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

OK, but first another forum tip: the forum index doesn't update or send out any notifications if you edit an existing post, so whenever you have new info please use the Reply to this topic button. That has the added benefit of not copying the entirety of the previous post

So I've looked at the two intermediate profiles I shared, and none of them have "4096" in them anywhere. The first (sent Mar 26) was 5148x2880, and the one from yesterday (Mar 28 ) was 5184x2990. They're tied directly into the VD profiles so you can't mix & match them.

Take a look at the properties of each clip in PD so you can see the actual resolution and let us know what each of the individual clips shows on your successful run.

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, but first another forum tip: the forum index doesn't update or send out any notifications if you edit an existing post, so whenever you have new info please use the Reply to this topic button. That has the added benefit of not copying the entirety of the previous post

So I've looked at the two intermediate profiles I shared, and none of them have "4096" in them anywhere. The first (sent Mar 26) was 5148x2880, and the one from yesterday (Mar 28 ) was 5184x2990. They're tied directly into the VD profiles so you can't mix & match them.

Take a look at the properties of each clip in PD so you can see the actual resolution and let us know what each of the individual clips shows on your successful run.

Thanks for the Forum tips Optodata. Sorry I'm slow. I'll "Reply" w/ all new info. So as requested, I checked all three "succesful" clips and they are all 4096x2160. As soon as I got the 5184x2900 intermediate file from you, I deleted the 5148x2160 file--to save me from confusion. The first list of data in my Custom .ini file has frame specs 4096x2160. The second(& 'only' other data set below it) has the 5184x2900 frame specs... Here's the actual .ini file: https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZqRvMkZh6pN73uEVTbjUSaGq3ymkVh5BgAV

Thank you AGAIN, 2bskyhi

Thanks for sending that over. I think that 4096 profile was the last one in my system's Profile.ini and I mistakenly kept it when I was adding the intended version.

So right now, the only time you can produce is when you select the 4096 profile and you get the error message if you try to produce using the 5184 one, correct? Have you tried producing with the Fast video rendering technology box on the Produce page unchecked?

Also, your Intel video driver is almost 7 months old (v7262) and there's a much newer version out now (v7985). However, Dell makes it hard to install "OEM" drivers, so your best bet is to go to their support website and make sure everything else is up to date. For one thing, there's a BIOS update available if you're up for installing that, but I wouldn't expect that to be related to the producing issue.

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 Thanks for sending that over. I think that 4096 profile was the last one in my system's Profile.ini and I mistakenly kept it when I was adding the intended version.

So right now, the only time you can produce is when you select the 4096 profile and you get the error message if you try to produce using the 5184 one, correct? Have you tried producing with the Fast video rendering technology box on the Produce page unchecked?

Also, your Intel video driver is almost 7 months old (v7262) and there's a much newer version out now (v7985). However, Dell makes it hard to install "OEM" drivers, so your best bet is to go to their support website and make sure everything else is up to date. For one thing, there's a BIOS update available if you're up for installing that, but I wouldn't expect that to be related to the producing issue.

Thanks for still responding Optodata. Yes, only succesful "Produce" is with the lower res 4096 profile & error message pops up wheever I try the 5184 profile. And its interesting that you ask about the Fast Video Rendering Technology(SVRT). That box is not checked & it is not illuminated such that I am able to check it... Don't know what that means...

I will will try to persue the driver & BIOS updates after dinner.

Thanks, again, 2bskyhi

After reading 2bskyhi’s problem, I decided to check things out. 4096 does not appear in the Profile.ini link downloaded from the PC Cloud. I made as many mistakes as one can make as I created custom PD profiles in the past and now created VD2 custom profiles along with the two different sets from optodata that all have similar project names. Once sorted happy to say that the last set of profile.ini addition and VD2 project file produced the desired results.

I have found that WMP can work much like VLC. Hit Alt-1 key to resize the video to half size. You can use the same technique with the double headed arrow I posted earlier with the screenshot for VLC if necessary.

After reviewing the different techniques discussed in the past, I believe that this is the best technique to edit and produce true cinematic widescreen videos as opposed to anamorphic videos. Consumer 12:5 AR videos are almost always on a 16:9 camera sensor. After editing, added circular objects will remain circles and not ovals. Added Squares objects will remain squares and not horizontally expanded rectangles. This is the technique needed for serious filmmaking with PowerDirector.

Other techniques like expanding the edited and produced anamorphic video by 1.33x will of course give the correct dimensions but the objects added during editing like circles, squares, titles, and people will also be expanded by 1.33 horizontally. You may not want that. I see optodata has created the best possible solution for anamorphic 12:5 or say 21:9 video editing for PowerDirector.

BTW:Found that Virtual Dub 2 is easier to learn and use than with VLC to create that final video. It allows one to save all the settings as projects that you can edit, redo, and rename. Will PM.

Hope that this may help someone who consider editing cinematic widescreen videos.

So tomasc PM'd me with some findings on the bitrate of the VD2 files, and he noticed that I had the quality set improperly. I've made the necessary adjustments to both .vdproject files so that the bitrates of the videos produced by VD2 are equal to the original, which is 35Mbps.

Use the attached RevA versions to get higher quality desqueezed and final videos

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 So tomasc PM'd me with some findings on the bitrate of the VD2 files, and he noticed that I had the quality set improperly. I've made the necessary adjustments to both .vdproject files so that the bitrates of the videos produced by VD2 are equal to the original, which is 35Mbps.

Use the attached RevA versions to get higher quality desqueezed and final videos

Thanks Optodata, sorry I was slow responding, but I had to apply for unemployment today...

Unfortunately there seems to be a problem w/ the 5184x2160 HEVC RevA Project file. When I try to do Step 1 of your instructions and load that project into VDub2, I get the error message shown: Here

Thanks again, 2bskyhi

Oh I'm very sorry to hear about the job situation, and I hope that everything will eventually work out for you.

The issue you found was caused by me having your original clip open in VD2 when I saved the RevA project, and so it also wanted to open that clip from the same location on your computer. I've removed the clip and saved the project as RevB, attached. Please let me know if there are any other issues!

There was another problem relating to you being unable to produce using the F.r.v.t. box, and it might help to review this post to see if you can recover that capability. It would help to know if either of these methods will let you produce the clip without the error message from PD.

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 Oh I'm very sorry to hear about the job situation, and I hope that everything will eventually work out for you.

The issue you found was caused by me having your original clip open in VD2 when I saved the RevA project, and so it also wanted to open that clip from the same location on your computer. I've removed the clip and saved the project as RevB, attached. Please let me know if there are any other issues!

There was another problem relating to you being unable to produce using the F.r.v.t. box, and it might help to review this post to see if you can recover that capability. It would help to know if either of these methods will let you produce the clip without the error message from PD.

Thanks for your kind words Optodata, my employer actually loves me, so I'm good. They have no work now, so they're just furloughing me so I can get unemployment... And they're covering my health insurance costs for as long as the Virus takes to subside... all too soon, I'll be back at work with unlimited O.T....

Unfortunatly, I'm still not able to Produce the video in PD. Your RevB VDub2 desqueeze seems OK, but I don't know why the Production is failing. I get this same error as before when I hit "Produce". I read thru the SVRT thread you shared, but no luck. Not sure it matters, but most of that thread looked to be dealing with PD13 & 14. My registry shows all data logger values are zero with PD closed...

Just a thought, if the VDub2 project & .ini file are good, maybe there's a problem with my PD16--SVRT or otherwise. Since I bought the PD18 upgrade, and, so-far I'm UNABLE to recover the SVRT, should I try installing PD18? I have my saved copy of the .ini file...

Thanks again, 2bskyhi

I added that post because I wanted to make sure you didn't have any 1s in the registry profiles that would keep you from using either of the quicker production routes: SVRT (CPU-only copying with little to no actual producing); but mostly Intel Quick Sync Video (aka hardware producing).

In all honesty, SVRT won't work here because we're working waaayyy outside PD's normal working profiles. Also, if I'd checked my system before posting, I would have seen that neither option is available to me when working with the desqueezed project either. I was just trying to think of things for you to try to get past the production error...

Since you have PD18, I think it's worth a try, especially since all of the clips work for me and I don't see any schizophrenic behavior with AVC/HEVC clips and PD/VLC. Please make sure you don't install the trial version (or that you uninstall it if you've already installed it), because it won't let you work with any 4K or higher clips at all.

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°

Been following this discussion. My thoughts are that optodata has supplied the very best technique and solution for anamorphic 4k videos. Would like to know what is the device that you plan to view these particular drone videos. If it is a normal 16:9 4k widescreen TV or computer monitor then your pc requirement can be much less. If it is a 21:9 5k computer monitor like this one: https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-34WK95U-W-ultrawide-monitor then what has been discussed will work here.

1. Assuming that the produced ultrawide video is displayed on a normal 16:9 4k TV then you can just produce at the HEVC 3840 x 2160 37 Mbps profile. FRVT Intel QS encoding will be available. See the screenshot. You will have black bars on the top and bottom and can skip the last post VD2 step. Top and bottom black bars will appear regardless on a 16:9 TV. Only the VD2 desqueeze step is used beforehand.


2. Again if your viewing is on a normal 16:9 4k TV then it is well within the capability of your laptop hardware to use the original drone videos on the timeline and the same default HEVC profile to enable svrt that you want to use. Afterwards use FFmpeg on the produced video to add an anamorphic flag on a newly created video that will expand the video to ultrawide(12:5 AR).

Hope this helps. Your Intel HD630 can only encode up to 4k but not 5k video. You have option 1 and 2 above that is well within the capabilities of your laptop.

Quote I added that post because I wanted to make sure you didn't have any 1s in the registry profiles that would keep you from using either of the quicker production routes: SVRT (CPU-only copying with little to no actual producing); but mostly Intel Quick Sync Video (aka hardware producing).

In all honesty, SVRT won't work here because we're working waaayyy outside PD's normal working profiles. Also, if I'd checked my system before posting, I would have seen that neither option is available to me when working with the desqueezed project either. I was just trying to think of things for you to try to get past the production error...

Since you have PD18, I think it's worth a try, especially since all of the clips work for me and I don't see any schizophrenic behavior with AVC/HEVC clips and PD/VLC. Please make sure you don't install the trial version (or that you uninstall it if you've already installed it), because it won't let you work with any 4K or higher clips at all.

Thank you Optodata & Tomasc. Lots to tell...
First, Optodata, my PD18 is not a trial version(~$85), so I installed it, and after desqueezing "Drone.mp4" in VD2 w/ your 5184x2160HEVCRevB project, it Produced w/ your 5148x2900Intermediate.ini profile with no error messages. So progress?

To begin addressing Tomasc's playback format question: the above mentioned video only plays in WinMovies/TV--NOT in WMP, VLC or on my phone. WMP is the only one that gave an error message & it is here, and the produced video is here. The playing results are the same with & without running the PostPDRevA.vdproject thru VD2. Also w/ PD18, I now have IQSV checked beside the checked box for FVRT.

So to elaborate on my intended uses: I am a fledgling commercial drone pilot &, to date, the most my customers have wanted to do is put my drone video on websites--as background to a homepage, like a winery, or for multi-use like a wedding or 5k race--including sharing on phones--social media. My default resolution preference not surprisingly, is to produce max resolution where possible, but I acknowledge the overkill for most of these uses. Ultimately, I would prefer the option to produce a high-res version for saving--then share the lower res version for platform universality....

So when I try Tomasc's option 1 in PD18, with the "Drone.mp4" video first desqueezed in VD2 w/ the 5184--revB project, it "Produces" error-free using the default HEVC 3840x2160 37Mbps, and it plays great on VLC & Win Movies&TV, but NOT on my phone or in WMP(& for WMP it produces same error message linked above). Here is that default profile video. Do I need to desqueeze with a different project-spec since I'm producing at the lower res/ default profile?

I also tried option 1 with same workflow & files using PD16. The only difference is: the video plays great on my phone, & the FVRT is still not selectable...

Sorry if I'm driving you both crazy....

Thank you AGAIN, 2bskyhi

Quote



Thank you Optodata & Tomasc. Lots to tell...
First, Optodata, my PD18 is not a trial version(~$85), so I installed it, and after desqueezing "Drone.mp4" in VD2 w/ your 5184x2160HEVCRevB project, it Produced w/ your 5148x2900Intermediate.ini profile with no error messages. So progress?

To begin addressing Tomasc's playback format question: the above mentioned video only plays in WinMovies/TV--NOT in WMP, VLC or on my phone. WMP is the only one that gave an error message & it is here, and the produced video is here. The playing results are the same with & without running the PostPDRevA.vdproject thru VD2. Also w/ PD18, I now have IQSV checked beside the checked box for FVRT.

So to elaborate on my intended uses: I am a fledgling commercial drone pilot &, to date, the most my customers have wanted to do is put my drone video on websites--as background to a homepage, like a winery, or for multi-use like a wedding or 5k race--including sharing on phones--social media. My default resolution preference not surprisingly, is to produce max resolution where possible, but I acknowledge the overkill for most of these uses. Ultimately, I would prefer the option to produce a high-res version for saving--then share the lower res version for platform universality....

So when I try Tomasc's option 1 in PD18, with the "Drone.mp4" video first desqueezed in VD2 w/ the 5184--revB project, it "Produces" error-free using the default HEVC 3840x2160 37Mbps, and it plays great on VLC & Win Movies&TV, but NOT on my phone or in WMP(& for WMP it produces same error message linked above). Here is that default profile video. Do I need to desqueeze with a different project-spec since I'm producing at the lower res/ default profile?

I also tried option 1 with same workflow & files using PD16. The only difference is: the video plays great on my phone, & the FVRT is still not selectable...

Sorry if I'm driving you both crazy....

Thank you AGAIN, 2bskyhi

BTW, not sure why I didn't think of this sooner, (drinking now)but do either of you have a small, but high-res video reference clip you can share, that I can download to acid-test my "players" mentioned above. If my players/ graphics prove worthy, then we'll know my issues are program/ profile/ project related right?...

OK. Back at my pc now configured to use Intel UHD 630 graphics like yours. Would like you to check out the created and uploaded 5K drone video on YouTube with any 5K capable smartphone viewer. The link is here for the 4 second video: https://youtu.be/X7c8QFQHwRU .

Before going further please view the screen recording showing the PowerDirector clips, smooth playback, their properties and resolution, svrt status, hardware encoder status, using the Intel integrated graphics on my computer. As you can see, no Hardware Acceleration was enabled and no shadow files were used. This should help answer questions on using either of the two options on my previous post that whether Intel hardware encoding or SVRT can be available. SVRT is available in the right circumstances. Hardware Intel OS encoding is always available. Link to this screen recording: https://youtu.be/g3vWq5gAVMc .

The same SVRT and Hardware encoding are available in PD14 and PD17.

Quote OK. Back at my pc now configured to use Intel UHD 630 graphics like yours. Would like you to check out the created and uploaded 5K drone video on YouTube with any 5K capable smartphone viewer. The link is here for the 4 second video: https://youtu.be/X7c8QFQHwRU .

Before going further please view the screen recording showing the PowerDirector clips, smooth playback, their properties and resolution, svrt status, hardware encoder status, using the Intel integrated graphics on my computer. As you can see, no Hardware Acceleration was enabled and no shadow files were used. This should help answer questions on using either of the two options on my previous post that whether Intel hardware encoding or SVRT can be available. SVRT is available in the right circumstances. Hardware Intel OS encoding is always available. Link to this screen recording: https://youtu.be/g3vWq5gAVMc .

The same SVRT and Hardware encoding are available in PD14 and PD17.

Hi Tomasc, thank you, I want to try the 3 files in my PD, while following your video, but my "DroneY" clip is corrupt. It won't Import into PD 16 or 18. I checked my link to it & it seems I deleted the source. I looked in my Trash folder on PCloud & nothing with that name or file size is there??? Can you please re-share it with me. Sorry...

Thanks again, 2bskyhi

Quote Hi Tomasc, thank you, I want to try the 3 files in my PD, while following your video, but my "DroneY" clip is corrupt. It won't Import into PD 16 or 18. I checked my link to it & it seems I deleted the source. I looked in my Trash folder on PCloud & nothing with that name or file size is there??? Can you please re-share it with me. Sorry...

Thanks again, 2bskyhi

Do not have the Drone Y clip in my download folder. You can re-download optodata’s posted clips and try them on your pc and cell phone. The created anamorphic 5k and 5.7k videos are a burden to run on any smartphone which supports only 4k videos max. Posting them to a streaming service like YT or creating the lower 4K resolution videos may be the way to go.

I downloaded 4 different video players from the Google play store including VLC and the only player that will play them is U player on an 8 core cpu smartphone. Have not found any android player that will play the HEVC 4k MOV files from my Ipad Pro or an iPhone. You are welcome to downloads the hundreds of them to see which work best on your phone.

Creating the screen capture shows that the Intel UHD 630 graphics can encode beyond the 4k to the 5.7K videos that I did not expect and svrt can be available in a Desktop but maybe not at all in a laptop it seems from your report.

Every player you mentioned played the same created anamorphic videos properly on my pc. You may have the less feature VLC win 10 app instead of the full version installed. Windows 10 removed the HEVC playback from the initial offering 4 years ago. Installing the same codec from the MS store that optodata posted the link earlier for 99 cents should allow you to play the same files on WMP that works in both optodata and my pc.

Good luck on your endeavor on your goal for the cell phone and the laptop!!

Quote

Do not have the Drone Y clip in my download folder. You can re-download optodata’s posted clips and try them on your pc and cell phone. The created anamorphic 5k and 5.7k videos are a burden to run on any smartphone which supports only 4k videos max. Posting them to a streaming service like YT or creating the lower 4K resolution videos may be the way to go.

I downloaded 4 different video players from the Google play store including VLC and the only player that will play them is U player on an 8 core cpu smartphone. Have not found any android player that will play the HEVC 4k MOV files from my Ipad Pro or an iPhone. You are welcome to downloads the hundreds of them to see which work best on your phone.

Creating the screen capture shows that the Intel UHD 630 graphics can encode beyond the 4k to the 5.7K videos that I did not expect and svrt can be available in a Desktop but maybe not at all in a laptop it seems from your report.

Every player you mentioned played the same created anamorphic videos properly on my pc. You may have the less feature VLC win 10 app instead of the full version installed. Windows 10 removed the HEVC playback from the initial offering 4 years ago. Installing the same codec from the MS store that optodata posted the link earlier for 99 cents should allow you to play the same files on WMP that works in both optodata and my pc.

Good luck on your endeavor on your goal for the cell phone and the laptop!!

Ok, all sounds good Tomasc & Optodata. I did download & install the .99cent codec that Optodata shared--right after he suggested it--I just forgot to let you know...

You guys have fast forwarded my learning curve on some of the MANY complexities of these format/ encoding/ hardware & software issues. Since I don't have a serious gaming PC, I should'nt expect killer performance...

I will play with(study) VDub2 and Handbrake(that I just downloaded) to see what the limits of my system/ workflow are. I am confident that you both exhausted every effort with me & that the limits are in my laptop & my expectations(hopes).

4k max seems like the reasonable res expectaion, especially since I'm prioritizing multi-platform/ player over absolute best res...

THANK YOU BOTH VERY MUCH for all your help! Sorry I can't award you both the "This solved my problem" flag...

Take care, 2bskyhi

Quote



Ok, all sounds good Tomasc & Optodata. I did download & install the .99cent codec that Optodata shared--right after he suggested it--I just forgot to let you know...

You guys have fast forwarded my learning curve on some of the MANY complexities of these format/ encoding/ hardware & software issues. Since I don't have a serious gaming PC, I should'nt expect killer performance...

I will play with(study) VDub2 and Handbrake(that I just downloaded) to see what the limits of my system/ workflow are. I am confident that you both exhausted every effort with me & that the limits are in my laptop & my expectations(hopes).

4k max seems like the reasonable res expectaion, especially since I'm prioritizing multi-platform/ player over absolute best res...

THANK YOU BOTH VERY MUCH for all your help! Sorry I can't award you both the "This solved my problem" flag...

Take care, 2bskyhi

To Tomasc, Optodata & PepsiMan. I just wanted to follow-up and let you know that all your efforts were not in vain! I was UNable to resolve my WMP issue without doing a completely fresh install of Windows(10Home). As I did the install, I VERY gradually added all my programs/ software & tip-toed thru SOO MANY settings. Now, Optodata's final set of instructions for my anamorphic workflow works PERFECTLY. I can play the full-res produced version from PD18 on all desired platforms(at full width--Letterbox), except for my Galaxy S8 phone. But, by running the hi-res video thru PD again, and producing at the second highest default res, it plays just fine on my phone too! HAPPY HAPPY, JOY JOY:

I suspect a codec or somehing got broke in all my initial efforts...

Thank You all VERY MUCH again, 2bskyhi

I'm really happy to hear that! Not everyone is willing to start over with a new Windows installation due to video editing problems, and yet whenever they've done so (here on the forum), it usually results in PD working properly.

Congratulations on seeing this through to the end, and now you can concentrate on making content. Nice job!

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 really happy to hear that! Not everyone is willing to start over with a new Windows installation due to video editing problems, and yet whenever they've done so (here on the forum), it usually results in PD working properly.

Congratulations on seeing this through to the end, and now you can concentrate on making content. Nice job!

Yes! There is a fine line between stubborn & persistant, and I often blunder into stubborn due to enough good outcomes from my persitance... Probably a proverb in there somewhere.

Again, I coudn't have done it if you all lacked saintly patience

Thanks again, 2bskyhi