc0MyXTQRnhjvSOoa4C5g3LHH6NlX

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZJAIMkZJrgbitOTl2Q8obxsb19sJhQcyzny

If it matters, my Dell laptop's recommended display setting is 3840x2160.

Next, I recently discovered that my Nvidia GPU was not assigned to use ANY apps! Everything was on native GPU. So, amoung other programs, I told it to use VLC and WMP. If you recognize that would disable my WMP, you'd be right. So I went back in and removed WMP from NVidia and all is well once again w/ WMP.

Next, I'm still wondering about my earlier question: why do I need to "run a final VDub2 pass" with your "post" file. I have the file, I just don't know why or how to run "final pass"

Next, do I need to use VDub2 in the same way you first described for ALL future anamorphic clips I want to Produce, or does this precious new custom .ini file do it all?

Lastly, If I install the PD18 "upgrade" I purchased, can I just paste my saved copy of the .ini file into PD18 when I create a new custom profile--after it overwrites it PD16? Compatible?

THANK YOU AGAIN Optodata! You're the greatest!

2bskyhi

PepsiMan has a point that this is getting complicated again. Even though I also went to (only) public schools, I'm just trying to see this thing through

2bskyhi, one thing I can't tell from your screen captures is whether or not those black bars are permanently present, or are simply the result of playing a 2.4:1 video on a 16:9 monitor. The way to tell is to take the player out of full screen mode and drag one of the corners towards the middle.

If you're doing that with either of my finished clips, you should be able to get the window frame in contact with all 4 edges of the media, just like my earlier screenshot showed.

If you try to do that with the clip you've produced in PD16, you'll see that the upper and lower black bars are always present, and will even force black bars along the left and right edges if you squeeze the vertical dimension too far. That's because PD always produces to the project's fixed aspect ratio setting, even when the pixel sizes in the producing profile do not match that.

If PD could produce a 500x25 or 5184x2160 strip of video directly, we wouldn't need to use VDub2 for a post pass.

However, you'll notice that the Intermediate profile I created is 5184x2900, which is both axes desqueezed into a 16:9 frame. Since the profile's horizontal size exactly matches the clip size, PD creates the empty, black bars along the top and bottom to fill in the missing areas.

In order to remove the black bars, we need to run the clip through the post pass in VDub2 to actually crop the unwanted 370 lines of pixels above and below the clip so we end up with a video that's truly 5184x2160 (instead of what PD gave us, which is 5184x2160 content inside a 5184x2900 video frame).

Does this whole process make more sense now? I hope so, and I'll post the updated steps in the next post for clarity

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Updated steps that will need to be done each time you want to take anamorphic drone video, desqueeze it and produce a finished, full resolution video using any version of PD:

1. Open up VDub2 and go to File > Load Project... and load the 5148x2160 HEVC project file


2. Use File > Open video file.. to open your original clip then use File > Save Video... and choose the output name and location for the desqueezed clip


3. Import the desqueezed clip(s) into PD and make all your desired edits


4. When you're ready to produce, use the custom 2bskyhi intermediate profile under the HEVC/Custom dropdown list to produce a perfectly proportioned, but letterboxed (5184x2900), video


5. Open up VDub2 again and go to File > Load Project... and now load the Post PD project file


6. Use File > Open video file.. and browse to your produced PD clip, then use File > Save Video... to remove the black bars above and below the content and give you a clean 5184x2160 video

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Quote
2bskyhi, one thing I can't tell from your screen captures is whether or not those black bars are permanently present, or are simply the result of playing a 2.4:1 video on a 16:9 monitor. The way to tell is to take the player out of full screen mode and drag one of the corners towards the middle.

The laptop has a 4k display and VLC may need to be reset (resize player ar start). This is how I check for black bars on VLC. Load, play, and then pause the processed 4k video. Go to VLC/Video/Zoom/1:4 Quarter.Now place the mouse cursor along the lower edge of VLC until it change to a double headed arrow. Click and drag up or down to see no black bars on the top or sides. You can do the same for the side if needed. If unable to achieve then you know it is not 12:5 Aspect Ratio. I achieve this on the VD2 converted videos used here. Hope this helps!

EDIT: Here is a screenshot to make it more clear on how I check for permanent black bars on VLC.

Quote PepsiMan has a point that this is getting complicated again. Even though I also went to (only) public schools, I'm just trying to see this thing through

2bskyhi, one thing I can't tell from your screen captures is whether or not those black bars are permanently present, or are simply the result of playing a 2.4:1 video on a 16:9 monitor. The way to tell is to take the player out of full screen mode and drag one of the corners towards the middle.

If you're doing that with either of my finished clips, you should be able to get the window frame in contact with all 4 edges of the media, just like my earlier screenshot showed.

If you try to do that with the clip you've produced in PD16, you'll see that the upper and lower black bars are always present, and will even force black bars along the left and right edges if you squeeze the vertical dimension too far. That's because PD always produces to the project's fixed aspect ratio setting, even when the pixel sizes in the producing profile do not match that.

If PD could produce a 500x25 or 5184x2160 strip of video directly, we wouldn't need to use VDub2 for a post pass.

However, you'll notice that the Intermediate profile I created is 5184x2900, which is both axes desqueezed into a 16:9 frame. Since the profile's horizontal size exactly matches the clip size, PD creates the empty, black bars along the top and bottom to fill in the missing areas.

In order to remove the black bars, we need to run the clip through the post pass in VDub2 to actually crop the unwanted 370 lines of pixels above and below the clip so we end up with a video that's truly 5184x2160 (instead of what PD gave us, which is 5184x2160 content inside a 5184x2900 video frame).

Does this whole process make more sense now? I hope so, and I'll post the updated steps in the next post for clarity

Thank you both so much AGAIN.
So regarding Optodata's first question re. format & Tomasc's expanded description to check it, I suspect this format issue is likely as good as it needs to be--all I hoped for.... Following Tomasc's instructions with the same "DroneX" video he used to test, I am able to eliminate all black bars in VLC, WMP & WIN Movies & TV, but I never ran it thru the post project in VDub2. Anyway, that clip is NOT the "Final" one that I produced with Optodat's last instructions. That clip is here: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZlk3MkZC7xwC3WiYvmOdbVaHRXBebmDtT67

So for one more func check, I decided to load the last 3 versions of my test videos(DroneX, DroneY, and Final) into my Galaxy S8. (I know I feel your eyes rolling now--justifiably so). But what I found was, that the only clip that played without stuttering, was the "Final" version. Since cell phones are a likely share platform for my productions, I think I'll quit while I'm ahead & before you all get sick of me...

I just shot a new test video & ran it thru Optodata's LATEST instructions including the post in VDub2 and it worked perfect for all 3 players & on my phone!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I can finally give you all a break. Tomasc, PepsiMan(Happy Happy, Joy Joy) & Optodata you're all rock stars. I can get pretty OCD & persistent when I need to learn something, but I don't often find other's who are so willing to tolerate this many rookie questions about such technical minutia...

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN! 2bskyhi

Well, it figures... I spoke too soon... I discovered that the Custom profile I used for step 4 of your latest instructions, was in fact the first one you sent me--with the 4096x2160 default res that is just above the 5184x2900 Intermediate.ini you sent me. When I try to use the correct profile w/ 5184x2900, I get this error in PD: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZJrGMkZE35IQrhP6KpsNBSYR6jdoRuvGwp7
When I examined the .ini file, I noticed several differences, but I don't know how to enterpet them....

I'll understand if you want to surrender...


Thank You, 2bskyhi